Video: Meet Sound Designer Jeff Lowe Bailey of SKELETON CREW at Guthrie Theater

The Guthrie Theater is introducting the inspiring creative team for the Tony-nominated play Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau, directed by Austene Van, in a new video series. Meet Sound Designer Jeff Lowe Bailey below!

In this critically acclaimed American drama, four co-workers at a Detroit auto factory band together as they face rumors that the plant might be going under. The show will play through Sunday, June 9.

Single and group tickets are now on sale through the Box Office or online at guthrietheater.org. Accessibility services (ASL-interpreted, audio-described and open-captioned performances) are also available on select dates. 

Artistic Director Joseph Haj said, “The characters in Skeleton Crew remind us so poignantly of the importance of relationships and family ties — whether those ties are to our actual family or friends and co-workers who feel like family. I’m so honored to have Austene Van back at the Guthrie to help us tell this striking story.” 

Director Austene Van noted, “Dominique Morisseau fiercely and poetically captures the necessary steel that many Detroiters don to arm themselves, perhaps to protect the beauty, sensitivity and poetry of their inner lives. She offers this duality in colorful, edgy language while painting a rich world through the rhythmic poetry of her stage directions, almost as a love song.” 

Skeleton Crew is the third installment of Morisseau’s acclaimed trilogy called The Detroit Project, which critics have praised for capturing the language and spirit of Detroit during a troubled moment in history. The show premiered at Atlantic Theater Company in New York City in January 2016 and opened on Broadway in January 2022 where it received a Tony Award nomination for Best Play. This is the Guthrie’s first production by Morisseau.

Set as the Great Recession of 2008 begins to decimate industries across America, Skeleton Crewtakes place in the once-gleaming “Motor City” that has lost its luster. At one of its still-standing auto factories, four colleagues-turned-friends hear rumors that their plant is facing foreclosure. Faye, Dez, Shanita and Reggie all have different stakes in the company should it go under, which they grapple with in the break room as the fear of losing their jobs looms. This powerful drama wrestles with questions of grief, loyalty and self-preservation while exploring the monumental impact of the Recession-era economy on middle-class life. TheaterMania.com wrote, “Like Lorraine Hansberry and August Wilson before her, Morisseau creates characters who don't merely speak, they sing with the vernacular of their community. Rarely has dialogue ever felt so much like eavesdropping on an actual conversation.” 

The cast of Skeleton Crew includes Darius Dotch (Guthrie: A Raisin in the Sun, Sweat) as Reggie, Stephanie Everett (Guthrie: debut) as Shanita, Jennifer Fouché (Guthrie: debut) as Faye and Mikell Sapp (Guthrie: Shane) as Dez.

The creative team includes Dominique Morisseau (Playwright), Austene Van (Director), Regina García (Scenic Designer), Samantha Fromm Haddow (Costume Designer), Nic Vincent (Lighting Designer), Jeff Lowe Bailey (Sound Designer/Composer), Faye M. Price (Dramaturg),Keely Wolter (Vocal Coach), Annie Enneking (Fight Director/Intimacy), Jennifer Liestman (Resident Casting Director), Laura Topham (Stage Manager), Kathryn Sam Houkom (Assistant Stage Manager), Brandon Raghu (Assistant Director) and McCorkle Casting, Ltd. (NYC Casting Consultant).

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