Berkeley Rep Taps Rachel Hauck, Susan Hilferty, and More as Creatives on SWEPT AWAY

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced the five award-winning artists who will lead the creative team for the world premiere of Swept Away. They include:

Rachel Hauck (Scenic Designer)

Berkeley Rep credits include What the Constitution Means to Me, The Madwoman in the Volvo, Roe, It Can't Happen Here, An Iliad, Mother Courage, Antony & Cleopatra, and Valley Song. Broadway credits include Hadestown (Tony Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle nominations), What the Constitution Means to Me, and Latin History for Morons. Recent work includes The Wrong Man (MCC), Hadestown (National Theatre, Citadel, New York Theatre Workshop), Hurricane Diane (NYTW), Othello and Twelfth Night (Shakespeare in the Park), The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova), You'll Still Call Me by Name (Sonya Tayeh/Jacob's Pillow), Tiny Beautiful Things and Dry Powder (The Public Theater), Amy and the Orphans and On the Exhale (Roundabout Theatre Company), and Antlia Pneumatica and Grand Concourse (Playwrights Horizons). Rachel is honored to have received the Princess Grace Award and Lilly Award, Drama Desk and Lortel nominations, and an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence.

Susan Hilferty (Costume Designer)

Berkeley Rep credits include Compulsion, Dream of a Common Language, The Illusion, Born in the RSA, Road to Mecca, Twelfth Night, Woman Warrior, Tooth of Crime, and Convict's Return. Susan has designed sets and costumes for over 350 productions across globe. She has collaborated on 39 productions with South African playwright Athol Fugard. Broadway designs include Wicked (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics awards), Present Laughter (Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics award nominations), Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), Lestat (Tony nomination), Annie, Hands on a Hardbody, Wonderland, Assassins, Into the Woods (Tony and Drama Desk nominations, Hewes Award). Recent designs include Blood Wedding (Young Vic, London), Hamlet (St. Anne's Warehouse), Boesman and Lena (Signature Theatre), Bright Room Called Day and The Gabriels (The Public Theater), Uncle Vanya (Old Globe), Love, Love, Love (Roundabout Theatre; Lucille Lortel Award), Buried Child and The Spoils (NY and London), Turn Me Loose (Arena Stage). Her designs for opera include La Traviata and Rigoletto (Metropolitan Opera); film (Laurie Anderson); dance (Ailey); circus (Ringling Bros.); and concerts (Taylor Swift). Her many awards include TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement and the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence Costume Design. Susan chairs Graduate Design at NYU/Tisch.

Kevin Adams (Lighting Designer)

Kevin's Berkeley Rep credits include American Idiot and Passing Strange. He has received four Tony Awards for his work on Broadway, which includes The Cher Show, Head Over Heels, SpongeBob The Musical, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, American Idiot, Next to Normal, Passing Strange, The 39 Steps, Spring Awakening, Hair, Take Me Out, and solo shows by Michael Moore, Eve Ensler, and John Leguizamo. Off-Broadway credits include the original productions of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and The Scottsboro Boys, revivals of Carrie and Rent, and new work by Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, Neil Simon, Terrence McNally, Richard Greenberg, Anna Deavere Smith, Eric Bogosian, and Christopher Durang. Other work includes numerous productions at The Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, the Hollywood Bowl, Las Vegas, London's West End, Disney Hall, and Sandra Bernhard's 1990 feature film Without You I'm Nothing. Kevin has received the Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Award, Lucille Lortel Awards, Hewes Design Awards, Knights of Illumination Award, and an Obie for Sustained Excellence.

Kai Harada (Sound Designer)

Berkeley Rep: Amélie. Broadway: Head Over Heels, The Band's Visit (Tony Award and Drama Desk Award), Amélie, Sunday in the Park with George, Allegiance, Gigi, Fun Home, On the Town, First Date, Follies (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), and Million Dollar Quartet. Other credits include Hercules (The Public Theater at the Delacorte); Soft Power (The Public Theater); A Legendary Romance and Poster Boy (Williamstown Theatre Festival); The Light in the Piazza and Candide (L.A. Opera); We Live in Cairo and The Black Clown (American Repertory Theater); Brooklynite (Vineyard Theatre); The Music Man, Little Shop of Horrors, Chess, Little Dancer, and First You Dream (Kennedy Center); Silent Night (Washington National Opera); Zorro (Moscow; Atlanta); Hinterm Horizont (Berlin); Sweeney Todd and Man of La Mancha (Portland Opera); and She Loves Me (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Audio consultant for the revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Education: Yale University.

David Neumann (Choreographer)

Swept Away is David's Berkeley Rep debut. Broadway: Hadestown (Chita Rivera Award, Tony, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel nominations). David's original work as artistic director of Advanced Beginner Group has been presented in New York at PS 122, New York Live Arts, The Kitchen, Central Park Summerstage, Symphony Space, Abrons Arts Center, The Chocolate Factory, and The Whitney. ABG has also performed at the Walker Art Center, Jacob's Pillow, MASS MoCA, and the American Dance Institute, among others. Recent New York projects include directing Geoff Sobelle in The Object Lesson (New York Theatre Workshop, BAM), choreography for Underground Railroad Game (Ars Nova), An Octoroon (Soho Rep.), and The Antipodes (Signature Theatre). Film: I Am Legend, various Hal Hartley films, A Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach). David is the recipient of three NY Dance & Performance Bessie Awards, including Best Production in 2015 for I Understand Everything Better. He is currently a professor of theatre at Sarah Lawrence College

"I am delighted to welcome Rachel, Susan, Kevin, and Kai back to Berkeley Rep, and to introduce David to our audiences," says Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer. "It's a privilege to have these extraordinary artists join Michael Mayer, John Logan, and The Avett Brothers in creating the world premiere production of Swept Away."

Inspired by and featuring the music of The Avett Brothers, the musical is written by Tony Award-winning stage and screen writer John Logan (Red, Broadway's Moulin Rouge!, Skyfall, Gladiator) and helmed by Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (American Idiot, Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch). Swept Away will begin performances on Sunday, June 14, 2020 with Tony Award winner John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening) and Tony Award nominee Stark Sands (Kinky Boots). Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Swept Away is produced by special arrangement with Matthew Masten and Sean Hudock.

For the 2019-20 season, Berkeley Rep recognizes BART, Peet's Coffee, and Wells Fargo, who have generously renewed their commitment as Berkeley Rep's official season sponsors. Berkeley Rep is also delighted to have Bruce Golden and Michelle Mercer, Jack and Betty Schafer, Michael and Sue Steinberg, and The Strauch Kulhanjian Family on board as season sponsors.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos