Meet the Summer 2019 Company
Leadership Team
Kit McKay (Director, HAIR) Kit McKay is a stage director, curator, and producer who has spent the last nine years bringing professional artists from across the country and around the world to northern Michigan as the co-founder of Parallel 45 Theatre, creating immersive, cutting-edge theatrical experiences. At Parallel 45, she directed A Christmas Carol in Prose, A Streetcar Named Desire, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” (30 Plays in 60 Minutes), Shakespeare’s R&J, Metamorphoses and Our Town. Kit attended Interlochen Arts Academy, Sarah Lawrence College, and Northwestern University’s Master of Fine Arts directing program, where she had the good fortune to work closely with such artists as Anna D. Shapiro, Mary Zimmerman and Jessica Thebus at Steppenwolf Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Upon her master’s graduation, she studied at the Yale School of Drama masters program in theatre management and worked as a Yale Fellow at Seattle Repertory Theatre. She spent 7 years as a curator and producer for LUMBERYARD Contemporary Performing Arts, a New York City organization, where she helped herald the Incubator program, a late-stage technical residency for choreographers and performance artists. Her two stage productions at the Rose Theatre of Omaha have been nominated for 7 OEA awards (winning one), 4 TAG awards (winning one) including Best Direction for Tarzan. She directed the Intermediate Repertory and/or Musical Productions at Interlochen Arts Camp for ten summers. As Producing Artistic Director of Parallel 45 Theatre, she is currently focused on the creation and restructuring of a summer-based, rotating-rep model for bold new works, innovative adaptations and reimagined classic plays
Katherine M. Carter (Director, Little Bunny Foo Foo) Katherine M. Carter is a stage director, and the co-founding Artist Director of the MITTEN Lab. Recent: Canadian Opera Company, Houston Grand Opera, New School for Drama, Joe’s Pub. Previous: Houston Grand Opera, Westport Country Playhouse, Boston Lyric Opera, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, New York Musical Festival, On Site Opera, The Little Orchestra Society, 3LD, NYU, and Wolf Trap Opera. Fellowships: New Georges, The Drama League, and Playwrights Horizons. 2019 Honored Finalist for Women in the Arts & Media Coalition with playwright Jacqueline Goldfinger. Upcoming: Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Carnegie Mellon University.
Mathew Gutschick (Director, Stupid Fucking Bird): Matthew Gutschick is Artistic Director of The Omaha Theater Company (The Rose) where he has directed Elf: The Musical, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Disney’s Mary Poppins. Previous P45 directing includes Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, Cyrano, and Medea. He also wrote "Van Gogh & Me", which premiered at The Rose. Under Matthew’s direction, The Rose has developed classes and productions for PreK audiences. He has also been instrumental in the commission, production and presentation of ground-breaking new works including Palette of Possibility, The Rose’s first show developed specifically for youth with autism. The Rose’s residency with Daniel Beaty created programs focused on gang violence, teen pregnancy, and youth incarceration. Matthew is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf, member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab. BA: Wake Forest University. MFA: Yale School of Drama.
Emma Weiss: (Music Director) Emma Weiss is a music director from New York City. She holds an M.A in Musical Theater Music Directing from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a B.A in Music from Skidmore College. Emma has music directed cabarets and concerts at 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, The Django, The Duplex, Rockwood Music Hall, Don't Tell Mama's and The Tank. As a passionate educator, she has music directed productions and classes at Cap 21, Riverdale Country School, The Dalton School, Horace Greeley High School, Applause NY, Child's Play NY, and Actors Technique NY. She recently worked as a Music Assistant Off-Broadway on Max Vernon's The View Upstairs and as the Associate MD of Fun Home at the Weston Playhouse. In addition to her work as a private vocal coach, Emma is on the Music and Theater faculty at the Studio School.
Jennifer McQuiston Lott: (Choreographer, HAIR) Jennifer McQuiston Lott enjoys a varied career as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and advocate for the arts. She has danced with a variety of dance companies including Gibney Dance Company, Groundworks Dancetheater, Armitage Gone! Dance, Inlet Dance Theatre, Collective Body Dance Lab, Eglevsky Ballet, and others. Her choreographic works and short dance films have premiered at Baryshnikov Arts Center, National Sawdust, Celebrate Brooklyn!, Festival Miden, The Dead/Live Festival, The Cleveland Public Theatre, Chen Dance Center’s Newsteps, the Thang Dao Dance Festival, New Haven’s Educational Center for the Arts, and The Southern Theater in Minneapolis. She has created works for Cleveland’s Ingenuity Festival, Gibney Dance Center, the Laguna Dance Festival, Baldwin Wallace University’s Bach Festival, Rockford Dance Company, and has choreographed music videos for groups Son Lux and My Brightest Diamond. She assisted choreographer Jodie Gates with the creation of new works for Tulsa Ballet and Kansas City Ballet, and staged Gates’ ballets at Sacramento Ballet and Princeton University. In 2012, Lott cofounded the Traverse City Dance Project, a seasonal company for professional dance artists in Traverse City, Michigan. Now celebrating its fourth season, TCDP has presented works by Jodie Gates, Gerald Arpino, Mauro de Candia and John Utans, and it has created over eight new ballets, many accompanied by live music. Her many collaborators include musicians and filmmakers such as Son Lux, DM Stith, The Accidentals, Jonny Rodgers, Clocks in Motion, yMusic, Darren Solomon, Tenth Intervention, Murat Eyuboglu, Brenden Beecey. She was recently a featured performer in the official Son Lux videos “Undone” (dir. David Terry Fine, chor. Tyler Gilstrap) and “You Don’t Know Me” (created and directed by Nathan Johnson/The Made Shop, featuring “Orphan Black” star Tatiana Maslany). Lott earned her BFA in Ballet Performance from Indiana University, and her MFA in Dance from the University of California, Irvine (UCI). At UCI, she was awarded a Graduate Fellowship, the Medici Scholarship, and the Sheila K. & James J. Peterson Community Spirit Scholarship. She is certified in GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® and is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is on the faculty of Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, and she has taught master classes and workshops at schools and universities domestically and internationally, including DOCH (Stockholm, Sweden), Ikapa Dance Theatre (Cape Town, South Africa), the Académie Américaine de Danse (Paris, France) and Muhlenberg College (PA).
Brent Whitney: (Choreographer, HAIR)Brent Whitney currently resides in Brooklyn,NY. Originally from Traverse City, MI, he began his early dance training at Dance Arts Academy and Ballet Etc. It became evident around nine years old that dance was his truest passion. After high school Brent continued on as a dance major at Western Michigan University. His first professional job was with the Milwaukee Ballet Company where he performed a variety of classical and contemporary roles by some of the worlds leading choreographers for the next four years. After spending a few summers training in New York City, he knew he was destined for the big Apple. During his ten years in NYC, he danced with Judith Fugate’s Ballet NY, Ballet X, Connecticut Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet, San Diego Opera, Toledo Opera, Carolina Opera, Dance Key West, Lustig Dance Theatre, Traverse City Dance Project, and the Oakland Ballet. Some of his performance highlights include William Forsythe's "Slingerland duet", Balanchine's "Agon" and "Who Cares", Stanton Welch's "Orange", Iago in John Butler's "Othello", Karole Armitage "Ligeti Essays", and Mark Godden’s "The Magic Flute". His classical repertoire includes Swan Lake, Giselle, Carmen, Nutcracker, Coppelia, Don Q, Dracula, Cinderella, and Romeo & Juliet. Brent is also a choreographer and has created work for a variety of dance companies. In 2012 he and his co-artistic director Jennifer McQuiston Lott founded the Traverse City Dance Project (tcdanceproject.org) to bring professional dance to his hometown and create opportunities for dancers, choreographers, and musicians. He recently directed and choreographed a program with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kevin Rhodes. This season he is choreographing the musical HAIR for P45 Theatre company. He previously served as the Ballet Master to NYC based contemporary
ballet company Ballet Inc. Brent is also a licensed Massage Therapist and has his associates degree in occupational health from the Harvard of massage schools, The Swedish Institute. He specializes is sports rehab and injury prevention for dancers and other athletes at his private practice, The Art of Wellness LLC.
Lana Richards (Directing Fellow): Lana Richards is a New York City based director and California native. Her work ranges in scope from developing new plays alongside playwrights, to adaptation, to site integrative work. She has worked with We Players, The Civilians, The Hearth, Ruthless Nightingale, and Pacific Repertory Theater, and is a founding member of The Wickies. She has been an artist-in-residence at The Dragon's Egg and The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and is is an alumna of Connecticut College where she graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Theater and Goodwin-Niering Center Certificate in Environmental Studies. She was an Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Research Fellow and a recipient of the Crabtree Award for leadership and excellence in theater making. She has trained with SITI Company, The Michael Chekhov Association, Bread and Puppet, Complicite, and at the National Theater Institute for Advanced Directing. Recent directing credits include: My Girl by Anna Nemetz and Allison Snyder (co-developer) at Dixon Place, Arabella by Jamie Semel at Planet Connections Theater Festivity, Ithaca: a solo performance by Paola Pilnik at Electric Lodge, In the Spotlight by Lindsey Ruzza at Connecticut College (post-grad hire), Their Blood is Strong: a site-integrative exploration of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl at Connecticut College.
Stacia Sexton (Director of Education, Foo Foo Instructor) Stacia Sexton recently relocated to Traverse City from the Southeast where she worked as an actor, teaching artist, and educator. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Brenau University and is trained in both Classical and Musical Theatre Performance, Theatre for Young Audiences, and Theatre Education. She spent several years sharing her love for theatre with underserved communities through her instruction with the Boys and Girls Club of America and has served as a Teaching Artist at many regional theatre companies throughout the Southeastern US. Ms. Sexton most recently held the position of Resident Teaching Artist at Birmingham Children’s Theatre, where she toured and performed Theatre for Young Audiences programming. Since making Northern Michigan her permanent home, Stacia has worked with many schools and theatre companies including The Children’s House Montessori, St. Francis High School, Drama Kids of Northern Michigan, and the Old Town Playhouse. Ms. Sexton could not be more ecstatic to be joining Parallel 45 as Director of Education and is honored to be part of the ongoing quest to bring adventurous and engaging theatre fare to the community.
Linda Osborn (Dramaturg, HAIR) Linda is a founding member of Parallel 45, where she has had the great good fortune to wear many hats - stage manager, production manager, designer, director, and dramturg. Projects include but not limited to: Our Town, Metamorphoses, A Christmas Carol in Prose, Shakespeare’s R&J Hedwig and the Angry Inch, A Streetcar Named Desire, Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play, and Go, Dog. Go! She is delighted to be researching Hair for our upcoming summer repertory season. Linda spent 14 summers working at Interlochen Arts Camp; where she served as associate director for the high school repertory production at Camp and had the good fortune to work with Ken Ludwig. Also while at Interlochen, Linda was an instructor of theatre for the Intermediate division, as well as production stage manager for the interlochen Shakespeare Festival. Linda also developed an elementary after-school drama program at Leland Public School. Before returning permanently to northern Michigan, worked as a stage manager and production assistant at The Juilliard School where she worked with Eve Shapiro, Christopher Bayes, Doug Elkins and Rebecca Guy, among others. While in New York, Linda also worked as a studio/props coordinator for the Emmy Award-winning Production Design Group (now a Jack Morton company) Productions included, NBC Nightly News, Later Today, Dateline, A & E Biography, National Geographic. Linda is currently the General Manager for the Traverse Symphony Orchestra. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Communications and Theatre Arts from Eastern Michigan University.
Ensemble
Danielle Burke (Dionne/Fairy Chorus): Dani Burke is delighted to reprise her role as Dionne, as it was HAIR that introduced her to musical theatre. She has also been seen as Rusty (Footloose), Felicia (Memphis), Candy (Saturday Night Fever), Nehebka (Aida) with Theatre Charlotte and Sour Kangaroo u/s with Cape Fear Regional Theatre. Dani was most recently onstage as the first female to ever portray Delray in Memphis. She would like to thank P45 for the opportunity to be part of her favorite show again.
Max DeTogne (Berger/Catmonster): A bit of a cabaret enthusiast of late, Max is thrilled to make his way back onto the theatrical stage with this amazing company! Hailing from Chicago, Max is a three time Jeff Award Nominee for title roles as Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar [Theo Ubique], Rob in High Fidelity [Refuge Theatre Project] and Clyde in Bonnie and Clyde [Kokandy Productions] and most recently performed as Lord Evelyn Oakley in Anything Goes and Rapunzel's Prince in Into the Woods with Music Theater Works. He has also worked with The Marriott Theater and Porchlight Music Theater.
Hannah Eisendrath (Sheila/Fairy Chorus): Hannah Eisendrath is a Chicago native with a deep love for Northern Michigan. She graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in 2018 after exploring a variety of dynamic stage roles including Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Margaret Johnson in The Light in the Piazza. Hannah also played Emmy in the regional premiere of A Doll’s House, Part 2 directed by Kristina Corcoran Williams at the 2018 Interlochen Summer Festival. Currently, she is a theatre major at Bard College in upstate New York where she is currently working on a new piece inspired by A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Jack Ferver.
Joshua Isaiah Foster (Hud/Dev): Joshua Isaiah Foster is thrilled to be joining Parallel 45 this summer! Favorite credits: San Diego REP (In the Heights, Evita). Richie Walters in A Chorus Line, La Cienega in Bring It On, Graffiti Pete in In The Heights and Professor Callahan in Legally Blonde. He currently studies Musical Theater at Carnegie Mellon University. Performances are dedicated to my mother, rest in peace.
Rudy Foster (Claude/Gentleman Toad): Rudy Foster is thrilled to join Parallel 45 Theatre for its 2019 Season! A native of Chattanooga, TN, Rudy is an active advocate for public education and the arts. He trained at The University of Chicago working under the mentorship of Jon Berry, John Dietrich, Sean Graney, David New and Curt Wollan. While living in Chicago, Rudy worked professionally as an actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, vocal coach, and writer, most notably as a member and Artistic Director of The University of Chicago's award-winning all-male a cappella ensemble, Run for Cover. Highlights of his previous credits include Pseudolus (...Forum), Will Parker (Oklahoma!), Papa Ge (Once on this Island), Eddie Souther (Sister Act), and his BroadwayWorld Nashville Regional Theater Award-winning performance as Enjolras in Les Misérables. Most recently, Rudy was a full-season ensemble member/vocal captain for three years at Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, TN, appearing in long-running, beloved Golden Ticket award-winning shows like Dreamland Drive-In, Christmas in the Smokies, and ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.
Madison Hertel (Tribe/Fairy Chorus): Madison is a freshman at Ithaca College in New York pursuing a BFA in Musical Theatre. She worked on her first play at Ithaca College this year, playing Antonia in Tatjana in Color. A Traverse City native, Madison has participated in community, high school theatre, as well as spending four summers at Interlochen Center for the Arts in the Musical Theatre program, playing roles such as Judas/John the Baptist in Godspell and a Follie Girl/Dance Captain in Crazy for You. Her regional professional stage work includes Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden at Farmers Alley Theatre (Kalamazoo, MI), and Nelle Harper in the Chicago premier of A Christmas Memory. She also played a supporting lead role in her first film, Break My Bones, a Bau Bau Pictures SAG-AFTRA short. She is thrilled to be a part of Parallel 45 and is thankful for the support of her teachers and family!
Sarah Beth Keyes (Jeanie/Bunny Foo Foo): A company member at PlayMakers Repertory Theatre entering her third and final year of University of North Carolina’s Professional Actor Training Program. She was most recently seen at PlayMakers as Virginia in Life of Galileo directed by Vivienne Benesch. She has also appeared in Sense & Sensibility, Leaving Eden, She Loves Me, Constellations, and two seasons of the PlayMakers Mobile Shakespeare tour. Other favorite credits include The Skin of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience); The Mysteries (The Flea); Solutions Grassroots Tour (International Wow Company). She has appeared frequently at the Scranton Shakespeare Festival and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Sarah is a proud graduate of Fordham University Lincoln Center, and studied acting under David Montee at Interlochen Arts Academy (07-09).
Luke Klein (Cris/Skink): Luke Klein is a freshman at UNC School of the Arts for a BFA in Acting. He is from Leland, Michigan and attended Leland Public School until his senior year when he transferred to Interlochen Arts Academy. He is thrilled to be in his first production with P45. Luke’s regional theatre credits include A Christmas Memory and On Golden Pond (Theatre at the Center in Chicago). Luke was also a part of the 2018 Interlochen Shakespeare Festival and has appeared as a guest artist multiple times at Interlochen: Les Miserables, Children of Eden. Additionally, he appeared as the lead in the feature film Camp Manna. He would like to thank Rick and Lynne Church, Linda Osborn, Jeremy Evans, and Bill Church for introducing him to P45. Also appreciated, mom and dad.
Maya Lagerstam (Ronny/The Blue Fairy): is a proud Interlochen Arts Academy graduate '16, member of the Doghouse Theatre Ensemble, and rising senior at the University of Minnesota/Guthrie BFA Actor Training Program. In 2018 she was awarded Finalist in YoungArts for Theatre. Some of her favorite roles include Penelope Pennywise in Urinetown and Joanne in Rent (IAA), Olivia in Twelfth Night and Chrysothemis in Electra (UMN/Guthrie BFA), Katherine in Henry V (Globe Education in London), and Dorothy in The Wiz and Featured Soloist in Godspell (Hope Summer Repertory Theatre).
Daniel Lendzian (Margaret Mead/Doyle Trigorin): Daniel has performed with The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, North American Cultural Laboratory, The Seattle Children’s Theater, The Zach Theater, FESTA Theater in Florence, Italy, Sugar Loaf PAC, Clove Creek Theater, Interlochen Shakespeare Festival, The Winnipesaukee Playhouse, The Weathervane Repertory Theater, Two Pigs Productions, and O’Connell & Co, among many others. He has been nominated for the New Hampshire Theater Award and the B. Iden Payne Award. He has taught acting and public speaking at The University of Texas at Austin, SUNY Sullivan, and Kean University. Currently, he is a lecturer in theater at Fredonia State University.
Aguel Lual (Tribe/Mash): Some of Aguel's favorite credits are Kate Monster/ Lucy the Slut in Avenue Q (Nebraska Repertory Theatre) Maurice in Lord of The Flies (Nebraska Rep) Emmie Thibodeaux in Caroline, Or Change (Omaha Community Playhouse)and most recently as Ronnie in the Nebraska Repertory Theatre’s production of Hair. She also loves sharing theatre with children and has worked as a Teaching Artist with Flatwater Shakespeare’s Little But Fierce program. Aguel Lual is a recent graduate of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film and is stoked to have the opportunity to make art in Traverse City this summer.
Katharine Mangold (Tribe/Emma Arkadina): Katharine attended Interlochen Arts Academy before moving to the UK to continue her acting training at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. After almost 15 years spent living and working in London as an actor, Katharine has relocated to Los Angeles. Past productions with P45 include The Terrible Tragedy of Peter Pan, Medea, A Christmas Carol in Prose, Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, and Unvoiced. She performed at the Sam Wanamaker Festival at The Globe Theatre in London, won the John Wills Memorial Prize, the Third Year Acting Prize and the Phillip and Christine Carne Prize for Acting.
Katherine Dillingham Mazer (Tribe): Born and raised in Oklahoma and a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, northern Michigan is one of the places Kate calls home. She is a Registered Drama Therapist and a certificated K-12 Special Educator. She currently teaches 4th-6th grade students with special needs in Santa Rosa, CA. Previous P45 credits include Our Town, Metamorphoses, The Shrew, A Christmas Carol in Prose, Cyrano, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind & A Streetcar Named Desire. Kate holds a BFA in Acting from the Hartt School and an MA in Drama Therapy from New York University.
*David Montee (Dr. Eugene Sorn): David Montee was a theatre instructor at the Interlochen Center for the Arts for 30 years (1988-2018), chairing its theatre program for 21 of those years. During that time, he was twice recognized as a Distinguished Teacher by the U.S. Department of Education’s Presidential Scholar Program (2001, 2009), named Coca-Cola’s Distinguished Teacher in the Arts by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (2004), and given Honorable Mention for Excellence in Theatre Education by the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards in 2016. He is the author of the book Translating Shakespeare: A Guidebook for Young Actors, published by Smith and Kraus in 2014. In 2016, he became a Resident Artist at Jeff Daniels’s Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, Michigan, where he performed the role of Felix in The Odd Couple for 65 performances in that theatre’s 25th anniversary season, a role for which he was nominated for Encore Michigan's Wilde Award for Best Actor. He has performed in 7 of 11 seasons for the Interlochen Shakespeare Festival, and twice won the Wilde Award for best Shakespearean Performance (for the roles of Jaques in As You Like It, and the title role in King Lear). He appeared in the 2013 Parallel 45 production of The Shrew, and is honored to be invited to work with them again in this premiere summer season of their new revolving repertory format. Dr. Montee is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, and has directed and performed in New York, Boston, regional, and educational theatres in well over 150 productions over the course of his nearly 50 year career in the American theatre.
*Appearing courtesy of AEA
Serenity S'rae Saffold-Rice (Tribe/Nina): A recent awardee of both the The YoungArts Foundation and the August Wilson Monologue Competition. Serenity Srae is a native of Atlanta Georgia where she is a proud alumni of Youth Ensemble of Atlanta, and she is a recent graduate from Interlochen Arts Academy. She participated in a devised piece inspired by Our Town at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta with Mellon Fellow Playwright Pearl Cleage. Previous roles include Judy in The Curious Incident Of the Dog in the Night-Time, Goldie in Hello From Bertha, Vera in Seven Guitars, and Nya in Pipeline at Interlochen. Serenity thanks her mother, dad, sisters, friends, and mentors.
Mikhail Yarovoy (Woof/Conrad): Mishka Yarovoy is an actor from Moscow, Russia. Having grown up in a family of traveling musicians, he spent most of life changing locations - living for multiple years between Mexico, Russia, Spain and the United States. At the age of fourteen he left his family in Moscow and decided to move to New York to pursue his dream of a career in theatre and film. During his time in NYC, he attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, worked part-time as an assistant in local theatre companies and attended studio classes all over the city. In 2016 he had the opportunity to be in Carnegie Hall’s production of West Side Story as an ensemble member and participate in various off-broadway productions and independent films. In 2017 Mishka decided to further his acting training by attending Interlochen Arts Academy, where he is currently a senior. Mishka plans on starting his college training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland next year with a BA in Acting and is thrilled to be joining Parallel 45’s productions of Hair and Stupid Fucking Bird the summer of 2019.
And we are thrilled to announce our amazing acting interns!
Theodore Huff (Gentleman Toad): Teddy Huff is approaching his senior year at Traverse City Central High School (TCCHS). He’s been featured in productions at TCCHS and The Old Town Playhouse. His favorite roles being Marius in Les Misérables and Crutchie in Newsies. He has also taken part in a theater intensive at Indiana University, where he intends to apply in his senior year. Teddy intends to pursue a bachelor’s in performing arts after he graduates high school.
Oliver Boomer (Gentleman Toad): Oliver just finished his freshman year at St Francis High School, and he is thrilled to be spending his summer working with Parallel 45. He has been performing since he was 9 and has previously appeared in Elf the Musical at Paramount Theatre in Chicago. Recent credits: Brigadoon directed by Peggy Trekker White, and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown directed by Stacia Sexton. He also enjoys snowboarding in the winter and running track in the spring. He would like to thank his friends and family for supporting him in all his theatre endeavors!
Musicians
Jen Baker (Trombone): Jen Baker, trombonist/composer has pioneered a widely diverse career based in redefining the role of trombone in contemporary music and traditional performance settings, accomplished through site specific pieces, choreography, memorizing music as a means to break the fourth wall, and many other nontraditional performance techniques. Her performance work with Asphalt Orchestra highlights many of these points. Hailed for her "formidable sensitivity” (New York Times), she has “performed with brilliant mastery and virtuosity” (San Francisco Classical Voice) at festivals worldwide, including the International Trombone Festival, American Trombone Workshop, High Zero international festival of improvised music, ISIM Conference - International Society of Improvised Music, Adelaide Festival (Australia), Ostrava Days (Czech Republic), Ottawa ChamberFest (Canada), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland), Festival of Friendly Countries (Mexico), and Berlin’s Festival USA! Other performance highlights include Karole Armitage Fables of Global Warming, Bananabag and Bodice Beowulf a thousand years of baggage, Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s final performance, and annual appearances with American Brass Quintet at the Guggenheim. Baker is featured on the soundtrack to Werner Herzog's Oscar-nominated Encounters at the End of the World, appeared on Good Morning America, toured with world music popstars, and is on record labels including New World, Innova, New Amsterdam, Cantaloupe, and her own label, Dilapidated Barns.As a composer her music has been performed nationwide, in part by commissions by The Fourth Wall, loadbang, Asphalt Orchestra and also with her solo and collaborative projects as composer/performer. Her recent solo project blends site-specific field recording (realized with 4+ surround speakers) with live performance soloist: Silo Songs was recorded in a massive concrete grain silo with new multiphonics pieces in the naturally reverberant, cylindrical space and using such unlikely objects as bassoon reeds, harmonicas, incidental birds, and the silo itself to create the soundscape. Her earlier solo album, Blue Dreams, is similarly based on vibration of multiphonics. As an educator she authored Hooked on Multiphonics: Multiphonics and other Extended Techniques Demystified, the first and only book that comprehensively deals with the technique of singing through the trombone, and has been widely appreciated in composer and trombonist circles alike! She teaches trombone and composition at Sarah Lawrence College, gives brass/trombone classes on extended technique, and has performed in numerous kid concerts/petting zoos/brass demonstrations throughout NYC. She loves improvised vegan cooking (10 years and counting!), listening to animals, and long meandering walks.
Justin Hart (Percussion/Drums): Justin is a musical theater drummer based in the Cleveland area. Recent regional favorites include: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Cleveland Play House; Next to Normal, Tantrum Theatre; Memphis, Cain Park; Ella Enchanted, Dobama Theatre. He is unspeakably grateful to be able to return to Traverse City for a third time. He’s previously performed at P45 as Schlatko in Hedgwig and a performer in Mr. Burns. Thank you to P45 staff, family, and friends, again, now, and forever.
Curtis Holtgrafe (reeds): Curtis Holtgrefe is a woodwind specialist and music teacher originally from Cincinnati, OH. Curtis graduated from the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music with an undergraduate degree in music education with a saxophone specialization. Currently he is living in New Jersey pursuing his master's degree in multiple woodwind performance at New Jersey City University. Curtis studies with Dave Noland as well as Arthur Sato. Previous teachers include James Bunte, Rick VanMatre, Mikey Arbulu, and Nave Graham.
William Lang: (Trombone/Trumpet): Originally from Long Island, Trombonist William Lang is an active performer and improviser in New York and Boston. The New York Times has called his playing “fiercely, virtuosic”, and he has been hailed for his “superb performance” of James Bergin’s Langmusik by the Boston Globe, William is dedicated to playing premieres and new music. He has performed solo recitals at New York City's premiere floating concert venue: Bargemusic, the Dimenna Center, the Stone, the Tank, the Gershwin Hotel, and Greenfield Hall, as well as many other venues throughout the country. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Janacek Philharmonia in an acclaimed performance of Iannis Xenakis' trombone concerto: Trookh, as well as with the Fredonia Wind Ensemble on a tour of New York State; as a guest soloist with Ensemble Pi and the Broadway Bach Ensemble, as a special guest soloist with Talujon Percussion as well as on the Avant Media Festival, the Defacto Music Series, and the Electronic Music Festival, among others. As a chamber musician William is a founding member of two New York City based groups: loadbang, his groundbreaking ensemble consisting of Baritone, Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, and Trombone, hailed as “inventive” by the New York Times and “cultivated” by the New Yorker; and the Guidonian Hand, a trombone quartet hailed by the New York Times for their "expertly played, with meaty low brass textures" performance. William is a member of the SEM Ensemble, TILT Brass, the Argento Chamber Ensemble, Brooklyn Brass, and the Boston Microtonal Society’s premier ensemble: Notariotous, where he works alongside like minded composers and performers on the definition of pitch. He has also appeared as a guest artist with the Arts Ensemble of Chicago, Wet Ink, TACTUS, Ensemble Echappe, and Talea. As a recording and commercial musician William has appeared on albums with such luminaries as David Byrne and St. Vincent (their album Love This Giant,) and Jonsi's (from Sigur Ros) solo album Go. He can also be heard on many classical releases, most recently with TILT Brass' debut recording, to TILT vol. 1 and as a recording soloist for John Cage's Ryoanji with the Avant Media Festival. He has also recorded commercial music for Philip Glass, as well as the soundtrack for a Matthew Barny film, the River Fundment. In addition to recording credits, William has been heard as the house trombonist for Rockefeller Center's Christmas Music Spectacular, featuring the Rockettes!, as well as on numerous on and off-Broadway shows. Mr. Lang is also an accomplished Orchestral and Opera musician as well, appearing with many ensembles throughout New York, such as the American Ballet Theatre, Dicapo Opera, Musicra Sacra, the Little Orchestra Society, and the Manhattan Chamber Symphony among others. In addition he has played with the Orchestra of the SEM Ensemble, the Janacek Philharmonic, the Western New York Chamber Orchestra, and the Eroica Ensemble. William has also performed in such venues as the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie’s Isaac Stern and Zankel Halls, le Poisson Rouge, Radio City Music Hall, the Winter Garden, St. Paul’s Church in Boston, St John the Divine’s in New York City, Paul Hall, Lincoln Center’s Rose Theatre, the Flea, Issue Project Room, Galapagos, Secret Project Robot, and St. Peter’s in New York City. As a curator alongside trumpeter Andrew Kozar, William founded and ran a weekly concert series, "Power Concerts", at Manhattan School of Music. Featuring guest performers every week and a dedication to new music, Will and Andy hosted 42 concerts, which built up a steady following and featured the premieres of over 50 new works during their tenure. William received his Masters Degree from Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Herrington, and his Bachelors Degree from SUNY Fredonia, where he studied with Stefan Sanders, Scott Parkinson, and Carl Mazzio. He is a also a frequent teaching artist for the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program and has also given masterclasses and lectures at Boston University, Columbia University, New York University, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Fredonia, the University of the Arts, Sacramento State, Central Michigan University, and Northern Arizona University. William is also on faculty at the Longy School of Music in Boston, where he teaches lessons in trombone and the nature of being a 21st century musicians, as well as the Brooklyn Conservatory, where he focuses on teaching 2nd-7th graders their beginning lessons at a variety of underprivileged schools.
Stuart McLemore (Bass) Bio available shortly!
Caleb Pringle (Guitar): Caleb Pringle an NYC-based musician. He holds a BA from the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, where he studied bass performance and music technology. He’s played professional musical theatre since 2010 in Atlanta, New York, and Boston, and in 2017 was on the first national tour of A Charlie Brown Christmas as a double bassist and cast member for Gershwin Entertainment. He’s played guitar since 2005 and worked as the lead guitarist/songwriter in a band for 6 years. He loves to collaborate on both instruments and specifically enjoys writing and developing new work for the musical theatre.
Production Team
Dylan Nicole Martin: Summer Production Manager
Christian Londos: Technical Director + Master Carpenter
Cory John: Costume Shop Manager
Jacob Sikorski: Master Electrician + Associate Lighting Designer
Elise Curtis-Dull: Props Coordinator
Production Stage Manager: HAIR The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical
Annie Scheuermann: Production Stage Manager: Little Bunny Foo Foo
Caleb Wimbrow: Apprentice Coordinator and Production Stage Manager: Stupid F*cking Bird
Samuel Parsons: Audio Assistant
Dylan Chace Lee: Carpenter + Deck Captain
Taylor Delgado-Diaz: Wardrobe Assistant + Dresser
Daniel Hayes: Interim Production Manager
Design Team
Jacy Barber: (Costume Designer) Jacy Barber is an American theatre maker, puppet-artist, performer, costume designer, object designer, and visual artist currently based out of the upper Hudson Valley. Jacy’s artistic practice was originally birthed out of drawing, painting, and sculpture as a primary form of experiential processing and expression. Theatrical design and performance quickly became inextricably enmeshed as Jacy sought to incorporate time, movement, and the living body into this practice. Jacy has designed costumes and properties for world premiere productions for Kennedy Center’s Theatre for Young Audiences, The Welders, Field Trip Theatre, A Broken Umbrella Theatre, Contradiction Dance, Ballet ADI, Queens Theater In The Park, AndHow! Theatre Company, and Fred Ho. Jacy’s independent exploration of garment and textile based sculpture has resulted in collaborative installation projects (A Broken Umbrella Theatre) and the creation and facilitation of ‘Wearable Arts,’ a workshop made possible by The Putney School Summer Programs. Jacy’s work as a puppet based performance-artist began with academic study under the puppet-artist Dan Hurlin and a subsequent performance internship with Basil Twist and Mabou Mines for their performance of Red Beads (MassMoCA). While living in Washington D.C. Jacy co-founded Not A Robot Theatre Company with Jason Wells, endeavoring to create and produce original puppet/object theatre with a punk concept and aesthetic. NARTCo’s original production of The Clocks (Capital Fringe) earned the festival’s ‘Director’s Award’. Jacy has also served as Puppet Master for A Broken Umbrella Theatre since 2011. Jacy holds a B.A. (Costume Design and Puppetry concentration) from Sarah Lawrence College and a M.S. in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England.
Christopher Dills (Scenic Designer): Parallel 45: The Terrible Tragedy of Peter Pan, Cyrano, Alice in Wonderland. Atlanta: Cinderella, Maria de Buenos Aires, Barber of Seville, Out of Darkness: Two Remain (The Atlanta Opera), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (The Atlanta Lyric Theatre). Regional: The Great Gatsby (Springer Opera House), She Kills Monsters (Omaha Community Playhouse), The Jungle Book (Omaha Theatre Company), Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, As You Like It (Interlochen Shakespeare Festival), Secret in the Wings (Interlochen Arts Academy), Midsummer Jersey, Crazy for You (Interlochen Arts Camp). BFA in Technical Theatre from Columbus State University, MFA in Scenic Design from Boston University. Member of IATSE 479.
Brian Elston (Lighting Designer): Brian Elston is a freelance lighting designer, and assistant lighting designer based in Chicago, IL. Brian has a passion for story telling and contributing to the larger aesthetic of productions. Past designs include: How I Became a Pirate; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Children's Theatre of Maddison) Knufflebunny; The Wiz; Magic Treehouse (Emerald City Theatre) A Christmas Carol in Prose; Hedwig and The Angry Inch; Cyrano (Parallel 45 Inc.) Les Miserables; Henry V; Oklahoma! (Interlochen Center for the Arts) Borderlands (Underscore Theatre). Brian also regularly assists at some of the major Chicago Theaters including: Goodman Theatre (Sweat; Twist Your Dickens; A Christmas Carol; 2666; Rapture, Blister, Burn; The Wolves; Father Comes Home From the Wars; Pamplona; Uncle Vanya) Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (Sense and Sensibility) Drury Lane (Rock of Ages; South Pacific) Paramount Theatre (The Producers, Million Dollar Quartet) and Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire (Sweet Charity; Holiday Inn). He will be working at San Fransisco Opera as an Assistant Lighting Designer for their upcoming Spring season. He holds a BFA in design and technology from Columbus State University in Columbus, GA and an MFA in lighting design from The Ohio State University.
Inés Thiebaut (Composer, Sound Designer/Engineer) Inés Thiebaut was born and raised in Madrid, Spain. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at California State University East Bay, where she leads the music composition, technology and theory areas. She holds a Ph.D from the CUNY Graduate Center (New York). Her music is rooted in the post-modern tradition, and her research interests primarily engage with the music of the 20th century. Before her move to the East Bay, Inés held a 3-year Visiting Assistant Professor position at the University of Utah. Her most recent work for the concert hall is a chamber piano concerto commissioned by the NOVA Chamber Music Series and performed by pianist Jason Hardink (Utah Symphony) in Salt Lake City.Inés's compositional interests also lie beyond the concert hall, as she is always eager to collaborate with other art forms. She has composed music for two productions of the Traverse City-based theatre company Parallel45, as well as several short films and dance pieces in Spain, Portugal, and the US.
Seasonal Administration
Bios available shorty!
Gretchen Eichberger Carr (Company Manager): Gretchen E. Carr enjoys a varied career as an artist, arts administrator, educator and historian. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the School of Music at Western Michigan University and a Graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation from Eastern Michigan University.
Barbara Disborough: Audience Services Manager