November 21 – December 28, 2025 2025/2026 Season
From the Artistic Director
Welcome to Hartford Stage and to our beloved holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Since 1998, this production has brought our community together year after year— families, friends, and neighbors gathering in person to share the warmth, wonder, and the spirit of live theater. There is something profoundly moving about sitting together in a darkened theater during this season of lights, rediscovering a story that reminds us of hope, generosity, and redemption.
This production embodies one of my most cherished values of the theater: connection. Onstage and off, we build bridges between generations—from seasoned professionals to our extraordinary Youth Company, from the families who make this show part of their holiday tradition to the thousands of students who experience live theater through our student matinees. These young people are the next generation of artists, audiences, and storytellers, and A Christmas Carol is often their first invitation into the magic of the stage.
For more than 60 years, Hartford Stage has been a gathering place for stories that reflect our shared humanity. We are honored that you have chosen to spend this moment with us, to celebrate tradition, community, and the enduring power of redemption.
Thank you for being part of our Hartford Stage family. Enjoy the show—and may it fill your season with joy and inspiration.
Melia Bensussen Artistic Director
MELIA BENSUSSEN
PRESENTS
Managing Director
Artistic Director CYNTHIA RIDER
By Charles Dickens
Adapted and Directed by
Michael Wilson
Original Choreography Hope Clarke
Choreography Reproduced by Derric Harris
Scenic Design Tony Straiges
Costume Design Alejo Vietti
Lighting Design Robert Wierzel
Sound Design & Original Music John Gromada
Original Costume Design Zack Brown
Wig Design Brittany Hartman
Flying Effects ZFX, Inc.
Dialect & Voice Coach Johanna Morrison
Music Director John Fitzpatrick
Fight Coordinator Michael Rossmy
Youth Coordinators
Shelby Demke & Noah (Ren) Roy
Wig & Hair Coordinator Jodi Stone
Original Dramaturg Christopher Baker
Casting Alldaffer & Donadio Casting
Production Stage Manager Kelly Hardy *
First Assistant Stage Manager Chandalae Nyswonger *
Second Assistant Stage Manager Campbell Anidjar *
Associate Artistic Director Zoë Golub-Sass Director of Production Bryan T. Holcombe
General Manager Emily Van Scoy
SEASON SPONSORS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION SPONSOR
STUDENT MATINEE SPONSOR
Michael E. Simmons Foundation
PRODUCTION SPONSORS
The Equity Company
The Hartt School / Hartford Stage Partnership in Training
The Partnership in Training offers a unique alliance of an undergraduate acting conservatory program and a respected professional theater. This partnership helps ensure that theater students at The Hartt School receive rigorous training and bring their skills, imagination and intellect to the demands of a professional theater setting. Hartt School students have worked on and offstage in many Hartford Stage shows including A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas.
Erik Bloomquist
Emily Bosco
Natalie Brown
Robert Hannon Davis
Kenneth De Abrew Guiesseppe Jones Rebecka Jones Daniel Madigan
Patrick O’Konis
Stuart Rider
Noble Shropshire Leslie Blake Walker
The Company
Ebenezer Scrooge ..................................................................................... Guiesseppe Jones *
Mrs. Dilber, his housekeeper .................................................................... Noble Shropshire *
Bob Cratchit, his clerk .................................................................................... Patrick O’Konis *
Fred, his nephew Erik Bloomquist *
Fred’s Wife Leslie Blake Walker *
First Solicitor ...............................................................................................Kenneth De Abrew *
Second Solicitor ................................................................................... Robert Hannon Davis *
Mr. Toby .........................................................................................................................Walker Kaul ^
Bettye Pidgeon, a doll vendor Rebecka Jones *
Beggar Woman Natalie Brown *
Rich Lady Christina Rielle ^ Bert, a fruit and cider vendor ............................................................................ Stuart Rider *
Mr. Marvel, a watchworks vendor.............................................................. Daniel Madigan *
Undertaker.............................................................................................. Robert Hannon Davis *
Jacob Marley Noble Shropshire * Spirit of Christmas Past Rebecka Jones *
Scrooge at 14............................................................................................................ Max Ashford ^
Scrooge at 30 ................................................................................................... Erik Bloomquist *
Mr. Fezziwig .................................................................................................Kenneth De Abrew *
Mrs. Fezziwig Natalie Brown *
Nichola, Fezziwig’s daughter Celia Castillo-Torres ^
Wendy, Fezziwig’s daughter Lauren Bries ^
Fiddler..................................................................................................................... Christina Rielle ^
Dick Wilkins.................................................................................................................... Eric Orsini ^
Guests at Fezziwig’s Party ......................................................... Max Ashford ^, Ray Cain ^
Belle, affianced to Scrooge Leslie Blake Walker * Spirit of Christmas Present Stuart Rider *
Mrs. Cratchit ............................................................................................................... Emily Bosco *
Martha Cratchit..................................................................................................... Hannah Fidler ^
Mr. Topper ...........................................................................................................................Ray Cain ^ Fred’s Sister-In-Law Natalie Brown *
Guests at Fred’s Party
Max Ashford ^, Lauren Bries ^ Walker Kaul ^, Christina Rielle ^
Spirit of Christmas Future ............................................................................................. Himself
Old Jo ..................................................................................................................... Rebecka Jones *
Ghostly Apparitions & Citizens of London................. Max Ashford ^, Lauren Bries ^, Ray Cain ^, Celia Castillo-Torres ^ Hannah Fidler ^, Eric Orsini ^, Leslie Blake Walker *
Swings .................................................................................Connor Austin ^, Claire Stillman ^
* Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
^ BFA student from our academic theater partnership with The Hartt School at the University of Hartford.
The Scenic, Costume, Lighting and Sound Designers in LORT theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 of the IATSE.
The Director and Choreographer are members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent national labor union.
The Youth Company
Tim Cratchit................................................
Theodore “Teddy” Curren or James Salvo
Spoiled Child ............................................................................ Braelyn Lane or Aria Pierce
Schoolboys ..............................
Addison “Addy” Curren, Vivienne Gates-Graceson, Braelyn Lane, McKenna Pettie-Uzoka, Aria Pierce, or Saige Stewart
Boy Scrooge / Fred’s Son Cru Aspen Lyles or Coralie Frumkin
Fred’s Daughter ......................
Addison “Addy” Curren or McKenna Pettie-Uzoka Fan, Scrooge’s sister .................................................... Isabella Lundy or Gibson Quinn Claire, Fezziwig’s daughter ............................... Avery McMahon or Serena Hoffman
Belinda Cratchit
Vivienne Gates-Graceson or Saige Stewart
Peter Cratchit William Schloat or William Griffith
Fruit Child / Ignorance
Orlandus “Zeke” Lane or Evely “Evy” Butterfield Cider Child / Want ................................................
Adelina McGinnis or Campbell Mills
Turkey Boy ........................................................................... Sawyer Delaney or Avery Mills
Lamplighter ................................................................ Andrew Michaels or Julia Sheehan
Understudies never substitute for listed actors unless a specific announcement is made at the time of the performance. For Ebenezer Scrooge: Robert Hannon Davis. For Mrs. Dilber, Jacob Marley: Patrick O’Konis. For Bob Cratchit: Erik Bloomquist. For Bettye Pidgeon, Spirit of Christmas Past, Old Jo: Natalie Brown. For Bert, Spirit of Christmas Present: Kenneth De Abrew. For Mr. Marvel: Walker Kaul. For First Solicitor, Second Solicitor, Mr. Fezziwig: Daniel Madigan. For First Solicitor, Second Solicitor: Max Ashford. For Fred, Scrooge at 30: Ray Cain. For Mr. Topper: Eric Orsini. For Beggar Woman: Hannah Fidler. For Undertaker, Mrs. Fezziwig, Fred’s Sister-in-Law, Martha Cratchit: Christina Rielle. For Mrs. Cratchit: Celia Castillo-Torres. For Rich Lady, Belle, Fred’s Wife: Lauren Bries.
THE PERFORMANCE WILL BE TWO HOURS WITH ONE INTERMISSION.
Additional Production Support
Hartt School Assistant Directors Julianna Noelle Misluk ^, Sophie Walters ^
Assistant Scenic Designer Catherine Chung
Assistant Lighting Designers ............................... Shane Hennessy, Lauren Nychelle
Associate Sound Designer............................................................................. Lucas Clopton
Intimacy Coordinator .................................................................................... Michael Rossmy
Dance Captain
Leslie Blake Walker *
Production Assistant ......................................................................................Alyssa Edwards
This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)’s rights and actionable under United States copyright law.
Charles Dickens in his Study, 1859 by William Powell Frith, Victoria and Albert Museum.
About Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is widely considered the greatest English novelist of the Victorian era. His many novels include A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and Our Mutual Friend. Dickens was more popular during his lifetime than any previous novelist had been. His work functioned on many levels and had a wide appeal; he was both a great comic writer and a serious and thoughtful critic of the society he lived in. A Christmas Carol has always been among the best-loved of his novels. He also wrote a couple of plays, and while neither of them were hits, many of the novels have been successfully dramatized and are regularly produced today.
A Christmas Carol was the first of Dickens’ Christmas novels a genre he created. He conceived of and wrote it in a few weeks, in the midst of his work on the much longer Martin Chuzzlewit. It’s the one great Christmas myth of modern literature, and it quickly entered the general consciousness. When he died, it is said that a young girl exclaimed, “Dickens dead? Then will Father Christmas die too?” Dickens wrote a further Christmas book almost every year for the next two decades, but while they did well, none had such a wide effect on the general culture.
In 1858, Dickens started giving public paid readings of his work. A novelist who had once considered being an actor, he had always written work that lent itself well to reading aloud. The most popular of his readings were of A Christmas Carol and of the trial scene from The Pickwick Papers. He gave readings both in London and on tour over the next decade, culminating in the United States. A natural performer, he brought out the nuances in his work while also making good use of dramatic effects. Each reading was about two hours in total, and these performances brought in a great deal of his income in the last decade of his life. No other major novelist (until Mark Twain) had taken on such a series of readings; they were very successful, but they took their toll.
The American tour in 1867-68 was the last he made, and it contributed to the decline in his health. In 1869 he gave a series of farewell readings in London and famously ended them with the lines “From these garish lights I vanish now forever…,” lines which were repeated only three months later on the card for his funeral. He died suddenly in 1870 at only 58 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Making the Magic!
Peek behind the scenes of A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas! Each element is carefully crafted and created right here at Harford Stage to bring you the heart and magic of our beloved holiday classic.
Rebecka Jones and the Youth Company (2024).
Photo by T. Charles Erickson.
Sets
It takes our Scene Shop staff over 800 hours to unpack, repair, and install the set every year.
Many elements from the original 1998 set are still on stage today!
Costumes
Each of the 46 actors’ costumes are custom fit by our Costume Shop. Actors have at least one fitting (sometimes more!) and each range from 30-90 minutes, depending on the number of costume pieces and complexity of design.
There are 153 different costumes in total that are made up of over 1,190 individual pieces of clothing and accessories, and 45 wigs!
IN CIRCLE: The wigs of A Christmas Carol. Photo by Lucas Clopton.
IN CIRCLE: The crew loads in the set for the 2025 production. Photo by Lucas Clopton.
LEFT: Original Scenic Model by Tony Straiges. Photo by Lucas Clopton.
RIGHT: Noble Shropshire and the set on stage (2024). Photo by T. Charles Erickson.
Props
A total of 150 Christmas poppers are used during rehearsals and performances every year! Each popper is custom made by the talented artisans in our Prop Shop.
Dry ice is used to create the steam effects for Bert’s cider and Mr. Marvel’s cart. The production uses over 350 pounds of dry ice per year!
Wonder how we get it to snow in the theater?
Look up and you might see how!
Between the lights and speakers overhead, you’ll also find “snow boxes.” These cardboard boxes contain a motor and a filter—and are packed with plastic flakes. When it’s time for the snow to fall, the motor moves the filter, which slides back and forth, letting bits of snow sprinkle through. After the performance, we sweep and vacuum up the snow and reload the boxes to create the magic all over again.
IN CIRCLE: A pile of Christmas poppers. Photo by Lucas Clopton. TOP: Youth Company members in the snow (2024). Photo by T. Charles Erickson. BOTTOM: The snow boxes above the stage. Photo by Molly Flanagan.
Lighting
There are over 500 lights that turn on (and off!) over the course of the show. Some of these are overhead, and some are on stage. It takes seven people an entire week to hang all these lights.
We insert gobos in many lights on stage...
What is a gobo?
A gobo is a stencil that light shines through to create an image on the stage. They can be custom made or generic, literal or abstract. The most famous custom gobo we use is the clock that is seen on the floor of the stage.
Sound
There are 25 speakers around the theater to hear all the sound effects used in the show— including one wireless speaker, hidden in Mr. Marvel’s cart!
There are 11 microphones used in this show: four area microphones hung in the air and hidden on stage, and seven body microphones that are worn by individual actors.
TOP LEFT: Clock gobo design. TOP RIGHT: Clock gobo. Photo by Lucas Clopton. BELOW: Clock gobo in use during A Christmas Carol. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.
IN CIRCLE: A speaker backstage used in the production. Photo by Lucas Clopton.
Stage Management & Run Crew
Alongside our cast, there is a backstage team of 20 for every show!
1 Stage Manager, who oversees everything onstage and off! They sit in the windowed booth behind the audience, so they have a clear view of the stage. They communicate with the full backstage team over headsets about when lights change, scenery moves, actors enter, and more.
2 Assistant Stage Managers, who guide the cast and crew backstage.
1 Light Board Operator, who controls the lighting cues.
1 Sound Board Operator, who controls the sound effects and adjusts the volume of the microphones and speakers.
1 Automations Operator, who controls the automated cues like trapdoors and sliding walls.
3 Deck Crew Members, who manually move set pieces on and off the stage.
2 Fly Team Members, who operate the ropes that fly the actors and ensure their safety.
2 Spotlight Operators, who manually shift lights to follow the actors in real time.
1 Wardrobe Supervisor, who oversees the Wardrobe Crew and does emergency costume repairs and maintenance.
2 Wardrobe Run Crew Members, who help the cast get into costume before the show and make quick changes between scenes.
1 Wig Supervisor, who cleans, repairs, and styles the wigs regularly.
1 Wig Crew Member, who gets the actors in and out of their wigs before, during, and after the performance.
2 Youth Coordinators, who work with the Youth Company throughout rehearsals and performances. At the theater, they guide the children through the show and help them navigate backstage.
IN CIRCLE: A spotlight is focused. Photo by Molly Flanagan.
About the Artists
The Equity Company
Erik Bloomquist | Fred / Scrooge at 30
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, Rear Window, Hamlet, Ether Dome Regional: The Great Gatsby (Legacy Theatre); Calendar Girls, The Game’s Afoot, A Christmas Carol, Memphis, La Cage Aux Folles (Ivoryton Playhouse); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Valley Shakespeare Festival; Capital Classics); others. Directing: The 39 Steps (Ivoryton Playhouse); Footloose (Ozark Actors Theatre); Bye, Bye, Birdie (Priscilla Beach Theatre); Tracks of Terror (Essex Steam Train); Carrie, Heathers: The Musical, Rent, Into the Woods (Trinity College); 25th...Spelling Bee (Clark University); others. Film: Self-Help, Founders Day, She Came from the Woods, Weekenders, Intermedium, Night at the Eagle Inn, Christmas on the Carousel, Ten Minutes to Midnight, Long Lost, Midas, High Heat, Plan B, others. Television: The Cobblestone Corridor (also series creator), The Mystery of Matter, others. Education: BA Theater and Dance, Trinity College; London Dramatic Academy. Other: Narrator of 100+ audiobooks. Awards: Two-time Emmy Award Winner for The Cobblestone Corridor (Outstanding Writer, Outstanding Director); Top 200 Director HBO’s Project Greenlight; Connecticut Magazine “40 Under 40”. IG: @erikcbloomquist.
Emily Bosco | Mrs. Cratchit
Hartford Stage: Romeo & Juliet Off-Broadway: The Rat Trap (Mint Theater Co.).
Regional: Galileo’s Daughter (Remy Bumppo Theatre Co.); Everybody, Sense & Sensibility, How I Learned to Drive, Dairyland (PlayMakers Rep); Pride & Prejudice, Baskerville, A Christmas Carol (Greenbrier Valley Theatre); Steel Magnolias, Native Gardens (Creede Rep); Go Back for Murder, The Mousetrap (Barnstormers Theatre); Seared (Gloucester Stage); Significant Other (Theatre Raleigh). Education: MFA, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; BA, Boston University.
Natalie Brown | Beggar Woman / Mrs. Fezziwig / Fred’s Sister-in-Law
Hartford Stage: The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 8 by Tenn, Night of the Iguana, Macbeth, Camino Real, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, A Streetcar Named Desire Off-Broadway: Rock Doves (Irish Arts Center). Regional: Approaching Moomtaj, The Real Thing (New Repertory Theater); The Exonerated, The Laramie Project (Connecticut Critics Circle Award) (TheaterWorks Hartford); Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Rebecca; All In The Timing (American Stage Festival); Hamlet, Macbeth (North Shore Music Theatre); The Fever, The Swan (Nora Theatre Company); Lizzy Borden: The Musical, Shadowlands (Stoneham Theater); Gypsy, Don’t Dress for Dinner, Children, Lucky Stiff (Worcester Foothills Theatre); Fiddler on The Roof, Evita (Harbor Theatre Festival); Monomoy Theatre; Vineyard Playhouse; Lyric Stage. Film: Founder’s Day, Intermedium, Ghost Tour, Little Women, Hitting Home Training: Boston Conservatory of Music; Stella Adler Conservatory, NYC. Other: Lead vocalist of the international rock band Circuline. She is also an LMSW, MCLC in New York.
About the Artists
Robert Hannon Davis | Second Solicitor / Undertaker
Hartford Stage: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Romeo & Juliet; Kiss Me, Kate; Our Town; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas; Brand:NEW: Welcome to Jesus, American Hero, Horton Foote’s The Shape of the River, Stuff Happens; Peter & Jerry: A Play by Edward Albee (u/s). Regional: Show Boat (Goodspeed Musicals); The Exonerated (TheaterWorks Hartford; Connecticut Critics Circle Award — Best Ensemble); Possessing Harriet, Woodhull/Beecher (HartBeat Ensemble); Shakespeare & Company; Tulane Shakespeare Festival; Swine Palace Productions; Monomoy Theatre. Voice & Dialect Coach: Feeding the Dragon, Queens for a Year, An Opening in Time, Abundance, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, To Kill A Mockingbird (Hartford Stage); Oliver! (Goodspeed Musicals); Yale Repertory Theatre; Colorado Shakespeare Festival; Relativity with Richard Dreyfuss (TheaterWorks Hartford). Teaching: Professor at The Hartt School Theatre Division at the University of Hartford, Shakespeare & Company Training Programs, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Theater Institute, National Endowment for the Humanities’ Rose Playhouse Institute, Designated Linklater Voice Teacher. Television: Sesame Street
Kenneth De Abrew | First Solicitor / Mr. Fezziwig
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Off-Broadway: Fuente Ovejuna, Measure for Measure (Theatre for a New Audience); As You Like It (Baruch PAC). Regional: Petrol Station (The Kennedy Center); Guards at the Taj (Woolly Mammoth); Indian Ink (American Conservatory Theater); Cocktail (Ping Chong and Company); A Christmas Carol (The McCarter and Hanover Theatre); Hair (Swine Palace); Romeo & Juliet (North Carolina Shakespeare); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Tennessee Shakespeare and Opera House Arts); Macbeth (NCWC). Television: New Amsterdam, Girls5Eva, Jessica Jones, Atlanta, The Detour, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Gotham, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, WeCrashed, Helpsters, Law & Order SVU, Orange is the New Black. Film: Someone Great, This Is Where I Leave You, Submission, 4th Man Out. Education: MFA Acting, Louisiana State University; BA Theater and Zoology, Ohio Wesleyan University; attended Trinity College, Kandy, Sri Lanka where he started acting as a child. KennethDeAbrew.com. IG: @kennethdeabrew.
Guiesseppe Jones | Ebenezer Scrooge
Hartford Stage: Debut. Off-Broadway: Public Enemy, Widows, Bullrusher. Regional: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas (St. Louis Rep); Jeeves Intervenes (NC Stage); American Son (Pittsburgh Public Theater); Fences (California Shakespeare Festival); Race (The Contemporary Theater Festival); Two Trains Running, Master Harold and the Boys, Of Mice and Men, Fences (The Weston Playhouse). Film: Julie and Julia, Adult Beginners, Fight for ’84 Television: FBI: Most Wanted, For Life, Prodigal Son, The Black List, Blue Bloods, House of Cards, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order, The Equalizer, The Black Box, Person of Interest, Blindspot, Instinct Education: MFA Actor Training Program, The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco, CA.
About the Artists
Rebecka Jones | Bettye Pidgeon / Spirit of Christmas Past / Old Jo
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, The Crucible, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth. Regional: Incident at our Lady of Perpetual Help (Ivoryton Playhouse); Network (Florida Studio Theatre); The Shadow Box (SCF); Sixteen Wounded (Long Wharf Theatre); King John, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare & Company); Anton in Show Business, Salvage, Marion Bridge, Private Lies, Acting Out: New Play Series (Theatre4); Tempest, Macbeth (Elm Shakespeare Company); The Comedy of Errors (Monomoy). Education: MFA, Actor Training, Ohio University.
Daniel Madigan | Mr. Marvel
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Education: SUNY Purchase, Conservatory of Theatre Arts BFA; Productions included: Road, Orestes, Titus Andronicus. He’d like to thank his mom, his dad, his family and friends, and his teachers. “In short, I should have liked to have had the lightest license of a child, and yet be man enough to know its value.” - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Patrick O’Konis | Bob Cratchit
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Off-Broadway: Act A Lady (Connolly Theater); A Map of Virtue (Irondale Center); Weasel Festival (The Public Theater). Regional: John Proctor is the Villain (Huntington Theatre); The Glass Menagerie, The Hombres (Gloucester Stage); Touching the Void (Apollinaire Theatre); Indecent (Wilbury Theatre Group); Mystic Pizza (Ivoryton Playhouse). Director: The Tempest, Guarding (The Drama Studio); At the Wedding; Almost, Maine (Alternative College Theatre). Awards: Elliot Norton 2025 Outstanding Lead Performer (Touching the Void). Education: MFA, Brooklyn College; BA, College of the Holy Cross. Teaching: Visiting Professor and Director, College of the Holy Cross; Directing Fellow, The Drama Studio (Springfield, MA). Forever for his family. patrickokonis.com
Stuart Rider | Bert / Spirit of Christmas Present
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas; Ah, Wilderness!. Regional: King Lear (Capital Classics); Native Gardens, The Royale, History Room, Clue, General Store, Arsenic and Old Lace, Mountain Octopus (Creede Repertory Theater); Glengarry Glen Ross, The Seafarer, Private Lives, The Cripple of Inishmaan (Kansas City Actors Theater); The Odd Couple with George Wendt; Move Over Mrs. Markham with Loretta Swit (The New Theatre); The Gin Game with Shirley Patton (Camelot Theater). Training: American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco, CA.).
About the Artists
Noble Shropshire | Mrs. Dilber / Jacob Marley
Hartford Stage: The Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, La Dispute, The Tempest, The 39 Steps, Noises Off!, Macbeth (2000), Our Town, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, Brand:NEW Play Festival Broadway: Underling in The Drowsy Chaperone; Royal National Theatre’s premiere of Tennessee Williams’ Not About Nightingales with Trevor Nunn; Candida (Roundabout). Off-Broadway: The Killer (Theatre for a New Audience); Parris in The Crucible (Roundabout); CSC (9 seasons): title roles in Hamlet, Peer Gynt, Tartuffe, Leonce & Lena, as well as the Fool in King Lear, Mephisto in Faust, Hummel in Ghost Sonata, Robespierre in Danton’s Death, Gayev in The Cherry Orchard; La Mama. Regional: Actors Theatre Louisville, Alley Theatre, ART, Arena Stage, Asolo, Cincinnati Playhouse, City Theatre, Denver Center, Great Lakes, Monomoy Theatre, PlayMakers, Phoenix Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Co., Pittsburgh Public, Rep Theater St. Louis, Stage West, Westport Country Playhouse. Television: Roger Stifdik in Strangers with Candy, Loving, Guiding Light. Film: The Asylum Seekers, The Uninvited. Training: Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London.
Leslie Blake Walker | Ghostly Apparition / Belle / Fred’s Wife
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Broadway: Funny Girl (Original Broadway Cast). National Tour: Funny Girl (1st National). Television: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Good Morning America, 76th Annual Tony Awards. Regional: Cinderella (Papermill Playhouse); Mamma Mia, Cabaret (Connecticut Repertory); Nice Work…, Jesus Christ Superstar, Saturday Night Fever (Surflight); CATS, Oklahoma, Beauty and the Beast (Arrow Rock Lyceum). Workshop: The Proxy Marriage (Goodspeed Musicals). Education: BFA Musical Theatre, The Hartt School, University of Hartford.
The Hartt School Company
Max Ashford | Ghostly Apparition / Scrooge at 14 / Fezziwig’s Guest / Fred’s Guest
Hartford Stage: Debut. Regional: AIDEN (The Players Theatre); The Wizard of Oz (Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre); Newsies (Artistry Theatre); You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Leader of the Pack (Post Playhouse). Film: Caity, Mr. Nelson Did You Kill People?. Education: BFA Musical Theatre, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include: Dracula, RENT, Peter and The Starcatcher, Violet.
Connor Austin | Swing
Hartford Stage: Debut. Regional: Mary Poppins (Circa ‘21 Dinner Playhouse). Education: BFA Musical Theatre, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include: Something Rotten, Guys and Dolls, RENT.
Lauren Bries | Ghostly Apparition / Fred’s Guest / Wendy
Hartford Stage: Debut. Education: BFA Actor Training, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include: Cyrano de Bergerac, The Tempest, Everybody.
About the Artists
Ray Cain | Ghostly Apparition / Fezziwig’s Guest / Mr. Topper
Hartford Stage: Breakdancing Shakespeare: Hamlet. Regional: Richard III (Elm Shakespeare Company). Education: BFA Actor Training, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include: The Skin of our Teeth, The Tempest, Cyrano de Bergerac
Celia Castillo-Torres | Ghostly Apparition / Nichola
Hartford Stage: Debut. Regional: The Lightning Thief, Elephant and Piggie: We’re in a Play, Seussical the Musical (Northwest Children’s Theatre); West Side Story (Stumptown Stages); Last Stop on Market Street (Oregon Children’s Theatre). Education: BFA Musical Theatre, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include: RENT, Peter and the Starcatcher, R+J: Fire on the Bayou, Dance Nation.
Hannah Fidler | Ghostly Apparition / Martha Cratchit
Hartford Stage: Debut. Education: BFA Actor Training, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include: Dracula, A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest.
Walker Kaul | Mr. Toby / Fred’s Guest
Hartford Stage: Debut. Education: BFA Actor Training, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include: Reasons to Be Happy, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Tempest, The Skin of Our Teeth International: Pericles, As You Like It (Drama Studio London); Spring Awakening (Trentino Music Festival).
Julianna Noelle Misluk | Assistant Director
Hartford Stage: Debut. Educational: As You Like It (Drama Studio London); No Exit (Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts). Education: BFA Actor Training, The Hartt School, Univerity of Hartford; Productions include: Everybody, The Tempest, Cyrano de Bergerac
Eric Orsini | Ghostly Apparition / Dick Wilkins
Hartford Stage: Breakdancing Shakespeare: Hamlet Education: BFA Actor Training, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions Include: The Skin of Our Teeth, Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Cyrano de Bergerac.
Christina Rielle | Rich Lady / Fiddler / Fred’s Guest
Hartford Stage: Debut. Regional: King Lear, Twelfth Night (Capital Classics); Stuck in the Tape (HartBeat Ensemble); Baltimore, Stage Reading (ArtFarm). Film: Flashing Lights Education: BFA Actor Training, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include: Dance Nation, Dracula, A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really, The Tempest, RENT
About the Artists
Claire Stillman | Swing
Hartford Stage: Debut. Education: BFA Actor Training, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include: Everybody, The Tempest, Cyrano De Bergerac, Happy Back, Constellations. I want to thank my friends and family for all of their love and support!
Sophie Walters | Assistant Director
Hartford Stage: Debut. Directing: Kissing Scene (Seattle Preparatory). Intimacy Directing: Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama Studio London); The Sound of Music (Kitsap Forest Theater). Acting: Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama Studio London); The Imaginary Invalid, Peter and the Starcatcher (Seattle Preparatory). Education: BFA Actor Training, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include: Seminar, Hand to God (Intimacy Directing); The Skin of our Teeth, Quilters (Acting) Awards: Best Director, Judges Choice (Seattle Preparatory).
The Youth Company
Evely “Evy” Butterfield | Fruit Child / Ignorance
Hartford Stage: Debut. Evy is currently in the 3rd grade and is a lover of all things performing! When she’s not on stage, she enjoys singing, playing soccer, time with friends, and excelling in school. She also has experience with photoshoot modeling. Evy is delighted to share her love for performing with you this holiday season!
Addison “Addy” Curren | School Boy / Fred’s Daughter
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Age 7. A talented young performer, Addy lights up the stage with her energy, grace, and Christmas spirit. She’s thankful for her family’s support and overjoyed to share this magical holiday tradition with her brother and co-star, Teddy.
Theodore “Teddy” Curren | Tim Cratchit
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Age 7. A creative and imaginative performer, Teddy brings heartfelt holiday magic to every scene. He’s grateful for his family’s support and delighted to share the stage—and the Christmas spirit—with his sister and co-star, Addy.
Sawyer Delaney | Turkey Boy
Hartford Stage: Debut. Theater: Ragtime (Goodspeed Musicals); School of Rock, Matilda, Cinderella (Warner Theater); Fun Home (SHU & Brookfield Theater); Beauty & the Beast (Landmark Community Theater). IG: @singitsawyer.
About the Artists
Coralie Frumkin | Boy Scrooge / Fred’s Son
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Theater: School of Rock, Matilda (Chestnut Street Playhouse); Beetlejuice Jr., The Little Mermaid Jr. (Connecticut Family Theatre). Training: Broadway Artists Alliance (NYC); Private Coaching (Hartford Stage); Contemporary/Tap (Alyce Carella Dance Centre); Connecticut Family Theatre; Playhouse Theatre Academy. Education: 6th Grade at King Philip Middle School (West Hartford). Other: Winner of 2025 Bethlehem Fair’s Got Talent; Miscast Cabaret (Theatre Guild of Simsbury); KP Choir; Sixth Dimension Choir. IG: @coraliefrumkin.
Vivienne Gates-Graceson | Belinda Cratchit / School Boy
Hartford Stage: Debut. Theater: A Christmas Carol Spectacular, A Christmas Carol, The Lion King Jr., Willy Wonka Jr., Annie Jr. (Niantic Bay Playhouse); Newsies Jr., Finding Nemo Jr. (East Lyme Schools). Training: East Lyme Regional Theater. Education: 6th Grade.
William Griffith | Peter Cratchit
Hartford Stage: Debut. Theater: The Nutcracker, Finding Nemo Jr., Matilda Jr., Moana Jr., Seussical the Musical Education: Renbrook School (West Hartford, CT). Other: Performed at Simsbury Celebrates, Wadsworth Atheneum. William is an avid lover of history, reading, and bike riding.
Serena Hoffman | Claire
Hartford Stage: Debut. Theater: Finding Nemo (Nemo, Renbrook School); Matilda (Hortensia, Bushnell). Live: Spotlight Kidz Opening Choir at the Rockettes (Radio City Music Hall NYC); BAA Cabaret (Don’t Tell Mama NYC); National Anthem Singer (USL Hartford Athletic, MiLB Hartford Yard Goats). Training: Broadway Artists Alliance (NYC); Bushnell Performing Scholars (Hartford); Kyle Reynolds (Kingswood Oxford). Education: 6th Grade at Renbrook School (West Hartford). IG: @serenascotthoffman.
Braelyn Lane | Spoiled Child / School Boy
Hartford Stage: Debut. Education @ Hartford Stage: Children’s Cast Youth Summer Programs; Musical Theatre Jam. Education: 5th Grade. Film: Motherless Brooklyn; Hocus Pocus 2; Trivia at St. Nick’s Other: Enfamil - Super Bowl Commercial, 2021; Loves theater and aviation.
Orlandus “Zeke” Lane | Fruit Child / Ignorance
Hartford Stage: Debut. Education @ Hartford Stage: Day Dreamers Summer Programs; Creative Drama. Education: 2nd Grade. Other: Dedicated chess player, basketball player, and flag football champion. Loves writing and creating screenplays.
Isabella Lundy | Fan
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Education @ Hartford Stage: Something Rotten! Jr. Theater: Frozen Jr., Seussical Jr., Bots! A Children’s Musical Training: Voice: Anthony DeDominicis, Aizel Livioco. Other: National Anthem vocalist - USL Hartford Athletic, WNBA Connecticut Sun.
About the Artists
Cru Aspen Lyles | Boy Scrooge / Fred’s Son
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Education @ Hartford Stage: Improv Comedy, Shakespeare Young@Part: Some Comedies (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, As You Like It). Theater: The Miracle Tree (Cobb School Montesorri). Other: Meati Commercial Launch Campaign.
Adelina McGinnis | Cider Child / Want
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Education @ Hartford Stage: Summer Studio Classes 2025. Other: Adelina is thrilled to be returning to A Christmas Carol. She loves drawing and bringing stories to life through performance and art.
Avery McMahon | Claire
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Recent Theater: Briggita, The Sound of Music (Wethersfield Teen Theater). Upcoming Theater: Mrs. Wormwood, Matilda, Jr. (The Bushnell Performing Arts Scholars Program). Education: 8th Grade, Silas Deane Middle School. Training: Voice - Dr. Michelle Fiertek (The Hartt School); Dance - Griffith Academy. IG: @avery_onstage.
Andrew Michaels | Lamplighter
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Education @ Hartford Stage: Something Rotten! Jr. Theater: Medea (The Hartt School); Newsies, Footloose, Seussical (EHSYF); Beetlejuice Jr. (CFT). Education: Silas Deane Middle School. Other: Andy is so grateful to have been a part of the Christmas Carol family!
Avery Mills | Turkey Boy
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Theater: Shrek! The Musical, The Wizard of Oz (Theatre Guild of Simsbury); Seussical, Mary Poppins, The Music Man, James and the Giant Peach (Seacoast Arts Festival, New Hampshire); The Addams Family Television/Commercials: 2019 WNBA Draft tease. Film: Breaking Fast with a Coca Cola, Whipped Cream, Toy Car
Campbell Mills | Cider Child / Want
Hartford Stage: Debut. Theater: Seussical (Seacoast Arts Festival, New Hampshire); We’ve Got Talent (Simsbury, CT). Other: Loves playing soccer, horseback riding, and all things art!
McKenna Pettie-Uzoka | School Boy / Fred’s Daughter
Hartford Stage: Debut. Education @ Hartford Stage: Youth Summer Studio. Education: 4th Grade at Wilbert Snow Elementary School (Middletown). Other: Proficient swimmer; loves acting and educational video games!
About the Artists
Aria Pierce | Spoiled Child / School Boy
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Education: Hartford Stage; Flying Solo, NY; Haus of Neon, NY. Other: Model, NYFW Flying Solo and Glam Collection, GA; Competitive Cheerleader; Choir Member and loves fashion!
Gibson Quinn | Fan
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Theater: The Addams Family (HJMS); The Wizard of Oz (Theatre Guild of Simsbury); Fences (Playhouse on Park). Training: Playhouse Theatre Academy. Education: 8th Grade at Henry James Memorial School (Simsbury). Other: Select choir and Xcel Gold gymnastics.
James Salvo | Tim Cratchit
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Theater: The Rock Slinger: The Story of David and Goliath, Malice in the Palace: The Story of Esther, Daniel and the Lion’s Den (St. Peter’s Church Drama Camp). Training: Hartford Stage Summer Studio, St. Peter’s Church Drama Camp. Education: 3rd Grade. Other: Member of Scouts. Loves singing, playing baseball, and playing Lego.
William Schloat | Peter Cratchit
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Education @ Hartford Stage: Bremen Town Musicians, Seussical Kids, Anansi (Hartford Stage Youth Studio). Theater: Lord of the Flies (Percival, Avon Old Farms School). Education: 7th Grade at Saint Timothy Middle School (West Hartford). Other: In March 2023, William testified before the Connecticut Legislature (in support of a Resolution to Exonerate People Accused and Convicted of Witchcraft in the 17th Century). Plays the trombone, piano, and baseball. Loves movies and live theater.
Julia Sheehan | Lamplighter
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Education @ Hartford Stage: Improv (Thomas Beebe). Theater: Macbeth (Capital Classics Theater Company); Matilda, Something Strange About Jane, The Mysterious Case of the Missing Ring (Newington Children’s Theater Company). Training: Voice work with Rebecca Ellis, voice work with Rita Parlante and Aizel Livioco (Market Square Music Academy). Other: Props/run crew at Capital Classics Theater Company.
Saige Stewart | Belinda Cratchit / School Boy
Hartford Stage: Debut. Education @ Hartford Stage: Page to Stage (Lead Role). Dance: Ballet Hartford (University of St. Joseph’s, Wadsworth Mansion, Ecospace, Holiday Crawl). Music: Violin Recital, Vocalist (Talent Show). Education: 5th Grade. Community: Ida B. Wells Senior Project; Hartford HealthCare Maternal Health.
About the Artists
The Creative Team
Michael Wilson | Adaptor / Director
Michael Wilson returns to Hartford Stage (where as Artistic Director in 1998 he launched the theater’s celebrated production with Bill Raymond as Scrooge) to direct A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Wilson directed in 1990 the premiere of his adaptation—featuring Noble Shropshire as Jacob Marley and Mrs. Dilber—for Houston’s Alley Theatre. Former Hartford Stage Associate Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif—recently appointed Arena Stage Artistic Director—made an acclaimed production of his adaptation for Repertory Theatre of St. Louis during her last two seasons there as Artistic Director. 2025 marks the 21st consecutive season of A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas at Washington D.C.’s historic Ford’s Theatre. In 2020, Ford’s Theater—in collaboration with National Public Radio’s WAMU— produced a one-hour radio version featuring John Gromada’s score and sound design. In 2009, Dramatists Play Service published the play and licenses it to community theatres, colleges, and high schools across the country. Thank you David C, George & Ann R, Tuck M, David K, Jennifer S T, Walt H, Paul B, Janet S, Beverly G, Michael L, John M, Lyn O, Chrissie R, Mike S, Jim I, Elaine C, Nate K, Deandre E, Wendy B & Jim W: your spirits forever strive within.
Hope Clarke | Original Choreographer
Hartford Stage: Resurrection, The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue, Rough Crossing, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, ...Love, Langston, The Colored Museum, Spunk Broadway: A Free Man of Color (Lincoln Center); Caroline, or Change; The Caucasian Chalk Circle; The Tempest (also in Central Park); West Side Story; Grind; Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope; Purlie; Hallelujah, Baby!. Off-Broadway: The Reckoning, House of Flowers, One Last Look, Othello, A Raisin in The Sun, Dark of The Moon International: Caroline, or Change (National Theatre). Regional: Jesus Christ Superstar (Alliance Theater); South Pacific, Mack and Mabel (Barrington Stage and Pioneer Theatre); Amistad (Lyric Opera); The Tempest (Delacorte Theatre); In Gathering (Regional/Director Duke Theater Showcase); Hallelujah, Baby! (The Multi Series at York Theatre). Dance Soloist: Katherine Dunham Company, Talley Beatty, Louis Johnson; Principal dancer: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Television: New York Undercover, Law & Order. Honors: Tony Nomination, Best Choreography for Jelly’s Last Jam; Drama-Logue Award, Joseph Calloway Award and NAACP Image Award for the same piece; first black director and choreographer to do a major tour of Porgy & Bess and the Dance Jazz version for Dallas Black Theatre. Recent: For the past two years, a play about the Tuskegee airmen called Fly; directed Cosi fan tutte for Opera Ebony.
About the Artists
Derric Harris | Choreographer
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Broadway: A Free Man Of Color, Dance Of The Vampires, Kiss Me, Kate. First National Tours: Fosse, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Off-Broadway: Purlie, Tenderloin, House of Flowers, On A Clear Day... (all at City Center Encores!); Paul Robeson: All American, Much Ado About Nothing, The Little Rock 9 Regional: Dr. Ralph in Dennis, Jimmy in Dreamgirls, Man 1 in The Colored Museum, Spunk, Master Harold and the Boys, Sizwe Bansi Is Dead, God Is So Good, Boogie, ich habe dich sehr lieb...a work in progress, Elergies, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. Film & Television: One Life To Live, Rodney & Thieves, and Liars.
Tony Straiges | Scenic Design
Hartford Stage: Designs include The Great Magoo, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue, Tea at Five, Noises Off! Broadway: Designs include Timbuktu!, A History of the American Film, John Curry’s Ice Dancing, Richard III, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Copperfield, Harold and Maude, Golden Child, Enchanted April. Stage Design Sketches and Models: Included in Tobin Theater Collection at the McNay Art Museum (San Antonio, Texas); The Lawrence & Lee Theater Institute (Ohio State University); Harvard Theater Collection (Harvard University); Lincoln Center Library for The Performing Arts (New York City). Current: Joined the Art Colony in Provincetown.
Alejo Vietti | Costume Design
Hartford Stage: The Mystery of Irma Vep, Bad Dates, Mistakes Were Made, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Dying City, Nightingale, Ella. Broadway: Smash, Allegiance (Drama Desk Nomination), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (West End Olivier Nomination, Japan, Australia, UK tour and U.S. National Tour), Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn Other NY credits include: Titanique (Lucille Lortel Award. Also Paris, Canada, Australia and West End), as well as works for Roundabout Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, NY Theatre Workshop, Second Stage, Atlantic Theatre, Primary Stages, The New Group, Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, City Center’s Encores, and NY City Opera, among others. National Tours: Annie. Others: Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame (Japan, Germany and Austria), West Side Story World Tour. Recipient of the 2010 TDF/ Irene Sharaff Young Master Award. IG: @alejo_vietti_costume_design.
About the Artists
Robert Wierzel | Lighting Design
Hartford Stage: The Underpants, Divine Rivalry, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Scene, Edgardo Mine, Constant Star, Happy Days, Romeo and Juliet, Arms and the Man, Morocco, The Stick Wife, Pericles, On the Verge Broadway: FELA! Musical, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, David Copperfield’s Dreams & Nightmares. Off-Broadway: Indian Ink, The Deep Blue Sea, Master Class (Roundabout); Othello, Kingfish, Carnage—A Comedy (NYSF); The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (New Victory); Two Trains Running, Hot ‘N’ Throbbing (Signature Theatre Company); Jack’s Holiday, Moe’s Lucky Seven, Little Egypt (Playwrights Horizons); The March to Liberation (David Geffen Hall, New York Philharmonic); Curriculum II (New York Live Arts); Deep Blue Sea (Park Avenue Armory). Regional: Romeo & Juliet, Blue (Washington Nation Opera); The Lehman Trilogy (Huntington Theatre Company); Das Rheingold (Atlanta Opera); Hamlet (Guthrie Theatre); We Shall Not Be Moved (Pittsburgh Opera); Ever After (Alliance Theatre); A Walk On The Moon (George Street Playhouse); The Shining (Lyric Opera of Kansas City). Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama; BFA, University of South Florida, Tampa. Professional Positions: Adjunct Instructor, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Department of Design of Stage & Film. Awards: Tony Award Nomination, Lighting Design for FELA!
John Gromada | Sound Design & Original Music
Hartford Stage: The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Streetcar, Camino Real, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Jeeves and Wooster, Night of the Iguana, Macbeth, so many more. Broadway: 40+ including Birthday Candles, All My Sons, Torch Song, The Elephant Man, Trip to Bountiful, The Best Man, A Bronx Tale, Rabbit Hole, Clybourne Park, Dividing the Estate, Seminar, Proof, Enchanted April, A Few Good Men Off-Broadway: Drinking in America, Sherlock Carol, The Cake, Amy and the Orphans, Old Hats, Measure for Measure, The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Shipwrecked!, The Skriker, Machinal Regional: Hundreds at major regional theaters. Television & Film: A Bronx Tale, Trip to Bountiful, The Interrogators, Showing Roots. Audio Dramas: Bob & Jean, Drinking in America, and Men’s Health for Audible; A Christmas Carol for WAMU/PRX; Westport Country Playhouse Radio Theatre, White Heron Ghostlight Series. Education: Duke University. Awards: Tony Nomination, three Drama Desk Awards, Lortel, Obie, Henry Hewes Awards, NEA Opera/Music Theatre fellowship.
Zack Brown | Original Costume Design
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. Broadway: Tony Award-winning revival of On Your Toes (Scenery & Costumes). Regional: Arena Stage: The Importance of Being Earnest, Candide, Of Thee I Sing, Animal Crackers, Tales From The Vienna Woods, On The Town, Twelfth Night, Arcadia; Kennedy Center: Don Quixote; Circle In The Square: 14 productions including Suddenly Last Summer, Salome (American Theatre Wing Nom., Set), Tartuffe (filmed for PBS, Drama Desk Nom.), The Importance of Being Earnest (Tony Nom.), St. Joan (Drama Desk Nom., Costumes), The Night of the Iguana, Devil’s Disciple, Loose Ends. Opera Company Credits: Washington Opera: Principal Designer (42 productions from 1979 to 1994, scenery and costumes); Santa Fe; San Francisco: La Gioconda (two Emmy Awards); Metropolitan Opera: Rigoletto; New York City Opera; Houston Grand Opera. Ballet Credits: American Ballet Theatre; Milwaukee Ballet; Atlanta Ballet; Hamburg Ballet; Hamburg Staatsoper: On The Town (Scenery & Costumes). Education: University of Notre Dame; Yale School of Drama.
About the Artists
Brittany Hartman | Wig Design
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, La Dispute, Macbeth. Current: Wig Shop Manager for Saturday Night Live and NBC studios. Film: Fire Island (Key Hairstylist, Hulu). Broadway: The Thanksgiving Play. Regional: Rent (Papermill); Camp Siegfried (Second Stage); Wizard of Oz (Geva); Snow in Midsummer (ClassicStage Company); Ragtime, Secret Garden, The Wiz, Singin’ in the Rain (BroadwayMusic Circus); Gypsy (Theatre Aspen). Broadway (selected associate design credits): Jagged Little Pill, Frankie and Johnny… (2019 revival), Bandstand, Sunset Boulevard (2017 revival), A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, Of Mice and Men (2014 revival), Violet
Johanna Morrison | Dialect & Voice Coach
Hartford Stage: Dialect and Voice Coach: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas; Acting: The Comedy of Errors (dir. Darko Tresnjak), Ether Dome, Noises Off, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas (19 seasons as the Spirit of Christmas Past), Summer and Smoke (also Papermill Playhouse), Brand:NEW Festival: Stuff Happens; Williams Marathon. Regional: North Carolina Shakespeare Festival; Virginia Museum Theatre; Playmakers Rep; Chapel Hill; Theater By the Sea, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; TheaterWorks Hartford; The Monomoy Theatre; Milwaukee Repertory Theater; Milwaukee Chamber Theater; Indiana Repertory Theater; Walnut Street Theater; Cleveland Playhouse; Denver Center Theatre; Papermill Playhouse. Orchestral: Appeared in dramatic oratorios with major symphony orchestras including Hartford Symphony and North Carolina Symphony. Film: Critical Condition, Double Exposure, The Queen’s Horse Television: Perry Mason, Murder She Wrote, Matlock, Diagnosis Murder Faculty: Adjunct Faculty, The Hartt School, University of Hartford Theatre and Vocal Division; North Carolina School of the Arts, School of Drama; University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill; National Theater Conservatory, Denver; University of Wisconsin Milwaukee; Dialect Coach for Universal Pictures, Great Britain. Other: Always in loving memory of my mentor, my best friend, my inspiration… the Love of My Life—Malcolm Morrison.
About the Artists
John Fitzpatrick | Music Director
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas. National Tour:
Jigsaw Jones: The Musical. Regional: Almost Heaven: The Songs of John Denver (Shadowland Stages), Hand to God (Storyville Collective), Big River (Oldcastle Theatre Co.), A Streetcar Named Desire (Le Petit Theatre), Newsies (Summer Lyric at Tulane), Urinetown (The NOLA Project). Education: BM Vocal Performance (Music Theatre), NYU Steinhardt. Professional Positions: Owner and Lead Instructor, The Voice and Guitar Studio of Fairfield — a private music studio specializing in contemporary voice and guitar training. Awards: Big Easy Award for Best Actor in a Play in New Orleans Regional Theater. IG: @JohnFitzpatrickMusic
Michael Rossmy | Fight & Intimacy Coordinator
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas; Upcoming: The Cottage, Native Gardens Broadway: Purpose, A Tale of Two Cities Off-Broadway: Glass Kill Imp..., White Noise, Measure for Measure, The Vagrant Trilogy, Troilus and Cressida (The Public Theatre); What the End Will Be (Roundabout); Blues for an Alabama Sky, This Space Between Us (Keen Co); Peerless, Harbor (Primary Stages). Regional: Yale Repertory Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Asolo Rep, The Old Globe, TheaterWorks Hartford, KC REP, The Acting Company, Soho Rep., The Geffen Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and others. Other: Resident Fight and Intimacy Director for Yale Rep; Lecturer in Acting and Stage Management at David Geffen School of Drama. Upcoming: Purple Rain.
Shelby Demke | Youth Coordinator
Hartford Stage: All My Sons, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, Jane Eyre, Lost in Yonkers, The Piano Lesson Off-Broadway: Beneath the Gavel! (59E59 Theaters). Educational: Erismena (Yale Baroque Opera Project); The Little Mermaid, Once Upon a Mattress, Mary Poppins (Academy of International Studies 6-12). Education @ Hartford Stage:The Addams Family, Beauty and the Beast Jr., Matilda Jr., Legally Blonde, The Little Mermaid Jr., The SpongeBob Musical, Something Rotten Jr., The Lightning Thief.
Noah (Ren) Roy | Youth Coordinator
Hartford Stage: Debut. Education: English and Writing B.A. at CCSU. Awards: Leslie Leeds Poetry Award.
Jodi Stone | Wig & Hair Coordinator
Hartford Stage: Rope, Hurricane Diane, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Seder, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Queens for a Year Broadway: Wig builder for Hamilton, Tommy, Jersey Boys, Beautiful, Ain’t Too Proud, Allegiance, Motown, The Color Purple, Beetlejuice, Great Gatsby, Wicked. Regional: Richard II (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Cherry Orchard, The Sisters Rosensweig, Gem of the Ocean, The Rivals (Huntington Theatre Company). Film: Dan In Real Life, Underdog, What Lies Beneath, Outside Providence Television: The Wiz, Jesus Christ Superstar, Brotherhood Education: Bachelor’s Theatre Arts, Gettysburg College 1992. Professional Positions: Current Wig and Makeup Supervisor at Hartford Stage, custom wig maker for CGL Wig Designs 2021-current, Wig and Makeup Supervisor Hartford Stage 2018-2020; Wig and Makeup Designer Children’s Theatre Company 2001-2004; Wig Master HTC 1995-1997, Stitcher/Wardrobe HTC 1992-1995.
About the Artists
Alldaffer & Donadio Casting | Casting
Hartford Stage: Rope; Hurricane Diane; Romeo & Juliet; August Wilson’s Two Trains Running; A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; All My Sons; Simona’s Search; Pride and Prejudice; Trouble in Mind; The Art of Burning; The Mousetrap; It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play; Ah, Wilderness!; Quixote Nuevo; Ether Dome Broadway/Off-Broadway: Stereophonic (Broadway, Off-Broadway, National Tour, UK), Downstate, Dance Nation, Circle Mirror Transformation, A Strange Loop, Clybourne Park, Grey Gardens, The Flick (Playwrights Horizons, Barrow Street Theatre), Classic Stage Company, Tent Theater. Regional: O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, The Huntington Theatre, TheaterWorks Hartford, Studio Theatre, Berkeley Rep, The Old Globe Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival. Television: The Knights of Prosperity, Ed, Monk Podcasts: Marvel, Audible, Fresh Produce. Awards: Artios Award (Stereophonic, Downstate, Circle Mirror Transformation, Present Laughter); Drama Desk and Obie Awards, Best Ensemble (Circle Mirror Transformation).
Kelly Hardy | Production Stage Manager
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, The Art of Burning, Lost in Yonkers, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Jane Eyre, Cry It Out, Make Believe, Anastasia, The Underpants Broadway: Anastasia, The Real Thing New York: Second Stage, Fiasco Theatre, Lincoln Center - LCT3, The Public, Vineyard Theatre, Red Bull Theatre, NYMF, Theatre for a New Audience, Working Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, The Actors Company Theatre. Regional: Music Theatre Wichita, The Huntington, The REV Theatre Company, The Public Theatre, Goodspeed Opera House, Trinity Repertory Company, Long Wharf Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, New York Stage and Film, Quintessence Theatre, North Coast Rep, Bard SummerScape, Bucks County Playhouse. International: Royal College of Music, London; Shakespeare’s Globe, London. Education: UC San Diego.
Chandalae Nyswonger | First Assistant Stage Manager
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, Lost in Yonkers, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Cry It Out, Hamlet, Espejos: Clean, Rear Window. Broadway: Anastasia. Off-Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along (Roundabout Theatre Company); Knight of the Burning Pestle (Red Bull Theatre); Pericles, Twelfth Night (Classic Stage Company); 53% OF, Somebody’s Daughter (Second Stage); Jesus Hopped the “A” Train (Signature Theatre). Regional: The Song of Rome (Spoleto Festival); A Doll’s House (Everyman Theatre); National Playwrights Conference 2023, 2024, 2025 (Eugene O’Neill Theater Center); Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Virginia Stage Company); Private Lives (Dorset Theatre Festival); Hair, At Home at the Zoo, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Oklahoma! (Berkshire Theatre Group).
Campbell Anidjar | Second Assistant Stage Manager
Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas Off-Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along (New York Theatre Workshop). National Tours: The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis Onstage: Further Up & Further In, C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert, The Great Divorce (Fellowship for Performing Arts). Regional: Thaïs, The Song of Rome (Spoleto Festival USA). Special Events: 2025 Youth Pride (NYC Pride), 2024 GMHC Cabaret & Howard Ashman Award (GMHC); AIDS Walk New York 2023 (GMHC). Education/Training: BA in Theater Arts, concentration in Producing & Management, Marymount Manhattan College.
About Hartford Stage
For more than 60 years, Hartford Stage has played a leading role in its industry—producing world-class theater and serving as a civic space where community, creativity, and conversation thrive. Located in the heart of downtown Hartford, the theater is a place for all, where audiences are connected in shared experiences and invited to engage with high-quality, transformative theater.
The Tony Award-winning company is dedicated to telling entertaining and thought-provoking stories that reflect the diversity of the Greater Hartford Region, whether reinventing the classics or premiering new work. The theater’s rich legacy includes plays and musicals that have made their way to Broadway, Off-Broadway, and stages around the globe, earning Tony Awards and Pulitzer Prizes along the way.
Hartford Stage’s impact extends beyond the stage, through robust education programs—including in-school programs, student matinees, youth productions, and adult classes—nurturing creativity, building confidence, and ensuring that the performing arts remain accessible and essential for generations to come.
To learn more, visit HartfordStage.org.
Follow us @HartfordStage.Follow us @hartfordstage
Ephraim Birney and Nick Saxton in Rope (2025). Photo by T. Charles Erickson.
Our award-winning education programs provide students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds with innovative opportunities that challenge and inspire. Using theater techniques, we build community, promote a passion for literacy and creative expression, and encourage life-long learning.
Adult & Youth Classes
All year, we have classes for youth and adults looking to develop, improve, and show off their performance skills.
Student Matinees
Students are invited to join us for daytime performances throughout the year. They get to see the show and participate in a post-show conversation with the cast and crew.
Connections
Connections is an in-school program that brings teaching artists into classrooms to explore a book through drama, strengthening comprehension skills and building excitement about reading.
After School Programs
Bring a Hartford Stage teaching artist to your after school program! Programs range from drama classes to full productions and are designed based on the needs of each individual school.
2025 Photos from L to R: Top Row - 1. The Teen Ensemble in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. Photo by Defining Studios. 2. The Children’s Cast. Middle Row - 1. The Teen Ensemble. 2. The Page to Stage Players. 3. The Youth Ensemble in Something Rotten Jr. Bottom Row - 1. One Act Play students in The Seussification of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Photos by Lucas Clopton.
Board of Directors
Officers
Michael D. Nicastro
President
Elease Wright
Vice President
Devon Francis
Treasurer
Richard G. Costello
Secretary
Governing Directors
Douglas Adkins
Don Allan
Patti Broad
Jamie Hait Cohen
Brennden D. Colbert
Kate Collins
Mark G. Contreras
Alona Croteau
Alana Curren
John Doran
Marilda Lara Gándara
Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin
Emily Harrington
Rydell Harrison
Barnaby Horton
Very Rev. Miguelina Howell
Jackie B. Iacovazzi
Mersini G. Keller
Aaron Lyles
Kelly M. Lyman
Amy Leppo Mandell
Barri Marks
Marjorie E. Morrissey
Andy Pace
Sarah M. Patterson
Esther A. Pryor
Judith E. Thompson
William J. Thompson
Nicole Vitrano
Patty Willis
Yvette Yelardy
Stage One
Emerging Leaders
Kyle Abraham
Cordelia Brady
Kamille Cockings
Angel Cotto
Ryan Glista
Kentavis Goodwin-Brice
Brittnee Johnson-Colbert
Greidy Miralles
TJ Noel-Sullivan
Melia Peres, Co-Chair
Claire Stermer, Co-Chair
Maxwell R. Toth
Alia Walwyn-James
Life Directors
George L. Estes III
Arnold C. Greenberg+
Walter Harrison
Jeffrey S. Hoffman
George A. Ingram+
David M. Klein
Katherine Lambert
Roger S. Loeb+
Belle K. Ribicoff
Christina B. Ripple
Linda Fisher Silpe
Sherwood S. Willard
Honorary Directors
Marla J. Byrnes
Carrie Hammond
Barbara Hennessy
Nancy P. Hoffman
Robert A. Penney
Rosalie Roth
Allan B. Taylor
Rhonda J. Tobin
Emeritus Directors
Margaret B. Amstutz+
R. Kelley Bonn
Sara Marcy Cole
Susan J. Copeland
Susan G. Fisher
Judith C. Meyers
Past Presidents
Jill Adams
Joel B. Alvord
Paul L. Bourdeau
David W. Clark Jr.+
Sue Ann Collins
Ellsworth Davis+
Elliot F. Gerson
Thomas J. Groark Jr.+
John W. Huntington+
Walter Harrison
David R. Jimenez
David M. Klein
Edward Lane-Reticker+
Janet Larsen+
Thomas D. Lips
Scott McAlister+
Tuck Miller+
Christina B. Ripple
Jack Sennott
Deanna Sue Sucsy
Jennifer Smith Turner
Peter R. Wilde+
Ex Officio Directors
John B. Larson
US Representative, First Congressional District of Connecticut
Julio Concepcion
State Representative, Fourth District of the State of Connecticut
Arunan Arulampalam
Mayor, City of Hartford
Shari Cantor
Mayor, West Hartford
Melia Bensussen
Artistic Director
Hartford Stage
Cynthia Rider
Managing Director
Hartford Stage
+ Deceased
Administrative Staff
Leadership
Melia Bensussen, Artistic Director
Position endowed by Janet S. Suisman
Cynthia Rider, Managing Director
Administration
Emily Van Scoy, General Manager
Trisha Hein, Company Manager & Assistant General Manager
Sara Walnum, Business Manager
Artistic
Zoë Golub-Sass, Associate Artistic Director
Position supported by the Richard P. Garmany Fund
Education
Jennifer Roberts, Director of Education
Nina Pinchin, Associate Director of Education
Emely Larson, Studio Manager
2025/2026 Teaching Artists
Marie Altenor, Thomas Beebe, Grace Clark, Brandon Couloute, Shelby Demke, Nic Fortenbach, Ryan Kessler, Jada Lawyer, Erica LuBonta, Greg Ludovici, Jan Mason, Jessica MacLean, Michael Patterson, Justin Pesce, Kevin Scott, Kaydin Younger
External Relations
Jennifer Levine, Director of External Relations
Rachel Phillips, Associate Director for Marketing
Travis Kendrick-Castanho, External Relations Manager
Evan Kudish, Manager of Board & Donor Relations
Sonya Thiel, Events & Engagement Manager
Sierra Vazquez, Annual Fund Manager
Todd Brandt, Audience & Revenue Data Analyst
Sarah Shiner, Digital Marketing Associate
House Management
W. Scott McEver, Audience Experience and Front of House Manager
Assistant House Managers:
Art Arpin, Mailina Betsey-Chambers, Emily Loscialpo, Aarron Schuelke
Bartenders:
Tanya Bermudez, Drew Breault, Sam Chiasson, Karen Kudish, Nefris Quiterio, Erica Santa Lucia, Kerry Yerkes
Gift Shop Attendants/Event Bartenders:
Marsha Arpin, Paulette Caldwell, John Harbison
Box Office
Lindsey Hoffman, Box Office Manager
Rick Sahlin, Box Office Associate & Group Sales Coordinator
Lindsey Taft, Box Office Associate & Subscriber Concierge
Corey Welden, Box Office Associate & Student Matinee Coordinator
Box Office Representatives:
Julie Borsotti, Amaris Diaz
Production
Bryan T. Holcombe, Director of Production
Wesley McCabe-Schroeder, Assistant Production Manager
Alyssa Edwards, Production Assistant
Set Construction & Scenic Art
Aaron D. Bleck, Technical Director
Jared Wolf, Assistant Technical Director
Ian Sweeney, Lead Carpenter
Audra Giuliano, Scenic Carpenter
Isabella Pedraza, Scenic Carpenter
Nathalie Schlosser, Charge Scenic Artist
Costumes & Wardrobe
Alex Meadows, Costume Director
Grace Petersen, Assistant Costume Director
Jodi Stone, Wig & Make-up Supervisor
James Weeden, Staff Draper
Rio Cañas, First Hand
Props
Joe Dotts, Props Manager
Claire Linden-Dionne, Assistant Props Manager
Lighting
Jackie Costabile, Lighting Manager
Ethan Sepa, ALDM, Programmer
Sara Dorinbaum, Light Board Operator
Sound
Lucas Clopton, Audio/Video Manager & Content Creator
Jim Busker, Assistant Audio/Video Manager
Facilities
Michael Langer, Facilities Manager
For This Production
Matt Hennessey, Automation/Stage Crew Lead
Logan Wareham, Crew Swing
Deck Crew:
Julius Cruz, Ariana Harris, Kat Harris
Fly Crew: Ash Fischer, Nick Moran
Spot Operators:
Quaren Joyce, Ethan Pervere
Wardrobe Crew:
Kailee Goodine, Erin Hager
Wig Crew:
Hanna Zammarieh, Jack Richards
Special Thanks
Andrew Oster Design & Photography
Rising Tide Studio
ZFX, Inc.
The Time to Act is Now
PROGRAMMING Donations are a crucial component to creating the world-class art you see on our stage, and for sharing the power of what theater can do with our community. the future.
You are invited to join the leaders of the Set the Stage campaign.
ENDOWMENT Building a robust endowment will ensure Hartford Stage is here fulfilling its mission for decades to come.
After 60 years of bringing world-class theatrical programming to audiences in our theater and students in our schools, Hartford Stage is making an important investment in our future. With your help, we can remain a vital part of where we live, work, and play. Be a part of the legacy. Play a role in our $20 million goal. Contact Director of External Relations
Please join us in setting the stage for Hartford Stage’s next 60 years.
Jennifer Levine at 860-520-7249 or jlevine@hartfordstage.org
The cast of The Mousetrap (2022).*
Photo Credits *by T. Charles Erickson. ^by The Defining Studios.
Carmen Berkeley in Romeo & Juliet (2025). Photo by T. Charles Erickson.
Set the Stage Campaign Contributors
$2 Million+
Stanley Black & Decker
$1 Million+
The Hartford
Christopher & Mary Swift
Travelers
$750,000+
Don & Marilyn Allan
Rick & Beth Costello
$500,000+
Jill Adams & Bill Knight
Judith Meyers & Richard Hersh
The Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Jack & Donna Sennott
$250,000+
David & Janice Klein
$100,000+
Douglas & Sheryl Adkins
Sue Ann Collins
The Robert & Francine Goldfarb Family Fund
Wes & Chloe Horton
Christopher Larsen
Thomas & Margah Lips
Chrissie & Ezra Ripple
Sally Speer
Sally & Allan Taylor
The Zachs Family Foundation
$50,000+
Suzanne & John Bourdeaux
Ellen Brown & Jim Bean
Estate of Zeus Goldberg
Carrie & Jonathan Hammond
Walter & Dianne Harrison
Barbara & Matthew Hennessy
Barnaby W. Horton & Hannah Granfield-Horton
The Estate of Mary Jean Kilfoil
Marjorie E. Morrissey
$20,000+
Anonymous
David & Kathleen Jimenez
Barri Marks
William & Nancy Narwold
Michael & Colleen Nicastro
Linda & Donald Silpe
$10,000+
Anonymous
Sara Bareilles
Marla & John Byrnes
The Edgemer Foundation
Marilda Gandara & Scott O’Keefe
The Estate of Christine Hunihan
Katherine J. Lambert
Andy & Jennifer Pace
Brewster & Judith Perkins
Rosalie Roth
Judith & William Thompson
Elease & Dana Wright
$5,000+
Jamie & Isaac Cohen
Devon & Thomas Francis
David Hawkanson
Annie Hildreth & Ted Potters
George A.+ & Helen Ingram
Theodore & Nancy Johnson
The Nafe E. Katter Trust
Dan & Arlene Neiditz
William A. Petit Jr. in honor of Karl Krapek
Ted Whittemore
Sherwood & Maggie Willard
$100 - $4,999
Kyle Abraham & Claire Sylvestre-Abraham
The Harry F. & Carol H. Barnes Family Foundation
Kathleen & David Bavelas
Robert & Catherine Boone
Patti Broad
Donna Collins
Alana & Matthew Curren
Anne D’Alleva
John & Jacqueline Doran
Mary Ellison
+ Deceased Continued on next page.
Set the Stage Campaign Contributors
$100 - $4,999 (Continued)
George & Laura Estes
Janet Bailey Faude
Matthew & Katherine Grosso
Emily & Patrick Harrington
Rydell Harrison
Jackie & Drew Iacovazzi
Carolyn A. Johnson
Marcia Lattimore
Aaron Lyles & Samantha Weragoda
Kathleen Lynch
Amy & Neal Mandell
TJ Noel-Sullivan
Andrew Palmer
Robert Parrott & Sally Wister
Sarah M. Patterson & Dominic Fair
Elizabeth & Michael Reilly
Michael Ross
Gil & Katherine Salk
George Sanders
Steven & Karen Schutzer
Pam & Peter Sobering
Claire Stermer
Marilyn J. Stoudt
Rhonda Tobin & Jeffrey Smith
Paul & Karen Torop
Jeffrey Vida & Thomas Connolly
Richard Wenner
Kathleen & Rick White
Yvette Yelardy & Daniel Morganstern
Annual Contributors
Thank you to all our donors. We are grateful for the generosity throughout our entire community and recognize all of our supporters on our website at HartfordStage.org/ Recognition. We are happy to acknowledge here those with leadership contributions in the past 12 months, October 24, 2024-November 12, 2025.
Annual Fund
Director’s Circle • $50,000+
Anonymous
Rick & Beth Costello
Gregory & Renata Hayes
Sally Speer
Producer Circle • $25,000+
Jill Adams & Bill Knight
Don & Marilyn Allan
The Cheryl Chase & Stuart Bear Family Foundation
Robert & Francine Goldfarb Family Fund
Wes & Chloe Horton
David & Janice Klein
Jack & Donna Sennott
Judith & William Thompson
Ovation Society • $10,000+
Douglas & Sheryl Adkins
Sue Ann Collins
Arnold Greenberg+
Diane & Walter Harrison
Jane & Roger+ Loeb
The Pryor Family Foundation
Chrissie & Ezra Ripple
Elizabeth Schiro & Stephen Bayer
Elizabeth Vandeventer
Veronica & Howard Wiseman
Encore Society • $5,000+
Andra Asars
Jenefer Carey Berall
Patti Broad
Jamie & Isaac Cohen
Devon & Thomas Francis
Nancy Goodwin
Barbara & Matthew Hennessy
Jeffrey & Nancy Hoffman
+ Deceased
Barnaby W. Horton & Hannah GranfieldHorton
Jackie & Drew Iacovazzi
George* & Helen Ingram
David & Kathleen Jimenez
Konover Coppa Family Fund
Katherine J. Lambert
Christopher Larsen
Thomas & Margah Lips
Amy & Neal Mandell
Barri Marks
Harry E. Meyer
Judith Meyers & Richard Hersh
Michael & Colleen Nicastro
Duff Ashmead & Eric Ort
Kristen Phillips & Matthew Schreck
Dina Plapler & Earl McMahon
Douglas H. Robins
Rosalie Roth
Suzanne B. Ruffee
Donald & Linda Silpe
Sally & Allan Taylor
Maggie & Sherwood Willard
Mark & Patty Willis
Elease & Dana Wright
The Zachs Family Foundation
Patron Society • $3,500+
Paul & Joanne Bourdeau
John & Suzanne Bourdeaux
Marla & John Byrnes
Robert L. & Susan G. Fisher
Ruth Fitzgerald & Dave Sageman
Marilda Gandara & Scott O’Keefe
Doris Guenter
David & Gail Hall
Carrie & Jonathan Hammond
Adlyn & Theodore Loewenthal
Ed & Kelly Lyman
Continued on next page.
Annual Contributors
Patron Society • $3,500+ (Continued)
Cynthia K. Mackay
Ernest & Mickey Mattei
E. John McGarvey
Robert A. & Joan C. Penney
Rhonda Tobin & Jeffrey Smith
Nicole Vitrano & Art Wallace
Jacqueline Werner
Yvette Yelardy & Daniel Morganstern
Honorary Gifts
IN HONOR OF CINDY CURRY
Ann Chuk
IN HONOR OF DAVID & JAN KLEIN
Wendy Avery
IN HONOR OF KATHERINE LAMBERT
Janet Faude
IN HONOR OF JANE LOEB
Sandy & Bruce Goldberg
IN HONOR OF CYNTHIA RIDER
Anne Rider & Rob Hinrichs
Ellen Rider & Stanley King
IN HONOR OF ROSALIE ROTH
Karl Krapek Jr.
IN HONOR OF PATTY WILLIS
The Burkehaven Family Foundation
Memorial Gifts
IN MEMORY OF GALINA FAYNGERSH
Diana Lee
IN MEMORY OF BEVERLY G. HIMELSTEIN
Michael J. Moran
IN MEMORY OF MARGARET RUMFORD
Richard & Marilyn Anderson
Helen Deag
Jackie & Joe Kelley
Dariel Muldonn
IN MEMORY OF MARY WAXENBERG
Ed & Jean Dwyer
Edie & Phil Jones
Jay B. Levin
Bruce & Lori Stewart
Eugenia & Joseph Ursone
Institutional Giving
$200,000+
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
The Shubert Foundation
Stanley Black & Decker
$100,000+
Burry Fredrik Foundation
Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development
The Hartford
The Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Raytheon Technologies
$75,000+
The Katherine K. McLane & Henry R. McLane Charitable Trust
$50,000+
The BFA Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Connecticut Humanities
Greater Hartford Arts Council
The John and Kelly Hartman Foundation
SBM Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Travelers
$25,000+
Cigna
Connecticut Judicial Branch
The Elizabeth M. Landon & Harriette M. Landon Charitable Foundation
Roberts Foundation for the Arts
Robinson & Cole LLP
$15,000+
Cummings & Lockwood
Ensworth Charitable Foundation
Lucille Lortel Foundation
The MorningStar Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Talcott Resolution
$10,000+
The John E. Blair Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
The Ellen Jeane Goldfarb Memorial Charitable Trust
Liberty Bank
The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts
+ Deceased
Annual Contributors
$10,000+ (Continued)
The William & Alice Mortensen Foundation
$5,000+
Allan S. Goodman, Inc.
Bradley, Foster & Sargent
The Burton & Phyllis Hoffman Foundation
The J. Walton Bissell Foundation, Inc.
JANA Foundation
McDonald Family Trust
Stanley D. & Hinda N. Fisher Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
William H. & Rosanna T. Andrulat Charitable Foundation
$2,500+
Fiducient Advisors
In-Kind
The University of Saint Joseph
YOUR PARTNER IN VIDEO PRODUCTION & PHOTOGRAPHY
Shakespeare Society
The Shakespeare Society comprises individuals who have provided for the future of Hartford Stage in their estate plans. Hartford Stage is deeply grateful for their generosity and foresight. The members of this group help to ensure the legacy of Hartford Stage. Have you included Hartford Stage in your estate plans? Tell us about it! Call Manager of Board & Donor Relations Evan Kudish at 860-520-7241 to share your plans and allow us to thank you.
Anonymous (15)
Brian & Betty Ashfield
Richard & Alice Baxter
Mr. & Mrs. Paul Bourdeau
Mrs. Joan Brown
Kimberley & Christopher Byrd
Marla & John Byrnes
Mario R. Cavallo
Sue Ann Collins
Richard G. Costello
Ms. Linda Diana DeConti
Mr. Reginald Gregory DeConti
Robert L. & Susan G. Fisher
Kathy Frederick & Eugene Leach
Victoria E. Gallo
Evelyn A. Genovese
Carrie & Jonathan Hammond
Walter & Diane Harrison
Elie Helou
Helen Ingram
David & Janice Klein
Joel M. & Naomi Baline Kleinman
Katherine J. Lambert
Christopher Larsen
William C. Leary
Tom & Margah Lips
Mark & Liisa Livingston
Elaine T. Lowengard
Donna Matulis
Judith Meyers & Richard Hersh
Ki Miller
Arthur & Merle Nacht
Judge Jon O. Newman
Lyn Oliva & John Brighenti
Belle K. Ribicoff
Ezra & Chrissie Ripple
Prudence P. Robertson
Barbara Rubin
Carol W. Scoville
Donald & Linda Silpe
Marjorie K. & Jack S. Solomon, Doreen A. Cohn, Faith L. Solomon Fund
Jennifer Smith Turner & Eric Turner
Mary L. Stephenson
Elsa Suisman
Robert & Gretchen Wetzel
Michael Wilson & Jeff Cowie
Henry M. Zachs
Michael & Ellen Zenke
In Memoriam
Hartford Stage fondly remembers these late members of the Shakespeare Society.
Anonymous (6)
Margaret Atwood
Cynthia Kellogg Barrington
Maxwell & Sally Belding
Susan R. Block
Clifford S. Burdge
Edward C. Cape
Ruth Cape
Anna & David Clark
James H. Eacott, Jr.
David Geetter
Yummy Graulty
Herman Zeus Goldberg
George A. Ingram
Dieter & Siegelind Johannes
Hugh M. Joseloff & Helen J. Joseloff
Nafe E. Katter
Janet M. Larsen
Joe Marfuggi
Mr. & Mrs. Henry R. McLane
Mary & Freeman Meyer
Tuck Miller
Ann & George Richards
Dr. Russell Robertson
Robert K. Schrepf
Talcott Stanley
Janet S. & Michael Suisman
Helen S. Willis
Louise W. Willson
Diversity, Equity, and Belonging
At Hartford Stage, equity is not a destination—it’s an ongoing journey. From the stories we bring to life on our stage, to the voices behind the scenes, we are committed to amplifying diverse perspectives and fostering accessibility and inclusion in every aspect of our work.
Artistry & Craft
We believe artistic excellence is achieved through a collaborative process that is rooted in creativity and a willingness to take risks.
Lifelong Learning
We believe theater creates opportunities for personal growth and learning for people of all ages.
Relationships
We believe in developing connections within and beyond the theater, extending our reach into the community and fostering a sense of mutual belonging.
Integrity & Responsibility
We believe that fiscal, operational, and programmatic decisions must embrace physical safety, financial sustainability, and equity with kindness and respect.
Accessibility is central to ensuring that our spaces, stories, and experiences are truly welcoming for all.
We heard you! Our new assistive listening system is now available for you to enjoy. Simply stop by Guest Services in the lobby to learn more. You can also join us for performances featuring Open Captions or Audio Description, designed to enhance the theater experience for audience members with vision or hearing differences.
And this is just the beginning—more exciting accessibility upgrades are on the way at Hartford Stage!
To learn more about accessibility at Hartford Stage, please visit HartfordStage.org/Accessibility.
