Program Book Insert - Daniel Tiger

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Based on characters created from the PBS KIDS television show, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood “Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person. One kind word has a wonderful way of turning into many.”

- Fred Rogers Tour Produced by MILLS ENTERTAINMENT in cooperation with The Fred Rogers Company Book by JEREMY DOBRISH

Music by VOODOO HIGHWAY MUSIC AND POST Starring

CIARAH AMAANI SCHYLER RICE

KENNEDY DAY BRITTANY SHAFFER

SARA LEONE EVAN TEICH

ALYSSA MUNIZ CHRIS WITHERS

Puppet Designer GEPPETTO STUDIOS

Scenic Designer DAVID MILLER

Lighting Designer JOHN E. D. BASS

Sound Designer BEN SELKE

Costume Designer ISABEL RUBIO

Prop Designer KAYE BLANKENSHIP

Casting Director ARNOLD J. MUNGIOLI

Music Director DAVID JOHN MADORE

Marketing & Publicity JOANNA BRUMLEY

Tour Manager BJ MARCHINI

Technical Director SAMANTHA STATHAM

Stage Manager ALICIA THOMPSON

Audio Engineer COREY MCINTYRE

Associate Director RICKY WHITFIELD

Voice of Daniel Tiger DEVAN COHEN

Production Manager SARA FRIEDMAN

General Manager MATT FRANZETTI

Director and Choreographer JENN RAPP

Producer SIMONE GIANFRANCESCO

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is created for television by Angela C. Santomero and brought to life by the team at 9 Story Media Group. Tour Booking by The Brad Simon Organization.

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood © 2016 The Fred Rogers Company. All rights reserved.

As a courtesy to the artists and for the uninterrupted enjoyment of your fellow patrons, please turn off all cell phones, pagers, beepers and other electronic devices. Please unwrap any lozenges before the performance begins. No portion of this performance may be photographed, recorded, filmed, taped, broadcast or mechanically reproduced without the written consent of the Artist and/or the Presenter. Mayo Performing Arts Center is not responsible for lost or stolen items.

CAST (in alphabetical order) Ciarah Amaani (Miss Elaina/Teacher Harriet) is a Detroit Native who is honored to be able to take this journey to the Neighborhood of Make Believe in her first touring show with Mills Entertainment.

She dedicates this show to God. A special thank you to her agent JC William Agency Inc. and her manager, Susan Campochiaro Confrey at CBU Management Inc. for her unwavering support and love.

Kennedy Day (O the Owl/Music Man Stan/Baker Aker/King Friday) was born in New Haven, CT. He realized his passion for theater at a young age and later attended AMDA Conservatory School where he studied and honed his craft. This is his first touring experience and he is honored to do so. Some of his favorite credits have been The Wiz (Lion), Cabaret (Simba/Angel) and Broken Chains (Prodigal Son/Ensemble). He would like to credit this opportunity to God and thank his family and About Artists Agency for their continued support.

Sara Leone (Daniel Tiger Puppeteer) Graduate of Kean University with a BFA in Theatre Performance.

Past collegiate credits include: Macbeth (Witch #4), The Gamester (Betty), The Vagina Monologues, The Little Mermaid, and Hairspray. Since graduating Sara has been sailing with Disney Cruise Line as a Character Performer. She can also be seen in the short film Spit (Young Ms. Hernandez) or on the TV shows My Dirty Little Secret and I Killed my BFF. www.SaraLeone.com Alyssa Muniz (Mom Tiger) is ecstatic to be a part of such an amazing show! She is from New Jersey and has been singing since the age of 3; she was nominated for a Paper Mill Rising Star Award for her roles as “Belle” in Beauty and the Beast and “Narrator” in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and recently won first prize in a competition called “Union’s Got Talent.”

Schyler Rice (Katerina Kittycat) is ecstatic to be making her national tour debut with Mills Entertainment. Jerry Herman Ring Theatre credits: Oklahoma! (Laurey), Our Town (Emily Webb), Cloud Nine (Edward/ Betty), South Pacific. Other recent credits: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Music Man Revue (Marian), Beauty and the Beast (Belle), Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Work of Pure Fiction; a new work

by Edith Freni, Book of Days, The Secret Garden, The Nutcracker. BFA Musical Theatre graduate of University of Miami.

Brittany Shaffer (Neighbor/Female Swing) Selected Theatre credits include The Marvelous Wonderettes (LTR), Godspell (LTR), Swing (LTR), and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Brighton Armory). Brittany graduated from

the University of Northern Colorado with her BA in Musical Theatre. She would like to thank Mills Entertainment, JCWA, her family, and God for this opportunity.

Evan Teich (Daniel's Father/Prince Wednesday/ Mr. McFeely) is humbled to be participating in what will be his third Mills Nat’l Tour! The last three years have predominantly been spent crisscrossing America with such companies as Mills Entertainment, Matt Murphy Productions, and ArtsPower. Regionally, he has accrued such memorable credits as Franz Leibkind (The Producers), Aldolpho (The Drowsy Chaperone), and John Wilkes Booth (ASSASSINS). Evan has appeared Off Broadway, specifically in NYC Children’s Theatre’s Dear Albert Einstein (Einstein).

He’s also appeared twice on the Bio Network’s Celebrity Ghost Stories. For my friends and family. Especially, for Britt. Always, for Bob. www. evanteich.com Chris Withers (Neighbor/Male Swing) Selected New York credits: Pinkalicious (Vital Theatre Company), Benjamin Button the Musical (Fundamental Theatre Project), Molasses in January (Newbury Productions). Regional credits: Pinkalicious (Jenny Wiley), Spamalot and 9 to 5 (Riverside Center Theatre), Hairspray (CPS Productions), Les Miserables (Cohoes Music Hall), Grease and Godspell (Virginia Repertory Theatre).

BA from Christopher Newport University, AMDA alumnus. To Mom, Dad, Grandma, Brit and Odie!

CREATIVE TEAM/CREW Jeremy Dobrish (Book) is a stage director, playwright, artistic leader, and teacher whose main focus has been developing and directing new plays and musicals. As a New York City based director, Jeremy has directed at Second Stage, MCC, Amas, WPA, Joe’s Pub, The Westside Arts, The Promenade, The Variety Arts, The Century, Actor’s Playhouse, Soho Playhouse, Zipper, etc.

His productions have received several Lortel and Drama Desk nominations. He has directed at all of the major New York festivals, including NYMF, SPF and the Fringe, where his productions have received multiple festival awards including, most recently, the NYMF award for exceptional direction.

Regionally, Jeremy has directed at The Old Globe, Barrington Stage, North Shore, The O’Neill, New York Stage and Film, Goodspeed and The Village Theatre. His adaptation of Curious George and his productions of The Teacher from the Black Lagoon, Virtually Me and Paul Revere tour the country with Theatreworks USA. He is a seven time published playwright. Jeremy began his career as the founder and Artistic Director of the adobe theatre company which he ran for thirteen years, and where he directed and/or produced

over twenty productions. Jeremy has served as an Artistic Associate at Second Stage, and recently he co-founded Midtown Direct Rep, a theatre company in Maplewood, NJ. He currently serves on the faculty of NYU. He has taught playwriting, directing and acting at Juilliard, The National Theatre Institute, the New York Film Academy, Fordham, Washington Irving High School, and in Prague through Western Michigan University.

Jeremy is a member of the Dramatists Guild and SDC and is represented by Paradigm.

Voodoo Highway Music & Post (Music Composer) is a full- service audio post-production house, composing music and designing audio for animation, films, video games, advertising, and a number of live-action television series for some of North America's largest networks. Founded in 1999, Voodoo Highway Music & Post is a collective of composers based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with additional studios in Seattle, Washington and Hollywood, California. The writing team consists of Gemini-nominated composers, Brian Pickett, Graeme Cornies, David Kelly, and James Chapple.

What began as strictly a music-house, eventually expanded to include a whole team of audio-post professionals.

Geppetto Studios (Puppet Designer) Film Credits: Fabricated costumes, puppets, and props for Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, Dreamworks SKG, and Greg Stump Films to name a few. From working with Diane Keaton on "Heaven" to the kangaroo in "Big Daddy" co-staring Adam Sandler, Geppetto has produced many widely diverse and entertaining projects. Television: More recently, Geppetto’s “Moonman” costume rocked the white carpet at the MTV Video Music Awards Show. This past Halloween, they fabricated 9 costumes for The Late Show with David Letterman. Geppetto has produced costumes and puppets for Comedy Central, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The View, Nickelodeon, HBO, the Ellen Degeneres Show, SONY Music, Celebrity Apprentice, and MTV's "Wonder Showzen." Stage: Geppetto is endlessly thankful to Gregg Barnes, Tony Award Winning Costume Designer, for pulling them in on several projects, including touring productions of Dora the Explorer and Mattel’s Barbie Fairytopia.

Geppetto's highly skilled artisans crafted many costumes for Pokemon Live, Beauty and The Beast (Baci Entertainment), Nickelodeon/Broadway Across America’s Storytime Live!, Cirque du Soleil’s Zarkana and Broadway’s Porgy and Bess.

David Miller (Scenic Designer) Tours: Tyler Oakley’s Slumber Party, Cake Boss: Bakin’ with the Boss Tour, Cake Boss Homemade for the Holidays Tour, Clifford the Big Red Dog Live!, Last Comic Standing Live. Awards Shows: Fox Reality Awards,

Movie Guide Awards for seven straight years; Asst. to Set Designer Keith Gonzales on Jane Eyre, Broadway. Regional: An Infinite Ache, Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia.

John E. D. Bass (Lighting Designer) has toured as a lighting designer and stage manager with Diavolo Architecture in Motion and most recently for Mills Entertainment with Youtube’s Lilly Singh's A Trip to Unicorn Island. Previous national tours designs include Peter Pan and Camelot for McCoy Rigby Entertainment as Tom Ruzika’s associate.

Past design highlights include The Soze Project at the The Apollo NYC and Azure - an underwater fantasy show at the Silverton Las Vegas.

Architectural credits include design team for the Eastern Columbia building in downtown Los Angeles and Spring, a Claes Oldenburg sculpture in Seoul, Korea. John is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.

Ben Selke (Sound Designer) has been involved in theatre productions in the UK and around the world. After growing up in the north east of England, he now calls New York his home. He is very excited to be joining such a great team.

Sound design credits include: A Night with Janis Joplin (Pasadena Playhouse and US Tour); Lets Kill Grandma this Christmas (Off-Broadway); All her Faces (Off- Broadway); Rock of Ages (Norwegian Cruise Line). Ben would like to thank his amazing wife for all her support and his two children Charlotte and Joshua for making every day an adventure.

Isabel Rubio (Costume Designer) Theatre, TV, Ballet, and Film designer resides in Brooklyn NY. Glad to be part of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Mills Entertainment once more. Theatre projects include Superior Donughts; Love Song; Clifford The Big Red Dog National Tour, all directed by Mark Fleisher. Hamlet director John Gould Ruben; Peer Gynt director Andrei Serban; Filming O’keefe directed by Martha Banta; Brush The Summer; Tick Tick Boom directed by Gabriel Barre; A Number directed by Sturgis Warner. Her Ballet designs in Russia included Beauty In Motion: Diana Vishneva; Vishneva Gala White Nights Festival; Tours of Russia with Kings Of The Dance; as well as the Kirov Ballet. Theatrical assisting credits include: 14 NYC Center Encores; Patricia Zipprodt; Florence Klotz; Toni Leslie James; as well as many plays, operas, Musicals with Felix Cochren. Isabel’s Film Design credits: Mattie Fresno; Mexican Ariel Nominated Film NOMADAS with Lucy Liu. Television credits: Law & Order; Late Night With David Letterman as an Assistant Designer. Isabel's honors: juried exhibitor Prague Scenofest Quadrennial / USA National Exhibit 2007 and the recipient Virginia Museum Costume Design Fellowship. Thanks as always to my sons Alex & David.

Arnold J. Mungioli, C.S.A. (Casting Director) Broadway/Nat’l Tour: Bill T. Jones’ Super Fly and Fela!; Little House on the Prairie starring Melissa Gilbert, Ragtime, Fosse, Show Boat, Candide, Sunset Boulevard, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Joseph… with Donny Osmond; Off-Broadway: Richard Maltby Jr.’s Closer Than Ever and The Sixties Project; Jewtopia, Evil Dead The Musical, Marko The Prince; Disney: High School Musical, The Lion King, Aladdin, When You Wish; Regionally: Trinity Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville; Pittsburgh CLO; North Shore Music Theatre; TV/ film: Nickelodeon, The Entertainer (E!); As an Author: www.LiveTheQuestionsNow.com. Casting Director ARNOLD J. MUNGIOLI is a Member of the Casting Society of America, and has been honored with two Artios Awards and the CSA Media Access Award. www.mungiolitheatricals.com David John Madore (Music Director) Musical Direction: Cross That River (staged: Donna McKechnie -Kennedy Center, NYMF, the O’Neill); Prison Dancer (NYMF); The World Goes Round (Mus. Theatre CT); South Pacific, The Who’s Tommy, Les Miserables, Happy Days (WVPT); Flight School and Peace, Love, and Cupcakes (Vital). Concerts: Twilight: A Musical Parody; Sorvino Sings. Other music dept: Seussical (Bway); Les Miserables (Bway – reh. pianist); Man of La Mancha (Nat’l Tour); Dear World (w/Jerry Herman); Red, Hot & Blue; On the Twentieth Century (Goodspeed); Sweet Charity; The Game (Barrington Stage); Man of La Mancha; The Sound of Music; Smokey Joe’s Café (Mus. Circus), and All That Glitters (B’way workshop).

Wrote "One Good Thing," 2014 BC/EFA "Carols For a Cure: Vol. 16" (MATILDA track – one of the Matildas is his daughter, Eliza). His other work can be found at www.madoremusic.com and on youtube.

BJ Marchini (Tour Manager) is a theatrical technician, manager, audio engineer, musician, and software developer hailing from Hyde Park, NY. Touring since 2008, his credits include Jim Henson's Dinosaur Train Live: Buddy's Big Adventure, Jim Henson’s Sid the Science Kid Live: Let’s Play!, The Hungry Hungry Games: A Parody, Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody and Clifford the Big Red Dog Live (all with Mills Entertainment), as well as nine additional tours with American Family Theater.

Devan Cohen (Voice of Daniel Tiger) After his first audition, Devan landed the hero role of the Lʼil Chef on a “Dan-onino Yogurt” commercial.

His engaging personality and natural ability won over the producers of the feature film “Jesus Henry Christ” shortly thereafter, and he was cast as the younger version of the lead character Henry James Herman. It was a natural transition for Devan to book the series regular role of Adam in the HBO Canada series “The Yard” for which he received

a Young Artist Award nomination. Devan has appeared in episodes of “The Next Star”, “Really Me”, “Flashpoint”, “Odd Squad” and “Hannibal” and has recently worked on the feature “Group Home” in the principal role of Jason. Voice Overs: Devan is the voice of Rubble on “Paw Patrol” and Frankie on “Ella the Elephant”. He is the current voice of Sammy in “Playdate”, Tommy Tibble in “Arthur” and Jackson in “Creative Galaxy” and has enjoyed guest spots on various additional animated shows as well. But his most recent success is landing the title role of Daniel in “Daniel Tigerʼs Neighborhood”.

Devan received a 2015 Joey Award nomination for his work as Daniel on the show. He is repped by Vanderwerff Talent in Toronto.

Jenn Rapp (Director/Choreographer) Broadway: The Illusionists (Neil Simon Theatre, 2015; Marquis 2014). Off-Broadway: Found (Atlantic Theatre Company), Indian Ink (Roundabout), Bare (Martian Entertainment), Carrie (MCC), Lucky Guy (Alchemy Productions). NYC: The Secret Garden (Lincoln Center), Ragtime (Lincoln Center), Prison Dancer (NYMF, Outstanding Choreography Award), Outlaws (NYMF), Song For A Future Generation (WTF, 2015). Norwegian Cruise Line: Legally Blonde & Le Cirque Bijou. TOUR: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Live! (US Tour), Paw Patrol Live! (US Tour). Television: The Knick (Cinemax), Royal Pains (USA), Happyish (Showtime) www.JennRapp.com The Fred Rogers Company (Creator of the PBS KIDS television series, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) The company was founded by Fred Rogers in 1971 as the non-profit producer of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for PBS. In the years that followed, it not only created hundreds of episodes of this much-loved program, but also extended Fred’s values and approach to other efforts in promoting children’s social, emotional and behavioral health and supporting parents, caregivers, teachers and other professionals in their work with children. The Fred Rogers Company continues to build on Fred’s legacy in innovative ways through a wide variety of media, and engaging new generations of children and families with his timeless wisdom. The company’s highly-rated, award-winning children’s series include Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Peg + Cat and Odd Squad. For more information, visit www. fredrogers.org