Broadway premiere presented by Howard & Janet Kagen, Paula Marie Black, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Jenny Steingart and Jason Eagan, Mary Lu Roffe and Susan Gallin, Diana DiMenna, Mary Maggio/Sharon Azrieli/Robin Gorman, Darren Sussman/Roman Gambourg/Lev Gelfer, Tom Smedes, John Logan, Lisa Matlin, Margie and Bryan Weingarten, Daveed Frazier, Argyle Productions/Jim Kierstead, In Fine Company/Hipzee, Gutterman & Caiola/Backdrop Partners, Siderow Kirchman Productions/Sunnyspot Productions, Gordon/Meli Theatricals, Rodger Hess/Larry Toppall, Daniel Rakowski/Matt Ross/Ben Feldman, Mike Karns, The American Repertory Theatre (Diane Paulus, Artistic Director; Diane Quinn, Executive Producer; Diane Borger, Producer), and Ars Nova. Originally commissioned, developed, and world premiere produced by Ars Nova; Jason Eagan, Founding Artistic Director; Renee Blinkwolt, Managing Director. Further developed and produced by the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University; Diane Paulus, Artistic Director; Diane Quinn, Executive Producer; Diane Borger, Producer.
T. Oliver Reid, director Mike Bond, music director Rylee Carpenter & Maclain Rhine, choreographers Friday, December 8, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, December 9, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Sunday, December 10, 2 p.m. BLC Theater – Rider University 2083 Lawrenceville Road Lawrenceville, N.J. NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. | www.concordtheatricals.com ~ WARNING ~ The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production or distributing recordings on any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author's rights and actionable under united states copyright law. Please note that this production utilizes prop guns and simulated gun shot noises.
Rider University gratefully acknowledges the generous support of: The Herbert B. Mayo Performance Endowment The Martinson Family Foundation for its support of theater technology equipment. Michael T. '89 and Susana Santaguida '89 Gummel for their support of our new Rider Friend of the Arts patron program.
Special Thanks to: Dr. Sean McCarther, Nathan Peck, and Ivan Diogrik.
Director’s Note The purpose of this note is to be the Director’s view of the show and I promise to give a little insight on that. However, I want to take this opportunity to truly exalt this group of Student Actors. Their tireless work on this production has been so inspiring to watch. I always call them ‘Student Actors’ because, well, they are both. Students. Still in the process of learning the craft while “in performance”. And essentially, we all are always inside that process. Actors. These “student actors” have so fully immersed themselves into these characters and this world we have created. I am continually in awe of how these human beings step up and bring forth the best of who they are and create beautiful moments inside this theater. Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 is a look into the world of Tolstoy’s War & Peace…a look at 70 pages of this 1300-page epic novel. The story of five families, four of whom are included in this musical, and the intertwining of their lives set on the backdrop of a Napoleonic War that was never expected to happen on Russian soil. The love, the loss, the regret and the forgiveness for decisions made, all encompass our story. Thanks to the faculty and staff who give tirelessly of their skill and time…Robin Shane, Yoshi Tanokura, Todd Loyd, Mike Bond, Sean McCarther, Craig Pincus, Bella Mazzoni and Buck Linton. Also, to the student members of the production team, Rylee Berger and the full Stage management team, and Paula Ciko. Thank you to our incredible choreographers Rylee Carpenter and Maclain Rhine. Thank you to Riley Bocchicchio and Lucas Marinetto. Special thanks to Nathan Peck for pitch hitting with team directing. Спасибо (Thank you) T. Oliver Reid
Scenes and Musical Numbers PROLOGUE 1. Prologue 2. Pierre
PART IV Chapter 7 14. Letters
PART I Chapter 1: 3. Moscow Chapter 2: 4. The Private and Intimate Life of the House 5. Natasha and Bolkonskys 6. No One Else
PART II Chapter 3 7. The Opera 8. Natasha and Anatole
PART III Chapter 4 9. The Duel 10. Dust and Ashes Chapter 5 11. Sunday Morning 12. Charming Chapter 6 13. The Ball
INTERMISSION
Chapter 8 15. Sonya and Natasha 16. Sonya Alone Chapter 9 17. Preparations 18. Balaga 19. The Abduction
PART V Chapter 10 20. In My House 21. A Call to Pierre Chapter 13 22. Find Anatole 23. Pierre and Anatole Chapter 14 24. Natasha Very Ill 25. Pierre and Andrey Chapter 15 26. Pierre and Natasha 27. The Great Comet of 1812
Cast Natasha Rostova
Macy Champlin
Pierre Bezukhov
Evan Blackwell
Anatole Kuragin
Alain Brutus
Sonya Rostova
Avery Gallagher
Helene Bezukhov
Alicia Bartosik
Marya Dmitriyevna
Skylar Noyes
Fedya Dolokhov
Gray Stephen Davidock
Andrey Bolkonsky
Lane LaVonne
Old Prince Bolkonsky
Ryan Torres
Mary Bolkonskaya
Olivia Sauerberg
Balaga
Nicholas Franki
Servant
Aidan Kelly
Servant
Nicholas Franki
Maidservant
Giuliana DeMarinis
Opera Singers
Giuliana DeMarinis, Nicholas Franki
Opera Dancers
Shae Duggan, Lincoln Funderburk
Ensemble
Rayna Allen, Christina Claire, Chloe Calhoun, Simon Clissold, Will Braxton Coffey, Giuliana DeMarinis, Shae Duggan, Rafael Ferreira, Nicholas Franki, Lincoln Funderburk, Jayden Hollister, Emily Taylor Kaufman, Aidan Kelly, Morgan Lane, Jillian Ann Lee, Grace McKenna, Sadie Patton, Hunter Quinn, Isabella Rosalie, Cole Russell, Jade Schaffer, Suki Scott, Chelsea Udoye, Abigail Westers
Cover Cast Natasha Rostova
Mica Swingholm
Pierre Bezukhov
Aidan Kelly
Anatole Kuragin
Rafael Ferreira
Sonya Rostova
Shae Duggan
Helene Bezukhov
Morgan Lane
Helene Bezukhov
Abigail Bohn
Marya Dmitriyevna
Abigail Bohn
Fedya Dolokhov
Cole Russell
Andrey Bolkonsky
Will Braxton Coffey
Old Prince Bolkonsky
Will Braxton Coffey
Mary Bolkonskaya
Madison Figueroa
Balaga
Simon Clissold
Servant
Simon Clissold
Maidservant
Suki Scott
Opera Singers
Suki Scott, Simon Clissold
Artistic Staff and Crew Director
T. Oliver Reid
Music Director
Mike Bond
Choreographer
Rylee Carpenter
Choreographer
Maclain Rhine
Scenic Designer
Yoshinori Tanokura
Costume Designer
Robin I. Shane
Lighting Designer
Paula Ciko
Props Designer
Bella Mazzoni
Production Stage Manager
Rylee Berger
Technical Director
Buck Linton
Sound Engineer
Craig Pincus
Stage Manager
Melena Scott
Associate Director
Riley Bocchicchio
Assistant Director
Lucas Marinetto
Assistant Scenic Designer
Sean McDonald
Assistant Costume Designer
Deryn C. Kraner
Hair Designer/Supervisor Makeup Designer/Supervisor Lighting Supervisor
Lilli Doll Maggie Coscia Todd Loyd
Assistant Sound Engineer
Alyssa Gil-Pujols
Assistant Stage Manager
Brooke Birbilis
Assistant Stage Manager
Annabel Jones
Assistant Stage Manager
Hailey Tedesco
A1
Abigail Dorwart
Wardrobe Supervisor
Elise Carey
Props Supervisor
Ryann Reich
Light Board Operator
Olivia Dostal
Sound Operator
Ella Rybczynski
Spot Operator
Matt Cirola
Spot Operator
Cassidy Hagan
Sound Runner
Eamonn McLoughlin
Wardrobe Runner
Emily Hutchings
Wardrobe Runner
Sam Ringor
Orchestra Manager
Johnny Doty
Orchestra Keyboard 1
Mike Bond
Accordion/Keyboard 2
Ellie Kahn
Oboe Clarinet/Bass Clarinet
Fabian Schulz Sherry Hartman-Apgar
Upright Bass
Paul Cuffari
Viola/Violin
Samantha Tomblin
Cello 1
Kristin Weaver
Cello 2
Krysta Fogel
Guitar
Ben Turner
Drums
Liam McGeary
Administrative Staff Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Director of Production Management
Kelly Bidle Jason Vodicka Buck Linton
Director of Performance Management
Kristen Rodgers
Associate Director of Performance Management
Leandra Acosta
Coordinator of Performance Management
Samuel Stephenson
About the Cast RAYNA ALLEN, ENSEMBLE, is a sophomore Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Schwartzy), and THE PROM (Ensemble/School Chorus). Recent professional credits include Guys and Dolls (Hot Box Girl), and The Wedding Singer (Ensemble). ABIGAIL BOHN, MARYA COVER/HELENE COVER, is a senior B.F.A. Musical Theatre major. Her Rider University Mainstage credits include Working (Woman 3), Kiss Me, Kate (Ensemble). Additional credits include: The 2022 and 2023 performances of Westminster Choir College’s Lindsey Christiansen Art Song Festival and Bean a Long Day (Logan Van Heissenhoffer-Oogolschwartz). Upcoming Performances include: Anything Goes (Reno Sweeney). ALICIA BARTOSIK, HELENE BEZUKHOV, is a senior Musical Theatre major with a minor in Film & TV. Rider credits include: The Children’s Hour (Lily Mortar), Love and Information (Ensemble), ISM (Ensemble), and Rootz & Dootz (Swing). Recent professional credits: Oklahoma! (Gertie) and See How They Run (Penelope Toop) at Prairie Repertory Theatre. EVAN BLACKWELL, PIERRE BEZUKHOV, is a senior B.F.A. Musical Theatre major. Rider Credits include: It’s A Wonderful Life (Ensemble), Working (Mike/Joe/Eddie), Pippin (Charlemagne), Polaroid Stories (G), Urinetown (Cladwell), Kiss Me Kate (Gangster #1). Professional Credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Ensemble) at The Rev Theatre Co, and The Swell Tones at Cedar Point. LINK Class 4. ALAIN BRUTUS, ANATOLE KURAGIN, is a Junior Musical Theatre major. This is Alain's Rider mainstage debut. CHLOE CALHOUN, ENSEMBLE, (she/her) is a senior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: THE PROM (School Chorus), Pippin (Swing), Cabaret (Swing), Kiss Me, Kate! (Ensemble), ISM: A Cabaret (Soloist), and the upcoming production of Anything Goes (Dance Capt./Asst. Choreography). Select professional credits include: A Chorus Line (Cassie) and Footloose (Rusty) at North Coast Theatre Festival, and Mary Poppins (Ensemble, Lark/Corry u/s), West Side Story (Anybodys), & Mamma Mia! (Ensemble) at the North Carolina Theatre. MACY CHAMPLIN, NATASHA ROSTOVA, (she/her) is a senior BFA Musical Theatre major originally from Oklahoma City. Rider credits include: Urinetown: The Musical (Ensemble/Mrs. Millennium), Kander and Ebb's Cabaret (Assistant Director), and ISM (Vocalist).
CHRISTINA CLAIRE, ENSEMBLE, is a junior BFA Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Bean A Long Day (Tara RuBean/Frenchie/Betty the Broth U/S), Pete(HER) Pan (Swing), Rebirth, Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, and Jason Robert Brown Cabaret. Professional credits: THE PROM at Axelrod Performing Arts Center (Shelby/Alyssa Greene U/S). SIMON CLISSOLD, ENSEMBLE, BALAGA/SERVANT/OPERA SINGER COVER, is a sophomore Musical Theater major/ Rider Credits Include: Momentum, Entr'Acte: Come Together. WILL BRAXTON COFFEY, ENSEMBLE, ANDREY/OLD PRINCE BOLKONSKY COVER is a sophomore Musical Theater major. Previous Rider Credits include: THE PROM (Offstage Singer/Swing, U/S Kevin) Regional credits include: Like Father, Like Son at Passage Theater in Trenton and the Tank in New York City. GRAY STEPHEN DAVIDOCK, FEDYA DOLOKHOV, is a junior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Urinetown (Billy Boy Bill) and Kiss Me, Kate (Ensemble/US Fred Graham). Professional credits include The Crossing: A New Musical (George Washington). GIULIANA DEMARINIS, OPERA SOLOIST/MAIDSERVANT, is a senior Musical Theater major with a minor in Arts and Entertainment Industries Management. Recent Rider credits include: The Children's Hour and Rider Student Theater Company's Puffs and Godspell! SHAE DUGGAN, OPERA DANCER/ENSEMBLE/SONYA COVER, (They/She) is a junior BFA Musical Theatre major. Rider main-stage credits include: Kiss Me, Kate (Associate Choreographer/Dance Captain), Into The Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim (Ensemble), and Rebirth: First-Year Showcase (Ensemble). Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: The Lonely Hearts Club Cabaret (Ensemble), Macbeth (First Witch/First Murderer/Fleance), & Fun Home (Helen Bechdel). RAFAEL FERREIRA, ENSEMBLE/ANATOLE COVER, is a junior Musical Theater major. Rider credits include Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, Hide and Seek (Swing), Rebirth, Kiss Me, Kate (Ensemble, u/s Hortensio and Gremio), and THE PROM (Mr. Hawkins). MADISON FIGUEROA, MARY BOLKONSKAYA COVER, is a junior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: THE PROM, Carrie, Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, and Rebirth. NICHOLAS FRANKI, BALAGA/OPERA SINGER/SERVANT is a junior Acting and Technical Theatre double major. Rider Credits include: Urinetown (Officer Barrel), Kiss Me, Kate (Gangster #2), THE PROM (Ensemble), and Rider New Works ’22.
LINCOLN C. FUNDERBURK, OPERA DANCER/ENSEMBLE, is a senior BFA Musical Theatre major. Rider Credits include: 55w (School Chorus, Waiter), Kiss Me, Kate (Ensemble), Urinetown (Senator Fipp), Rebirth (Dancer), Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, and an upcoming production of Anything Goes (Sailor) AVERY GALLAGHER, SONYA ROSTOVA, is a senior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Fate #2 u/s Leo perf.) and ISM: A Cabaret (Featured Soloist). Recent credits include: Heathers (Veronica Sawyer), Spring Awakening (Wendla Bergmann), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Janet Weiss), American Idiot (Heather) and Footloose (Ariel). JAYDEN HOLLISTER, ENSEMBLE is a sophomore Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Cendrillon (Supernumerary) EMILY TAYLOR KAUFMAN, ENSEMBLE, is a sophomore Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Momentum: First Year Musical Theatre Showcase and Entr’Acte: Come Together. Recent professional credits: The Honeymoon Stylings (The Green Room 42) AIDAN KELLY, ENSEMBLE/PIERRE COVER, is a junior Musical Theatre Major. Rider Credits include: Rebirth, Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, Urinetown (Robby the Stockfish, U/S Bobby Strong), Love and Information (Featured Actor). Regional/Professional Credits include: Grease at the Broadway Theatre of Pitman (Roger). MORGAN LANE, ENSEMBLE/HELENE COVER, is a junior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Swingin' The Seasons, Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, and Rebirth. LANE LAVONNE, ANDREY BOLKONSKY, is a junior BFA Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Fun Home (Medium Alison), Macbeth (Macbeth), Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Ensemble, u/s Dion). Recent professional credits: THE PROM (Emma Nolan) JILLIAN ANN LEE, ENSEMBLE, is a junior Musical Theatre major. Recent credits include: Rebirth and Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim at Rider University and THE PROM at Axelrod Performing Arts Center. GRACE MCKENNA, ENSEMBLE, (she/her) is a junior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: LAST WORDS (Ensemble, Katherine of Aragon cover), Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim (Ensemble), and Rebirth (Ensemble). Upcoming Rider credits include: Anything Goes. SKYLAR NOYES, MARYA DMITRIEVNA, is a senior musical theatre major and entrepreneurial studies minor. Rider credits include: ISM, and Magic to Do and Puffs
with the Rider Student Theatre Company. Recent professional credits include: Cinderella (ensemble US) at the Walnut Street Theatre. SADIE PATTON, ENSEMBLE, is a sophomore Musical Theatre major. This is her Rider mainstage debut. Regional credits include: Into the Woods (Florinda), High School Musical (Kelsi Nielson), and Fall of ‘94 (Jessica). HUNTER QUINN, ENSEMBLE, is a junior musical theatre major. Rider Credits Include: Kiss Me, Kate (Swing) and Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Assistant Stage Manager). Recent Professional Credits: The Wedding Singer (George) and You're a Good Man Charlie Brown (Charlie Brown). ISABELLA ROSALIE, ENSEMBLE, is a junior musical theatre major. Rider Credits include: Rebirth, Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, and Rider New Works 2022 (Playwright). This will be her mainstage musical debut. COLE RUSSELL, ENSEMBLE/DOLOKHOV COVER, is a sophomore Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: THE PROM (Ensemble), Momentum, and Entr’Acte: Come Together. Their most recent professional credit is Like Father, Like Son (The TANK NYC) OLIVIA SAUERBERG, MARY BOLKSONSKY, is a junior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include Kiss Me, Kate (Ensemble), Rebirth, and Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim. Professional Credits include Young Frankenstein (Inga), Cinderella (Charlotte), White Christmas (Rita, US Judy Haynes), Sweet Charity (Ponytail Girl/Rosie), SpongeBob (Electric Skate), and Leading Ladies Cabaret (W3). Upcoming Rider Credits include: Anything Goes (Purity, u/s Reno Sweeney) JADE SCHAFFER, ENSEMBLE, is a sophomore BFA musical theatre major. Rider credits include: Momentum and Entr’Acte: Come Together. Recent credits include Grease (Rizzo). SUKI SCOTT, ENSEMBLE/OPERA SINGER COVER/MAIDSERVANT COVER, is a sophomore Musical Theater major. Rider credits include: Momentum and Entr'Acte: Come Together. Recent professional credits: Trials of a Songwriter - short film (playing as Suki). MICA SWINGHOLM, NATASHA COVER, is a junior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Urinetown (Swing), Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, and Rebirth. Professional credits include: Grease (Ensemble), and The Little Mermaid (Allana/Ensemble/Ariel U/S). RYAN TORRES, OLD PRINCE BOLKONSKY, is a sophomore musical theatre major. Rider credits include: Momentum, Entr'Acte: Come Together, and an upcoming production of Anything Goes (Reporter/Moonface & Captain US). Professional Credits include: 9 to
5 (Joe), Brightstar (Max/Dr. Norquist/ Mayor US), Grease (Eugene) and The Sound of Music (Herr Zeller) CHELSEA UDOYE, ENSEMBLE, is a junior double major in Musical Theatre and American Studies. Rider credits include: Urinetown (Swing/US Hope), Mythos Cabaret (Vocalist), Lonely Hearts Club Cabaret (Vocalist), Rebirth, and Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim. Recent professional credits: Polkadots (Lily Polkadot) at The Argyle. ABIGAIL WESTERS, ENSEMBLE, is a sophomore Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include Entr'Acte: Come Together and Momentum.
About the Artistic & Administrative Staff and Crew LEANDRA ACOSTA, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT (she/her), is a graduate of Rider University with degrees in dance performance and arts administration. During her time performing at Rider, she was awarded both the Dance Merit Scholarship and Mildred S. Hawkins Dance Scholarship and helped adopt the Dance Mentorship Program. She is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many fantastic choreographers during her time performing at Rider including: Kate Ladenheim, Randy James of 10 Hairy Legs, Angela Cusumano, Merli Guerra of Luminarium Dance, Jennifer Gladney, Robson Alves, Lynn Neuman of Artichoke Dance, and Ryan Davis. She was recently featured as a choreographer for the 2023 Senior Dance Capstone performance, Acknowledgements. In her role as Associate Director, Leandra creates programs for and manages the social media pages for the Department of Performing Arts and Westminster Choir College. RYLEE BERGER, PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER, is a senior Theatre Design and Technology and Arts and Entertainment Industries Management double major. Selected Rider credits: Suor Angelica and Hermit Songs (Technical Director), Urinetown (Assistant Technical Director, Production Stage Manager), Kiss Me, Kate (Assistant Technical Director, A1), The Children’s Hour (Production Stage Manager, co-scenic designer), The Prom (Assistant Technical Director), Rider Dances ’23: Expanding Communities (Production Stage Manager), and Polaroid Stories (Production Stage Manager). Selected professional credits: Like Father, Like Son (Scenic/Sound Designer) at The TANK, Cinderella/Don Quixote (Production Stage Manager) with American Repertory Ballet, and Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Assistant Stage Manager) at Passage Theatre. Rylee has worked with Berkshire Theatre Group, the McCarter Theater, the American Repertory Ballet, and the Hangar Theater. Currently, Rylee works in the scene shop as a carpenter and is the president and production manager of the Rider Student Theatre Company.
BROOKE BIRBILIS, ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER, is a sophomore musical theatre major. Rider credits include: Carrie (Principal Swing), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona) and an upcoming production of Anything Goes (Swing). Recent professional credits include The Little Mermaid (Ariel). RILEY BOCCHICCHIO, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR (he/him), is a junior Musical Theatre and Marketing Double Major. He most recently performed in 54 Sings ‘INSIDE’ at 54 Below, and as Intern/Joe in the NYC reading of F***ing Wall Street from producer Eric Passmore. Other credits: Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical at Rider and The Passage Theatre Company (Echo #6, Iggy U/S, August U/S). Riley is also a proudly produced playwright. His play, Like Father, Like Son, was produced by The TANK Theatre this past summer. Past creative roles: The Prom (Dramaturg), Kiss Me Kate! (Associate Director). Upcoming performances: Teddy, Phoebe, and the Visionary (Elliot), Radium Girls (Tom/Reporter/Knef/Venecine Salesman). MIKE BOND, MUSIC DIRECTOR, began his musical journey at 4 years old. By the time he was six, he was winning high honors competitions and performing at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Bond, a Rutgers University cum-laude graduate, and top of his class, received the prestigious Excellence in Jazz Performance Award and the Arthur G. Humphrey award for his Bachelor’s dual major in Music Education and Jazz Piano Performance in 2012. Bond’s passion for musical theater: He music directed for a variety of community theater companies while in school, and shortly after graduating, he won a statewide Perry award for music direction in 2016. Bond then began music directing for professional regional theaters. This includes music directing & accompanying Tony Award® winning tap dancer Savion Glover at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (2020 & 2022), and music directing, and arranging for Broadway lead, Andrew Polec’s solo cabaret at Bucks County Playhouse in 2021. In addition to his music directing career, Bond has continued to excel as a pianist. He has collaborated with GRAMMY® nominated artists and some of the top musicians in the world including but not limited to: Orrin Evans, Billy Kilson, Byron Landham, Conrad Herwig, Todd Bashore, Mark Gross, Bruce Williams, Josh Evans, Gene Perla, Ryan Devlin, Adam Nussbaum, Sarah Hanahan, and the Captain Black Big Band. He is a featured sideman on guitarist Jean Chaumont’s debut album The Beauty Of Differences which received a 4 star review in Downbeat Magazine. Bond has most recently toured the Midwest in both 2021, and 2022 with saxophonist Ryan Devlin feat. legendary artists Gene Perla, and Adam Nussbaum. Mike is very excited for his in person musical theater music directorial debut, MD’ing for Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. RYLEE CARPENTER, CHOREOGRAPHER, is senior musical theater major. Rider credits: Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Cassie), and Pride and Prejudice (Choreographer). Professional credits: The Little Mermaid (Ariel), and Thick As Thieves (Becky). Rider Student Theater Company credits include: Carrie: The Musical (Carrie), Romeo and Juliet (Nurse), Rootz and Dootz (Sophie), and Hide and Seek (Molly).
PAULA CIKO, LIGHTING DESIGNER, is a senior at Rider University majoring in Theatre Design and Technology concentrating in Lighting Design. Her Rider technical credits include: Pippin (Light Board Op), Hansel und Gretel (Light Board Op), Rider New Works 2022 (Lighting Designer), Cabaret (Assistant Lighting Designer), Kiss Me, Kate (Assistant Lighting Designer), The One-Act Play that Goes Wrong (Assistant Lighting Designer), Cendrillon (Assistant Lighting Designer and Light Board Op) and Puffs (Lighting Designer). She has also worked with Asbury Park Theatre Co. on The Bikinis (Lighting Designer). ANNABEL JONES, ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER, is a sophomore BFA Musical Theatre major. Rider performance credits include: Momentum, Entr'acte: Come Together. Rider technical credits include: Kiss Me, Kate (sound/projection operator). DERYN C. KRANER, ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER, is a sophomore Musical Theatre major and Dance minor. Rider credits include: Kiss Me, Kate (Wardrobe Runner), Momentum, and Entr’acte: Come Together. Regional credits include: Flashdance the Musical (Destiny/Ensemble), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Ensemble/Swing for the Brides), A Christmas Story (Adult/Child Ensemble). BUCK LINTON, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT/TECHNICAL DIRECTOR. Earning his MFA in Scenography and Technical Design (Virginia Tech), Buck joined Rider University as its Technical Director in 2012 and became the Director of Production Management in 2022. He professionally produced more than 200 productions with such venues as The Kennedy Center, Paper Mill Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Club, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and McCarter Theatre. Selected works include Travesties, Sleeping Beauty Wakes, Take Flight, Herringbone, Lookingglass Alice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Falstaff, Die Zauberflöte, Pelléas et Mélisande, Dialogues des Carmélites, La Clemenza di Tito, Oreste, Sunjata Kamalenya, The Odyssey Experience, Die Fledermaus, Rigoletto, Turandot, Chicago, EDDA (Ping Chong & Sequentia Ensemble, international tour). Since 2012, he has produced more than 100 productions for Rider University’s College of Arts and Sciences in the performing arts. TODD LOYD, LIGHTING SUPERVISOR, is the lighting director for Rider University’s Department of Performing Arts. He supervises the lighting for every performance that the department produces in addition to mentoring several students that assist in designing, hanging, focusing, and programming the lighting for each show. At Rider he has designed over 30 productions including plays, musicals, dance recitals, cabarets, and operas. Some of the highlights include Kiss Me, Kate, Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical, The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong, Urinetown, Cabaret, Polaroid Stories, Rider Dances: Moving in Our Community, Pippin, Bright Star, Hair, Heathers The Musical, The Theory of Relativity, Once On This Island, She Kills Monsters, Our Town, A Chorus Line and Metamorphoses. Other selected professional projects include Rock of Ages and Baskerville:
A Sherlock Holmes Mystery at Forestburgh Playhouse, Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical and The Gun Show at Passage Theatre, and Journey to Oz with the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte and Experiential Theater Company. LUCAS MARINETTO, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, is a junior Musical Theater Major at Rider University. This is his first Assistant Director technical credit. Previous professional credits include: World of Dance (Season 2), So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation (Season 13), the 2016 National Tour of A Christmas Story: The Musical (Scut Farkus). Rider credits include: Kiss Me, Kate (Ensemble, U/S Paul). Upcoming credits include: Anything Goes. SEAN MCDONALD, ASSISTANT SCENIC DESIGNER, is a senior double major in Theatre Design and Technology and Acting for Film, TV and Theatre. Over the summer, Sean worked as a Deck Crew member at Ogunquit Playhouse for their mainstage season. Sean's Rider credits include: The Children's Hour (Co-Scenic Designer), Cabaret (Stage Manager), Rider New Works '22 (Props Designer), and Pride and Prejudice (Sound Designer). Sean is also a Scenic Carpenter Work Study in the scene shop and a member of the Rider Student Theatre Company's Executive Board as their Technical Director. BELLA MAZZONI, PROPS DESIGNER, (she/her) is a recent Rider University graduate, where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre and Psychology. Her past Rider credits include: Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (scenic designer); Rider Student Theatre Company's Carrie: The Musical (scenic painter); Rider Student Theatre Company's Swingin’ in the Seasons (scenic designer); Godspell (scenic designer); Rider New Works 2022 (co-scenic designer); Hide & Seek (scenic designer); Pippin (scenic designer & props team); Rider New Works 2020 (scenic & props designer); Monstersongs (props master); Everybody (props master); The Wolves (assistant stage manager); and Hair (props coordinator). CRAIG PINCUS, SOUND DESIGNER/SOUND ENGINEER, has worked in professional audio and system design for the past twenty-eight years. He has engineered audio for musical theater, television broadcast, and recording studio clientel. Craig holds a Bachelor’s degree in communication from Rutgers University and teaches audio production at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ. Craig also performs and records music, owns a sound & event production service, and directs TheatreCraft Musical Program, a children’s theater company, created with his wife Renee, producing theatrical performances in the central NJ area. T. OLIVER REID, DIRECTOR, is Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre at Rider University as well as adjunct professor at NYU-Tisch Grad Acting. He is Associate Choreographer of Hadestown (Broadway and Tour). He is also Co-Founder of BLACK THEATRE COALITION (www.blacktheatrecoalition.org) with a mission of removing the illusion of inclusion in the American Theatre for black professionals.
He most recently starred on Broadway as Hermes in Hadestown on Broadway and has spent the past 20+ years working on Broadway. The shows, which include Hadestown; Once On This Island; Sunset Boulevard; After Midnight; Sister Act; Mary Poppins; The Wedding Singer; Chicago; La Cage Aux Folles; Never Gonna Dance; Thoroughly Modern Millie; Follies and Kiss Me, Kate, have amassed more than 20 Tony Awards® from the American Theatre Wing. T. Oliver is recipient of Bistro, MAC, Julie Wilson, Alfred Drake Awards and the BAPA Arts In Action Awards from NYCGMC. He is also an accomplished cabaret artist and director/choreographer, most recently working on Universal Pictures’ BROS, starring Billy Eichner. He continues to work in film and television as an actor (Inventing Anna, The Sixth Sense, GIRLS, Ray Donovan, The Blacklist). He also sits on the Board of Visitors for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. MACLAIN RHINE, CO-CHOREOGRAPHER, is a senior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: The Prom (Nick), Kiss Me, Kate (Ensemble, Internal DC), Clean Slate; A World Premiere Musical (Iggy), The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Max), Cabaret (Swing/DC), Pride and Prejudice (Choreographer) and Polaroid Stories (Narcissus). Upcoming Rider credits include Radium Girls and Anything Goes. Regional credits include Hair and Kiss Me, Kate (Cortland Repertory Theatre) and Mamma Mia! (Winnipesaukee Playhouse). MELENA SCOTT, STAGE MANAGER, is a sophomore Theater Design and Technology major. Rider technical credits include: THE PROM (Assistant Stage Manager), Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Assistant Stage Manager), Urinetown (Assistant Stage Manager). Recent Professional credits include: Detox: The Art of Expression (Production Stage Manager) at Passage Theatre Company. ROBIN I. SHANE, COSTUME DESIGNER, is an Assistant Professor II of Theatre at Rider University and the Resident Costume Designer. Favorite designs at Rider include: THE PROM, Cabaret, Polaroid Stories, Pippin, Kiss Me, Kate and many Rider Dance concerts. Recent professional credits include The Pillowman and In The Next Room, or, The Vibrator Play at the Hedgerow Theatre in Media, PA and OK Trenton at the Passage Theatre in Trenton, NJ. Robin has been a professional costume designer for over 25 years and she has designed costumes regionally and nationally at such varied theatre as The New Victory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, The Yale Rep, The Hedgerow, Theatre Exile, Philadelphia Artist’s Collective, EgoPo, Passage Theater, Shakespeare Theater of NJ, The National Constitution Center, The Revision Theater, the Jean Cocteau Repertory Theater, Soho Rep and The Harrisburg Opera, as well as for film and television. Robin holds an MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and a BA in Theater and Psychology from Wesleyan University.
SAMUEL STEPHENSON, COORDINATOR OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT (he/him/his), received his Bachelor of Arts degrees in English Literature and Music from Wabash College, graduating magna cum laude under a full-ride Lilly Scholarship. As a Joseph Flummerfelt Scholar, he received his Master of Music in Choral Conducting with distinction from Westminster Choir College. Samuel has performed with many choirs across the world. He toured with the Wabash College Glee Club internationally to Taiwan and organized and managed the renowned Choral Institute at Oxford, a summer program at the University of Oxford for inspiring conductors to work with leading figures in the choral world. He has performed with The Same Stream, whose recordings can be found on all major music services, and at the Weiwuying National Center for the Arts as part of the opera chorus for Verdi’s La Traviata. Most recently, Samuel conducted Morten Lauridsen’s Mid-Winter Songs with the Westminster Choir in concert at Washington D.C. He currently works as the Performance Management Coordinator at Rider University and Music Director at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Warminster, PA. YOSHINORI TANOKURA, SCENIC DESIGNER, originally from Tokyo, is currently teaching scenic design at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ. Yoshi holds a M.A. in Scenography from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in London and an M.F.A. in Set Design from the University of Connecticut. As a freelance designer, his design credits include Moon Over Buffalo at the People’s Light and Theatre, Clever Little Lies by Joe DiPietro at Westside Theatre, NYC, Exonerated with the Delaware Theatre Company, and Peter and the Starcatcher at the Adrienne Arsht Center. Yoshi assisted John Lee Beatty on a number of Broadway productions, such as Venus in Fur, Doubt, and The Color Purple. Yoshi is a member of the United Scenic Artists, Local 829. HAILEY TEDESCO, ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER, is a sophomore double major in Arts and Entertainment Industry Management and Theatre Design and Technology.
About Rider University and The Department of Performing Arts Located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Rider University is a private co-educational, student-centered university that emphasizes purposeful connections between academic study and real-world learning experience. Rider prepares graduates to thrive professionally, to be lifelong independent learners, and to be responsible citizens who embrace diversity, support the common good, and contribute meaningfully to the changing world in which they live and work. The College of Arts and Sciences is dedicated to educating students for engaged citizenship, career success, and personal growth in a diverse and complex world. The college cultivates intellectual reflection, artistic creativity, and academic maturity by promoting both broad academic inquiry and in-depth disciplinary study, while nurturing effective and ethical applications of transferable critical skills. The College consists of four schools: the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Communication, Media, and Performing Arts, the School of Science, Technology, and Mathematics, and Westminster Choir College. Through its dynamic mix of academic programs, The Department of Performing Arts helps aspiring professional performers, producers, managers, designers, technicians and entrepreneurs find their unique path in an ever-evolving industry. Acknowledged as innovative and contemporary, the Department of Performing Arts aspires to build a more equitable, engaging and sustainable future for the performing arts while exploring the many diverse historical, cultural, social and creative threads that add to our rich tapestry.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON UPCOMING PERFORMANCES, SUBSCRIPTION AND PATRON PROGRAM OPTIONS VISIT RIDER.EDU/ARTS.