Radium Girls - Program by Rider University

Director’s Note

Why is Radium Girls so frequently performed by universities and high schools year after year? Some might say that it is due to the play’s flexible casting and large number of roles, but I think it’s more than that. It is a play that speaks specifically to young people and to the frustration they feel watching older generations repeat the same mistakes over and over. What, exactly, is stopping us from making better choices?

The choices that are made in this play by the U.S. Radium Corporation are no different than those made by large corporations that promote smoking or vaping. The “company men” in this play are no different than the executives of drug companies that promote OxyContin, or oil companies who make decisions based on profit. Why is it their concern? By and large, the men making such decisions are not the ones who are going to be affected by them. As global warming continues to get worse, it is the younger generation that will be left to clean up the mess and suffer from avoidable illness.

And yet, we allow them to do it, and oftentimes willfully participate as we click on the ads we find on social media. We follow fads. We eat and drink what they tell us to. Afterall, what are our options? We live in a country where our worth is dictated by our business plan and how much money we make our employer. We worship those with wealth, and we never question why. Radium Girls is not a play about the past. It is very much about our world today.

I hope that Rider University students can do what my generation often fails to do. I hope they can be like Grace, and find the strength within themselves to stay angry. I hope they can use the power of marketing and social media to change things for the better. In many ways, this is no longer my story to tell. This story is a rallying cry for the generations we have failed. I’m grateful for the opportunity to help them tell it.

– C. Ryanne Domingues

Setting: The 1920’s: Orange, New Jersey

Act 1

SCENE ONE The U.S. Radium Plant, The Dialpainting Studio

SCENE TWO The Street

SCENE THREE The Dialpainting Studio

SCENE FOUR Grace’s Home

SCENE FIVE Roeder’s Office

SCENE SIX A Monday Feature

SCENE SEVEN The Health Department

SCENE EIGHT The Roeders’ Porch

SCENE NINE Dr. Knef’s Dental Office, The U.S. Radium Plant

SCENE TEN Grace’s Home, Roeder’s Office

SCENE ELEVEN The Woman’s Club of Orange

INTERMISSION

Act 2

SCENE ONE A Sunday Feature

SCENE TWO Berry’s Office

SCENE THREE The Hospital

SCENE FOUR The U.S. Radium Boardroom

SCENE FIVE Berry’s Office

SCENE SIX A Thursday Feature

SCENE SEVEN The Roeders’ Porch

SCENE EIGHT A Tuesday Feature

SCENE NINE Grace’s Home

SCENE TEN The Dialpainting Studio

SCENE ELEVEN Grace’s Home

SCENE TWELVE Von Sochocky’s Home

SCENE THIRTEEN The Courtroom

SCENE FOURTEEN A Monday Feature

SCENE FIFTEEN A Cemetery

The Cast

The Women in the Factory

Grace Fryer Jenni Profera

Kathryn Schaub Isabelle Oliver

Irene Rudolph Ellee Jo Trowbridge

Mrs. Alma Macneil Sarah Defrates

The Company Men

Arthur Roeder Brock Warren

Edward Markley Nico Nazal

C.B. “Charlie” Lee Maclain Rhine

Dr. Von Sochocky Nico Nazal

Their Family And Friends

Tom Krieder Riley Bocchicchio

Diane Roeder Kylie Flite

Harriet Roeder Isabelle Oliver

Anna Fryer Sarah Defrates

The Advocates

Katherine Wiley Ellee Jo Trowbridge

Raymond Berry Hunter Quinn

The Scientists

Dr. Cecil Drinker Maclain Rhine

Dr. Harrison Martland Hunter Quinn

Dr. Joseph Knef Riley Bocchicchio

Dr. Marie Curie Kylie Flite

Frederick Flinn, Ph.D Hunter Quinn

The Press

Reporter (Jack Youngwood) Riley Bocchicchio

Sob Sister (Nancy Jane Harlan) Sarah Defrates

The Witnesses

William J.A. Bailey Maclain Rhine

Mrs. Michaels Ellee Jo Trowbridge

Society Woman Isabelle Oliver

Clerk Sarah Defrates

Male Shopper Maclain Rhine

Store Owner Hunter Quinn

Customer Kylie Flite

Shop Girl

Elderly Widow

Isabelle Oliver

Nico Nazal

Venecine Salesman Riley Bocchicchio

Lovesick Cowboy Maclain Rhine

Photographer

Nico Nazal

Board Member #1 Isabelle Oliver

Board Member #2 Ellee Jo Trowbridge

Board Member #3 Kylie Flite Court Maclain Rhine

Understudies

Tom Kreider/Reporter/Dr. Joseph Knef/ Adam Andrews

Venecine Salesman/Edward Markley/ Dr. Von Sochocky/Elderly Widow/ Photographer

Mrs. Alma Macneil/Sob Sister/Anne Fryer/ Rachel Favetta Clerk/Dr. Marie Curie/Diane Roeder/ Customer/Board Member #3

C.B. “Charlie” Lee/William J.A. Bailey/ Nate Fleischer

Dr. Cecil Drinker/Lovesick Cowboy/Male Shopper/ Court/Raymond Berry/Dr. Harrison Martland/ Frederick Flinn/Store Owner

Kathryn Schaub/Society Woman/ Sophia Porter

Harriet Roeder/Shop Girl/Board Member #1/ Irene Rudolph/Mrs. Michaels/ Kathrine Wiley/Board Member #2

Grace Fryer Ellee Jo Trowbridge

Arthur Roeder

Artistic Staff and Crew

Nico Nazal

Director C. Ryanne Domingues

Assistant Directors Theo Yu, Elena Vardy

Production Stage Manager Avery Hubert

Stage Manager

Brandon Semmel

Assistant Stage Managers Oli Hartdegen, Eamonn McLoughlin

Dramaturg Theo Yu

Accent And Dialect Coach Charlotte Northeast

Technical Director Buck Linton

Assistant Technical Director Brandon Rush

Scenic Designer Sean Mcdonald

Scenic Design Supervisor Yoshi Tanokura

Lighting Designer Todd Loyd

Sound Designer Hailey Tedesco

Costume Designer Jim Parks

Assistant Costume Designer Emily Porter Siegel

Makeup And Hair/Wig Designer/Supervisor Janessa Machado

Props Designer Bella Mazzoni

Production Documentarians Olivia Sauerburg, Luke Studley-Roberts

Light Board Operator Daniel Menjivar

Sound Engineer Craig Pincus

Sound Operator Sam Hernandez

Sound Mixer Alyssa Gil-Pujols

Video Programmer Hailey Tedesco

Wardrobe Supervisor Sophia Lacorte

Wardrobe Runner Aileen Pujols

Makeup And Hair Runner Megan Lozito

Props Supervisor Evan Blackwell

Administrative Staff

Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Kelly Bidle

Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Jason Vodicka

Director of Production Management Buck Linton

Director of Performance Management Kristen Rodgers

Associate Director of Performance Management Leandra Acosta

Coordinator of Performance Management Samuel Stephenson

About the Cast

ADAM ANDREWS, US TOM KREIDER/US REPORTER/US DR. JOSEPH KNEF/US VENECINE SALESMAN/US EDWARD MARKLEY/US DR. VON SOCHOCKY/US ELDERLY WIDOW/US PHOTOGRAPHER, (he/they) is a sophomore BFA Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Momentum: First Year Musical Theatre Showcase, and Entre’Act: Come Together.

RILEY BOCCHICCHIO, TOM KREIDER/REPORTER/DR. JOSEPH KNEF/VENECINE SALESMAN, (he/him) is a junior Musical Theatre and Marketing double major. Recent credits include: 54 Sings ‘INSIDE’ at 54 Below, and in the NYC reading of F***ing Wall Street (Intern/Joe). Rider credits include: Teddy, Phoebe, and the Visionary (Elliot), Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Echo #6/US Iggy/US August). In addition to performing,

Riley is also a proudly produced playwright. His play, Like Father, Like Son, was produced by The TANK Theatre this past summer. Creative experiences include: Kiss Me, Kate! (Associate Director) and Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (Associate Director) under director T. Oliver Reid Upcoming performance credits include: Adam and Bray: Everything You've Ever Wanted at Feinstein's 54Below.

SARAH DEFRATES, MRS. ALMA MACNEIL/SOB SISTER/ANNE FRYER/CLERK, (she/her) is a senior Acting for Film, TV, and Theatre major. This is her Rider mainstage debut.

RACHEL FAVETTA, US MRS. ALMA MACNEIL/US SOB SISTER/US ANNE FRYER/US CLERK/US DR. MARIE CURIE/US DIANE ROEDER/US CUSTOMER/US BOARD MEMBER #3, (she/her) is a senior BFA Acting major with a minor in Film Media Studies. Rider credits include: It’s a Wonderful Life (Clarence), Rider New Works (Multiple), Love and Information (Multiple), Much Ado About Nothing (Antonia/Verges/US Dogberry).

NATE FLEISCHER, US C.B. “CHARLIE” LEE/US WILLIAM J.A. BAILEY/US DR. CECIL DRINKER/US LOVESICK COWBOY/US MALE SHOPPER/US COURT/US RAYMOND BERRY/US DR. HARRISON MARTLAND/US FREDERICK FLINN/US STORE OWNER, (he/him) is a sophomore BFA Acting for Film, Television, and Theatre major. Rider credits include: No Fear, Just Passion: The First and Second Year Acting Showcase (Ensemble). Rider technical credits include: The Children's Hour (Sound Op).

KYLIE FLITE, DR. MARIE CURIE/DIANE ROEDER/CUSTOMER/BOARD MEMBER #1, (she/her) is a junior Acting major. Rider mainstage credits include: The Children's Hour (Helen Burton/U/S Mrs. Tilford). Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: Puffs (U/S Narrator), Sin of Man (The Associate) and Patti Lapone was an Acting Major.

NICO NAZAL, EDWARD MARKLEY/DR. VON SOCHOCKY/ELDERLY WIDOW/PHOTOGRAPHER/US ARTHUR ROEDER, (he/him) is a senior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Pippin (Male Swing), Pete(HER) Pan! (Twin #1), Cabaret (Ensemble), The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Trevor), Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Fate), The Prom (Ensemble), and an upcoming production of Anything Goes (Ensemble). Professional credits: Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical with Passage Theatre.

ISABELLE OLIVER, KATHRYN SCHAUB/SOCIETY WOMAN/HARRIET ROEDER/SHOP GIRL/BOARD MEMBER #2, (she/her) is a junior Acting major. Rider mainstage credits include: The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Female Swing) and Rider New Works Play Festival 2022 (The King’s Choice). Rider Student Theatre Co. credits include: Carrie: The Musical (Sue), Puffs (Susie Bones/Harry), and Sin of Man (US

Narrator). Her most recent professional credits are Seussical the Musical (Bird Girl) and The Crossing (Abigail).

SOPHIA PORTER, US KATHRYN SCHAUB/US SOCIETY WOMAN/US HARRIET

ROEDER/US SHOP GIRL/US BOARD MEMBER #1/US IRENE RUDOLPH/US MRS. MICHAELS/US KATHRINE WILEY/US BOARD MEMBER #2, (she/her) is a junior BFA Acting major. Rider credits include: Rider New Works 2022 (The Proposal/ Counseling). Rider Student Theater Company credits include: Magic To Do Cabaret, Puffs (US Sally Perks), and Sin of Man (Flower Child).

JENNI PROFERA, GRACE FRYER, (she/her) is a senior BFA Acting major and works as a theatre technician in the costume department. Rider credits include: Pete(HER) Pan! (Tootles), The Children’s Hour (Agatha/US Karen). Jenni recently performed in Florence, Italy at the Meeting of European Theatre Academies and will return this summer. Professional credits include: Noises Off (Brooke Ashton) and recently won a Broadway World award for best supporting actress for her role in that production.

HUNTER QUINN, RAYMOND BERRY/DR. HARRISON MARTLAND/FREDERICK FLINN/STORE OWNER, (he/him) is a junior BFA Musical Theatre major and Psychology minor. Rider credits include: Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (Ensemble), Kiss Me Kate! (Swing), and an upcoming production of Anything Goes (Ensemble). Recent professional credits: The Wedding Singer (George) and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Charlie Brown).

MACLAIN RHINE, C.B. “CHARLIE” LEE/WILLIAM J.A. BAILEY/DR. CECIL DRINKER/LOVESICK COWBOY/MALE SHOPPER/COURT, (He/Him) is a senior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: The Prom (Nick), Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Choreographer), Kiss Me, Kate! (Ensemble/Internal Dance Captain), Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Iggy), The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Max), Cabaret (Swing/Dance Captain), Polaroid Stories (Narcissus), and Pride and Prejudice (Choreographer). Professional credits include Mamma Mia!, Kiss Me, Kate!, and Hair.

ELLEE JO TROWBRIDGE, IRENE RUDOLPH/MRS. MICHAELS/KATHERINE WILEY/BOARD MEMBER #2/US GRACE FRYER, (she/her) is a junior BA Musical Theater and Technical Theater with a Concentration in Design and Technology. Rider credits include: Pippin (Assistant Stage Manager), ISM Cabaret (Stage Manager), Danny Feldman’s Hide and Seek (Stage Manager), Rebirth (Freshman Featured Performer), Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim (Sophomore Featured Performer), Love and Information (Production Stage Manager), Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (Balthasar/Dogberry/US Benedict/US Beatrice).

BROCK WARREN, ARTHUR ROEDER, (he/him) is a sophomore BFA Acting major. Rider credits include: No Fear, Just Passion: The First Year and Second Year Acting Showcase

(Ensemble), Of Bodies Changed (Achilles/Zeus/Tereus), Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick), Inside the Spitz Cabaret (Bo).

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, Angela Cusumano, Merli Guerra, Jennifer Gladney, Robson Alves, Lynn Neuman, 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.

C. RYANNE DOMINGUES, DIRECTOR, (she/her) teaches both acting and directing as an Assistant Professor at Rider University. In 2017, she became the Artistic Director of Passage Theatre, a professional regional theatre in Trenton, NJ. Prior to her time at Passage, she worked at a variety of theatres on both coasts, with most of her work being for Simpatico Theatre (which she co-founded in 2004) and the Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia. Favorite directing credits include The OK Trenton Project (Passage), Assistants (The Players Theatre, NYC), and Long Day's Journey Into Night (Simpatico). Past Rider directing credits include The Wolves, Everybody, Pride and Prejudice, and Clean Slate. She received her MFA in Directing from the University of California, Irvine, and was a participant in the 2008 Lincoln Center Directors Lab.

AVERY HUBERT, PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER, (they/she) is a junior Theatre Making and Theatre Design and Technology double major. Rider credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Scenic Designer/Props Designer), LAST WORDS (Assistant Stage Manager), and Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Light Board Op). Their Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: Ride The Cyclone (Stage Manager). Avery also works with Rider in their scene shop as a props employee and painter.

OLI HARTDEGEN, ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER, (they/them) is a sophomore Theatre Design and Technology major. Their recent professional credits include Moonlight Amphitheatre: 42nd Street (Build Crew + Wardrobe), Kinky Boots (Carpentry + Deck Crew), Jingle Terrace Live: The Doo Wop Project (Stage Manager) and Jesus Christ Superstar (Build crew, Deck Crew, and Followspot). They also include credits at The California Center for the Arts, Escondido: Mannheim Steamrollers Local Crew (Build + Video), and San Diego Symphony (Strike).

ELENA VARDY, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, (she/her) is a Contemporary Theatre Practice major and Film and Television minor transfer from the Moscow Theatre Institute named after B. Shchukin. Elena has over 15 years of work in drama, musical and puppet theater (credits include acting, singing, puppeteering, stage management and assistant director jobs) and about ten years of teaching singing, acting and puppeteering. Work has been performed in various theatres in Moscow, Russian Theatre for Youth and Children in Tbilisi, Georgia and the United States. Credits in the United States include: Hits Reimagined (performer) at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia for the Broadway Dreams Foundation, and the musical Blood Orange (Assistant Director and Stage Manager) produced by Navy Room Production.

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 DESIGNER, 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.

JANESSA MACHADO, MAKEUP AND HAIR DESIGNER, (they/she) is a junior Musical Theatre and Tech and Design double major Rider technical credits include: The Children’s Hour (Assistant Costume Designer), Polaroid Stories (Co-Makeup Designer),

and Rider New Works (Makeup Designer). Rider performance credits include: The Prom (Sheldon).

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 technical credits include: Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (props designer); Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (scenic designer); Rider Student Theatre Company’s Carrie (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).

SEAN MCDONALD, SCENIC DESIGNER, (he/him) is a senior double major in Theatre Design and Technology and Acting for TV, Film, 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 Prom (Stage Manager), The Children's Hour (Co-Scenic Designer), Cabaret (Stage Manager), Rider New Works Festival 2022 (Props Designer) 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.

EAMONN MCLOUGHLIN, ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER, (he/him) is a freshman Theatre Design and Technology and Acting major. Rider credits include: The Prom (Stagehand) and Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Sound Runner).

CHARLOTTE NORTHEAST, ACCENT AND DIALECT COACH, (she/her) is an actor, director, writer and dialect coach. As an actor, she has received two Barrymore Awards for her work with InterAct (Skin in Flames) and Lantern Theater Company (Emma). Graduate: Circle in the Square. Other credits include Philadelphia Artists’ Collective (PAC), Act II Playhouse, Theatre Exile, Passage Theatre, Azuka, Montgomery Stage, Hedgerow, Orbiter 3 (Barrymore Nomination), Theatre Horizon, Delaware Theatre Company, and the Walnut Street Theatre. She has directed for InterAct, PAC, Curio, Hedgerow, Rutgers-Camden, WST, Tribe of Fools, and Philadelphia Young Playwrights. Co-creator and performer of The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged and a new adaptation of Jane Eyre. Dialect coaching credits include Rutgers-Camden, New Light Theatre, Tiny Dynamite, Inis Nua and the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Thrilled to join the Broncs! Love to Damon, Jules, and The Kitties. Please visit: www.charlottenortheast.com

JIM PARKS, COSTUME DESIGNER, (he/him) Jim is excited to be a part of this production of Radium Girls. He is currently working as Rider University’s Costume Shop Supervisor. Jim has been designing costumes for theatre, opera, film and television on and off for 30 years with Princeton University, The National Shakespeare Co.,

McCarter Theatre, The American Globe Theatre, The History Channel and many more. Most recently his work could be seen at Middlesex Counties Plays in the Park production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Rider University/Westminster Choir College production of Suor Angelica and Hermit Songs and the upcoming production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Middlesex Counties Plays in the Park this summer.

EMILY PORTER SIEGEL, ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER (they/them), is a junior BFA Acting and English Literature double major. Professional credits include: Shipwrecked! (Stitcher) with the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Educational Credits include: As You Like It (Costume Designer, STNJ Summer Professional Training Program Final Project). Rider Credits include: Suor Angelica and Hermit Songs (Assistant Costume Designer), Much Ado About Nothing (Costume Designer), of bodies changed (Director, Creator, Costume Designer, self-produced), Rider Dances ‘23: Expanding Communities (Assistant Costume Designer), Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Assistant Costume Designer), The Children’s Hour (Stage Manager), Urinetown (Assistant Costume Designer), Rider New Works ‘22 (Stage Manager/Costume Designer), Pete(her) Pan (Stagehand), Hänsel und Gretel (Assistant Stage Manager), and Pippin (Assistant Stage Manager) Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: Inside (the Spitz) Cabaret (Costume Designer) and The Lonely Hearts Club Cabaret (Costume Designer).

LUKE STUDLEY ROBERTS, PRODUCTION DOCUMENTARIAN/PHOTOGRAPHER

, (he/him) is a sophomore BFA Acting for Film, Television, and Theater major. Rider technical credits include: The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (sound design), Minor Feelings of a Minor Character (photographer), Teddy Phoebe & The Visionary (photographer), Inside Cabaret (photographer), When I Grow Up: A BIPOC Cabaret (photographer). Rider performance credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Claudio).

BRANDON RUSH, ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, (he/him) is excited to return to his Alma mater as artistic staff after a long relationship with the department as a carpenter. He has worked as carpentry staff intermittently with Rider since graduating in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Studies, and has since taken on the mantle of Scene Shop Supervisor for Rider’s Department of Performing Arts. As a freelance Technical Director, his production credits at Luna Stage include: King of the Mountains, Indian Head, and Tranquil.

BRANDON SEMMEL, STAGE MANAGER, (he/him) is a Sophomore BFA Acting for Film, Television, and Theatre major. Rider Credits: Much Ado About Nothing (Stage Manager), Kiss Me, Kate (Lead Stagehand), The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Props Runner), Inside The Spitz Cabaret (Soloist), Sin of Man (Barnabis Jones), No Fear, Just Passion: The First and Second Year Acting Showcase (Ensemble), and Puffs (Wayne Hopkins).

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.

HAILEY TEDESCO, SOUND DESIGNER/VIDEO PROGRAMMER, (she/her) is a sophomore Technology and Design major at Rider. Her Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: PUFFS! (Sound Designer), Carrie: The Musical (Sound Designer), Lonely Hearts Club Cabaret (Production Stage Manager), and Romeo and Juliet (Sound Op/Assistant Stage Manager). Rider technical credits include: Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Assistant Stage Manager)

YOSHINORI TANOKURA, SCENIC DESIGN SUPERVISOR, 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.

THEO YU, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/DRAMATURG/PROJECTIONS, (they/them) is a senior Musical Theatre Major pursuing a career in directing and choreography. Select Credits include: Ride the Cyclone (Choreographer; Rider Student Theatre Company), Detox (Director; ArtWorks Trenton), Jesus Christ Superstar (Choreographer; Young Artists of America), Bad Feminist (Director; Self-Produced), and Macbeth (Director/Choreographer; Rider Student Theatre Company). Select Assistant credits include: Gypsy (Assistant Choreographer; Young Artists of America), Broadway Says Thank You, David Mixner (Assistant Director; Ali Forney Center), and Clean Slate (Assistant Choreographer; Passage Theatre Company). Upcoming credits include: Anything Goes (Assistant Director; Rider University) and Pictures (Director; Rider University Directing Festival).

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.

Upcoming Performances

CARMINA BURANA: ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S WITH WESTMINSTER SYMPHONIC CHOIR & YOUNG PEOPLE’S CHORUS OF NEW YORK CITY

Tuesday, February 27, 8 p.m.

Carnegie Hall

881 7th Ave, New York, NY 10019

RIDER DANCES

Saturday, March 2, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 3, 2 p.m.

Bart Luedeke Center Theater

LINDSEY CHRISTIANSEN ART SONG FESTIVAL:

ROBERT, CLARA… AND JOHANNES

Sunday, March 3, 7 p.m.

Gill Chapel

A DOLL’S HOUSE

Friday, March 22, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 23, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 24, 2 p.m.

Yvonne Theater

CELEBRATION OF BLACK MUSIC

Saturday, March 23, 7:30 p.m. (Lecture Recital)

Sunday, March 24, 3 p.m. (Concert)

Gill Chapel

ENEMIES, A LOVE STORY

Saturday, April 6, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, April 7, 2:30 p.m.

Bart Luedeke Center Theater

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON UPCOMING PERFORMANCES, SUBSCRIPTIONS, AND PATRON OPTIONS VISIT RIDER.EDU/ARTS.