El Gato con botas
by Xavier Montsalvatge and Néstor Luján
Used by arrangement with Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc.
Opera Titles by: Susan Shiplett Ashbaker
PowerPoint and Title Score by: Lucas Heredia, Alexa Farah and Ronan Flynn
WESTMINSTER OPERA THEATRE
Susan Shiplett Ashbaker, director
Susan Shiplett Ashbaker, music director and conductor
Michelle Eugene, stage director
Friday, November 14, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 15, 2:00 p.m.
Yvonne Theater
Rider University 2083 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville, N.J.
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 Rider Friend of the Arts patron program.
PLEASE NOTE:
The unauthorized use of any recording device, either audio or video, and the taking of photographs, either with or without flash, is strictly prohibited. Out of courtesy to the performers and everyone in the audience, please refrain from using cell phones and electronic devices during the performance.
Special Thanks
A special thank you to all the wonderful and supportive voice teachers that provide the base of learning for all we do. A special thanks also to our colleagues in the Music Theater and Dance departments for the rich collaboration that benefits our students and productions. Much gratitude to Dr. Maria Villalobos-Buehner for her assistance with the Spanish language. And a hearty shout out and thank you to Professor Scott Alboum for our archival recordings.
Synopsis
El gato con botas (Puss ‘n Boots), the first of three operas by Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge with libretto by Néstor Luján, tells the classic children’s fairy tale of a scrawny cat with magical talent! The world premiere, in 1948, was in Barcelona, Spain.
The musical score is colorful, playful and energetic with Spanish and Catalan folk influence and dance rhythms interspersed through the beautiful melodies. The chamber orchestra arrangement you will hear tonight was commissioned by Mid Wales Opera in 2022 and provides the perfect complement to our production. Our three dancers enhance the story telling through movement.
A poor miller is upset to discover that the only thing he has inherited from his late father is a scrawny cat. He laments this inheritance. Fearing the possibility of ending up on the miller’s dinner plate or becoming a warm winter coat, the feisty, intelligent and clever cat hatches a plan. “El gato” promises the miller true love and great fortune in exchange for a few gathered objects. The miller agrees.
Armed only with a hat with a large feather, a sword of bone, boots with big silver buckles, and a deep red cape, “El gato” begins the magical journey.
To provide financial security for the miller, as well as enhanced status, “El gato” contrives a meeting with the King. Bringing the King the gift of rabbits from his master, The Marquis of Carabas (really the miller), the cat also brings a message from the Marquis to the lonely Princess professing his love. The Princess is immediately enamored and the King thrilled at the prospect (for in actuality, he is poor and his Kingdom significantly diminished). A Marquis would be a suitable and lucrative marriage for his daughter.
The King and Princess travel to meet the Marquis of Carabas. In a plot to secure clothing more befitting a Marquis, “El gato” instructs the miller to jump in the river and pretend to be drowning when the King and the Princess approach. With the miller’s clothing swept away by the river, the kindly King instructs his Chamberlain to save him and to give his clothing to the Marquis as a gracious gesture to a man of status. “El gato” invites them to the estate of the Marquis, much to the trepidation of the miller who actually has no estate.
The next step involves a bit more risk, but “El gato” is unphased. The neighborhood ogre, who owns land and a large castle, enjoys drinking the wine from his vineyards. He also has the ability to shape-shift into various animals. The clever “gato” approaches the ogre feigning disbelief that he can actually change into different animals. The touchy ogre becomes annoyed and his ego drives him to succumb to the challenge. He changes first into a lion, then a parrot, and finally, with more taunting, a mouse. Well, we know that mice are very easy for cats to catch, and that is exactly what happens to the transformed orge when “El gato” outsmarts him. With cunning and trickery “El gato” now is in possession of the castle for the Marquis.
In the final quartet of the opera “El gato,” the miller (Marquis), King and Princess all reveal their innermost thoughts and hopes. The Princess is pleased with the Marquis and hopes that he asks for her hand in marriage. The Marquis (miller) is enchanted by the Princess and determines he’ll soon ask for her hand in marriage. The King acknowledging that he has no money tells his daughter that the Marquis would be a good match for them both. And “El gato” tells the miller that he’s found love and urges him to ask for the Princess’s hand in marriage.
As the Marquis begins to stumble through his request to ask the King for his daughter’s hand in marriage, the King receives some much-needed help in
understanding what is going on. He is pleased and invites everyone to stay and celebrate the impending nuptials.
“El gato” knows that he has completed his task well and relaxes into his new (and well-deserved) life of rest and luxury.
And they all lived happily ever after.
The end.
Cast
Friday, November 14, 7:30 p.m.
El gato Alexa Farah
El molinero Ronan Flynn
El Rey Kole Lawrence
La Princesa Sarah Ounsworth
El ogro Grisha Ivanov
Dancers Landon Winslow*, Trevor McCutchen, Leah Miller
Saturday, November 15, 2:00 p.m.
El gato Leah Rose Crossen
El molinero Lucas Heredia
El Rey Benjamin Glick
La Princesa Genesys Perez-Berrios
El ogro Grisha Ivanov
Dancers Landon Winslow*, Trevor McCutchen, Leah Miller *denotes dance captain
Cover
El ogro Joey Mejia
Interns
El gato Kianna Mitchner
Briseis Munoz
El molinero Connor Bowden
La Princesa Kenzie Ahlman
Artistic Staff
Music Director Susan Shiplett Ashbaker
Stage Director Michelle Eugene
Choreographers Landon Winslow, Trevor McCutchen, Leah Miller
Dance Captain Landon Winslow
Rehearsal Pianist Nikolay Verevkin
Spanish Language Coach Maria Villalobos-Buehner
Production Stage Manager Brandy Lee Hatcher
Technical Director Brandon Rush
Scenic Designer Buck Linton
Lighting Designer Lyle Green
Costume Designer Jim Parks
Props Designer Clare Hanrahan
Hair and Make-Up Designer Leah Rose Crossen
Student Staff and Crew
Graduate Assistant Sarah Ounsworth
Supertitle Operator Kianna Mitchner
Orchestra Supervisor Landon DeGroote
Assistant Stage Managers Abigail Colfer, Evelyn Engels
Light Board Operator Sawyer Boyle
Follow Spot Operators Mickey Hutchings, Sawyer Lilley
Assistant Costume Designer Emily Porter Siegel
Wardrobe Supervisor Sadie Patton
Wardrobe Runner Nia Chavis
Hair and Makeup Supervisor Isabella Kramb
Hair and Makeup Runner Jayden Hollister
Props Supervisor Libby Phillips
Props Runner Danny Vera
Archival Videographer Mekhia Gwynn
Orchestra
Piano Nikolay Verevkin
Violin Xuan Yao
Bassoon Joseph Swift
Trumpet
Timpani
Rob Keller
Julia Hanna
Percussion Travis Goffredo
We are particularly grateful to collaborate with Symphony in C, Noam Aviel, Music Director and Joseph Hart, Vice President of Artistic Operations and
Education. The musicians playing the violin, bassoon, trumpet and percussion are members of this esteemed musical organization.
Administrative Staff
Senior 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
Performing Arts Coordinator Zach Kent
Stage Management Mentor Brandy Lee Hatcher
Lighting Director Todd Loyd
Costume Shop Supervisor Jim Parks
Props Director Clare Hanrahan
Scene Shop Supervisor Chris Schimpf
About the Cast
KENZIE AHLMAN, LA PRINCESA INTERN, soprano: second year Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance student (studies with Kathy Price). Hometown: Grand Island, Nebraska. Past Engagements: Soprano Soloist (Kleine Orgelmesse), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Soprano Soloist Cover (Missa in tempore belli); Mrs. Nolan (The Medium) with Westminster Opera Theatre. Awards: 2nd Place Laureate in Voice World’s Best Musician International Competition, Winner of New Music Composition Competition International Alliance for Women in Music, Illinois State University Concerto/Aria Competition Finalist 2022.
CONNOR BOWDEN, EL MOLINERO INTERN, tenor: sophomore Bachelor of Arts in Music student (studies with Todd Thomas). Hometown: Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. Past Engagements: Toby (The Medium) with Westminster Opera Theatre. Upcoming Engagements: Choir Member; Symphonic Choir, Westminster Choir and Master Singers; Rider Dance Ensemble; St. Andrews Tenor Choral Scholar. Awards: 4th place Westminster Voice Departmental Awards 2025.
LEAH ROSE CROSSAN, EL GATO, soprano: junior Bachelor of Fine Arts Student (studies with Sean McCarther) Hometown: Sewell, New Jersey. Past Engagements: Ida (Die Fledermaus) with Westminster Opera Theatre.
ALEXA FARAH, EL GATO, soprano: senior Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Vocal Performance student (studies with Margaret Cusack). Hometown: Northvale, New Jersey. Past Engagements: Monica (The Medium), Adele (Die Fledermaus), La Sorella Infermiera (Suor Angelica) with Westminster Opera Theatre. Awards: 1st place New Jersey NATS Festival of Singing 2024, 2nd place New Jersey NATS Festival of Singing 2025, 1st place Westminster Voice Departmental Awards 2024 and 2025.
RONAN FLYNN, EL MOLINERO, baritone: junior Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Vocal Performance student (studies with Christopher Arneson). Hometown: West Babylon, New York. Past Engagements: Nissen (Enemies, A Love Story) and Falke (Die Fledermaus) with Westminster Opera Theatre; participation in the
CoOPERAtive program in 2025. Awards: 1st place New Jersey NATS Festival of Singing 2024, 1st place Westminster Voice Departmental Awards 2024 and 2025.
BENJAMIN GLICK, EL REY, baritone: sophomore Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance student (studies with Aaron Cafaro). Hometown: Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Past Engagements: Choir Member, Westminster Chapel Choir; participation in the CoOPERAtive program in 2025. Upcoming Engagements: Choir Member, Westminster Choir and Westminster Symphonic Choir. Awards: Full tuition Westminster Choir College voice scholarship, 1st place Westminster Voice Departmental Awards 2025, 1st place New Jersey NATS Festival of Singing 2025.
LUCAS HEREDIA, EL MOLINERO, baritone: second year Master of Music in Choral Conducting student (studies with Donald Nally) and Master of Music in Sacred Music Piano student (studies with James Goldsworthy). Hometown: East Brunswick, New Jersey. Past Engagements: Frank (Die Fledermaus) and Mr. Gobineau (The Medium) with Westminster Opera Theatre.
GRISHA IVANOV, EL OGRE, bass-baritone: senior Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance (studies with Margaret Cusack). Hometown: Brooklyn, New York. Past Engagements: Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus) with Westminster Opera Theatre. Upcoming Engagements: Choir Member, Symphonic Choir and Westminster Choir.
KOLE LAWRENCE, EL REY, baritone: sophomore Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Music Education student (studies with Christopher Arneson). Hometown: Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Upcoming Engagements: Choir Member, Symphonic Choir and Westminster Choir. Awards: 2nd place Westminster Voice Departmental Awards 2025, Molly and Ward Bedford Endowed Voice Scholarship.
TREVOR McCUTCHEN, CHOREOGRAPHER/DANCER: sophomore Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre student. Hometown: Orange County, California. Past Engagements: Choreographer (13: The Musical) with Rider Student Theatre Company. Future Engagements: Bob Enright (9 to 5) at Rider University.
JOEY MEJIA, EL OGRE COVER, baritone: sophomore Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre student (studies with Sean McCarther). Hometown: Weston, Florida. Past Engagements: Billy Cane (Bright Star) with Theatre West Nebraska; Orin Scrivello (Little Shop of Horrors) with Inside Out Theatre Company. Upcoming Engagements: Rory/Ensemble (9 to 5) at Rider University.
LEAH MILLER, CHOREOGRAPHER/DANCER: junior BFA in Musical Theatre with a Minor in Marketing. Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee. Past Engagements: Dance Captain (Ride the Cyclone) with Rider Student Theatre Company. Future Engagements: Missy Hart (9 to 5) at Rider University.
KIANNA MITCHNER, EL GATO INTERN, mezzo-soprano: second-year Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance student (studies with Margaret Cusack). Hometown: Groton, Connecticut. Past Engagements: Mrs. Nolan (The Medium) and Prince Orlovsky Cover (Die Fledermaus) with Westminster Opera Theatre; Pamina (The Magic Flute) and Madame Kirstin (The Beautiful Bride Groom) with Eastern Connecticut State University Opera Theatre. Upcoming Engagements: Choir Member, Symphonic Choir and Westminster Choir.
BRISEIS MUNOZ, EL GATO INTERN, mezzo-soprano: sophomore Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Music Education student (studies with Christopher Arneson).
Hometown: Laveen, Arizona. Past Engagements: Arizona All-State Choir (2022- 2024). Upcoming Engagements: Choir Member, Westminster Choir and Symphonic Choir. Awards: Westminster Voice Scholarship Award winner.
SARAH OUNSWORTH, LA PRINCESA, soprano: second year Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance student (studies with Robin Massie). Hometown: Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Past Engagements: Pamina (The Magic Flute) with Marywood University; Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) and Monica (The Medium) with Westminster Opera Theatre. Upcoming Engagements: Choir Member, Symphonic Choir. Awards: 1st place Lehigh Valley NATS Aria and Song Division 2022 and 2023, Winner of Marywood University’s Concerto Competition, Sister Davidica Kildea Medal for Excellence in Voice, 1st place Westminster Voice Departmental Awards 2025.
GENESYS PEREZ-BERRIOS, LA PRINCESA, soprano: junior Bachelor of Arts in Music student (studies with Pamela Lynde). Hometown: Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Past Engagements: participation in the CoOPERAtive program in 2025.
LANDON WINSLOW, LEAD CHOREOGRAPHER/DANCER: junior Bachelor in Fine Arts in Musical Theatre student. Hometown: Austin, Texas.
About the Artistic & Administrative Staff
LEANDRA ACOSTA, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT (she/her), is a graduate of Rider University with undergraduate degrees in dance performance and arts administration and a master’s degree in organizational leadership. She currently serves as the Associate Director of Performance Management and adjunct faculty in the Department of Performing Arts. She has worked with a variety of choreographers including Kate Ladenheim, Randy James of 10 Hairy Legs, Angela Cusumano, Merli Guerra of Luminarium Dance Company, Jennifer Gladney, Robson Alves, Lynn Neuman of Artichoke Dance, and Ryan Davis. Leandra has participated in several freelance performances and choreographic opportunities but is mostly engrossed in her arts administrative endeavors. In her role as Associate Director, Leandra oversees and manages various aspects of marketing and promotions for the Department of Performing Arts and Westminster Choir College. This semester, she is also a featured choreographer in the Fall Dance Concert premiering a new work titled i am // we are
SUSAN SHIPLETT ASHBAKER, MUSIC DIRECTOR, Professor/Director of Westminster Opera Theatre for Westminster Choir College at Rider University and Director for the CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster brings over 40 years of experience in the performing arts. She is in demand as a master class presenter, having taught recently at the Denyce Graves Foundation, Seagle Festival, NATS Eastern Conference, University of Miami, Montclair University, and Rutgers University, among others.
Ms. Ashbaker was affiliated with Tri-Cities Opera for 5 years; 4 as General and Artistic Director, and 1 as Artistic Director, and “transformed the company in every way imaginable,” according to the former Board Chair. Additionally, Ms. Ashbaker served Opera Philadelphia for 16 years, the last 11 as director of artistic and music administration. She led casting practices and reestablished the Company as a pioneer in offering advancements to young singers before they achieved national or international recognition; gave unique opportunities to well-established artists; and supervised all
activities of the artistic and music departments. Under her direction, an intern program with the Curtis Institute of Music was established.
Ms. Ashbaker has also worked as assistant conductor/vocal coach with New York City Opera, Theater am Goetheplatz (Bremen, Germany) and Academy of Vocal Arts and was on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music for nearly 20 years.
A judge for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition since 2000, Ms. Ashbaker has also served as judge for the Jensen Foundation, National Opera Association, National Association of Teachers of Singing, Marian Anderson Emerging Artist Competition and the Richard Tucker Foundation Auditions. She has served as panelist with Opera America, New York State Council on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts. Ms. Ashbaker trained at Southern Illinois University and l’École Normale de Musique de Paris and received a second master’s degree in vocal accompanying and coaching from University of Illinois under the tutelage of John Wustman.
Ms. Ashbaker recently published a book: The Vocal Coach Approach: When Practice Makes Perfect (a guide to help singers of all levels learn to practice - and love it!) available from Inside View Press.
MICHELLE EUGENE, STAGE DIRECTOR, is an actor, singer, performance coach, voice therapist, stage director, and teacher; MFA in Classical Acting at the Shakespeare Theatre’s Academy for Classical Acting at GWU; member of Actors Equity Association; Adjunct Instructor at Rider University Department of Performing Arts; Acting Coach and Teacher for the Willson Vocal Academy; Teaching Artist at West Chester Studio for the Performing Arts; Certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework; Licensed Speech Language Pathologist; Stage Direction: Viardot’s Cendrillon and Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Samuel Barber’s Hermit Songs (Westminster Opera Theatre). Michelle has performed onstage appearing with companies at the Wilma, Mauckingbird, Gas & Electric Arts, Cape May Stage, Rep Stage, and Peterborough Players, among others, and was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Lead Role for her work at the Metropolitan Playhouse. Favorite roles include Brooke in Other Desert Cities, Ruth in Blithe Spirit, and Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible. She has performed with Tony Award winner James Whitmore and Tony Nominee Forrest McClendon. Her on-camera work includes the award-winning documentary, Letters from Baghdad and the television series SERVANT and Law & Order: SVU. Michelle’s education also includes a Vocal Performance degree from the Catholic University of America and a Speech & Hearing Sciences degree from Indiana University Bloomington, but she continues to consider herself a lifelong student and feels privileged to be able to share her love of craft and artistry with her own students.
LYRE GREENE, LIGHTING DESIGNER, is excited to be back again at his Alma Mater to light design El Gato Con Botas. An Actor/Singer/Designer/Electrician based in Queens, NY, Lyle currently is Assistant to the Production Manager at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC. Recent technical credits include: Hills of California (Lighting Designer), A New Brain (Lighting Designer), Dutchman and The Slave (Master Electrician), The Medium (Lighting Designer), Topdog/Underdog (Master Electrician), All Eight (Lighting Designer), Alma (Master Electrician), Pride and Prejudice (Lighting Designer), The Mountaintop (Lighting Designer), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Director/Lighting Designer). Socials: @Looneylyle Website: Lylegreene.com
CLARE HANRAHAN, PROPS DESIGNER/PROPS DIRECTOR, graduated from Rider University in 2021 with a degree in Technical Theater and a concentration in Props.
She has been working in the props field for 10 years now, and her favorite props include the following: Yorik’s skull in Hamlet, floral designs for Kiss Me Kate, a faux marble bust for Nell Gwynn, fake vegetables for Cinderella, and a library full of fake books for Into the Woods. She also loves when she gets to incorporate her love of photography into her prop work. Clare would like to thank Louise Grafton for sharing her wisdom about the dangers of hot glue guns and for always being her inspiration.
BRANDY LEE HATCHER, PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER or STAGE MANAGEMENT MENTOR
, is the Faculty Stage Manager of Rider University. She joins Rider University after 12 years at The Walt Disney Company in California, most recently as a Senior Entertainment Stage Manager. She received her MFA in Stage Management from the University of California, Irvine and her BFA in Stage Management from Stephens College in Columbia, MO.
BUCK LINTON, SCENIC DESIGNER/DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT.
Buck Linton is the Director of Production Management for all academic stage productions within the College of Arts and Sciences. He is an adjunct faculty member within the Design and Technology Department where he teaches Stagecraft and oversees all production tech credits. Since 2002, he has worked on over 150 productions with Rider University and Westminster Choir College. In that time, he worked as a scenic designer, technical director, projection designer, and/or production manager in all the performing arts disciplines that Rider has to offer.
Prior to joining Rider University, Buck was the assistant technical director at McCarter Theatre for more than 50 productions. During his time at McCarter, he had the opportunity to work on numerous co-productions with nationally recognized theaters including La Jolla Playhouse, The Kennedy Center, Steppenwolf, Manhattan Theater Club, and Seattle Repertory to name a few. While at McCarter, he also served as a scenic designer and technical director for their education department. Buck has had the pleasure of working as a scenic designer, technical director and production manager with many other regional companies such as Opera New Jersey, Theater Virginia, Theater IV, Ashlawn Opera, Peach State Summer Theater and Jekyll Island Musical Theater Festival.
Buck earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Tech in Scenography and Technical Design. A native of South Carolina, he earned his Bachelor of Arts from Francis Marion University, double majoring in Theater Design and Technology and Fine Arts with a focus in painting and ceramics. He lives in Lawrenceville with his wife and their three children and frequently assistant coaches their various sports.
TODD LOYD, LIGHTING DIRECTOR, supervises the lighting for every performance that the College of Arts and Sciences 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 RENT, Nell Gwynn, The Prom, Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical, Urinetown, Cabaret, Polaroid Stories, Rider Dances: Moving in Our Community, Pippin, Bright Star, Hair, Heathers The Musical, Once On This Island, She Kills Monsters, A Chorus Line, and Metamorphoses. Other selected professional projects include Rock of Ages and Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Forestburgh Playhouse), Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical and The Gun Show (Passage Theatre), and Journey to Oz (Children’s Theatre of Charlotte and Experiential Theater Company).
JIM PARKS, COSTUME DESIGNER, is currently working as Rider University’s Costume shop supervisor. Jim has been a costume designer for the better part of 30 years and has worked on a variety of productions for plays, musicals, operas, festivals, film and television. His most recent work was for both RENT and Grease for Middlesex counties Plays in the Park summer season
BRANDON RUSH, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, is a graduate of Rider University and has kept a consistent relationship with Rider’s Theatre Department, where he is returning for his second year as their Technical Director. Some of his celebrated works at Rider include, but are not limited to, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Fire, Into The Woods, RENT, Anything Goes, Enemies: A Love Story, A Doll’s House, and Radium Girls.
About the Student Staff & Crew
ABIGAIL COLFER, ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER: sophomore Theatre Design and Technology major. Past engagements: Production Stage Manager (Stop Kiss), Props Master (Little Women), Props Master (Julius Caesar).
EVELYN ENGELS, ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER: sophomore Theatre Design and Technology major. Past engagements: Sound (Nell Gwynn), Stagehand (Nice Work If You Can Get It).
EMILY PORTER SIEGEL, ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER: super senior Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting for Film, Television, and Theatre and Bachelor of Arts in English Literature student. Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee. Past Engagements: Assistant Costume Designer (Enemies: A Love Story), Assistant Costume Designer (Suor Angelica / Hermit Songs), Assistant Costume Designer (Cendrillon), and Assistant Stage Manager (Hänsel und Gretel), with Westminster Opera Theatre. Costume Designer (The Fire, META Debut), Assistant Costume Designer (Radium Girls), Costume Designer (Much Ado About Nothing), Assistant Costume Designer (Rider Dances '23: Expanding Communities), Assistant Costume Designer (Clean Slate), Stage Manager (The Children's Hour), Assistant Costume Designer (Urinetown), Stage Manager, Costume Designer (Rider New Works '22), Stagehand (Pete(her) Pan), and Assistant Stage Manager (Pippin) at Rider University. Director, Costume Designer (castaways and cutouts), Costume Designer (Inside (the Spitz) Cabaret), and Costume Designer (The Lonely Hearts Club Cabaret) with Rider Student Theatre Company. Director/Creator, Costume Designer (of bodies changed) self-produced. Upcoming Engagements: Assistant Costume Designer (Romeo and Juliet) at Rider University.
About Rider University, Westminster Choir College, & 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.
Culturally vibrant and historically rich, Westminster Choir College has a legacy of preparing students for thriving careers as well-rounded performers and musical leaders on concert stages, in schools, universities, and churches, and in professional and community organizations worldwide. Renowned for its tradition of choral excellence, the college is home to internationally recognized ensembles, including the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which has performed and recorded with virtually all of the major orchestras and conductors of our time. In addition to its choral legacy, Westminster is known as a center for excellence in musical pedagogy and performance.
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
RIDER UNIVERSITY CHORALE: BEGINNING
Saturday, November 15, 7:30 p.m.
Gill Chapel
WESTMINSTER CONCERT BELL CHOIR: WINTER CONCERT
Saturday, November 22, 4 p.m.
Gill Chapel
Sunday, November 23, 4 p.m.
Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville 2688 Lawrenceville Rd, Lawrence Township, NJ 08648
Saturday, December 6, 7:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Freehold 118 W Main St, Freehold, NJ 07728
FALL DANCE CONCERT
Saturday, November 22, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 23, 2 p.m. Yvonne Theater
ROMEO AND JULIET
Friday, December 5, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 6, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 7, 2 p.m. Bart Luedeke Center Theater
AN EVENING OF READINGS AND CAROLS
Friday December 12, 8 p.m.
Saturday, December 13, 8 p.m.
Princeton University Chapel
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON UPCOMING PERFORMANCES, SUBSCRIPTION AND PATRON PROGRAM OPTIONS, VISIT RIDER.EDU/ARTS.
