From Up Here
By Liz Flahive
Ivan Fuller, director
Friday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 28 at 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 1st at 2 p.m.
Bart Luedeke Center Theater
Rider University
2083 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville, N.J.
āFrom Up Hereā is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director, Barry Grove, Executive Producer, Daniel Sullivan, Acting Artistic Director 2007-08 Season in association with Ars Nova on March 27, 2008
Rider University gratefully acknowledges the generous support of: The Martinson Family Foundation for its support of theater technology equipment. Michael T. '89 & Susana Santaguida '89 Gummel and Kasey & Billy Ziff for their support of our Rider Friend of the Arts patron program.
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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 this production contains mention of guns in school, suicide and sex. If any of these scenes elicit a negative emotional response, available resources include:
ā¢ The Counseling Center (609-896-5157; counseling@rider.edu)
ā¢ Public Safety (609-896-5029)
ā¢ National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
ā¢ Nacional de PrevenciĆ³n del Suicidio (888-628-9454)
ā¢ National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Options for Deaf and Hard of Hearing) ā For TTY Users: Use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 1-800-273-8255
ā¢ Crisis Text Line (Text HOME to 741741)
ā¢ National Grad Crisis Line (877-472-3457)
ā¢ National Domestic Violence Hotline (800-799-7233)
From Up Here has an approximate runtime of 105 minutes and will be performed without an intermission.
The Cast
Kenny Cale Bianchino
Lauren Sarah Hyman
Grace Elizabeth Holzworth
Daniel Brian Tobin
Caroline Trinity Babino
Charlie Phillip Schneller
Kate Jessica Dawn
Mrs. Goldberger/Officer Stevens Ani Arzoumanian
Understudies
Kenny Jack DeWeese
Lauren Lexi Vaksdal
Grace Charlie Dubendorfer
Daniel Jayden D. Lopez
Caroline Ani Arzoumanian
Charlie Jason Ramoth
Kate Abby Bufis
Mrs. Goldberger/Officer Stevens Brian Tobin
Artistic Staff and Crew
Director Ivan Fuller
Assistant Director Jessie Doty
Dramaturg Garrett Courier
Intimacy Coordinator Dr. Sean McCarther
Stage Management Mentor Brandy Lee Hatcher
Production Stage Manager Caylee Madison
Assistant Stage Manager Lara Denges
Production Assistants Gabby Breza and Natalie Beasley
Technical Director Brandon Rush
Scenic Designer Yoshinori Tanokura
Co-Scenic Designer ZuZu Long
Lighting Designer Chloe Dittloff
Assistant Lighting Designer Juliette Belke
Costume Designer Deryn C. Kraner
Costume Design Mentor Robin I. Shane
Wardrobe Supervisor Kat Gedmin
Wardrobe Runner Brenna Au Miller
Sound Designer Mallory Hoelzl
Sound Engineer Craig Pincus
Sound Mixer Sawyer Boyle
Props Designer Clare Hanrahan
Props Supervisor Charley Bazzle
Props Runner Yanelly Caro-Deleon
Lead Stagehand Adam Andrews
Stagehands Alexander Knopf, Lila Maru and Max Ryon
Lead Fly Operator Finn Alexander
Fly Operator Julian Jackson
Production Documentarian Jack DeWeese
Administrative Staff
Senior Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Jason Vodicka
Director of Production Management Buck Linton
Artistic Producer C. Ryanne Domingues
Director of Performance Management
Kristen Rodgers
Associate Director of Performance Management Leandra Acosta
Performing Arts Coordinator Zach Kent
Stage Management Mentor Brandy Lee Hatcher
Costume Shop Supervisor Jim Parks
Props Director Clare Hanrahan
Scene Shop Supervisor Chris Schimpf
About the Cast
ANI ARZOUMANIAN, MRS. GOLDBERGER, OFFICER STEVENS, CAROLINE U/S, is a junior majoring in Acting for Film, TV, & Theatre. Previous productions at Rider University include: How We Fall & The Dining Room, Asking Strangers The Meaning Of Life (Light Board Operator) & Into The Woods (Light Board Operator). Outside of Rider, she has performed in The Childrenās Hour (Mary Tilford), Camelot (Guenevere), Arcadia (Thomasina), The Sound of Music (Ensemble, Dance Captain), Legally Blonde (Ensemble), Man of La Mancha (Aldonza), and Sister Act (Ensemble).
CALE BIANCHINO, KENNY (he/him), is a junior BFA Acting major with a minor in Filmmaking. Previous Rider Student Theatre Company credits include Hamlet (Claudius/Ghost).
ABBY BUFIS, KATE U/S, is a sophomore Acting for Film, TV, and Theater Major. This is her first Main Stage production at Rider. Previous credits include: The Dining Room ( Peggy/Helen), Mamma Mia (Sophie Sheridan), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ( Veruca Salt).
JESSICA DAWN, KATE (she/her), is a Junior Musical Theatre major. Rider Main Stage credits include: Twelfth Night (Swing), The Medium (Mrs. Nolan Cover). Professional credits include: The Prom (Dance Ensemble; Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma). Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: Ride the Cyclone (Dance Ensemble).
JACK DEWEESE, KENNY U/S, is a Sophomore BFA Acting for Film, Television, and Theatre Major. His Rider credits include Romeo and Juliet (Benvolio U/S) directed by Charlotte Northeast, in How We Fall (Adam) directed by Emily Paruk, as well as various film roles around campus.
CHARLIE DUBENDORFER, GRACE U/S (she/her) is a sophomore Acting for Film, TV, and Theater major with a minor in Dance. Rider Mainstage credits include: Lost Girl (Mother). Rider Student Theater Company credits include: Hamlet (Guildenstern, etc.) and Emotional Women (U.S. Freeride).
ELIZABETH HOLZWORTH, GRACE (she/her), is a junior Acting major. Rider Main Stage credits include: Asking Strangers the Meaning of Life (Cardinal/Counselor U/S), Nell Gwynn (Stage Manager) and Much Ado About Nothing (Assistant Stage Manager). Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: The Minor Feelings of a Minor Character (Person 4), Steel Magnolias (Director) and Patti LuPone was an Acting Major.
JASON RAMOTH, CHARLIE U/S (He/Him/His) is a junior Film and Television and Theatre student at Rider University. Rider main stage credits include: Nell Gwynn (Ensemble, Hart/Charles U/S) and The Fire (Jim Sellers)
PHILLIP SCHNELLER, CHARLIE (He/Him) is a junior acting major. Rider Main Stage credits include: Lost Girl (Toodles/Therapist), Asking Strangers the Meaning of Life (U/S Genius/U/S Professor), and Nell Gwynn (U/S Ned). Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: Patti Lapone was an Acting Major, Starseeds, and Hamlet (Polonius/Fortinbras).
BRIAN TOBIN, DANIEL, MRS. GOLDBERGER U/S, OFFICER STEVENS U/S, (He/Him/His), is a junior Acting major. This is his first Rider Mainstage production. Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: Improv Cabaret
LEXI VAKSDAL, LAUREN U/S, is a sophomore Acting major. This is Lexiās first Rider mainstage production.
About the Artistic & Administrative Staff and Crew
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 masterās 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 a number of 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. She recently premiered a new work in the Fall Dance Concert titled i am // we are
NATALIE BEASLEY, PRODUCTION ASSISTANT, is a sophomore Musical Theatre major from Northern Virginia. This is her first mainstage production at Rider University.
JULIETTE BELKE, ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER, is a junior Musical Theatre major with a minor in Theatre Design and Technology. Rider Main Stage Credits include: Into the Woods (U/S Rapunzel), Riderās Fall Dance Concert (Lighting Designer), and The Fire (Assistant Lighting Designer). Upcoming credits include: 9 to 5 (Margo).
GABRIELLE BREZA, PRODUCTION ASSISTANT, (they/she) is a sophomore Design & Technology Major with a focus in Stage Management. Select Credits include: Lost Girl (Props Runner; Rider University), The Golden Age of Piracy Returns (Stage Manager; New Jersey Renaissance Faire), Alice in Wonderland (Stage Manager; Lyceum Hall Center for the Arts), The Lightning Thief (Stage Manager; Lyceum Hall Center for the Arts), Sweetwater (Assistant Stage Manager; University of the Arts Polyphone Festival), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Assistant Stage Manager; Lyceum Hall Center for the Arts), A Year with Frog and Toad (Assistant Stage Manager; Lyceum Hall Center for the Arts). Upcoming credits include: Annie Jr. (Stage Manager; Lyceum Hall Center for the Arts).
GARRETT CURRIER, DRAMATURG (He/They), is in his final year at Rider University Previous Rider Mainstage credits include: Taubās Twelfth Night (Assistant Director)
LARA DENGES, ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER, is a Sophomore Arts Entertainment Industry Management Major with a Theater Tech and Design Minor. Rider Credits include: Lost Girl (Prop Runner). Rider Student Theater Company Credits include : 13 the Musical (Light Op). Select credits: New Jersey Renaissance Faire (Agnes Mead), Sparta Renaissance Faire Enchanted Forest Tours (Lady), Circle Playersā Midsummer Nights Dream (Cobweb).
CHLOE DITTLOFF, LIGHTING DESIGNER, recently graduated with a BFA in Lighting Design from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts. Recent design credits include: Village Light Opera Group's Death Takes a Holiday, Floor Thirteen's The Happiness Treatment, Columbia University's The Winter's Tale and BAKKHAI, Gallery Players' Legally Blonde, and Luna Stage's Hamlet and the ripple, the wave that carried me home. Recent associate design credits include: Waterbury Symphony's Broadway Scores!, Lucky Man: a Warrior's Journey, and the New American Ensemble's The Brothers Karamazov. Recent assistant design credits include DOLLY: A True Original Musical. Chloe is also currently an adjunct professor at Rider University. Find more of her work at chloedittloffdesign.com.
C. RYANNE DOMINGUES, ARTISTIC PRODUCER, teaches acting, directing, and devising as an Assistant Professor at Rider University. From 2017-2024, she was the Artistic Director of Passage Theatre, a professional, regional theatre found in the heart of 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 cofounded in 2004) and the Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia. She received her MFA in Directing from the University of California, Irvine and was a participant in the 2008 Lincoln Center Director's Lab. Next up, Ryanne will continue working with Passage Theatre and Princeton University on a new, devised piece that focuses on issues within the U.S. education system.
JESSIE DOTY, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, is a junior Musical Theatre major Their previous credits include: Taubsā Twelfth Night at Rider University (Fabian), Into the Woods at Rider University (Jack U/S), Ride the Cyclone with the Rider Student Theatre Company (Mischa), Chicago at Encore Theatre Group (Velma Kelly) and The Drowsy Chaperone at Encore Theatre Group (Robert Martin)
IVAN FULLER, DIRECTOR, serves as professor of theatre in the Performing Arts Department. Dr. Fuller was professor of theatre and chair of the Performing & Visual Arts Department at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD, from 1989 to 2011. For fifteen years he was the founder and artistic director of the Bare Bodkins Theatre Company producing Shakespeare in Sioux Falls. Also a playwright, his play, Eating into the Fabric, was chosen for the Mainstage Reading Series at the Great Plans Theatre Conference in May 2009 where it was awarded a Holland New Voices Award for Outstanding Play. It was also a semi-finalist for the Eugene OāNeill National Playwriting Conference. In July 2009 he served as playwright-in-residence for Summer Literary Seminars in Vilnius, Lithuania where he completed the first draft of Awake in Me. In 2010 & 2012, he returned to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he completed the play, In Every Note which had its debut at Rider in 2019. In 2016 & 2017 he spent time in Rwanda where he wrote and then presented his play, Deceived by Silence. And in 2019 he was back in Russia to finish his adaptation of the best-selling novel, Madonnas of Leningrad.
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: Yorikās 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, STAGE MANAGEMENT MENTOR (she/her), is the Faculty Stage Manager, mentoring and advising students focusing on Stage Management within the Design & Technology program. Brandy Lee joined 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.
MALLORY HOELZL, SOUND DESIGNER (she/they) is a sophomore theater-making and public relations double major. Previous Rider credits include: Into the Woods (Sound Runner; Rider University), Starseeds (The Other Twin; Rider Student Theater Company), The Improv Cabaret (Improver; Rider Student Theater Company), Lost Girl (Sound Runner/Sound Operator; Rider University), Fall Dance Concert (Sound Operator).
DERYN C. KRANER, COSTUME DESIGNER, is a senior BFA Musical Theatre Major with a Minor in Dance at Rider University and an employee in the Universityās Costume Department & Shop. Along with performing, Deryn has been a Dance & Costume Design Teaching Artist at Columbus Childrenās Theatre since 2023 and a dance instructor since 2022. Select credits include: Taubās Twelfth Night (Ensemble/Maria U/S, Rider University), Flashdance the Musical (Destiny/Ensemble, Weathervane Playhouse), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Bride Swing/Ensemble, Weathervane Playhouse), Romeo and Juliet (Choreographer, Rider University), Into the Woods (Choreographer, Rider University), Nell Gwynn (Choreographer, Rider University), From Up Here (Costume Designer, Rider University), Rider Dances ā24, ā25, & ā26 (Costume/Makeup Designer, Rider University).
BUCK LINTON, 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 of 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.
CAYLEE MADISON, PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER (she/her), is a junior Theatre Major concentrating in Theatre-Making and Design & Technology. She plans to pursue a career in stage management, costume design, and acting. Rider Main Stage credits include: Lost Girl (Stage Manager), Into The Woods (Assistant Stage Manager), and upcoming Rider Dances (Assistant Costume Designer). Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: The Importance of Being Earnest (Production Stage Manager), Hamlet (Production Stage Manager), Steel Magnolias (PSM Mentor/Light Operator), Please, I'm A Star (Light Operator), and The Guy Who Doesn't Like Musicals (Stage Manager).
SEAN McCARTHER, INTAMACY COORDINATOR, serves as Professor of Musical Theater Voice and Chair of the Department of Performing Arts at Rider University, where he teaches applied voice to classical, musical theater, and music production majors, and movement for the actor. He is an advanced actor combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors and the Academy of Fight Directors Canada and has trained with both Intimacy Directors and Coordinators and Theatrical Intimacy Education. Dr. McCartherās research interests span the fields of psychology, motor learning, voice pedagogy, and theatre. He focuses on topics such as the intersection of choral and vocal pedagogy, peak performance, the acquisition of expertise, theatrical emotion, and consent-based rehearsal processes. His research appears in several peerreviewed publications, and he is a frequent lecturer and workshop presenter nationally and internationally. Previous Rider violence/intimacy choreography credits include Nell Gwynn, The Childrenās Hour, The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong, Cabaret, Polaroid Stories, These Seven Sicknesses, Oklahoma, Heathers, She Kills Monsters, and Spring Awakening
CRAIG PINCUS, SOUND ENGINEER, has worked in professional audio and system design for the past twenty-nine years. He has engineered and produced audio for musical theater performances, national television broadcasts, and live concerts.
Craig holds a bachelorās degree in communication from Rutgers University and teaches digital audio production at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ.
Craig also performs and records music, owns a sound and event production service, and directs TheatreCraft Musical Program, a childrenās theater company, created with his wife Renee, producing theatrical performances in the central NJ area.
BRANDON RUSH, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, is a graduate of Rider University and has kept a consistent relationship with Riderās 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 Dollās House, and Radium Girls.
ROBIN I. SHANE, COSTUME DESIGN MENTOR, is an Associate Professor of Theatre and serves in both the Theatre-Making and Design and Technology Programs. Some favorite designs at Rider include The Fire, Nell Gwynn, A Dollās House, Enemies: A Love Story, Last Words, Cabaret, Polaroid Stories, Pippin, Kiss Me, Kate, and many Rider Dance concerts. Robin has been a professional costume designer for over 30 years; recent professional credits include The Outsider (Act II Productions,) Children of the Sun (PAC),
The Pillowman and In The Next Room, or, The Vibrator Play (Hedgerow Theatre) and OK Trenton (Passage Theatre). Regionally and nationally she has designed at The New Victory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, The Yale Rep, The Hedgerow, Theatre Exile, Philadelphia Artistās 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 a MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and a BA in Theater and Psychology from Wesleyan University.
YOSHINORI TANOKURA, CO-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 Peopleās 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.
JIM PARKS, COSTUME SHOP SUPERVISOR, is excited to be working on this production. He is currently working as Rider Universityās 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
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
CELEBRATION OF BLACK MUSIC: THE COURAGE TO BELIEVE
Saturday, March 7, 4 p.m.
Gill Chapel
MYTHS AND HYMNS
Friday, March 27, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 28, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 29, 2 p.m.
Yvonne Theater
RIDER DANCES
Thursday, April 2, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 3, 7:30 p.m.
Bart Luedeke Center Theater
SPRING OPERA: SPEED DATING TONIGHT!
Friday, April 17, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 18, 7:30 p.m.
Bart Luedeke Center Theater
RIDER UNIVERSITY CHORALE: JOY IS EVERYWHERE!
Sunday, April 19, 3 p.m.
Gill Chapel
WESTMINSTER CHAPEL CHOIR: SEEK YE FIRST
Friday, April 24, 7:30 p.m.
Gill Chapel
WESTMINSTER CONCERT BELL CHOIRS: LEGACY
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF WESTMINSTER CHOIR COLLEGE
Saturday, April 25, 4 p.m.
Gill Chapel
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON UPCOMING PERFORMANCES, SUBSCRIPTION AND PATRON PROGRAM OPTIONS, VISIT RIDER.EDU/ARTS.
