For IN Series Artistic Director Timothy Nelson, opening the new season with Alessandro Stradella’s St. John the Baptist next month isn’t just an artistic decision; it’s a long-held passion. With a bold new English libretto, a 1970s setting, and its first-ever full staging, Stradella’s explosive oratorio comes alive as a work of staggering musical invention and psychological complexity. The story retells the biblical account of John the Baptist’s final days as he’s caught in a dangerous triangle with the lustful Herod and the manipulative Salome, whose shocking demand for John’s head leads to a climactic act of violence. I had the pleasure of speaking with Nelson to hear his thoughts on why this rarely performed baroque masterpiece is the perfect piece for right now and how its themes of identity, repression, and forbidden desire hit harder than ever. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

What drew you to Alessandro Stradella’s St. John the Baptist as the IN Series season opener, and why now?

It’s a piece I’ve been wanting to do for almost 20 years. It’s a little-known piece, but there was a recording that was put out in the late eighties. The music is just astonishing — you can’t even believe that this music was written at all. And the storytelling is so novel, especially for the 17th century. The story of Salome, even though it’s really familiar, is not set very often, and it has an inherent drama and psychological complexity and sexual terror. We don’t think of baroque opera or Baroque theater as something that is so fraught and has so much inherent drama. So, between the music and the chance to do this really vivid story, I’ve always wanted to do the piece. Then, in doing a season of all premieres, I thought, how cool to open with actually the premiere of something that was written over 300 years ago?

You’ve said that Stradella’s version asks something “different” of us than Strauss’s Salome. What exactly is that difference, and how does your staging bring it out?

When we think of Oscar Wilde’s version, the thing we most think about is how shocking it was. The theater play was banned in Britain for 30 years after it was written. There were riots in Chicago when they tried to do the American premiere of it. It’s a piece that is shocking and salacious, even from the time it’s written. But this version, in a way that’s very similar, is equally as shocking musically and dramatically. It’s totally unique, and that’s not surprising coming from Stradella, because his life was shocking. He was shocking. The music he created, the art he created, and also his personal life. So in that way, it’s similar to the Strauss Oscar Wilde version, but that version focuses on Salome as the main character and as a character who has incredible psychological complexity and depth and changes over the course of the opera. Stradella’s version of Salome is important and gets amazing, fearsome, terrifying music — especially for the soprano having to sing it. It’s really about Herod, and Stradella hints at this past relationship between Herod and John. And Herod is sort of forced into killing this person that he clearly has a great affection for. So, in that way, it’s very different from the Oscar Wilde. It’s equally as crazed, equally as subversive, but it changes the focus.

Stradella’s opera was originally written as a concert work. What challenges or opportunities did that present when fully staging it for the first time?

It doesn’t present challenges in the way people would think because we think of oratorio as a concert form that is something more respectable and more spiritual and more tame than opera. But in fact, oratorio was invented in Rome because opera and theater were banned by the church in Rome. But it didn’t mean that the people who had power and money didn’t want to see opera or to see theater. It’s just they weren’t allowed to. So the only way they could experience drama or musical drama was to invent oratorio. But the pieces are no less dramatic. They’re no less sometimes scandalous. They chose stories from the Bible, but they chose very scandalous stories from the Bible. And so as a piece of music theater, it is equal in drama to the early operas that were being rented in Venice at the same time — maybe even more dramatic. Actually, I would find it hard as a conductor to make a concert piece out of it because you can’t believe it’s not meant to be staged. It is fast-paced, the characters are etched with remarkable psychological depth, and it’s very plot-driven. As a stage piece it’s very natural. There are some oratorios that would be more complicated and that maybe don’t have the same sort of dramatic momentum that this piece has. But this piece was very well suited to become a stage work. It’s hard to believe that no one had done it earlier, actually.

This production incorporates a new English text by Bari Biern. How did you collaborate with her on shaping the narrative and tone?

Bari is someone who’s had a relationship with our organization for many years, long before I came in 2018. But I think Bari had been writing translations for us, sometimes performing with us, and she used to write for Capital Steps, and won a Helen Hayes. During my tenure, she did our translation of Rigoletto last year. Bari is a brilliant rhymer and a brilliant comedian. This piece is not a comedy, but it has certain elements of absurdity and of grotesqueness, and I thought Bari would be really well suited. I wanted to give Bari a chance to do something that wasn’t silly and that was kind of dark and sometimes funny, but ultimately quite a tragedy.

However, rhyming was really important to the original piece, and by doing it in English, we needed someone who was really good at clever and smart rhyming. We’ve chosen to set this particular production in the 1970s because we’ve delved into this relationship between Herod and John. I wanted to find a place where a relationship between two men was at odds with the social norms — of heteronormative American suburbia of the 1970s. Putting it in the seventies gives an opportunity to the English translator to have fun with language, since the seventies were a time when the American language was really rich with unique words that we don’t use now. I thought Bari would have a good time digging into how language could fit with music, but particularly language from that period.

As both director and music director, how do you balance the visual storytelling with Stradella’s richly expressive score?

Obviously, the practice in opera is to have a separate conductor and director, which is very different from the way we think of theater. Even in music theater, there’s ultimately one person in charge in the room, the stage director. And there’s a hierarchy of the stage director and the music director. But in opera, they’re equal in the rehearsal room. So, trying to find someone who can do both is logistically a challenge. But I think it’s a much better way to make a piece of musical theater opera because there shouldn’t be a division between music and text and music and drama. The two are telling the same story, and they’re telling it together as one unified thing.

If you have one person or one creative mind that is shaping the music, the embodiment of that music in a way that is telling a unified dramatic story, to me, is a better way to get to a cohesive whole. It’s not possible when you get into romantic opera, where the orchestra parts are so complex and the size is so big and you have a chorus, but this is five singers and a baroque orchestra. It’s the sort of space where we can do this really unique experiment, and what it means to have just one artistic vision for the project.

Stradella’s music was admired by the likes of Handel and yet remains relatively obscure today. What do you think contemporary audiences will find most surprising about his music?

Handel, Bach…brilliant. Bach, especially, beyond words. Monteverdi, who is about a hundred years earlier than those guys, even a little more equally brilliant. People think of Stradella as a kind of a bridge between those poles — between Monteverdi and early opera and Handel. That’s really unfair to Stradella, who wasn’t just a byway between the two. Stradella was writing music that was wholly original, wholly his own, and super complex. His dissonances, his use of rhythms and syncopations, the way he etches character. One example: Salome, when she’s trying to cajole Herod and convince him to cut off John’s head. This young 13-year-old girl saying I want you to cut off the head of this man is a really gruesome idea. She does it in a way that is vocally pyrotechnic almost like Whitney Houston. It goes from the bottom to the top of the range, very fast, rageful, and crazy. That sets up an aria that is totally still and eerie and placid. So Stradella is the master of surprise — the master of doing the thing you’re not supposed to do. He was an outlaw and it comes out in the music.

Were there particular scenes or musical moments in St. John the Baptist that felt like breakthrough moments for you as a director?

The scene of Salome going between emotional poles to try and win her argument — and this argument is actually part of a larger scene in the second act — is all her trying to convince him to give her the head. And it’s a masterpiece of a character, psychology and music, and the shifting psychologies of people. The piece is famous also for its final duet because Salome is singing a very happy, joyful line, and her text is all about how she’s filled with elation and she doesn’t know why. And underneath, Herod is singing different music that is about how he senses impending doom. He’s so frightened and he doesn’t know why. And it ends suddenly just in the middle of the line and we know it’s the end because Stradella writes that’s the end of the oratorio. We assume that’s the moment the head gets cut off. That’s another moment that is really interesting to figure out how to embody as a director. The piece is full of those sorts of innovative moments.

You’ve led IN Series through productions that combine opera with other forms — from immersive theater to contemporary dance. What role does cross-disciplinary collaboration play in your creative process?

I love bringing together diverse artists, and by diverse I mean artists that are coming from different cultural expressive histories and working in different forms — forms that we would never think go together. Then we all get in a room and find a way to weave something that, again, makes the whole so much more than just the sum of the parts. So, for me, it’s very central in my practice, and it’s not just because I like working with people and collaboration is fun, but it’s really about a view of globalization, doing something positive for the world rather than what globalization actually costs the world. So bringing these voices together — which of course jazz is speaking to classical music and speaking to a whole economic and political history that was going on from the 19th and the 20th century — and having the arts openly having that conversation by putting those different things together and in dialogue with each other is really interesting and fun for me as an artist.

What has this production taught you about Stradella, about opera, or even about yourself?

In a way, it’s a homecoming. I wanted to do this piece for years, and as a harpsichordist and a baroque scholar of music, in a way, it’s my music. But I’ve never done Stradella before, and tend to do pieces that are optimistic and about joy. Even if that joy is found through grief and spiritual transformation. This is a piece that is gothic, gory, and dark, and there is some transcendent music in it. There is a beautiful message, especially in this production, about being true to the way God made you and not letting social pressure make you deny who you are. But ultimately, the story is very dark and almost so dark that it becomes satirical. That’s not the sort of work I do, so it’s fun to dip my toe in that space.

How has your time in DC influenced the kind of work you want to create?

I was overseas for about 15 years, and in opera, especially in classical music, we’re taught that Europe is the continent where we’re supposed to want to go and do work. That’s where there’s so much funding and where the productions are new and big in opera. And I was very early on in my time in Europe dissatisfied with being so far from the country that matters to me. Quite honestly, it was Trump’s first election that made me want to come back because I just felt it was wrong to be in the cheap seats. I wanted to be making work, even if it’s harder to make work in America, ’cause of the way the work is not funded. The work is somehow, at least to me, more important because it’s able to tap into real conversations that real people are having. And that, of course, is much more true now than it was eight years ago. Especially making work in DC feels like there’s the opportunity to do something that is relevant and will make a difference in people’s lives, whereas for me in Europe, I knew from day one that I was making work that felt easy, and I wanted to do stuff that felt hard.

What do you hope audiences walk away thinking or feeling after experiencing St. John the Baptist — especially those unfamiliar with Baroque opera?

The musician in me wants people to have a revelatory experience of not knowing this music and not knowing that this type of music existed, and that it could be so powerful, strange, and affecting. In a larger sense, this piece is so dramatically taut and so immediate and impactful that I want people to almost feel like they never thought opera could be so strong and so fast. I think people tend to think of opera as a space that can give these great, emotionally overwhelming moments. And between those moments, there’s a lot of waiting to get to the next moment, whereas theater tends to be something people think of as more immediate and compelling. I would hope people see this and realize that opera, when it’s done well and it’s the right piece, can actually be both at the same time.

Can you give a quick preview of what else is to come this season?

The next project in December, called The Delta King’s Blues, is kind of what was the germ for the whole idea of the season of premieres. It’s a work we’ve been spending the last three years commissioning. We have a resident artist program named the Cardwell Dawson Artist Fellowship — named for Mary Cardwell Dawson, who ran the National Negro Opera Company in DC in the forties. We started during the pandemic for local Black opera singers who wanted to explore some aspect beyond just singing — whether that’s composing, writing, or directing. And so this is the culmination of that with one of our artists, Jarrod Lee. He’s a librettist and he’s written with the composer Damien Geter a blues opera about the legend of Robert Johnson, the guitarist who sold his soul to the devil to learn the blues. So this is an opera that will combine a blues ensemble and a western classical ensemble and will be set in an immersive juke joint. And then in the spring, we’re doing a festival called Passion Plays, which are three works inspired by the medieval tradition of passion plays, but looking at contemporary themes. One is about police violence, police brutality, or political violence using the music of Bach. One is called Passio, which brings together eight female artists from around the world. It’ll include musical artists from Moroccan traditional Arabic music, Indian drumming, and more that all speak kind of a common language of improvisation. And we’ll talk about their experiences as women in this globalized society. And then the last piece is called For Women Serving Time, which is a new opera by Adrienne Torf about the experience of incarcerated women in America based on a poem by a scholar named Fatemeh Keshavarz. Our final piece is an opera I wrote about six years ago and never thought would be performed called Song of Sakuntala. It’s based on a 14th-century Indian play, and it brings together Indian classical music and western classical music and instruments into sort of a dance opera based on that play — which in the Indian tradition is sort of as ubiquitous as Hamlet is in the West.

Running Time: 75 minutes with Intermission.

St. John the Baptist plays October 2 to 5, 2025, presented by IN Series performing at 340 Maple Drive (IN Series’ new venue in Southwest, DC), and October 10 to 12, 2025, at the Baltimore Theatre Project (45 W Preston St, Baltimore, MD). Tickets range from $45 to $77 in DC and can be purchased online. Tickets range from $25 to $35 in Baltimore and can also be purchased online.

The post Timothy Nelson on staging the shocking opera ‘St. John the Baptist’ appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

If you’re a fan of improv, chances are you’ve heard of The Improvised Shakespeare Company®, who perform regularly in DC as they tour around the country.

But did you know that the District has its very own improvised Shakespeare group?

The Merely Players: An Improvised Shakespeare Show hits the Washington Improv Theater (WIT) stage on September 28 for a limited run of four consecutive Sunday performances at 7 PM. It’s part of WIT’s fall show series Laugh Riot: Comedy in the Face of Everything!, which started September 19.

The Merely Players are directed by veteran improv performer Shawn Westfall, who says his homegrown homage to The Bard packs the punch of a five-act play into a 40-minute spectacle.

He sat down with WIT’s Anna K. Nelson to talk about why audiences can’t seem to get enough of improvised Shakespeare in this capital city, where, one imagines, a good number of people go around thinking, “Don’t you know how important I think I am?”

Anna K. Nelson (WIT): Let’s start with the troupe’s name. Presumably, it’s taken from As You Like It?

Shawn Westfall: That’s right, from Act II, Scene VII: Jacques says this as a preface to his “seven ages of man” speech:

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts…

I love this speech because it corresponds to something I’ve long believed about identity, that we — all of us, not just “actors” — are playing roles constantly, and these roles shift over time and are sometimes forced upon us. I think recognizably “self-aware” people are more accurately “selves-aware” in that they understand this, as well as how a modicum of insincerity and “performance” is occasionally necessary for graceful human interaction.

And I love how comically the word “players” is diminished when it’s modified by “merely,” suggesting that players, i.e., you and me, are not, and never are, as important as we think we are in the grand scheme of things.

What made you want to start up an improvised Shakespeare group here in DC?

To be candid, DC’s seen its share of improvised Shakespeare already. A lot of us got hooked after catching Improvised Shakespeare at the Del Close Marathon in NYC — what, 20 years ago? We were like, “Wait, you can improvise a genre? Even THAT one?” To my mind, that show basically kicked off the whole genre-improv wave, and DC folks were eager to try a Shakespeare one. A few short months later, some of us — including WIT’s Artistic and Executive Director Mark Chalfant — cobbled together Crude Mechanicals for WIT’s annual festival of experimental improv called Improvapalooza. When I ran my own theater here in DC, I leaned hard into genre improv with an improvised Shakespeare structure as a tentpole show that I directed and performed in. Later, in Portland, Oregon, I joined former Philly improv-scene mainstay Kristen Schier’s Love, Shakespeare show, and once I was back in DC, Rails Comedy asked me to direct another improvised Shakespeare show — and of course I said “Yes.”

That’s the long answer, obviously. The short answer? I’ve loved Shakespeare ever since my undergraduate English survey class, and I’ve loved improv ever since I began performing it in the mid-’90s. For me, it’s two great tastes that taste great together.

Shakespeare can be challenging to perform on a good day (and without the added pressure of making the words and the plot all up in real-time while staying in character!). What are some particular challenges The Merely Players have faced as you’ve been rehearsing?

I mean, none, obviously! Why should there be any challenges whatsoever? Rehearsals are flawless and executed perfectly! Why do you ask this silly question?

(Just kidding, of course.) The primary challenge for us is narrative time. Shakespeare had the luxury of five-act plays into which he shoved a lot: characters, soliloquies, swordplay, romantic banter and bawdiness, ghosts, physical comedy, battles, marriages; scenes that changed locations quickly and by turns from, say, Rome to Cairo and back again. He also had audiences for whom this was their primary means of entertainment, essentially their “streaming service:” There was little else to do back then except go to a weekend Globe Theatre show and spend the afternoon drinking beer and seeing what this chatty, crazy Hamlet fellow is going to get up to next.

The Merely Players, on the other hand, have approximately 40 minutes to create a couple of characters, the worlds/milieus they inhabit, and then — without a script — find ways to bring these worlds together such that it appears “Shakespearean,” doing our best to incorporate the above. But it’s a tightrope that’s not only fun to walk, but fun for the audience to watch us walk. I think.

What are the most thrilling aspects of improvising Shakespeare? It must be quite a rush for the players!

Indeed, and a rush for their director as well! I always enjoy seeing how this cast’s unique individual skillsets flavor their choices, characters, and tropes. We have one actor who excels at high-status roles and naturally plays royalty and another who is effortless with rhyme and meter and rattles off soliloquies. We also have a performer who embodies lower-class characters with ease, plus a couple with deep Maryland Renaissance Festival experience, which proves invaluable. Another actor shines at physical comedy. The whole cast has sharp improv skills and remarkable memories, weaving audience suggestions into the show in ways I could never predict. Those in-the-moment discoveries delight the audience, the cast, and me — it’s a joy watching how much fun they’re having!

Shakespeare’s use of language, character, setting, and genre was so intentional that one might be forgiven for thinking it a fool’s errand to play with it to such a degree. And yet, improvised Shakespeare works so well. Why do you think that is?

It may be a fool’s errand to tinker with Shakespeare’s language, characters, and settings — but Shakespeare, a fool himself, did it often. He freely borrowed plots and lifted characters from numerous sources, altering them as needed for his own plays. His sources range from, among others, Holinshed’s Chronicles (the source of both King Lear and Macbeth) to even older versions of Hamlet like the 12th-century Amleth and the now forever lost Ur-Hamlet, written a few decades before his Hamlet. Copyright, in the sense we now understand it, didn’t exist, and plagiarism hadn’t been defined as we now know it. Later eras even rewrote his plays — Romeo and Juliet was, in the early 18th century, staged with a happy ending. The “doomed” lovers were no longer ill-fated but surviving and marrying instead! (I know, right?)

I think an improvised Shakespeare show works because — and please, don’t tell anyone this — we’re not really “improvising Shakespeare.” The Merely Players are parodying what people think Shakespeare is: lofty, inaccessible, “high art,” the bastion of intellectuals and the academy,performed by snotty actors who take the plays and themselves way too seriously. That’s what I love about it: parody is baked in. It knocks Shakespeare off that perceived pedestal and returns him to what he was in the first place — entertainment, not Art-with-a-capital-A. I can’t prove it, but I doubt Shakespeare ever thought of himself as an “artist.” He was an entertainer, and a popular one at that.

What would you say to someone who’s not a huge fan of Shakespeare as to why they should come out and see The Merely Players?

The cliché, pedantic answer is that even if you think you don’t like Shakespeare, you kind of do: the English you speak every day is packed with phrases he invented, and if you’ve enjoyed movies like The Lion King (Hamlet) or Ten Things I Hate About You (The Taming of the Shrew), you’ve enjoyed Shakespeare.

But here’s a better answer: Shakespeare wasn’t just an artist, as I said above. He was an entertainer — and a spectacular one at that, specifically in the sense of the word “spectacle.” He was the Michael Bay of his era. Think about it: his plays have sword fights, explosions, battles, music, murder, dance, flirty banter, groany and bawdy puns, royalty and rogues, mistaken identities, cross-dressing, lascivious jokes, and both physical slapstick-comedy and intellectually sharp wit. And, despite this entertaining spectacle, as the five-act play wore on, audiences — especially those standing on the ground of the Globe in the cheap “seats” — grew rowdy, drunk, and chatty to the point that they began talking back to the actors on stage. Thus, actors had to improvise — that’s right, improvise — in character while keeping the play moving. Oh, and that cheap-seat standing crowd? They were called “groundlings,” and that’s where the legendary improv troupe/theater The Groundlings got its name.

So don’t come for “Shakespeare.” Come for the fun, the spectacle, the laughter. And to see improv comedy’s roots.

The Merely Players cast features Catherine Mullins, Zach Myers, Meredith Garagiola, Emily Dalton, Keegan Cassady, Sammy Garcia, Matt Mansfield, JoJo Franzen, and Shawn Westfall.

See them perform at Washington Improv Theater on Sundays from September 28 to October 19, 2025, at 7 PM. (Each show includes a 25-minute opener by a DC-based indie improv troupe, followed by a 40-minute performance by The Merely Players.) General admission is $20. Shows take place at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St NW, Washington, DC. Go to witdc.org/shows.

You can also catch them at Rails Comedy on these Tuesdays: September 30 and October 14, 2025, at 8 PM at The DC Arts Center in Adams Morgan, 2438 18th St NW, Washington, DC. Go to railscomedy.com.

The post For The Merely Players, all of WIT’s a stage this fall appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

Shakespeare Theatre Company has announced the casting for its holiday presentation of Guys and Dolls. In addition to previously announced Broadway stars, the cast includes both local favorites and fresh talents to the STC stage. Directed by Washington National Opera Artistic Director Francesca Zambello (Porgy and Bess, Turandot, West Side Story) and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse (Smash, Bull Durham), Guys and Dolls plays STC’s Harman Hall December 2 through January 4.

The oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York just got busted, and Nathan Detroit needs cold, hard cash to get it up and running again. Enter high-roller Sky Masterson, who Nathan wagers can’t get a date with the straightlaced Sarah Brown, a Salvation Army missionary trying to save them all from sin. Dance the night away to “Luck Be a Lady,” “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” “A Bushel and a Peck,” and more classic tunes in the must-see show of the holiday season.

As previously announced, a lineup of Broadway and musical theater talent headlines the cast. In the role of the mannered and conservative Sarah Brown is Julie Benko, most recently from an acclaimed run in the Broadway production of Funny Girl (named New York Times 2022 Breakout Star in Theatre), and Barry Manilow’s Harmony. Jacob Dickey (Old Friends with Bernadette Peters, Aladdin, Company) will play opposite her as the suave gambler Sky Masterson. Playing the noncommittal Nathan Detroit will be Rob Colletti (Almost Famous, original Dewey Finn in the School of Rock National Tour), and as his on-again, off-again girlfriend Adelaide is Hayley Podschun, whose Broadway credits include Wicked (Glinda, National Tour); Hello, Dolly!; Something Rotten!; and more. She was last seen in D.C. in a Helen Hayes-nominated turn in Catch Me If You Can at Arena Stage.

Several DC actors familiar to STC audiences join the cast, including Holly Twyford (Our Town, Old Times) as General Matilda B. Cartwright; Todd Scofield (King Lear, Our Town, others) as Lt. Brannigan; Lawrence Redmond (Our Town, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, others) as Arvide Abernathy; Ahmad Kamal (Babbitt, Everybody, Richard III) as Big Jule; Calvin McCullough (Peter Pan and Wendy) as Benny Southstreet; and Katherine Riddle (Matchbox Magic Flute, Secret Garden) as Agatha.

Other local actors appearing in the musical include Graciela Rey (Signature Theatre, Folger Theatre, GALA Hispanic Theatre), Chivas Merchant-Buckman (Washington National Opera), and John Sygar (Olney Theatre, Round House, Arena Stage/Broadway’s Swept Away).

Joining the merry gang of gamblers are Kyle Taylor Parker (Kinky Boots on Broadway and National Tour) as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Elliott Mattox (Broadway’s Tammy Faye, Beetlejuice) as Harry the Horse, Tommy Gedrich (Pirates! The Penzance Musical) as Rusty Charlie, and Lamont Brown (Funny Girl, Mean Girls National Tours) as Joey Biltmore.

Also making their STC debuts in Guys and Dolls are Nick Alvino, Brandon Block, Landry Champlin, Brendon Chan, Aria Christina Evans, Caroline Kane, Drew Minard, Jessie Peltier, Jimena Flores Sanchez, and Jack Sippel.

Full season subscriptions, play packages, and single tickets are all on sale, and individual tickets begin at $39. More information can be found at ShakespeareTheatre.org.

Guys and Dolls runs December 2 – January 4 in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall, 610 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004. Tickets start at $39. For more information and tickets, please visit ShakespeareTheatre.org or call the Box Office at 202.547.1122.

SPECIAL PERFORMANCES

Young Prose Night (Under 35) – Friday, December 12, 7:30pm
Audio Description – Saturday, December 20, 2pm
Open Captioning – Saturday, December 13, 2pm | Thursday, December 18, 7:30pm | Wednesday, December 31, 12pm

CAST BIOGRAPHIES (in alphabetical order)

Nick Alvino*
Ensemble
Nick is thrilled to be performing at Shakespeare Theatre Company! Broadway credits include Death Becomes Her and The Music Man (with Hugh Jackman). Other NYC: The Light in the Piazza (City Center Encores!) and A Chorus Line (50th Anniversary Concert). Special thanks to his friends, family and the team at Daniel Hoff Agency.

Julie Benko*
Sarah Brown
Julie Benko joined the annals of theatrical legend for her sensational understudy-to-star trajectory as Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl, for which she received Theatre World’s Dorothy Loudon Award and was named the 2022 Breakout Star for Theater by The New York Times and one of 10 Broadway Stars to Watch by Variety, among other accolades. She created the role of Ruth in the Broadway production of Barry Manilow’s Harmony, and has also been seen on Broadway and in National Tours of Fiddler on the Roof, Les Misérables, and Spring Awakening. She has starred in numerous off-Broadway and regional productions, including My Fair Lady, Jane Eyre, Once, The Fantasticks, Our Town, Rags, and more. She will make her screen acting debut in the upcoming feature film “Caravan.” Benko has released 3 albums with her pianist-composer spouse, Jason Yeager, which are available wherever music is streaming.

Brandon Block*
Swing
STC: STC Debut! NEW YORK: Broadway: Water For Elephants (Swing/Dance Captain); Off-Broadway: Ginger Twinsies (Movement Associate) TOURS: U.S.: My Fair Lady (Charles, Ensemble), Miss Saigon (Swing/Dance Captain). REGIONAL: Broadway Center Stage at the Kennedy Center: Schmigadoon!; Alliance Theatre: Water For Elephants; Golden Gate Theatre: Roman Holiday; The Muny: Oklahoma!; The New Theatre: Chicago; Marriott Theatre: Oklahoma!; Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma: Big Fish, Little Mermaid, Bernice Bob’s Her Hair (Premiere), Mary Poppins, Spamalot, and more. FILM: Isn’t It Romantic. PERSONAL: he/him/his. Training: University Of Oklahoma Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre: B.F.A. Musical Theatre.

Lamont Brown*
Joey Biltmore/Ensemble
National Tour: Funny Girl (1st National), Mean Girls (1st National), White Christmas, 42nd Street (Andy Lee), Riverdance (Radio City Music Hall), After Midnight. Selected Credits: Syncopated Avenue (co-creator), Disney’s Hercules, 42nd Street (Goodspeed/Ordway/Drury Lane), Chasing Rainbows (World Premiere). Film/TV: Wu-Tang: An American Saga. Capezio Athlete.

Landry Champlin
Swing
REGIONAL: Asolo Repertory Theatre: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Casa Mañana: Jersey Boys, Carrie; Axelrod Performing Arts Center: Rock of Ages; Sharon Playhouse: Annie, Rock of Ages. TV: American Idol (Season 23). PERSONAL: she/her/hers.Training: Oklahoma City University: BM Music Theatre.

Brendon Chan*
Waiter in Havana/Ensemble
STC: Debut! NEW YORK: Broadway: Back to the Future. TOURS: Hamilton, The Bodyguard. REGIONAL: West Side Story at the Guthrie Theater. TV: West World, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Up Here, SNL. PERSONAL: Pronouns: He/Him. Training: BA in Dance, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Rob Colletti*
Nathan Detroit
STC Debut. BROADWAY/TOURS: Rob starred as the infamous “Lester Bangs” in Academy Award Winner Cameron Crowe’s Broadway adaptation of Almost Famous, “Elder Cunningham” in all three North American productions of The Book of Mormon (Broadway, National Tour, Chicago), and “Dewey Finn” in the First National Broadway Tour of School of Rock (BWW/LA Scenie Award Noms). REGIONAL: The Muny, The Old Globe, The Second City, ATC, and many more. FILM/TV: The Many Saints of Newark (Warner Bros.), Just Roll With It (ABC/Disney), WTF: World Thumbwrestling Federation (TCW). UPCOMING: In 2026, Rob joins the cast of the hit series One Piece on Netflix, then he’ll team up with Cameron Crowe again for the Untitled Joni Mitchell Biopic. AWARDS: In addition to his accolades for School of Rock, Rob is a Kennedy Center Irene Ryan Award Nominee. TRAINING: Harvard University, Columbia College Chicago, The Second City.

Jacob Dickey*
Sky Masterson
Jacob Dickey was last seen on Broadway opposite Bernadette Peters in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends. Some of his favorite theatre credits include Company (Broadway and 1st nat’l tour), Aladdin (Broadway and 1st nat’l tour), Emojiland (Off-Broadway original cast), The Prince of Egypt (Tuacahn Amphitheatre), and …The Great Comet of 1812 (PCLO). You can see him on TV in Partner Track, Gossip Girl, The Other Two, The First Lady, and Blue Bloods. He counts himself amongst the luckiest to be back in his home state making his DC theatre debut with STC. He sends love and gratitude to CGF, his friends and family, but especially, to Sean.

Aria Christina Evans*
Ensemble
Aria Evans is over the moon to be making her Shakespeare Theatre Company debut! REGIONAL; Beautiful The Carole King Musical (Asolo Rep, Music Theatre Wichita), Matilda (Music Theatre Wichita). BFA in Musical Theatre Penn State University. Love to her team at Hudson Artists Agency and her amazing family!

Tommy Gedrich*
Rusty Charlie/Ensemble, u/s Sky Masterson
Broadway: Pirates! The Penzance Musical. National Tour/Broadway: Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Regional: Guys and Dolls (The Kennedy Center), Rogers and Hammerstein’s State Fair (The Rev). Muhlenberg College alum. Huge thank you to Marc and Dustin at Daniel Hoff and my magical family.

Ahmad Kamal*
Big Jule/Ensemble
NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: The Public: Sumo (Lucille Lortel and Dorian Award Nominations – Best Featured Actor); STC: Babbitt, Everybody, Richard III. REGIONAL: Arena Stage: Holiday; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: Gloria (Helen Hayes Nomination – Best Supporting Actor), Kiss; Mosaic Theater Company: The Return, Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in The New World; Signature Theatre: 4,380 Nights; Studio Theatre, Olney Theatre Center. OTHER: Northlight Theatre: Selling Kabul; OKC Rep: LIFE SUCKS; Amphibian Stage: Baba, The Handless King. TRAINING: Bristol Old Vic Theatre School: MA in Professional Acting; University of Virginia: BFA in Drama.

Caroline Kane*
Swing, u/s Adelaide
(She/they) Absolutely jazzed to be making their Shakespeare Theatre Company Debut! Broadway: Water for Elephants (OBC) Regional: Goodspeed Musicals, Paper Mill Playhouse, Alliance Theatre, Pittsburgh CLO, Sacramento Music Circus, Walnut Street Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, The REV, Rattlestick Theatre. TV/ Film: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Étoile, I am Wrath, Better With You (Music Video). Aspiring yogi, home chef, and mediocre ceramicist. Thanks to the teams at Daniel Hoff and The TRC Company! All the love to mom, dad, mooks, Mike, Rose, and my love Keaton. Otterbein BFA.

Elliott Mattox*
Harry the Horse/Ensemble, u/s Nathan Detroit, u/s Nicely Nicely Johnson
STC: Debut! NEW YORK: Broadway: Tammy Faye, Beetlejuice (u/s Beetlejuice), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Off-Broadway: Titaníque, Lights Out: Nat King Cole. REGIONAL: The MUNY, Music Theatre Wichita, Asolo Rep, Cape Playhouse, North Shore Music Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. Pronouns: he/him/his. Elliott is a multi-hyphenate performer/director/choreographer based in New York City where he lives with his husband, Michael. Training: Oklahoma City University, B.M. Musical Theatre.

Calvin McCullough*
Benny Southstreet/Ensemble, u/s Nicely Nicely Johnson, u/s Lt. Brannigan/Ensemble
STC: Peter Pan And Wendy; Regional- Olney Theatre Center: Beautiful The Carol King Musical, A.D.16, Kinky Boots, ELF, South Pacific, Carmen, GODSPELL; Roundhouse Theatre: Next To Normal; Arena Stage: Snow Child; Signature Theatre: Freaky Friday, Jesus Christ Superstar; Fords Theatre: A Christmas Carol; Baltimore Center Stage: Miss You Like Hell; Everyman Theatre: A Raisin In the Sun, Flying West; Tobys Dinner Theatre: In The Heights, Shrek; Imagination Stage: Peter and The Wolf, The Freshest Snow Whyte, Roberto Clemente; Adventure Theatre: Big, Mirandy and Brother Wind, Snowy Day, Miss Nelson Is Missing.

Chivas Merchant-Buckman*
Ensemble
STC: Debut! TOURS: Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Elisa Monte Dance REGIONAL: St. Louis Black Repertory: The Wiz (Ensemble). OPERA: Washington National Opera: Eugene Onegin (Soloist Understudy), Samson and Delhia, Carmen, Romeo and Juliet, La Boheme, The Jungle Book (Soloist), Porgy and Bess, AIDA. OTHER: Touhill Performing Arts Center. PERSONAL: Pronouns: He/Him/His. Master’s in Secondary Education, Grand Canyon University. Teaching: Great Lakes Dance (Sarina, Canada), Prince George’s County Public Schools, Nittany Ballet (State College, PA), Allegheny Ballet Dance School (Allegheny, PA), Divine Dance Institute (Capitol Heights, MD), Jyla’s Studio of Dance (Capitol Heights, MD), First Class Dance Studio (Temple Hills, MD), Joy of Motion (Washington, DC), Grand Center Arts Academy. Training: Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Marymount Manhattan College, Joffrey Ballet.

Drew Minard*
Ensemble
STC debut! NEW YORK: Broadway: The Music Man. Off-Broadway: The Beautiful Dark (Charlie), TOURS: Beetlejuice, Billy Elliot the Musical (Billy Elliot). REGIONAL: West Side Story at Houston Grand Opera (Gee-Tar), La Cage Aux Folles at Barrington Stage (Giselle). TV: The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. OTHER: A Chorus Line 50th Anniversary Celebration (Mark) and Drew’s own solo show CATCHER based on The Catcher in the Rye.

Kyle Taylor Parker*
Nicely-Nicely Johnson
Broadway: Kinky Boots (Lola), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Mrs. Green). Off Broadway: Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Finian’s Rainbow, Songs for a New World. National Tours: Pretty Woman: The Musical (Happy Man), Kinky Boots (Lola), In the Heights. TV/Film: Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (starring John Legend and Sara Bareilles). Favorite Regional Credits: The Little Mermaid (Paper Mill), Jersey Boys (Music Circus), Dreamgirls (Lyric Theatre), Hair (Arizona Theatre Company), Guys and Dolls (Maltz Jupiter Theatre), and the world premiere of My Very Own British Invasion (Paper Mill). Stream and download Kyle’s solo albums, Broadway Soul Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 on all music platforms.

Jessie Peltier*
Ensemble, u/s General Matilda B. Cartwright/Ensemble
CREDITS: NEW YORK: Broadway: SMASH (dir. Susan Stroman, chor. Josh Bergasse), Back to the Future (dir. John Rando, chor. Chris Bailey); TOURS: Frozen the Musical (First National Tour; Swing/ Assistant Dance Captain); REGIONAL: The MUNY: Mamma Mia, Music Man; Music Theatre Wichita: Nice Work If You Can Get It, Hello Dolly, Mamma Mia, Big Fish, Billy Elliot; TUTS: Jerome Robbins Broadway, Beauty and the Beast; PCLO: Thoroughly Modern Millie; INTERNATIONAL: Celebrity Cruiselines; PERSONAL: she/her, Jessie was born and raised in Northern Virginia; Training: Oklahoma City University, BPA in Dance Performance.

Hayley Podschun*
Adelaide
STC Debut! BROADWAY: Wicked (Glinda, National Tour), Hello, Dolly!, Something Rotten, Anything Goes, Chaplin, Pal Joey, Sunday in the Park With George, Hairspray, The Sound of Music. OFF-BROADWAY/NYC: I Can Get It For You Wholesale (Miss Springer & others, CSC), Vanities (Joanne, The York), I Married an Angel (Anna, NYCC Encores) Freckleface Strawberry (Freckleface-Original Cast), Cheek to Cheek (The York). REGIONAL FAVORITES: Catch Me If You Can (Brenda, Arena Stage, Helen Hayes Nominated), You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Sally, Sharon Playhouse), The Sound of Music (Maria, The Lexington Theatre Company), Kinky Boots (Lauren, Sacramento Music Circus), Holiday Inn (Linda/Paper Mill Playhouse & Lila/Goodspeed Opera House), Gypsy (Dainty June, The Muny), Peter Pan (Peter), & more. FILM/TV: Fleishman is in Trouble (HULU/FX), Hairspray (Tammy, New Line Cinema), The Blacklist (NBC), Louie (FX), Guest Host on QVC.

Lawrence Redmond*
Arvide Abernathy/Ensemble
STC: Our Town, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Government Inspector; Much Ado About Nothing; As You Like It; Romeo and Juliet; Richard III; Cyrano; Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2; Camino Real; The Beggar’s Opera. TOURS: Guys and Dolls. REGIONAL: Ford’s Theatre: Sister Act, Little Shop of Horrors, 12 Angry Men. Arena Stage: The Great Society, Intelligence, All the Way, Ruined. Signature Theatre: Forum, Sweeney Todd, Ragtime, She Loves Me, Assassins, Blackbeard, Grand Hotel, Passion | Round House Theatre: Quixote Nuevo, Permanent Collection AWARDS: 2023 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow; Helen Hayes Award (1997, 1998); seven additional nominations.

Graciela Rey
Ensemble
REGIONAL: Signature Theatre: In The Heights, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Olney Theatre Center: West Side Story in Concert, Fiddler on the Roof, Lend Me a Soprano, Beauty and the Beast; GALA Hispanic Theatre: On Your Feet! ¡En español! ; Folger Theatre:Twelfth Night; Imagination Stage: Miss Nelson is Missing, Paper Dreams Lane’s Coven Theatre: Love’s Labour’s Lost. PERSONAL: She/hers. Teaching: Private coaching. Training: American University: BA in Musical Theatre.

Katherine Riddle*
Agatha/Ensemble, u/s Sarah Brown
STC: The Matchbox Magic Flute, The Secret Garden; REGIONAL: Signature Theatre: Sweeney Todd, She Loves Me; New London Barn Theatre: Mary Poppins, ACT of Connecticut: Guys and Dolls, Few Words; Glimmerglass Festival: La bohème, Sweeney Todd; Urban Arias: Florida, Weathervane Theatre: Les Misérables, Oklahoma; NextStop Theatre Company: A Grand Night for Singing; Toby’s Dinner Theatre: Into the Woods; Live Arts Maryland: Camelot; Annapolis Opera: South Pacific, Little Women. CONCERT: American Pops Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony, B-A-C-H Orchestra, People’s Symphony Concert, The Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Duplex. AWARDS: Lotte Lenya Competition – Marc Blitzstein Award Winner, American Traditions Competition Quarterfinalist. PERSONAL: pronouns: she/her. Teaching: American University, Princeton University. Training: American University, Royal Academy of Music.

Jimena Flores Sanchez*
Mimi/Ensemble
STC: debut. NEW YORK: Broadway: Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream. TOURS: 1st national tour of Moulin Rouge! the Musical (ensemble, Arabia cover, Babydoll cover). REGIONAL: Maltz Jupiter Theatre: Sweet Charity; Bucks County Playhouse: Evita; North Coast Theatre Festival: Footloose (Ariel), A Chorus Line (Diana Morales). OPERA: Carmina Burana, Brundibar. TV: Girls5Eva (Netflix). OTHER: professional ballerina with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Oklahoma City ballet, Ballet Memphis. PERSONAL: Pronouns: she/they.

Todd Scofield*
Lt. Brannigan/Ensemble, u/s Arvide Abernathy/Ensemble
DC Area: Folger Theatre: Romeo and Juliet, Tempest, Hamlet, Othello, Henry VIII, Merry Wives of Windsor, others; Arena Stage: Holiday, City of Conversation, Sovereignty; Shakespeare Theatre: King Lear, Our Town, Richard III, others; Round House Theatre: Ink, Oslo, The Book of Will, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, others; Signature Theatre: Ragtime; Kennedy Center: Mister Roberts; Theater J, Studio, Ford’s, Olney, Adventure Theatre, Imagination Stage, and Everyman Theatre REGIONAL: Arden Theatre: Freud’s Last Session, PlayMakers, Charlotte Rep, and North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. Television: recurring role in seasons 3 and 5 of The Wire.

Jack Sippel*
Swing, Dance Captain
STC Debut! NEW YORK: BROADWAY: The Prom (Dance Captain); TOURS: Memphis the Musical, Disney’s Newsies (Mush/Bill). FILM: The Prom on Netflix (Assistant Choreographer/Performer), Kenny/Darcy, Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical (Disney+). REGIONAL: Resident Choreographer/10+ seasons performing at The Muny; The Old Globe: Come Fall in Love (Porter); Goodspeed Opera: Summer Stock (Freddy); Paper Mill Playhouse: Mary Poppins (Neleus), West Side Story (A-Rab); Sacramento Music Theater: 42nd Street, The Spongebob Musical (Old Man Jenkins), Fiddler on the Roof, Sunset Boulevard; Maine State Music Theatre: Footloose, West Side Story (Action). The Met Gala; The Tony Awards; Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. PERSONAL: Coach/Mentor for the Open Jar Institute.

John Sygar*
Calvin/Ensemble, u/s Benny Southstreet/Ensemble, u/s Big Jule/Ensemble
NEW YORK: Broadway: Swept Away. REGIONAL: Arena Stage: Swept Away, Kennedy Center: Look Both Ways, Capital Rep. Albany: Once, Olney Theatre Center: Beauty and the Beast, A.D.16, Once, Signature Theatre: Light Years, Round House Theatre: Spring Awakening. Monumental Theatre Co.: Head Over Heels OTHER: Only Make Believe company member, songwriter for baseball hat.

Holly Twyford*
General Matilda B. Cartwright/Ensemble
STC: Our Town, Old Times (Emery Battis Award for Acting Excellence), Will on the Hill (multiple years). REGIONAL: Over eighty productions in and around the Washington Area, including Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre and Woolly Mammoth Theatre, as well as most recently she appeared in Roundhouse Theatre’s world premiere production of Bad Books by Sharyn Rothstein. Ms. Twyford has been nominated for multiple Helen Hayes awards and is a four-time recipient for Outstanding Actress. She was honored with Shakespeare Theatre Company’s for her portrayal of Anna in Harold Pinter’s Old Times. Ms. Twyford is proud to be a Lunt-Fontanne Fellow, a member of the Studio Theatre’s Cabinet, and a Ford’s Theatre Associate Artist. Her credits include commercials, voiceovers, educational and training films, TV and several independent films. Ms. Twyford is proud to be a resident of Washington, DC.

Francesca Zambello 
Director 
Francesca Zambello is the General Director, Emerita of the Glimmerglass Festival and the Artistic Director of the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center. She is also an internationally recognized director of opera and theater. Zambello’s work has been seen at major opera houses, festivals, and theaters around the globe. She has been awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, the Knighthood of the Order of the Star of Italy for her contribution to Italian culture and the Russian Federation’s medal for Service to Culture. She was also given the San Francisco Opera Medal for Artistic Excellence for more than 30 years of artistic contributions to the company. Her theatrical honors include three Olivier Awards, two Evening Standard Awards, two French Grand Prix des Critiques, Helpmann Award, Green Room Award, and Russia’s Golden Mask.

Joshua Bergasse 
Choreographer
Josh won an Emmy Award for choreographing the NBC series Smash, which is coming to Broadway this spring. Other Broadway: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; On the Town (TONY, Drama Desk, OCC noms; Astaire Award); and Gigi. Off-B’way: Sweet Charity (Chita Rivera Award, Lortel nom); Cagney (Drama Desk, OCC, Astaire Noms; Callaway Finalist); Bomb-itty of Errors; and Captain Louie. He also directed and choreographed the re-imagined Smokey Joes Cafe at Stage 42. Josh has done nearly a dozen productions of West Side Story (recreating the original Jerome Robbins choreography). Encores!: I married an Angel; Little Me; …It’s Superman!; Annie Get Your Gun; and The Golden Apple. For Television: Multiple Episodes of So You Think You Can Dance; A Capitol Fourth; Jessica Jones; Sinatra – A Voice for a Century; Hawkeye; Kennedy Center 50-year celebration; Monsterland. Film: Your Monster.

SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY

For nearly 40 years, the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company has been recognized as the nation’s premier classical theater. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Simon Godwin and Executive Director Angela Lee Gieras, STC tells vital stories in audacious forms, stories that are Shakespearean in the deepest sense, even if they are not written by Shakespeare. They stage epic stories in exhilarating style.

The post Shakespeare Theatre Company announces casting for ‘Guys and Dolls’ appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

Theater J is thrilled to announce the final play of its 35th year of producing thought-provoking, dynamic, and impactful theater. From March 11 to April 5, 2026, multi-award winner Jonathan Spector returns to Theater J after his sold-out hit This Much I Know, with the Tony Award-winning play Eureka Day, fresh off its Broadway run.

The Eureka Day School in Berkeley, California, is a bastion of progressive ideals: representation, acceptance and social justice. In weekly meetings Eureka Day’s five board members develop and update policy to preserve this culture of inclusivity, reaching decisions only by consensus. But when a mumps outbreak threatens the Eureka community, facts become subjective and every solution divisive, leaving the school’s leadership to confront the central question of our time: How do you build consensus when no one can agree on the truth? Winner of the 2025 Tony Award for Best Revival, Eureka Day will make its timely and triumphant return to the nation’s capital at Theater J in a new production directed by Artistic Director Hayley Finn.

For a full list of the 2025/26 season, more information about Theater J, and to purchase subscriptions or tickets, please visit theaterj.org or call the ticket office at 202-777-3210.

About Theater J
Theater J is a nationally renowned, professional theater that celebrates, explores, and struggles with the complexities and nuances of both the Jewish experience and the universal human condition. As the nation’s largest and most prominent Jewish theater, Theater J aims to preserve and expand a rich Jewish theatrical tradition and to create community and commonality through theater-going experiences.

About the Edlavitch DCJCC
Theater J is a proud program of the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center (EDCJCC). Guided by Jewish values and heritage, the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center engages individuals and families through its cultural, recreational, educational, and social justice programs by welcoming people of all backgrounds to connect, learn, serve, and be entertained together in ways that reflect the unique role of the Center in the nation’s capital.

The post Theater J announces ‘Eureka Day’ as final addition to 2025/26 season appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

Shakespeare Theatre Company announces the cast and creative team for Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Stage, an original story based on Paramount Pictures’ terrifying film franchise — now live on stage. This North American premiere from celebrated playwright Levi Holloway (Broadway’s Grey House) and Punchdrunk’s Felix Barrett (Sleep No More) features illusions by Tony Award winner Chris Fisher (Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). The production will play a limited engagement in STC’s Harman Hall, January 28 through February 7.

James and Lou move from Chicago to London to escape the past…but they soon discover that places aren’t haunted, people are. Featuring performances by Cher Álvarez, Patrick Heusinger, Shannon Cochran, and Kate Fry, the North American premiere production debuts at Chicago Shakespeare Theater (October 8-November 7). It moves to Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles (November 13-December 7) before coming to STC in January, and finishes its run at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco (February 19-March 15).

Playwright Levi Holloway shared, “Writing Paranormal Activity for the stage, collaborating with Felix Barrett in London — working to create an actual nightmare — has been a dream. We strived to create something impossible, mixing the familiar with the uncanny, heart with horror. Audiences have a nose for honesty on stage and little patience for anything else. They’ll find it here, right alongside all the mischief we’ve made to trouble their sleep.”

Playing Lou and James, a couple trying to escape a sinister force, are Cher Álvarez and Patrick Heusinger. Álvarez has appeared regionally at such theaters as the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and appeared on television in shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and NCIS: Hawai’i. Heusinger, who originated the role in the Leeds Playhouse premiere, has been seen on Broadway in Next Fall and Fiddler on the Roof and starred as Lancelot in the national tour of Spamalot. He is also known for his work on the television shows Gossip Girl, Royal Pains, and Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce.

The cast also includes Shannon Cochran as James’ mother Carolanne and Kate Fry as Mrs. Cotgrave, a medium. Cochran’s many credits include Steppenwolf Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, and Goodman Theatre, as well as the West Coast premiere of Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in San Francisco, and the national tours of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Cabaret and August: Osage County. This production marks a return to the horror genre for Cochran, as she appeared in the 2002 film The Ring. Fry has appeared off-Broadway at Lincoln Center, and regional credits include work at Center Theatre Group in LA, McCarter Theater Center, Goodman Theatre, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Levi Holloway is an ensemble member of Chicago’s A Red Orchid Theatre company, which debuted his plays Grey House (prior to an acclaimed Broadway run) and Turret, starring Michael Shannon. He is the co-founder of the Neverbird Project, a youth-based deaf and hard of hearing theatre company, and specializes in working with deaf children and creating theatre for deaf people.

Felix Barrett is the founder and artistic director of Punchdrunk, conceiving and directing such groundbreaking theatrical productions as Sleep No More (a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth), The Burnt City, and Viola’s Room. Barrett directed last year’s critically acclaimed production of Paranormal Activity at Leeds Playhouse in the UK, which will open on the West End this winter.

The creative team for Paranormal Activity includes Fly Davis (Scenic & Costume Designer), Anna Watson (Lighting Designer), Gareth Fry (Sound Designer), Luke Halls (Video & Projections Designer), Chris Fisher (Illusions Designer), Bob Mason (Casting), Travis A. Knight (Assistant Director), Camille Etchart (UK Associate Scenic Designer), Abby May (US Associate Lighting Designer), Will Pickens (US Associate Sound Designer), Skylar Fox (Associate Illusions Designer), Daniel Weissglass (Assistant Illusions Designer), and Melanie J. Lisby (Production Stage Manager), Julie Jachym (Assistant Stage Manager).

Paranormal Activity runs January 28-February 7, 2026, in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall, 610 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004. Tickets start at $35. For more information, please visit ShakespeareTheatre.org or call the Box Office at 202.547.1122.

CAST

Cher Álvarez*, Lou
Shannon Cochran*, Carolanne
Kate Fry*, Mrs. Cotgrave
Patrick Heusinger*, James

CHER ALVAREZ*
Lou
STC: Debut. CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, Drury Lane. REGIONAL: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre. TELEVISION: Sugar (Apple TV); Leverage: Redemption Amazon); NCIS Hawai’i (CBS); Chicago Med, Chicago PD (NBC); Station 1 (ABC); Shameless (Netflix). EDUCATION: BFA in musical theatre, Webster Conservatory of Dramatic Arts.

SHANNON COCHRAN*
Carolanne
STC: Debut. CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: CHICAGO: The Importance of Being Earnest, Dance of Death (Joseph Jefferson Award winner), Buried Child (Writers Theatre); The Christians (Steppenwolf Theatre); The Little Foxes, (Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre. OFF BROADWAY: Bug (Barrow Street Theatre, Obie Award winner). TOUR: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, August: Osage County, Cabaret. REGIONAL: Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Old Globe Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Cincinnati Playhouse.  INTERNATIONAL: Bug (Gate Theatre); The Man Who Came to Dinner (Steppenwolf Theatre/Royal Shakespeare Company). FILM: Lullaby (October); The Twin, The Ring, Star Trek: Nemesis, Captive State. TELEVISION: Ballard, Scandal, The Office, Modern Family, Star Trek: DS9, The Next Generation.  EDUCATION: Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. AWARDS: Obie Award, Theatre World Award, several Joseph Jefferson Awards. Cochran recently directed Fallen Angels at American Players Theatre.

KATE FRY*
Mrs. Cotgrave
STC: Debut. CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Henry V, As You Like It, Henry IV parts 1 and 2 (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Merchant of Venice, The Molière Comedies, The Taming of the Shrew, Love’s Labor’s Lost, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. CHICAGO: The Cherry Orchard, A Winter’s Tale, Ah Wilderness! (Goodman Theatre); Birthday Candles, Mother of the Maid, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Outside Mullingar (Northlight Theatre); Wife of a Salesman, Marjorie Prime, Hedda Gabler, Oh Coward! (Writers Theatre); Mousetrap, The Belle of Amherst, Electra, Caroline or Change (Court Theatre); In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play (Victory Gardens Theatre). OFF BROADWAY: A Minister’s Wife (Lincoln Center Theatre). REGIONAL: McCarter Theatre Center (Princeton, NJ); Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles); Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. TELEVISION: Chicago P.D. (NBC); Proven Innocent (Fox); Boss (STARZ). AWARDS: Joseph Jefferson Award, Sarah Siddons Award, Court Theatre’s Nicholas Rudall Award, Chicago Tribune actress of the year.

PATRICK HEUSINGER*
James
STC: Debut. CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. INTERNATIONAL: Originated the role of James in Paranormal Activity (Leeds Playhouse). BROADWAY: Luke in Next Fall, Fiddler on the Roof. OFF BROADWAY: Luke in Next Fall. TOUR: Lancelot in Spamalot. REGIONAL: Max in Moises Kaufman’s Bent written by Martin Sherman (Mark Taper Forum); Luke in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s Abigail/1702 (New York Stage and Film). FILM: Main villain in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back starring Tom Cruise (Paramount Pictures/Skydance); Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha, Ali Selim’s Sweet Land. TELEVISION: Absentia, Causal, Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce. Royal Pains, 30 Rock, Gossip Girl.

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

CREATIVE TEAM

Levi Holloway
Felix Barrett
Fly Davis, Scenic & Costume Designer
Anna Watson, Lighting Designer
Gareth Fry, Sound Designer
Luke Halls, Video & Projections Designer
Chris Fisher, Illusions Designer
Bob Mason, Casting
Travis A. Knight, Assistant Director
Camille Etchart, UK Associate Scenic Designer
Abby May, US Associate Lighting Designer
Will Pickens, US Associate Sound Designer
Skylar Fox, Associate Illusions Designer
Daniel Weissglass, Assistant Illusions Designer
Melanie J. Lisby*, Production Stage Manager
Julie Jachym*, Assistant Stage Manager

ABOUT SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY

For nearly 40 years, the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company has been recognized as the nation’s premier classical theater. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Simon Godwin and Executive Director Angela Lee Gieras, STC tells vital stories in audacious forms, stories that are Shakespearean in the deepest sense, even if they are not written by Shakespeare. They stage epic stories in exhilarating style.

SEE ALSO:
Shakespeare Theatre Company adds ‘Paranormal Activity’ to 25/26 season (news story, May 2, 2025)

The post Shakespeare Theatre Company announces cast for ‘Paranormal Activity’ appeared first on DC Theater Arts.