A Whynot Christmas Carol

In This Program

• Show Program
• Adapting A Christmas Carol
• Every Play is a Séance
• The Company
• Print Edition
• More about A.C.T.

Cast

Kuba Adams†
Jordan (green cast)

Colette “Coco” Brown†
Bethel (green cast)

Catherine Castellanos*
Fran

Devin A. Cunningham
Chima

Gianna DiGregorio Rivera*
Lark

Rosie Hallett* 
Karen

Dan Hiatt*
Phil

Patrick Kelly Jones*
Holts

Isabella Lowry†
Ruth (red cast)

Ciara McCarthy†
Kiley (red cast)

Róisín McCarthy†
Justice (red cast)

Sara Toby Moore
Swan

Valentina Mottl†
Bethel (red cast)

Jenny Nguyen Nelson*
Simone

Colin Ringseis†
Jordan (red cast)

Stacy Ross*
Aubrei

Harper Sims†
Ruth (green cast)

Jomar Tagatac* ‡
Jess

Piera Tamer†
Zayd

Audrey Wells†
Justice (green cast)

Chloe Zimei†
Kiley (green cast)

Understudies

Michelle Drexler
Karen, Fran

John R. Lewis*
Jess, Chima

Róisín McCarthy†
Zayd

Carrie Paff*
Aubrei, Swan

Michael Shipley*
Phil, Holts

Alyssa Leanne So
Lark, Simone

Stage Management

Megan McClintock*
Stage Manager

Christina Hogan*
Assistant Stage Manager

Emma Walz*
Assistant Stage Manager 

Creative Team

Erika Chong Shuch
Choreographer

David Zinn
Scenic and Costume Designer

Russell H. Champa
Lighting Designer

Jake Rodriguez
Sound Designer

Amanda Villalobos
Puppet Designer

Skylar Fox
Illusions and Magic

The Kilbanes
Original Music

Kate Kilbane
Music Supervisor

Dan Moses
Music Director

Alphabet Rockers, Kaitlin McGaw and Tommy Soulati Shepherd
Original song “Whynot A Christmas Carol”

Joy Meads
Dramaturg

Katie Craddock and LeeAnn Dowd
Casting

A.C.T. Producing Team

Andy Chan Donald
Associate Artistic Director

Louisa Liska
Director of General Management & Operations

Amy Dalba
General Manager

Martin Barron
Director of Production

With additional support provided by

Executive Producers

Jo S. Hurley; Laura Posey and Aaron Goldsmid; Aaron Vermut and Adriana López Vermut

Producers

Abby and Gene Schnair

Associate Producers

Paul Angelo and Cindy Low

Foundation Sponsor

Official Hotel Partner

Charles Dickens’s novella, A Christmas Carol, A Ghost Story of Christmas, was published in 1843. Dickens never adapted it for the stage. There is no authoritative stage version. Every single theatrical production is an adaptation of the original, shaped by another writer’s style, aspirations, and fancy. None can lay greater claim to authenticity than any other. This has always been the case, and yet for many, there is an assumption that a correct version exists, namely, the one they’ve seen and admired.

We each have our own version of what’s true, as the story of Ebenezer Scrooge proves. So much so that it has become the most produced theatrical narrative in the American theater. No play by Shakespeare or anyone else holds such perpetual-seeming sway over our imaginations. You may never have experienced a live performance of Hamlet, but chances are you’ve gone on the ride with Scrooge.

Who is he? He’s the wealthiest man in Dickens’s story, someone who drives a hard bargain and categorically refuses to be in conversation with the world beyond the terms of his financial dealings, terms set by no one but himself. Dead set against sharing his bounty with anyone, including his own family or lone employee whom he remunerates with the lowest wages imaginable, thereby starving the weakest child of that clerk, threatening them with death from malnutrition. (Poor diet currently contributes to more deaths in the U.S. than smoking.)

Clearly, Scrooge does not believe in the collective or in the common good. He expects all others to follow his directives and never contradict him. He expects perfect loyalty though he is loyal to no one but himself. It is not enough for him to refuse the spirit of Christmas for himself; he is infuriated when others make different choices. These things, along with the fact that he will not listen nor entertain any perspectives he does not already hold, make him a tyrant, fueled relentlessly by resentment and blame.

Audiences love to see such a man be schooled in their humanity, to open their heart at last, and to recognize their fragility, their mortality, and their genuine dependence on others for their very survival.

We all hold these needs as well as these delusional flaws of Scrooge.
We see ourselves in him.

We see the very dilemma of the cold months approaching, of the possibility of facing scarcity of every kind.

We want to believe in the comfort of belonging.

We’ve even written it into our Constitution.

And we’ve struggled with it for centuries.

In aiming to adapt the Dickens, it has been our express goal not to moralize. The current fashion for plays that tell us what is right and what is wrong has, in our humble opinion, exempted us from our rightful place at the center of resolving such questions. This desire to be told what to think is not what it appears to be. We think of it as a freedom, but it is a shackle forged on us, limiting our choices. Expecting to have morality dictated to us makes us the servants of a dictator.

We all have one of those inside us, as Scrooge’s story demonstrates.

Craig Lucas, Playwright
29 September 2024

Pam: So David and Amanda…nine years ago we were at Berkeley Rep making Amélie, and I have a vivid memory that during tech we started talking about A Christmas Carol, and David, you said, “I have a Christmas Carol in me.” What sparks you about the Dickens story?

David: Well, I love the Dickens original. I find it really moving, and I love the fact that we’ve been telling it to ourselves for 150 years with mixed results. And I love a ghost story—it’s such a powerful metaphor what we evoke onstage nightly—and all theaters have a ghost light!

Pam: There is true pathos in A Christmas Carol. It’s a celebration of making it through the dark night of the soul. Amanda, what draws you to this story? 

Amanda: Well, first, it’s funny that I’ve never designed for A Christmas Carol—a show that has been done so many times and is a ritual for so many. And now, with what Craig has written and the plan for this piece, it’s exciting to me to dream up what these puppets are—and what ends up being a puppet. A great attribute of puppets is their ability to feel alive and also just as quickly return to being an inanimate object on the stage, and this really serves our retelling of Carol. 

David: We first started to talk about using puppetry when we were talking about Christmas Future—which felt like a good way to amplify its otherworldliness. And then it started to feel like puppetry needed to have a bigger footprint on the production, so then we thought, oh maybe Want and Ignorance should be puppets too. In a way, all the ghosts’ “ghostliness” is their connection to puppetry, and that kind of line between living and death. 

Amanda: There are child actors in this show as well as puppets portraying children, and both will bring significantly different and thrilling presence to the stage. On the puppetry side of it, I am looking forward to the connection the audience will have with the puppets despite them being made from wood and foam. The challenge for me is always to find that space in between inanimate and animate that evokes the human gesture and allows us as an audience to bridge the gap in our mind between the two without falling into the uncanny valley.

David: There’s that theory also about robotics too, that if they make the robot too human looking, people are like, ugh. But if it’s just with a blue blob with cute eyes, everybody’s like, oh my God. You fall in love with the thing. It’s such a beautifully strange part of ourselves.

Pam: We’ve also talked about the material: and landed on twigs, clay, bone—organic materials that come from the earth. There’s something primordial coming up through—

Amanda: Yes. The original design that you sent me, Zinn, had rib cages that were like tree branches, which was so cool.

Pam: And there’s also something to explore with scale, right? You’re playing with surprising scales.

Amanda: Yes, I have a video to send you both soon because 12 feet [for Christmas Future] is huge. We’re really talking about this looming figure, coming into this space and breathing and living and moving. I’m just so excited about these puppets. I really love what they’re going to bring to the story.

Pam: David, earlier you mentioned the theatrical tradition of a ghost light. With this Christmas Carol, we’re invoking the notion of the theater as a haunted place. There is a ghost of a story, that you activate when you step into the room, and the ghosts of this story having been performed before, take on a life.

David: Yeah, I’ve thought for a long time that every play is a séance. This evocation of presence and history…even when you’re just evoking fun, there is some sense of a communication with a presence in a way. I guess it’s sort of like church.

Amanda: The theater is our church.

David: Yes, and we go to the theater not only to commune with the people in the audience that you’re with, but with the story, and with the history of the story, and with the act and pleasure of storytelling.

Amanda: I was rereading the script today and I was just thinking about all the shows that have happened at A.C.T. You go into the theater and you can feel the shows and the people that have been there.

David: And this Christmas Carol will hold some of the literal spirits of recent shows...we’ve pulled some of the original clothes from the 1970s Christmas Carol, and from the Christmas Carol that ended in 2023. Partly because how many black Victorian frock coats can you reinvent? But there’s also something special about carrying on those traditions, and carrying the heart forward.

Pam: There are a few actors both in the adult company as well as the child company who did the most recent Carol. So they’re bringing some of that A.C.T. tradition forward. There’s been a tradition since the early 70s rehearsal processes at Carol of dividing the cast into intergenerational “families,” so everyone has a smaller group to be a part of, and we’re continuing that this year.

One last question: have you ever worked with kids puppeteering any of your puppets?

Amanda: I don’t know that I have, weirdly. It’s very strange in a way because puppetry is such a children’s world. A lot of times when you say you work in puppetry, people often assume that you are puppeteering hand puppets for children but the majority of my work has been made for audiences of all ages. Puppetry is really an art form that encompasses so many unique ways to use objects and materials to tell a story and we do that all the time in the theater. It just doesn’t always register as “puppetry.” 

I am really excited to introduce puppetry to our young cast members who may not have had the opportunity to perform with puppets before. I’m excited to see them discover how much can be expressed through the eyes and faces of a puppet without the mouth of the puppet even moving necessarily. And they’ll experience that magical connection that happens between the audience and the puppeteer when the human-ness, that gesture of humanity comes out of the puppet and connects us. That’s always a thrill for me.

Pam: This is a very people-powered production. There is some automation, as scenic elements get flown up and out of sight, but largely the cast of actors will be responsible for building worlds and locations. I foresee moments of one person activating Future’s arm might have to hand that off to someone else, so they can change costume or change a set piece or step into a scene. I love the idea, actually, that everyone touches a part of the Ghost of Christmas Future as they all partake in Scrooge’s nightmare.

Amanda: This concept of the puppet being manipulated and handled by several individuals will be very much like a dance and once we have the choreography down we can really go anywhere with the puppeteers breathing and thinking together as one.

David: This production really does put the focus back on the community. And in this world, it’s become more acceptable to just be mean to your neighbors, and it’s awful. So I think it’s important to re-demonstrate what it is to have an intergenerational community of people working together to help each other. The classic story is about Scrooge’s redemption. What’s brilliant about the way that this new version has been conceived is that it’s both about Scrooge’s redemption, but it’s equally about the community of people telling the story. And that is always meta-true, but it’s so explicitly true in this, and so I just think that’s beautiful.

Pam: Yes please!

David: And puppets are the perfect metaphor for that.

KUBA ADAMS† (Jordan (green cast)) attends 6th grade at École Notre Dame des Victoires in San Francisco. Kuba is honored to return to A.C.T for this special production! Kuba’s past credits include A.C.T.’s A Christmas Carol (Ned Cratchit), Korsa’s Fun Home (John Bechdel), and LASC’s Waiting for Godot (Boy). Outside of acting, Kuba enjoys surfing, bouldering, watching live theater, and collecting vintage comic books. Kuba thanks his parents, family, friends, and teachers. Kuba is so very excited for everyone to see this world premiere and wishes everyone a joyful holiday season!

COLETTE “COCO” BROWN† (Bethel (green cast)) has realized her dream of performing on stage with A.C.T. Brown has trained at A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory for three years and is delighted that her first credited role will be with them! Artistic endeavors also include writing, dance, vocal training, piano, and sketching. When not performing, Brown loves researching for her next great role by burying herself in books. Brown would love to thank acting coach Veronica Renner, vocal coaches Jorell Chavez and McKay Elwood, Grandma T and Flo, and her parents for supporting her dreams. (she/her)

CATHERINE CASTELLANOS* (Fran) very happily embraces this chance for us all to come together, here and now. She last appeared at A.C.T. as The Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol. Previously, she was in the A.C.T. productions of Fefu and Her Friends, and Between Riverside and Crazy. Catherine was recently seen in California Shakespeare Theatre’s As You Like It, where she had been an Associate Artist. She is a company member of Campo Santo, resident theatre company of SF’s beloved Magic Theatre. Her history with Campo Santo goes back to 2001, working in countless premieres by some of our best contemporary writers/poets/playwrights, and most recently appearing in repertory with Naomi Iizuka’s premiere of Garuda’s Wing and her Play On! translation of Richard II. Catherine also directed the critically acclaimed, award-winning Campo Santo premiere of Luis Alfaro’s The Travelers. From 2016–2020, Catherine was a company member in repertory with Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Other regional credits include Arena Stage (Helen Hayes nomination), La MaMa, Yale Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage. Work in restorative justice through theatre art: in San Quentin, and with Community Works Rising Voices. My gratitude always to Miles and Gabriel, my two joys. (she/her)

DEVIN A. CUNNINGHAM (Chima) is honored to be making his American Conservatory Theater debut. As a local storyteller, selected acting credits include: wearecontinuous (New Conservatory Theatre); Is God Is (Oakland Theatre Project); A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Passing Strange (Shotgun Players). He currently serves as the Associate Artistic Director at African-American Shakespeare Company where he directed Cinderella and From One To Another: Homage to the Legacy of Maya Angelou. He studied at PCPA Pacific Conservatory Theatre. Cunningham thanks his family, 4810, for their continued love and support and his artistic family YHT. I.E.G.

GIANNA DIGREGORIO RIVERA* (Lark) is delighted to return to A.C.T. following her recent performance in Private Lives. Other credits include American Mariachi (Alley Theatre), Romeo y Juliet (California Shakespeare Theater), Hurricane Diane, and The Importance of Being Earnest (Aurora Theatre), Quixote Nuevo (Hartford Stage/Huntington Theatre Company/Alley Theatre/California Shakespeare Theater), and Arcadia (Shotgun Players). DiGregorio Rivera holds a BA in Theater Arts from UC Santa Cruz and an MA in Sexuality Studies from San Francisco State University. (she/they)

ROSIE HALLETT* (Karen) is honored to return to A.C.T., where she has been seen in Big Data, Top Girls, and Men on Boats. Her other credits include Mother of the Maid, Native Son, peerless, and The Way West at Marin Theatre, The Country House at TheatreWorks, and many world premieres and tours to France with Word for Word Performing Arts Company, where she is a Core Company member. Hallett holds degrees in English and Drama from Stanford University. Find her online at rosiehallett.com. In memory of Max: “I am standing in the spirit at your elbow.”

DAN HIATT* (Phil) has appeared at A.C.T. in A Christmas Carol, Vanity Fair, Father Comes Home from the Wars, The Birthday Party, Love and Information, The Rivals, and Ah, Wilderness!, among others. His Bay Area credits include Cult of Love, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Berkeley Repertory Theatre); Uncle Vanya, Hamlet, Man and Superman (California Shakespeare Theater); Anne Boleyn (Marin Theatre Company); Gem of the Ocean (TheatreWorks); and Arsonists (Aurora Theatre Company). Regional work includes King Charles III (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Mary Stuart (Huntington Theatre Company); The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Arizona Theatre Company); and Picasso at the Lapin Agile at Ford’s Theatre.

PATRICK KELLY JONES* (Holts) is making his American Conservatory Theater debut. His select regional credits include Buried Child (Magic Theater), The Tempest (California Shakespeare Theater), Peter and the Starcatcher (TheatreWorks), You Can’t Take it With You (The Denver Center), The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Florida Studio Theatre), Arms and The Man (Great Lakes Theatre Festival), Gem of the Ocean (Marin Theatre Company), and Cymbeline (New York Classical Theater). He holds an MFA in acting from the Case Western University/Cleveland Play House. Jones is also a cartoonist. Patrickkellyjones.com

ISABELLA LOWRY† (Ruth (red cast)) is thrilled to make her professional debut on the A.C.T. stage. She first discovered her love for acting at A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory in the summer of 2022 and has been passionately training ever since. Isabella is excited to be part of forging a new tradition in her beloved hometown and looks forward to this exciting chapter in her acting journey.

CIARA MCCARTHY† (Kiley (red cast)) is overjoyed to be making her A.C.T. debut! She appeared recently in San Francisco Opera’s production of The Handmaid’s Tale, and A Charlie Brown Christmas with the San Francisco Symphony. Favorite roles include Jane Banks in Mary Poppins (South Bay Musical Theatre) and Bielke in Fiddler on the Roof (Pacifica Spindrift Players). McCarthy is in seventh grade and trains with the San Francisco Opera Guild, Star Dance Studio, A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory, Spindrift School of Performing Arts, and Jorell Chavez’s voice studio. She would like to thank the wonderful Whynot team and her family and friends for their love and support. (she/her)

RÓISÍN MCCARTHY† (Justice (red cast) and Zayd u/s) is thrilled to be making her A.C.T. debut with this fantastic cast and crew! She is in fifth grade and trains with A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory Star Dance Studio, the San Francisco Opera Guild, and Spindrift School of Performing Arts. Recent credits include Michael Banks in Mary Poppins (South Bay Musical Theatre) and Shprintze in Fiddler on the Roof (Pacifica Spindrift Players). She also appeared in San Francisco Opera’s recent production of The Handmaid’s Tale. She hopes that everyone has a wonderful holiday season! (she/her)

SARA TOBY MOORE (Swan) is a celebrated San Francisco actor, writer, and physical comedian. Over a 35-year career Moore has created and performed eccentric characters and full shows for Circus, Off-Broadway, Nightclub, and Regional Theater. Moore’s high-octane style of performing was championed early on by impresario Merv Griffin who licensed her to conjure-perform such mayhem as a flying diva with a hydraulic-rising wig and a spring-action human cannonball at his casino showroom! Moore has won numerous awards and grants for their “human cartoon” productions here in the Bay Area, including The San Francisco Arts Commission and National Endowment for The Arts. saratobymoore.com (she/they/clown)

VALENTINA MOTTL† (Bethel (red cast)) is an actress, musician, and classically trained vocalist. She has performed on stage at Alvin Ailey Studios with Broadway Artists Alliance and at the Strand Theater with A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory. Mottl has studied at The Groundlings in Los Angeles, Stella Adler Studio of Acting in NYC, and with faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Apart from learning her craft, Valentina enjoys reading, baking cakes with her sister, fencing, and tending a garden with her mom. She is honored to be part of the premiere of A Whynot Christmas Carol and hopes it will bring love, joy, and magic to many this holiday season!

JENNY NGUYEN NELSON* (Simone) is thrilled to be back at A.C.T. for this holiday season. Regional credits include Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2 (A.C.T.); Tiger Style! (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley); My Home on the Moon (SF Playhouse). Other regional credits: Cal Shakes, Trinity Rep, PCPA Pacific Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre. New York credits: Clubbed Thumb, Ars Nova ANT fest. She has been seen in workshops with Ojai Playwrights Conference, A.C.T., Playwrights Center, Theatreworks Silicon Valley, and Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep. She earned her MFA in acting from Brown/Trinity. She thanks her husband Ian and boxer Doc Brown for their endless support. More adventures on IG @bratwurst_banhmi or jennynguyennelson.com (she/her)

COLIN RINGSEIS† (Jordan (red cast)) is a student at Herbert Hoover Middle School in San Francisco, where he has been involved in acting and improv clubs. He has been a part of A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory program since 2022. He loves acting because it allows him to escape everyday problems, immersing himself in new stories. When he’s not on stage, Colin enjoys playing with his dog, reading, and diving into video games. He plays the trumpet, another outlet for his creativity. Colin is excited to bring the character of Jordan to life for the audience in his first professional play!

STACY ROSS* (Aubrei) happily returns to A.C.T., having last been seen here in Fefu and Her Friends and Communion. Recent work includes Jacques in As You Like It at California Shakespeare Theatre and Diane/Dionysus in Hurricane Diane at the Aurora Theatre. Other credits include Clue at San Francisco Playhouse, In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play at Berkeley Rep, The Year of Magical Thinking at Aurora, and Free For All (A New Miss Julie For a New World) at Cutting Ball.

HARPER SIMS† (Ruth (green cast)) is a 5th grader at Vallecito Elementary School in San Rafael. She is ecstatic for her A.C.T. debut in A Whynot Christmas Carol. With a passion for the stage since three, Harper has trained and developed her talent in performance programs throughout Marin County including Marin Dance Theater, Marin Girls Chorus, N.Y. Broadway Training Programs, and School of Rock. In addition to singing and acting, she enjoys songwriting, art, travel, filming home movies, and time with her rescue dog, Flynn. Harper is grateful for her family and friends’ incredible support and wishes all a joyful holiday season! (she/her)

JOMAR TAGATAC* (Jess) was most recently seen as Tom in The Glass Menagerie (SF Playhouse) and Max in the world premiere of Big Data (A.C.T.).  Other A.C.T. credits include Playwright/Bobby in Vietgone and Vietgone 2: Poor Yella Rednecks, Tom in The Headlands, Mr. Botard in Rhinoceros, Fortinbras in Hamlet, and Fortunado in Monstress. SF Playhouse credits include Harry Chin in The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin, Gordon Hirabayashi in Hold These Truths (Capital Stage co-production), Mark in Art, Actor 1 track in King of the Yees, and Actor 3 track in Tiny Beautiful Things. CalShakes credits include Edmund in Marcus Gardley’s Lear, Banquo in Macbeth, Jacques in As You Like It, and other roles in Everybody and The War of the Roses. Other credits: George in The Language Archive (TheatreWorks), Quang in Vietgone (Capital Stage); The Happy Ones and Dogeaters (Magic Theatre), and Audrey in As You Like It (Santa Cruz Shakespeare). Jomar is a recipient of a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Principal Actor in a Play, and TBA Award for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role, and a Lunt-Fontanne Fellow in 2023. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from A.C.T. (he/him/his)

PIERA TAMER† (Zayd) is thrilled to be in this year’s production of A Whynot Christmas Carol. She played Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol at A.C.T. last year and LeFou in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr at 42nd Street MoonSchool. Tamer is a part of the Middle School Cabaret Ensemble at A.C.T. and has trained in acting/musical theater, voice, piano and dance. Tamer is in 6th grade and lives in San Francisco. She is an avid reader and loves volleyball, hanging out with friends, and playing with her dog Bootsy. She thanks her mom, dad, and sister Gemma for supporting her musical theater dreams. (she/her)

AUDREY WELLS† (Justice (green cast)) attends 4th grade at Adda Clevenger School in San Francisco, where, in addition to keeping up with her rigorous academic coursework, she trains daily in music, dance, and theater arts. Wells is delighted to make her debut on a professional stage in A.C.T.’s A Whynot Christmas Carol. Prior to this show, Wells has performed in school musicals, chorus, and dance productions since age seven. School credits include “Iago” in Aladdin, “Marlin” in Finding Nemo, and “Poe” in The Raven. Wells recently earned her first film credit as “Young Kat” in an upcoming feature film (WallyBird Productions). Outside of school, Wells is on the gymnastics team at AGC Bayshore in San Francisco.

CHLOE ZIMEI† (Kiley (green cast)) Born and raised in San Francisco, Chloe started acting at age 5 in summer camps, landing roles in Suessical, The Little Mermaid, and had her first lead role at a Kidstock original performance. Most recently she was Donkey in Shrek the Musical at Brava Theater. For fun, Chloe enjoys rock climbing, competitive soccer, going to concerts and riding public transport around the city. 

MICHELLE DREXLER (u/s Karen, Fran) is a proud San Francisco native who attended many student matinees at A.C.T. in her formative years at Lowell High School. Regional collaborations include productions with Center Repertory Company, Berkeley Repertory Theater, TheatreWorks, The Jewel Theater in Santa Cruz, SF Playhouse, Cutting Ball Theater, Shotgun Players, Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, Great River Shakespeare Festival, and American Repertory Theater, among others. Her original comedy creations include A Very Drexler Cabaret and the web series, The Simpleton’s Guide to Success, both created with her twin sister, Lily. BFA Acting, Emerson College. MichelleDrexler.com. SimpletonsGuidetoSuccess.com. DrexlerTwins.com. @ladydrexy 

JOHN R. LEWIS* (u/s Jess, Chima) is proud to be a part of an exciting new Christmas tradition here in the Bay. Recent performance credits include Clyde’s with Berkeley Rep, Richard II with the Pear Theatre, Our Town with Center Repertory Company, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Perspective Theatre Company, The Legend of Georgia McBride and Jungle Book with Marin Theatre Company, The Memory Stick with San Jose Stage, and Cymbeline with the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival. Other understudy credits include Clyde’s with Berkeley Rep, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with TheatreWorks, and The Unfortunates and Stuck Elevator with A.C.T. (Fun fact: he was also a member of the youth ensemble in A.C.T.’s production of A Christmas Carol in ’97!) Lewis is a member of Actors Equity Association, and a tireless advocate for balance, safety, and joy within our Bay Area theater community.

CARRIE PAFF* (u/s Aubrei, Swan) is happy to return to A.C.T., where she has appeared in King Charles III and After the War. Her Off-Broadway credits include About Alice (Theatre for a New Audience) and Ideation (59E59). Regional credits include A Distinct Society (Pioneer Theatre Company & TheatreWorks), The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (SF Playhouse), Double Indemnity (ACT Seattle), Holmes & Watson (Arizona Theatre Company), A Streetcar Named Desire (Marin Theatre Company), The Lifespan of a Fact (Aurora Theatre Company), and The Other Place (Magic Theatre). Carrie holds a master’s degree from New York University. She can be heard in Pixar’s Finding Dory, The Good Dinosaur, and Lamp Life. (she/her)

MICHAEL SHIPLEY* (u/s Phil, Holts) is thrilled to be returning to A.C.T., where he received his MFA. He has performed with many regional theaters, including Kansas City Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre, Aurora Theatre Company, SF Playhouse, Marin Theatre Company, Sacramento Theatre Company, and the Lyric Repertory Company, as well as the Utah, Idaho, and San Francisco Shakespeare festivals. He was the founding Voice and Text Director for the Great River Shakespeare Festival and has coached voice and text for festivals across the country. He is currently an Associate Professor of Theatre who teaches acting, voice, speech, and accents. (he/him)

ALYSSA LEANNE SO (u/s Lark, Simone) is thrilled to join A.C.T. and humbled to return to the stage, where she last performed in Inside Out & Back Again (Bay Area Children’s Theatre). On screen, you can find her in the action film Prepare to Die and the drama The 25th Filial Exemplar, which premiered at Tribeca and was FYC at the 95th Academy Awards. So co-wrote and co-led the action comedy Bathroom Break, which screened at the Oscar-Qualifying Hollyshorts. Catch her guest-starring in an upcoming HBO show. She holds a BA in Theater from UC Berkeley and is repped by Menace Management and Stewart Talent. IG: alyssaleanneso (she/her)

CRAIG LUCAS (Playwright) wrote the plays Reckless, Blue Window, Prelude to a Kiss, The Dying Gaul, Ode to Joy (among many others). His screenplays include Longtime Companion (Audience Award/Sundance) and The Secret Lives of Dentists (NY Film Critics Best Screenplay). His musicals include The Light in the Piazza, An American in Paris, and Days of Wine and Roses. Lucas directed the original production of The Light in the Piazza and the movie, The Dying Gaul. His opera with composer Nico Muhly, Two Boys, premiered at the Metropolitan Opera. Lucas has received three Obies and four Tony nominations.

PAM MACKINNON (Director) started with A.C.T. in the 2018/19 Season as the theater’s fourth artistic director. She is a Tony, Drama Desk, Joe A. Callaway, and two-time Obie Award-winning director, having directed upwards of 80 productions around the country, off Broadway, and on Broadway. Her Broadway credits include Amélie, A New Musical (featuring Phillipa Soo), Beau Willimon’s The Parisian Woman (with Uma Thurman), David Mamet’s China Doll (with Al Pacino), Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles (with Elisabeth Moss), Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (with Glenn Close and John Lithgow), Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Direction of a Play), and Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park (Tony Award nomination and Obie Award for Best Direction of a Play). Her most recent credits include world premieres of Kate Attwell’s Big Data (A.C.T.), Bruce Norris’s Downstate (Steppenwolf Theatre Company, London’s National Theatre, Playwrights Horizons ; Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Direction, and The Joe A. Callaway Award for Direction), Lydia R. Diamond’s Toni Stone (Roundabout Theatre Company, A.C.T., and Arena Stage), Kate Attwell’s Testmatch (A.C.T.), Edward Albee’s Seascape (A.C.T.), Christopher Chen’s Communion and The Headlands (A.C.T.), and María Irene Fornés’s Fefu and Her Friends (A.C.T.). She has been recognized as among the 25 Most Influential San Franciscans of 2020 by San Francisco Magazine, along with Jennifer Bielstein. Pam is the most recent past president of SDC, the national union representing stage directors and choreographers. (she/her)

ERIKA CHONG SHUCH (Choreographer) is a choreographer, director, and performance maker whose work spans devised experimental performance and social practice. Shuch co-founded For You, a collective that brings diverse strangers together and makes performances as gifts. For You’s work has been commissioned by Court Theatre, The Momentary, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Cantor Museum with support from Creative Capital and New England Foundation for the Arts. Erika has worked as a choreographer for theaters including The Arena, Roundhouse Theater/ Getty Villa, Theater for a New Audience, Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Pittsburg Public, Seattle Rep, Portland Center Stage, Folger Theater, and Kennedy Center. (she/her)

DAVID ZINN (Scenic and Costume Designer) is proud to return to A.C.T where he designed The Wizard of Oz last season and Edward Albee’s Seascape in 2019. Recent New York credits include scenic design for Stereophonic and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding; scenic and costume design for Here We Are; and costume design for An Enemy of the People. He also designed scenery for Kimberly Akimbo and Funny Girl, now on tour across the U.S. In California his designs have been seen at Berkeley Repertory Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, and Center Theater Group. He has received Tony, Drama Desk, Hewes, and Obie Awards for his work. 

RUSSELL H. CHAMPA (Lighting Designer) previously designed at A.C.T. for Fefu and Her Friends, Wakey, Wakey, The Hard Problem, The Unfortunates, Let There Be Love, Maple and Vine, Blackbird, and Waiting for Godot. Other recent projects include The Kind Ones (Magic Theater), Wintertime and Becky Nurse of Salem (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Everest (Lyric Opera of Kansas City), and Thresh|Hold (Pilobolus). Broadway credits include China Doll (Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre), In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (Lyceum Theatre/Lincoln Center Theater), and Julia Sweeney’s God Said “Ha!” (Lyceum Theatre). New York: Playwrights Horizons, Theater For A New Audience, The Public Theater, Second Stage Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, and New York Stage and Film. Regional: Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Wilma Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, California Shakespeare Theater, the Mark Taper Forum, and The Kennedy Center. russellchampa.com

JAKE RODRIGUEZ (Sound Designer) is a sound designer and composer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His recent credits include The Cassandra Sessions (Shotgun Players); Wintertime (Berkeley Repertory Theatre); Dear San Francisco (Club Fugazi); Top Girls (A.C.T.); Oedipus el Rey (Magic Theatre); Between Two Knees (Yale Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Great Leap (A.C.T.); Everybody (California Shakespeare Theater); Angels in America (Berkeley Repertory Theatre); A Thousand Splendid Suns (A.C.T., Theatre Calgary, Grand Theater, The Old Globe); and The Christians (Actors Theatre of Louisville, Playwrights Horizons, the Mark Taper Forum). Rodriguez is the recipient of a 2004 Princess Grace Award and received an honorary MFA from A.C.T. in 2021. Find sounds at soundcrack.net.

AMANDA VILLALOBOS (Puppet Designer) is a designer and fabricator for both stage and television and has performed on and off-Broadway as an actor and puppeteer. Villalobos’s puppet designs made their Broadway debut in Amélie, A New Musical (Walter Kerr). Other work includes the Broadway production of Is This A Room (Lyceum Theater) and Wolf Play, directed by Dustin Wills at Soho Rep and MCC Theater, for which she received two Drama Desk Award nominations. Villalobos’s puppet designs were recently seen in A.C.T.’s The Wizard of Oz last year and she is thrilled to be back. avpuppets.com (she/her)

SKYLAR FOX (Illusions and Magic) is an Obie Award-winning director, writer, and designer based in Brooklyn. He is the co-artistic director of Nightdrive, where he has directed and co-written The Grown-Ups; Alien Nation; Providence, RI; Thank You Sorry; and Apathy Boy. Skylar is the Illusions & Magic Associate for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway and around the world, and has created magic for Fat Ham (Broadway, The Public Theater and National Black Theatre), Once Upon A Mattress (Broadway, City Center ENCORES!), Boop! (Broadway in Chicago), You Will Get Sick (Roundabout), Wicked, Matilda (Atelier de Cultura, Sao Paolo), Back to the Future (assoc. design, Broadway), A Beautiful Noise (assoc. design, Broadway), Damn Yankees (Shaw Festival), Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (London Grand), Dracula, A Christmas Carol (Maltz Jupiter Theater), and consulted on The Tonight Show, The Tony Awards, and San Diego Comic Con. skylarfox.com.

THE KILBANES (Original Music) are Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses, a married composing and performing team and recipients of the 2023 Jonathan Larson Grant. Their rock musical Weightless (WP Theater, A.C.T., Public Theater’s Under the Radar) was nominated for Lucille Lortel (Best Musical), Drama Desk (Best Music), and Off-Broadway Alliance (Best New Musical) awards in 2023. Other works include The Code (A.C.T.), My Antonia (Next Generation Commission, Theatre Latte Da in Minneapolis - upcoming), As You Like It (San Francisco Shakespeare Festival), and Eddie the Marvelous (American Music Theater Project (AMTP) O’Neill National Music Theater Conference; Berkeley Repertory Theater’s Ground Floor).

ALPHABET ROCKERS (songwriters, performers, “Whynot A Christmas Carol”) Alphabet Rockers (Kaitlin McGaw and Tommy Soulati Shepherd) are 4-time Grammy nominees and Best Childrens’ Album Grammy winners. Performances include Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Museum, SXSW, Lollapalooza, and Brandi Carlile’s Out & About. Animation credits include Tuff Pupil (Lawrence Hall of Science), Humpty Dumpty (GoldieBlox), and Eclipse the Musical (Center for Science and Industry). Alphabet Rockers have authored a picture book You Are Not Alone (Sourcebooks) and an antiracist curriculum for families. Their workshops have been featured by Othering and Belonging Institute, Our Family Coalition, and New York Edge. alphabetrockers.com

JOY MEADS (Dramaturg) a native of Oakland, is director of dramaturgy and new works at American Conservatory Theater. A.C.T. credits include Hippest Trip – The Soul Train Musical, Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2, The Headlands, Fefu and Her Friends, Communion, Testmatch, Wakey, Wakey, Sweat, Men on Boats, Edward Albee’s Seascape, Her Portmanteau, The Great Leap, and Rhinoceros. Prior to A.C.T., she was literary manager/artistic engagement strategist at Center Theatre Group. CTG credits include Archduke, Good Grief, Appropriate, Forever, Marjorie Prime (2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist), A Parallelogram, The Royale, and Sleep (also: Brooklyn Academy of Music and Yale Repertory Theatre). Previously, Meads was literary manager at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and associate artistic director at California Shakespeare Theater. Meads is a co-founder of The Kilroys. (she/her)

KATIE CRADDOCK (Casting) is the literary manager and casting associate at A.C.T. Her favorite casting processes here so far include The Headlands, The Wizard of Oz, Big Data, and workshops of commissions by Aleshea Harris, Eisa Davis, Craig Lucas, RyanNicole Austin & Adesha Adefela & Beau Lewis, Anne Washburn, and Kate Attwell. Previously she was the artistic associate at Berkeley Rep, where she supported season planning, casting, and dramaturgy, mentored artistic fellows, moderated postshow discussions, taught playwriting and dramaturgy to teens, served on the board/staff antiracism taskforce, and facilitated the making of new plays at The Ground Floor. (she/her)

LEEANN DOWD (Casting) has worked as an artist and producer with Lower Bottom Playaz, California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Center Repertory Company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Shotgun Players, Theatre Bay Area, and TheatreFIRST. In her time as Artistic Producer & Casting Manager at Cal Shakes, she is most proud to have supported productions that expand an understanding of “classical theater” to include epic stories of the global majority, such as: black odyssey by Marcus Gardley, Quixote Nuevo by Octavio Solis, House of Joy by Madhuri Shekar, and The Good Person of Szechwan directed by Eric Ting. LeeAnnDowd.com (she/her)

MEGAN MCCLINTOCK* (Stage Manager) Resident Stage Manager Megan McClintock’s favorite mainstage A.C.T. credits include Big Data, Sweatshop Overlord, The Wizard of Oz, Wakey, Wakey, A Walk on the Moon, and Indian Ink. She also enjoys working with A.C.T.’s Conservatory and Education programs to produce exceptional theater with students and young professionals. Bay Area credits include productions at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, The Curran, and Aurora Theatre Company. Regionally she has worked at St. Ann’s Warehouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, McCarter Theatre Center and Arena Stage. She has a BA in theater and history from Willamette University.

CHRISTINA HOGAN* (Assistant Stage Manager) returns to American Conservatory Theater after working on Sweatshop Overlord, The Headlands, Fefu and Her Friends, Gloria, Top Girls, and Men on Boats. Other theater credits include Mexodus, Mother Road, Bulrusher, POTUS, English, and Sanctuary City (Berkeley Repertory Theater); August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, Pass Over, and Georgiana and Kitty (Marin Theatre Company); Lear (Cal Shakes); Josephine’s Feast, In Old Age, and The Baltimore Waltz (Magic Theatre); and The Road to Mecca and Ripped (Z Space). Hogan has a BA in theater arts from Saint Mary’s College of California. (she/her)

EMMA WALZ* (Assistant Stage Manager) has worked on the stage management team at A.C.T. for Poor Yella Rednecks, The Wizard of Oz, and 2023’s A Christmas Carol. Walz was the Assistant Stage Manager for Cult of Love at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and worked as a deckhand on The Ripple, The Wave That Carried Me Home, Clyde’s, and Galileo. Walz has stage managed several shows at Bay Area Children’s Theatre, including The Imaginaries, Llama Llama Red Pajama Live, Elephant and Piggie, and Frog and Toad. Before moving to the Bay Area, Walz worked in Arizona at All Puppet Players and The Phoenix Theatre Company. (she/her)

Print Edition

More About A.C.T.

• Contributors
• A.C.T.’s House Rules of Play
• Support A.C.T.
• A.C.T. Staff
• Ticketing Policies and FAQ
• Accessibility