February 25—March 12, 2022
Book by
Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell
Music and Lyrics by
Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
Conceived by
Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick
Hear ye, Broadway! Welcome to the ‘90s... the 1590s!
Join us, long before the dawn of premium tickets, star casting, and reminders to turn off your cellphones: Brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as “The Bard.” When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing, and acting, all at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. An uproarious dose of pure Broadway fun and an irresistible ode to musicals—those dazzling creations that entertain us, inspire us, and remind us that “everything’s better with an exclamation point!”
Tickets are no longer available for this show.
Important Dates
Monday – Thursday , 7:00 PM
Friday & Saturday, 7:30 PM
Saturday, 2:00 PM
Sponsors
Overview
Cast
*Members of the Actors’ Equity Association
Creative
KAREN AZENBERG (Director/Choreographer) This marks Karen Azenberg’s tenth season as Artistic Director at PTC. Favorite projects include the world premieres of Alabama Story and “i”; the regional premieres of Sting’s The Last Ship, and Les Misérables; and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Newsies, Sweet Charity, and The Play That Goes Wrong. Originally from New York, her work there includes Lyrics and Lyricists (92nd St. Y), Blocks (a collaboration with Jonathan Larson), Prom Queens Unchained, and choreography for Richard Greenberg’s The Dazzle (Roundabout Theatre Company). Among her other credits are National Tours of Carousel and Brigadoon, West Side Story (over 15 productions), and productions at Indiana Repertory, Geva Theatre Center, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Goodspeed, and Utah Shakespeare Festival. Karen is a past president of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). Her favorite productions are her son Alexander and her daughter Emelia.
BRANDON BIEBER (Associate Choreographer) is a New York City based writer, director, performer, and choreographer. He recently finished work serving as the associate choreographing for the Netflix series Halston, the final season of Younger, and the upcoming DreamWorks animated film The Bad Guys. He choreographed Little America on Apple TV+ and served as Assistant Choreographer/Dance Coach to Michelle Williams and Sam Rockwell for the Award-winning TV series Fosse/Verdon on FX. Last Fall, Brandon wrote, directed, and choreographed the new musical review On the Brink of a Lovely Song at the Manhattan School of Music. Internationally, Brandon directed/choreographed an acclaimed production of Hairspray in Indonesia in 2019. His choreography was also seen Off-Broadway in Felix Starro. As an actor, he performed on Broadway in Side Show, Follies, Anything Goes, and Mary Poppins, and in tours of Something Rotten! and White Christmas, along with shows at City Center’s Encores!, Radio City, and numerous regional theaters across the country.
HELEN GREGORY (Musical Director) After spending the past two years working various jobs -2020 decennial census taker, office administrative assistant, COVID vaccine (on-site) support staff, materials handler for the Durango Public Library and 2020 election judge for La Plata County— Helen is ecstatic to be at the Pioneer Theatre Company doing what she loves most—live theatre. Thank you to all that make this production possible-staff, musicians, cast, crew and, you, our audience. It truly takes a village to make this work happen. Enjoy.
GEORGE MAXWELL (Scenic Design) was the resident scenic designer at Pioneer Theatre Company for over 25 years and had the distinct pleasure of designing over 100 productions for the company before retiring. Recently he designed Sweeney Todd and Newsies for PTC. A few of his favorite PTC designs include Next to Normal, Rent, White Christmas, A Christmas Story, Chicago, Metamorphoses, Enchanted April, West Side Story, Proof, Peter Pan, Noises Off, Man of La Mancha, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Miss Saigon, Fiddler on the Roof and A Christmas Carol: The Musical. He was tapped by the Utah Opera Company to design The Coronation of Poppea and The Ballad of Baby Doe. Maxwell has also designed for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and for the Utah Shakespeare Festival. He is a member of United Scenic Artists.
PATRICK HOLT (Costume Design) Patrick’s previous designs with PTC include Sweet Charity, The Will Rogers Follies, La Cage aux Folles, and Grease. Other works include The Public Theater, The Guthrie Theater, Milwaukee Repertory, Kansas City Repertory, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The John Houseman Theater, Playmakers Repertory, The Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Colorado Shakespeare Festival, The Arizona Repertory Theater, and The Arizona Theater Company. He designed the World Premiere productions of Constant Star by Tazewell Thompson, and Gint by Romulus Linney. Film and television work includes HBO, CBS, and World of Wonder. Patrick is also a professor at the University of Arizona where he heads the costume design program.
MICHAEL GILLIAM (Lighting Design) Broadway: Bonnie And Clyde, Brooklyn, Big River, Stand-Up Tragedy; The West End: Gershwin Alone; Off-Broadway: Cagney The Musical, Tappin’ Thru Life, The Best Is Yet to Come, Striking 12, Mr. Joy, Blue, Zooman and The Sign, Menopause The Musical; National Tours: Peter Pan, Guys and Dolls, Big River. And many of the country’s Regional Theatres. Awards: Los Angeles Ovation Awards, Drama-Logue Awards, Garland Awards, and the 1999 Career achievement award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.
AARON HUBBARD (Sound Designer) is enjoying his 14th season with Pioneer Theatre Company in sound mix and design. His favorite productions have been Sting’s The Last Ship, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Next to Normal, and One Man, Two Guvnors. Aaron teaches sound production and recording at Weber State University, and his spare time he records and produces music. His favorite star is his wife Melissa, who puts up with all the late theatre nights.
MICAH MAXSON (Live Mix Engineer) Micah hails from Ogden, Utah where in three years he earned his BA in Theatre Arts, emphasizing in Sound Design, at Weber State University. During his time there, Micah facilitated his education by honing his skills as an audio engineer, working for premier audio production companies in the Salt Lake area, in addition to working directly for performance venues across the Wasatch Front. After graduating in 2018, Micah went on to work with Carnival Cruise Line in an international capacity as a production engineer and audio technician, facilitating hundreds of shows across dozens of Caribbean ports. Micah is happy to be home and remembers fondly attending PTC shows as a high school student where he proudly works now.
SAMANTHA M. WOOTTEN (Hair & Makeup) is excited to join PTC and the University of Utah as Wig Master. Previous career highlights include Wig Master for the Washington National Opera in D.C., Wig and Makeup Designer for Glimmerglass Opera in N.Y., Associate Wig Master for the Los Angeles Opera in CA, and Wig Master for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.
MARY P. COSTELLO (Production Stage Manager) She has worked on over 60 productions during nine seasons with PTC. Favorites include Sting’s The Last Ship, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Les Misérables, In the Heights, Next to Normal, and Rent. Other stage management teams: Indiana Repertory Theatre, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Boston Theatre Works, Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Proud Equity member. #blacklivesmatter #translivesmatter
EMILY NACRISSA GRIFFITH (1st Assistant Stage Manager) graduated from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor of Science in Theatre Arts with emphases in performance and design/technology. Griffith earned the Kennedy Center’s Meritorious Achievement Award for her work as the production stage manager of UVU’s Next to Normal, which received the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival national award for Outstanding Production.
KELSEY JAMES (Assistant Stage Manager) is happy to be returning to Pioneer Theatre Company where her credits include previous Play-by-Play readings The Fifth Domain, Art & Class, Requiem for August Moon and Perpetual Girl and Assistant Stage Manager for In the Heights – Concert Edition. Other regional stage management credits include: My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, The Winter’s Tale, Henry IV Pt. I and Julius Caesar (Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre); Swing! The Musical (Little Theatre of the Rockies) and a collection of Cabaret productions (Florida Studio Theatre). She is a graduate of The University of Iowa stage management MFA program and a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.
KAREY KIRKPATRICK (Book/Music and Lyrics) began his career as a screen and songwriter for Disney Animation where he penned The Rescuers Down Under and James and the Giant Peach. With more than a dozen feature films produced, screenplay credits include Chicken Run (Golden Globe nominee for Outstanding Comedy), Charlotte’s Web, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Spiderwick Chronicles and Over the Hedge, which he also co-directed. He directed the Paramount Pictures film Imagine That starring Eddie Murphy and co-produced, wrote and performed on the film’s soundtrack. He recently directed the Warner Brothers animated musical SMALLFOOT for which he also co-wrote the screenplay and the songs (with brother Wayne). He has won a number of Tony, Oscar and Grammy awards and that number is zero. Other credits: husband of Nada, father of Sami, Maia and Finn.
WAYNE KIRKPATRICK (Music and Lyrics) is the Grammy Award-winning songwriter of Change the World by Eric Clapton (Song of the Year). Top 10 singles include Every Heartbeat, Good for Me (Amy Grant); Wrapped Up in You (Garth Brooks); Boondocks, Bring It on Home, Little White Church (Little Big Town); Place in This World (Michael W. Smith). He is a multi-formatted songwriter with songs recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Faith Hill, Joe Cocker, Gabe Dixon, Trisha Yearwood, Babyface and Peter Frampton, among others. His songs have been featured in TV shows (Grey’s Anatomy, True Blood, Hart of Dixie) as well as feature films (Almost Famous, Phenomenon, Smallfoot). Wayne lives in Nashville with his wife Fran and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame for 2018. Favorite productions: Kourtney, Shelby and Carson.
JOHN O’FARRELL (Book) is one of the UK’s best known comic authors and script writers. Best-selling novels include The Best a Man Can Get, May Contain Nuts and The Man Who Forgot His Wife. Non-fiction includes An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, the political memoir Things Can Only Get Better and its recent sequel plus three collections of his satirical columns for The Guardian newspaper. O’Farrell’s books have been translated into thirty languages and adapted for BBC Radio and television. Winner, British Comedy Award. Previously a writer (and later panelist) on BBC’s Have I Got News For You and lead writer on ten series of ITV’s Spitting Image. Currently writing the sequel to Chicken Run, and adapting one of his novels for Sony International Pictures.
BOB CLINE (Casting) is the founder of Bob Cline Casting in New York. He has cast film, TV, commercials, over 75 national tours, and numerous regional theaters across the country and has been associated with the casting for PTC for many years. Cline is currently a proud faculty member in Pace University’s theatre program, in charge of the senior BFA musical theatre majors. He is the Associate Director of Broadway Artists Alliance, enjoys working with The Open Jar Institute, and often teaches through The Growing Studio and The Actor’s Loft.
PIONEER THEATRE COMPANY (PTC): Now celebrating its 60th season, the award-winning PTC is Utah’s premiere professional theatre and a leading arts organization of the West. Led by Artistic Director Karen Azenberg and Interim Managing Director Diane L. Parisi, PTC promotes community-building and education through presenting world-class productions; developing new socially resonant and universal work; hosting talks, lectures, and workshops that engage a versatile and inclusive demographic, while celebrating diversity in culture and society; and serving as the connecting bridge between art and scholarship as an affiliate of the University of Utah.
ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION (AEA): founded in 1913, represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers nationwide. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. #equityworks
