Metamorphoses

About the Company

ANDY AGNE (Poseidon, Achilles, Eros, Aerialist) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. Growing up in Germany, he pursued dance, gymnastics and later acrobatics with an emphasis on aerial acrobatics.  REGIONAL THEATRE: The Wife of Bath’s Tale, Sleeping Beauty and Oceana (Vortex Repertory Theatre); The Full Monty (Arts on Real.)

AARON ALEXANDER (Zeus, Ceyx, Morpheus, Spirit of the Tree, Hades, Cinyras) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time.  He was most recently seen in Common Ground at the Boyd Vance Theatre. FILM: Cherry Bomb, Post Racial, Grey, Fall to Grace. OTHER THEATRE: Io: A Myth About You (The Vortex Repertory Theatre); As You Like It (Curtain Theatre and Zilker Park Hillside Theatre); Hamlet, Richard III and The Rivals (Austin Playhouse); Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil and Macbeth (The Rollins Theater); Death and the Kings Horseman, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Metamorphoses and Tracers (Mary Moody Northen Theatre.)  ADDITIONAL CREDITS: fight choreographer, martial artist and dancer.

MARGARET CARTER (Rainbow on the Silk, Hunger, Persephone Goddess, Aerialist) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. She performed on silks and the flying trapeze for Trapeze Austin’s Circus Showcase and is a student at Blue Lapis Light where she appears in class performances.  She sings backup, plays trombone and plays the comedy role of “Ginger Snap Jones” with the Austin band Miss Jones & The Furrballs.

DAVID CHRISTOPHER (Midas, Sailor, Erysichthon, Phaeton) –  AT ZACH THEATRE: “Tom Joad” in The Grapes of Wrath (B. Iden Payne Awards nomination for “Best Actor in a Drama.”) OTHER THEATRE: Glengarry Glen Ross (Austin Critics’ Table Award nomination for “Best Ensemble”), Inherit The Wind, G.R. Point, Suddenly Last Summer.  FILM: starring roles in Havana Connection, Summer Resort, Stealth, The Modus Operandi Of Male Intimacy (The M.O. Of M.I.), Midway Station, Second Chance, War Stories, The Detective, Overman and the upcoming The Book Of Babylon. TELEVISION: starring role of "Fisher Rood" in the soon to be released television pilot The Sinner. More info: www.davidchristopher.tv

SMARANDA CICEU (Alcyone, Ceres, Fate, Pomona) – At ZACH Theatre: The Clean House.  REGIONAL THEATRE: Black Snow (Austin Critics’ Table Award for “Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy”), Re: Psyche, Orestes. FILM: In This Place, Trafic (2004 Short Film winner of the Golden Palm at Cannes), Clothes Horse. OTHER THEATRE: Trojan Women, Blue Point, The Idiot, The Psyche Project, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Big Love, Lend Me a Tenor, Love Rides The Rails, Split, Bad Penny (UT Austin.)  ADDITIONAL CREDITS: M.F.A. from UT Austin, B.A. from The National University of Dramatic Arts-Bucharest, Romania.

STEPHANIE DUNNAM* (Woman by the Water, Lucina, Nursemaid, Therapist, Baucis) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. NATIONAL: The Heidi Chronicles and The Sisters Rosensweig (Lincoln Center); Lost Highway (Mark Taper Forum and the Old Globe) and Holiday (Oregon Shakespeare Festival.) REGIONAL THEATRE: Theatre Three in Dallas and Stage West in Fort Worth. FILM/TELEVISION: Frasier, Magnum P.I., Mistral's Daughter and Dynasty.

SARAH GAY* (Laundress, Aphrodite, Psyche) – At ZACH Theatre: The Grapes of Wrath. REGIONAL THEATRE:  John & Jen (Critics’ Table Award winner for “Best Musical”) and Three Days of Rain (Penfold Theatre), The Cherry Orchard with  Breakin’ String and City of Angels (Mary Moody Northen Theatre.) CANADIAN REGIONAL: As You Like It (CanStage), Cabaret (New Yorker Theatre), Seussical (Carousel Theatre), and co-producing and appearing in The World Goes ‘Round (Pacific Theatre). OTHER CREDITS: Sarah teaches theatre classes to 5-13 year olds at ZACH’s Performing Arts School.

JONATHAN ITCHON (Servant, Sailor, Buyer, Hermes) – AT ZACH THEATRE: Take Me Out, Jesus Christ Superstar/Jesuscristo Superestrella.  REGIONAL: Sleeping Beauty and The Secret Lives of the InBetweeners (Vortex Repertory Theatre), Miss Saigon (TUTS), Take Me Out (San Pedro Playhouse), Romeo & Juliet (Austin Shakespeare.)  FILM: Good Guys Inc., Succumb.  OTHER THEATER: Godspell, Little Shop of Horrors, Carousel, When Pigs Fly, Chess, Two Worlds, Pippin, She Loves Me.

ASHLEY NEVES (Midas’ Daughter) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. Ashley started performing on stage at the age of four. Her recent performances include, On the Radio, Cinderella Junior, Willy Wonka Junior, Annie and  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.  Ashley would like to continue to fulfill her dream of becoming a professional singer and actor and is excited about working with this outstanding team.  She is grateful for the encouragement and support of her family.

WESLEY SCOTT (Sailor, Sleep, Denizen of the Underworld, Narcissus) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time. He was most recently seen as “Macbeth” in Lady M at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre. OTHER THEATRE: Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Vinegar Tom, Terminal, The World Goes ‘Round and Dog Sees God (Texas State University); HMS Pinafore, Pericles, Prince of Tyre and Dancing at Lughnasa (The Experimental Theatre in Amarillo, Texas.) FILM: Homecoming. ADDITIONAL CREDITS: B.F.A. in Acting from Texas State University.

STEFANIA TAFURO (Female Bird, Fate, Pandora, Aerialist) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time.   Originally from Bologna, Italy – where she studied contemporary dance – Stefania is currently a student at Blue Lapis Light, where she regularly appears in class performances. She also practices Ashtanga yoga and sings jazz.

DIRK VAN ALLEN* (Scientist, Bacchus, Apollo, Philemon) – was most recently seen in Mary Stuart for Austin Shakespeare. At ZACH THEATRE: The Grapes of Wrath, The Laramie Project, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Born Yesterday & Present Laughter. REGIONAL: On Golden Pond, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, God’s Favorite, The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Merry Wives of Windsor, 110 in the Shade, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, The Fantasticks, Macbeth, As You Like It, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Young Man From Atlanta, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, An Ideal Husband, The Weir, All My Sons, Richard III, A Christmas Carol, The Well of the Saints, Anything Goes, Lend Me a Tenor, A Flea in Her Ear, The Good Doctor and more.  OTHER CREDITS: Dirk is at member of Actors’ Equity Association and the 2005 recipient of its Lucy Jordan Award, and is a founding member of the Austin Playhouse Company.

RACHEL WIESE (Laundress, Iris, Oread, Eurydice, Myrrha, Woman at the Door) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time.  OFF-OFF BROADWAY: The Inferno Project, Tall Tales of True Stories, The Field of Mars: Chapter 1 and Snoopy the Musical. OTHER THEATRE IN AUSTIN: The Jungle, Oceana, Warpstar Sexysquad and Frankenstein. ADDITIONAL CREDITS: Rachel is the Artistic Director of The Exchange Artists.

FREDERIC WINKLER (Silenus, Henchman, Orpheus, Vertumnus, Hermes) – joins ZACH Theatre for the first time.  He can be seen in the short film The Drifter, and has been featured in videos for Abercrombie & Fitch.  Frederic is currently studying at In The Moment Acting Studio and received his degree from Texas A&M University.

WILL ZINSER (Henchman, Male Bird, Snake, Pandora’s Fury, Aerialist) – makes his ZACH Theatre stage debut after having previously worked as Production Manager and Assistant to Dave Steakley on ZACH’s Keepin’ It Weird, Shear Madness, Rockin’ Christmas Party, The Santaland Diaries, Caroline, or Change and Beehive.  Will trained at CircoArts in New Zealand, followed by street shows and festival performances from New Zealand to Norway.  INTERNATIONAL: Cats (Mungojerrie) for Showbiz Christchurch. He currently trains aerials at Hollywood Aerial Arts in Los Angeles.

* Member Actors' Equity Association

About the Director

DAVE STEAKLEY (Producing Artistic Director) – Dave is dedicated to creating a place where our community gathers for a collective imaginative act. Now in his 19th season, he invites and celebrates the diversity of voices that make our town such a unique and energizing place to live. Dave believes theatre offers an arena in which we might be challenged to understand not just our own lives, but also the world in which we live, and is committed to creating plays and musicals that open meaningful conversations on topics that have resonance in our community. Dave has led ZACH to unprecedented audience growth with artistic and organizational excellence:

WORLD PREMIERES

• New plays by Anna Deavere Smith, Steven Dietz, Everett Quinton, John Walch, Allen Robertson & The Flaming Idiots;
• 365 Plays/365 Days by Suzan-Lori Parks.  ZACH served as the Austin hub and produced the opening & closing weeks of a nationwide, year-long festival;
• Jesucristo Superestrella/Jesus Christ Superstar, ZACH created the first bi-lingual adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s landmark musical;
• The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, a jazz and R&B reinvention featuring an all-new score set in Katrina ravaged New Orleans, which received national acclaim from The New York Times and the Gershwin Estate.

PRODUCER, DIRECTOR & CHOREOGRAPHER ON OVER 250 ZACH PRODUCTIONS INCLUDING:

Our Town, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Grapes of Wrath, Caroline, or Change, The Clean House, Take Me Out, Present Laughter, I Am My Own Wife, Urinetown, Crowns, Omnium-Gatherum, Hair, The Pavilion, The Laramie Project, Hedwig, Jelly’s Last Jam, Jouét, The America Play, The Who’s Tommy, Dreamgirls, The Rocky Horror Show   starring Joe York, Full Gallop starring Karen Kuykendall, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Angels In America and Beehive

REGIONAL DIRECTING CREDITS

Actors Theatre of Louisville, New Stage Theatre, American Heartland Theatre, WaterTower Theatre, City Theatre and Downstairs Cabaret

PLAYWRIGHT

• Rockin’ Christmas Party, ZACH’s annual holiday tradition that is also performed at theatres nationwide
• Keepin’ It Weird, a play about Austin’s unique character featured on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, The Wall Street Journal and American Theatre

SERVICE TO THE THEATRE FIELD

• National Endowment for the Arts Theatre and Musical Theatre Panelist
• Texas Commission on the Arts Young Masters Program Panelist
• National Alliance for Musical Theatre New Works Committee
• The University of Texas, St. Edward’s University guest lecturer

RECOGNITION

• 2005 Austin Circle of Theaters’ Special Recognition Award for “Outstanding Contribution to Austin Theatre”
• City of Austin declares May 18, 2001 as “Dave Steakley Day” in recognition of his tremendous support of professional theatre in Central Texas
• Austin Chronicle “Best of Austin” Readers Poll “Best Stage Director” six times
• Multiple Austin Critics’ Table and B. Iden Payne Awards for Outstanding Musical, Drama, Comedy, Director, Actor, Choreographer and Design
• 2000 Austin Under 40 Outstanding Arts & Entertainment Award
• Austin Chronicle “10 Best Productions of the Decade” selected Dave’s productions of The Gospel At Colonus and Ruthless! The Musical

About the Artistic Staff

NICOLE WHITESIDE (Aerial and Cast Choreographer) - is a dancer and creative director with Blue Lapis Light. She joined the company in 2003 and continues to perform and train aerialists to scale tall buildings, fabrics and various apparatuses. She has studied at the New England Center for the Circus Arts, Air Dance Bernasconi and with Aircat Aerial Arts.  She has danced from the age of two, training extensively at the Houston Ballet Academy and High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, eventually receiving a B.F.A. in Dance from UT Austin. She has performed with a number of companies including Sharir+Bustamante Danceworks, Austin School of Classical Ballet, David Justin of the American Repertory Ensemble, Sheep Army/Elsewhere Dance Theater and Little Stolen Moments.

BLUE LAPIS LIGHT is a site-specific aerial dance company.  Artistic Director Sally Jacques has produced site-specific dance for the last 28 years, founding Blue Lapis Light in 2005.  The flight of the soul and its transformation are ongoing themes of their work.  The company's breakthrough production, Requiem, debuted on Austin's Intel Building in 2006. The company has since performed on Austin's Radisson and Hyatt hotels, the Seaholm Power Plant, and the Homer Thornberry and J.J. Pickle Federal Buildings.  The company is committed to producing a full-length annual production and also performs commissioned work for various events.  Blue Lapis Light offers ongoing aerial classes, workshops and outreach programs, striving to transcend athleticism and capture poetic movements that reflect dreams of the infinite.

MICHAEL RAIFORD (Set Design) - is a freelance scenic and     costume designer based in Austin. Michael has been a resident designer at ZACH_Theatre for almost 20 years where he has designed more than 100 productions. Recent ZACH_Theatre   projects include: The Drowsy Chaperone, Becky's New Car, Let Me Down Easy, Love Janis, Shooting Star, Caroline, or Change, The Clean House, and the new version of Rockin' Christmas Party.  REGIONAL: Michael is in his fifth season designing for the Humana Festival of New American Plays at The Actors Theater of Louisville.  Favorite projects include: Sirens by Debra Zoe Laufer, Fissures by Dominique Serrand, Phoenix by Scott Organ and Absalom by Zoe Kazan. Other projects at ATL include Jouét, Shipwrecked, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and The Kite Runner.  Other favorite regional productions include Well, The Chosen and Inherit The Wind (Cleveland Playhouse); The Young Lady from Rwanda (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); Guys and Dolls (Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Florida; The Bartered Bride at Opera Boston; The Fantastiks at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC); and What Goes Up (New Victory Theatre, NYC.) Other Austin productions include Rigoletto for Austin Lyric Opera; Big Love and Tesla for The Rude Mechanicals, and When Something Wonderful Ends for ZACH Theatre's beloved Barbara Chisholm.  Michael received his M.F.A. from UT and is a member of United Scenic Artists.

JASON AMATO (Lighting Design) - Jason's career has spanned 15 years, designing over 450 local and international shows.  In addition to designing at ZACH for 10 years, he is the resident lighting designer for Austin Shakespeare, Blue Lapis Light and the Vortex.  Recent shows at ZACH: Becky's New Car, Our Town, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Grapes of Wrath, Shooting Star, Beehive and Caroline, or Change.  The Austin Critics' Table Awards has honored Jason for outstanding lighting in 25 shows.  He has also received B. Iden Payne Awards for his lighting of Troades, Trickster, The Exonerated, Omnium-Gatherum, Triskelion, Panoptikon, Despair's Book of Dreams and The Deluge. In 2008, Jason received the “Outstanding Contribution to Austin Theater” award from Austin Circle of Theaters.  You can view his work at www.jasonamato.com.

BLAIR HURRY (Costume Designer) - grew up in Austin and     studied Costume Design & Technology at the University of Texas. Her costume design works at ZACH Theatre include Shooting Star (2009-2010 Season), Farm to Market and Call It Courage (ZACH's Performing Arts School.) Other local designs include Vampyress (Vortex Theatre), Parade: A Musical (St. Edward's University), The Famous Rio Grande, The Trojan Women and Cabaret (University of Texas).  Prior to ZACH, she built costumes for the Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Ohio Light Opera Company and STAGES: St. Louis. She also worked as Head of Wardrobe and Make-up for the national tour of Playhouse Disney's The Doodlebops LIVE! and the 2008 National tour of The Moscow Ballet's The Great Russian Nutcracker.  She is currently an active member of the local 205 IATSE union.

CRAIG BROCK (Sound Design) - A freelance audio engineer since 1989, he also works as a recording engineer and music producer. AT ZACH THEATRE: The Drowsy Chaperone, Becky's New Car, Our Town, Flaming Idiots, Spelling Bee, Love, Janis, The Grapes of Wrath, Let Me Down Easy, Shooting Star, Caroline, or Change, The Clean House, Altar Boyz, Porgy and Bess, Speeding Motorcycle, High School Musical, Jesus Christ Superstar/Jesuscristo Superestrella, Take Me Out, Rocky Horror, I Am My Own Wife, Urinetown, Hank Williams: Lost Highway, Rockin' Christmas Party, The Santaland Diaries. REGIONAL: Evil Dead, City of Angels, Dream, Annie, The Music Man, Starlight Express. Album credits include: El Tri, Mana, Luis Miguel, Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Barbra Streisand, Guns & Roses, David Crosby, Stephen Stills.

CHASE STAGGS (Guest Technical Director) - is a twenty-five year veteran of theatre and film.  He was the Technical Director for Mary Moody Northen Theater at St. Edward's University from 2004 to 2008, and is also an celebrated scenic designer, winning Austin Critics' Table Awards and B Iden Payne Award nominations for “Scenic Design” from 2004 to 2006.  He toured with Julie Taymor's The King Stag international tour from 1999 to 2001, and is an accomplished solo artist - having shown his paintings and assemblages in galleries in Houston, Austin and New York.

COLIN BIGGS (Properties Design) - AT ZACH THEATRE: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Shooting Star, Grapes of Wrath. REGIONAL THEATRE: 39 Steps, Harvey, Intelligence Slave and Mousetrap (The Alley Theatre.) OTHER THEATRE: Endgame (Larry L. King Stage), Evil Dead: The Musical (Salvage Vangard Theater) and Long Day's Journey into Night (The Off Center.)  OTHER CREDITS: B.A. in Theatre from St. Edwards University.

PAUL FLINT (Director of Production) - joined ZACH Theatre in 2008. He earned his B.F.A. from Shorter College and M.F.A. from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, with a focus on Technical Direction, Scenic Design and Arts Management.  He has more than ten years experience in  technical theatre and has worked as a Technical Director for eight years.  His theatre credits include the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Ga., Glimmer Glass Opera in Coopers Town, New York, Vitalist Theatre Company in Chicago, Ill., and he is a founding member of Seaside Repertory Theatre in Seaside, Fla. Paul is the author of Managing the Creative Mind: A Technical Director's Process.

LILY WILLIAMS (Company Manager) - A fresh face to both Austin and ZACH Theatre, Lily brings a great deal of enthusiasm to her position as the Company Manager.  She graduated from Montana State University with degrees in Media & Theatre Arts and Spanish Language & Literature.  During her time in Montana, Lily served as the producer and stage manager for numerous university productions, including The Last Acts and Allen Ball's Five Women Wearing the Same Dress.  She has vast experience in the film, event management and visual art worlds.

CATHERINE_ANNE_TUCKER* (Production Stage Manager) - AT ZACH THEATRE: Beehive, Rockin' Christmas Party, Caroline, or Change, Porgy and Bess, Seussical the Musical, High School Musical. REGIONAL THEATRE: Much Ado About Nothing at Austin Shakespeare Festival and Cyrano de Bergerac at Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  OFF-BROADWAY: I Never Sang For My Father (Keen Co.)  OTHER CREDITS: Catherine now calls New York City home and is the resident Production Stage Manager for The Real Theatre Company, most recently working on their new musical, US.  Theatre Arts B.F.A. with an emphasis in Stage Management at Southern Oregon University.

* Member Actors' Equity Association