Messa Da Requiem

Grantors

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Sponsors

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Sponsors

Donors

Opera Roanoke would like to thank our Donors for their generous gifts.

Tributes

Opera Roanoke is honored to acknowledge gifts made in tribute or memory of special friends.

Performers

Amy Cofield

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soprano

Steven White

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Conductor

Dana Beth Miller

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mezzo-soprano

Dinyar Vania

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tenor

Kevin Thompson

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bass

Setting

Songs & Scenes

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Production Staff

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Venue Staff

School Administration Staff

General Director

Brooke Tolley

Artistic Director

Steven White

Community Engagement Associate

Ansley Melton

Musicians

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Board of Trustees

Daniel C. Summerlin III

Robert Nordt Sr.

Paula Prince

Immediate Past President

William "Bill" Krause

Board Members

Sally Adams Barbara von Claparede-Crola Rupert "Rupe" Cutler Isabel Ditzel Frank Giannini James "Jim" Kern Krista Vannoy

Student Advisory Board

Credits

Lighting equipment from PRG Lighting, sound equipment from Sound Associates, rehearsed at The Public Theater’s Rehearsal Studios. Developed as part of Irons in the Fire at Fault Line Theatre in New York City.

Special Thanks

Opera Roanoke gratefully acknowledges the Ceres Foundation whose $25,000 matching challenge helped make this weekend's performances possible. Thank you to each donor who contributed to this special campaign.

*Appearing through an Agreement between this theatre and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

“Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers, Equity fosters 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. www.actorsequity.org

United Scenic Artists ● Local USA 829 of the I.A.T.S.E represents the Designers & Scenic Artists for the American Theatre

ATPAM, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents & Managers (IATSE Local 18032), represents the Press Agents, Company Managers, and Theatre Managers employed on this production.

21-22 Season Welcome Letter

Dear Friends of Opera Roanoke,

Welcome to Opera Roanoke’s 46th Season of live performances in the Roanoke Valley. If this past year has taught us anything, it is how vital this art form and its patrons are to our community. We have missed you terribly, but we are ready to welcome you back to the theatre with a line-up of programs that highlight the best of all this art form has to offer – from traditional to contemporary – performances that will expand your mind and fulfill your soul.

At the core of everything we do at Opera Roanoke, is the belief in the power of the human voice to entertain, teach, and connect. With each of our three mainstage offerings this season, there is an opportunity to witness our mission in action. We invite you to explore a world where the ordinary becomes extraordinary through the power of music and singing.

We are excited to share our 2021-22 season with you and we look forward to seeing you {back} at the Opera!

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Sincerely,

Brooke Tolley
General Director
Steven White
Artistic Director
Daniel C. Summerlin, III
President, Board of Trustees

Meet the Cast

Amy Cofield

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soprano

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Amy Cofield is an American Soprano who brings passion and experience to the stage and studio. A highly sought-after performer and teacher, Amy was praised by the New York Times for her “lovely, rich tone.” She has performed to critical acclaim across the U.S. and in Italy, France, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, England, Santo Domingo, Guam, Taiwan and Japan. Highly regarded for her technical facility, beauty of interpretation and an arresting presence, her operatic roles have included Violetta, Cleopatra, Micaela, Lucia di Lammermoor, Elcia (Rossini’s Moses in Egypt), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Mimi, Rosalinda, Cunegonde, Susannah, Musetta, Pamina, Adina, Gilda, Norina, Konstanze, Belinda in the opera/oratorio, The Rape of the Lock (Alexander Pope), by NY composer Deborah Mason, and, most recently Minnie in The Girl of the Golden West. Credits include performances with Houston Grand Opera where she covered Renee Fleming’s Traviata, New York City Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Lyric Opera San Antonio, Pro Cantus Lyric Opera (TX), Indiana Opera North, Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and Chorale, Teatro Lirico D'Europa, Knoxville Opera, Nevada Opera, Greensboro Light Opera, Opera Roanoke and Opera Orlando.

In concert repertoire, Ms. Cofield has appeared with Festival Chamber Music in recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and with The Masterwork Chorus (NJ) at Carnegie Hall, the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis Chorale and Chamber Orchestra, Tucson Masterworks Chorale, Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society, Garden State Philharmonic, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, Virginia Arts Festival, Norfolk Chamber Consort, Opera Camerata of Washington, Washington and Lee University, Tulsa Symphony, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Community Chorus, Brevard Symphony Orchestra and Space Coast Symphony Orchestra.

The 2021-22 season includes performances with Brevard Symphony Orchestra for their Sounds of the Season annual holiday concert, Annapolis Chorale and Chamber Orchestra for Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light and Handel’s Messiah, Space Coast Symphony Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah and the debut of Christopher Marshall’s Cançó del Mar, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra for Mozart’s Requiem, and Opera Roanoke for Verdi’s Requiem.

Steven White

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Conductor

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Praised by Opera News as a conductor who “squeezes every drop of excitement and pathos from the score,” Steven White is one of North America’s premiere operatic and symphonic conductors. He made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in 2010, conducting performances of La traviata starring Angela Gheorghiu. Since then he has conducted a number of Metropolitan Opera performances of La traviata, with such stars as Natalie Dessay, Hei-Kyung Hong, Plácido Domingo, Thomas Hampson, Dmitri Hvorostovksy and Matthew Polenzani. In the past several seasons he has returned to the Met to participate in critically fêted productions of Don Carlo, Billy Budd, The Rake’s Progress and Elektra.

With a vibrant repertoire of over sixty-five titles, Maestro White’s extensive operatic engagements have included performances with New York City Opera, L’Opera de Montréal, Vancouver Opera, Opera Colorado, Pittsburgh Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Baltimore Opera, New Orleans Opera, and many others. In recent seasons he has conducted Rigoletto with San Diego Opera, Otello and La traviata with Austin Opera, La traviata with Utah Opera, and a world premiere staged production of a brand-new Bärenreiter edition of Gounod’s Faust with Opera Omaha.

In the 2021-2022 season, he returns to the Metropolitan Opera for their production of Tosca, which he also conducts for Utah Opera. He continues his close collaboration with Opera Omaha, conducting Eugene Onegin, joins Peabody Opera Theatre as guest conductor for Dominick Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, and returns to Opera Roanoke for Bluebeard’s Castle in the fall and Verdi’s Requiem in the spring.

Dana Beth Miller

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mezzo-soprano

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Dana Beth Miller’s recent successes include La Badessa Suor Angelica and Grimgerde Die Walküre both with Boston Symphony Orchestra; the Metropolitan Opera’s acclaimed Ring Cycle as Grimgerde (c), and Offred’s Mother The Handmaid’s Tale with Boston Lyric Opera.

A former principal in Germany’s Deutsche Oper Berlin ensemble, her appearances include Erda in two complete Ring Cycles with Simon Rattle and Donald Runnicles, Dame Quickly Falstaff, La Cieca La Gioconda, Mrs. Sedley in David Alden's Peter Grimes, Ulrica Un Ballo in Maschera and Azucena Il Trovatore.

‍Past season highlights include the artist’s UK debut with English National Opera as Amneris Aïda, Erda Das Rheingold at Arizona Opera, Dame Quickly with Opera Colorado, Ulrica at Florida Grand Opera and as Margaret in David McVicar’s celebrated new production of Wozzeck at Grand Theatre du Geneve in Switzerland, where she also sang Anna Les Troyens under the baton of Charles Dutoit.

Dinyar Vania

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tenor

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Dinyar Vania has recently emerged as one of the country’s most exciting young tenors. With a voice which combines both power and beauty, he has earned critical acclaim portraying several of the most beloved roles in opera. Recent engagements include Don José in Carmen with Opera Coeur d’Alene, Cavardossi in Tosca with Opera Roanoke, and Lieutenant Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Syracuse Opera.

Recent performances include the Duke in Rigoletto (Opera Omaha), Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut (Minnesota Opera), Cavaradossi (Opera Grand Rapids, Lyric Opera Baltimore, Pensacola Opera), Don José (Virginia Opera), Pinkerton (Glimmerglass Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Colorado), Roberto in Puccini’s Le Villi (Spoleto Festival USA), Cassio in Otello (Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Mechetti), Rodolfo (Pensacola Opera, Opera Birmingham, Dayton Opera), and he joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for its production of La bohème.

Mr. Vania’s previous highlights include singing Ettore in the world premiere of Kimmo Hakola’s La Fenice with Savolinna Festival, Don José with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Duke with Opera Grand Rapids and Knoxville Opera, Bach’s Mass in B minor with Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Utica Symphony Orchestra, an opera gala with Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and concert performances of Cavalleria Rusticana with Schenectady Symphony Orchestra and Tosca with Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra.

He has performed as Rodolfo with New York City Opera, Madison Opera, and Knoxville Opera; Cavaradossi with Dallas Opera, and Toledo Opera; Alfredo with Opera Cleveland; Pinkerton with Knoxville Opera; and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Syracuse Opera, Knoxville Opera, and Mobile Opera.

He made his Carnegie Hall debut as soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, which he has also sung with Harrisburg Symphony. Other concert appearances include singing as soloist with Naples Philharmonic in a gala holiday series, and with Jacksonville Symphony in an all-Verdi evening.

In 2015, Mr. Vania was honored as a distinguished alumni by Onondaga Community College, naming him as one their 'Alumni Faces' for his professional achievements and contributions to the college and community. He has also been awarded Syracuse Opera's 'Artist of the Year' award, First Place in the Giulio Gari Vocal Competition, Second Prize in the Licia Albanese-Puccini Competition and was a semi-finalist in Placido Domingo's Operalia in Madrid, Spain.

Kevin Thompson

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bass

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Kevin Thompson possesses a voice with extraordinary range, depth, and color, combined with a commanding stage presence.

Upcoming engagements include Il Re in Aida for Ft. Worth Opera, January in Zaid Jabri’s Southern Crossings for Barnard College, the First Nazarene in Salome for Tulsa Opera, Sparafucile in Rigoletto for Nashville Opera, the Old Hebrew in Samson et Dalila for Bob Jones University, Oroveso in Norma for the Walnut Creek Festival, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for The Florida Orchestra.

Recent engagements include Sparafucile in Shreveport Opera’s Rigoletto, Polonius in Ruse Opera’s Hamlet, Monterone in Tulsa Opera’s Rigoletto, the Old Gypsy in Aleko for the New York City Opera and Opera Carolina as, Sparafucile in Rigoletto and Thibault in Maid of Orleans both with the New Orleans Opera, the American debut of Bottesini’s Ali Baba with Southwest Opera, Solomon in Gounod’s La Reine de Saba with Odyssey Opera, Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane with Maestro Leon Botstein at the Bard Festival, Wagner’s Rienzi at the Kennedy Center, Osmin in Die Entfuhrung as dem Serail at the Walnut Creek Festival, Basilio in The Barber of Seville with Opera Hong Kong, Angelotti in Tosca with Opera Tampa, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor for Bob Jones University, and Ramphis in Aida with Knoxville Opera, and the role of Captain in Daniel Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas with the New York City Opera.

In concert he has performed Thy Will be Done and the Verdi’s Requiem with the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall, Mozart’s Requiem with the St. Louis Symphony, the Verdi Requiem with the Chautauqua Institute and with the Talahasee Symphony, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass at Carnegie Hall. For the National Symphony he has performed Handel’s Messiah, Wagner’s Rienzi, Stravinsky’s Les Noces, and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

Mr. Thompson has appeared internationally with the Hannover Staatsoper, Teatro Verdi Trieste, Teatro Regio Parma, Opera Kiel, the Gasteig in Munich, Wexford Opera, and La Folle Journee under such noted conductors as Edoardo Muller, Andreas Delfs, Julian Wachner, Christopher Allen, Grant Gershon, Leon Botstien, Joel Revzen, Alexander Kalajdzic, Mark Flint, Dean Williams, David Zinmin, and the late Julius Rudel.

World-premieres include Johannes Wulff-Woesten’s Die Weisse Furstin at the Munich Beinnale, Paul Dessau’s Haggadah shel Pesah with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and Ahmed Sumani in Tony Small’s Qadar at the Kennedy Center. As a permanent part of the Smithsonian Institute's Hirschorn Gallery in Washington, D.C., Mr. Thompson is featured singing “Old Man River” in occurring audio walk artwork exhibit entitled “Words Drawn in Water” by artist Janet Cardiff.

Meet the Team

Brooke Tolley

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General Director

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Brooke Tolley is a native of Roanoke, Virginia and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance from Liberty University and a Master of Arts in Voice from Radford University. She made her professional singing debut in 2011 as Kate Pinkerton in Opera Roanoke’s production of Madama Butterfly and has since performed in numerous Opera Roanoke productions including Il Trovatore, Carmen, The Pirates of Penzance, Sweeney Todd, and Susannah. She has been a Young Artist at Asheville Lyric Opera and Chicago Summer Opera, where she made her debut as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute in 2014, returning to cover the role at Opera Roanoke in 2015. As a concert soloist, Ms. Tolley has performed in Handel’s Messiah, DuBois’ Seven Last Words of Christ, Schubert’s Mass in G, and made her Lincoln Center debut in 2017 singing the soprano solo in Pepper Choplin’s A Journey with the Shepherd.

As a voice teacher, she has maintained a private voice studio for students across the Roanoke Valley since 2012 and has taught voice lessons at Jefferson Center’s Music Lab and Hollins University.

She participated in Leadership Roanoke Valley’s Class of 2019 and was chosen as one of only three opera administrators across the country to attend The Hart Institute for Women Opera Conductors and Administrators at The Dallas Opera in 2018. Brooke was appointed General Director of Opera Roanoke in 2019. She is passionate about connecting audiences of all ages with opera in both traditional and site-specific venues and believes that opera should be accessible to all.

Ansley Melton

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Community Engagement Associate

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Ansley grew up in rural southwest Virginia and recently graduated from Liberty University with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Singing since she was young, Ansley began to participate in professional performances during high school. Several of those performances include The Tenderland, Pirates of Penzance, The Music Man, Amahl and the Night Visitors, and The Magic Flute.

Ansley has also participated in various concerts including Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s The Creation, and Fauré’s Requiem. She has been a young artist with Opera Roanoke and currently serves as a choir section leader at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lynchburg, VA.

Passionate about sharing wonderful music with wonderful audiences, she is beginning to develop her own voice studio and continuing to build her singing career as she performs throughout the region.

Media

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2021 National Touring Cast

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While You Wait

With the help of our friends at Theatrely.com, Marquee Digital has you covered with exclusive content while you wait for the curtain to rise.

EXCLUSIVE: New Musical LIKE FATHER Will Have World Premiere At Alliance Theatre This Fall

Kobi Kassal

February 3, 2026

Looks like we will be packing our bags for Atlanta! Today, it was announced that the bold new musical Like Father from Theatrely31 alum Jacob Ryan Smith and Caroline Pernick will have its world premiere production at Georgia’s Alliance Theatre.

Directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden (The Preacher’s Wife), Like Father will run on the Hertz Stage beginning in October of this year. Tickets will be available as part of a season ticket package in March and individually beginning in May.

This coming-of-age musical is set against America’s true-crime obsession. After her father’s arrest, seventeen-year-old Chris moves in with her estranged mother, Michelle, and stepfather, Ben. When a hit true-crime podcast exposes their family's disturbing past to the world, they are forced to face the truth of what brought them together, or risk being undone by its consequences.

Driven by a bold, innovative folk-pop score, Like Father explores legacy, identity, and the cost of obsession, inspired by the loved ones left in the wake of infamous serial killers—and by the true-crime industry’s meteoric rise to over 250 million listeners worldwide.

“At its core, Like Father is about learning to live beyond the shadows we inherit—a journey through grief, forgiveness, and the radical act of reclaiming your own name,” said Kajese-Bolden. “It’s a surprising, darkly funny, deeply human story that speaks to so many of us reckoning with the weight of our histories and the hope of transformation. New work like this needs room to take risks, and regional theaters are where those stories are given oxygen; I’m thrilled to work alongside artists and producing partners with an unflinching belief in bold, emotionally intelligent storytelling, and proud that the Alliance is a national home where artists are trusted to push boundaries, deepen our empathy, and imagine what’s possible.”

The show was a semi-finalist at the Eugene O’Neill New Music Theater Festival and emerged as the winner of the inaugural Open Jar Musical Shark Tank.

Additional creative team members include Dell Howlett as choreographer, Alejandro Senior as music director. Rachel Sabo-Hedges as assistant director, Adam Beskind as associate music director. Casting is by Kevin Metzger-Timson, CSA and Frankie Ramirez, CSA from the TRC Company.

Casting details and specific performance dates will be announced in the coming months. The musical’s commercial producers are Howard Alter, Zachary Hausman, and Madison Thompson. Co-producers include Caryl & Kendrick Smith, City Cowboy Productions, Fahs Productions, Happy Recap Productions, Jonathan & Rae Corr, Kerri Mandelbaum, and Steven N. Lerner.

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW Announces Full Cast

Emily Wyrwa

February 3, 2026

This cast is out of this world! The full company of the Sam Pinkleton-directed Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been announced.

Rachel Dratch will play the Narrator, with Andrew Durand and Stephanie Hsu as Brad and Janet. Amber Gray will play Riff Raff. Making their broadway debuts will be Harvey Guillén as Eddie/Dr. Scott, Juliette Lewis will play Magenta, Josh Rivera will play Rocky, and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as Columbia. The ensemble will include Renée Albulario, Anania, Boy Radio, Caleb Quezon, Andres Quintero, Larkin Reilly, Paul Soileau, and John Yi.

The Rocky Horror Show begins previews on March 26 ahead of an opening on April 23 at Studio 54 on West 54th Street in New York City. This is a limited engagement through June 21. For tickets and more information, visit here.

DOG DAY AFTERNOON Announces Full Company

Emily Wyrwa

February 2, 2026

This cast is as hot as summer 1972. Broadway’s Dog Day Afternoon has announced its full cast and company. Taking the stage alongside Emmy Award-winners Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach — along with Jessica Hecht, John Ortiz, and Spenser Garrett — are Michael Kostroff, Elizabeth Canavan, Brian. D. Coats, Esteban Andres Cruz, Alex. J. Gould, Danny Johnson, Paola Lázaro, Dom Martello, Wilemina Olivia-Garcia, Michael Puzzo, Christopher Sears, Jeff Still, Andrea Syglowski, and Carmen Zilles.

The new play written by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis is directed by Rupert Goold. It will feature scenic design by David Korins, costume design by Brenda Abbandandolo, lighting design by Isabella Byrd, sound design by Tony Award winner Cody Spencer, hair design by Leah J. Loukas, and dialect coaching by Kate Wilson. Casting is by the Telsey Office and Barclay Stiff will serve as the Production Stage Manager.

Set in the sweltering summer of 1972 New York City, Dog Day Afternoon tells the story of a Brooklyn bank hold up gone wrong. Against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and Watergate, the play serves as a reminder of what happens when passion and desperation collide.

Dog Day Afternoon begins performances on March 10, with official opening set for March 30, at the August Wilson Theatre on West 52nd Street in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit here.

Theatrely News

EXCLUSIVE: Watch A Clip From THEATER CAMP Starring Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, and Molly Gordon

Theatrely News

READ: An Excerpt From Sean Hayes Debut YA Novel TIME OUT

Theatrely News

"Reframing the COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Stage Manager’s Eyes"

EXCLUSIVE: Watch A Clip From THEATER CAMP Starring Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, and Molly Gordon

By: Maia Penzer

14 July 2023

Finally, summer has arrived, which can only mean one thing: it's time for camp! Theater Camp, that is. Theatrely has a sneak peak at the new film which hits select theaters today.

The new original comedy starring Tony Award winner Ben Platt and Molly Gordon we guarantee will have you laughing non-stop. The AdirondACTS, a run-down theater camp in upstate New York, is attended by theater-loving children who must work hard to keep their beloved theater camp afloat after the founder, Joan, falls into a coma.

The film stars Ben Platt and Molly Gordon as Amos Klobuchar and Rebecca-Diane, respectively, as well as Noah Galvin as Glenn Wintrop, Jimmy Tatro as Troy Rubinsky, Patti Harrison as Caroline Krauss, Nathan Lee Graham as Clive DeWitt, Ayo Edebiri as Janet Walch, Owen Thiele as Gigi Charbonier, Caroline Aaron as Rita Cohen, Amy Sedaris as Joan Rubinsky, and Alan Kim as Alan Park.

Theater Camp was directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman and written by Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman & Ben Platt. Music is by James McAlister and Mark Sonnenblick. On January 21, 2023, Theater Camp had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

You can purchase tickets to the new film from our friends at Hollywood.com here.

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READ: An Excerpt From Sean Hayes Debut YA Novel TIME OUT

By: Kobi Kassal

29 May 2023

Actor Sean Hayes is what we in the biz call booked and blessed. On top of his Tony-nominated performance as Oscar Levant in Good Night, Oscar, Hayes has partnered with Todd Milliner and Carlyn Greenwald for the release of their new YA novel Time Out.

Heralded by many as Heartstopper meets Friday Night Lights, Time Out follows hometown basketball hero Barclay Elliot who decides to use a pep rally to come out to his school. When the response is not what he had hoped and the hostility continually growing, he turns to his best friend Amy who brings him to her voting rights group at school. There he finds Christopher and… you will just have to grab a copy and find out what happens next. Luckily for you, Time Out hits shelves on May 30 and to hold you over until then we have a special except from the book just for Theatrely:

The good thing about not being on the team the past two weeks has been that I’ve had time to start picking up shifts again at Beau’s diner and save up a little for college now that my scholarship dreams are over.

The bad part is it’s the perfect place to see how my actions at the pep rally have rotted the townspeople’s brains too.

During Amy’s very intense musical theater phase in middle school, her parents took her to New York City. And of course she came back home buzzing about Broadway and how beautiful the piss smell was and everything artsy people say about New York. But she also vividly described some diner she waited three hours to get into where the waitstaff would all perform songs for the customers as a way to practice for auditions. The regulars would have favorite staff members and stan them the way Amy stans all her emo musicians.

Working at Beau’s used to feel kind of like that, like I was part of a performance team I didn’t know I signed up for. The job started off pretty basic over the summer—I wanted to save up for basketball supplies, and Amy worked there and said it was boring ever since her e-girl coworker friend graduated. But I couldn’t get through a single lunch rush table without someone calling me over and wanting the inside scoop on the Wildcats and how we were preparing for the home opener, wanting me to sign an article in the paper or take a photo. Every friendly face just made the resolve grow inside me. People love and support the Wildcats; they would do the same for me.

Yeah, right.

Now just like school, customers have been glaring at me, making comments about letting everyone down, about being selfish, about my actions being “unfortunate,” and the tips have been essentially nonexistent. The Wildcats have been obliterated in half their games since I quit, carrying a 2–3 record when last year we were 5–0, and the comments make my feet feel like lead weights I have to drag through every shift.

Today is no different. It’s Thursday, the usual dinner rush at Beau’s, and I try to stay focused on the stress of balancing seven milkshakes on one platter. A group of regulars, some construction workers, keep loudly wondering why I won’t come back to the team while I refuse proper eye contact.

One of the guys looks up at me as I drop the bill off. “So, what’s the deal? Does being queer keep ya from physically being able to play?”

They all snicker as they pull out crumpled bills. I stuff my hands into my pockets, holding my tongue.

When they leave, I hold my breath as I take their bill.

Sure enough, no tip.

“What the fuck?” I mutter under my breath.

“Language,” Amy says as she glides past me, imitating the way Richard says it to her every shift, and adds, “even though they are dicks.” At least Amy’s been ranting about it every free chance she gets. It was one thing when the student body was being shitty about me leaving the team, but the town being like this is even more infuriating. She doesn’t understand how these fully grown adults can really care that much about high school basketball and thinks they need a new fucking hobby. I finally agree with her.

[She’s wearing red lipstick to go with her raccoon-adjacent eyeliner as she rushes off to prepare milkshakes for a pack of middle schoolers. I catch her mid–death glare as all three of the kids rotate in their chairs, making the old things squeal. My anger fades a bit as I can’t help but chuckle; Amy’s pissed-off reaction to Richard telling her to smile more was said raccoon makeup, and her tolerance for buffoonery has been at a negative five to start and declining fast.

I rest my arms on the counter and try not to look as exhausted as I feel.

“Excuse me!” an old lady screeches, making me jump.

Amy covers up a laugh as I head to the old lady and her husband’s table. They’ve got finished plates, full waters. Not sure what the problem is. Or I do, which is worse.

“Yes?” I say trying to suppress my annoyance.

“Could you be bothered to serve us?”

Only five more hours on shift. I have a break in three minutes. I’ll be with Devin at Georgia Tech tomorrow. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” I say, so careful to keep my words even, but I can feel my hands balling into fists. “What would you—?”

And suddenly Amy swoops in, dropping two mugs of coffee down. “Sorry about that, you two,” she says, her voice extra high. “The machine was conking out on us, but it’s fine now.”

Once the coffee is down, she hooks onto a chunk of my shirt, steering us back to the bar.

“Thanks,” I mutter, embarrassed to have forgotten something so basic. Again.

“Just keep it together, man,” she says. “Maybe you’d be better off with that creepy night shift where all the truckers and serial killers come in.”

Honestly, at least the serial killers wouldn’t care about my jump shot.

It’s a few minutes before my break, but clearly I need it. “I’ll be in the back room.”

Right before I can head that way though, someone straight-up bursts into the diner and rushes over to me at the bar. It’s a middle-aged dad type, sunburned skin, beer belly, and stained T-shirt.

“Pickup order?” I ask.

“You should be ashamed,” he sneers at me. He has a really strong Southern accent, but it’s not Georgian. “Think you’re so high and mighty, that nothing’ll ever affect you? My kid’ll never go to college because of you and your lifestyle. Fuck you, Barclay Ell—”

And before this man can finish cursing my name, Pat of all people runs in, wide-eyed in humiliation. “Jesus, Dad, please don’t—”

I pin my gaze on him, remembering how he cowered on the bench as Ostrowski went off, how he didn’t even try to approach me. “Don’t even bother,” I snap.

I shove a to-go bag into his dad’s arms, relieved it’s prepaid, and storm off to the break room.]

Amy finds me head in my arms a minute or two later. I look up, rubbing my eyes. “Please spare me the pity.”

She snorts and hands me a milkshake. Mint chocolate chip. “Wouldn’t dare.” She takes a seat and rolls her shoulders and neck, cracks sounding through the tiny room. “Do you want a distraction or a shoulder to cry on?”

For more information, and to purchase your copy of Time Out, click here.

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Reframing the COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Stage Manager’s Eyes

By: Kaitlyn Riggio

5 July 2022

When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national emergency in the United States in March 2020, Broadway veteran stage manager Richard Hester watched the nation’s anxiety unfold on social media.

“No one knew what the virus was going to do,” Hester said. Some people were “losing their minds in abject terror, and then there were some people who were completely denying the whole thing.”

For Hester, the reaction at times felt like something out of a movie. “It was like the Black Plague,” he said. “Some people thought it was going to be like that Monty Python sketch: ‘bring out your dead, bring out your dead.’”

While Hester was also unsure about how the virus would unfold, he felt that his “job as a stage manager is to naturally defuse drama.” Hester brought this approach off the stage and onto social media in the wake of the pandemic.

“I just sort of synthesized everything that was happening into what I thought was a manageable bite, so people could get it,” Hester said. This became a daily exercise for a year. Over two years after the beginning of the pandemic, Hester’s accounts are compiled in the book, Hold Please: Stage Managing A Pandemic. Released earlier this year, the book documents the events of the past two years, filtering national events and day-to-day occurrences through a stage manager’s eyes and storytelling.

When Hester started this project, he had no intention of writing a book. He was originally writing every day because there was nothing else to do. “I am somebody who needs a job or needs a structure,” Hester said.

Surprised to find that people began expecting his daily posts, he began publishing his daily writing to his followers through a Substack newsletter. As his following grew, Hester had to get used to writing for an audience. “I started second guessing myself a lot of the time,” Hester said. “It just sort of put a weird pressure on it.”

Hester said he got especially nervous before publishing posts in which he wrote about more personal topics. For example, some of his posts focused on his experiences growing up in South Africa while others centered on potentially divisive topics, such as the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Despite some of this discomfort, Hester’s more personal posts were often the ones that got the most response. The experience offered him a writing lesson. “I stopped worrying about the audience and just wrote what I wanted to write about,” Hester said. “All of that pressure that I think as artists we put on ourselves, I got used to it.”

One of Hester’s favorite anecdotes featured in the book centers on a woman who dances in Washington Square Park on a canvas, rain or shine. He said he was “mesmerized by her,” which inspired him to write about her. “It was literally snowing and she was barefoot on her canvas dancing, and that seems to me just a spectacularly beautiful metaphor for everything that we all try and do, and she was living that to the fullest.”

During the creation of Hold Please, Hester got the unique opportunity to reflect in-depth on the first year of the pandemic by looking back at his accounts. He realized that post people would not remember the details of the lockdown; people would “remember it as a gap in their lives, but they weren’t going to remember it beat by beat.”

“Reliving each of those moments made me realize just how full a year it was, even though none of us were doing anything outside,” he adds. “We were all on our couches.” Readers will use the book as a way to relive moments of the pandemic’s first year “without having to wallow in the misery of it,” he hopes.

“I talk about the misery of it, but that’s not the focus of what I wrote... it was about hope and moving forward,” Hester said. “In these times when everything is so difficult, we will figure out a way to get through and we will move forward.”

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