Oklahomo: The Adventures of Dave and Gary (2010)

Philip Jackson Smith (Dave)

Philip Jackson Smith - NYMF debut. Favorite credits include: Barfee (...Spelling Bee), Elliott (Band Geeks!), David (Hello Out There). B.F.A. - The Hartt School, University of Hartford. So many thanks to Mark, Jesse, and Michael! Love Marissa, Mom, and Dad.

Matt Welsh (Gary)

Matt was recently seen in In Our Own Image for the Midtown International Theatre Festival, (MITF Award nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actor). A recent transplant from Columbus, Ohio, favorite roles include David/Crumpet in Santaland Diaries, The Baker in Into the Woods, Guiteau in Assassins, and Thomas in Corpus Christi.

Jared Weiss (Brady)

...is thrilled to bring Oklahomo to life.  Jared holds a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance from NYU's Steinhardt School of Education.  Recent Credits include The Wedding Singer (Tri-Arts Sharon Playhouse), The Joe Iconis Rock & Roll Jamboree (Joe's Pub, Laurie Beechman Theatre), Stop Collaborate & Listen: 20 Nothings (Effable Arts), 29 (Provincetown Playhouse), Evita (MUNY Opera).  His original song cycle Songs About Real Life was seen as part of ARS NOVA's inaugural ANT FEST.  Check out my blog desperatetimescomewithtangiblelies.blogspot.com.  Many thanks to an amazing cast and crew.

Josh Ramos (Ru)

NYMF debut!  Off-Broadway/NYC: Chautauqua! (Public Theater); Ryan Scott Oliver’s Darling (Pace New Musicals, world premiere); Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (Manhattan Children’s Theater); Rachel Bloom’s Sing Out, Louise! (Upright Citizens Brigade Theater).  Other credits include All Shook Up (dir. Donna Drake); …Spelling Bee (dir. John Carrafa); The Waypoint (MASS MoCA).  Training: Pace University.  Many thanks to Michael Cassara.  BNO!

Nathan Lehmann (Sergeant Pastor and everyone else)

NYMF Debut!  Regional: Sweeney Todd (Anthony Hope); A Christmas Carol (Mr. Fred); The Rocky Horror Show (Brad Majors); See Rock City and Other Destinations (Evan Mann); Rent (Season's soloist). BFA Musical Theatre, University of Michigan 2010. So much love and thanks to family, MTX, Marc, Michael Cassara & CTG! 

Lisa Mindelle (Lil and everyone else)

NYMF debut! New York credits: The Hudsucker Proxy (Manhattan Theatre Club), Taxi Cabaret (Prospect Theater Company), Iron Curtain (NAMT 2009). Regional: Urinetown (Hope), Avenue Q (Ensemble/ Female swing), Bat Boy:The Musical (Meredith), Little Women (Meg), Hello Again (The Actress), The Last Five Years (Kathy), Ragtime (Mother). Lisa is the recipient of the 2009 Laurie Beechman Award for Vocal Performance. Thanks to family, friends, Michael Cassara and AAA! BFA Musical Theatre, CCM 2009.

Corey Johnson (Jack and everyone else)

NYMF debut!  Corey is a performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater where he performs monthly with the house sketch team, Slow Burn.  On the UCB stage he has also been seen in 2pac: The Musical!, Same Sextacular, and The It Sucked Awards.  Other credits include:  Mercury (Superhero Club House), Asking For Trouble (Ensemble Studio Theater), One Minute Play Festival (HERE), Anything Goes (Seven Angels), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (River Rep) as well as numerous readings and workshops.  Corey recently returned from playing Tony in West Side Story at Theatre du Capitole in Toulouse, France.  A whole lot of thanks to the Oklahomo team for a very fun 4 weeks.  Much love to family, friends, and sabra hummus.

Ryan Goodale (Thug and everyone else)

NYMF Debut! National Tour: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Coneybear). Off-Broadway/NYC: Chautauqua! (Public Theater); College: The Musical (Pace New Musicals); Better Than Our Last Concert: Fornarola & Pailet (The Laurie Beechman). Regional: Bare, Born Yesterday, Man of La Mancha. BFA Musical Theatre; Pace University. Many thanks to family, friends, Michael & AAA! www.ryangoodale.com

 

Jesse Gage (Author)

Jesse Gage is a singer-songwriter who has performed throughout New York City and the east coast. Oklahomo is his first foray into the musical theater world.  It started as just a rough idea and a couple of songs a few years ago, but after seeing the advertisement for the New York Musical Theater Festival, Jesse decided it was time to finally get serious about this project. He is thrilled to be a part of NYMF this year, and is enjoying every step in his new musical adventure.  Jesse splits time between Brooklyn, NY and Woodstock, NY.  He is married, and the couple recently welcomed the arrival of their first child, Jonah Blue, on February 24th.

Mark Robinson (Director)

staged Gemini - The Musical and Ward 9 (both NYMF Best-of-Fest Winners).  Curiously, he’s also currently directing Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (…yes, you read that right…) for Tri-Arts.  For Disney Theatricals, he helmed the world premiere of Aida - School Edition at North Shore Music Theatre.  Other productions include The Pajama Game, Camelot, The Last 5 Years, Hello, Dolly!, A Little Night Music, regional premieres of Zombies from the Beyond and the new Irving Berlin musical I Love A Piano! (Best Director: Arizona Theatre Award).  Plays: The Heidi Chronicles (AADA), the original productions of Jitter, Heroes, Big Kids, and Don't Ask (Winner Best Director - NY Fringe Festival, and soon to be a feature film), and regional productions of The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Complete History of America-Abridged, and Scapin.  He is a longtime company director for Florida's Seaside Repertory Theatre where he staged True West, The Complete Works of Williams Shakespeare-Abridged, The Underpants, and David Lindsay-Abaire's Fuddy Meers.  He is a founding member of the First Look Theatre Company, Outrageous Fortune Theatre Workshop (formerly Circle Rep.), and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation's Artists' Action Committee advisory panel. His assisting credits include: the Broadway Revival of The Women (directed by Scott Elliott-SDC Observership recipient), the Broadway production of An Almost Holy Picture (Kevin Bacon's coach), The Castle (directed by Scott Schwartz), The House of Mirth (directed by Giles Havergal at A.C.T.), and NBC's Will & Grace (directed by James Burrows-SDC TV Observership recipient).  He served as managing director of the Boston>New York AIDS Ride presented by Tanqueray – one of the world’s most-lucrative AIDS fundraisers and directs DanceBreak, which showcases new choreographic talent.  Graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Commercial Theatre Institute's 14-week Producers Training Intensive.  Member of the SDC.  Visit: www.markrobinson.net.

Kat Sherrell (Musical Director)

Kat Sherrell, who hails from New Mexico (which shares a tiny border with Oklahoma and boasts its own share of visitors from outer space), works as a musical director and/or accompanist with In the Heights, Camp Broadway, the Striking Viking Story Pirates, to name a few.  She has written arrangements and orchestrations for such shows as The Secret of our Souls (Fringe) and La Muela del Rey Farfan (Teatro StageFest), and maintains a private studio where she specializes in coaching diction with musical theater actors with foreign or regional accents.  This year, Kat has taken it upon herself to learn and memorize a song every single day, and is writing about that adventure at http://www.yearofstandards.com.  

Marcos Santana (Choreographer)

Born and raised in Puerto Rico. Marcos has had the privilege of working with distinguished choreographers and directors such as Dianne Paulus, Franco Dragone, Sergio Trujillo, Andy Blanckenbuehler, Des McAnuf, Hal Prince, among other. Theater Credits: My Fair Lady (John Engeman Theater) Paul Simon’s The Capeman (The Public Theater), Guys and Dolls, The Wiz(La Jolla Playhouse), Carmen The Musical , Tarzan (Europe).. Other credits: Broadway After Dark, Broadway Underground, Ballet Hispanico, Danza Jazz P.R. Film & TV: Chasing Papi, Drug Free Alliance, “Candela“, Baño De Luna“. “Flash Mob at Washington Square Park”.

 

Alison Solomon (Associate Choreographer)

Alison is grateful to have worked with choreographers such as Andy Blankenbuehler, Luis Salgado, Joshua Bergasse, Josh Prince, Warren Adams, and Marcos Santana. Assistant and Choreographer credits include: “Dora's Explorer Girls" (Nickelodeon), "The View" with Ben Vereen (ABC), My Fair Lady (John W. Engeman Theater), I'll Be Damned (Vineyard Theater), Romeo and Juliet, Shafrika the White Girl (Vineyard Theater), BC/EFA's Gypsy of the Year & Easter Bonnet Competition, Lord and Taylor Fall Commercial, and Swing! (Chanhassen Dinner Theater). Performance Credits include: Camelot (Lincoln Center), Show Boat (Carnegie Hall), A Man For All Seasons (Kennedy Center), All Singin' All Dancin' (Town Hall), Swing! (National Tour), "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO with director Martin Scorsese) and more! Thank you Marcos for this opportunity! Dare to Go Beyond! www.alisolomon.com

Kate Jones (Costume Designer)

Kate has been designing and working in theatre and television for nine years.  In New York she has designed for Juilliard, The Actor's Studio, and H.T. Chen and Dancers.  In Canada, her designs helped originate the goth-rock musical, Frankenstein for Casino Rama.  Most recently she won an Emmy Award for her work on All My Children, and worked with Johann Stegmeir on the film, Peace Love and Misunderstanding.

Matt Taylor (Lighting Designer)

is a recent graduate of the MFA program at the University of Florida in Lighting Design.  His recent NY credits include Bunked! A New Musical (NYC Fringe), Beirut Rocks (Hunter College), What Strong Fences Make (Hunter College), The Indian Wants the Bronx (Hunter College), and Fog (InOktober Productions).  Other favorite works include Electronic City (UF), Pippin (Florida Players), The Next Thing (WTF Workshop), and Brighton Beach Memoirs (Theatre Charlotte).  He is thrilled to be working on this production of Oklahomo.  He'd like to thank his amazing mother for her endless love and support!

Becca Pickett (Stage Manager)

Becca Pickett (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working on Oklahomo. She is a recent graduate of Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. Some of her favorite projects include Mystery Radio Theater (Bristol Valley); The Rocky Horror Show; Mame (Mac-Haydn Theatre); and Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens. Becca would like to thank her friends and family for their constant love and support.

 

Kevin Kelly (Assistant Stage Manager)

...thanks the Oklahomo cast and crew for this great opportunity! He is a 2010 graduate of the University of South Dakota with a BFA in Musical Theatre.  Favorite projects include Anything Goes, Chicago, and Bye Bye Birdie at the Mac-Haydn Theatre and  Peter Pan, A Chorus Line, and Fat Pig.  Kevin would like to thank RA and Mom for the constant love and support every day

Mike Cohen (Dramaturg)

...is a graduate of the NYU Musical Theatre Program and UCLA.  He's won an Emmy and a half for writing, is happy as hell to be working at the Music-Theater Initiative at The Public Theater and is even happier to find himself dramaturging musicals these days.

Michael Cassara (Casting Director)

Michael Cassara, CSA (Casting Director) has cast over 40 new musicals in NYMF since the festival’s inception in 2004, and has served as the Resident Casting Director for the festival since 2007.  Recent regional theatre: Old Globe, Olney, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Gulfshore Playhouse and more.  Other recent credits include Fat Camp, the off-Broadway run of Falling For Eve at the York Theatre, Lillian Hellman's rarely-seen Another Part of the Forest for the Peccadillo Theatre company, the films Clear Blue Tuesday and Alienated, and 6 other shows in this year’s NYMF.  Michael is a native Clevelander and a member of the Casting Society of America.  Please visit http://www.michaelcassara.net.