The Brain That Wouldn't Die! In 3D!!! (2011)

Stephen R. Buntrock (Doctor Dick Cuttingham)

Stephen R. Buntrock recently concluded the Broadway revival of A Little Night Music, staring opposite Bernadette Peters. Other Broadway credits include Oklahoma!, Beauty and the Beast, the original cast of Jane Eyre, Titanic, the Tenth Anniversary Cast of Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, and creating the role of Teen Angel for the latest revival of Grease!  Toured extensively across the U.S. and Canada as Rueben in Joseph…Dreamcoat starring Donny Osmond, and originating the role of Arnaud du Thil in Cameron Mackintosh's production of Martin Guerre. Stephen has appeared with some of the nation's leading orchestras and recently was honored to perform alongside Dame Julie Andrews in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a very proud Papa to Haley Paige and her little sisters Anna Louise and Catherine Caroline. Married to Erin Dilly.

Kathy Voytko (Head Nurse Hedy)

As a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 Kathy couldn't be happier to make her NYMF debut with The Brain...3-D.  Broadway:  Next to Normal-Diana sb, The Pirate Queen-Grazia sb, The Frogs-Ariadne opposite Nathan Lane, Nine the Musical starring Antonio Banderas and Chita Rivera, Oklahoma!-Sylvie. Some favorite Chicago theater credits:  Passion-Clara, Crazy for You-Polly, Les Misérables-Fantine. National Tours:  The Phantom of the Opera-Christine, Evita-Eva

Jamie Jackson (eMCee)

Theatre: The 39 Steps (Man 1, off-Broadway), Sweeney Todd (Sweeney, Gateway Playhouse), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Lawrence, National tour), Annie (Warbucks, Fulton), Great Expectations (Goodspeed), King Lear, The Crucible (Sydney Theatre Company). TV: Flight of the Conchords (HBO). With his wife, composer, SoHee Youn, Jamie has written several musicals including Love: A Multiple Choice Question (NY Fringe, York Theatre, Sydney, Melbourne, Australia). He performs standup for Laughing Liberally. Love and gratitude to SoHee, thanks to About Artists.

 

Brian Charles Rooney (Kurt)

Brian is thrilled to be a part of this amazing show!  His recent credits include: Dionne Salon in Bedbugs!!! (NYMF; "Outstanding Performance Award"); The Devil in Winner Take All (FringeNYC; "Overall Excellence in Performance Award"); Candy Darling in Pop! (Yale Rep; 2010 CT Critics Circle Award - Best Actor in a Musical).  BROADWAY: Lucy Brown in The Threepenny Opera (Roundabout Theatre Co.) & Camelot (Lincoln Center / NY Philharmonic).  OTHER CREDITS: Homer in Floyd Collins (Actors' Playhouse, Miami; Carbonell Award Nom.); title role in Batboy! The Musical (Charleston Stage Co.); Tony in West Side Story (European Tour); & Featured Soloist in The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (North American Tour). In 2007, he was awarded the "Lys Symonette Award for Outstanding Dramatic Excellence" by the Kurt Weill Foundation.  www.briancharlesrooney.com

Liz Baltes (Desiree DaBotti)

Liz is thrilled to make her NYMF debut in The Brain! She was most recently seen in A Minister’s Wife at Lincoln Center Theatre.  Chicago credits include Proserpine in A Minister’s Wife (Jeff Award), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.  Additional credits: Oliver!(National Tour), Gertrude in Seussical, Anything Goes, and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.   Thanks to Tom, Beth, and Tim for this opportunity. Proud AEA member.

Taryn Darr (Donna/Toots)

Well cheeses, happy to be here. NYMF debut. Regional: Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre—Catch Me If You Can (Ensemble) World Premiere dir. Jack O’Brian, White Christmas (Judy Haynes), A Chorus Line (Val). La Jolla Playhouse—Palm Beach: The Screwball Musical (Tessa), directed by Des McAnuff. Sacramento Music Circus—Grease (Patty) dir. Marcia Milgrom Dodge. NYC—Franco Dragon’s One Love, dir. Brian Burke. AEA proud. For Mom.

T. Sivak (Author, Composer, Lyricist)

 Highlights of Tom Sivak’s composing career include the premiere of his orchestral work, “PRELUDE AND FUGUE” by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, and creating the musical score of the Kartemquin Films documentary, “GOLUB,” which premiered at the New York Film Festival.  Other works include: “THE GREAT BARDO” ( Book/Lyrics by John L. Beem, Music/Lyrics by T. Sivak), “PHANTOM” (Book/Lyrics by David H. Bell, Music by T. Sivak),  “HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME” (Book/Lyrics by David H. Bell, Lyrics by Cheri Coons, Music by T. Sivak), .  “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST”  (Book/Lyrics by C. Coons, Music by T. Sivak), “PATCHWORK CITY” (Book by Amy Salz, Music/Lyrics by T. Sivak with additional book and lyrics by the cast), and “OUT O’JOINT,” a musical performed inside Stateville Prison by a cast of prisoners and produced by the Illinois Arts Council. (Book by Ron Falzone, Music by T. Sivak with additional music and lyrics by the cast.) In addition to composing, Sivak has conducted the orchestras of over one hundred AEA productions in Chicago and on the road, including the LiveEnt National Tour of “JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT” with Donny Osmond, and the National Tour of BOB FOSSE’S “DANCIN’”. 

E. Gelman (Author, Lyricist)

Elizabeth Gelman is a free lance writer whose articles have been seen in the publications across the country. She was a featured writer for Family Times Magazine from 2003-2006 and is a contributing writer for LASplash, The Shofar, and The Mosaic among other publications. Gelman created and designed Arts Attack!, the highly regarded interactive arts education program for grades K-12 that utilizes storytelling to access music and the visual art and has given presentations about the arts and creative writing throughout the United States including the National Arts Educators Conference, Visual Understanding in Education and the Chicago Cultural Network. Gelman has a number of corporate clients, primarily in the non-profit and cultural sectors. Most recently, Gelman wrote and produced audio tours for Spertus Museum exhibitions on the Holocaust, Jewish Chicago and The Depot: Spertus Museum’s Permanent Collection.  A member of AEA, Gelman has appeared in numerous national tours including The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Chicago area productions including Aldonza in Man of LaMancha, Clelia in The Nerd (with Tony Shalhoub), and Contessa in HATS! (with Melissa Manchester).

Tim Drucker (Director)

Tim Drucker is thrilled to return to NYMF! He has co-written, with Randy Blair, the books to the musicals FAT CAMP (Playhouse Square, Cleveland July 2011; NYMF 2009-Best of Fest; Carl Levin, Michael Minarik and Dodger Theatricals producers); PEREZ HILTON SAVES THE UNIVERSE (NY Fringe 2008- Best Musical; Barrow Street Theater; Joe's Pub; licensed productions); and SPIDERMUSICAL, for which he also directed (DC premiere April 2012). Recent credits: GRACE MCLEAN LIVES IN CONCERT at Ars Nova (Director); A**HOLES ON THE BRINK...(NOLA Fringe, wrote, performed and directed). 1/3 of THE OTHER BALDWINS sketch comedy (UCB; P.S. 122; Ha! Comedy, dirty basements all over downtown Manhattan). Their new show THE OTHER BARRYMORES premieres at ANTFEST on October 28th. Upcoming directing work: The Broadway in South Africa Gala and the new concert tour HEADLINERS (Celina Carvajal, Carly Jibson, Kacie Sheik and Katie Thompson).  BFA: NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

J. Austin Eyer (Choreographer)

Austin choreographed the Off Broadway productions of My Big Gay Italian Wedding, and Boys Just Wanna Have Fun. He has also choreographed for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Disney World and Universal Studios.  His performance career began at the age of 7 and some of those credits include - BROADWAY: Billy Elliot, The Little Mermaid (u/s Prince Eric), Curtains, The Secret Garden (Colin). NATIONAL TOUR: Billy Elliot, Evita, and the original Boston/St. Paul companies of White Christmas. OFF BROADWAY: Apartment 3A, and Anyone Can Whistle (Encores). He received a BFA from NYU and has been a member of the CAP21 Faculty for the past 8 years.  Special thanks to my Assistant Halden Michaels.

 

Halden Michael (Assistant Choreographer)

Bway/NY: Hello Dolly w/Carol Channing; Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Tours: A Chorus Line; Joseph..; Evita.  Recent: Associate Choreographer Chorus Line, Lyric Theatre, OK; Choreographer, Barney & Friends, Hit Entertainment.

Clifton Chadick (Scenic & Prop Design)

NYC: Uncharted:Grace McLean Lives In Concert (Ars Nova); Muzungu (Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group); Three by the Sea (Lookingglass Theatre); Spidermusical (The Mint Theatre) Proof (Awaken Productions) Fran’s Bed; Anatomy of Gray; Crimes of the Heart; Boston Marriage; Bonjour, la, Bonjour; These Shinning Lives; A Bright Room Called Day; The Three Sisters; The Factory Girls; Round and Round the Garden (Stella Adler Studio); Accidentally, Like a Martyr (The Wild Project).  Regional: Little Shop of Horrors; Xanadu; Dreamgirls: In Concert; The Rocky Horror Show (Revision Theatre); Boeing Boeing (TTTF); Once Upon a Mattress; The Sound of Music (Jersey Productions); Baby (MWVTC).  CCM: Handel’s Alcina, directed by Robin Guarino; Urinetown; Twelfth Night; or, What You Will.  www.CliftonChadick.com.

Brian Tovar (Lighting Designer)

Recent NYC: The Lapsburgh Layover (Ars Nova), Next Thing You know (Cap21), Just Cause (Flea), Spidermusical (Mint) The Bikinis (QTIP) Follow Me Down (Flea), Veritas (NYC Fringe), Accidentally, Like a Martyr (The Wild Project), Hangman School for Girls (Manhattan Theatre Source), Blue Surge (Wild Project), Street Lights (NYMF) Vote! (NYC Fringe), Factory Girls (Ars Nova, Joes Pub), Caught in The Threshold (Peter Jay Sharp Theatre), Rabbit Hole (ATA), The Wendigo (Medicine Show), Perez Hilton Saves The Universe (Fringe), The Wendy Complex (MITF, Outstanding Lighting Design Award), among others. Regional: Much Ado About Nothing (Two River Theatre, Director Sam Buntrock), Northern Stage, Revision Theatre. Broadway (asst to): HAIR, Passing Strange. Upcoming projects and more at www.BrianTovarDesign.com

David Withrow (Costume Designer)

Random Shows: Leslie Kritzer: Beautiful Disaster (Joe’s Pub), SpiderMusical (The Mint), Anthony & Cleopatra (TWAS), Urinetown (Gallery Players), Ragtime (APAC), The Rockae (Prospect Theatre Company), and Perez Hilton Saves the Universe (FringeNYC). Broadway Associate: RACE and Everyday Rapture. Assistant: The Threepenny Opera (w/ Isaac Mizrahi) & The Apple Tree (both Roundabout), The Wedding Singer (Broadway), & Jersey Boys (Vegas & London) etc. Selected Awards: 2007 NYIT Award and the 2010 Audelco Award for Excellence in Black Theatre. Film: Peter & Vandy (2009 Sundance Film Festival Selection). Has designed several numbers and ad campaigns for Broadway Bares including the Wonderland Campaign, and a few web series including The Battery’s Down & Rock of Ages Productions.

Annbritt duChateau (Musical Director)

is presently the Associate Conductor for Billy Elliot on Broadway.  Annbritt, a Chicago native, was the Musical Director and Conductor for the National Tour of Mary Poppins, as well as for the National Tours of Miss Saigon and Aspects of Love. She was Paul Gemignani's Associate Musical Director for Kristina, a new musical written by ABBA's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Kristina was performed and recorded at Carnegie Hall, and also performed in London's Royal Albert Hall. Annbritt's Broadway credits include Associate Conductor for Pal Joey, Les Miserables (revival) , The Frogs, Into the Woods, Phantom of the Opera, and Assistant Conductor for Kiss Me, Kate and Oklahoma. Annbritt holds both a Masters and Bachelors degree in piano performance from DePaul University. Her piano teacher is Mary Sauer, pianist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Annbritt thanks Tom, Beth, Tim and the entire Brain company for making her laugh so hard her stomach hurt on a daily basis. 

C. Renee Alexander (Stage Manager*)

Brierpatch Productions (General Manager)

Off-Broadway: Triassic Parq, The Broadway Musical Off-Broadway (late fall 2011); Tennessee Williams’s The Two Character Play (fall of 2011); Lidless (Page 73 Productions September 2011), Kiki Baby (NYMF 2011); Previous NY Productions: Tales From The Tunnel (Bleecker Street Theatre); The Road To Qatar! (The York Theatre); Glimpses of The Moon (The Oak Room); 2011 Repertory Season for The Actors Studio Drama School. Out of Town/Touring: Rest, In Pieces (Glens Falls, NY); Wallenberg, The Musical, Renovations, and That Time of The Year (White Plains Performing Arts Center 2010-2011 Mainstage Season); The Playboy of Balyduff (2012/2013 tour). Showcase Productions: Comm Comm (Page 73); The Toymaker (NYMF 2009); Marrying Meg (NYMF 2009); Frog Kiss (NYMF 2010); Shine! (NYMF 2010); and Bloodties. (NYMF 2010). Under Development: The Road To Skye; First Kids; Enchanted April, the Romantic Musical Comedy; Frog Kiss; a revival of Elegies for Angels, Saints and Raging Queens.

Holly Buczek (Casting Director)

An associate for Michael Cassara Casting, she is also the resident casting director for Vital Theatre Company. Shows cast for Vital: Pinkalicious! The Musical, Uncle Pirate, Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly, Angelina Ballerina! The Musical and others. Other projects: Caroline or Change for Cyrano’s Theatre in Alaska, Perfect Wedding for Vital SummerStage, R U Nobody 2? staged reading at the Dramatists' Guild and, most recently, for Bard SummerScape festival The Ballad of Rom and Julz and Bitter Sweet. At Vital, she also facilitates the development process for new works.  She is an honor graduate of Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. For more information on Holly visit www.hdbcasting.com.

Lauren Keating (Assistant Director)

Lauren Keating is a freelance director based in New York City, where her favorite credits include work with The Public Theater, Ars Nova, 3LD, Woodshed Collective, New Georges, NYU, Cooper Union, AtPlay,  The Players Theater, The Old Vic, The Prospect Theater, Peculiar Works Project, The Space, Vampire Cowboy Battle Ranch, New Lions Productions, The Mint Theater and The Flea Theater. Regional credits include work with The McCarter Theater, The University of New Mexico, The Hangar Theatre and Williamstown Theatre Festival.  Lauren is a teaching artist on staff with BAM and The Public Theater, visiting high schools, shelters, centers and prisons through out the five boroughs.  She has guest directed for Fordham University and is currently a mentor for BFA directing candidates at New York University.  She is also an Acting and Directing Instructor on the staff of the New York Film Academy BFA, High School and Tween Programs.  Lauren is a Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab member, a founding member of The Internationalists, a New Georges Affiliated Artist and the Old Vic/New Voices Exchange American Director, 2009. Lauren is an NYU: Tisch Alumni and a Drama League Directors Project Fellow.