Jump to: THE CREATIVE TEAM | THE CAST
THE AUTHORS
Playwright ALBERT INNAURATO
Albert Innaurato is an internationally known writer and cultural observer whose works for the theatre include Gemini (performed for four years on Broadway, Obie Award), Passione (Playwrights Horizons and Broadway), The Transformation of Benno Blimpie (two off-Broadway productions; performed in Italy, Spain, Israel, and London; Obie Award), Magda and Callas, Coming of Age in Soho (two versions at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, both directed by Mr. Innaurato), Gus and Al (Playwrights Horizons), and Dreading Thekla (Williamstown Theatre Festival). In addition to The Idiots Karamazov, he collaborated with Christopher Durang on I Don’t Normally Like Poetry but Have You Read Trees and Gyp, the Real-Life Story of Mitzi Gaynor, while both were students at Yale University. Mr. Innaurato’s film and television credits include short pieces for PBS, “Subway Stories,” “Verna the USO Girl” (Emmy Award), two screenplays for Bette Midler, and rewriting the book and some of the lyrics of the Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin/Moss Hart musical Lady in the Dark. He adapted Puccini’s opera La Rondine for Lincoln Center Theater and has contributed to the New York Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair, New York, Forbes, Newsday, Opera News, and the programs of Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He taught at several universities (including, currently, The University of the Arts in Philadelphia), has lectured for the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Lincoln Center Chamber Society, and a number of other musical organizations.
Composer and lyricist CHARLES GILBERT
Charles Gilbert has headed the Musical Theater Program at The University of the Arts since its inception in 1990. Among his credits as a writer and composer is the 1979 musical Assassins, source of the idea for the Stephen Sondheim musical which premiered off-Broadway in 1991 and won seven Tony awards on Broadway last season. His musical B.G.D.F. was seen in New York in 1983 in a showcase starring Gregg Edelman. His children’s musical A Is For Anything, commissioned by the Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education, has been performed nearly a hundred times for thousands of children in Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware, and was selected as a finalist in the Buxton Quest for New Musicals in 1992. His cabaret revue Watch The Birdie was performed at Don’t Tell Mama in New York and The Actors Center in Philadelphia in 1993 (”Gilbert’s music is versatile… sharp, perceptive lyrics…” Keating, Philadelphia Inquirer), and a revised version was presented at the Philadelphia Arts Banks and the Douglas Fairbanks Theater in 1998. A reading of his musical Realities was presented in the fall of 1996 (”sophisticated music and complex lyrics which reveal character and advance the story… a considerable accomplishment…” Mullinax, Wilmington News Journal). Gilbert was Musical Theater Coordinator for Kevin Smith’s film Jersey Girl and has directed and/or music directed productions at the Prince, the Arden, People’s Light, PART, Opera Delaware and the National Music Theater Network. He holds an MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University and is a former member of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop.
Director MARK ROBINSON
As a director, actor and associate director, Mark Robinson has gained national recognition working on and off Broadway, in regional theatres across the country and on network television. Recent musicals include the premiere of Disney’s Aida at North Shore Music Theatre, A Little Night Music, Hello, Dolly!, the southwest premier of the new Irving Berlin musical I Love A Piano (Winner Arizona Theatre Award - Best Director), and The Pajama Game (currently running at the Tri-Arts). Recent plays include: True West, Steve Martin’s play The Underpants, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Complete History of America-Abridged, The Complete Works of Williams Shakespeare-Abridged, Scapin, many projects with Shotgun Productions, and the original productions of Jitter, Big Kids, Heroes and Don’t Ask (Winner: Best Director - 2006 NY Fringe Festival). Mark served as Scott Schwartz’s assistant director Off-Broadway on The Castle, coached Kevin Bacon on his Broadway bow in An Almost Holy Picture, assistant directed The House Of Mirth at the A.C.T. and was awarded SDCF Observerships on both the 2001’s smash Broadway revival of The Women (televised on PBS) and on NBC’s series Will & Grace. Member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, First Look at NYU’s Dramatic Writing Program, Theater Resources Unlimited, FirstStage L.A., served two seasons as a managing director of Tanqueray’s American AIDS Bike Rides - the world’s most-lucrative AIDS fundraiser, and is currently the associate producer of the SSDC’s DanceBreak. Honors graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Music Director CHRISTINE RILEY
Most recently Christine was the Musical Director for the new musical, Count to Ten , at the 14th Street Theatre in NYC. At NYMF last year she was the assistant musical director for Flight of the Lawnchair Man. Other recent credits include: Frankenstein (AMD – Casino Rama), Nunsense (AMD – Fallsview Casino) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (AMD - National tour) as well as serving s the musical director for many regional and university theatre productions including: A Chorus Line, CATS, Miss Saigon, Once Upon a Mattress, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, A New Brain, Fiddler on the Roof, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Cocoanuts, Honk!, Annie Get Your Gun, and South Pacific, among others. Christine also arranged and conducted a new musical, Caterina’s Son, in Florence, Italy. Ms. Riley received her BM from Ithaca College and MM from Arizona State University. She is excited to be working on both Gemini the Musical and Mud Donahue and Son as part of the 2007 NYMF.
Choreographer RHONDA MILLER
Rhonda is thrilled to be a part of the creative team on Gemini the Musical. Her inventive use of props and choreography has been featured Off-Broadway in Torched, Cinematastic, the legendary Broadway Bares and in two NYMF 2006 award winning shows Have a Nice Life and Common Grounds. On film and television, Rhonda’s work has appeared in “Love Bites”, “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” “The Young & The Restless,” “General Hospital,” and in commercials for Chrysler, Exxon, Toys ‘R Us and USPS. She is honored to have been chosen for the highly respected SSDC Foundation’s Dance Break as one of six up and coming Broadway choreographers and is proud to be the first choreographer to be inducted into the Oklahoma City University Hall of Honor.
Scenic Designer DANA KENN
Dana is now in her 20th year of continuing supervision as the Associate Scenic Designer for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, which became the longest running show in Broadway history in January 2006. She has worked extensively as Production Designer and Show Design Consultant for Walt Disney World and Radio City Entertainment and has been responsible for the scenic coordination of multiple versions of Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard and Phantom, from Broadway to international tours, as well as Madison Square Garden’s annual mega-musical version of A Christmas Carol. Her work has been featured in the Macy’s Parade, off-Broadway and in major venues in the US and Canada. Designs for previous NYMF shows include The Man Who Would Be King, Frankenstein and Tim and Scrooge.
Lighting Designer PHILIP ROSENBERG
Sound Designer DUNCAN CUTLER
NYC shows include: The Dew Point (Lion Theater), Troilus and Cressida (Walker Space), Operation Ajax (Blackbird), Sides: The Fear is Real (Culture Project), Shivah/Proper (Wax, Fringe), Dark of the Moon (Chashama), and Rhinoceros (Linhart Theater). Duncan is the resident sound designer for SlightlyAskew and the multimedia collaborative VisionIntoArt. He also production managed a national tour of VH1’s Best Week Ever Live.
Stage Manager LEE GOFFIN-BONENFANT
Lee, a native New Yorker, is a recent graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she studied Theatre and Computer Science. She also spent a year studying theatre in Paris, under Jack Garfein, Francois Roy, and Anna Larretta. Lee played Clarisse in Anna Larretta’s Mais Ne Te Promene Pas Donc Tout Nue. Her two theatrical loves are stage management and performance. In last years Fringe Festival, she was the stage manager for Don’t Ask, directed by Mark Robinson, and 6×5: Le Bonheur a Besion des Temoins. In the 2004 Fringe Festival, she appeared as Sally in A Chicken and It’s Breast. Lee can also be seen in director Terry George’s feature film Reservation Road, out this November. Lee is so pleased to be working on Gemini the Musical, in the company of such talented and fun people.
Casting STUART HOWARD ASSOCIATES
Stuart Howard, Amy Schechter and Paul Hardt have cast hundreds of shows over the past 25 years in the USA, Canada and Great Britain. Among their favorites are: Broadway: Gypsy (Tyne Daly), Chicago (Bebe Neuwirth, Anne Reinking), Sly Fox (Richard Dreyfuss), Fortune’s Fool (Alan Bates, Frank Langella) and the original La Cage Aux Folles. Off-Broadway: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and The Normal Heart. They have just completed casting the Broadway-bound Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Whistle Down The Wind. They enjoyed working on last season’s NYMF show Have A Nice Life, which won an award for Best Ensemble Cast.
General Manager GEOFF COHEN
Recent projects include 4 productions in Ontario, Canada; L’Histoire de Soldat with Hopeful Monsters at the Boston Symphony; The Velveteen Rabbit with the Enchantment Theatre Company for a National Tour; LITTLE EGYPT in NYMF 2007; and the New York Honors Awards for the National Academy for the Recording Arts and Sciences. Geoff co-founded and Executive Produced the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2004 and 2005, and also co-produced the Unzipped Concert Series in 2005. Cohen has worked as a Vice President for Radio City Entertainment, where he produced and general managed the Menken/Ahrens/Ockrent production of A Christmas Carol and The Wizard of Oz in New York and on tour. Prior to coming to New York, he general manager both the Paper Mill Playhouse and the George Street Playhouse.
JOEL BLUM (Fran)
Broadway: After The Night and the Music (Manhattan Theater Club) Show Boat (Tony nomination –Best Supporting Actor in a Musical), Steel Pier (second Tony nomination–Best Supporting Actor in a Musical), The Music Man (Marcellus), A Christmas Carol, 42nd Street (directed by Gower Champion), The Debbie Reynolds Show. Off-Broadway: Golf-The Musical (2004 Drama Desk nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical) …and the World Goes ‘Round (tour, as well), Game Show. Regional: Meet John Doe (Goodspeed Opera House, Ford’s Theater DC), Feste in Illyria (N. J. Shakespeare Festival), Tin Pan Alley Rag (Barrymore Award—Best Supporting Actor), Me and My Girl (Bill), Singing in the Rain (Cosmo), Hot Mikado (Koko), Damn Yankees (with Tony Randall), and Pal Joey (with Lena Horne). On television he has been seen on “Ed”, “The Sopranos” and two episodes of “Law and Order”.
LINDA HART (Bunny)
Broadway: Hairspray (originated Velma Von Tussle), Anything Goes (Theatre World Award), Sid Caesar on Broadway, De Tour and Divine Madness (with Bette Midler). Off Broadway: Great American Trailer Park Musical, Gemini, Light Up the Sky (Drama Logue Award), Saving Grace, Livin Dolls (Best Actress Award), Paper Moon, A Flea in Her Ear (Chicago Shakespeare) Film: “Tin Cup”, “A Perfect World”, “Get Shorty”, “The Insider”, “Beautiful”, “Stella”, “Wicked”, “Best of Times.” TV: “Desperate Housewives”, “The Closer”, “Gypsy” (Mazeppa), Alex Haley’s “Queen”, “The Practice”, Series Regular on Fox’s “The Winner.” Linda Has recorded over a dozen gospel albums with her Grammy Award-winning family “The Harts.”
BETHE AUSTIN (Lucille)
Bethe was most recently seen as Marilla in Nancy Ford and Gretchen Cryer’s Anne of Green Gables at the Lucille Lortel. Broadway: debuted starring opposite Robert Preston in Sly Fox, co-starred with Jill Eikenberry in Onward Victoria and with Charlie Repole in Whoopee!, received a Drama Desk Award for her work in Noises Off with Dorothy Loudon. She co-starred in Raggedy Ann directed by Pat Birch and with Richard Kiley in the pre-Broadway tryout Guilty Conscience. Off-Broadway: Iron Curtain (Hildret), Olympus On My Mind (Delores), Patorale (Second Stage), Zero Positive (Public Theater), Letter To My Love by Melissa Manchester, David Ives’ All In The Timing. National Tours: The Boyfriend (directed by Julie Andrews), Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Mrs. Claus). Regional Theatre favorites: Larry Gatlin’s Texas Flyer (Barrymore Award Best Supporting Actress), …Edwin Drood (dir. Rob Marshall), Always Patsy Cline (dir. Susan Atkinson). Film: Our Sons with Julie Andrews, Serious Money, Surprise (Cannes entry). TV: “Law and Order: CI”, “Growing Pains” (guest star), “Nurses” (guest star).
DAN MICCICHE (Francis)
Dan is thrilled to be making his NYC debut in the New York Musical Theatre Festival doing Gemini the Musical. He recently graduated from The Boston Conservatory in May. Regional credits include: Is The Life After High School?, A Chorus Line and many productions at the conservatory. He also recently did the W.B.MASON commercial. He would like to thank his family, friends, teachers, Michael Dansicker, Stewart Howard Casting and the fantastic cast and creative team of Gemini.
KIRSTEN BRACKEN (Judith)
Kirsten hails from Pittsburgh, PA and is so excited to be in her first New York show since graduating from Carnegie Mellon this May. Kirsten has spent her summer singing with the Cincinnati Pops conductor, Erich Kunzel, and playing Maggie in A Chorus Line at the West Virginia Public Theater where other credits include Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie and Babette in Beauty and the Beast. Favorite roles at CMU include: Daisy in Side Show, Marie in Hello Again, and Christine in Miss Julie. Kirsten would like to thank Geoff and Mark for the opportunity to be in this amazing company. Love to my family, the guys at BRS, and my love, Matt.
JONATHAN KAY (Herschel)
Jonathan is thrilled to be part of Gemini the Musical. New York: Orange (Center Stage) The New Hopeville Comics (45th Street Theater), Man of La Mancha (St. George Theatre), A Burning (The Chernuchin Theatre). Regional: Assassins, Floyd Collins and The Misanthrope, all at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Jonathan is a graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a proud of member of Actors Equity. Much love and many thanks to my entire family, and Paul, Nancy and Liz at H/H.
RYAN REID (Randy)
Ryan is stoked to be working on this project. Previous credits include Florizel in The Winter’s Tale Project for the FringeNYC, John in Bash, Jack in Into the Woods, George Gibbs in Our Town. A big thanks and shout out to mom, dad, Kat, Katie for amazing support and God for blessings and love beyond my understanding.
