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TheatreWorks
S I L I C O N
V A L L E Y
The
Secret Garden
WHO’S WHO
About the Cast & Creative Team
NOEL ANTHONY (Neville Craven) appeared in TheatreWorks’
Merrily We Roll Along, the world premiere of Andrew Lippa’s
A Little Princess, Jane Eyre the Musical, and the New Works
Festival readings of Emma, St. Ex, and Unlock’d. His other credits
include Center REPertory Company’s She Loves Me (Kodaly, San
Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award) and Smokey
Joe’s Cafe; Broadway by the Bay’s Miss Saigon (Chris) and West
Side Story (Tony) (both garnering him SFBATCC Award nominations), The Full Monty (Jerry), Beauty & the Beast (Beast), Evita
(Che), and Annie (Rooster); Marin Theatre Company’s Jacques
Brel...; and Contra Costa Musical Theatre’s Guys & Dolls (Sky)
and Hairspray (Corny). He has also worked with American Musical
Theatre of San Jose, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Woodminster
Summer Musicals, Willows Theatre Company, and 42nd Street
Moon. Much love to Brittany. www.noelanthonyescobar.com
ANDREW APY (Colin) is thrilled to be making his TheatreWorks
debut. Prior roles include youth theatre performances, such as
StarStruck Theatre’s Les Misérables (Gavroche) and Beauty and
the Beast (Lefou), StageOne Theatre’s Willy Wonka Jr. (Charlie),
and Broadway Workshop’s debut of an original work, Musicville,
where he created the role of the evil Tangy Error. He has studied
theatre with Broadway Workshop in New York, and American
Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Mr. Apy won the 2010
“Sing Your Heart Out” competition in Milpitas, and has been a
soloist in several youth choirs. He would like to send a heartfelt
“thank you” to Lori Stokes for all her support and guidance.
ADAM THEODORE BARRY (Fakir) is making his TheatreWorks
debut in The Secret Garden. A long-time Bay Area actor, some
of his recent stage credits include the regional premiere of
Xanadu (Sonny) with Guggenheim Productions, the West Coast
premiere of Becoming Britney (Man 1) with Center REPertory
Company, RENT (Angel) with City Lights Theater Company, Aida
(Radames) wzith Hillbarn Theatre, and The Full Monty (Ethan) with
Marquee Productions. He has also worked as a print model in
San Francisco, and sings in the recently-formed vocal trio Party
of Three. Mr. Barry is elated to join TheatreWorks for the first
time, and is thrilled to share his love and passion for performing
with new audiences.
LEANNE BORGHESI (Mrs. Medlock) is ecstatic to make her
TheatreWorks debut in The Secret Garden. Her off-Broadway
and regional credits include U.Y.A (Ginger) at P.S 122 and Oliver!
(Nancy), Tommy, Annie, Damn Yankees, and Robin Hood for Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts. She recently appeared
with Aurora Theatre Company in The Eccentricities of a Nightingale (Mrs. Bassett) and has earned two Bay Area Theatre Critic
Circle Awards for outstanding work in Dames at Sea (Mona Kent)
and her solo Theatrical Cabaret Divalicious at New Conservatory
Theatre Center. She is a founding member of B.O.O.B.S!
Cabaret Trio, whose performance venues include San Francisco’s
RRazz Room and Herbst Theatre, and Metropolitan Room, NYC.
She is a recent participant of The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center
Cabaret and Performance Conference and The International
Cabaret Conference at Yale University, 2011.
ROBERT BREWER (Albert Lennox) is thrilled to return to
TheatreWorks where he appeared in Merrily We Roll Along, Into
the Woods, the 35th and 40th Anniversary Gala Concerts, and
multiple workshops for the New Works Festival and the winter
Writers’ Retreat. His regional credits include Long Story Short
at San Diego Repertory Theatre, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well
and Living in Paris and Beggar’s Holiday with Marin Theatre
Company, and Hank Williams: Lost Highway (Hank) at Center
REPertory Company. His recent local credits include Little Shop
of Horrors (Seymour) for Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Avenue
Q (Nicky/Trekkie Monster) and reasons to be pretty (Greg) for
San Jose Stage Company, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Freddy)
at Broadway by the Bay. Mr. Brewer holds degrees in vocal
performance and mechanical engineering from Southern
Methodist University.
ALEX BRIGHTMAN (Dickon) is a California native. He has
performed with TheatreWorks in Cabaret and Romeo and Juliet.
Other credits include Boq in Wicked on Broadway, Will/Jack in
Glory Days on Broadway, and Henry in Next to Normal at The
Pioneer Theatre in Utah. He can also be seen on episodes of
Royal Pains on USA and Important Things with Demetri Martin
on Comedy Central. He is the co-creator of the acclaimed web
series An Actor Prepares... on YouTube. Mr. Brightman has
performed in countless readings, workshops, and concerts
throughout New York City. Upcoming, he can be seen in the
independent film, Plan B. Special thanks to TheatreWorks and
my brilliant Stewart Talent gang. For my hometown, my family,
and my Lindsey.
JOE CASSIDY (Archibald Craven) most recently appeared on
Broadway in Catch Me If You Can, where he understudied and
performed the role of Carl Hanratty. He’s also appeared in Next
to Normal, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Freddy & Andre), 1776
(Rutledge), Show Boat (Ravenal), Les Misérables (Valjean), and
A Christmas Carol (Scrooge at 18) at Madison Square Garden.
Off-Broadway performances include early workshops of Next to
Normal as Dan and Joe Cassidy, Rock Star both at Joe’s Pub
and Ars Nova. Mr. Cassidy has worked regionally in theatres coast
to coast. He has been a concert soloist under Maestros Lorin
Maazel, Jack Everly, Steven Reineke, and Robert Moody. His TV
and film work includes Law & Order, Freefall, and Brando. He recently debuted his album Simply Christmas, which is
available in the lobby.
CHARLIE IBSEN (Colin) is 11 years old and performing for the
first time with TheatreWorks. He has been seen in 17 shows with
Children’s Musical Theatre San Jose. His credits there include the
title roles in Oliver and Pinocchio, as well as their world premiere
Marquee production of When You Wish. Recently he played
Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at
the Retro Dome’s summer conservatory. He has performed a
one-man, bilingual sing along act with his guitar in the Bay Area
since age six. Mr. Ibsen studies voice with Gayle Greenbrook.
His professional voiceover credits include radio commercials and
various toys, including LeapFrog’s green plush dog, named
Scout. In his free time he enjoys creating songs on Garage Band,
riding his unicycle, and building Legos.
PATRICIA NOONAN (Lily Craven) recently created the roles of
Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice at
Signature Theatre and Sophia in Death Takes a Holiday at
Roundabout Theatre Company. Her other New York credits
include Where’s Charley? (Patricia) and Girl Crazy (Dudeen) at
City Center Encores, Signs of Life (Lorelei) at the Marjorie S.
Deane, and Hurricane at St. Clements. Ms. Noonan has also
appeared regionally in Carousel (Julie Jordan) at Barrington
Stage; Sondheim at 80 (Featured Soloist) at the Kennedy Center;
Little House on the Prairie (original cast) at Guthrie Theatre; and
How to Succeed… (Rosemary), Ragtime (Evelyn Nesbit), and
Man of La Mancha (Antonia) all at the White Plains Performing
Arts Center. Ms. Noonan is a graduate of Boston College where
she was part of the Presidential Scholars Program.
DANIEL OLSON (Ben Weatherstaff) was an understudy for
TheatreWorks’ production of Memphis. He has been a Bay Area
resident for ten years and has performed locally with Willows Theatre Company in Concord, Pleasanton Playhouse, American Musical Theater of San Jose, and as a member of Actors’ Equity
Association with Woodminster Summer Musicals in Oakland (Jud
Fry in Oklahoma!) and Contra Costa Musical Theater in Walnut
Creek (Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof). Mr. Olson has appeared in
the last four productions of Symphony Silicon Valley’s Broadway
in Concert series. He performed for twenty years with theater
companies in Humboldt County where he grew up and is a
graduate of Humboldt State University.
SHARON RIETKERK (Rose Lennox) is making her TheatreWorks
debut. Regional credits include She Loves Me with Center
REPertory Company, Nymph Errant (Evangeline) and Strike Up
the Band (Anne Draper) with 42nd St Moon, and Annie in Evil
Dead the Musical at Willows Theatre Company. Other credits
include The Drowsy Chaperone (Janet Van De Graaff), White
Christmas (Judy Haynes), and Curtains (Niki) with Diablo Theatre
Company and My Fair Lady (Eliza Doolittle), and Iolanthe (Phyllis)
with Lamplighters Music Theater. She has also performed with
South Coast Symphony (The Music Man, Marian), Napa Valley
Opera House (The Best of Gilbert and Sullivan), Bear Valley
Festival Orchestra, and Ukiah Symphony. Ms. Rietkerk received a
BA in Theatre, with Honors in Musical Theatre from the University
of California, Irvine. Member of Actor’s Equity.
MRIGENDRA STEINER (Ayah) returns to TheatreWorks in the
same role she played in the company’s original production
of The Secret Garden. She has numerous local credits to her
name and most recently appeared in Carousel (Nettie Fowler)
with Lyric Theatre and Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Armelia) with South Bay
Musical Theatre. Other roles with Lyric Theatre include La Belle
Helene (Helen of Troy), The Merry Widow (Manon), Princess Ida
(Lady Psyche), Patience (Lady Angela) and Rose of Persia (Heart’s
Desire). She has also performed with Foothill Music Theatre in
Allegro (Grandma Taylor) and Merrily We Roll Along and with
Palo Alto Players in The Good Times Are Killing Me (Aunt
Martha). Ms. Steiner lived and performed as a soloist in Austria
for ten years. A highlight was her one-woman show of Broadway
hits, The Sound of Musicals.
COURTNEY STOKES (Martha) has performed with TheatreWorks
in Snapshots, Into the Woods (Little Red), A Little Princess
(Ermengarde), A Little Night Music (Fredrika), Jane Eyre, Gypsy,
and New Works readings of The Giver (Lily), Burnt Part Boys
(Annie) and A Little Princess (Ermengarde). Her other favorite
roles include Thoroughly Modern Millie (Millie) with Star Struck
Theatre, 25th Annual...Spelling Bee (Logainne) at UC Irvine, and
the new musical Cloudlands (Monica) with South Coast Repertory
Theatre. A proud BFA Musical Theatre graduate of UC Irvine, she
now resides in New York City.
RACHEL SUE (Mary Lennox) is performing with TheatreWorks
for the first time. She has previously performed with Starstruck
Theatre in Beauty and the Beast Jr. (Belle), Annie (July), Les
Misérables (Young Cosette), and The Music Man (Amaryllis).
Ms. Sue would like to thank Starstruck’s Director Lori Stokes for
being an amazing mentor.
ANGELINA WAHLER (Mary Lennox), a sixth grader at Jordan
Middle School in Palo Alto, is thrilled to be performing her first
show with TheatreWorks. Other theatre credits include The Music
Man (Gracie) with Broadway by the Bay and Alice in Wonderland
(principal) with Drama in the Middle in Hollywood. Her television
credits include “Mr. Monk’s Favorite Show” (Janey Cooper)
in USA network’s award-winning series Monk, as well as
Nickelodeon’s new animated series Bubble Guppies (Deema)
and voice-over commercials for Nintendo, Disney, Walmart, and
others. Ms. Wahler has performed stand-up comedy in “Standing
Tall” shows at the Hollywood Improv and has trained with several
top acting and voice-over coaches in Hollywood. Her musical
training has been primarily with New Mozart School of Music in
Palo Alto, where she studies voice with Diane Squires.
MARSHA NORMAN (writer/lyricist) wrote the book and lyrics for The Secret Garden, winning a
Tony and the Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Book of a Musical. She also wrote the librettos
for The Red Shoes and The Color Purple, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. Her most
famous work is ’night Mother for which she won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Susan Smith
Blackburn Prize, the Hull-Warriner, and the Drama Desk Award. Ms. Norman has also written the
plays Getting Out (John Gassner Medallion and American Theater Critics Association Citation),
Circus Valentine, Traveller in the Dark, Last Dance, The Master Butchers Singing Club, and others.
She now teaches at the Juilliard School in New York City and is the Vice President of the Dramatists
Guild of America.
LUCY SIMON (composer) entered the Broadway theatre as the composer of The Secret Garden
and was nominated for a 1991 Tony Award for Best Original Score and a 1991 Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Music for her work on the production. She has also written songs for A…My Name
is Alice (Off-Broadway) and composed Dr. Zhivago (La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego). She began in
professional music at the age of sixteen singing folk tunes, and later folk-rock, with her younger
sister Carly. Ms. Simon created two singer/songwriter albums, Lucy Simon and Stolen Time. She has
also won a Grammy Award in the Best Recording for Children category, with her husband David
Levine, for in Harmony /Sesame Street Records, and again in 1983 with In Harmony 2.
MOLLY BELL (Choreographer) has choreographed for TheatreWorks’ in The Sisters Rosensweig and
Distracted and appeared onstage in Snapshots, Merrily We Roll Along (Mary), Bat Boy: The Musical
(Shelly), A Little Princess (Miss Amelia), Memphis, and many more. She is a dance instructor, voice
coach, and writer. She is the co-creator of the musical Becoming Britney, and she will be starring in
the title role this February at The Retrodome in San Jose. When not working in theater Molly works
with corporations to develop creative experiences that foster team building and brand awareness.
She is the wife to Kurt Kuckein and mom to five-year-old son Ryder. missmollybell.com
FUMIKO BIELEFELDT (Costume Designer) has designed over 50 productions for TheatreWorks
since 1983, including Sense and Sensibility, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Light in the Piazza, A Civil
War Christmas; Yellow Face; Twentieth Century; Caroline, or Change; and Emma, which traveled
to Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (Kevin Klein Awards
Nominee). Her designs have also appeared in the Bay Area at American Conservatory Theater,
Aurora Theatre Company, California Shakespeare Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin
Theatre Company, and Magic Theatre, among others. She is a graduate of Waseda University in
Tokyo and studied costume design at Stanford. Ms. Bielefeldt has received many awards for her
designs, including the 2004 Barbara Bladen Porter Special Award, Bay Area Theater Critics Circle
Awards, Dean Goodman Choice Awards, Back Stage West Garland, and the Drama-Logue Award.
JANNY COTÉ (Assistant Stage Manager) has been working with TheatreWorks since 2002. She has
worked almost every crew position the company offers, and is happy to be trying out yet another
one. She has also worked with companies throughout the Bay Area including Opera San Jose,
Berkeley Rep, and Broadway by the Bay. She got her start in theatre at Fremont High School under
the inspiring eye of Tim Shannon and then moved on to Foothill College to continue learning from
Joe Ragey. Ms.Coté would like to thank everyone for their continuing encouragement and support
and hopes you all enjoy the show!
PAMILA Z. GRAY (Lighting Designer) recently designed the world premiere of Tinyard Hill, the
West Coast premiere of A Civil War Christmas, TheatreWorks’ world premiere of Baby Taj and the
company’s world premieres of My Ántonia and Kept. Her work on Bingo! The Musical was seen in
Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, and the Bay Area’s Center REPertory Company. Her designs have also
been seen in Portland, Sacramento, Houston, Dallas, and Washington, DC. She has won 7 Bay Area
Theatre Critics Circle Awards including her TheatreWorks designs for Grey Gardens, Floyd Collins,
Cabaret, and Almost September, which also garnered a Bay Area Drama-Logue Award. She has
won four Dean Goodman Awards, including both Ragtime and The Cripple of Inishmaan, at
TheatreWorks. Ms. Gray is a graduate of Northwestern University.
WILLIAM LIBERATORE (Musical Director) is TheatreWorks’ resident musical director having
conducted more than twenty shows including [title of show], A Christmas Memory, Grey Gardens,
Merrily We Roll Along, Harold and Maude, Crowns, My Ántonia, Jane Eyre, Ragtime, and Pacific
Overtures. He was the musical director at American Musical Theatre of San Jose, conducting over
30 shows including Flower Drum Song, Little Shop of Horrors, Gypsy, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street,
Follies, Children of Eden, and Crazy For You. Mr. Liberatore has won Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
Awards for A Little Night Music, South Pacific, and Damn Yankees (AMTSJ) and Bat Boy; Into the
Woods; Emma; and Caroline, or Change; and The Light in the Piazza (TheatreWorks). He is also the
choral director at Gunn High School, and is proudly conducting Symphony Silicon Valley’s Broadway
in Concert Series.
JEFF MOCKUS (Sound Designer) designed Theatreworks’ Fly By Night, Superior Donuts, and [title
of show]. His work has been heard in American Conservatory Theater’s Clybourne Park, Center
REPertory Company’s A Marvelous Party, and California Shakespeare Theatre’s Mrs. Warren’s
Profession, as well as world premieres of Tracy’s Tiger for Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Lend Me
A Tenor: The Musicalfor Utah Shakespearean Festival; War Music at ACT, and Berkeley Repertory
Theatre’s Menocchio. Most recently, Mr. Mockus contributed original music to the West Coast
premiere of Legacy of Light, which marked his 70th production for San Jose Repertory Theatre,
where he has received Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards for Old Wicked Songs and Mary’s
Wedding, and Dean Goodman Choice Awards for By the Bog of Cats, ART, and Major Barbara.
REBECCA MUENCH* (Stage Manager) is in her twelfth season as a resident stage manager at
TheatreWorks. During that time she has stage managed 45 productions, including the musicals
[title of show], A Christmas Memory; Light in the Piazza; Caroline, or Change; Merrily We Roll
Along; Vanities: A New Musical; Harold and Maude; Striking 12; A Little Princess; Memphis;
Ragtime; Smokey Joe’s Cafe; Kept; Pacific Overtures (2001); and Floyd Collins. The first
TheatreWorks show she attended was The Secret Garden in 1995. Ms. Muench graduated from
the University of Evansville in Indiana with a BS in technical theatre and a BA in literature, and is a
proud member of Equity.
RICHARD NEWTON (Dialect Coach/ Cultural Consultant) is a native of Liverpool, England with
extensive dialect experience in the Bay Area. His most recent dialect credits for TheatreWorks
include Sense and Sensibility, The 39 Steps, Emma, and The Elephant Man. His other Bay Area
credits include A Christmas Carol: The Musical (Performing Arts Company with Notre Dame de
Namur University [also associate director]), The Importance of Being Earnest, The Odd Couple,
The Secret Garden, and Dancing at Lughnasa, (Coastal Repertory); and Shirley Valentine (Hillbarn
Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe Festival [also director]). He holds an MFA in directing/dramaturgy and
non profit management from Roosevelt University, Chicago. He is delighted
to assist here in what was his first TheatreWorks collaboration with Robert Kelley.
LESLIE MARTINSON (Casting Director) is TheatreWorks’ Associate Artist and Casting Director.
For TheatreWorks, her directing credits go back over twenty years, including, most recently, the
West Coast premieres of Superior Donuts and Theophilus North. A graduate of Occidental College,
she has been a Watson Fellow in political theatre, a member of Lincoln Center Directors’ Lab, a
member of the LaMaMa International Directing Symposium and has served on Theatre Bay Area’s
Theatre Services Committee since 2002. She was awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship in Stage
Direction from the Arts Council of Silicon Valley for artistic achievement and community impact.
In addition to directing, she leads master classes and workshops and teaches in the Musical Arts
department at Notre Dame de Namur University. This past July, she directed Lend Me a Tenor for
Shakespeare’s Associates.
JOE RAGEY (Scenic Designer) has designed over 50 shows for TheatreWorks over the last 25 years.
Some of his favorite TheatreWorks designs include Sense and Sensibility, The 39 Steps, A Christmas
Memory, Merrily We Roll Along, Baby Taj, My Ántonia, Jane Eyre, Peter Pan, Triumph of Love,
You Can’t Take it With You, Equus, Conversations With My Father, Nagasaki Dust, Honor Song for
Crazy Horse, La Bete, and Pacific Overtures. He has received over a dozen Bay Area Critics Circle
Awards, LA Drama-Logue Awards and Dean Goodman Choice Awards for shows he designed for
TheatreWorks.
VICKIE ROZELL (Dramaturg) has been TheatreWorks’ resident dramaturg for ten seasons, working
on over 80 productions including as co-director/ dramaturg on Doubt, Arcadia, and Wrong for
Each Other and associate director/dramaturg for Yellow Face; Caroline, or Change; M Butterfly;
Into the Woods; Dolly West’s Kitchen; Shakespeare in Hollywood; Jane Eyre; Ragtime; Pacific
Overtures; Side Show; and Floyd Collins among many others. She has directed Picnic, Picasso at
the Lapin Agile, The Little Foxes, and Ladies of the Camellias (Palo Alto Players); Wit (Bus Barn
Stage Company); Proof (City Lights Theatre Company); CTRL+ALT+ DELETE (Pear Avenue Theatre),
and The Vagina Monologues (California Theatre), taught at Ohlone and Foothill Colleges, is a
member of the West Coast Director’s Lab, has BAs in English and Psychology from Stanford
University, and an MFA in directing from the University of California.
ROBERT KELLEY (Artistic Director) is a Bay Area native and Stanford University graduate. He
founded TheatreWorks in 1970 and has been its Artistic Director ever since. He has directed over
150 TheatreWorks productions, including many world or regional premieres. He has received the
Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Paine Knickerbocker Award for lifetime achievement, BATCC Awards
for Outstanding Direction for his productions of Into the Woods; Pacific Overtures; Rags; Sweeney
Todd; Another Midsummer Night; Sunday in the Park with George; Jane Eyre; and Caroline, or
Change; Bay Area Drama-Logue Awards for his direction of Ah, Wilderness! and Once in a Lifetime;
Dean Goodman Choice Awards for Violet, Ragtime, Proof, Dolly West’s Kitchen, and Harold &
Maude; and Back Stage West Garland Awards for his direction of Side Show and Sunday in the Park
with George. He recently directed Sense and Sensibility, Snow Falling on Cedars, The 39 Steps, A
Christmas Memory, and The Light in the Piazza.
PHIL SANTORA (Managing Director) joined TheatreWorks in 2007 after spending four years as
Managing Director of Northlight Theatre outside Chicago. Prior to working at Northlight, he was
Managing Director of Georgia Shakespeare Festival (GSF) in Atlanta, as well as Development
Director for Great Lakes Theatre Festival in Cleveland and George Street Playhouse in New
Brunswick, New Jersey. He holds an MFA in Theater Administration from theYale School of Drama
and a BA in Drama from Duke University. Mr. Santora serves on the Board of the National Alliance
for Musical Theatre and has served on the boards of the League of Chicago Theatres, the Atlanta
Coalition of Theatres, and the executive committee of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT). He
was named 2000’s Best Arts Administrator by Atlanta Magazine and received the Atlanta Arts and
Business Council’s 1998 ABBY Award for Arts Administrator.