Cast
Sparky
David Brannen
David Brannen has previously been seen at the Globe as The Grinch in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (‘03 and ‘04). He has appeared regionally as Bobby Child in Crazy for You, Bill Snibson in Me and My Girl, both Don Lockwood and Cosmo Brown in Singin’ in the Rain, Huck Finn in Big River, Dick in Dames at Sea, the Fiddler in Fiddler on the Roof, Frank Schultz in Show Boat, Mike in A Chorus Line and Benjamin in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Jinx
Leo Daignault
Leo Daignault is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association and lives in New York City. He returns to the Globe having previously appeared as The Grinch in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (’05). He has appeared on Broadway in Avenue Q and has been featured in the National Tours of Avenue Q, The Full Monty, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Miss Saigon. A Plaid veteran, Mr. Daignault originated the role of Jinx in Plaid Tidings at Pasadena Playhouse and in Forever Plaid in Boston, San Diego, Tokyo and Chicago, where he won an Ollie Award for best vocal performance by a male. His regional theatre credits also include Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (Goodspeed Musicals), Miss Saigon (The Muny), Come Rain or Come Shine (Mark Taper Forum), A Little Night Music (Apple Tree Theatre) and My Three Angels (Center Theatre). His film and television credits include How to Marry a Billionaire: A Christmas Tale, “The Sopranos,” “Silk Stalkings” and “Pensacola: Wings of Gold.” He was also one of Rosie’s Broadway Boys appearing on “The View” and “The Rachael Ray Show.”
Smudge
Jason Heil
Jason Heil is proud to be making his Globe debut. His New York and regional credits include 31 Bond (Brooklyn Lyceum), Cabaret (Arkansas Repertory Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew and Dracula (Tennessee Repertory Theatre), James Joyce’s The Dead (American Conservatory Theater), Richard III, Henry IV Part 1, Henry VIII, The Three Musketeers, My Fair Lady and 1776 (Utah Shakespearean Festival), Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew (Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival), Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Cyrano de Bergerac (Marin Shakespeare Company), The Winter’s Tale and The Learned Ladies (A Noise Within), Richard II, Antony and Cleopatra, The Fantasticks and Guys and Dolls (Texas Shakespeare Festival) and Camelot and Oklahoma! (Downey Civic Light Opera). Mr. Heil has appeared in San Diego in Lucy Simon's Zhivago (La Jolla Playhouse and New York/London readings), The Glory Man, Harvey, Joyful Noise, The Glass Menagerie, Room Service, The Voysey Inheritance, An American Christmas, Enchanted April, Into the Woods and The Winslow Boy (Lamb’s Players Theatre – Associate Artist), Noises Off (Cygnet Theatre Company), A Christmas Carol (San Diego Repertory Theatre), Three Days of Rain (Compass Theatre), Dracula (North Coast Repertory Theatre), The Goodbye Girl (Moonlight Stage Productions) and Into the Woods (Starlight Theatre). His directing credits include Barefoot in the Park (January 2011), Ring Round the Moon and You Never Can Tell (Moonlight Stage Productions), Twelfth Night (Actors’ Rep - Ohio) and Brilliant Traces (Finishing the Hat Productions, Los Angeles). He received his M.F.A. from UC Irvine. www.jasonheil.com.
Frankie
Michael Winther
Michael Winther has previously appeared at the Globe in King Lear, Damn Yankees and Forever Plaid. His Broadway credits include 33 Variations, Mamma Mia!, The Crucible, 1776, Artist Descending a Staircase and Damn Yankees. He has appeared Off Broadway in Songs from an Unmade Bed (New York Theatre Workshop/CD on Ghostlight Records, 2006 Drama Desk and Drama League nominations), Radiant Baby (New York Shakespeare Festival and The Public Theater) and Hapgood (Lincoln Center Theater). His recent regional credits include Band Geeks! (Goodspeed Musicals), Grey Gardens (TheatreWorks, Palo Alto), Most Wanted (La Jolla Playhouse), Falsettos (George Street Playhouse), The Boys from Syracuse (CENTERSTAGE) and The People’s Temple (Guthrie Theater and PerseveranceTheatre). Other regional credits include Yale Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Syracuse Stage, Ford’s Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at White Oak, New York Stage and Film, and Orchard Project. Mr. Winther has recently been featured in the concerts of William Finn’s Songs By Ridiculously Talented Composers… (Barrington Stage Company), The Songs of Fred Hersch and Hear and Now (Lincoln Center’s American Songbook), What Makes It Great? with Rob Kapilow (Lincoln Center and Cerritos Center), The Songs of James Taylor and Broadway Close Up Series (Merkin Concert Hall), New Love Songs (Metropolitan Room), New New York Voices (Symphony Space) and Broadway Cabaret Series, Broadway by the Year and Broadway Unplugged (Town Hall). Mr. Winther’s recent film and television credits include Meet Dave, Jumper, The Break-Up, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, “Leverage” and “Law & Orde
Team
Book, Direction and Choreography
Stuart Ross
Stuart Ross directed the original New York production of Forever Plaid and many of the long-running productions around the world. He also helmed Forever Plaid: The Movie, which is slated for release in the spring of 2011. The Sound of Plaid, the coed glee club version of Forever Plaid, has been performed in schools and colleges around the country. At The Old Globe, Mr. Ross also directed Michael Cristofer’s play Breaking Up and The Boswell Sisters (which he co-wrote for the Globe with Mark Hampton). He directed the critically acclaimed revival of Enter Laughing: The Musical (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations) last season in New York. At The Public Theater, he wrote the script and co-wrote the lyrics for the musical Radiant Baby, based on the life of artist Keith Haring. His adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers was workshopped at Roundabout Theatre Company. On Broadway, Mr. Ross co-wrote the book (with Barry Keating) of the Tony-nominated musical Starmites as well as The Radio City Music Hall Easter Show. Off Broadway he wrote A Leap of Faith (a one-woman show for Faith Prince), The Heebie Jeebies, Not-So-New Faces, Tea with Bea and Fun with Dick and Jane: The Musical. His current projects include Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays, opening this fall in Los Angeles, and the Broadway transfer of Enter Laughing: The Musical.
Scenic Design
Sean Fanning
Sean Fanning is a San Diego-based set designer, with a career spanning over 30 productions across local stages. His previous Globe credits include Plaid Tidings – A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid and Kingdom. He is a Resident Artist at Cygnet Theatre Company, where his credits include Mistakes Were Made, Man of La Mancha, Parade, Dirty Blonde, Little Shop of Horrors, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, the world premiere of Tragedy of the Commons, The Norman Conquests, Noises Off, Mauritius, A Christmas Carol, A Little Night Music, The Receptionist and The Matchmaker. His other credits include Walter Cronkite is Dead (San Diego Repertory Theatre), A Raisin in the Sun (MOXIE Theatre), Hamlet (Intrepid Shakespeare Company), Birds of a Feather, Pippin and Harmony, Kansas (Diversionary Theatre), Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Old Globe/USD M.F.A. program), Das Barbecu (Theatre in Old Town) and Zombie Prom (2008 Patté Award) and The Grapes of Wrath (San Diego State University). Mr. Fanning is in his fifth season as the Resident Design Assistant at The Old Globe, where he has assisted designers on over 60 productions. He holds a B.A. in Technical Theatre from Sonoma State University and an M.F.A. in Scene Design from San Diego State University. seanfanningdesigns.com.
Lighting Design
Chris Rynne
Chris Rynne has designed several shows for The Old Globe including God of Carnage, Life of Riley, Plaid Tidings — A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, The Last Romance, Boeing-Boeing, I Do! I Do!, the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre Opening Gala, The Price, Sight Unseen, The American Plan, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Two Trains Running, Lincolnesque (San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award), Pig Farm, Trying, Vincent in Brixton (San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award), The Lady with All the Answers, The Food Chain, Two Sisters and a Piano, Blue/Orange, Time Flies, Knowing Cairo, Beyond Therapy and The Santaland Diaries, and he is the Associate Lighting Designer for Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Mr. Rynne has also designed productions for The Old Globe/University of San Diego Graduate Theatre Program including The Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, All in the Timing, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Macbeth and Getting Married. His other credits include San Diego Opera, South Coast Repertory, Madison Opera, Pasadena Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Cygnet Theatre Company, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Diversionary Theatre and Starlight Musical Theatre.
Sound Design
Paul Peterson
Paul Peterson has designed over 100 productions at The Old Globe, including The Brothers Size, God of Carnage, Nobody Loves You, Anna Christie, Odyssey, Engaging Shaw, Life of Riley, Plaid Tidings — A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, Welcome to Arroyo’s, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, The Last Romance, Lost in Yonkers, I Do! I Do!, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Cornelia, Kingdom, Six Degrees of Separation, The Women, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Bell, Book and Candle, Two Trains Running, Hold Please, Restoration Comedy, Pig Farm, Moonlight and Magnolias, Vincent in Brixton, Lucky Duck, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, Blue/Orange, Time Flies, Pentecost, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, The Boswell Sisters, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, and many more. His regional credits include designs for Milwaukee Repertory Theater, San Jose Repertory Theatre, CENTERSTAGE, La Jolla Playhouse, Sledgehammer Theatre (Associate Artist), Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company, San Diego Repertory Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Diversionary Theatre, Malashock Dance, University of San Diego, San Diego State University and Freud Playhouse at UCLA. Mr. Peterson received his B.F.A. in Drama with an emphasis in Technical Design from San Diego State University.
Projection Design
Chris Luessmann
Chris Luessmann recently designed projections for Gee's Bend at North Coast Repertory Theatre. His other designs include Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays (La Jolla Playhouse), The Kosher Cheerleader (Arizona Jewish Theatre Company and Parker Playhouse in Florida), Distracted and Our Town (Mira Costa College), Madagascar and A Christmas Carol (North Coast Repertory Theatre) Angels in America and Desperados in Dreamland (UC San Diego), The Magic Fire (Moonlight Stage Productions) and Jesus Christ Superstar (La Paloma Theatre). Mr. Luessmann has also programmed and supervised projections for The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse and on Broadway. He holds a B.A. in Theatre from UCLA and an M.F.A. in Theatre from UC San Diego.
Stage Manager
Elizabeth Stephens
Elizabeth Stephens recently stage managed the Globe’s productions of Life of Riley and Plaid Tidings – A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid. She has stage managed locally for North Coast Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company. Ms. Stephens was the Production Stage Manager for the San Diego Symphony for four years. She has also stage managed for Pasadena Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company and The Acting Company.
