Teresita Brimms (Puck, Philostrates) was born and raised in California (Bay Area). She earned her bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts from CSU East Bay and is passionate about all forms of art: theater, film, and jewelry design. Focusing on theatre most of her career from 2010 – 2019, she turned to film once the pandemic hit. She has a knack for directing and has produced several short films with her partner, Peter, since 2019. She has been an educator since 2016 and hopes to incorporate more art into her life, whether in the classroom or on stage/film. Teresita is very excited to be part of the cast for this whimsical and harmonious world premiere.
Izaak Heath (Oberon, Theseus) makes his Berkeley Shakespeare Company debut in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Musical! Past roles include Robert/Thomas in The One-Act Play that Goes Wrong (Left Edge Theatre), Orlando in As You Like It (College of Marin), Oscar Wilde in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily (Ross Valley Players), Lancelot in Camelot (The Mountain Play), and D’Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (Douglas Morrisson Theatre).
Jennifer Gallagher (Hippolyta, Titania) is a local actor and musician who most recently performed as Lady Macbeth in Berkeley Shakespeare Company’s production of Macbeth. Her folk/Americana ensemble, Run Boy Run, was twice featured on “A Prairie Home Companion” and were winners of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival band competition. Jennifer has performed with Twilight Theatre, Rose City Shakespeare Company, Nutz-and-Boltz Theatre, and Sonoma Shakespeare Avalon Players. She is a founding member of Berkeley Shakespeare Company and is thrilled to work with such a talented cast!
Ronnie Anderson (Egeus, Snug, Elf) is thrilled to make his debut with this innovative company. Recent roles include the flamboyant Madame Sylvia St. Croix in Ruthless! The Musical and the narcissistic actor, James Wicker in It’s Only A Play, both staged at Altarena Playhouse.
Ronnie has directed several plays and musicals including Lips Together, Teeth Apart, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in Ukraine, Mack & Mabel, Fools, Communicating Doors, She Loves Me, and Twelfth Night. Some venues Ronnie has directed and performed involve A.C.T., Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Contra Costa Civic Theatre, Actors Ensemble of Berkeley and Masquers Playhouse (where recently was honored to Stage-manage Amelie and RocketMan).
Ronnie’s overjoyed to work along this incredibly talented cast & crew!
Claire Young Ando (Cornelia, Mustardseed, Helena u/s) is absolutely thrilled to be making her Berkeley Shakespeare Company debut in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Musical! Since graduating with a BA in Musical Theatre in 2016, she has been working in theatre professionally all over the Bay Area. Some of her favorite roles include Alice in Alice in Wonderland (Epic Immersive), Bazzard in The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Marin OnStage), Eleven in the Stranger Things Experience (Mycotoo), and Morticia in The Addams Family (Landmark Musical Theatre). When she’s not performing, she loves learning about musical theatre history and talking about it on her YouTube channel: The Struggling Alto.
Tina Traboulsi (Hermia) is thrilled to be making her theatrical debut at Berkeley Shakespeare Company! Tina is a Santa Rosa & Vancouver BC based actress, singer, and creative experimentalist. She recently appeared in Cinnabar Theatre’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Logainne “Schwartzy” Schwartzandgrubenierre), Reservations, a Ross Alternative Works (RAW) production (Gail Hartman), and Santa Rosa Junior College productions of The Addams Family (Alice Beinecke) and The Wedding Singer (Grandma Rosie). During her free time, Tina enjoys long walks. Her longest walk to date is walking across California from San Francisco to Yosemite. She would like to thank her family, friends, and mentors for their constant love and support! B.A. Music & English (cum laude): Santa Clara University.
Caitlyn Vincent (Sabina, Moth, The Boy, Cornelia u/s) is a freelance audio engineer and office manager who spends most of her free time at home with her two cats and four dogs or out performing in various musical pursuits throughout the Bay Area (when Covid allows us to do this again). Her background includes work in various aspects of event planning from catering to entertainment and venues as well as audio engineering and producing. Caitlyn enjoys cooking, making art, singing, dancing, and interior design.
Christian Vaughn-Munck (Demetrius) holds a BFA in Theatre/Dance from the University of Wyoming. Past shows include The Normal Heart, The Crucible, The Little Dog Laughed, Grey Gardens, Lobby Hero and is grateful to be returning to Berkeley Shakespeare Company after working on their production of Much Ado About Nothing where he played Benedick, Balthasar, and Seacoal. In 2015, he was awarded “Denver’s Best Supporting Actor,” by Broadwayworld.com for his work in 11 Minute Theatre’s production of The Pillowman. Thank you to this talented cast and crew, thank you to all supporters of the arts, and a big thank you to his incredible husband for all the fun and support! Good luck everybody else!
Duy Anh Truong (Lysander) is excited to return to the stage after a brief hiatus for his musical theatre debut. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Musical! marks his first performance with Berkeley Shakes. Previous credits: The Conference of the Birds, Pinocchio (Inferno Theatre), and Youth Aware Out & United (New Conservatory Theatre Center).
IG: @duy.anh.truong
Elana Swartz (Helena) (she/her) is an actress and model based in San Francisco. She is originally from the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and was working throughout the Washington DC and Maryland area before moving to the bay in 2021. Some of her favorite roles include Twelfth Night (Olivia) and Much Ado About Nothing (Hero/Seacoal) with Berkeley Shakespeare Company, Picnic (Madge Owens), The Seagull (Nina), and the original production of Stained Glass (Tinkerbelle). She would like to thank her incredible friends and family for their love and support!
Torey Bookstein (Jackie Quince, Titania u/s) is a die-hard Shakespeare geek who will dissect iambs and trochees six ways before breakfast. She is also a veteran performer in classical music, musical theater, improv comedy, and solo cabaret. Favorite past projects include singing with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and the Grammy-winning UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus. Her current passion is comedy cabaret performances based on her *very* real life as a mom, in her one-woman shows, “Parenting: How Bad Could It Be?” and “Parenting Two: I’m So Glad I Caught The Vomit In My Hand.” Torey is always hugely grateful to her sweetie and to her kids (yes, the same kids who *made* that vomit), because they put up with her warbling in the kitchen. Every. Single. Day.
Zachary Vaughn-Munck (Nick Bottom) is very {insert positive adjective} to be back on stage with this phenomenal group of folks. Having been born, Zach has longed for an outlet for his creative and humorous “talents”. He is over-the-moon that Berkeley Shakes graciously chooses to look past his sweating superpower despite being forced to cast him in this amazing show due to unforeseen legal complications. Zach has enjoyed being part of such amazing Bay Area productions such shows as Much Ado About Nothing, The SpongeBob Musical, and most often, whenever he manages to make it on a stage before being escorted out by the Romanian bodyguards. On a more serious note, G sharp.
Julia Noel (Francis “Frankie” Flute) is an incoming junior at the University of San Francisco. She is majoring in Business Entrepreneurship with a minor in Music, and she is thrilled to have been cast as Francis Flute in this production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Musical! While she has been singing her whole life, she has also had the opportunity to perform a variety of roles in productions, ranging from Tamino in The Magic Flute to Snake in The Little Prince. Additionally, she is currently serving as an Assistant Musical Director for ASUSF Voices. She is grateful for this opportunity to be a part of the Berkeley Shakespeare Company and looks forward to bringing her passion and experience to the role of Francis Flute.
Skyelar Clouse (Tom Snout) is thrilled to be making her Berkeley Shakespeare Company debut! Some of her favorite credits include Pamela Edwards in The 39 Steps at the Campbell Theater, Death in EVERYBODY at Saint Mary’s College of California, and Lucy Van Pelt in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at Solano Community College. She would like to thank Sonya and Thomas for this amazing opportunity, her loved ones for always believing in her, and her family for their unwavering support and love. Enjoy the show!!
Mikki Johnson (Starveling, Peaseblossom, Portia) is an Oakland-based actor, vocalist, and model who makes her Berkeley Shakespeare Company debut with this production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Musical! Past roles include Effie White in Dreamgirls and Joanne Jefferson in Rent (Rawley T. Farnsworth Theater).
Sonya Baehr (Adaptor, Book, Lyrics and Director) has over thirty years of experience developing and directing new material for the stage. Her work includes directing the premier of the play “Americans in Breshkistan” to critical acclaim at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, to writing the books and lyrics for several commissioned musicals: Everything Must Go in collaboration with composer Bob Telson, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Musical! with Thomas W. Jones, and Journey to the West, an original Chinese Opera with a student-created score. Her latest works include the musicals, In Justice, and Delta Company, First Platoon with co-creators Vanessa Baehr-Jones and Thomas W. Jones. Sonya served for five years as the Literary Manager at the Off-Broadway Lamb’s Theater Company, where she also directed, among other works, Crossin’ The Line, The Gifts of the Magi, and The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit to critical acclaim. A passionate theater educator, Sonya founded and managed a summer performing arts program in which students developed and performed their own original musical theater productions. The program is now in its third decade. For over two decades, she ran the theater program at the Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, New York, directing over two dozen plays and musicals, including her own translations of Moliere’s Le Bourgeoise Gentilhomme and The Miser. Most recently, Sonya served as the Vice President of the International Drama/Theatre Education Association. She has been a keynote speaker and workshop presenter at drama education conferences throughout the United States as well as in Paris, Ottawa, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhuji, China. She served as a delegate to UNESCO’s 2006 first World Conference on Arts Education in Lisbon, Portugal.
Thomas W. Jones (Composer, Music Director) most recent works include the musicals, In Justice, and Delta Company, First Platoon. His compositions have been performed in Chicago, where his songs were broadcast over WFMT, in California, and in New York City where his work was broadcast over WNYC. In May, 2022, his pandemic inspired piece for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Lamentations was performed in New York by the Mineola Choral Society. Tom has over thirty years’ experience as a music educator and teacher, and has conducted over twenty musicals with professional pit bands. An accomplished choral conductor, Tom conducted the Mineola Choral Society, served as the conductor of the Huntington Men’s Chorus, founded and conducted a chamber choir in Brooklyn, The Stone House Singers, and was Assistant Conductor of the New York Choral Society as well as Associate Conductor of the New York Choral Society Chamber Singers. Along with concerts of musical theater medleys, he has conducted over fifteen major works with adult choruses and professional orchestras. Tom’s many years of educational administrative experience include Director of Fine and Performing Arts at Poly Prep Country Day School and at the North Shore Central School District in Glen Head, New York, as well as Director of Music for the Three Village Central School District in Setauket, N.Y. Tom holds a Masters Degree in Music Theory and Composition and studied conducting with Margaret Hillis at Northwestern University, Helmuth Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival, and with Fiora Contino at the Aspen Music Festival.
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