• Out @ AsoloRep: Thursday, March 28, 2024 7:30 pm. 
• Asolo Rep Talkback: Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 7 pm.
• Illumination: Saturday, April 13, 2024, 2 pm. 
• PlayDate: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 2 pm.
• Asolo Rep Talkback: Tuesday, April 21, 2024, 2 pm.

Mark Benninghofen (Inspector Hubbard) Actors Equity Association. Mark is delighted to return to the Asolo stage after his turn as Henry Drummond in Inherit The Wind. Other credits include: Juno and the Paycock, Born Yesterday, Appomattox, Time Stands Still, The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide, Great Expectations and St. Joan at The Guthrie Theater. Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Six Degrees of Separation and To Let Go and Fall at Theater Latte Da. Tyrone and Ralph and Lord Gordon Gordon for The History Theater and The Hot House at Dark & Stormy. TV and film credits include Movie Stars, Frasier, Drew Carey, Chicago Hope, The Public Domain, Wilson, Older Than America and Herman, USA.

Tony Carter He/Him (Tony Wendice) Tony is excited to be making his Asolo Rep debut! While he’s based in Chicago, he loves bouncing around the country for work. Some of his favorite credits include Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast (Drury Lane Theatre), Chris in The Play That Goes Wrong (Oregon Cabaret Theatre), Freddy in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Actors Theatre of Indiana), and Oliver in As You Like it (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre & Milwaukee Rep). He’s also proud to have worked at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, PCPA: Pacific Conservatory Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, and Utah Festival Opera. Follow him on instagram @tonyscarter.

Christina Mei Chen She/Her (U/S Maxine Halliday) Originally from Beijing, Christina has spent the past 10 years in Boston and Manhattan, where she made her off-Broadway debut in Flying Tigers Flying Away (Theatre at St. Peter’s Church). Regional: Vietgone (Company One Boston) and The Wolves (Lyric Stage Boston). Other NYC Theatre: girl power sex positive joy ride (SheNYC festival), Measure for Measure (Backroom Shakespeare Project), Thirteenth Night (New York Theatre Festival). Education: Northeastern University, LAMDA, American Conservatory Theatre. FSU/Asolo Conservatory MFA Candidate Class of 2026.  

Alex Hatcher (U/S Tony Wendice) Alex is a current MFA Acting candidate at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training and is thrilled to be making his Asolo Rep debut this season! He holds a BFA in Acting from Boston University with a concentration in Musical Theater and Dance. Favorite stage credits include West Side Story (Milwaukee Rep), 1776 (New Rep), Hamlet (LAMDA), and Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play (BU). alexanderhatcher.com

Billy Lyons He/Him (U/S Inspector Hubbard) Billy, from NYC, is a first-year student with FSU / Asolo Conservatory. Off-Broadway: Dancing at Lughnasa at The Irish Rep and The Things They Carried with The American Place Theatre; Regional credits include Dancing at Lughnasa, The Imaginary Invalid, and The Time of the Cuckoo at the Schoolhouse Theatre. He directed a documentary, It Takes a Lunatic, about his acting teacher and mentor, Wynn Handman, which is streaming on Netflix. BFA Ithaca College.  

Sharon Pearlman She/Her (U/S Margot Wendice) Sharon was last seen on the Mertz stage in Inherit the Wind as Mrs. Bollinger/Reuters Reporter/Vocal Captain. She also understudied in Our Town, Knoxville, and Eureka Day. Other credits include Rudolph in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (National Tour), Crissy in Hair, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Osaka, Japan (original cast). Sharon is a third-year M.F.A. student at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. B.F.A. from NYU (Tisch). www.sharonpearlman.com 

Jackson Purdy He/Him (U/S Lesgate) Jackson was born and raised in Bellows Falls, Vermont, and is a recent graduate of Temple University (B.A. Theater). He has enjoyed working with the Philadelphia New Playwrights Festival, and locally in Sarasota with Asolo Rep and Florida Studio Theatre. He is currently in the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. Much love to all his friends and family!  

Mikhail Roberts He/Him (Lesgate) Mikhail first worked with Asolo Rep in the 2021/2022 season, as Understudy for Our Town, Grand Horizons, Hood, and Eureka Day -- the last of which he stepped in for the role of Don during intermission. This season at Asolo, Roberts performed the role of Bertram Cates in Inherit the Wind. Other credits can be viewed in his website: mikhailroberts.com 

Brooke Turner She/Her (Margot Wendice) Brooke is an FSU/Asolo M.F.A. candidate and intimacy director from Cleveland, OH, where she earned her B.F.A. in Classical Acting from Baldwin Wallace University. Some previous credits include: Inherit the Wind (Mrs. McLain) and Our Town (Wally U/S) at Asolo Rep, Pride and Prejudice (Elizabeth U/S) and Misery (Annie U/S) at Great Lakes Theatre, and Richard III (Lady Anne) with The Idaho Shakespeare Festival. She is grateful to Dad, Christian, her friends/family, and Asolo Rep. 

Zia Lawrence They/She (Maxine Hadley) Thrilled to making their Asolo Repertory Theater Debut. Credits Include: Alls Well That Ends Well, Cymbeline, Pipeline, Cloud Nine. Off Broadway: Where the Men Work (Prague Fringe Festival) 42nd Annual Harriet Holland (New Georges) Film: Gossip Girl (HBO) Proud NYU Grad Acting alum. She thanks her family endlessly for always being down to love and make art.

Drayton Alexander He/They (Dramaturg) Highlights at Asolo Rep include Cabaret (transfer to The Old Globe), Man of La Mancha, Chicken and Biscuits, and workshops of Stellar Atmospheres and Dancing in the Blue Light. Other dramaturgical highlights include Spin at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Theatre Weekly Award, Best Solo Performance), Taylor Mac’s ball-pit play The Fre (world premiere), Not My Monster (OBA nomination, Best Family Entertainment), Syncing Ink, Scraps (world premiere), and good friday at The Flea Theater. Drayton was the Co-Artistic Producer of Serials for two years and has worked with such theater companies as The Vineyard, The New Group, New Earth Theatre, and Singapore Repertory Theatre. He received an Olwen Wymark award from the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain and holds an M.F.A. from NYU Tisch Asia.

 

Summer Dawn Wallace She/Her (Intimacy Consultant) Summer is a playmaker: a versatile theatre professional working as producer, director, actor, intimacy coordinator and educator. Summer is the Producing Artistic Director at Urbanite Theatre, which focuses on contemporary new works and has produced over 50+ new plays. She is happy to be returning to Asolo Rep after playing Mrs. Gibbs in Our Town in 2022. Regional Credits include: 1st Stage, Vashon Repertory Theatre, Cumberland County Playhouse, Dog Day’s Theatre, FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, New College of Florida and the list goes on. She is a proud member of AEA and Sag-Aftra and would like to express her deepest gratitude to the incredible Sarasota patrons and the Asolo Repertory Theatre team.  

Patricia Delorey She/Her (Voice & Dialect Coach) Asolo Rep favorites include: Knoxville (world premiere), Silent Sky, Crazy For You, Cabaret, Sweat, The Cake, Sweeney Todd, Gloria, Ragtime, Rhinoceros, Roe, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, The Great Society, Josephine (world premiere), All The Way, West Side Story, Sotto Voce, Other Desert Cities, The Grapes of Wrath, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Clybourne Park, The Innocents (world premiere), Twelve Angry Men, Bonnie & Clyde (world premiere), Doubt, Equus. Other credits include Judith (world premiere Urbanite Theatre), Pitmen Painters (American Stage Theatre), The Smuggler (Urbanite Theatre), Studio Six’s production of Plasticine (The Baryshnikov Arts Center), Saturday Night Fever (Royal Caribbean International Cruises), Stone Cold Dead Serious (world premiere American Repertory Theatre), and Nocturne (world premiere American Repertory Theatre).    

Tracy Dorman She/Her (Costume Design) Tracy has designed numerous productions at the Asolo Rep including last season’s The Three Musketeers. She has designed productions at regional theater and opera companies around the country including at Syracuse Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Cleveland Play House, GEVA, Milwaukee Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Drury Lane (Chicago), Kansas City Rep, Gulfshore Playhouse, Maltz-Jupiter, Manhattan School of Music, Virginia Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Omaha, Chicago Opera Theatre, Glimmerglass, and New York City Opera. From 2005-2008 she was an associate costume designer on the CBS daytime drama As the World Turns, for which she won an Emmy Award for Costume Design. Please visit www.tracydorman.com for a more extensive listing of production credits.

Robert Elhai He/Him (Original Music Compositions) Robert is a Tony and Drama Desk nominee for his work on Broadway’s The Lion King, is based in Minneapolis where his theater music has been performed by Theatre Latté Da, Jungle Theater, The History Theatre, and Nautilus Music-Theater, among others. His arrangements have been heard in many theaters, concert halls, and even arenas (The Who and Metallica) around the world. He has orchestrated nearly 200 film scores including those by Elliot Goldenthal (the Oscar-winning score to Frida), Michael Kamen (Band Of Brothers) and Brian Tyler (Fast and Furious franchise). robertelhai.com

Antonio Troy Ferron He/Him (Scenic Design) Antonio is returning after designing Chicken & Biscuits with Asolo Rep last season. He is a designer for stage and screen based out of Los Angeles and raised in nearby Ocala, FL. He is the Assistant Art Director for the series Bel-Air, streaming on Peacock. Additional television credits include Archive 81 (Netflix), and Disco Inferno (Netflix). Theatre work includes assisting for Broadway and regional productions with Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Geffen Playhouse, and Second Stage Theater, as well as set design for productions including, I Hate Hamlet (Ocala Civic Theatre) and The Fantasticks (Jean’s Playhouse).

Michelle Hart She/Her (Hair/Wig & Make-up Design) Michelle designs for Asolo Rep and FSU/Asolo Conservatory. Other credits: Sarasota Ballet, Palm Beach Drama Works, Free Fall Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, West Coast Black Theatre Troupe, Banyan Theatre, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Venice Theatre, Dorset Theatre, Barrington Stage and Open Stage Theatre. She has also done hair and/or make-up for Joan Rivers, Doris Roberts, Martin Short, Jane Russell, Arlene Dahl, Soledad Villamil, Jane Pauley, Richard Dreyfuss, Castille Langdon, Christopher Higgins, Mary Mara, Heather Robb, Lauren Sweetser, Justin Long, Paul Downs, Douglas Sills, and Nia Hills. Music videos “Second Chance” by Shinedown, “Reverse Cowgirl” by T-Pain. Film and television: Lady Of The Manor, Paradise, FL, and The Real Stephen Blatt.    

Jeffrey Hatcher (Playwright) Broadway: Never Gonna Dance (Book). Off-Broadway: Three Viewings and A Picasso at Manhattan Theatre Club; Scotland Road and The Turn of the Screw at Primary Stages; Tuesdays with Morrie (with Mitch Albom) at The Minetta Lane; Murder By Poe, The Turn of the Screw and The Spy at The Acting Company; Neddy at American Place; and Fellow Travelers at Manhattan Punchline. Other Plays/Theaters: Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Mrs. Mannerly, Murderers, Mercy of a Storm, Smash, Armadale, Korczak's Children, To Fool the Eye, The Falls, A Piece of the Rope, All the Way with LBJ, The Government Inspector, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and others at The Guthrie Theatre, Old Globe, Yale Rep, The Geffen, Seattle Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Arizona Theater Company, San Jose Rep, The Empty Space, Indiana Rep, Children's Theater Company, History Theater, Madison Rep, Intiman, Illusion, Denver Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Rep, Repertory Theater of St. Louis, Actors Theater of Louisville, Philadelphia Theater Company, Asolo, City Theater, Studio Arena and dozens more in the U.S. and abroad. Film/ TV: Stage Beauty, Casanova, The Duchess, and episodes of Columbo. Grants/Awards: NEA, TCG, Lila Wallace Fund, Rosenthal New Play Prize, Frankel Award, Charles MacArthur Fellowship Award, McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation and Barrymore Award Best New Play. He is a member and/or alumnus of The Playwrights Center, the Dramatists Guild, the Writers Guild and New Dramatists.

James E. Lawlor III (Lighting Designer) Jimmy is a Scorpio, father, cat owner, and a music enthusiast, who enjoys scotch and bourbon. He only runs when chased.  Jimmy designs lighting for opera, theatre, dance, corporate clients, architecture, interiors, and more. At Asolo Rep: The Three Musketeers, Eureka Day. New York works include Broadway, Off Broadway, and beyond. Regional work includes Opera, Theatre, and Dance. Jimmy’s work has been seen internationally in Abu Dhabi, Sydney, Mexico, Canada, Austria, and Germany. MFA from NYU Tisch. Member USA 829.  lawlordesign.com

Kristin Loughry She/Her (Assistant Stage Manager) Kristin is thrilled to be back in sunny Sarasota! Previous Asolo Rep credits include Inherit the Wind, Silent Sky, Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, The Cake, Grand Horizons, Eureka Day and the unopened production of The Great Leap in the Cook. Additional credits include shows with Baltimore Center Stage, Hangar Theatre Company, Infinity Theatre Company, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, NewArts, New London Barn Playhouse, Primary Stages, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Soho Playhouse, Virginia Stage Company, NYU Grad Acting, and The New School. Proud AEA member and Ithaca College alum. Mucho mucho amor para Gaby (y Turbo).

 

Sharath Patel He/ Him (Sound Design) Based in Portland, Oregon, Sharath works nationally and internationally focusing on experimental, commercial, academic, political, and socially conscious theatre. Recent designs: Asolo Rep, Cleveland Play House, The Alley Theatre, The Alliance, Theatrical Outfit, TheatreWorks of Silicon Valley, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Children’s Theatre, A.C.T., American Rep, Artists Rep, Seattle Rep, Yale Rep, Indiana Rep, Milwaukee Rep, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Dallas Theatre Center, The Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and Alabama Shakes. Additional work: New York City, San Francisco, L.A., India, France, England, Germany, and Romania. Affiliations: USA829, Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association, Arts Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, National Respondent for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Resident Artist at Artists Rep. BFA: Ohio University. MFA: Yale School of Drama. sharathpatel.com

Mark Rose He/Him (Fight Choreographer) Mark is a NY based fight choreographer, stuntman, actor, and Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. Fight Choreography credits: Asolo Rep: Dial M for Murder, Intimate Apparel, Crazy for You, Cabaret, Camelot, Into The Breeches, Lifespan of a Fact, Rhinoceros, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Romeo & Juliet. Trinity Rep: Sweeney Todd, The Good John Proctor, Fences, Becky Nurse of Salem, Tale of Two Cities, Sueno, A Christmas Carol (2022). Legoland NY: The Big Test Stunt Show (2022). Idlewild & Soak Zone Theme Park: Frontier Follies Stunt Show (2018-2019). Sparta NJ Renaissance Faire: The Kings Tournament (2017-present), Misfits of Fortune Pirate Show (2021-present). You can see more at mark-rose.com or on Instagram: @Mark.Rose.Stunts

Céline Rosenthal (Associate Artistic Director; Resident Casting Director; Director) Céline is a Tony®-nominated producer, “Key”; member of The Ring Of Keys and New Georges Affiliate Artist. At Asolo Rep they directed Grand Horizons, The Incident At Our Lady Of Perpetual Help, The Lifespan of a Fact, Camelot, the Educational Tours of Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest, and served as AD to Frank Galati on Knoxville. Céline developed new work with NYMF, New Georges, MTF, Kidoons, and National Queer Theatre, and helms Asolo Rep’s new work series, The Ground Floor. Other Recent Projects: In The Next Room, Angel Street, A Doll’s House, Spike Heels (Studio Theatre); Trayf (New Rep); Drowning in Cairo (N.Q.T); the Award Winning short film Wildflower. They are an Alumnus of CTI and BMI Lehman Engel Workshop. celinerosenthal.nyc  

Nia Sciarretta She/Her (Production Stage Manager) Selected Asolo Rep credits include PSM for Knoxville, Cabaret, Man of La Mancha, Silent Sky, Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, The Great Leap, The Sound of Music, Into the Breeches, The Music Man, Sweeney Todd, Sweat, Shakespeare in Love, Roe, and the 2020-21 Terrace Stage season, as well as assistant stage manager for Rhinoceros, Guys & Dolls, All the Way, South Pacific, and Hero: The Musical. Previous off-Broadway credits include work on Jesus Hopped the A Train, In the Blood, and The Wayside Motor Inn at the Signature Theatre. Nia has also worked with Creede Repertory Theatre, the Hangar Theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, the Flea Theatre, and Penguin Rep. Member of AEA.   

DeWanda Smith Soeder (Cultural Competency Consultant) President of Smith-Soeder Enterprises, LLC. In addition to providing cultural competency for all Asolo productions, DeWanda is the (IDEA) Specialist for the Asolo supporting organizational culture change and development. Her cultural competency process is based on her research and thesis, “Theatre as a Diversity Intervention”. Other cultural competency consulting engagements include; Hadestown (Broadway and Tour), Little Shop of Horrors, Off-Broadway, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, RCI Productions, LDK Productions, Martians Productions, other regional theaters, playwrights and actors. She holds a M.A. in Psychology, and a B.S. in Health and Human Services. In addition to being a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP), her credentials include; Prosci Certified Change Practitioner, Instruction Design and Development, Human Behavior and Interaction, Emotional Intelligence and Adjunct Professor of Psychology.