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The most lively and imaginative production of a Shakespeare play you will likely ever see...

—Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com

Such a delightful show! The music added a great deal of mood and placed the magic in earshot.

—Nancy Wilkinson, Audience Member

…superb in every category of drama:  the acting, the agility of the actors,
the costumes, the music and dancing.

—Denice Blake and John Blackwell, Audience Members

…delicious and gorgeous and so very funny…
tears streaming down your face, gasping for breath funny…

—Susan Tiss, Audience Member

…the show was beautiful. The coconuts were inspired…

—Michael Bailey, Audience Member

Performance run time of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is 2 hours,
including one 10-minute intermission.

Supporting Materials

Free “Open Talk” Video

Click here to see the video

The Poetry and Plot of Midsummer Night’s Dream

presented on Saturday, April 22 at 2:00 p.m.

Dr. Peter Medine, UA Professor Emeritus of the English Department , introduces us to the story, characters, and language we’ll encounter in the play.

Download the handout referred to by Dr. Medine during his talk

This open talk is supported in part by a generous gift from Marianne Leedy

Essay

Read Jerry James’ essay about how Shakespeare updated and blended Irish, Norse, Greek and German mythology to create the world of his beloved play.

The Green World:
Oberon, Titania, Puck and the Demi-Diabolical Realm of Fae

Teaser Trailer for A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Click here to see the video

A brief teaser of the play overlaid with critic and audience reviews from opening weekend.

A Propmaster’s Guide to A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Click here to see the video

Prop Master Christopher Pankratz takes us on a tour of some of the props, costumes, and special lighting effects currently under construction.

Poster

View the full-sized poster for the play

Reviews

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is filled with The Rogue Theatre’s special kind of fairy magic 
Review of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Chuck Graham on May 2 at Let The Show Begin! and TucsonStage.com

Cynthia Meier (Director) is Co-Founder and Managing & Associate Artistic Director for The Rogue Theatre and holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of Arizona. She has directed 41 of The Rogue’s 89 productions to date including The Secret in the Wings, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Galileo, Bach at Leipzig, The White Snake, Hamlet, Waiting for Godot, Betrayal, Naga Mandala, and The Four of Us for which she received Arizona Daily Star Mac Award nominations as Best Director, as well as Arcadia and Richard III for which she won Mac Awards for Direction. Cynthia has created stage adaptations for The Rogue of Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Virginia Woolf’s The Lady in the Looking Glass & Mrs Dalloway, James Joyce’s The Dead, Kafka’s Metamorphosis, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tales of the Jazz Age, and (along with Holly Griffith) Moby Dick. She is co-founder of Bloodhut Productions, a company performing original monologues and comedy improvisation, which toured throughout the western United States. She also directed The Seagull (featuring Ken Ruta) for Tucson Art Theatre, and she directed Talia Shire in Sister Mendelssohn and Edward Herrmann in Beloved Brahms for Chamber Music Plus Southwest. Cynthia has also been nominated for nine Mac Awards for Best Actress from the Arizona Daily Star, and in 2008, she received the Mac Award for Best Actress for her performance of Stevie in Edward Albee’s The Goat at The Rogue Theatre.

Cynthia Meier’s direction of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is supported in part
by generous gifts from Jan Linn & Richard Pincus and Andy Watson

DIRECTOR’S NOTES

Joe and I recently visited a class at a little charter school where a group of middle-schoolers were preparing their version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We watched scenes from the play, where a very young Lysander was reluctant to touch his Hermia, and the students giggled when we talked about the character of Bottom turning into an “ass.” As they squirmed their way through Shakespeare’s verse, we were taken to that moment when both poetry and awareness of the opposite sex intersected in our lives and we looked with new eyes upon the world.

The play is essentially about romantic love—the whimsical and unreasonable nature of it. The theme of love is played out in four intersecting strands: 1) Duke Theseus and Hippolyta who are about to be married, 2) four young lovers who escape to the forest, 3) a group of “rude mechanicals” or artisans who are preparing a play for the Duke’s wedding, and 4) the fairy kingdom where Oberon and Titania (king and queen of the fairies) are at war. The twists and turns of these strands come together in the final act, when a very funny play is presented for the Duke, and Nature is restored to its rightful balance.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a joyful undertaking. It is also the most popular of all of Shakespeare’s plays (and seeing the enthusiasm that our actors and designers and technical staff showed, I can see why). Everybody wants to be part of the magic. Our Master Electrician suggested fireflies, mysterious animal eyes, and stars. Our Prop Master had a field day making flowers filled with love potions, coconut breasts for Thisbe, and a lion’s mane. Our Scenic Designer and Scenic Painter have filled the stage with flowers and leaves and frogs and deer hooves in the forest. Our Box Office staff member created facial gem designs for the fairies. And in a little workshop in western Ukraine, amid all their strife, an artist made fairy wings for us.

Midsummer is being read in schools all over town, probably all over the country and the globe. Many students will be seeing our production. We hope the play reminds you of the magic surrounding you as you leave the theatre and look upon the world with new eyes.

—Cynthia Meier, Director
director@TheRogueTheatre.org

Cast

Zachary Austin (Lysander) graduated in 2020 with his BFA in Acting. Since his graduation, he has been continuing his growth through helping students find their voices in the various classrooms he has found himself in around Tucson, most recently at City High School in a partnership through The Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre. Some of his recent credits include: Faustus: That Damned Woman, Killed a Man (Joking), Citizen: An American Lyric, Twelfth Night, Tecumseh!, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Pippin and The Pajama Game. In addition to his acting credits, Zac has directed Shows such as Our Town and Almost, Maine with young Tucson actors. Zac would like to thank his Mom, Dad and sister for all their support over the years. Finally, he would like to thank Annika Maher for being his rock.

Zachary Austin’s performance is supported in part by generous gifts
from Julia Annas and Brock & Chantal McCaman

Jeffrey Baden (Peaseblossom) is ecstatic to be working with The Rogue again this season. Jeffrey previously performed with The Rogue in Passage as R, Twelfth Night as Valentine and First Officer, As You Like It as Charles the Wrestler and Amiens, A View from the Bridge as Marco, and in Moby Dick as Queequeg. Some of his prior performances were as Leonardo in The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre’s Blood Wedding, Benny in In the Heights, and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet with Shakespeare in the Park. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and at Pima Community College.

Jeffrey Baden’s performance is supported in part by generous gifts
from Paul Winick & Ronda Lustman and Todd Hansen

Julia Balestracci (Moth) is thrilled to join the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in her fifth Rogue production.  She was previously seen as Miss Pym in Mrs Dalloway, The Woman in Death of a Salesman, Audrey in As You Like It and Clytemnestra in The Oresteia, and has also appeared in The Rogue’s Ambruster play reading series. In past seasons, she has performed with The Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre in Faustus: The Damned Woman, The Light Princess, The Little Prince, Blood Wedding, Eurydice, and Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, and in the play reading Before the German’s Here, a collaboration with the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA). Julia has a M.M. in voice from Longy School of Music of Bard College, and a BA in Theater Studies from Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School.  

Julia Balestracci’s performance is supported in part by
a generous gift from Kristi Lewis

Bryn Booth (Hermia) is a graduate of the BFA Acting program at the University of Arizona. She was most recently seen as Martine in Babette’s Feast, Estella in Great Expectations, Sally Seton in Mrs Dalloway, Q in Passage, Letta in Death of a Salesman, Viola in Twelfth Night and Edna in The Awakening. This is Bryn’s sixth season as a member of the Resident Acting Ensemble with The Rogue where she has performed in As You Like It, The Oresteia, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, A View from the Bridge, Moby Dick, Blithe Spirit, Middletown, The Crucible (Mac Award Nominee for Best Actress), The Secret in the Wings, Much Ado About Nothing, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Galileo, King Lear, The Grapes of Wrath, A House of Pomegranates, and Macbeth. In 2018, Bryn played Mag in the Scoundrel & Scamp’s production of Lovers (Mac Award Nominee for Best Actress). Other credits include The Love Talker (Scoundrel & Scamp), Romeo & Juliet (Tucson Shakespeare in the Park), and Othello (Arizona Repertory Theatre). She also had the pleasure of understudying with Arizona Theatre Company in Romeo & Juliet and Of Mice and Men. Bryn wants to thank Joe and Cindy for giving her the best job she’s ever had with the most amazing people she’s ever met.

Bryn Booth’s performance is supported in part by generous gifts
from Denice Blake & John Blackwell and Pat & John Danloe

Chelsea Bowdren (Helena) is in her first season as a member of The Rogue Resident Acting Ensemble. She has previously performed on The Rogue stage as Biddy/Camilla Pocket in Great Expectations, Jessie in Sweat, Miss Killman in Mrs Dalloway, Jenny/Miss Forsythe in Death of a Salesman and Maria in Twelfth Night. Her Rogue Theatre debut was as Rosalind in Immortal Longings. Chelsea received her BFA in Acting from the University of Arizona and performed in Taming of the Shrew, Diary of Anne Frank, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Medea, & Titus Andronicus as a member of Arizona Repertory Theatre. For Archer, Eloise, and Feloise.

Chelsea Bowdren’s performance is supported in part by generous gifts
from Peggy Houghton & Paul Garner and Eloise Gore & Allen Hile

Jim Fye (Snug) began his working relationship with Master Shakespeare here in Tucson at the University of Arizona back in the seventies when he appeared in mainstage productions as Sir Nathaniel in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Prologue/Friar John in Romeo and Juliet, and Antonio in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.  Since then, he has appeared in a second R&J for the Masquers in Point Richmond, California (this time as Friar Laurence), had a second go at Sir Nathaniel in LLL for Marin Shakespeare Company, and played Gloucester in King Lear for Theatre Rhinoceros in San Francisco.  Shakespeare-themed roles include the Player in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Norman in The Dresser.  Jim recently made his Rogue Theatre debut in Babette’s Feast.  

Jim Fye’s performance is supported in part by
a generous gift from Richard & Debra Apling

Lucas Gonzales (Robin Starveling) is excited to return to The Rogue stage, after last appearing as Cousin Raymond in Great Expectations. He also performed as Oscar in Sweat and as Stanley in Death of a Salesman. He is a Tucson native and University of Arizona graduate having made his first Rogue appearance in Major Barbara back in 2011. Over the last decade, he has also been seen at Beowulf Alley Theatre and the Roadrunner Theatre along with several local films from students and professionals based right here in town. His other focus is being an emcee/DJ at countless venues across Tucson, sparking everything from open mic nights to karaoke shows in an effort to bring out the artistry of whoever dares to try. Enjoy the show! We’ve all made it this far, so continue to be safe. For Baby Jack and Little Emma.

Lucas Gonzales’ performance is supported in part by
a generous gift from Richard & Debra Apling

David Greenwood (Peter Quince) is thrilled to be back as a member of The Rogue Resident Acting Ensemble. Previous Rogue credits include Babette’s Feast, Moby Dick, Middletown, The Crucible, Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, The Grapes of Wrath, Celia A Slave, Macbeth, The White Snake, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, By the Bog of Cats, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Merchant of Venice, Waiting for Godot, Jerusalem, Awake and Sing, Purgatorio, Arcadia, Measure for Measure, Mistake of the Goddess, Richard III, Metamorphosis, Mother Courage, The Night Heron, Journey to the West, The Winter’s Tale, As I Lay Dying, Major Barbara, The Real Inspector Hound, The Decameron and The Rogue’s first production, The Balcony. David has appeared locally in Shining City and The Birthday Party at Beowulf Alley Theatre and The One-Armed Man, The Disposal and The Glass Menagerie at Tucson Art Theatre.

David Greenwood’s performance is supported in part by
generous gifts from Katherine Jacobson and Laura Kosakowsky

Hunter Hnat (Puck) is grateful to be in his fifth season as a member of The Rogue Resident Acting Ensemble. You may have seen him in previous Rogue productions as Young Loewenhielm in Babette’s Feast, Pip in Great Expectations, Jason in Sweat, Inner Septimus in Mrs Dalloway, M in Passage, Happy in Death of a Salesman, Sebastian in Twelfth Night, Robert in The Awakening, Le Beau/Sylvius in As You Like It, Brenden in The Weir, Orestes in The Oresteia, Lord Byron/Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Rodolpho in A View from the Bridge, Ray Dooley in The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Flask in Moby Dick, Edmund Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, the Mechanic in Middletown, Ezekiel Cheever in The Crucible, Ensemble in The Secret in the Wings, Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Andrea in Galileo, Oswald in King Lear, Steindorff in Bach at Leipzig, and Ensemble for A House of Pomegranates. Other credits include Salomé (Scoundrel & Scamp), U/S in Romeo and Juliet (Arizona Theatre Company), and How the House Burned Down (Live Theatre Workshop). He is a U of A alumnus with his BFA in Musical Theatre, class of 2015. Enjoy the show!

Hunter Hnat’s performance is supported in part by generous gifts from
Sally Krusing, Jim Wilson & Adam Hostetter and George Timson

Christopher Johnson (Oberon/Theseus) first came to The Rogue in 2011 to play Jewel in As I Lay Dying and now serves as Assistant Artistic Director, Play-Reading Producer, and Board Member. Select acting credits include Joshua in Corpus Christi, Peter in Bug, The Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret (2013 Mac Award Winner – Best Actor, Musical), Doug in Gruesome Playground Injuries, The Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show, Alan in Lemon Sky, Betty/Gerry in Cloud 9, Pale in Burn This, Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2009 & 2014), Chicklet in Psycho Beach Party, Thom Pain in Thom Pain (based on nothing), Danny in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and Prior Walter in The Rogue’s production of Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches (2016 Mac Award Winner – Best Actor, Drama). In addition to acting for The Rogue over the years, he has also directed, adapted, and served as stage manager for both full productions and play-readings. He is a member of the Resident Acting Ensemble.

Christopher Johnson’s performance is supported in part by
generous gifts from Cheryl Lockhart and Julia Annas

Joseph McGrath (Nick Bottom) is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama and Co-Founder and Artistic Director for The Rogue Theatre. He has recently appeared in The Seafarer, Great Expectations, Mrs Dalloway, Passage, Death of a Salesman, Twelfth Night, The Awakening, As You Like It, The Weir, A View from the Bridge, Moby Dick, Long Day’s Journey into Night, The Crucible, The Secret in the Wings, Galileo (2018 Mac Award for Best Actor), and King Lear. He also received the Mac Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Tobias in A Delicate Balance. Joe has toured with John Houseman’s Acting Company and has performed with the Utah Shakespearean Festival. He has been a frequent performer with Ballet Tucson appearing in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and for seventeen years as Herr Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker. He has also performed with Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Opera, and Arizona Onstage.

Joseph McGrath’s performance is supported in part by generous gifts
from Kathleen McGrath & Jerry James and Clay Shirk

Christopher Pankratz (Tom Snout) is honored to be both an actor and a member of the production staff at The Rogue Theatre. Christopher’s acting credits include Great Expectations, The Awakening, As You Like It, Everybody, A View from the Bridge, Moby Dick, The Crucible, Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, and The Grapes of Wrath at The Rogue Theatre, as well as Lovers at the Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre and Sunday in the Park with George at Arizona Onstage Productions. In 2019, he directed An Enemy of the People for the John and Joyce Ambruster Play-Reading Series, and will be directing the upcoming staged reading of Constellations. Christopher has written and produced numerous plays while teaching theatre at Flowing Wells High School, including Black Friday, Frankenstein, Cuando Soñamos, Spinning Tales, Leave It to the Snakes, Cuando Mentimos, Cuckoo, Cuando Perdonamos, Spinning Tales The Musical, and The Snow Queen. His three recently-published plays: The Longest Day of April, The Story Seller’s Tale, and You Can’t Make Wine from Raisins are now available online for licensing and performance. While attending the University of Arizona as a Baird Scholar, Christopher earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the UA School of Theatre, Film, and Television, as well as a Master’s Degree from the College of Education. While teaching, he was named the 2018 Arizona Thespians Teacher of the Year, the 2019 National High School Musical Theatre Awards Southern Arizona Best Director, and the 2020 Raytheon Leaders in Education High School Teacher of the Year. Christopher would like to thank his colleagues, family, and friends for their support and inspiration.

Christopher Pankratz’s performance is supported in part by
a generous gift from Barbara & Gerald Goldberg

Carley Elizabeth Preston (Titania/Hippolyta) was last seen on The Rogue stage as Babette in Babette’s Feast. Now in her fifth season as a member of The Rogue Theatre’s Resident Acting Ensemble, Carley has also appeared as Cynthia in Sweat, Lucrezia in Mrs Dalloway, B in Passage, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Adele in The Awakening, Rosalind in As You Like It, Valerie in The Weir, Beatrice Carbone in A View from the Bridge, Mrs. Bradman in Blithe Spirit, and as Tituba in The Crucible. Carley received her BFA from the University of Arizona where she was a member of the Arizona Repertory Theatre. Some of her other stage credits include Time Stands Still (Mac Award for Best Actress), Molly Sweeney, Enchanted April, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Live Theatre Workshop), Mrs. Mannerly (Mac Award Nominee for Best Actress), Boston Marriage, By the Bog of Cats, Miracle on 34th Street (Mac Award Nominee for Best Actress), Kimberly Akimbo, and Good People. Carley is also the Diversity Specialist for The Rogue. She would like to thank the loves of her life, Jerrad McMurrich and their fur babies Loki Björn Hiddleston and Freyja Laveau for supporting her theatre habit!

Carley Elizabeth Preston’s performance is supported in part
by generous gifts from Mona Mizell and Julia Annas

Kate Scally (Mustard Seed) is excited to return to The Rogue after making her debut as Philippa in Babette’s Feast. She is a prolific performer and teacher in the greater Tucson area. She currently teaches voice and piano out of her home studio and performs/music directs with the Arizona Rose Theatre Company. She also teaches all grade levels of music at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. She graduated with a B.M. in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music, and completed her master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy at Penn State University. She is the president of the Southern AZ Chapter of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing). Favorite past roles include Susanna in Le Nozze Di Figaro, Poppea in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Luisa in The Fantasticks, Rona Lisa Peretti in 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Beth in Little Women.

Kate Scally’s performance is supported in part by
a generous gift from Richard & Debra Apling

Aaron Shand (Demetrius) was last seen on The Rogue stage as James “Sharky” Harkin in The Seafarer. Now in his fifth season as a member of The Rogue Theatre’s Resident Acting Ensemble, Aaron has also appeared as Mr. Wopsle/Bentley Drummle in Great Expecations, Howard Wagner in Death of a Salesman, Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night, Leonce Pontellier in The Awakening, Orlando in As You Like It, Jim in The Weir, Agamemnon in The Oresteia, Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge, Ishmael in Moby Dick, The Cop in Middletown, Hathorne in The Crucible, The Sea Captain in The Secret in the Wings, Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing, Sagredo in Galileo, Noah Joad in The Grapes of Wrath and Duke of Albany in King Lear. Born and raised in Tucson, he received his B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Arizona, performing for the Arizona Repertory Theatre in Bus Stop, The Miracle Worker and Romeo & Juliet. He also spent a season with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, performing in The Cherry Orchard, State of the Union and A Christmas Carol.

Aaron Shand’s performance is supported in part by
generous gifts from Shawn Burke and Pat & John Danloe

Matt Walley (Francis Flute/Egeus) is a member of The Rogue Theatre Resident Acting Ensemble and was most recently seen as Richard in The Seafarer. Other appearances include Stan in Sweat, Stubb in Moby Dick, Dr. Bradman in Blithe Spirit, Thomas Putnam in The Crucible, Mr. Walley in The Secret in the Wings, Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, Roger in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Matti in Galileo, Edmund in King Lear and Uncle John in The Grapes of Wrath. He also enjoyed previous roles at The Rogue in Bach at Leipzig, Macbeth, Richard III, Journey to the West, The Winter’s Tale, Shipwrecked!, As I Lay Dying and Major Barbara. He also co-created and performed in Oaf at The Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre. He received an MFA from Dell’Arte International.

Matt Walley’s performance is supported in part by
generous gifts from Bill & Nancy Sohn and Sally Krusing

Evan Werner (Cobweb) has previously appeared with The Rogue as Touchstone in As You Like It, in the ensembles of Hamlet, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, and as Basil Hallward in The Picture of Dorian Gray. He studied theatre at DePaul University and Pima Community College. In the course of his work as a theatre artist he served as Directing Producer for Purple Summer Productions in Bay City, MI, as well as spending three seasons in a variety of roles at The VanBuren Theatre, and one season as a member of Winding Road Theater Ensemble. Notable acting credits include Puppeteer/Ensemble in Psycho Sarah, Jules in boom, (Mac Award Nomination, Best Actor) Ronald in The Altruists (Mac Award Nomination, Best Actor), Howie in Speech & Debate, The Man in Joan Is Burning, Haemon in Antigone, Christopher Belling in Curtains, Seductra in Head: The Musical, Sir Oakley in Anything Goes, Algernon in The Importance Of Being Earnest, Beane in Love Song, Jeff in I Love You Because, Clifford in Deathtrap, Amos in Chicago, Hal in Proof and multiple local appearances with Stories That Soar!

Evan Werner’s performance is supported in part by
a generous gift from Richard & Debra Apling

Russell Ronnebaum—Music Director, Composer
Rebecca Foreman—Harp
Diana Schaible—Flute
Mindi Acosta—Flute (performing May 6 & 13 matinée)

Original score by Russell Ronnebaum

Preshow

Selections from the production

Production Music

Lover’s Theme
The Mechanicals
Fairy Call
Oberon and Titania
Fairy Song
Flower Spell
Puck’s Mischief
Bottom’s Song
Intermission
Sleep Spell
Remedy Spell
Fairy Dance
Bergomask
Company Dance
An Honest Puck

Russell Ronnebaum (Music Director, Composer) serves as The Rogue Theatre’s Director of Music and Resident Composer. He holds a Master of Music degree in collaborative piano from the University of Arizona where he studied under Dr. Paula Fan. He currently serves as the assistant director of music at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Oro Valley, as well as the staff accompanist for the Tucson Masterworks Chorale. As a classically trained pianist, Russell has performed with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, Artifact Dance Company, Arizona Repertory Theatre, and as a concerto soloist with the Tucson Masterworks Chorale. Russell made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2016 performing the music of composer Dan Forrest. Past credits include The Rogue’s recent productions of The Seafarer, Babette’s Feast, Great Expectations, Mrs Dalloway, Passage, Death of a Salesman, Twelfth Night, The Awakening, As You Like It, The Weir, The Oresteia, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, A View from the Bridge, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Moby Dick, Blithe Spirit, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Much Ado About Nothing (Music Director) and The Secret in the Wings (Vocal Director). Russell also composes the music for Rogue Radio, a radio play series produced in partnership with Arizona Public Media, NPR 89.1 FM. Recent composition commissions and premieres include music for live theatre, strings, voice, choir, and piano. Recordings, videos, sheet music, and upcoming concert dates can be found at www.RRonnebaum.com.

Russell Ronnebaum’s music direction is supported in part by
generous gifts from Denice Blake & John Blackwell and Carol Mangold

Music Director’s Notes

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream presents us with an extravagant world full of royals, fairies, and lovers, and the mysteries of love. As music often does in our productions, the melodies and motifs were composed to evoke the places and events of the story. Early in the production, it was clear that the romantic pairing of harp and flute would best serve the mystical world of the characters and bring the instances of magic and romance to life.

The ill-fated lovers enter with a beautiful and flowing melody with a tinge of melancholy to it. Oberon, in all his majesty, is accompanied by mystical chords from the harp. The fairies are illustrated with spritely figures from the flute. Puck’s flute motifs are especially nimble and fittingly mischievous. The music accompanying the mechanicals has a light, jaunty tone, drawing inspiration from the Bergomask, a 16th c. informal folk dance of the Bergamo region of northern Italy.

Russell Ronnebaum, Music Director and Composer

Diana Schaible (Flute) is an award winning flutist, guitarist, and music educator originally from Idaho Falls, Idaho, now based in Tucson. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from the University of Idaho in 2011, and received her Master’s degree in Music Performance at the University of Arizona in 2013. While at UA, Diana was a part of the prestigious Fred Fox Graduate Wind Quintet, and played principal flute in the Arizona Symphony and UA Wind Ensemble. More recently, Ms. Schaible was a prize winner in the 2020 Flute Society of Kentucky Young Artist Competition, and has also won prizes in classical guitar at several music festivals, including MusicFest Northwest in Spokane, WA, San Francisco Bay Area Guitar Competition, and 1st prize at the Sierra Nevada Guitar Competition. She has performed internationally on both flute and guitar in Canada, Mexico, Ireland, and the United States. In addition to performing, Diana currently shares her passion for music as an instrumental Teaching Artist for Tucson Unified School District, and maintains a private teaching studio.

Mindi Acosta (Flute) is an accomplished flutist with a passion for solo, chamber, and orchestral music. Her portfolio includes performances with the Tucson Pops Orchestra, Sierra Vista Symphony, Tucson Duo Project, Crowded Quartet, and Tucson Repertory Orchestra. Mindi's talent has taken her to several countries, including the United States, Mexico, and Europe, where she has given master classes and performed at notable events such as the WASBE festival in Lucerne, Switzerland, International Music Festival in Alamos, Mexico, and the National Flute Convention. She was also a two-time finalist in the esteemed Fischoff Competition and Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition. Mindi premiered David Finko's Concerto for Piccolo with the Tucson Chamber Orchestra and has been featured on multiple albums such as Chris Black's "Lullabies and Nightmares" and Allan Alexander's "Music of Spain and South America" and "Christmas Music for Flute & Guitar." She honed her skills at the University of Arizona School of Music, studying under the tutelage of Jean-Louis Kashy.

Rebecca Foreman (Harp) is principal harpist with the Tucson Pops Orchestra and Flagstaff Symphony and also performs with the Arizona Philharmonic and Tucson Symphony orchestras. She has recorded with contemporary ensembles on the Naxos and Centaur labels and is active as a recitalist throughout Arizona, most recently performing as a presenter for Pima County Public Library. Between 2000 and 2007 she was Associate Professor in Harp at Arizona State University and is presently a music educator with Amphitheater Public Schools in Tucson. She received the American Harp Society’s Ruth Lorraine Close Award and was also a finalist in several society national competitions. She earned her B.M. and M.M. in Harp Performance from the University of Southern California where she studied with Susann McDonald and JoAnn Turovsky.

Designers and Production Staff

Cynthia Meier (Costume Design) worked her way through college at Eastern Michigan University by assisting in the costume shop. Most of what she knows about Costume Design, she learned from Katie Holkeboer, the costume designer and professor at EMU. After graduating with her MA in Speech & Theatre, Cynthia stayed on at EMU to teach Costume Design, Costume Construction, Stage Makeup, and Introduction to Technical Theatre while designing the university mainstage plays and supervising the costume shop. She has designed costumes for each and every one of The Rogue plays since 2005. 

Cynthia Meier’s costume design is supported in part
by a generous gift from Pat & John Danloe

Joseph McGrath (Scenic Design) worked in the scene shops at West Virginia State University and the Juilliard School of Drama while he was studying to become an actor. He served as Technical Director for Arizona Theatre Company from 1987–88, and opened his own scene shop, Sonora Theatre Works, in the 1990s. Joe has designed and built scenery for Ballet Tucson for most of their ballets for over 20 years, as well as various projects with UA Opera Theatre. He has designed each and every set for The Rogue since its inception in 2005.

Joseph McGrath’s scenic design is supported in part
by a generous gift from Kathleen McGrath & Jerry James

Josh Hemmo (Lighting Design) is a NYC based lighting designer who is thrilled to be back at The Rogue! His previous work was seen on Mrs Dalloway, Twelfth Night, Middletown and Much Ado About Nothing. Other notable credits include: Revelation: The Musical (Off-Broadway, The Players Theatre), Humanity’s Child (Off-Broadway), Cleopatra: A Pop Experience (Off-Off Broadway, Theater for the New City), Route 66, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Sierra Repertory Theatre), The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, A New Brain (Florida State University), Talent is Sexy, Ladies of Glen Ross (Randomly Specific Theatre, NYC), Harvey (Out of The Box Theatre), Show Risqué (Hard Rock Casio and Hotel Biloxi), Moscow Ballet’s The Great Russian Nutcracker tour (lighting director of West Coast 2017 tour), and 2016–2017 lighting fellow at Berkeley Repertory Theater. jhemmolighting.com

Josh Hemmo’s lighting design is supported in part by
a generous gift from Paul Winick & Ronda Lustman

Domino Mannheim (Lighting Design) is a freelance Lighting Designer from Tucson, Arizona. She graduated from the University of Arizona in 2017 with a BFA in Technical Theatre and Lighting Design, and most recently graduated in 2022 from Rose Bruford College in London with her Masters in Lighting In Performance. Some recent productions she designed include Die Planeten at the Staatsopera in Hannover Germany, Ordinary Days in London England, and The Revolutionists at Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC. As a traveling Designer, she is very grateful to have the opportunity to work with such an amazing team back in her hometown, and is excited to see the production come to fruition!

Domino Mannheim’s lighting design is supported in part
by a generous gift from Paul Winick & Ronda Lustman

Shannon Wallace (Stage Manager, Associate Lighting Design) first came to The Rogue in 2015 to stage manage The Picture of Dorian Gray, and now serves as their Production Stage Manager and Operations Manager. She has worked on over 30 shows with The Rogue, some of her favorites include: The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Grapes of Wrath, King Lear, Curious Incident, Much Ado About Nothing, Secret in the Wings, The Crucible, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and As You Like It. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, focusing on both stage management and lighting design. During her time in school she worked on over 25 productions with Arizona Repertory Theatre. She has also worked for Arizona Theatre Company, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Contemporary American Theatre Festival. She spent a year living in Chicago and worked as the Operations Assistant for Mudlark Theater Company. She is grateful to be working full-time as a theater artist in her hometown.

Shannon Wallace’s stage management is supported in
part by a generous gift from Sally Krusing

Shannon Elias (Assistant Stage Manager, Box Office Assistant, Volunteer Coordinator) got her first big break in theatre at age 11 when she was cast as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz in school. After that first applause, she was hooked. She began at The Rogue Theatre as an usher in 2008, and volunteered in various roles until she was hired to the box office in 2018. She made her debut on The Rogue stage in The Oresteia in 2020 and has since appeared in Babette’s Feast and the staged-readings of Everybody and The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window . She also worked backstage with The Rogue as Assistant Stage Manager for The Awakening and Mrs Dalloway. Shannon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from the University of Arizona with a minor in Special Education and Rehabilitation Psychology.

Christopher Pankratz (Property Master) is honored to be both an actor and a member of the production staff at The Rogue. Christopher has acted onstage at the Rogue since its 13th season and has been creating props for The Rogue since its 15th season. Christopher was overjoyed to join the production team full-time at the Rogue this season. Christopher has also stage-managed Rogue productions including Death of a Salesman, Sweat, and Babette’s Feast. Christopher has also worked as a scenic designer and/or property master for numerous plays and musicals at Arizona Onstage Productions including Les Miserables, Tell Me On A Sunday, Songs for a New World, The Story of My Life, and Sunday In the Park With George. Christopher has interned at Arizona Theatre Company in Literary Management and worked as the archivist for the Peter Wexler Scenic Design collection at UA Library Special Collections. Highly critical, he served for several years as the Arts and Entertainment Editor for The Observer Weekly, where he even reviewed several Rogue Productions before joining the theatre. A certified K-12 teacher, Christopher also taught Theatre and Stagecraft for seven years at Flowing Wells High School where he directed and designed over fifty productions. He has written over a dozen plays, including three recently published originals: The Longest Day of April, The Story Seller’s Tale, and You Can’t Make Wine from Raisins, which are now available for licensing and performance. When not acting onstage or calling cues from the booth, he can be found sewing in the costume shop, building in the scene shop, or tending to the flower garden out front.

Christopher Pankratz is supported as props master in
part by a generous gift from Meg & Peter Hovell

Daniel Precup (Choreographer) is a graduate of the Floria Capsali National School of Dance in Romania. He has been principal dancer of the Oleg Danovski Ballet Theater, the Oakland Ballet and Ballet Tucson. Among the many roles he has danced in his thirty year performing career are Siegfried in Swan Lake, Albrecht in Giselle, Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Prince in Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty, the Mandarin in The Miraculous Mandarin, Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dracula in Dracula, as well as the Cavalier and Herr Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker. Following his retirement to the position of Ballet Master and Choreographer for Ballet Tucson, he created the ballets Boler-O, Gemini, Mosaico, Steps, Love Songs, Carmina Burana, Carmen, Divertimento, Perseus and Andromeda and The Lady of the Camellias. Mr. Precup embraces the power of movement to express tone in diverse mediums and has cherished his time working with the talented artists of The Rogue Theatre. He has collaborated with The Rogue on their productions of The Tempest, By the Bog of Cats, Moby Dick and Mrs. Dalloway.

Daniel Precup’s choreography is supported in part
by a generous gift from Paul & Mary Ross

Amy Novelli (Scenic Artist) is originally from Ohio and Pennsylvania. She received her Cum Laude BFA from the Columbus (Ohio) College of Art & Design in 1987 and her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1994. Novelli’s scenic art career began in New York City at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Studio. Charge Scenic Artist for the Arizona Theatre Company 2010–2014, Amy also painted several sets for Arizona Opera and UA Opera, and presently paints for The Rogue Theatre and until COVID at the Arizona Broadway Theatre in Peoria (Phoenix). Amy created monstrous Halloween decor for Hotel Congress for 20 years, and was lead painter for Marshal-Fields 1998 award winning Easter Window display “Alice in Wonderland.” She supervised four public art projects in the Tucson area with high school youth and won commissions to design and paint five large scale outdoor murals across the country as well as at the Biosphere II and La Posada Hotel on Oracle Blvd. She has taught at the University of Arizona and Pima Community College. Novelli’s fine art work has been exhibited at several Tucson Galleries and in May-August 2020 she had a one woman show at the Tucson International Airport. Amy Novelli has been living in Tucson since 1996. When not painting, Novelli trains rescue horses and dogs and enjoys riding wilderness trails all over the western states.

Amy Novelli’s scenic painting is supported in part by
a generous gift from Paul Winick & Ronda Lustman

Liz Weibler (Costume Supervisor) began her career in costuming at The Arizona Opera Company in 2003. From there she went on to work for The Arizona Theatre Company and American Players Theatre (Spring Green, Wi), which led to two years in NYC working for The Metropolitan Opera Company, The Julliard School, and The Pearl Theatre Company. She has also worked for California Shakespeare Theater and Santa Cruz Shakespeare. Liz moved back to Arizona in 2008 to focus on her pursuits as a visual artist, having studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago both during and after high school. Liz continues to grow her body of work and finds the juxtaposition of making costumes and making art quite complimentary. She was awarded a People’s Choice Award in 2018 from her hometown of West Chicago, Illinois, and has been featured in several articles. More information can be found on her website at www.seventhfish.com.  

Peter Bleasby (Master Electrician) lit his first show at 13. Professionally, he was with BBC Television for several years, and was an assistant to the UK lighting designer Richard Pilbrow during the inaugural production of the National Theatre (Hamlet, directed by Olivier.) Although his career was in architectural lighting, he maintained some theatre lighting involvement on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2009, he volunteered for The Rogue’s initial season at the Historic Y. He has been master electrician at The Rogue for every show from 2013 to the present, supporting our lighting designers Deanna Fitzgerald, Don Fox, and Josh Hemmo. He devised the system that enables lights to be quickly re-arranged, allowing more time for the creative process. Elsewhere in Tucson, he directed the technical and logistical aspects of fundraisers for the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, including the fashion show Moda Provocateur.

Susan Collinet (House Manager) earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Creative Writing and English Literature from the University of Arizona in 2008. Decades before returning to college as a non-traditional student, Susan spent twenty years in amateur theater, mostly on the East coast, as well as in Brussels, Belgium in the American Theater of Brussels, and the Theatre de Chenois in Waterloo. She has worked in such positions as a volunteer bi-lingual guide in the Children’s Museum of Brussels, the Bursar of a Naturopathic Medical school in Tempe, Arizona, an entrepreneur with two “Susan’s of Scottsdale” hotel gift shops in Scottsdale, Arizona, and as the volunteer assistant Director of Development of the Arizona Aids Project in Phoenix. Susan continues to work on collections of poetry and non-fiction. Her writing has won awards from Sandscript Magazine, the John Hearst Poetry Contest, the Salem College for Women’s Center for Writing, and was published in a Norton Anthology ofStudent’s Writing. In addition to being House Manager, Susan serves on the Board of Directors for the Rogue.

Matt Elias (Assistant House Manager) is constantly seeking out art whether it be theatre, music, television or video games. He became enamored with live performance at The Rogue Theatre in 2014 while joining his wife, Shannon, as an usher. His experience as a touring musician, his penchant for audio production and his general obsession with how stuff works, makes him useful in all sorts of tight places throughout the production process. Nowadays you’ll see him as Assistant House Manager, trading off shows with Susan Collinet and you won’t see him sneaking a peek at each of those shows from the couch in the hallway or the back hallway behind the curtains. Matt has experience as a Master Bicycle Technician, Emergency Medical Technician, Fire/EMS 911 Dispatcher, and most recently a Production Brewer at Dragoon Brewing Company.

Thomas Wentzel (Box Office Manager, Program, Website) is a Scientific Programmer for the National Solar Observatory and holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Arizona. Previously he has worked as a Data Manager for several prevention programs in the Arizona Cancer Center and the Mel and Enid Zuckerman Arizona College of Public Health. He has served on the Board of the Tucson Men’s Cooperative, editing its newsletter for five years, and on the Executive Committee of Sons of Orpheus—The Male Choir of Tucson. He has sung with Furry Day Singers, Sons of Orpheus, AwenRising and Arizona Repertory Singers, and has performed with Tucson Art Theatre in Viktor Slavkin’s Cerceau and Clifford Odets’ Waiting for Lefty. Thomas has designed and built The Rogue Theatre Web site (with great assistance from Bill Sandel and Bryan Falcón in creating the 2020 Website update), and serves as Webmaster and Business Manager. He has also served on The Rogue’s Board of Directors since the founding of the theatre.

Our Thanks

Performance Schedule

Performance run time of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is 2 hours,
including one 10-minute intermission.