The Rogue’s production made Thomas’ work come alive. It shimmered. The gorgeous language, the quirky characters, the humor, were all brought to thrilling life by the theater’s ensemble.

—Kathleen Allen, The Arizona Daily Star

Strange and delightful.

—Andrew B., Audience Member

A concert of the most beautiful language.

—Judith W., Audience Member

Endearing and sweetly disarming…Richly atmospheric.

—Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com

Probably one of your best…

—Norma & Gavin K., Audience Members

Supporting Materials

Free “Open Talk” Video

Click here to see the video

Dylan Thomas: Clown in the Moon

A Free Open Talk presented on Saturday, January 6 at 2:00 P.M.

Director Christopher Johnson discusses the life and work of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.

This open talk is supported in part by a generous gift from
Jordan & Jean Nerenberg

Accolades Trailer

Watch a brief video of the play in action, with notable quotes from audience members who have seen the show and featuring Russell Ronnebaum's lovely piano rendition of Welsh lullaby Suo Gân.

Click here to see the trailer.

Essay

For more background on the play, check out Jerry James’ essay

Dylan Thomas in America
When the legend becomes fact, print the legend

Poster

View the full-sized poster for the play

Reviews

Tucson theater brings Under Milk Wood to life
Review by Kathleen Allen on January 17, special to the Arizona Daily Star

The seaside Welsh village of Llareggub comes to life in all its oddly timeless quirks during this power play of an ensemble performance where 10 actors play six different characters apiece
Review by Chuck Graham on January 17 at Let The Show Begin! and TucsonStage.com

Christopher Johnson (Director) 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 Resident Ensemble Member. The recipient of eight Arizona Daily Star Mac Award nominations for Best Director, his directing credits include The Rogue productions of Heartbreak House, The Seafarer, Great Expectations, Passage, The Awakening, The Weir, A View from the Bridge, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Middletown, The Crucible, Three Tall Women, Penelope, and The Picture of Dorian Gray; as well as Rogue’s play-readings of Marjorie Prime, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, I Am My Own Wife, Our Country’s Good, Loveplay, Let Me Down Easy, Everybody, The Illusion, No Exit, Don Juan in Hell, A House of Pomegranates, The River, and Elizabeth Rex. Elsewhere in Tucson Christopher has directed boom, Cabaret, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Altruists, and Speech & Debate for Winding Road Theater Ensemble as well as Wit, Persephone or Slow Time, The Book Of Liz, My Name is Rachel Corrie, Say You Love Satan, Killer Joe, The Rocky Horror Show, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Savage In Limbo, Bug, Titus Andronicus, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Etcetera at Live Theatre Workshop (where he served as late-night series Artistic Director from 2007-12). Christopher was recognized by ON Media in 2022 as a Tucson Arts Hero.

Christopher Johnson’s direction of Under Milk Wood is supported in part
by generous gifts from Karen DeLay & Bill Sandel and Joan Warfield

Director’s Notes

Seventy years after his death, Dylan Thomas remains one of the most enduring and celebrated poets to have written in English. Full to bursting with internal rhymes and alliteration that echo through his verse, the sounds of his words strung together were as crucial to his intent as the meaning of the words themselves. He employed prose in a way that expanded the limitations of the form, and elevated the act of reading poetry into a new sphere of popularity just in time for the Beat Generation, inspiring the likes of John Lennon, Bob Dylan, and Iggy Pop.

Originally written as a play for voices in 1953, Under Milk Wood was intended for staged readings and radio broadcast. We pay tribute to these forms in our production by telling the story as if it took place around a campfire, making costume changes and producing sound effects out in the open where you can see them, with little more than the actors can hold in their hands or produce with their voices.

One of the most challenging (and liberating) aspects of mounting a fully realized production of Under Milk Wood came from the fact that radio plays don’t include stage directions. Rendering the poetry for the eye as well as the ear, we derived our particular staging from our understanding and analysis of the text in rehearsals. It felt, at times, as though we were illustrating a pop-up book.

With no real plot, no hero or villain, no hard-won epiphanies or transformative character growth, Under Milk Wood plays out more like a dream than a traditional play. Set in the fictional Welsh fishing village of Llareggub and unfolding over the course of a single day, we are first introduced to the central characters as they talk in their sleep, revealing loves lost or unrequited.

The contents of the characters’ subconscious minds are only further exposed as the sun comes up and they go about their mundane daily routines. Rather than painting these lives as meaningless or unremarkable, Under Milk Wood instead reveals the many ways in which our lives are made most vital by our capacity for longing, and in our relationship with the unfulfilled.

Though the characters you’ll encounter live in 1953, their plight is timeless. Told with humor, pathos, and unmatched prose, Dylan Thomas’ play is a whimsical and life-affirming portrait of, in his own words, “the griefs of the ages.”

—Christopher Johnson
director@TheRogueTheatre.org

Playwright

Dylan Thomas (1914–1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “And death shall have no dominion" as well as the "play for voices” Under Milk Wood. He became widely popular in his lifetime and remained so after his death at the age of 39 in New York City. By then, he had acquired a reputation, which he had encouraged, as a "roistering, drunken and doomed poet.” Thomas first travelled to the United States in the 1950s. His readings there brought him a degree of fame, while his erratic behavior and drinking worsened. His time in the United States cemented his legend, and he went on to record to vinyl such works as A Child's Christmas in Wales. Although Thomas wrote exclusively in the English language, he has been acknowledged as one of the most important Welsh poets of the 20th century. He is noted for his original, rhythmic, and ingenious use of words and imagery.

CAST

CHELSEA BOWDREN*
Miss Myfanwy Price, Mrs Utah Watkins, Mrs Organ Morgan,
Mrs Dai Bread One, First Woman, Child

SOPHIE GIBSON-RUSH
First Neighbor, Third Neighbor, Matti Richards, Third Woman, Gossamer Beynon,
Mae Rose-Cottage, Polly Garter, Lily Smalls

HUNTER HNAT*
Third Voice, Third Drowned, Nogood Boyo, Voice of a Guide-Book,
Sinbad Sailors, First Boy

RYAN PARKER KNOX*
Second Voice, Second Drowned, Mr Waldo, A Voice, Butcher Beynon,
Reverend Eli Jenkins, Lord Cut-Glass

JOSEPH MCGRATH*
First Voice, Fifth Drowned, Cherry Owen, Evans the Death

CYNTHIA MEIER*
Waldo’s Mother, Matti’s Mother, Fourth Woman, Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard,
Mary Ann Sailors, Mrs Cherry Owen

CHRISTOPHER PANKRATZ
First Drowned, Preacher, Organ Morgan, Willy Nilly, Fisherman

CARLEY ELIZABETH PRESTON*
Rosie Probert, Second Neighbor, Fourth Neighbor, Second Woman,
Mrs Willy Nilly, Mrs Pugh, Mrs Dai Bread Two, Girl

AARON SHAND*
Fourth Drowned, Mr Mog Edwards, Jack Black, Mr Pritchard,
Utah Watkins, Mr Pugh, First Drinker, Second Boy

MATT WALLEY*
Captain Cat, Mr Ogmore, Ocky Milkman, Dai Bread, Old Man, Third Boy

*Member of The Rogue Resident Acting Ensemble

Biographies

Chelsea Bowdren (Miss Myfanwy Price & others) is excited to be in her second season as a member of The Rogue Resident Acting Ensemble. She has previously performed on The Rogue stage as Obsle in The Left Hand of Darkness, Hesione Hushabye in Heartbreak House, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 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 15 years ago 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 Felix.

Chelsea Bowdren’s performance is supported in part
by generous gifts from Lori Levine & Gary Benna and Jill Ballesteros

Sophie Gibson-Rush (Polly Garter & others) is thrilled to make her Rogue debut with a group of artists and collaborators she’s always admired. She’s a musician, actor, and presenter based in Tucson, Arizona. She is the front woman and primary songwriter for critically acclaimed alternative rock quintet Holy Faint, a presenter behind projects like Walk With Amal in Tucson with Arizona Arts Live and The Tucson Folk Festival with Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association, and actor in various local short films and music videos. She attended Boston University and London Academy of Music and Drama where she earned a BFA in acting. She continued her education at Double Edge Theater studying devised theatre. Previous acting credits include Marc Antony in Julius Caesar, Peggy in The London Cuckolds, Princess Catherine in Henry V, and Thomasina Coverly in Arcadia. For Jordan, for always being the eye of the storm.

Sophie Gibson-Rush’s performance is supported in part
by a generous gift from Betsey Parlato & David Zucker

Hunter Hnat (Nogood Boyo & others) is grateful to be in his sixth season as a member of The Rogue Resident Acting Ensemble. You may have seen him in previous Rogue productions as Goss in The Left Hand of Darkness, Randall Utterword in Heartbreak House, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 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 Susan Tiss and Laura Kosakowsky

Ryan Parker Knox (Reverend Eli Jenkins & others) is so pleased to be back at The Rogue for his ninth season in The Rogue Resident Acting Ensemble. He is particularly excited to unravel such a challenging collection of titles with his fellow compañeros. Ryan is a South Dakota native who returns to the Old Pueblo from an Eastern sabbatical where he found that Tucson is where he wanted to be all along. Some of his favorites at The Rogue have been Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, Long Day's Journey into Night, Betrayal, and Moby Dick. RPK would like to thank his lovely partner and biggest fan CM, his family for the decades of support, and his damn pets for making sure no one sleeps in our house.

Ryan Parker Knox’s performance is supported in part by
generous gifts from Sally Krusing and Rick & Debby Apling

Joseph McGrath (First Voice & others) 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 Left Hand of Darkness, Heartbreak House, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 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 Peggy Houghton & Paul Garner

Cynthia Meier (Mrs. Ogmore Pritchard & others) is Co-Founder and Managing/Associate Artistic Director for The Rogue, and has appeared recently in Heartbreak House, Babette’s Feast, Great Expectations, Death of a Salesman, The Awakening, The Oresteia, A View from the Bridge, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Blithe Spirit, The Crucible, Three Tall Women, and The Grapes of Wrath. Cynthia has been nominated for nine Mac Awards for Best Actress from the Arizona Daily Star and received the 2008 Mac Award for her portrayal of Stevie in Edward Albee’s The Goat. She has also performed with Arizona Repertory Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Michigan Repertory Theatre, and Borderlands Theatre. In the 1990s, Cynthia co-founded a women’s theatre company, Bloodhut Productions, which toured throughout the American West and was published by St. Martin’s Press. Cynthia holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of Arizona.

Cynthia Meier’s performance is supported in part by
generous gifts from Kay Crofoot and Mary Sue Andersen

Christopher Pankratz (Organ Morgan & others) is honored to be both an actor and a member of the production staff at The Rogue Theatre. Christopher’s acting credits include The Left Hand of Darkness, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 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. For the John and Joyce Ambruster Play-Reading Series, Christopher has directed An Enemy of the People and 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, 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 Pankratz’s performance is supported
in part by a generous gift from Clay Shirk

Carley Elizabeth Preston (Rosie Probert & others) was last seen on The Rogue stage as Lady Utterword in Heartbreak House. Now in her fifth season as a member of The Rogue Theatre’s Resident Acting Ensemble, Carley has also appeared as Titania/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Babette in Babette’s Feast, 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, Freyja Laveau and Indiana Idris Jones for supporting her theatre habit!

Carley Elizabeth Preston’s performance is supported in part by
generous gifts from Brock & Chantal McCaman and Sally Krusing

Aaron Shand (Mr. Mog Edwards & others) was last seen on The Rogue stage as Shusgis in The Left Hand of Darkness. Now in his sixth season as a member of The Rogue Theatre’s Resident Acting Ensemble, Aaron has also appeared as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, James “Sharky” Harkin in The Seafarer, 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 Carol Mangold and Kristi Lewis

Matt Walley (Captain Cat & others) is a member of The Rogue Theatre Resident Acting Ensemble and was most recently seen as Estraven in The Left Hand of Darkness. Other appearances include Boss Mangan in Heartbreak House, Francis Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard in The Seafarer, 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 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 Gerald & Barbara Goldberg and Ann & Andrew Lettes

Russell Ronnebaum (Music Director, Pianist & 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 and is the assistant director of music at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Oro Valley. As a pianist, Russell often performs with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and various ensembles and choirs in the greater Tucson area. Russell made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2016, performing the music of Dan Forrest. Past Rogue credits include productions of *The Left Hand of Darkness, Heartbreak House, *A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 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, and *Much Ado About Nothing (*original score). Russell also composes the music for Rogue Radio, a radio play series produced in partnership with Arizona Public Media, NPR 89.1 FM. 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 Katherine Jacobson and Bill & Nancy Sohn

Music Director’s Notes

It’s often a delicate balance to program music into a classical stage play, and Under Milk Wood has proven to be particularly challenging due to the complex poetic language of Dylan Thomas. The English composer Gustav Holst arranged a collection of 12 Welsh Folk Songs and through his compositional techniques, was able to create unique soundscapes that depict the emotions behind the song text. Even though I’m performing these songs instrumentally, I’m astonished by how well the music of Holst pairs with the vignettes of Milk Wood.

—Russell Ronnebaum, Music Director, Pianist and Composer

Music

Preshow

Selections from “12 Welsh Folk Songs” arranged by Gustav Holst (1874–1934)

Production

* Selections from “12 Welsh Folk Songs”

* The Lively Pair
* The Mother-In-Law
* The First Love
* The Dove
   Suo Gân (Traditional Welsh Lullaby)
* The Nightingale and Linnet
* Lisa Lân
   Johnnie Crack & Flossie Snail (Matt Walley and Ensemble)
   Little Willy Wee (Sophie Gibson-Rush and Russell Ronnebaum)
* White Summer Rose
* Green Grass
   Come and Sweep My Chimbley (Ryan Parker Knox and Russell Ronnebaum)
* Awake, Awake

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 Vicki Ettleman

Joseph McGrath (Scenic Design) worked in the scene shops at West Virginia 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 Bob & Judy Bolt

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 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 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 Deanna Fitzgerald

Hannah Al-Baiaty (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working with The Rogue Theatre again after previously stage-managing The Left Hand of Darkness, The Seafarer, Great Expectations, Twelfth Night and Passage. Hannah earned her BFA in Technical Theatre Production and Design from the University of Arizona. Her previous credits include Stage Manager for Under Construction Series: Ralph Lemon & Friends at Park Avenue Armory, Helen Simoneau Danse’s Flight Distance at Joyce SoHo, Tucson Folk Festival, Arizona Repertory Theatre’s productions of Avenue Q and Voice of the Prairie, Assistant Stage Manager for Eugene Opera's production of Nixon in China and Assistant Production Manager for Pipeline Theatre Company’s world premiere of Byuioo. She also spent five seasons as a Costume Technician for The Gaslight Theatre. Hannah would like to thank her husband, family, and friends for their endless support and love.

Hannah Al-Baiaty’s stage management is supported
in part by a generous gift from Marcia & Tyler Tingley

Shannon Wallace (Production Stage Manager) 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, As You Like It and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 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 production stage management is
supported in part by a generous gift from Jill Ballesteros

Christopher Pankratz (Property Master) has acted onstage at the Rogue since its 13th season and was overjoyed to join the production team full-time as Production Artisan last season. Christopher has stage-managed Rogue productions including Death of a Salesman, Sweat, Babette’s Feast and Heartbreak House. 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 Jill Ballesteros

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. 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 of Student’s Writing. In addition to being House Manager, Susan serves on the Board of Directors for the Rogue.

Matt Elias (Assistant House Manager, Sound Engineer) 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.

Woods Fairchild (Assistant House Manager, she/they) first met the Rogue by assisting their installation of “The Object” art piece in preparation for The Left Hand of Darkness. The Object’s designer, John Farrell, is a dear friend of Woods’ through her work with his wife, Carol Farrell, in costume design. John’s invitation to Woods to help assemble the art kindled an immediate friendship between Woods and the Rogue team. Woods formally joined the Rogue family in October 2023. In overlap with performance arts, Woods has an artistic background in dance and movement practice studies, as well as sewing and costume design. Woods also worked as a Project Manager with the Arts Foundation who manage public art projects, as well as distribute funding to support artists and arts organizations in Southern Arizona, including the Rogue Theater! Woods is a photographer, crafter, biker and her little old pickup truck is her true love. Grateful to be with the Rogue!

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.

Shannon Elias (Box Office Associate, 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, The Left Hand of Darkness, 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, Mrs Dalloway and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shannon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from the University of Arizona with a minor in Special Education and Rehabilitation Psychology.

Our Thanks

Performance Schedule

Performance run time of Under Milk Wood is 1 hour 30 minutes. There is no intermission.

All matinees are sold out. Please contact the Box Office (520-551-2053 or ticket@theroguetheatre.org) to be placed on a waiting list.