Into the West
BY GREG BANKS
FROM THE SCREENPLAY BY JIM SHERIDAN
MUSIC BY THOMAS JOHNSON
DIRECTED BY JEN WINEMAN
A white horse, a lost mother, and the adventure of a lifetime
Ally and Finn settle in the big city of Dublin, expecting a better life. But, trapped in mourning for their mother, they merely take care of Pa, who tries to drink away her memory. When a mythical horse trots into the scene, they race off into the Irish countryside. At the end of their journey is the sea, their father transformed, and even a bit of what they’ve lost. With just three actors playing sixty roles, and with live music throughout, Into the West bursts with imagination and heart–and it’s perfect for the whole family.
Cast
GREG JACKSON
ACTOR C
Greg Jackson is excited to be making his Tantrum Theater debut! Greg enjoyed a thrilling Broadway run in the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, covering Jefferson Mays’ monstrous role(s) as the many-(dis)membered D’Ysquith family. Off-Broadway: The 39 Steps, Duet!. Regional: Magic Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Barrington Stage, Geva, St. Louis Rep, Cape Playhouse, Dorset Theatre Festival, Weston Playhouse, Triad Stage, Portland Center Stage, Pioneer Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Orlando Shakespeare, Alabama Shakespeare. NYU Grad Acting alum.
TURNA METE
ACTOR A
Turna Mete is delighted to be making her Tantrum Theater debut and return to her birth state of Ohio. Off-Broadway: Soldier X (Ma-Yi), The Parable Conference (BAM); Triple Threat, Asking for Trouble (Ensemble Studio Theater); Looking at Christmas, Office Hours, The Great Recession (The Flea). Regional: The Who & The What (Huntington Theatre Company); The Way We Get By (American Theater Group); Time Stands Still, The 39 Steps (Theatre Workshop of Nantucket). She has helped develop new work at Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Lark, New Dramatists, and The Flea Theater. Film/TV: Hiding In the Open, How He Fell in Love, Deadbeat (Hulu). CSUF. www.turnamete.com
BLAKE SEGAL
ACTOR B
Blake Segal is thrilled to be making his Tantrum Theater debut! National Tour: Mary Poppins. Regional: The Corn Is Green (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Baskerville; (The Old Globe); Nerds (Philadelphia Theatre Company, Barrymore Award Nominee); Romeo and Juliet, Rough Crossing (Yale Rep); Carousel (Paper Mill Playhouse); Sweeney Todd (PlayMakers Rep); Lysistrata (Connecticut Rep.); Amadeus, The Winter’s Tale, Arcadia, Macbeth, (Chautauqua Theater Company); Good People (The Public Theatre); NYC: Bones in the Basket (Araca Project, Off-Broadway). Les Enfants de Paris (NYMF); The Frogs (Fault Line Theatre); TV: Blue Bloods. Education: Proud graduate of the University of Virginia (BA) and Yale School of Drama (MFA). www.blakesegal.com
ROBERTSON WITMER
MUSICIAN/SOUND DESIGNER
Robertson Witmer is a freelance composer and sound designer from Seattle, WA. His work was heard last season in Tantrum’s production of Dancing at Lughnasa. Other recent credits include The Cherry Orchard, Daisy (ACT); Much Ado About Nothing, Bring Down the House, Mother Courage (Seattle Shakespeare Company); and The Flick (New Century Theatre Company). His onstage appearances include Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play (ACT); A Doctor in Spite of Himself (Intiman Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Yale Rep); Fiddler on the Roof (ATC, Village Theatre); and West (On the Boards). His designs have also been heard at Teatro ZinZanni, Seattle Rep, and Spectrum Dance Theater. In 2013, Rob received the Gregory Award for Outstanding Sound Design. He is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829.
BRIAN EPPERSON
UNDERSTUDY B/C
Brian Epperson is an MFA candidate in Ohio University’s Professional Actor Training Program, making his Tantrum debut with Into the West. Before landing in Athens, OH, he spent a decade touring with Missoula Children’s Theatre and traveled to all 50 states and 10 countries performing with children across the world. In his time at Ohio University he has appeared in Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick), The Ladies Man (Dr. Molineaux), Glenngarry Glenn Ross (Moss), Middletown (Cop), and Ohio based films A Mother’s Heart and Departure.
EVIE WEIR
UNDERSTUDY A
Evie Weir is a senior in the theater performance program at Ohio University. Some of Evie’s past roles include Stop Kiss (Callie) and The Ladies Man (Suzanne Aubin). She will be performing as Waitress/Kit/Shona in Ohio University’s fall production of Top Girls.
Creative
JEN WINEMAN
DIRECTOR
Jen Wineman is a director/choreographer based in Brooklyn. Her work has been seen at theaters in New York and across the country. Off Broadway: F#%king Up Everything. New York: Fable (NYMF); The King’s Whore (Walkerspace); Estrella Cruz [The Junkyard Queen] (Ars Nova). Touring Productions: Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Asolo Repertory Theatre). Regional: Baskerville (Dorset Theatre Festival); The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Asolo Rep); Sweeney Todd (Playmakers Rep); The 39 Steps, Shipwrecked (Triad Stage); The Hunchback of Seville (Washington Ensemble Theatre); Bubble Boy (American Theater Group); Aloha Say the Pretty Girls (Theatre Vertigo). Jen is a co-founder and the former co-artistic director of Studio 42, a New York City-based company, that from 2001-2015 produced “unproducible” plays by emerging playwrights. She has taught at Vassar College, Ithaca College, SUNY Purchase, and is on the faculty at Primary Stages Einhorn School of Performing Arts in New York City. Up next, Jen will direct and choreograph Shakespeare in Love at Virginia Repertory Theatre. Education/Training: BA Vassar College, MFA Yale School of Drama. Much love to Bedirhan and Melik. www.jenwineman.com
DEB O
SCENIC DESIGNER
Deb O (Scenic Designer) Selected set and costume designs: This Is Reading (Reading, PA); Ready Set Go: Race (Falconworks, NY); Airness (Humana Fest, KY); Selkie (Z Space, CA); Thieves (El Portal Theater, LA); Sweeney Todd (Perseverance Theater, AK); A Christmas Carol, Middletown (Trinity Rep, RI); Light: A Dark Comedy (New Victory, NY); Rite Of Spring (Kimmel Center, PA); The Seagull, Ivanov, Platonov, Uncle Vanya (Lake Lucille, NY); The Nature of Captivity (Mabou Mines, PS 122); Salsalandia (La Jolla Playhouse, CA); Savannah Disputation (The Old Globe, CA); The Lacy Project (Premiere Yale); Jihad the Musical (Edinburgh Festival); The Mistakes Madeline Made (Yale Rep). She received her MFA from Yale. She teaches design at NYUTisch/PHTS. See more of her work at www.debo.nyc.
HEIDI LEIGH HANSON
COSTUME DESIGNER
Heidi Leigh Hanson (Costume Designer) recently relocated from the San Francisco Bay Area to the East Coast. Her most recent projects include West Side Story at the Mountain Play, Mount Misery at The Cutting Ball, and Fetch Clay, Make Man at Marin Theatre Company. In 2014 Heidi was nominated for a Theatre Bay Area Award for her design of Shotgun Player’s 2014 Production of Coast of Utopia: Salvage. Heidi holds an MFA in costume and set design from the Yale School of Drama, and a BA cum laude in theatre from California State University Long Beach. www.heidileigh.com
ALAN C. EDWARDS
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Alan C. Edwards (Lighting Designer) Since receiving his MFA from the Yale School of Drama, Alan has had great opportunities to design for a diverse selection of theatre companies. For The National Black Theatre: Kill Move Paradise, Carnaval, Dead & Breathing, and Dutchman (Audelco Nom.). Other credits include the world premiere musical Stagger Lee by Will Power & Justin Ellington, The Mountaintop (Dallas Theatre Center); Henry 4 Part 2, Fingersmith (OSF); The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Asolo Rep); We Are Proud to Present… (The Guthrie); The Piano Lesson and A Delicate Balance both at Yale Rep, and The First Noel and Macbeth (Audelco Award) for The Classical Theatre of Harlem. OPERA: Maria de Buenos Aires (Mill City Opera), Acis & Galatea (Madison Opera), Suor Angelica (Simpson Opera). DANCE: Madiba (Jeremy McQueen). He has also had the pleasure of designing the concert Holding It Down by Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd. BROADWAY: Assoc. to Jennifer Tipton on the Testament of Mary. www.alancedwards.com
MICHAEL CASSARA, CSA
CASTING DIRECTOR
Michael Cassara, CSA (Casting Director) recent credits include 9 Circles (off-Broadway premiere/Sheen Center), Spamilton (dir. Gerard Alessandrini – NYC and Chicago companies), Gigantic (dir. Scott Schwartz/Vineyard Theatre), Forbidden Broadway (last two editions/cast albums), The 12 (Denver Center/world premiere), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Asolo Rep, dir. Jen Wineman), My Fair Lady (Gulfshore Playhouse, dir. Kristen Coury). Film: The Hyperglot (dir. Michael Urie, Artios nomination for excellence in casting), Grantham & Rose (dir. Kristin Hanggi). Resident Casting Director for the New York Musical Festival (NYMF) since 2007 and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) since 2013. Michael is a native Clevelander and a member of the Casting Society of America. He is thrilled to reconnect with his friends and family in the Central Ohio area, and is a proud BFA graduate of the Musical Theatre program at Otterbein University (back when it was Otterbein College). MichaelCassara.net / @michaelcassara
KATELYNN COOPER
STAGE MANAGER
Katelynn Cooper (Stage Manager) Broadway: Matilda, Amazing Grace, Dear Evan Hansen. National Tours: Matilda, Off-Broadway: Clinton: The Musical, NYMF. Television: Peter Pan Live!. Regional: Asolo Rep, Huntington Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Goodspeed, Weston Playhouse. BFA stage management, Emerson College.