Woody Guthrie's American Song Cast & Crew
Patti Casey (Woman and Musical Director)
Native Vermonter Patti Casey has been called "...the voice of Vermont contemporary music" by the Times Argus. With a voice that's strong and sweet, a catalog of timeless songs, and a history of penning classics that have found their way into the folk music world across the United States, Patti has become the vocal backbone for many of our region's finest musical productions. Her list of awards includes Kerrville Folk Festival Songwriting Contest winner, Chris Austin Song Writing Contest winner, South Florida Folk Festival Songwriting Competition finalist, A Prairie Home Companion "Talent From Towns Under 2000" winner, and Telluride Songwriting Competition Finalist. Patti has written and directed music for Burlington's Vermont Stage Company, and has produced 5 independent recordings of her music, 3 of which landed in the Seven Days Top Ten Recordings of the Year. Her 2010 release "The Heart of a Waiting Boy" was named Top Country Album of 2010 by the Times Argus/Rutland Herald and was the fourth most-played album in the worldwide folk circuit for the month of February 2011 (FolkDJ Radio). She provided soundtrack music for Pasture Productions' award-winning independent film "The Summer of Walter Hacks," and for the independent documentary film "Brush and Pen: Artists and Writers of the White Mountains." She tours nationally with Vermont's venerable folk band The Woods Tea Co., and lives in central Vermont. http://www.patticasey.com/
Joseph Campanella Cleary (Fiddle, Mandolin)
was born and raised in Chesterfield, Virginia. He began playing violin at age 7 and fiddle styles soon thereafter. He attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA and received a BA in Anthropology in 1996. After college he completed an traditional apprenticeship with a mandolin maker in Idaho. Joe eventually moved to VT to play in the Cleary Bros Band with brother John, and subsequently worked for a violinmaker in Burlington for 5 years. He currently makes violins and mandolins at his own shop, and recently received a grant from the Vermont Arts Council to support his violin-influenced mandolin design. He has appeared on many VT recordings as well as St. Michael's Playhouse musicals Big River and Always, Patsy Cline. http://www.campanellastrings.com/
Michael Dean Circe (Young Man)
spent the better part of a decade as a performer for Walt Disney World, appearing in various parades, stage productions and an occasional stint for ABC television. In 2004 he played a leading role in the locally-produced independent film 7 To 10 Days, which opened to favorable reviews at the Northampton Independent Film Festival. He has appeared in many theatre productions in Vermont and Florida, including The Tale Of The Allergist's Wife, How I Learned To Drive, The Odd Couple, Anything Goes, and Godspell. In 2007 he directed Come Back To The Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean for Vermont Theatre Company, in Brattleboro. Most recently, he made his Vermont Stage Company debut as Taylor in Prelude To A Kiss . He is thrilled and honored to be working again with such an amazing group of people, and thanks Mark Nash and the VSC staff for their support.
Noah Hahn (Bass)
Ellen McQueeney (Second Woman)
performed with VSC in Quilters, Winter Tales 2005 and Woody Guthrie's American Song. Other regional credits include Maria in The Sound of Music at the Flat Rock Playhouse (NC), June in Smoke on the Mountain at the Foothills Theatre (MA), and Lilly in Swingtime Canteen at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre (CT). New York credits include Audrey in As You Like It at the Blue Heron, and Amy in Amy Fisher: The Musical, at the Wings Theatre. Recently, Ellen was seen and heard as "Elaine Krup" during the University Mall's holiday TV and radio ad campaign. She also teaches preschool music and entertains in the Burlington area with her business, "Ellie's Preschool Parties". Much love to Wayne, Ruby & Nora June.
Chuck Meese (Man)
is the artistic director of the Red Wing Puppet Theater, the technical director of The Governors Institute On The Arts and the managing director of Vermont Stage Young Playwrights. This year marks Chuck's 30th year as a professional puppeteer. Chuck started playing ukulele when he was 5 and guitar when he was 10. He currently plays with Plainfield musician Dennis Murphy and Calais poet Geof Hewitt in the Still Friends Band.
Jan Monteagudo-Meese (Boy)
started playing the spoons when he was 3, ukulele when he was 4, mandolin at 6, guitar at 8, drums at 9 and harmonica this past year. Jan is 11 years old. He has been a fixture at the Northeast Music Festival for the past 3 years, has opened for Grace Potter and The Nocturnals and plays at Young Traditions concerts. At this years First Night celebration he played with The Unknown Blues Band and the Re-Bop Kids at the Flynn Theater. He has performed as a puppeteer and musician in over 80 performances with The Red Wing Puppet Theater.
Tony Roach (Second Young Man)
Musician/Franklin, Fair & Tender Ladies, (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), Claudio, Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis), Fred, A Christmas Carol, (Cincinnati Playhouse), Sparky Watts, Far East (Stamford Theatre Works), Paris & Romeo, Romeo & Juliet (American Repertory Theatre), Nick, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Carl Jr., Stage Blood (Kitchen Theatre Co.), Hedwig, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Birmingham Festival Theatre), Stavrogin, Dostoevsky's Devil's (Moscow Art Theatre School), David, Mayhem (ART Institute) and Bret Arrow/Officer, Cop Out (NY Fringe). Former guitarist/singer/songwriter for the band rock Catalytic. MFA, ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard University; BA, Columbia University.
Mark Nash (Director)
is proud to have served for 11 years as artistic director of Vermont Stage Company. He is currently catching up on his rest.
Jenny C. Fulton (Scenic & Costume Designer)
Jenny designs space, objects and clothes for stage and film. She has designed regularly for Vermont Stage since 2001, most recently Oliver Twist and The Glass Menagerie. In NYC she's designed for Salt Theatre, Anne Kaufman and Clubbed Thumb, The Women's Project, as well as the NY premier of Kathryn Blume's The Boycott. Regionally, American Repertory Theatre, Yale Rep, Philadelphia Shakespeare, Virginia Shakespeare, North Shore Music Theatre, Northern Stage, Lost Nation, St. Mike's Playhouse, and others. Film design credits include indie films and PBS Channel 13's The American Novel. She is also an educator and has held guest artist appointments at Hunter College, Mt. Holyoke, Bates College and is presently adjunct faculty at Keene State. She holds degrees from Brandeis and Yale Drama, is a member of USA Local 829, and divides her time between drafty Vermont farmhouse and small Brooklyn apartment. Love and thanks to Prof. Henry Fulton for the ties.
John B. Forbes (Lighting Designer)
has previously designed the lighting for Photograph 51, Oliver Twist, The Glass Menagerie, Opus, My Ohio, King Lear, Inspecting Carol, Woody Guthrie's American Song, True West, Copenhagen, The Foreigner and The Drawer Boy at Vermont Stage Company. In addition he has designed the lighting for productions at the Old Globe Theatre, the San Diego Repertory Theatre, the Center Repertory Company, and the Ensemble Theatre Company, all in California. He has also designed lighting for Theatre Aspen in Colorado; the Riverside Shakespeare Company and Theatre Matrix in New York; the Arizona Theatre Company, and Saint Michael's Playhouse, the Big APE Dance Company and Lost Nation Theatre in Vermont. He is the winner of three L. A. Dramalogue awards for his designs at the Old Globe Theatre and three Shelley Awards for his designs with the Center Repertory Company. He is the faculty lighting designer at the University of Vermont in the Department of Theatre, and his lighting design for UVM's production of Metamorphoses was displayed in the Gallery Exhibit at the World Stage Design Exhibition in Toronto. He has also taught at San Diego State University and the University of San Diego, and while at U.S.D., he also managed Shiley Theatre. In that capacity he served as the technical liaison between the University and the Presidential Debate Commission for the final Presidential Debate of 1996 held there.
Jennifer Moulton (Stage Manager)
is thrilled to be working on My Ohio, her 13th production with VSC. Jen
graduated from the University of Vermont in '06 with a degree in Theatre.
She then spent the 2006/2007 season working as the Stage Management
Apprentice at Round House Theatre in Bethesda MD. Jen would like to thank
Mark, Lisa and the cast for a great show, her family for their constant
support, and Evan for always believing in her, much love!