Zach Brewster-Geisz (Karl Lindner) previously appeared in CSC's 2018 and 2019 student matinees of Romeo and Juliet (Montague/Musician). Other credits include: The Tempest, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice (Baltimore Shakespeare Factory). Richard II, Henry IV-1&2, Henry V (Brave Spirits Theatre). A Midsummer Night’s Dream (WSC Avant Bard). Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven (Rorschach Theatre). Richard II, East of Eden (NextStop Theatre Company). Assassins (Pallas Theatre Collective). Kiss Me Kate (Annapolis Shakespeare Company). Grand Concourse, The Explorers Club, Bike America (Prologue Theatre). Oblivion, Dani Girl, Danny Boy (Unexpected Stage Company). www.zachbg.com

Tamieka Chavis (Lena "Mama" Younger) is a CSC Company Member, Teaching Artist, and member of the Black Classical Acting Ensemble. Previous CSC credits include Henry IV 1 & 2 (Mistress Quickly), Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), Romeo and Juliet (Prince Escalus), The Tempest (Queen Alonso), A Christmas Carol (Mrs. Fezziwig & Older Belle). Regional Credits - Mosaic Theatre: Inherit the Windbag, Charm; BADA: Measure for Measure, Hedda Gabler; Constellation Theatre Company: Caucasian Chalk Circle; Young Playwright's Theatre: Silence Is Violence - Mothering While Black; Ally Theatre Company (company member): Clover, Rabbit Summer, Welcome to Sis'; NextStop Theatre: Eurydice, Middletown, Love Loss and What I Wore; Smithsonian Discovery Theater: Lions of Industry/Mothers of Invention, Mother Earth and Me | Imagination Stage: Sinbad The Untold Story (u/s) | The Kennedy Center: She A Gem (u/s). TV: Anacostia (Daytime Emmy), HBO's The Wire, Psychic Detectives. FILM: Liam White, Raven, Torn. Tamieka is a graduate of British American Drama Academy - Midsummer In Oxford (Oxford, UK) and National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts (Washington DC). Tamieka is also a voiceover artist, acting teacher and coach, producer, as well as a faculty member of NCDA. www.tamiekachavis.com

Lloyd Ekpe (Joseph Asagai) is making his CSC debut. Previous credits include: A Civil War Christmas at the Strand Theatre, Girls on a Dirt Pile as a part of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. He was nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Award and won 'Outstanding Performance in a Play Reading'.

Dominic Gladden (Bobo, Moving Man) appeared in CSC’s 2016 production of A Christmas Carol and is a member of CSC's Black Classical Acting Ensemple. His recent credits include Christmas is Coming Uptown (Arena Players), Rachel (Rapid Lemon Theatre Company), as well as Healthy Holly’s Hidden Hideaway with Single Carrot Theater Company, where he is an ensemble member. Dominic is a graduated from Morgan State University and holds a BA in Theatre Arts.

Alex Jones (Travis Younger) previously appeared in CSC’s 2021 production of A Christmas Carol as Billy Cratchit. He is a 7th grader at the Waldorf School of Baltimore.

Dawn Thomas Reidy (Ruth Younger) previously appeared in CSC's Measure for Measure in 2020., and is a member of CSC's Black Classical Acting Ensemble. Regional credits include The Few, Romeo and Juliet, Danny Boy, The Lady in the Van, and Candy & Dorothy (Unexpected Stage Company); Phaeton (Taffety Punk Theatre Company); Overruled (Washington Stage Guild); and How the Other Half Loves and The Boys Next Door (Brown County Playhouse). She also works with 'Shakespeare For The Young' and is a teaching artist with Everyman Theatre and Baltimore Shakespeare Factory. Dawn holds a BFA in Acting from UMBC and an MFA for Acting at Indiana University.

Gerrad Alex Taylor (Walter Lee Younger, CSC Associate Artistic Director) is an actor, director, and educator based out of the DMV region. He is the current Associate Artistic Director of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company in Baltimore, MD where he coordinates casting and community partnerships. He leads Chesapeake Shakespeare's Black Classical Acting Ensemble, an affinity space for black actors interested in training and exposure of the "classics" and what an expansion of the classical canon may look like today. Gerrad teaches in the theatre departments at University of Maryland, Baltimore County and George Washington University. He also serves as a full-time faculty member in the theatre department of his alma mater, The Johns Hopkins University. He holds a BA in Neuroscience from Hopkins and an MFA in Performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has worked with theatres and educational institutions across the country including the Great River Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Pacific Conservatory Theatre-PCPA, The Children's Theatre of Annapolis, Everyman Theatre, Constellation Theatre Company, Mosaic Theatre Company, and Washington Stage Guild. In 2021 he was named one of Baltimore's "40 Under 40" by the Washington Business Journal. He is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association and the Society of American Fight Directors.

Quincy Vicks (George Murchison, Moving Man) Quincy has proudly served as a Teaching Artist with CSC for six years. His acting credits include Love’s Labours Lost (Chesapeake Shakespeare Company), Dreamgirls (Baltimore Centerstage), and Cosby Satires (Strand Theater Company). Quincy is also a member of CSC's Black Classical Acting Ensemble.

Niyah Worthy (Beneatha Younger) is making her CSC debut. Originally from South New Jersey, Niyah is an actor and theater artist, she is currently a undergraduate student in Theatre Arts at Morgan State University, where previous roles include Emily in Our Town, and Ronnette in Little Shop of Horrors.

Reggie Phoenix (Director) a native New Yorker, is playwright, actor and director who is currently an Associate Professor of Theatre at Morgan State University. He received his B.A. in Theater Arts from Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis, MN and an MFA in Acting/Directing from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. Previously he was Coordinator of the B.A. Theatre program at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI and Director of Acting at Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis, MN. He has been a professional theatre artist for over three decades. He has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in National and International tours, and regional theaters all over the country. He has worked with 7 time Tony Award winner, Michael Bennett (A Chorus Line-Broadway and 6 national tours, Dreamgirls- National tour), 10 time Tony Award winner, Tommy Tune (Grand Hotel- First national tour), 21 time Tony Award winner, Hal Prince and 5 time Tony Award winner, Susan Stroman (Show Boat- First national tour) among many others. This is Reggie’s directorial debut at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. Other directing credits include Anne & Emmett, The Glass Menagerie, The Elephant Man, The Fantasticks, Beast on the Moon, Spring Awakening, Doubt, Antigone and RENT among many others.

Sarah Curnoles (Production Manager) (See Staff Bios)

Alexis E. Davis (Stage Manager) was most recently Stage Manager for CSC’s 2021 production of A Christmas Carol. Other stage management credits with CSC include: Dracula; Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2; She Stoops to Conquer; Alice in Wonderland; Romeo and Juliet (student matinees: 2016-2019); Red Velvet; A Christmas Carol (2017 - 2021); Julius Caesar; The Fantasticks; and Othello; and Assistant Stage Manager for A Christmas Carol (2016). Additional credits include: Stage Manager for A Beginner’s Guide to Deicide and Drunk Enough to Say I Love You at Single Carrot. Assistant Stage Manager for By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; stage crew for TopDog/Underdog; and Stage Management Intern for God of Carnage with Everyman Theatre. She has also been a Stage Management intern for Wild! With Happy! at Baltimore Center Stage. Alexis holds a BA in Theater Production from McDaniel College.

Majenta Thomas (Assistant Stage Manager) previously worked on CSC's 2021 production of A Christmas Carol. A Baltimore-based actor and theater artist, she graduated with a BFA in Acting from UMBC. Majenta's theatre experience includes set construction, and acting. Previously, she was in The Cosby Satires (The Strand Theater) and Rachel (Rapid Lemon Productions). You can listen to her podcast, “We’ll Figure it Out” on Spotify.

Dan O’Brien (Technical Director) (See Staff Bios)

Sharlene Clinton (Costume Designer) is a writer, singer-actor, dancer, costume designer and professional make-up artist. Sharlene is making her debut with CSC as Costume Designer for A Raisin in the Sun. Previous Designer credits include several productions for the Fine and Performing Arts department of Morgan State University, Coppin Repertory Theatre, Fells Point Corner Theatre, The Strand Theatre, Single Carrot Theatre and other local Baltimore theatres. Production credits include There was a Boy; The Bluest Eye; Crowns; Broke-ology; Jitney, Reparations; The Color Purple; For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf; In the Blood and Sojourners to name a few.

Matthew Datcher (Sound Designer) is making his CSC debut. Matthew is currently the sound designer at Hexagon. His work has been heard in A Christmas Story at Rockville Little Theatre, Doubt and Hobson’s Choice at Quotidian Theatre Company, and most recently Disgraced at Peace Mountain Theatre Company. He appeared in Like the Last at Silver Spring Stage, Hotline and Goode Grief at Montgomery Playhouse, and War of the Worlds at Sandy Spring Theatre Group.

Timothy Jones (Scenic Designer) is a scenic and props designer in the DC metro area, and was previously Scenic Designer for CSC's production of Red Velvet. His work has also been seen on stage at St. Louis Black Rep, WSC Avant Bard, African Continuum Theatre, American University, Morgan State University, Kansas City Rep and Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, TN. He is presently the full time Prop Shop Manager and instructor at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. He has also worked as Prop Master or artisan at other companies around the country including the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival. Tim is a member of the Society of Properties Artisan & Masters. He holds a MFA in Scenery and Properties Design from the University of Memphis and a BA in Communication from the Salisbury State College.

James Jackson (Lighting Designer) works as a director and producer in film, photography, and live-events in addition to designing for theatre. James’ most recent work includes producing live streams and meetings for the US Africa Business Summit; technical direction of the Irish Heritage Dance competition; and live streaming the Better Pennsylvania retrospective on the Jan. 6th insurrection. He directed and produced the world-premiere of Lynn Nottage’s One More River To Cross. James was the Technical Director of The Seagull (EgoPo Classic Theatre); and LIZZIE!(11^th Hour). James’ lighting designs can be seen in indie films like WALTZ; and off-Broadway theatre productions like Sincerely, Oscar; and even on the outside the Lyric Theatre for the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. James is also a photographer (raveneyes.com); directs and produces films as Light Thief Productions (light-thief.com).

Erick Boscana (Props Designer) is a Carpenter and Props Artisan making their CSC debut. His latest design work was seen in Wolf Trap Opera's productions of L'amant Anonyme, Sweeny Todd, and Cendrillon/Savitri. They are currently a full-time carpenter for Arena Stage and has worked throughout the DC Metro Area. He holds a Bachelors's degree in Scenic Design and Construction from Mary Washington University. You can find more of their work at eribosc.com.

Jess Rassp (Props Designer) is a theatre artist whose background in painting and sculpture fuels her work in props, puppetry and scenic design. She has worked with CSC on Dracula, Alice In Wonderland, The Winter’s Tale, Othello and many other productions. She is a member of CSC’s Resident Technical and Design team. Jessrasspdesign.com

Eva Hill (Covid Safety Manager and Wardrobe Supervisor) is making her CSC debut. Previously she was at Everyman Theater as wardrobe supervisor for Flying West and wardrobe crew for Steel Magnolias. At Hershey Entertainment, she was the wardrobe swing for Once Upon A Time and The Good Time. Her work at UMBC includes stage manager for Trouble in Mind, assistant Stage manager for Turn of the Screw, and Wardrobe supervisor for She Likes Girls.

LEADERSHIP

Ian Gallanar (Founding Artistic Director, A Christmas Carol Adaptor) In addition to founding the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company in 2002, Ian has worked as a professional actor, director, and writer for more than 150 professional productions. He has directed 40 productions for CSC. Previously, Ian has served as Artistic Director for the National Theatre for Children, Minnesota Shakespeare in the Park, and the Repertory Theater of America. Ian is a proud member of the distinguished National Theatre Conference and the Dramatists Guild of America; a Helen Hayes Tribute Award, Telly Award, and Howie Award (Howard County Arts Council) winner. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he is a Member of the College of Fine Arts Advancement Council. He is Immediate Past President of the international Shakespeare Theatre Association, an organization for professional Shakespeare companies around the globe.

Lesley Malin (Producing Executive Director) is a founder of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, and served as its Executive Director since 2003. She managed CSC’s building renovation of an 1885 bank into our modern Shakespeare playhouse as well as the associated $6.7 million capital campaign. She has performed in 28 CSC productions and previously in New York. She was, for 20 years, Vice President of the Board of Trustees of The Lark, the landmark new play development center in New York City, where she earlier was Managing Director. She served for five years on the Executive Committee of the international Shakespeare Theatre Association and organized its annual conference that CSC hosted in Baltimore in 2017. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, NYU’s Arts Management program, Leadership Howard County, and LEADERship Baltimore (2018).

STAFF

Jane Coffey (Director of Development) is a business development, sales and IT professional who has worked in the banking, staffing, IT, and renewable energy industries, most recently with Microsoft and Clean Choice Energy. Jane has served on the Board of Trustees for Arts Education Alliance of Maryland (AEMS) since 2017. She served on the Board of Trustees of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company from 2006 to 2015, and for several years was its president. She is an ardent supporter of the arts in Baltimore. Her husband is the professional musician and song writer Arty Hill and her daughter, Josie, is an animation artist-in-training at the Columbus College of Art and Design

Michael Lonegro (Director of Operations and Finance) was the lighting designer for CSC’s Julius Caesar (2017) and has operated lighting for numerous CSC productions. He is a member of the Resident Technical and Design Company. Before joining CSC in 2014, he studied law at the University of Maryland and comparative literature at the University of Chicago and worked for 10 years as a university press editor. He holds a BA from Yale University, where he also designed lighting for undergraduate and graduate theatre productions.

Kristina Lambdin (Resident Costume & Business Manager) won the Broadway World Best Costume Design award for her designs for A Christmas Carol (2016). Some of her costuming credits with CSC include Dracula (2013 and 2019); The Diary of Anne Frank; She Stoops to Conquer; Alice in Wonderland; Red Velvet; Anne of the Thousand Days; The Fantasticks; Macbeth (2016); A Christmas Carol (2014-2018); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2005, 2011 and 2014); The Importance of Being Earnest; The Taming of the Shrew (2006 and 2013); Romeo and Juliet (2003, 2012, and student matinees 2015-2019); A Doll’s House; As You Like It (Broadway World Best of Baltimore Award); and The Country Wife. Broadway World named her as a top artist of the 2007 Baltimore Theatre, and she won the Greater Baltimore Theater Award for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2005). For more than a decade, she served as the Costume Supervisor for the Baltimore Opera Company and then Lyric Opera Baltimore.

Brandon W Vernon (Marketing Manager & Resident Graphic Designer) is an animator, illustrator, and graphic designer who has worked for numerous publications and theatres around the country including the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. He served as the Dramaturg for Dracula (2019). He holds an MFA in Visual Communication from Jacksonville State University in Alabama, and a BFA in Traditional Animation from the School of Visual Arts in New York. He has designed for theatre, film, television, and has been a featured artist on MTV.com.

Sarah Curnoles (Production Manager) stage managed with CSC for Much Ado About Nothing, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Dracula, A Doll’s House, The Tempest, and Henry V. Before working at CSC, she was self-employed as a life coach. She has also worked at Center Stage as the Executive Assistant to the Artistic and Managing Directors. Sarah created and directed A Fool’s Paradise: 30 Shakespeare Scenes in 60 Minutes which was performed at the Baltimore Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, and various stages around Baltimore.

Daniel O’Brien (Technical Director & Facilities Manager) is a founding member of CSC. Daniel has performed, designed scenery, lights, and served as Technical Director for many productions (among other jobs too numerous to name). He oversaw the construction of CSC’s theatre in Baltimore and designed the sets and lighting for Macbeth (2016); for the inaugural season plays A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Richard II; Romeo and Juliet (2015-2019); A Christmas Carol (2014-2019), and many others.

Ron Heneghan (Director of Education) oversees education programs for CSC. More than 13,000 students attended performances in the 2018-2019 student matinee program, while the in-school residency, where CSC Teaching Artists embed in English/Language Arts classrooms as a resource for teachers and a learning experience for their students, served more than 2,500 students in Baltimore City, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, and Howard Counties. Ron is a member of the CSC Resident Acting Company and a member of Actors’ Equity Association. He holds an MFA from the University of Washington and a BS from the University of Maryland.

Troy Jennings (Education Manager) oversees the administrative aspects of CSC’s education program. In the past, Troy has taught at Drama Kids International of East Montgomery and Howard Counties.  His career as an actor has spanned nearly two decades. Theatre credits include productions at Everyman Theatre, Adventure Theatre, Spotlighters Theatre, The Strand Theater Company and the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory. He has also appeared in commercials, feature film and voice overs. He holds a B.S. degree in theatre from Towson University.

Jose Guzman (Institutional Giving Manager) is a CSC Resident Actor and Teaching Artist who has appeared in 18 CSC productions since 2009. He is an education, public affairs, and managerial professional who has worked for the School District of Palm Beach County, New York City Board of Education, and recently, The Pew Charitable Trusts. Jose holds an BA in Mathematics from Florida Atlantic University and an MA in Theatre from Binghamton University.

Mandy Benedix (Box Office Manager) previously worked as the Audience Relations and Box Office Manager at Baltimore Centerstage. She graduated from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a BFA in Theater. She has had the pleasure of living and working in Chicago and New York prior to calling Baltimore her home.

Pamela S. Forton (Senior House Manager) supports the Box Office and coordinates many of the front-of-house and patron services that make audiences feel welcome in our beautiful theater and at the Ruins.

Miranda Solomon (Marketing & Development Assistant) assists and supports CSC’s marketing and development teams in promoting and funding CSC's work. She previously worked at Omnibus Theatre, a small fringe theatre in London, UK, as a marketing intern. She holds a B.S. in Economics and a minor in Marketing from the Sigmund Weis School of Business at Susquehanna University.

Chester Stacy (Scenic Carpenter/Painter, and Assistant Technical Director) has designed, built, and painted many CSC productions, including Alice in Wonderland, The Fantasticks, Red Velvet, and Titus Andronicus; and for Baltimore Center Stage’s Thoughts of a Colored Man and Shakespeare in Love.  Chester Creates LLC, has provided film production design for The Night Watchmen, set decoration for House of Cards and The Wire; and environmental graphics for Crunch Fitness, Royal Caribbean, Bmore Greek Grill, and Healthy Highlandtown.

Russell Laury (Porter) worked with Southway Builders on the transformation of our landmark building into a beautiful Downtown Baltimore theater before joining the CSC staff.

Lorraine Hansberry (1930 - 1965)

Lorraine Hansberry was born at Provident Hospital on the South Side of Chicago on May 19, 1930. She was the youngest of Nannie Perry Hansberry and Carl Augustus Hansberry’s four children. Her father founded Lake Street Bank, one of the first banks for blacks in Chicago, and ran a successful real estate business. Her uncle was William Leo Hansberry, a scholar of African studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Many prominent African American social and political leaders visited the Hansberry household during Lorraine’s childhood including sociology professor W.E.B. DuBois, poet Langston Hughes, actor and political activist Paul Robeson, musician Duke Ellington and Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens.

Despite their middle-class status, the Hansberrys were subject to segregation. When she was 8 years old, Hansberry’s family deliberately attempted to move into a restricted neighborhood. Restrictive covenants, in which white property owners agreed not to sell to blacks, created a ghetto known as the “Black Belt” on Chicago’s South Side. Carl Hansberry, with the help of Harry H. Pace, president of the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company and several white realtors, secretly bought property at 413 E. 60th Street and 6140 S. Rhodes Avenue. The Hansberrys moved into the house on Rhodes Avenue in May 1937. The family was threatened by a white mob, which threw a brick through a window, narrowly missing Lorraine. The Supreme Court of Illinois upheld the legality of the restrictive covenant and forced the family to leave the house. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision on a legal technicality. The result was the opening of 30 blocks of South Side Chicago to African Americans. Although the case did not argue that racially restrict covenants were unlawful, it marked the beginning of their end.

Lorraine graduated from Englewood High School in Chicago, where she first became interested in theater. She enrolled in the University of Wisconsin but left before completing her degree. After studying painting in Chicago and Mexico, Hansberry moved to New York in 1950 to begin her career as a writer. She wrote for Paul Robeson’s Freedom, a progressive publication, which put her in contact with other literary and political mentors such as W.E.B. DuBois and Freedom editor Louis Burnham. During a protest against racial discrimination at New York University, she met Robert Nemiroff, a Jewish writer who shared her political views. They married on June 20, 1953 at the Hansberrys’ home in Chicago.

In 1956, her husband and Burt D’Lugoff wrote the hit song, “Cindy, Oh Cindy.” Its profits allowed Hansberry to quit working and devote herself to writing. She then began a play she called The Crystal Stair, from Langston Hughes’ poem “Mother to Son.” She later retitled it A Raisin in the Sun from Hughes’ poem, “Harlem: A Dream Deferred.”

In A Raisin in the Sun, the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway, she drew upon the lives of the working-class black people who rented from her father and who went to school with her on Chicago’s South Side. She also used members of her family as inspiration for her characters. Hansberry noted similarities between Nannie Hansberry and Mama Younger and between Carl Hansberry and Big Walter. Walter Lee, Jr. and Ruth are composites of Hansberry’s brothers, their wives and her sister, Mamie. In an interview, Hansberry laughingly said “Beneatha is me, eight years ago.”

Her second play, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, about a Jewish intellectual, ran on Broadway for 101 performances. It received mixed reviews. Her friends rallied to keep the play running. It closed on January 12, 1965, the day Hansberry died of cancer at 34.

Borrowed from the Chicago Public Library

SONGS USED DURING THE PERFORMANCE
Moanin' - Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
I'm Going to Live the Life I Sing About - Mahalia Jackson
I Will Move On Up A Little Higher - Mahalia Jackson
Odun De! Odun De! (Aw Dun Day! Aw Dun Day!) - Babatunde Olatunji
This Bitter Earth - Dinah Washington
After Hours - Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra

PRE/POST SHOW SONGS
Shake a Hand - Faye Adams
38th Street Blues - B.B. King
Please Love Me - B.B. King
Hound Dog - Big Mama Thornton
Mama He Treats You Daughter Mean - Ruth Brown
Money Honey - The Drifter w/ Clyde McPhatter
Five Long Years - Eddie Boyd
Honey Hush - Big Joe Turner
The Clock - Johnny Ace w/ The Beale Streeters
Baby, Don't Do It - The "5" Royales
Crying In The Chapel - The Orioles
I Don't Know - Willie Mabon
I'm Mad - Willie Mabon