Spring Awakening Creative

Director

Carolyn Conover

Carolyn Conover (Director) is Assistant Professor of Acting and Directing, and teaches Acting, Directing, Voice for the Stage, Play Analysis, Improv, and Intro to Theatre. Her primary research interests include improving and expanding traditional theatre pedagogy to make creative classrooms more inclusive, supportive, and consent-driven spaces for all types of actors. Her first book, The Introverted Actor (Palgrave, 2020) was nominated for Outstanding Book of the Year by The Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Carolyn received her MA in Drama from Indiana State University and her MFA in Acting from Michigan State University. Carolyn has trained as an Intimacy Choreographer since 2018 and is a Certified Artistic Mental Health Practitioner, a role which focuses on helping actors safely navigate and simulate traumatic material for live theatre.

Choreographer

Alison Woodward

Alison Woodward (Choreographer) is an award-winning dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Alison has been on staff at JSU for 10 years. She helps choreograph musicals produced by the JSU Theater Department and the operas with Jacksonville Opera Theater and has been the creative choreographer for the JSU Show Choir, Encore!. A few of her favorite works have been Once Upon a Mattress, Phantom of the Opera, and Little Women. Alison’s passion is to train performers of high character and talent. Her dance studio, Crazy About Dance, in Alexandria, AL does so through core classes, competition teams, and intensive training. Alison is excited to present her work for Spring Awakening. She is extremely proud of the hard work put forth by these talented performers as well as the amazing collaboration with the crew and the entire Production Team. Thank you so much for letting me create for this show.

Musical Director

Michael Greenwood

Michael Greenwood is thrilled to join this talented cast and crew for his first official time as music director. He holds two bachelor's degrees from Jacksonville State, having studied flute with Dr. Jeremy Benson and voice (countertenor) with Dr. Nathan Wight. He's had the pleasure of performing in both Mason Hall and Stone Center, both on the stage and under on woodwinds. You may also have seen him in community theater, either with CAST or CharACTers or heard him playing in the pit with Theater of Gadsden. Red Bull pays the bills by day as well as being Music Director at St. Luke's Episcopal in Jacksonville. He would like to thank Carolyn, Randy, and Dr. Peck for this opportunity, as well as Angie and Jacob for helping bring the music to life. He would like to dedicate his work on this show to the memory of his mother, Margaret.

Scenic Designer

Jason St. John

Jason St. John (Scenic Designer) Jason St. John is a native of Glencoe Alabama. He received his BA in Theatre and Broadcasting from JSU in 1997 and his MFA in Scenic Design from the University of Alabama in 2005. Jason has worked throughout the South East for many organizations including: Turner Broadcasting System, The Alabama Ballet, The Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Birmingham Southern College, Red Mountain Theatre Company, Unto These Hills outdoor Drama, and others. His last design was “Once Upon a Mattress” here at JSU. He currently teachers 12th grade English Lit, Journalism, and Theatre at Glencoe High School. He would like to thank his sons, Jake and Jonah, for giving him the best job ever....fatherhood.

Stage Manager

Grayson Singleton

Grayson Singleton is Junior Theatre Major with a Minor in Film at Jacksonville State University. She recently worked on Alison's House, Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight, and Little Women. She was in Flordia over the summer working as a Teaching Artist for Flordia Repertory Theatre. She has enjoyed work with the cast and production team and is so excited to Stage Manage this show. She hopes you are all excited to see a show that contains a big message worth hearing.

Assistant Scenic Designer

Addie Zaner

Addie Zaner is Theatre Production Major here at the Theatre and Film Department. Credits include Assistant Scenic Designing The Importance of Being Earnest and Boy Gets Girl, as well as Stage Managing Alison's House and the Big Bad Bullysaurus; she is also directing The Iliad, The Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 minutes or Less later this season! Addie is so excited to share this story about the importance of educating and listening to our youth and hopes it will make a positive impact on everyone who watches it. Addie would like to thank her parents, grandparents, and fiancé for being an amazing support system through this process.

Lighting Designer

Jenn Luck

Jennifer Luck (Scenic Designer - Assistant Professor of Lighting and Scenic Design) an Alabama native, has worked as a designer across the United States. Her credits range from Assistant Lighting Designer for Creflo Dollar’s Los Angeles Revival while in graduate school to developing new works with Title:Point, an experimental theatre company started in New York City with friend and colleague Theresa Buchheister. Over the course of her career she has worked for theatre companies in New York, Wyoming, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. A graduate of the Scenography program at the University of Kansas, Jennifer has dabbled in all aspects of theatrical design, as well as technical direction. Her favorite past projects include: Lighting/Projection/Sound Design for She Kills Monsters, Scenic Design for MACBETH is the New Black, Lighting Design for The Woman in Black, and Costume Design for Lysistrata.

Costume Designer

Freddy Clements

Freddy Clements (Costume Designer - Distinguished Professor of Costume Design) holds a BA from Emory & Henry College and an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has designed costumes for various theaters including Wayside Theatre in Middletown VA, CPCC in Charlotte NC, The Barter Theatre in Abington Va and Theatre In The Square in Marietta, GA. On the University level, he has taught courses including costume design, costume construction, stage make-up, and advanced stage make-up. He is an experienced cutter/draper and has extensive research and experience in early twentieth century corsetry. He has also been constructing authentic hand tailored Scottish kilts since 1991 and led master classes for the USITT Southeast Regional, SETC, and Dragon*con.

Technical Director

John Abraham Davis

JD is an Alabama native, born in Birmingham. He attended Troy University where he studied technical theatre before graduating from Auburn University at Montgomery with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. He completed his Master of Fine Arts in Technical Production at Florida State University. JD has experience in technical direction, management, and carpentry with Utah Shakespeare Festival, The Lost Colony, and numerous other production opportunities through both Union and private contracts across the Southeast. He has been a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) since 2018 and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) since 2016

Production Stage Manager

Ellen Peck

Ellen is a Professor of Theatre and Film at Jacksonville State University, where she teaches theatre history, dramatic literature, musical theatre history, and stage management. As a historian, she specializes in musical theatre with an emphasis on the early twentieth century. Her book Sweet Mystery: The Musical Works of Rida Johnson Young is now available from Oxford University Press. She has presented at several national theatre conferences and published articles in Studies in Musical Theatre and Contemporary Theatre Review. Ellen has also worked as a freelance Stage Manager for several theatres and opera companies around the country, including Michigan Opera Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Spoleto Festival USA, and Utah Opera. She has been a member of Actors Equity Association (AEA) since 2000. Ellen received her BA in Theatre from Oakland University, and MA and PhD in Theatre History from the University of Illinois.

Original Creative Team

Steven Sater (Book and Lyrics) was awarded the 2007 Tony Awards for Best Book of o Musical and Best Original Score for Spring Awakening along with the Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Awards for Best Lyrics. With alt-rocker Duncan Sheik, he received the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album for Spring Awakening. In addition, the two received The Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the Outer Critics Circle, the Drama Desk, the Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, and Drama League Awards for Best Musical. Steven is the author of numerous ploys, including the longrunning Carbondale Dreams, Perfect for You, Doll (the Rosenthal Prize, Cincinnati Playhouse); Umbrage (Steppenwolf New Play Prize); A Footnote to the Iliad (New York Stage and Film, The Miniature Theatre of Chester); Asylum (Naked Angels); Murder at the Gates (commissioned by Eye of the Storm); In Search of Lost Wings (Sanford Meisner Theater) and a reconceived version of Shakespeare’s Tempest, with music by Laurie Anderson, which played London’s Lyric Hammersmith and toured throughout Great Britain. In addition to Spring Awakening, Sater has collaborated with Sheik on the NY premiere of Umbrage (HERE), Nero (The Magic Theatre, workshopped at the New York Shakespeare Festival and New York Stage & Film), and The Nightingale (workshopped at the O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference, Lo Jolla Playhouse, A.LT., and New York Theater Workshop). He is also hard at work with System of a Down’s Serj Tankian on a musical version of Prometheus Bound, to be directed by Dione Paulus at the American Repertory Theater. Sater is the lyricist for Sheik’s critically acclaimed album Phantom Moon (Nonesuch), and together the two wrote the songs for Michael Mayer’s feature film A Home at the End of the World (Warner Classics) as well as the independent features Brother’s Shadow and Mary Stuart Masterson’s The Cake Eaters. Sater is also co-creator and executive producer, with Paul Reiser, of recent pilots for both NBC and Sony/FX, and hos developed two projects for HBO, and another for Showtime (with Reiser) . He is also at work, with Jessie Nelson, on o feature film and is creating on original movie musical for producer Larry Mark. In addition, Steven works as a lyricist with various composers in the pop/rock world - recently writing songs with Burt Bacharach, Johnny Mandel, Andreas Carlsson, and William Joseph.

Duncan Sheik (Music). In addition to writing the music for Spring Awakening (2007 Tony Awards for “Best Orchestrations” and “Best Original Score”, 2008 Grammy Award for “Best Musical Show Album”), Sheik’s other theater credits include: Nero (Another Golden Rome) (currently in development), The Nightingale (currently in development), Whisper House (currently in development) . Recorded works include: Whisper House (Sony/Victor 2009), White Limousine (Rounder 2006), Daylight (Atlantic Records 2002), Phantom Moon (Nonesuch 2001 ), Humming (Atlantic Records 1 998), Duncan Sheik (Grammy Nomination “Best Mole Vocal”) (Atlantic Records 1 996). Film Scores include: DARE (2009), Little Spirit: Christmas in New York (2008), Capers (2007) and The Cake Eaters (2007 ) . Producer Credits include: Holly Brook (forthcoming CD 2009), Micah Green (2008), Spring Awakening Original Cost Album (Universal 2007) a n d Chris Garneau (2006).

Annmarie Milazzo. (Vocal Arrangements) Composer/lyricist: Pretty Dead Girl, Sundance Film Festival. Vocal arranger: Broadway productions of Spring Awakening and Next To Normal. Bright Lights, Big City at The New York Theater Workshop, and the Paramount feature film, The Marc Pease Experience. AnnMarie is a Grammy nominated singer from The East Village Opera Company on Universal/ Decca.

Simon Hole (String Orchestrations) After graduating from the University of London with on honors degree in composition, Simon Hole’s acclaimed solo album, East Fifteen, led to recordings with many artists, including George Benson, Simply Red, Jomiroquoi and Bjork. In 1 996 he orchestrated Duncan Sheik’s first album, and their musical collaboration hos continued ever since. Simon’s involvement with Spring Awakening marked his Broadway debut and the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations in 2007. He continues to work with Steven Soter and Duncan Sheik on other projects. For more information please visit www.simonhole.co.uk.