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Story Outline
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Cast and Production Team
Aaron Shumway
Aaron is humbled to be able to share the stage with such talented performers. He most recently finished playing the part of Nanki-Poo in The Mikado for Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Earlier this year, he played Cinderella’s Prince in Copperstar’s production of Into the Woods. He counts that as one of his favorite roles along with the role of Charlie Brown in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Last season you may have also seen Aaron as Captain Von Trapp in Copperstar’s The Sound of Music. He is proud to be a friend of Copperstar Repertory Company and glad to have this opportunity to perform with them again before going off to medical school.
Brady Quisberg
Brady is thrilled to be returning to Copperstar for BROADWAY BUDDIES. He feels it is truly an honor to be a part of such a talented group! Some of Brady’s recent roles include: Into the Woods (Jack), You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Charlie Brown), Spelling Bee (Chip), Joseph... (Joseph), Rent (Steve), Pinocchio (Lampwick). He has a degree in theatre and is currently at NAU finishing out his Bachelors. Brady hopes to start his Masters to become a Physician’s Assistant next year. He thanks Copperstar for this opportunity, his family and friends for all their support, and most of all, God, from whom all gifts come!
Chris Okawa
Chris is ecstatic to be a part of Broadway Buddies! He’s been performing around the valley for the past 5 years with favorite past credits including Oklahoma! (Curly) , Fiddler on the Roof (Perchik) , Into the Woods (Wolf/Rapunzel's Prince), The Music Man (Olin Brit), Urinetown (Robbie the Stockfish), Joseph… (Judah), & Sweeney Todd. He recently graduated from Mesquite High School and will be attending the University of Arizona as a Musical Theatre Major in the fall. Chris studies private voice and acting with Grey Romande and Stephen Guggenheim and is happy to perfor tonight with so many talented performers in support of Copperstar.
Grey Romande
Grey Romande earned a BA from the University of Utah in Theater and Music, with a minor in Dance. In addition, Grey has performed at the Promenade Theater in New York, Caesar’s Palace, in Las Vegas, Lincoln Center in New York, Papermill Playhouse, and theCentury Plaza in LA. He is highly experienced in coaching and teaching acting and musical theatre to both youth and adults. Grey has served as an artistic advisor to museums and organizations in Southern California and across the country. His clients are seen on the stages of shows currently running on Broadway, and in major concert venues. Clients have been seen on network television shows, including ER and Boston Legal. Current clients scored #1 albums and songs at Billboard. Grey is a current member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Actors Equity Association, (AEA), and the Actors Alliance of San Diego (AASD). He is a voting GRAMMY member of NARAS, the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences. Steve has worked personally at Yale with renown Physician Eiji Yanagisawa at, Otolaryngologist, and great voice scientists Jo Estill and Jann Sullivan, and voice coach Seth Riggs.
Kate Marshall
Kate Marshall is thrilled to be supporting Copperstar Repertory Theater through this event! Kate was born and raised in South Dakota and recently received her Master's Degree from ASU. She's currently performing in Spelling Bee and Legally Blonde at Broadway Palm Dinner Theaterin Mesa and has been seen in Into the Woods (Jack's Mother), The Best Little....Texas (Doatsy Mae), The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff), and Spelling Bee(Rona) at ASU's Lyric Opera Theater. She also appeared in Tempe Live! Theater's production of Grey Gardens as Edith Bouvier Beale in the first act. Last Spring, Kate had the chance to sing and dance in a special musical tribute for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and was ecstatic to meet one of her childhood heroes. While serving as Miss South Dakota 2007, Kate filmed TLC's reality show Countdown to the Crown and competed at the Miss America 2008 pageant in Las Vegas, NV. Kate lives in Tempe with her husband, Jordan, and enjoys spending her spare time reading, cross-stitching and catching up with family.
Katrin Murdock
Katrin Murdock is a recent graduate from Arizona State University, earning her Masters Degree in Music Theatre/Opera Performance. While at ASU, Katrin was also a Teaching Assistant, allowing her to teach private voice lessons to undergraduate music students. A native of the Midwest, she received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Voice Performance from Western Michigan University in 2008. Katrin's recent stage credits include Cinderella in Into the Woods, Little Edie (Act 1) in the Arizona Premiere of Grey Gardens the Musical, Sandman in the opera Hansel and Gretel, Lily in The Secret Garden, Mariane in the opera Tartuffe, Woman 1 in I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, and Johanna in Sweeney Todd. Katrin was also selected to sing in a Master Class with the one and only Kelli O'Hara for the 2010 NATS National Convention in Salt Lake City, and was recently invited to sing for Arizona's own Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at a private cocktail party and also a Benefit Cabaret in Justice O'Connor's honor. Most recently, Katrin took a trip to Disney World and auditioned for the American Idol Experience competition on a whim. She was selected to compete in the finals, and ended up winning the whole competition in the land where only dreams come true! Katrin is very excited to be a part of Broadway Buddies in support of Copperstar Repertory Company. Enjoy the show!
Kristen Drathman
Kristen Dratham is a Phoenix based actor, singer, teacher and concert performer, and has sung in venues all over the world including the '92 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain and the Brooklyn Conservatory Summer Opera Festival. She has also performed in many Phoenix Theatre productions over the years and has been honored with numerous AriZoni Awards for her performances; favorite Phoenix Theatre credits include: Swing! (AriZoni Award), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (AriZoni Award), Cole! (AriZoni Award), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (AriZoni Award), I Love A Piano (AriZoni Award), Guys and Dolls (AriZoni Award) and The Full Monty. Other favorites include, Schoolhouse Rock, Live! (Childsplay), Still Life with Iris (Childsplay), Phenomenal Smith (Childsplay), Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (Theater League), Blues in the Night (Black Theater Troupe) and Tapestry (Actors’ Theatre and Theatre League).
Kristen has been teaching voice and acting privately for 13 years, and has a studio of over 50 students ranging in age from 7-40. She has had many successful students move on to perform on American Idol National tours, and on Broadway. Kristen has taught Summer Musical Theatre camps for 10 years and has also performed with the educational theaters Childsplay, Greasepaint Youth theatre, Valley Youth Theater and her own Summer Music Camp through Chandler Young Actors Group (www.chandleryoungactors.com).
Kristen holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Musical Theatre from ASU where she graduated Cum Laude. She has a long track record of successfully getting her students prepared and ready to audition for admittance (and scholarships) to the most elite Colleges, Conservatories and Universities in the country.
Laura Christian - Choreography
Laura is excited to be involved with Copperstar Repertory Company once again! She recently choreographed The Music Man and Into the Woods as well as several camps and workshops for the company. She teaches dance and musical theatre classesfor theatres around the valley including the Academy of Young Performers at Arizona Broadway Theatre, Greasepaint Youth Theatre, and Chandler Center for the Arts. Laura is also a performer, having appeared in numerous shows at Arizona Broadway Theatre and Phoenix Theatre. She graduated summa cum laude with a BA degree in Theatre, and is currently working on a Masters degree in secondary education to teach both theatre and math. Broadway Buddies will mark Laura's 10th production with Copperstar, and she looks forward to working with Copperstar in the upcoming season. Thanks to Matt, Mary-Jo, Sam and everyone at Copperstar!
Maris Fernandes
Maris is delighted to be a part of this Copperstar benefit. A 2010 graduate of Arizona State University and the Barrett Honors College with a Bachelor of Music in Music Theatre Performance, she also completed an Honors Thesis entitled "The Business of Music Theatre" while at ASU. In the upcoming year, Maris will tour Arizona, Florida, and Pennsylvania as Elle Woods in Prather Entertainment Group's "Legally Blonde," beginning with the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Mesa, AZ this fall. Past credits include: Lend Me a Tenor (Maggie) and Bye Bye Birdie (Helen, Kim u/s) at Arizona Broadway Theatre, Les Misérables (Ensemble, Cosette u/s) at Phoenix Theatre, Winter Wonderettes (Suzy), The Sound of Music (Nun, Liesl u/s), Seussical! The Musical (Bird Girl), and Cinderella (Ensemble) at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre; The Rocky Horror Show (Janet, AriZoni Nomination), West Side Story (Velma), and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre) at Arizona State University Lyric Opera Theatre.
Mary-Jo Okawa - Director
Mary-Jo is the founder and Artistic Producing Director of Copperstar Repertory Co., a premiere theatre company in the East Valley. She is an award winning performing arts educator and professional director, choreographer and performer for over 25 years. Mary-Jo has performed throughout the United States, Asia and Southeast Asia. She is proud to have entertained our troops in the USO. Credits include: Hello Dolly!(Denver), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Atlantic City), Camelot (Walnut Street Theatre, PA), Baby, Joseph… and The Pirates of Penzance (Utah Musical Theatre), Seven Brides… (Indianapolis). In 2010, Copperstar was honored with six Gilbert Mayor’s Arts Awards nominations and was awarded the Zelma Basha Salmeri Gallery Award for providing Gilbert with services enabling an expansion in the scope and quality of the arts. She is the proud mom of two amazing children, Shanti will be a junior at Mesquite High School and Chris will be entering University of Arizona as a Musical Theatre major. Mary-Jo teaches voice and acting privately and is grateful for her loving supportive husband David.
Rebecca Barney
Rebecca is delighted to be performing in BROADWAY BUDDIES for Copperstar. This past season, she was seen in two of her favorite roles in Copperstar’s productions of The Music Man (Marian) and Into The Wood.(Lucinda). Another favorite role was Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat with her best friend Janna Hanson! Her greatest joy in life is her family. Rebecca has loved music and performing as long as she can remember and choir and theatre have been an important part of her life. Rebecca is grateful to her husband and four beautiful children for their love and support and is so happy she can be a part of this important evening.
Sam Henderson - Music Director
Sam is a recent graduate of the Lyric Opera Theatre’s Masters of Music in Music Directing program at Arizona State University where he now serves as a Faculty Associate and Music Director. In addition, Sam is the resident music director for Copperstar Repertory Company in Gilbert, AZ. Prior to coming to Arizona, he taught high school band in the Dallas/Ft. Worth (Texas!) area for 7 years after earning a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baylor University.
Sam has music directed/conducted productions of SEUSSICAL, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, LES MISERABLES, FOOTLOOSE, and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. With Lyric Opera Theatre, he was the music director/conductor for THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (for which he received an ariZoni Award for outstanding musical direction), and THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS.
Most recently, Sam co-created the original cabaret, THE LAZY “B” CABARET with colleague Lauren Margison. This specially commissioned work was presented in honor of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at the annual benefit for The O’Connor House in Phoenix.
Upcoming productions include BYE, BYE, BIRDIE, and ANNIE with Copperstar, and YOU’RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN and CABARET at with Lyric Opera Theatre.
Shanti Okawa
Shanti is a junior at Mesquite High School and is glad to be returning for her 10th show with Copperstar Repertory. Her favorite roles include Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin and Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie. Shanti is excited to member of Mesquite High’s Advanced Vocal this year and will continue to study dance. Shanti is going to try not to miss her brother as he leaves for college this year. She is grateful to Copperstar, Sam Henderson and Laura Christian for all that they have done for her. She would like to thank her wonderful friends and family for their support.
Šime Košta
Šime is a senior music theatre major born and raised in Zadar, Croatia. Šime developed a passion for performing at an early age. It had been his dream to visit United States, and at the age of 16 his dream became a reality. In the States, Šime discovered and fell in love with musicals, and was very excited to pursue professional training at ASU. His favorite credits include Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Show (AriZoni Nomination) and "Leaf Coneybear" in Spelling Bee. Most recently Šime understudied the roles of Princeton/Rod in Phoenix Theatre's production of Avenue Q.
Stephanie Shumway
Stephanie is so excited to be performing in Broadway Buddies! As a music education major, she loves musical theater and is grateful that she gets to help with fundraising for Copperstar on the community level! Some favorite roles she has played include YumYum in The Mikado twice, Little Red Riding Hood in Sondheim’s Into the Woods (both with CGCC and Copperstar Repertory Company) and Sister Sophia in Copperstar's production of The Sound of Music last fall. Some of Stephanie's other theater experience includes commercials for US Airways and Drs. Goodman & Partridge OB/GYN, which you might've seen in the pre-show adds at Harkins. Stephanie grew up as Stephanie Harward in Gilbert and graduated from Highland High School in 1998. She and her husband, Aaron have two beautiful and talented children, Megan, 8, and Matthew, 6, and love being in shows as a family and singing around the house. Stephanie is a teacher at Queen Creek’s Sunshine Sharing Preschool and plans to transfer to ASU for Music Education in the spring.
Stephen Wertz
Stephen is excited to be making his debut for the Copperstar Repertory Company and even more excited to be helping out his good friend Ms. Guidry-Okawa. Stephen has spent the last 10 years teaching music and theatre in upstate New York where he is the Music Department Chairperson and head of an amazingly successful theater program. Stephen performed regionally as well as in NYC, including the Off-Broadway show Our Life and Times (Newsical, The Musical) and the title role in Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, to name a few. Stephen is thrilled to share the stage with some old friends, and wishes David could be here to share this evening.
COMMUNITY STARS AWARDS
Video Trailer
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