Cabrillo Stage presents Swing!

Overview
Production Team
Actors
Press

"Two thirds rhythm and one third soul." That's how Fats Waller defined the uniquely American form of popular music and dance known as "Swing." Exploding out of pre-war Harlem's hotbed of youth culture, swing swept the world, shattering ethnic and cultural barriers. SWING! celebrates this remarkable diversity to the beat of the most exhilarating songs of the period. What this enthralling song-and-dance show makes abundantly clear is that swing was never a time or place, it has always been a state of mind!

	Janie Scott (Director & Choreographer) brings a wealth of professional performing experience to her many years of work at Cabrillo Stage. Her professional career provided her the opportunity to work directly with many musical theatre greats including Harold Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Trevor Nunn and Michael Bennett. She was seen in the original National and International touring companies of A Chorus Line as both Maggie and Diana Morales as well as the Broadway production of Peter Pan as Wendy opposite Sandy Duncan. After working on the Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along, she joined the original LA Company of CATS. Along the way she has performed in numerous productions in Summer Stock, Dinner Theatre, Regional Theatre, NY industrials and television. She has choreographed for Opera San Jose, The Barn Theatre in Michigan, The Diamond Circle Theatre in Colorado and several silicon valley Industrial shows. She started her work at Cabrillo stage in 1987 as choreographer for My Fair Lady. Since then she has directed and/or choreographed Annie, Some Like It Hot, Honk, Kiss Me Kate and Guys and Dolls, while squeezing in her own occasional return to the stage. In 2000 she appeared as Peter Pan in the Cabrillo Stage production of Peter Pan and in 2005 she was seen as the lead in Annie Get Your Gun. In 2002 she returned to the New York stage to perform in the Concert Reunion of Merrily We Roll Along, under the direction of Tony award winning director Kathleen Marshall. Janie is also a Professor, having served on the faculty of San Jose State University for the past 22 years. For the past 20 years she has served as Director and Choreographer for Company One, a Musical Theatre company in residence in the School of Music and Dance at SJSU where she has trained and mentored many of her students to success in their own professional performing careers.
	Jon Nordgren (Producing Artistic Director/Music Director) is in his ninth season with Cabrillo Stage and fifth season as the Artistic Director. Since 2002, he has served as the Director of Bands at Cabrillo College. Jon is much sought after as a clinician, adjudicator, lecturer, and guest conductor at music festivals, conferences, and with honor and jazz bands throughout California. He has enjoyed a rewarding career as a freelance woodwind musician, conductor, and arranger including stints with the Santa Cruz Symphony, Princess Cruise Lines and for 13 years at Steve Silver¹s musical revue, Beach Blanket Babylon! He has performed in concert with The Chordettes, Manhattan Transfer, The Ink Spots, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, Little Anthony, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Bobby Rydel, Joanne Castle, Julius LaRossa, Donald O’Connor, Jack Jones, Ringling Bros. & Barnum Bailey Circus, and many more. As music director his credits include scores of productions spanning over the past 35 years. Jon would like to thank his children—Cassie, Nick and Natalie, his brothers Scott, Ken and David for their inspired collaboration, and his daughter Sydney Linnea, for her unending support and enthusiasm. He would not be here if it weren’t for a couple of the greatest fans Cabrillo Stage has ever had, his parents, Ardean and Lucille.
	Dustin Leonard (Managing Director/Production Manager) has had the honor of working with Cabrillo Stage since 1998, including Annie, Honk, Peter Pan, Music Man, Scrooge, Forever Plaid, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Wizard of Oz, just to name a few. Dustin has directed, produced and starred in a number of shows in the Monterey Bay area, most recently directing Little Shop of Horrors and West Side Story for Cabrillo Stage. Dustin’s diverse directing credits include The Laramie Project, Lord of the Flies, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Outsiders and Romeo & Juliet. Dustin has managed and produced diverse shows such as A Street Car Named Desire, A Christmas Carol, Art, Carousel and many more. A versatile performer, Dustin has been in shows as diverse as Shakespeare’s R&J to Guys And Dolls. Dustin’s most beloved performances on stage have been Mercutio in the return of the West Coast premiere of Shakespeare’s R&J, Jeff in The Sum of Us, Mark in Mass Appeal and the Barber in Cabrillo Stage’s Man of La Mancha. His Musical Direction & Scenic Design credits include West Side Story, Honk, Annie, Crazy for You, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof and Oliver.
Coming Soon	Lena Mason (Production Stage Manager) has been part of Cabrillo Stage for many years as a Front of House Manager. 2006 marked Lena’s first year behind the scenes, as production stage manager for Guys And Dolls, as well as 2007’s Kiss Me Kate, and 2009’s The Wizard of Oz. Her professional stage managing experience includes 11 years with Actors’ Theatre Eight Tens @ 8 Festival, and such productions as Center Coast Theatrework’s Angels in America, Cabrillo College’s God’s Country, Rashomon, A Man For All Seasons, Twelfth Night, Ghostlight Theatre’s Hunting for Moby Dick, and five years with the Seventh Sense Fashion Show. She has also stage managed at the Mello Center for such performers as Tandy Beal, Bruce Lee, Phil Collins and The New Music Works, amongst others. Lena has worked at Cabrillo College in the financial aid department for 15 years.
	Jim Culley (Scenic Design) teaches in the Television, Radio, Film and Theater Department at San Jose State University where he designs two or three productions each semester. Spring 2010 he designed scenery for Bury the Dead and Yellow Face. Jim, also designs for the San Jose Children’s Musical Theatre. Among the productions he designed this season are Miss Saigon, Once on this Island, Spelling Bee and Once Upon A Mattress. While on his sabbatical, Spring 2009, Professor Culley was guest lecturer and co-designer at the Shanghai Theatre Academy a premier professional training school for Chinese designers, actors and directors. Professor Culley holds a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas in Austin and a Masters of Arts Degree from San Jose State. He taught for ten years at the College of Notre Dame in Belmont before joining the faculty at San Jose State. This summer’s productions of Cabaret and Swing! are Jim’s first designs for Cabrillo Stage.
	Kyle Grant (Lighting Designer) is thrilled to be back in Santa Cruz and with Cabrillo Stage once again. For Cabrillo he has previously designed The Fantasticks! and Little Shop of Horrors. Kyle is currently pursuing his BFA in Lighting Design at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he has recently designed ‘Master Harold’…and the Boys, Fences (for the renowned Ms. Michele Shay) and Picnic. Other bay area theatrical credits include PYT, CMT and MBRT. Kyle is also designing a new work for the international choreographer and Kennedy Center fellow, Mollye Maxner, to premiere in Brooklyn, NY in 2010.
	Maria Crush (Costume Design) has been working with Cabrillo Stage since 1988 and designed such shows as The Wizard of Oz, Annie Get Your Gun, Man of La Mancha, Funny Girl, The Sound of Music, Oliver, The King & I, Peter Pan, Honk, Some Like It Hot, West Side Story and The Music Man. She has designed costumes for West Bay Opera, New Music Works and Cabrillo College Productions including Much Ado About Nothing, Three Penny Opera, A Man For All Seasons, Rashomon, School for Scandal, The Visit, Twelfth Night, The Magic Flute, Oedipus Rex, The Importance of Being Earnest and Seussical. Other Credits include Bernstein’s Mass and The Tender Land with the Cabrillo Music Festival. Additionally she has designed for the Actors’ Theater. She is the costume shop manager at Cabrillo College, won the Gail Rich Award in 2007 and was nominated in 2009 for a Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship.
	Skyler Kirby (Sound Design) has been with Cabrillo Stage for five years now. At age 20 he started his music label Supply & Demand Entertainment. His first album released was “Death or Success” by the artist Sleyv. As a student of James Durland, Skyler has excelled in the music department at Cabrillo, from live sound to studio recording, from rap to jazz; he’s been around it all behind the mixing board, and is looking forward to continuing in the music recording business after college.
	William “Skip” Epperson (Props Masters) has been teaching theatrical design and backstage theatre for the past 18 years at Cabrillo College and currently serves as the Theatre Arts Program Chair. Holding a MFA from the Virginia Commonwealth University, he has had the opportunity to collaborate with many talented directors, designers, and technicians across the country, and has had many artists appear on his designs as actors, singers, and dancers. His work has appeared on the stages of many theaters and venues including Cabrillo Theatre Arts, Henry Street Playhouse, Washington and Lee University Theater, Santa Cruz Actors Theater, Santa Cruz Bible Church, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and Cabrillo Stage. Skip is the proud recipient of a 2008 Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship. Together with his beautiful bride of 25 years, Mary Jo, his most precious productions have been his four children–Sara, Zack, Anna-Katherine, and Genevieve–ages 22 to 5.
	Marcel Tjioe (Resident Technical Director) has been working for Cabrillo Stage for the last four years. He has had a great time crucifying Jesus, hanging Judas, melting the Wicked Witch, killing all The Plaids and scaring the dickens out of Scrooge. Some of the other local companies Marcel has worked for include American Musical Theatre of San Jose, San Jose Repertory Theatre, and TheatreWorks in Palo Alto. He has also worked internationally in Germany (Capitol Theater in Düsseldorf) and Austria (Seefestspiele Mörbisch). Marcel was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He is a German citizen and he lives in Santa Cruz with his beautiful wife Myriam and 6 year old daughter Sofia. He is the Performing Arts Technician for Cabrillo College.
Coming Soon	Ron Koinzan (Master Carpenter) is a California native who is very happy to be returning for his 9th season with Cabrillo Stage. During his time at Cabrillo Stage he has served as a Carpenter, Master Carpenter, Technical Director, and Rigger. Among his favorite professional experiences were serving as the Technical Director for Cabrillo Stage’s productions of Honk!, Little Shop of Horrors and Kiss Me Kate. When not working for Cabrillo Stage, Ron is the Technical Director at the University of Northern Iowa were he is starting his 4th year of employment. Some of his past credits include serving as the Technical Director for the University of Nebraska at Kearney, the Production Manager/Technical Director for the Opera Program at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska Repertory Theatre, The Redwood Curtain and Sacramento Theatre Company.
Coming Soon	David Eisley (Charge Artist) has enjoyed working with Cabrillo Stage since The Sound of Music in 1996. He has also worked with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Monterey Bay Repertory Theatre, Actors’ Theatre, Monterey Peninsula College, and various other venues in the area. He has also designed sets for Actors’ Theatre and other venues. He is looking forward to returning to Cabrillo Stage for this winter production of Scrooge.
Coming Soon	Daniel Goldsmith (Assistant Music Director) has been an active professional piano performer and accompanist for the last 10 years. At the age of 17 he served as accompanist for Cabrillo Stage’s production of West Side Story, and has since worked as a rehearsal pianist and orchestra musician for multiple Cabrillo Stage shows, including Guys And Dolls, Annie Get Your Gun, and Jesus Christ Superstar. While attending University of the Pacific as an undergraduate, Daniel served as the university’s choral accompanist and worked extensively as a freelance performer. Daniel would like to extend his greatest thanks towards Cabrillo Stage for entrusting him with the position of Assistant Musical Director.
Coming Soon	Steve Wilson (Vocal Director) has been on the faculty of Cabrillo College since 1978, teaching courses which include music theory, popular songwriting, jazz singers, choir, jazz ensemble, jazz improvisation and jazz arranging. During that time he has also played trombone in many productions with Cabrillo Stage, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, The Santa Cruz Symphony and the Cabrillo Music Festival. Mr. Wilson is the leader and bass singer of the vocal jazz quartet Mainswing. He has provided musical direction for a number of shows, but this is his first time serving exclusively as vocal director, and he is loving it!

	Eleanor Hunter (Eleanor) has been performing with Cabrillo Stage for six years, where she has performed smaller roles including, Maud Dunlop in The Music Man, and ensemble in The Wizard of Oz and Kiss Me Kate (in which she also understudied the role of Kate). A graduate of UCSC, Eleanor puts her vocal performance degree to use working with teens and children at All About Theatre and teaching private voice lessons. She is beyond thrilled to be singing in Swing! Swing is her favorite musical style and she’s enjoying the challenge and honor of being a part of this show and collaborating with band and cast mates! Eleanor is also performing in the ensemble for Cabaret this summer. She has her work cut out for her doing both shows, but wouldn’t be left out of the sexy fun of Cabaret! The friends made at Cabrillo Stage become your family, and I’m so glad to be home!
	Ashley Rae Little (Ashley) is thrilled to be returning to her Cabrillo Stage home, for her 4th consecutive summer. Previous Cabrillo Stage roles include Chiffon (Little Shop of Horrors, 2007), Mary (Jesus Christ Superstar, 2008) and Dorothy (The Wizard of Oz, 2009). Ms. Little is a proud AEA candidate, working with many professional theatres throughout the Bay Area. She has training in dance, voice and acting, which she began at age 3, with teachers such as Dottie Lester-White, Anthony LoCascio, Heidi Henderson and Gary Martinez. Ms. Little is also a proud alumnus of Janie Scott’s Company One at SJSU. Past Credits: Green Girl (SHOUT!), Mrs. Potts/Madame de la Grand Bouche u/s (Beauty and the Beast), Lady Larkin (Once Upon A Mattress), Ariel (Footloose), Fantine (Les Miserables), Dorothy (The Wiz). All my lovin’ RMR.
	Michael Rhone (Mike) is pleased to be making his debut at Cabrillo Stage. He has performed in the Bay Area in The Who’s Tommy (Captain Walker) at City Lights Theate Company, Bat Boy (Bud/Daisy/Pan), The Pajama Game (Prez), Carousel (Enoch Snow), Urinetown (Officer Barrel), Annie Get Your Gun (Mac/Trio), and Brigadoon (Sandy), all at Foothill Music Theater; Bye Bye Birdie (Albert) at South Bay Musical Theatre; Into The Woods (Baker), A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine (Constantine), and Once Upon a Mattress (Sir Harry) at Sunnyvale Players. In addition, he has played a wide variety of peasants, courtiers and soldiers as a member of the Opera San Jose chorus for the past six seasons
	Jennifer Taylor Daniels (Jennifer) is a jazz and blues vocalist who has been performing in Santa Cruz for a decade. She has appeared at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center and been a featured performer at the Santa Cruz AIDS Project’s World AIDS Day Memorials. She was also the only actual woman to perform in A Gay Evening In May for three years. Her first show for Cabrillo Stage, Little Shop of Horrors, was one of the shows on her “Bucket List.” She was also seen on stage in a production of Hair at the Rio Theater. She is thrilled to be here tonight singing some of her favorite music.
	Jarrod Washington (Jarrod) is no stranger to the musical theatre world. He has been performing in shows since he was eight years old. Some of his favorite roles include, The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, John in Miss Saigon, The Plant in Little Shop of Horrors, and Horton The Elephant in Seussical The Musical. This will be Jarrod’s Fourth Cabrillo Stage Production in a row and he couldn’t be more excited. Jarrod feels extremely blessed to be a part of the Cabrillo Stage family and community. Some of Jarrod’s hobbies include beatboxing, playing the sax, and making hip- hop music with his hiphop group Mean Ol Lion. Jarrod would like to personally thank Dustin, Jon, and Janie for yet again, giving him such a magnificent opportunity to shine. Jarrod would also like to thank God, his family, his friends, and his oh so perfectly beautiful girlfriend, Robin, for their unwavering support.
	Lauren Bjorgan (Dancer) has been training and performing over the last 22 years in a variety of dance styles including modern, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, Tahitian, salsa, Samba, Swing and Capoeira. She has had the pleasure of learning under Nina Marlow, Gary Masters, Fred Mathews, Janie Scott, Rhonda Martyn, and training at prestigious locations such as The Alvin Ailey Dance School, Alonzo King’s Lines Dance Center, Arizona State University, and The American College Dance Festival. Lauren has collaborated with, and choreographed pieces for Cabrillo College, San Jose State University, and Desert Dance Company. She also has had the honor of performing in American College Dance Festival’s Gala Concert, SjDanceCo’s 3rd Annual ChoreoProject Concert, Hsiang-Hsiu Lin’s Mix & Match as well as in a solo choreographed by Mark Foehringer. She recently finished a season performing with University Dance Theater, a modern dance company at San Jose State University, and will be graduating with her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in Biology in the winter of 2010. This is Lauren’s first musical theater performance.
	Isai Centeno (Dancer) was last seen in the Cabrillo Stage production of Annie Get Your Gun as Tommy Keeler. He feels extremely honored to work with Janie Scott as director this time around and is excited to “swing” around this summer, no pun intended! Isai is just getting back from 3 years in NYC where he auditioned some, but mostly worked as a bartender/server and had the time of his life. Now, excited to be performing again, he is happy to be home with family and working with old friends. Isai just finished performing with SJCMT, in their Marquee Production of Singing in the Rain (Ensemble,) and also worked with them on their first Marquee Production, CHESS where he played a dancing chess piece. Some of his favorite roles have been Julian in How to Make a Musical, with AMTSJ, and Jose Mexicano in 4 Guys Named Jose... with Teatro Vision. He would like to dedicate this performance to Mom & Dad!
	Matt Dunn (Dancer) is thrilled to be making his Cabrillo Stage debut in Swing! Professional credits include: The Mute in The Fantasticks, Dance Instructor/Tony in The Full Monty, Mercedes in La Cage Aux Folles, Peter Pan (Tokyo Disneyland), and various “furry” characters in parades and shows at Disneyland. Regional credits include: Paul in A Chorus Line, Che in Evita, The Emcee in Cabaret, Jack in Into The Woods, Billy in 42nd Street, Conrad Birdie in Bye Bye Birdie, Tom Sawyer in Big River, and many more. Trained in Acting with Kevin Kuhlke (Tisch School of the Arts at NYU), Meyerhold Biomechanics with Kathleen Baum (Syracuse University), Post-Modern Movement with Stacy Dawson-Sterns (NYU Experimental Theatre Wing). Amy, thank you for running “Into The Woods” on the Cabrillo Stage and introducing me to live theatre…This one’s for you!!!!
	Jennifer Gorgulho (Dancer) is currently working towards her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance at San Jose State University. Jennifer has been training in dance for 16 years and has a strong passion for musical theater. She has done theater in high school at Archbishop Mitty teaming up with John Robert Powers and Aaaazh to perform and choreograph for Grease. She will be training with Janie Scott at San Jose State with Company One next school year. Jennifer is excited about Swing! and can’t wait to be hoppin’ on the stage!
	Hugh Haiker (Dancer) is eagerly returning to the stage after a five-year absence, during which he accomplished an M.A. in Communication Studies at SJSU. He plans to enter a Social Psychology Ph.D. program in fall 2011 where he will research stereotyping, prejudice, and cultural allies. This year marks 25 years of professional performing for Hugh, which started at Disneyland where he performed in parades, stage shows, the originating cast of Fantasmic!, and many other venues over a span of ten years. Most recently, Hugh choreographed a production that marked SJSU’s 150th anniversary. Other recent performances include Tommy (The Western Stage), Cabaret (The Western Stage), Hello Dolly! (The Western Stage), and Meet Me in St. Louis (The Western Stage).
	Kate Kumada (Dancer) made her Cabrillo Stage debut back in 1999 as an orphan in Annie. She considers Cabrillo Stage her home and the people here her family, and she’s ecstatic to be back for another summer. She’s especially grateful for the opportunity to work under the direction of Janie Scott again. Past companies where she has performed include CMT and Musical Theater West. This one’s for you, dad.
	Joshua Lau (Dancer/Asst. Choreographer) has performed with Broadway by the Bay in the productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie (Ching Ho) and The King and I (Phra Alak, Ensemble). Other performances include Dominic Duong’s Exurgency, and Sarah Sakamoto’s Cursed, both in sjDANCEco’s Choreo Project Awards and sjDANCEco’s 7th Annual Dancin’ Downtown Festival. As a current BFA Dance major at San Jose State University, Joshua is a part of the musical theatre company, Company One. He is also a proud member of Soul Con Dance Company and will be returning as a full company member with San Jose’s modern dance company, sjDANCEco. This will be Joshua’s first season with Cabrillo Stage and he wants to give special thanks to Jared Benigno and Izetta Fang.
	Manuel Navarro (Dancer) is a Dance major attending San Jose State University (SJSU) and is a Legacy Scholarship Recipient, as a Freshman Displaying Promise and a Dance Master’s of California, Chapter 13 Scholarship winner. Manuel began dancing at age 6 at Jensen’s School of Performing Arts. In 2004 he was accepted into the Milpitas Fancy Dancer’s (FD) troupe and in April was inducted as a 2010 Honorary FD recipient. Last summer he performed onboard the Mediterranean Cruise Ship, MCS Fantasia and at EuroDisney. Past musical theatre performances include Grease (Vince Fontaine) and Oliver with Milpitas Rainbow Theatre. He has also performed at Disneyworld, Disneyland, California Adventure, Great America, Milpitas City events and Silicon Valley sporting and corporate events throughout the Bay Area. Manuel is thrilled to be performing in this production and wants to thank his parents and his past and present dance instructors for all their support.
	Annalisa Perazzo (Dancer) is currently a student at San Jose State University and will be finishing her degree in Dance in the fall. She started her training in ballet, jazz, and tap at a small studio in Livermore and continued her training in ballet during her teen years with the Oakland Ballet Academy under the direction of Ronn Guidi. She later joined the Oakland Ballet Company as an apprentice performing in such productions as The Nutcracker and Secret Garden. She began her training in modern dance when she started college under the instruction of Heather Cooper, Scott Wells and Maria Basile. She was a member of University Dance Theatre at SJSU under the direction of Gary Masters and was able to attend the American College Dance Festival (ACDF) in both Salt Lake City, UT. and Tempe, AZ. She was born and raised in the SF Bay Area and has recently discovered her passion for teaching as a ballet instructor for the Xtreme Force Dance Company in Livermore. Swing! marks Annalisa’s first performance in musical theatre.
	Crystina Robinette (Dancer) is currently studying at San Jose State University for a BFA in Dance, and is also a part of Company One, a musical theater company on campus under the direction of Janie Scott. Crystina has performed in several university productions including Of Corpse, Images, Senior Portfolio Concert and Student Portfolio Concert. She was also a part of the San Jose Spectrum Dance Team at SJSU. She has been training in dance for the last 17 years and has received a college scholarship from the Hall of Fame Dance Challenge and a dance scholarship from Jump Dance Conventions. She is delighted to be a part of her first professional show with Swing!
	Tyner Rushing (Dancer) is from Mobile, AL and a recent graduate of Birmingham-Southern College, where she received her BA in Music. Since then, she has worked with California Theatre Center and Birmingham Children’s Theater. Recent credits include: Miss Nelson Is Missing (Allison), Goodnight Moon (Bunny), The Snow Girl (Kupava), The Little Dog Laughed (Ellen), West Side Story (Anita), Hansel and Gretel (Hansel), The Consul (Secretary), Quills (Madeleine), Reefer Madness!, Promises, Promises, and Urinetown. Tyner will play “Bitelle” in Broadway By The Bay’s upcoming production of La Cage Aux Folles.
	Kevin Wulf (Dancer) is a senior Musical Theatre major at San Jose State University. This is his second production with Cabrillo Stage, having been seen in Jesus Christ Superstar in 2008. His past work has included Of Corpse! (San Jose State Company One), Beauty and the Beast (Magic Carpet Theatre), Urinetown (TRFT Independent), Puss in Boots (Magic Carpet Theatre) and Jesus Christ Superstar (Cabrillo Stage).