“Something very special.”
“...creates such a warm, cozy feeling of community, nostalgia, and hope that I want to visit every year.”
“Magically captures the spirit of Christmas past and present”
WORLD PREMIERE
Nov 29 - Jan 1, 2023
Ritz Theater
CLOSED JAN 1
Featuring Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales
Composed by Cerys Matthews and Mason Neely
and “The Longing for Amazing Peace”*
Music by Chastity Brown and Text by Dr. Maya Angelou
Directed by Larissa Kokernot and Peter Rothstein
Music Direction and Orchestrations by Jason Hansen
Featuring Phinehas Bynum, Spencer Chandler, Joy Dolo, Bradley Greenwald, Jason Hansen, Elizabeth Reese, Matt Riehle, and Quinn Shadko
On a cold winter’s night, a group of locals gather to raise a glass and play a tune, calling forth the spirit of the holidays through story and song. Voices blend, memories are rekindled, and a bit of mystery hangs in the air. Theater Latté Da stages the world premiere of this rollicking new celebration of the season, featuring the words of Dylan Thomas and Dr. Maya Angelou, with music by local singer-songwriter Chastity Brown, and Welsh artists Cerys Matthews and Mason Neely
Theater Latté Da is grateful for the generous support of our anonymous Production Sponsor.
This show runs approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.
ASL/AD Performance is December 15th at 7:30 pm. Reduced price tickets are available for $17.50 for ASL/AD patrons and one guest. Please call 612-339-3003 to purchase.
OC = Open Captioned Performance
VIDEO
Video by Lucas Wells
PRODUCTION PHOTOS
Photos by Dan Norman
REHEARSAL PHOTOS
Photos by Chris Cartwright
CAST
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers
**Member of SDC, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union
^Member of the United Scenic Artists, a national union that represents designers and scenic painters for the American theater
†Member of Twin Cities Musicians Union, American Federation of Musicians
CREATIVE
Co-Director: Larissa Kokernot
Co-Director: Peter Rothstein**
Musical Director & Orchestrations: Jason Hansen†
Scenic Designer: Benjamin Olsen
Costume Designer: Amber Brown
Sound Designer: C Andrew Mayer^
Lighting Designer: Marcus Dilliard^
Props Designer: Abbee Warmboe
Dramaturg: Elissa Adams
Director of Production & Operations: Allen Weeks
Associate Production Manager: Kyia Britts
Production Stage Manager: Shelby Reddig*
Assistant Stage Manager: Austin Schoenfelder
Technical Director: Bethany Reinfeld
Associate Technical Director: Eric Charlton
Lighting Supervisor & Light Board Operator: Jessica Mrovka
Audio Supervisor & Sound Board Operator: Nicholas Tranby
Scenic Charge: Sara Herman
Scenic Artist: Lizzie Tredinnick
Welsh Consultant: Hywel Roberts
COVID Compliance Officer: Megan Fae Dougherty
Dresser/Laundry: Ash Kaun
Light & Sound Board Operator Swing: Lea Brucker
Dresser Swing: Bronson Talcott
Stage Management Swing: Chloe Volna-Rich*
Carpenters: Whitley Cobb, Kade Gundlach, Will Rafferty, Dane Styczynski
Electricians: Kevin Champion, Shannon Elliott, Richard Graham, Andrew Norfolk, Corey Piper
+ BIOGRAPHIES
PHINEHAS BYNUM (Keys) THEATER LATTÉ DA: All is Calm, Candide. OPERA: Minnesota Opera: Edward Tulane, Carmen, The Anonymous Lover, La traviata, Silent Night, La rondine, Thaïs, Rigoletto, Dead Man Walking, Don Pasquale, Don Giovanni; Mill City Summer Opera: Così fan tutte, Carmen, Sweeney Todd; Skylark Opera: The Most Happy Fella, Don Giovanni. TRAINING: B.A., St. Olaf College.
SPENCER CHANDLER (Accordion) THEATER LATTÉ DA: debut. THEATER: Guthrie: Indecent; Open Eye: Tucker’s Robot, Hair Ball! A Bigfoot Musical Adventure, The Amazing Cowboat; Fringe: Surge; Broadway: Slava’s Snowshow; World Tour: Slava’s Snowshow; Off-Broadway: Slava’s Snowshow, A Klezmer’s Tale, An American Family, Songs of Paradise; Toronto: Death of a Salesman; New York Regional: ART, Hamlet; National Tours: Slava’s Snowshow, The Prince & the Pauper, The Miser. TV: Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Deadline, Jonny Zero; FILM: Mendy: A Question of Faith, Signals Crossed, The Things You Don’t Say, Another Time Maybe, Young Goodman Brown. TRAINING: UCLA, University of Vienna; UPCOMING/CURRENT: I’ll Have a Bluegrass Christmas (With You), an album of nine original songs for the holidays. spencerchandler.com
JOY DOLO (The Proprietor) THEATER LATTÉ DA: NEXT Festival. THEATER: Guthrie: Twelfth Night, The Bluest Eye; The Jungle: Every Brilliant Thing, Fly By Night; Children’s Theatre Company: Snow White, The Hobbit, Pinocchio, Snowy Day; Ten Thousand Things: Good Person of Szechuan, Fiddler on the Roof, Changelings; The Moving Company: Four Seasons, Liberty Falls (film); Mixed Blood: Is God Is; Pillsbury House Theatre: Marcus: Or the Secret of Sweet. IMPROV: Blackout Improv. TRAINING: B.A. Metropolitan State. UPCOMING: Ten Thousand Things: Mlima’s Tale; APM Studios Forever Ago podcast. joydolo.org
BRADLEY GREENWALD (Baritone) THEATER LATTÉ DA: Twelve Angry Men, La bohéme, A Little Night Music, Steerage Song, Oliver!, C. (also book and lyrics), NEXT Festival. THEATER: Open Eye Figure Theater: The Longest Night, Dear Lenny: Bernstein’s Life in Songs & Letters; Jungle Theater: I Am My Own Wife, The Mystery of Irma Vep; Ten Thousand Things Theater: My Fair Lady, As You Like It; Children’s Theater Company: A Year With Frog & Toad, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins; Park Square: The Pirates of Penzance; Artistry: A New Brain, Follies; Frank Theatre: The Threepenny Opera, Cabaret; James Sewell Ballet: Nutcracker (not so) Suite. AWARDS: Minnesota State Arts Board Music Fellowship, McKnight Fellowship for Theater Artists, Ivey Award (I Am My Own Wife). ALSO: Libretto adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, opera by Libby Larsen; Johnny Schicchi, adaptation with Steven Epp for NEXT Festival 2022.
JASON HANSEN (Music Director/Orchestrations/Piano/Guitar) THEATER LATTÉ DA: Merrily We Roll Along, Jelly’s Last Jam (orchestrations), Bernarda Alba, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, A Little Night Music, Once, Assassins, C., Into The Woods, Our Town, Aida; NEXT: The Last Babushka, A Child’s Christmas In Wales; THEATER: Children’s Theater Company: Cinderella, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss’s The Sneeches; Mixed Blood Theater: Passing Strange, Next To Normal, Avenue Q; Guthrie Theater: Guys and Dolls, Othello; History Theater: Sweet Land; Stages Theater Company: Tuck Everlasting; Theater Mu: Twelfth Night, A Little Night Music; Chanhassen Dinner Theaters: Newsies; Ten Thousand Things: Romeo & Juliet; Arkansas Repertory Theater: The Gift Of The Magi; Northern Sky Theater, Illusion Theater, Artistry, TigerLion Arts, Open Eye Figure Theater, Jungle Theater, the MN Fringe Festival, the Hennepin Theater Trust; Alive & Kickin’ (Music Director, Associate Director); AWARDS: 2018 MN Theater Award (Latté Da’s Assassins).
ELIZABETH REESE (Flute/Saxophone) THEATER LATTÉ DA: NEXT Festival. THEATER: Guthrie Theater: A Christmas Carol (’08, ’14, ’15, ’19); Ten Thousand Things: Iphigenia at Aulis, Into the Woods; Children’s Theatre Company: The Sneetches, Cinderella; American Players Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cyrano de Bergerac, Three Sisters, Winter Words: Beau Brummell; Texas Shakespeare Festival: Macbeth, Noises Off!, My Fair Lady; Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Education Tour (’18); Music Theater Heritage: Cats, Oklahoma. TRAINING: University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater B.F.A. Actor Training Program. UPCOMING: Guthrie Theater: Murder on the Orient Express. Social: @e.reese.
MATT RIEHLE (Guitar/Mandolin/Percussion) THEATER LATTÉ DA: Twelve Angry Men, Once, Assassins, Five Points, Man of La Mancha, C., NEXT Festival. THEATER: Artistry: Memphis; Chanhassen Dinner Theatres: Jesus Christ Superstar; History Theatre: Sweet Land; 7th House Theater: Hair, Jonah and the Whale; Torch Theater: Dangerous Liaisons; Yellow Tree Theater: Flowers for the Room. MUSIC: Jonny James and the Hall of Fames (Zeppelin, Queen, Beatles, and Pink Floyd Tributes).
QUINN SHADKO (Violin) THEATER LATTÉ DA: La Bohème. THEATER: Guthrie Theater: A Christmas Carol; Minnesota Opera: Edward Tulane, The Italian Straw Hat, La Rondine; Park Square Theatre: The Diary of Anne Frank, Snow Queen, Of Mice and Men; Skylark Opera Theatre: The Fantasticks, Don Giovanni, Candide; Hennepin Theatre Trust: The Realish Housewives of Edina; Old Log Theater: Cowgirls; Theatre Elision: Ghost Quartet; DalekoArts: Once; Lyric Arts: Guys and Dolls, Godspell; Actors Theatre of Minnesota: The Doyle & Debbie Show; Artistry: La Cage aux Folles; Minneapolis Musical Theatre: Mame, Happy Days; Lakeshore Players: Mary Poppins; Appearances with Minnesota Orchestra, Minneapolis Pops Orchestra, and The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company. TRAINING: B.A., Rice University; M.M., New York University.
ERIN NICOLE FARSTÉ (Understudy) THEATER LATTÉ DA: debut. THEATER: Yellow Tree Theatre: In the Next Room, Passing Strange; History Theatre: Not In Our Neighborhood, Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story; Guthrie Theatre: Dining With the Ancestors; Artistry Theatre: Footloose; Old Log Theatre: Beehive; Park Square Theatre: Antigone. TRAINING: B.F.A in Musical Theatre, Rockford University. UPCOMING: Children's Theatre Company: Corduroy.
*Copyright © 2022 Caged Bird Legacy (ASCAP)
