Festival Company

Jan Powell

Artistic Director, Richard III and CAMBIO

Jan Powell is the new Artistic Director for the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, and as such is responsible for all onstage and backstage aspects of our productions. In preparing for the 2008 season, she has brought in a new team of designers, directors, and technical staff, and traveled the U.S. to cast our company of actors, each of whom will make their debut LTSF performance this summer. Jan has relocated to Lake Tahoe from Portland, Oregon, with over 25 years of professional experience and a primary focus on directing Shakespeare. Jan was the founding Artistic Director for Portland's Tygres Heart Shakespeare Company, and has directed a great many Shakespeare plays, including the entire canon of histories. In addition, she has directed numerous other theatrical productions across the U.S., ranging from original works to opera. She has served as president of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America, and remains active in the STAA's international conversation on producing Shakespeare. Her goals for the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival include bringing in new national and international talent, fostering local talent, developing new resources and building strong regional collaborations.

Michael Walling

Guest Artistic Director, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Michael Walling is the Festival’s guest director for our 2008 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Michael is the Artistic Director of Border Crossings theatre in London, England and has directed numerous theatre productions across four continents, winning awards for Two Gentlemen of Verona in the US and Paul & Virginie in Mauritius. Michael directed the English National Opera's acclaimed productions of Wagner's Ring at the Coliseum and Barbican theatres. He was Associate Director to Peter Sellars on Nixon in China, and to Phyllida Lloyd on The Handmaid's Tale (Canada).

Omar Alexander

Omar Alexander is a new generation U.S. Latin music artist virtuoso - a singer, songwriter, composer and musician with a Latin Gypsy Funk Rock musical style. Born to a Colombian mother and Indian father, Omar Alexander’s fierce Bohemian warrior-poet musings represent the bilingual, multicultural U.S. Latino generation. With Soulare, his band, Alexander falls within the recent powerful wave of U.S. Latin and first generation immigrant artists who grew up influenced by Latin, American and World Music.

John Amour

John has been choreographing stage violence for the past 20 years. He is based in Portland, Oregon where he choreographs for nearly all of the local theater companies and teaches throughout the region at colleges, high schools and middle schools. John's work is regularly seen on stage in the Portland metropolitan area. John’s work has twice been recognized within the Portland theater community for best fight design.

Brian Annis

Brian Annis was born and raised in Northern Nevada. He is presently studying Theatre at UNR and has been apart of the University’s Nevada Repertory Company for two seasons. The Tahoe Shakespeare Festival is Brian’s first time being a part of a professional atmosphere and he is very excited about the experience.

Adele Cabot

Adele Cabot is an actor/director/teacher/voice and acting coach. She is a designated Linklater Voice Teacher. Adele served as Dialects/Vocal Consultant for Arena Stage in Washington DC for four years and at many theatres, universities, and actor training programs nationally and internationally. She is currently on the performance faculty at UCLA School of Theatre, TV, and Film. She was thrilled to be in residence twice at the famous Shakespeare’s Globe in London.

Elicia Cárdenas

With a degree in stage management from Boston University, Elicia Cárdenas has worked in stage management nationally and internationally, including the Oregon Symphony, Sarasota Opera, Syracuse Opera, Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Oregon Children's Theatre, Shakespeare and Company and the Young Vic in London. Balancing her love of both theatre and cycling, she teaches bicycle and pedestrian safety, and races for Team Veloshop. She is excited to spend the summer "pedaling" Shakespeare in gorgeous Lake Tahoe!

Suzanne “Soozi” Childers

Suzanne “Soozi” Childers has danced professionally on stages throughout the world. Traveling and experiencing different cultures are Childers’ foremost passions. She has directed and choreographed six shows for Lake Tahoe. In July of 2007, Childers moved her company, Choozi Entertainment, to Reno. The company creates one-off entertainments for special events. Childers recently designed some of the costumes for the 2006-2007 National Tour of Aida, which played the Pioneer Theatre in March of 2007. Childers’ company also co-produces with Big Horn Productions and the Reno-Sparks Convention Authority, the cable show Reno Tahoe Adventures.

Carole J. Dane

Raised in a theatrical family, Carole J. Dane has been involved in theatre since her earliest memories. Recognized for her accomplishments as a director and nationally-touring actor, she is best known as a playwright. Her first play, Secrets of the Pirate Queen, was a finalist for the Heideman Award at the Actors Theater of Louisville's National Ten-Minute Play contest at the Humana Festival.

Jon Farber

Originally from New York City, Jon is the only child of a circus clown, and the bearded lady. At nine years old he was given his first job in the theatre world, sweeping up after Jukia, an 8200 lb African Elephant. When his father perished from a mishap while being shot out of a cannon, his mother sent him to live with his aunt and uncle, a poet and a Hells Angel respectively. Jon now resides in Las Vegas.

Rob Gander

Rob Gander is a brand new Nevadan. He takes over as Chair of the Speech Communication and Theatre Department at UNR. Previously, he taught at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He is a founding member and Artistic Director of Roundelay Theatre Company. Rob has also worked professionally with companies in Ohio, Montana, Wisconsin, and Florida, where he founded an outdoor Shakespeare program.

Eric Gault

Eric Gault received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in voice and conducting with a choral emphasis at Oberlin and the University of Oregon. As a recitalist and singer Gault has many performances in small and large settings to his credit. Gault has served as assistant conductor for the Carson City Symphony and guest conductor for the UNR Symphony and Reno Municipal Band. Gault serves as director of music at Sage Ridge School and on the faculty of voice at UNR.

Dave Grafe

Veteran producer, engineer and musician Dave Grafe has developed a reputation over the last thirty years for his versatile musicianship and superb production work behind the scenes in support of countless other artists. A fifth-generation Oregonian, Dave is a talented multi-instrumentalist with an driving interest in diverse musical genres, an unmitigated addiction to great sounds and a fearless sense of adventure.

Patrick Laffoon

Patrick Laffoon is a current Theatre student at UNR. He is a member of the Nevada Repertory Company and was inducted in the theatre honor fraternity Alpha Psi Omega this year. He recently worked soundboard for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Lynn Lombardi

Lynn Lombardi is in her junior year of theatre studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. At UNR, Lombardi served lighting designer for It’s All On Us, and as stage manager for The Charm of Preparedness. Her acting credits include Catherine in The Taming of the Shrew and as Cassandra in Trojan Women.

James Mardock

James Mardock has studied at the Shakespeare Institute and the University of Warwick, and has a PhD from the University of Wisconsin. He has worked—as actor, director, or dramaturge—on regional productions including Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, Twelfth Night, Henry V, and The Winter's Tale. His recent book, Our Scene is London, examines the work of Shakespeare's contemporary Ben Jonson. He currently teaches Renaissance literature in the English department at UNR.

Matthew McKinney

Matthew McKinney graduated summa cum laude with a MFA from San Diego State University, and is now the Technical Director for the UNR. McKinney worked as a TD for numerous theatrical and film productions in southern California and had the rare opportunity to work as an assistant technical director at the world famous Old Globe Theater in San Diego.

Kelvin Mockingbird

Kelvin Mockingbird has been performing the Native American Flute and telling Medicine Stories of the Dineh for the past 16 years recording nine albums. Mockingbird was nominated in 2003 for Best Native American Album and also has won several awards from the Native American Music Awards and the Flagstaff Music Awards.

Rand Sisk

Rand Sisk enjoys the processes of design and has been fortunate in his career to experience and execute many different visual installations. His philosophy on projects is always the same “make it look good”. Sisk settled in Reno three years ago and is enjoying the pace and the size of it.

Shannon J. Sumpter

Shannon J. Sumpter is the production manager for the Theatre Department/Nevada Conservatory Theatre at UNLV. She created and mentors the Stage Management graduate program there. As an Equity stage manager, she has worked at theatres including Yale Rep, Indiana Rep, American Rep and Alabama Shakespeare Festival. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

Rosen & Wojcik Casting

Rosen & Wojcik Casting has cast since 1988. Collectively the R&W team have cast Off Broadway production of The Last Session (Obie Award), Newsical (Drama Desk nominee) and the production, tour and PBS special of The Presidents starring Rich Little. Regional theatres include AMT of San Jose, Riverside Theatre, Florida Stage, The Arvarda Center for the Performing Arts and Stages St. Louis. Film credits: The Lucky Ones (Tribeca Film Festival), The Doghouse, Kosmos and Seriously Twisted.