Creative Team
Music by
Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt
Lyrics by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner
Book and Additional Music by Tim Maner
Conceived by
Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner
Directed by Tim Maner
Musical Direction and Orchestration by
Alan Stevens Hewitt
Scenic Design by Caleb Levengood
Lighting Design by Christian M. DeAngelis
Sound Design by Jamie McElhinney
Costume Design by Bobby Frederick Tilley II
Video Design by Zoë Woodworth
Hair/Makeup Design by Carrie Lynn Rohm
Producers
Took An Axe Productions
Hillary Richard, Executive Producer
Peter McCabe, Producer
Cast
Jenny Fellner as Lizzie Borden
Lisa Birnbaum as Emma Borden
Marie-France Arcilla as Alice Russell
Carrie Cimma as Bridget Sullivan
Casting by Sara Schatz at Jay Binder Casting
Staff
Emily Paige Ballou, Stage Manager
Liz Elise Richards, Assistant Stage Manager
Elijah Leonard, Graphic Design
Brian A. Morales, Web Design
Carl Skutsch, Photos
Liz Goldstein, Web Content/Social Media Maven
Band
Alan Stevens Hewitt, Bass, Piano, Music Box
Christian Gibbs, Guitar 1, Harmonium
Ward Williams, Cello, Guitar 2
Keith Robinson, Drums, Percussion
Ryan Mackstaller, Guitar 1 (alternate)
Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer
Co-Creator/Music/Lyrics
Fresh out of art school in the early eighties, Steven bought a used guitar in a junk shop on St. Marks Place, learned 3 chords, and taught himself to write songs by listening to Dolly Parton records. He insinuated himself into a couple post-punk neo-folk bands in the East Village, but soon discovered the world of downtown theater. Through the late 80s and early 90s, he wrote and performed music in many original experimental productions with Tiny Mythic Theatre Company and directors Kristin Marting and Tim Maner, including musical adaptations of Frankenstein, The Scarlet Letter, and an early incarnation of Lizzie Borden. In 1992, he and Jay Byrd started an act called Y’all, singing original songs and telling stories based on Grand Ole Opry-style country entertainment. The act sprang from the free-wheeling downtown theater scene but went on to play in coffeehouses, churches, retirement homes, community centers, and schools across the U.S. and in Europe. Steven and Jay Byrd were partners on stage and off for 10 years, writing and performing, making records, publishing a book, and going broke. Their last two years together, they lived in a camper on the road with a third partner. Steven made a documentary about that relationship and the final years of Y’all, Life in a Box, which premiered in the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2005 and was screened and well received at several other festivals across the U.S. and Canada. Steven lives in Austin, Texas.
Tim Maner
Co-Creator/Director/Lyrics/Book/Additional Music
Tim was a founder and artistic director of the critically acclaimed Tiny Mythic Theatre Company, Inc. and a co-founder and co-director of the award-winning HERE. With them, his theatrical producing/presenting history spanned over a decade and hundreds of productions including: Basil Twist’s Symphonie Fantastique (Drama Desk Nom., OBIE Award), Music Theater Group’s Running Man (Pulitzer Prize Nomination), Target Margin’s Mamba’s Daughters (OBIE Award), and Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues (OBIE Award, Drama Desk Nom.). He has written, directed, musical directed and produced over 20 original theatrical works including: The Hawthorne Project, a six-year collaboration with writer/adaptor Elizabeth Banks, building a trilogy of multi-layered multi-media events adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s three American novels that brought together over 100 artists (performers, musicians, composers, writers, dancers, poets, designers, poets and philosophers); and The Opera Project, a five-year collaboration with composer Matthew Pierce and writer Ruth Margraff, creating a series of original New Wave Operas.
Alan Stevens Hewitt
Co-Creator/Musical Direction and Orchestration/Music
Band: Bass, Piano, Music Box
Born in Philadelphia into a professional performing arts family, ASH began music studies at an early age. As a member of The Low Road (Caroline Records) throughout the 90’s, he released two EPs and three full-length albums and toured extensively with artists such as Los Lobos, Barenaked Ladies and (label-mates) the Ben Folds Five and shared the stage with Pete Townsend, Jeff Buckley, Marianne Faithful, Sinead O’Connor, T-Bone Burnett and Marc Ribot, among others. As a member of the short-lived Raw Ltd., he opened for Nirvana, touring in support of Bleach. With his own group, The Signal Corps, to date he has released an EP (Transitiontransmission) and a 7” single (Cherry Tree b/w You Are Beautiful) of his original songs. Theater: Broadway: Spring Awakening (Eugene O’Neill)—Bass (sub.); Off-Broadway: Everyday Rapture (2nd Stage)—Bass (sub.); Off-Off: Brecht’s Baal (Looking Glass Theatre)— Composer, Musical Director, Keys, Guitar; Alternative: Big Mess Cabaret Orchestra—Bass. Education: BM in Composition from Mannes College of Music/The New School, where he studied with Robert Cuckson. Turns out he is related (distantly, by marriage) to Lizzie Borden.
Caleb Levengood
Scenic Design
In New York: We Declare You a Terrorist - SPF at the Public Theatre, The Children’s Hour - APAC, The Angel Eaters Trilogy - Flux Theatre Ensemble, Kidstuff and The Main(e) Play - Partial Comfort Productions, Slavey - Clubbed Thumb, Cherry Docs - Theatre of the Expendable, Torrents - Barracuda Theatre Club. Regional: Tough Titty - Magic Theatre, San Francisco. Associate Scenic Design: Blasted - Soho Rep. Various work also seen at 2007 Prague Quadrennial, La Jolla Playhouse, and Baltimore’s CenterStage. BTA; The University of Michigan. MFA; The University of California, San Diego. www.caleblevengood.com
Christian M. DeAngelis
Lighting Design
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (dir: Tracy Brigden-City Theatre, PA), For The Love of Christ (dir: Holly-Anne Ruggiero-Fringe), Brunch: The Musical (dir: Rick Kunzi-ATA), The Brother’s Size (dir: Robert O’ Hara-City Theatre, PA), Wild about Harry (dir: Elizabeth Lucas-NYMF), The King is Dead (dir: Jerry Ruiz- AbingdonTheatre), The Clean House (dir: Sam Woodhouse-San Diego Rep), A Blessing of a Broken Heart (dir: Todd Salovey- San Diego Rep), Pericles (dir: Sabin Epstein-Old Globe Theatre), Good Breeding (dir: Robert O’ Hara-La Jolla Playhouse). Assistant work: Guys and Dolls (Howell Binkley-Broadway), 33 Variations (David Lander-La Jolla Playhouse).
Jamie McElhinney
Sound Design
Selected sound designs include: Sound Designer for Accinosco’s The Success of Failure and international touring sound designer for Must Don’t Whip ‘Um and Accidental Nostalgia (2007-Present), Ridge Theater; Lightning at our Feet (BAM Harvey); Banana Bag & Bodice Space Space (Ohio Theatre); The Fall and Rise of the Rising Fallen (Ps122); Lucidity Suitcase International El Conquistador (New York Theater Workshop); Young Jean Lee Theater Company Songs of Dragons Flying to Heaven (HERE Arts Center). Sound Engineer and system consultant: St.Ann’s Warehouse, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola inside Jazz @ Lincoln Center, and former audio and video supervisor for the inaugural season of the REDCAT Theater (Los Angeles, CA 2003-2004). MFA in Sound & Video Design from The California Institute of the Arts (2003). 2007-2009 Recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Designers.
Bobby Frederick Tilley II
Costume Design
Costume Design for Theater includes:
Mel and El: Show and Tell for Ars Nova; Gaugleprixtown and The Most Lamentable and Tragical Historie of the Barber-Surgeons for Studio 42; Top Girls (Act 1) at The Biltmore (MTC); Body Awareness, Birth and After Birth, 10X20, and The Butter and Eggman (Atlantic Theatre Company); No Boundaries (The New York Musical Festival); The Ontological Detective (Blue Heron Arts Center); Red Angel (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Len Jenkin’s The Country Doctor (Marymount College), Further Than The Furthest Thing (MTC); Tallahassee, The Lesser Magoo, and Mac Wellman’s Dracula (The 78th Street Theatre Lab). Associate Designer for Broadway: Speed-The-Plow, November, Talk Radio, Glengarry Glen Ross, Frankie & Johnny in the Clair De Lune, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Costume Design for Film includes:
Four Lane Highway, Little Kings, Jack Goes Boating (Assistant Designer), Spinning Into Butter (Assistant Designer), Pieces of April (Assistant Designer), and Sweet and Lowdown (Assistant Designer). Photo by Aaron Epstein.
Zoë Woodworth
Video Design
Zoë is a video artist and animator living in Brooklyn. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Art, and studied video production and editing at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and 3D animation at NYU and Pratt. Zoë was most recently art director and video designer for Nina Morrison’s Forest Maiden (NYC International Fringe Festival 2009), for which she created a magical glitter forest, a disco flying carpet entrance, and envisioned how YouTube would look in the Underworld. She designed video for the March showcase production of Lizzie Borden, as well as for Bio Hazards (People’s Improv Theater) and David Gordon’s Trying Times (Remembered) (REDCAT Theater/Los Angeles and Dance Theater Workshop/NYC). www.behance.net/ZoeWoodworth
Carrie Lynn Rohm
Hair/Makeup Design
Originally from Wisconsin, Carrie graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts. After moving to NYC, she has worked as a personal hair and makeup artist and wigmaker. She also works on Broadway as a hairstylist. Recent work includes South Pacific and Cymbeline (both at Lincoln Center Theater).
Emily Paige Ballou
Stage Manager
Emily Paige Ballou, a native of Kansas City, MO, holds dual degrees in drama and biology from the University of Georgia, and completed Juilliard’s Professional Intern Program in stage management in 2006. Recent credits include Jessica Dickey’s The Amish Project (FringeNYC 2008), O! Balletto (Lane & Co. Dance), The Reckoning of Kit & Little Boots (Gallery Players/Engine 37; currently nominated for 3 NYIT awards), Alice Wakeman: A Rock Opera (Ars Nova), and Into the Hazard [Henry V] (Walkerspace). She also works regularly at the Juilliard School and Six Figures Theatre Company.
Liz Elise Richards
Assistant Stage Manager
Liz Richards is a Texas girl at heart who moved to NYC a year ago to pursue stage managing. After graduating from Skidmore College, she worked at the Surflight in New Jersey, the New London Barn Playhouse in New Hampshire, and taught high school students and special-needs adults in Houston before packing and heading up to the big city. New York credits include Twelfth Night, The Real Thing, and Fifth of July (all at T. Schreiber Studio), Candide or Optimism (Fist In The Pocket-Field grant), Roar (Culture Connect) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Piper Productions). Other favorite productions include Amadeus, Europe, Gorey Stories, and Fame. Lots of love to her support system in Texas, who encouraged her to go for her dreams and always know the right time to send tamales.
Jenny Fellner
Cast: Lizzie Borden
Broadway: Pal Joey (Linda English); Mamma Mia! (Sophie). 1st National Tour: All Shook Up (Natalie/Ed). Off-Broadway: Tin Pan Alley Rag (Dorothy Goetz) - Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre; The Devil’s Disciple (Judith) - Irish Repertory Theatre; Marcy in the Galaxy (Sharon), Crossing Brooklyn (Des) - The Transport Group. Regional: Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors (Paper Mill), Miranda in Princesses (5th Avenue Theatre, Goodspeed’s Norma Terris), Dulcie in The Boyfriend, directed by Julie Andrews (Bay St. Theatre), Constance in The Three Musketeers (NSMT), Eponine in Les Miserables (TOTS, KC Starlight, Wolf Trap), Marge in Breakin’ Up is Hard to Do (Actors Playhouse), Elma Duckworth in Bus Stop (Black Hills Playhouse), MariAnne in workshops of notes to MariAnne (NY Stage & Film, O’Neill MT Conference). TV: Law & Order: SVU. Other NY: “Go the Distance” part of the American Songbook Series at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and at Merkin Concert Hall, both honoring the lyrics of David Zippel.
Lisa Birnbaum
Cast: Emma Borden
Lisa is thrilled to be in this killer show steeped with innuendo and the perfect blend of indecency and charm. Most recent credits include ON ISLAND at 59E59th street, THE CRY OF THE REED at the Huntington Theatre Company, TAMING OF THE SHREW at the Shakespeare Theatre of D.C., ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL at the Yale Repertory Theatre, ROMEO AND JULIET and ANYTHING GOES at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and GUIDING LIGHT…on your tv. While Lisa has an M.F.A. in acting from the Yale School of Drama and a B.A. in Drama from Tufts University, she is still a good ol’ North Carolinian at heart. GO HEELS! Many thanks to MM who unknowingly inspired her to pursue singing again, to MP, cause he’s just awesome, and to her family for their awe inspiring love and support.
Marie-France Arcilla
Cast: Alice Russell
Most recently reprised her role in The Old Globe’s production of a re-worked WORKING by Stephen Schwartz with new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, previously performed at the Asolo Theater. She also starred in the World Premiere of SIMEON’S GIFT by and with Dame Julie Andrews. NYC: SHOUT! THE MOD MUSICAL (Julia Miles/Cast Album). THE ARK (37Arts/Cast Album). SIDD (Dodger Stages/Cast Album). Other: MAKING TRACKS, MISS SAIGON, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, TWELFTH NIGHT, JULIUS CAESAR. TV/Film: LAW & ORDER:SVU, CASHMERE MAFIA, award-winning short A DATE WITH JAO MAPA, and Host of CINEMA AZN. AMDA Grad, ADMU Grad, Proud Manileña.
Carrie Cimma
Cast: Bridget Sullivan
Carrie Cimma recently completed the national tour of Sweeney Todd, playing Mrs. Lovett (Best Actress 2008, St. Louis Dispatch). Other national tours include Cameron Mackintosh’s Oliver, The Full Monty, and the first national tour of The Wedding Singer. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award for her portrayal of Simparticus in Bloody Lies at the MITF in 2007. Most recent choreography credit was the Vortex Theater Company’s production of H.M.S. Pinafore (Drama Desk Nomination, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, 2007). Thanks to Jed, Pete, and Took an Axe for such a great opportunity!
Christian Gibbs
Band: Guitar 1, Harmonium
Christian Gibbs is a guitarist, singer-songwriter originally from San Diego, California, now based in Brooklyn, NY. He was a member of Jim Thirlwell’s band Foetus, played guitar in Modern English, fronted the rock trio Morning Glories and pursued a solo career when signing to Atlantic Records under the moniker C.Gibbs. More recently he has recorded and toured under the name Lucinda Black Bear (featured on NPR’s “All Songs Considered” Top Ten List), and was the guitarist/ keyboardist for Passing Strange, a Tony award winning Broadway Musical. He was also recently featured in the Spike Lee movie of the same name.
Ward Williams
Band: Cello, Guitar 2
After graduating from the North Carolina School of the Arts, Ward Williams played the cello and guitar as a member of the internationally touring rock band Jump, Little Children from ‘94-‘05. He was the guitarist and emcee of Charleston, South Carolina’s infamous “Metal Monday” from ‘04-‘06. In May of 2006, he released a self-titled solo CD, co-produced with Ash Hopkins, and toured the southeast extensively as a solo artist. After relocating to NYC in the fall of 2006, Ward has performed and/or recorded with Vienna Teng, Brendan James, Chris Mann, Alicia Witt, Avi Fox-Rosen, Colin Smith and Danny Ross. He has also performed his original work both solo and with his musical partner, singer/songwriter/pianist: Christina Cone. He is currently writing and recording his second solo CD, “WW II.” www.wardwilliams.com
Keith Robinson
Band: Drums, Percussion
Deciding to forgo a career as a symphonic percussionist, Keith loaded up his drumset and moved to Austin,Texas the day after completing a Bachelors of Music degree in Percussion Performance from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Keith bounced around Austin playing any and all types of gigs before catching the ear of blues pianist Marcia Ball in 1998. In his two years with Ms. Ball, Keith toured America from Alaska to Florida and all stops in between, and provided drum tracks on two albums that garnered critical praise: “Presumed Innocent,” which won the W.C. Handy Award for Blues Album of the Year in 2002, and “So Many Rivers,” which received a Grammy nomination in 2004 for Best Contemporary Blues. Shortly thereafter, Keith left the blues world and went country, accepting an invitation to play with SonyNashville/Columbia recording artist, Charlie Robison. With Robison, Keith spent six years touring America and recorded three albums, one of which included the single “El Cerrito Place,” which climbed to number 2 on the CMT Top Twenty Countdown. Looking to further explore musical possibilities, Keith and family picked up stakes and landed in New York City in July of this year. National TV credits include ”The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn” (CBS), twice on “Austin City Limits” (PBS), “Nashville Star” (CMT), “On the Verge” (CMT), “Don Imus in the Morning” (MSNBC), and “Live at the Grand Ole Opry” (CMT).
Ryan Mackstaller
Band: Guitar 1 (alternate)
Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Ryan is a guitarist, composer, and improviser living and making music in New York. His performing and recording credits include numerous rock, jazz, and experimental settings and he has played in clubs, festivals, and dimly-lit basements throughout North America. Ryan is also a member of The Majorleans, an up-and-coming band on the New York scene whose debut EP he also recorded and mixed. He recently debuted his latest band as a leader, The Sky and The Sea, an adventurous five-piece group that performs his compositions of “Americana filtered through the urban meat-grinder.” www.ryanmackstaller.com
Hillary Richard
Executive Producer
Hillary is the founding partner of Brune & Richard LLP, a litigation firm based in New York and California. Hillary fell in love with theater and music at an early age, which was evidenced by her broad over-emoting whenever she was caught misbehaving and her loud, off-key singing whether in the shower or out. Hillary has channeled her love for drama into a successful career as a civil litigator. With her husband, Peter McCabe, Hillary co-produced numerous non-linear plays at now defunct downtown theaters in the early 90s. Since then, Hillary and Peter have produced three beautiful daughters: Lucy, Violet and Joanna. Together they produce a lot of beautiful music and laughter. LIZZIE BORDEN has been a labor of love. True love.
Peter McCabe
Producer
In the 80s wrote a series of plays, produced with the Colossal Theater Co. and Hillary Richard, adhering to the strictures of Gratuitous Theater and Violence. Has worked for many years as an actor; his favorite roles include Dracula, a warm-hearted slave owner, and a cross-dressing Klansman. He is the recipient of great fortune in that he is married to the absurdly beautiful Hillary Richard, and is the father of Lucy, Violet and Jo Jo, all of whom tolerate his extensive list of eccentricities.
Took An Axe Productions LLC
In 2007, Peter asked Hillary what she wanted for her birthday. Without doubt, he was hoping it would be inexpensive and located at a neighborhood shop. He was wrong on both counts. Having seen an earlier one-act version of LIZZIE BORDEN, and having been since haunted by its beautiful music, Hillary said that she wanted the rights to produce LIZZIE BORDEN. Together they formed Took An Axe Productions LLC. Took An Axe has been developing and workshopping the piece ever since. Along the way, we have had the privilege of working with supremely talented composers, writers, directors, musicians, actors, designers, engineers, and casting directors. It has been a truly collaborative process that has gotten us to where we are today.