Crowns

Shari is a highly accomplished vocalist, has a career that spans many diverse music genres, but especially loves gospel. Accomplishments: Black Entertainment Television’s (BET) premier broadcast, Sunday Best; BET’s Celebration of Gospel, host Steve Harvey; 2010 Stellar Award, “Best Traditional CD of the Year”; featured artist, Bobby Jones International GospelArtists Retreat. Contributing author, Tears to Triumph; Performances with luminaries: Kirk Franklin, Martha Munizzi, Bebe Winans, Mary Mary, Michael McDonald, Yolanda Adams, Marvin Sapp, Fred Hammond, Ben Tankard, Shirley Caesar, Patti LaBelle, and Stephanie Mills. International performances: Russia’s Maxim Gorki Theater, U.S. Russian Embassy, South Africa, and Brazil. Television: ABC, FOX, WCIU and WGN networks. Stage: 1000th Performance Lee Breuer and Bob Telson’s, The Gospel At Colonus, Carnegie Hall and its world tour; Regina Taylor’s Crowns, Goodman Theatre, Chicago. Honor: 2016 Jeff Award, portraying Aretha Franklin in Jackie Taylor’s Dynamite Divas, The Black Ensemble Theater, Chicago.

Gabrielle is honored to be making her McCarter debut! She is a NYC native from Queens and recent BFA Musical Theatre graduate from Rider University. Repertory Theatre credits include Thingamajig Theatre Company’s AIDA, Hairspray, Big River and Sister Act at the Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts. Regional Theatre credits include BEOBE Production Company’s All Shook Up at the Laguna Beach Playhouse.

Lawrence most recently appeared on Broadway in the Tony®, Grammy, and Emmy Award- winning Broadway revival production of The Color Purple. Other appearances include Bells Are Ringing, It Ain’t Nothin But the Blues, The Civil War, Once Upon a Mattress, and Dreamgirls. Off-Broadway includes Crowns at Second Stage (Audelco Award); Saturn Returns and Romance in Hard Times at The Public Theater. Regional audiences have seen him in productions of The Christians, Damn Yankees, Big River, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Avenue X. On the small screen Lawrence has appeared in episodes of Elementary, Law & Order: SVU, Homeland, The Good Wife, The Big C, Deadline, Law & Order: CI, and the made for TV movie Mary and Rhoda. He can be seen in the upcoming film Mike, Mike Tan.

Rebecca is very excited and honored to be making her McCarter debut with this special show! She was most recently seen on Broadway in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical as Janelle Woods! Other Broadway credits include: Motown the Musical (OBC)! National/International Tours: Ain’t Misbehavin’; Motown the Musical; Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Mamma Mia; and Thoroughly Modern Millie. You can find her on Twitter @RoRoCov or on Instagram @RoRoWebb

Through her life-transforming music and soul stirring performances, singer-songwriter Latice Crawford has become a favorite in the gospel community. Gifted with a bold, powerful voice, Crawford’s cadre of fans have come to know that the unique musical experience the Bronx, New York native delivers, stems from a story of triumphs and struggles which she passionately shares in her music. Crawford first gained national notoriety during her breakout performances on Season 2 of BET’s Sunday Best, where she achieved second runner up. She released her billboard charting self-titled debut album in 2014 and in 2016 released her sophomore project, Diary of A Church Girl. The critically acclaimed work garnered Crawford a Stellar Award nomination. For more information, visit www.LaticeCrawfordMusic.com

Stephanie is a native of Harlem, NY and is thrilled to be a part of this production of Regina Taylor’s Crowns. She most recently appeared in the Attic Theater Company’s World Premier of Jericho (Mrs. Mosca). Broadway credits include the revival of Pippin (Astaire Award nomination, ACCA Award), Chicago (Velma Kelly), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Muzzy Van Hossmere), Fosse (Leading Player), Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Brenda), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (Gymnasia), and Jelly’s Last Jam (The Hunnies). Regional credits include Newsies (Medda Larkin), The Odyssey (Circe), Nine (Liliane LaFleur), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Dussie Mae). TV credits include Law & Order: SVU and HBO’s Oz. Her CD, Now’s The Time To Fall In Love, is available on Amazon.com. @lapope64

Danielle is so excited be part of this production, with this amazing team! She is here “on loan” from her residence at New World Stages in Avenue Q, as Gary Coleman! She was also recently at Paper Mill as “Mrs. Corry” in Mary Poppins. Broadway/off Broadway: Avenue Q, 1st & National/European Tour: Avenue Q, Hair, Cinderella. Europe: Little Shop of Horrors, Jesus Christ Superstar. Regional: Caroline, or Change; Suessical; Crowns; Big River. Film/TV: Crooklyn, Pop Foul, (Bend Film Festival Best Actress) Rescue Me, Smash, NYC 22, The Michael J. Fox Show, The Affair, Deadbeat, Benders, Jessica Jones. Broadway Inspirational Voices soprano choir member and Outreach Coordinator! Thanks Telsey & Co. and TKO Agency.

Regina is elated to return to Crowns at McCarter/Long Wharf (Original production: 4 Helen Hayes Awards including Best Director). Upcoming: Bread (Edgerton Award) at Water Tower Theater, directed by Leah C. Gardiner. Ms. Taylor was honored as the 2017 Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in theater at Fordham University at Lincoln Center where she directed her play Magnolia. She contributed to the Princeton and Slavery Plays at McCarter that featured work by Emily Mann, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Nathan Alan Davis, Dipika Guha, and Branden Jacobs- Jenkins. Writing credits include: Trinity River Plays (Edgerton Award); Drowning Crow (Broadway); stop.reset. (Signature Theater Residency 5). Ms. Taylor is an Artistic Associate at Goodman Theatre and one of its most produced playwrights. Acting credits include: first African American Juliet on Broadway in Romeo and Juliet (Belasco Theater), first African American lead in Masterpiece Theater’s Cora Unashamed. Ms. Taylor received a Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Performance for the TV Series I’ll Fly Away. Movies include: Clockers, Courage Under Fire, and Lean on Me. Many thanks to Emily Mann!

McCarter: Polk County. Broadway: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone; Mule Bone; King Hedley III. NY and Regional: NY Public Theater, New Federal Theatre, Negro Ensemble Company, Crossroads Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Center Stage, Karamu House, Dallas Theater Center, Cleveland Play House, Theater of the First Amendment,Goodman Theatre, Alley Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Rep, Huntington Theatre, and others. Concert dance: Joyce Theater, NY City Center, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and international dance tours. Awards: 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, Helen Hayes Award, 2 AUDELCO Awards, numerous NEA grants. Film/TV: Beloved; Fun Size; Langston Hughes: The Dream Keeper; Miss Evers’ Boys (Emmy nomination). Creator/Director: Open the Door, Virginia!; I Could Stop on a Dime and Get Ten Cents Change. www.diannemcintyre.com

Jaret is honored to serve as Music Director and Composer for McCarter’s production of Crowns. He is a film composer, music director, and vocal arranger. Favorite theater credits include Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Stage 773 | Chicago, IL), Black Odyssey (Denver Center Theatre Company), and the pre-Broadway run of Born For This (The Broad Stage | Los Angeles). Jaret served as Assistant Orchestrator for Seasons 14 and 15 of Fox’s American Idol. Love and Light to all! Social Media: @jaretlandon

Diedre is an innovative composer, musician, producer and curator. From the 1970’s through early 90’s, she pioneered the use of the cello as a jazz music instrument. She is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for the chamber opera Running Man and a two-time Obie winner for Running Man and for Eli’s Comin’. She’s collaborated extensively with Music Theatre Group and Diane Paulus. Works include Running Man, Fangs, Best of Both Worlds and You Don’t Miss the Water. She wrote the arrangements for the Tony® Award winning The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Additionally Ms. Murray has composed for pieces written and/or produced by Lynn Nottage, Carl Hancock Rux, Kathryn Walker, Cornelius Eady, The Roots, Blondell Cummings, Risa Jaroslaw and Marcus Gardley, among others.

Drama Desk Award-winning Brooklyn based theatre artist and songwriter. Recently originated the role of Boxman on Broadway’s In Transit. Considered a pioneering figure in American beatbox culture he founded the American Beatbox Championships and executive produced the documentary American Beatboxer which was placed in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Harvard University Hip Hop archives. He twice headlined Carnegie Hall with DCINY and has collaborated on stage as a beatboxer with many legendary artists including KRS One and Nile Rogers, and has opened for artists such as MC Lyte, Snoop Dogg, and Immortal Technique. His critically acclaimed autobiographical show The Unwritten Law, directed by Rebecca Arends, is being presented in Dixon Place Theatre’s 2018 production season. National tour: Vocalosity. Select NY credits: Burn This, Golden Boy, Antigone.

Broadway: In Transit. Off Broadway/New York: Derren Brown: Secret, Atlantic Theater Company; Discord, Primary Stages; Ugly Lies the Bone, Roundabout Underground; Tail! Spin!, Lynn Redgrave Theater; My Mother Has 4 Noses, The Duke on 42nd Street; Who’s Your Baghdaddy, St. Luke’s Theater/Actor’s Temple; Triassic Parq, Soho Playhouse; Parade, Avery Fisher Hall. Regional: Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, Barrington Stage Company, Cleveland Play House, Dallas Theater Center, Everyman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Marin Theatre Company, Northern Stage, Pasadena Playhouse, People’s Light, Playmakers Repertory Company, Round House Theater, Seattle 5th Avenue, Syracuse Stage, Theater J, Williamstown Theatre Festival. Member of Wingspace Theatrical Design. Caite has served as adjunct faculty at Fordham University and Ramapo College. www.caitedesign.com

London: Motown: The Musical, Father Comes Home From the Wars, Topdog Underdog. Broadway: On Your Feet!, Motown: The Musical, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (Tony nom.), Topdog/Underdog. Off-Broadway: By the Way Meet Vera Stark ( Lucille Lortel Award, Drama Desk nom.), Venus, Crowns, Trust, Invisible Thread, Romeo and Juliet, Capeman, The Misantrope, Sex with Strangers. Regional: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Ruined, Señor Discretion Himself ( Helen Hayes nom.), Witness Uganda, Twist (2011 LA Ovation Award), Fences. Radio City Musical Hall Spring Spectaculars, NY Knicks City Dancers, Project Runway, Trustee American Theater Wing. @esosafashion

Broadway: The Great Comet (Tony, OCC, Drama Desk Awards). Recent Off-Broadway: The Last Match (Roundabout), The Treasurer (Playwrights Horizons), Animal (Atlantic), Hadestown (NYTW; Drama Desk nom.), Empanada Loca (Labyrinth; Drama Desk nom), Every Angel is Brutal (Clubbed Thumb), Preludes (LCT3). Regional: Alley, ART, Berkeley Rep, the Guthrie, Hudson Valley Shakespeare, the Old Globe, South Coast Rep, Williamstown. Opera: Bard Summerscape, Boston Lyric, Boston Early Music, Kentucky Opera, Opera Omaha, Vancouver Opera, Virginia Opera. MFA, NYU. On the web at www.bradleykingld.com

Robert has spent the last 24 years designing sound and composing; he has been honored with an OBIE for Sustained Excellence in Sound Design and a Tony for Fela! He owes much of his success to James Houghton’s inspirational mentorship during their 4 years together at the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference. Among his 300+ artistic credits are designs for Ms. Taylor’s stop. reset, and Urban Zulu Mambo and, here at the McCarter, Emily Mann’s production of Sarah Treem’s The How and the Why. He also composes musicals, creates museum installations, runs Nine Hostage Arts in Philadelphia, teaches at Princeton and loves his family more than anything else.

Rasean is delighted to be working with McCarter Theatre Center. A Chicago based video artist and theatrical designer, he has had the opportunity to work regionally with institutions such as Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Yale Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, Berkshire Theatre Group, Alliance Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Court Theatre, The Hypocrites, The Kitchen Theatre, Teatro Vista, Collaboraction, American Theatre Company, Manual Cinema, and internationally with the Ningbo Song and Dance Company. Additionally his installation work has been seen at the Yale Art Gallery, The Bridgeport Film Festival, the Logan Center for the Arts, and the Columbus International Film Festival. MFA Yale School of Drama. raseandavontejohnson.com

Broadway: Sunset Boulevard, Bandstand, Indecent, The Visit, The Real Thing, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Motown, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, All About Me, and Next to Normal. Recent off-Broadway: The Low Road (Public), The Amateurs (Vineyard), Jerry Springer the Opera (New Group), Fire and Air (Classic Stage), Mankind (Playwrights Horizons), and Yours Unfaithfully (Mint, Drama Desk Nomination). Films include Angelica and The Night Before. TV includes Six by Sondheim, Scream Queens, Gotham, Mozart in the Jungle, and Inside Amy Schumer.

Hair designer: Madame Butterfly. Broadway; Hair & makeup designer, Sunset Boulevard, Bandstand, Indecent, Violet and The Real Thing. Off-Broadway; Little Miss Sunshine, Here Lies Love, Buried Child, Pericles, Booty Candy, My Name is Asher Lev, Good Person of Szechwan and Romeo and Juliet. Marie Antoinette, Steppenwolf Theatre; An Octoroon and Hamlet, The Wilma; Glimmerglass Opera 2016-17; Central City Opera 2012-15 seasons; Bard SummerScape 2014-17. Education: B.F.A., SUNY FREDONIA. Thank you to Zevie for all your love and support.

Broadway/Tours: My Fair Lady, Carousel, Children of a Lesser God, Mean Girls, Lobby Hero, Frozen, Escape to Margaritaville, SpongeBob SquarePants, Once on This Island, The Parisian Woman, Anastasia, Hello, Dolly!, Come from Away, Waitress, Hamilton, Kinky Boots, Wicked, The Color Purple, On Your Feet!, Something Rotten!, The King and I, An American in Paris. Off-Broadway: Sweeney Todd; Atlantic, Classic Stage, MCC, New Group, Park Avenue Armory, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Second Stage. Regional: Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, New York Stage and Film, Paper Mill Playhouse, Studio Theatre, Wallis Annenberg Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival. Film: The Greatest Showman, Miss Sloane, Into the Woods, Margin Call, Rachel Getting Married, Across the Universe, Camp, Pieces of April. TV: This Is Us, House of Cards, Divorce, NCIS: New Orleans, Rise, I’m Dying Up Here, One Day at a Time, Graves, Atypical, commercials. www.telseyandco.com

David is a Drumfolk master, choreographer, composer, independent scholar and writer. His work spans categories of jazz, pre-Spirituals, dance theater, Hip-Hop, Broadway, TV, recording, and documentary film. Mr. Pleasant has spent over 30+ years introducing Gullah-Geechee (early African American cultural forms) to national and international audiences. He is an award winning performing artist who has collaborated across various genre lines with artists including: Audra Mc Donald, Wynton Marsalis, STEP AFRIKA, Cecil Taylor, Erykah Badu, The ABC News Division, Urban Bush Women, Arrested Development, Charles Gayle and others. As an arts-education pioneer, he guest lectures at a variety of institutions including: Smithsonian Institute, Fulbright Senior Specialist seminars, Schomburg Center NYPL, NYU Encuentro, Ministry of Education, Rome and more.

Cheryl is in her 27th season, 23rd as Resident Production Stage Manager, with over 80 productions for McCarter Theatre and 32 productions with Artistic Director Emily Mann. Cheryl has enjoyed 13 collaborations with Maestro Gian Carlo Menotti and the Spoleto Festival USA and Italy, and has stage managed 40 operas and musicals, three tours, and three PBS telecasts for New York City Opera at Lincoln Center. Cheryl has six Broadway shows to her credit, 15 years as an Executive Board Member of the Stage Managers’ Association, is a contributor to the recently published Sound and Music for the Theatre; The Art & Technique of Design, currently conducts master classes for the AADA and Rutgers University, and named a SUNY Notable Alumni in the Arts. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

Alison is in her 22nd season at McCarter Theatre. Highlights include Crowns (2002); Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville; The Understudy, directed by Adam Immerwahr; The White Snake, directed by Mary Zimmerman; Danai Gurira’s The Convert, directed by Emily Mann; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Tina Landau; Christopher Durang’s Miss Witherspoon; Sorrows and Rejoicings, directed by Athol Fugard; and Stephen Wadsworth’s adaptations of The Figaro Plays. Other credits include Edward Albee’s Me, Myself & I at Playwrights Horizons; Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays at the Public Theater, Second Stage, Old Globe, Goodman Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Paper Mill, Kennedy Center, Long Wharf, Center Theatre Group, Berkeley Rep, Bard Summerscape, Pittsburgh Public, Williamstown, and 19 productions with The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.

David has worked at McCarter since 1982. As head of the Production Department he directs the Scenic, Prop, Costume, and Stage Operations personnel in their creation of physical elements and provision of backstage support for the Theater Series and McCarter’s annual production of A Christmas Carol. In addition, the 30 person production staff sees to the needs of all guest artists and companies presented at the theater each season. During David’s tenure, the department has more than 150 theater productions and thousands of presented performances to its credit. Prior to beginning his McCarter career as Technical Director, David held posts at Center Stage in Baltimore and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He received his BA from Washington University and MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

Debbie joined McCarter in 2016. Her experience spans Broadway, off-Broadway, West End, regional, and non-profit theater. Broadway: Mothers & Sons, Grace, Annie, War Horse, Hair, Merchant of Venice, Speed the Plow. Off-Broadway and London highlights:Ingmar Bergman’s Through a Glass Darkly starring Carey Mulligan, Passion Play, Merrily We Roll Along. Chicago: Founder of Roadworks Productions, with residencies at Steppenwolf & Victory Gardens. Highlights: John Barth’s The End of the Road, Lanford Wilson’s Serenading Louie, Kenneth Lonergan’s This is Our Youth, Chuck Mee’s Orestes, and Eric Bogosian’s subUrbia. Ms. Bisno is an Advisory Member of Playwrights Realm in NYC and on the board of FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Studyof Professional Ethics). She lives with her husband David Goldman and Portuguese Water Dog, Stella.

Emily is in her 28th season as Artistic Director and Resident Playwright. Her nearly 50 McCarter directing credits include productions by Shakespeare, Chekhov,Ibsen, and Williams and the recent world premieres of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express; Baby Doll; Five Mile Lake; The Convert; The How and the Why; Miss Witherspoon; and Me, Myself & I. This spring Mann will direct the McCarter-commissioned world premiere of Chris Durang’s Turning Off the Morning News. Broadway: A Streetcar Named Desire, Anna in the Tropics, Execution of Justice, Having Our Say. Her plays: Having Our Say, adapted from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth; Execution of Justice; Still Life; Annulla, An Autobiography; Greensboro (A Requiem); Meshugah; Mrs. Packard, and Hoodwinked (a Primer on Radical Islamism). She is currently writing a play with Gloria Steinem and the stage adaptation of The Pianist. Adaptations: Baby Doll, Scenes from a Marriage, Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, A Seagull in the Hamptons, The House of Bernarda Alba, Antigone. Awards: Peabody, Hull Warriner, NAACP, Obie’s, Guggenheim; Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations, a Princeton University Honorary Doctorate of Arts, a Helen Merrill Distinguished Playwrights’ Award, and the Margo Jones Award given to a “citizen-of-the-theatre who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to the encouragement of the living theatre everywhere.”

A three-time Tony Award winner, Harold Wolpert is a leader and strategist with over 25 years of experience in all aspects of arts administration at major not-for-profit theater companies. Wolpert has made significant contributions to Roundabout Theatre Company as Managing Director, and as General Manager for Manhattan Theatre Club and the Alley Theatre. As a strategic consultant, he worked with Signature Theatre Company and Goodspeed Musicals, among other prominent companies. Wolpert is acknowledged as a national leader through years of service to the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), most recently as LORT Vice President, a key member of LORT’s Diversity Initiative Steering Committee, as well as a member of Theatre Com­munications Group’s Board of Directors. He was recently honored with the Edith Oliver Service to Off-Broadway Award by the Lucille Lortel Awards. Wolpert was an adjunct lecturer for the Brooklyn College MFA Program in Performing Arts Management and was a guest lecturer for Shanghai Theatre Academy. As Board Chairman of AIDS Foundation Houston, he led the organization’s fundraising efforts. He volunteers for The Trevor Project,
the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24. A Philadelphia native, Wolpert earned a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Pennsylvania.

"I am so grateful to God for the gift of music entrusted to me and I am thankful to McCarter Theater and the extraordinary talent of Regina Taylor and the cast of Crowns for this wonderful opportunity! For me, it's a crowning moment!"

"I am so excited to be a part of Crowns I just can't contain my joy. God opens doors of opportunity and I thank HIM for favor and blessings and a chance to share my gift through song."

“Singing is my ministry. I was born and raised in Trenton New Jersey. I had the pleasure of attending Westminster Choir College Vocal Camp as a High School Student and was a member of Princeton Pro Musica.”

"Eyes haven’t seen, ears haven’t heard, all that God has planned for me."