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cast • creative team
synopsis • songs • woody • the painting

  
 

CAST
DAVID M. LUTKEN Originally from Dallas, Texas, David studied at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts and, as a boy, at the Royal School of Church Music. He has performed in Europe and the United Kingdom, at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and in his adopted home state of Louisiana is the principal banjoist for the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. BROADWAY: Inherit the Wind (’07 Revival); Ring of Fire; The Civil War; The Will Rogers Follies. NY CITY OPERA: Paul Bunyan. OFF-BROADWAY: Stars In Your Eyes; The Portable Pioneer and Prairie Show; Woody Guthrie’s American Song; Winterman. REGIONAL THEATER (USA): Man of La Mancha; Elmer Gantry; Finian’s Rainbow; Big River; Pump Boys and Dinettes; The Love List; Death in England; On Golden Pond; The Man Who Came to Dinner; Fire On The Mountain; Stand By Your Man; In The Deep Heart’s Core.

 

 DARCIE DEAVILLE Pilots and musicians are of the same breed. They all have their heads in the clouds, Darcie muses. Born in Toronto to bush helicopter/ journalist parents, she lived in Northern Canada and constantly moved around North America, from one culture to another. At 16, she left home, making her living as a Toronto street musician, and has since toured from the Yukon Territories to Central America, Europe to the Far East. Now in Austin, Texas, Darcie is well known for her fiery fiddling and singing her American roots based songs, and working with artists including Ani di Franco, Tom Paxton, Mary Gauthier, David Lindley, Eliza Gilkyson, and Slaid Cleaves. A multi-instrumentalist, Darcie's guitar playing is a well kept secret. She was the first woman (and first Canadian) to enter the National Flatpicking Championships in Windfiled KS, taking her place in the top 10. A writer, producer, musical director and coach, Darcie's theatre work includes the 2001multiple productions of Woody Guthrie's American Song, Back Bog Beast Bait, Cottonpatch Gospel, and Always, Patsy Cline. The latest of her five CDs is called Livin' on the Lucky Side (Taller Dog Music). Darcie is currently in a band called the Austin Lounge Lizards.
HELEN J. RUSSELL began her affiliation with Woody and Mr. Lutken in 1993, joining the cast of Woody Guthrie's American Song at the Pope Theater in Manalapan, Florida. She sang on the Pope-produced cast album and was a member of the cast of American Song in its 1994 European debut at Vienna's English Theatre. Along with David and Darcie, she toured the Austrian secondary school system, performing David's show for children, This Land Is Your Land: Woody Guthrie in American History. The V.E.T.–sponsored tour visited more than 49 cities in Austria, Italy, and the Czech Republic, bringing Woody to thousands of high school English students. She happily joined the cast of Woody Sez for its 2007 debut in Edinburgh and for subsequent trips throughout the U.K. and Europe, and for its recent American Premiere in Oklahoma. Based in New York City, she is a publishing consultant and teaches piano to adults. Her debut album, Holly Days, was released in November 2008 and a second EP of folksongs will be released in December 2011. “Her voice, pure and supple, handed down through generations, recalls the rich and rolling piedmont of her native home.” In addition to performing, ANDY TEIRSTEIN writes music inspired by the rich and diverse folk roots of modern culture.  His compositions have been described by The New York Times and The Village Voice as "magical," "ingenious," and "superbly crafted." A student of Leonard Bernstein and Henry Brant, Teirstein writes music for the concert hall, film, theater, and dance. His newest CD, The Open String, will be released on Naxos Records in August, featuring David Lutken narrating "The Shooting of Dan McGrew."  He has composed film scores for BBC and PBS. Two of his musicals, Winter Man and Skels recieved NEA Opera/Musical Theatre Awards. Andy received his MFA at NYU, where he studied with Stephen Sondheim & Arthur Laurents. He extended his musical education in the pubs of Ireland and performing as a musical clown with a Mexican circus. He is currently an Associate Arts Professor at NYU.

DAVID FINCH (Male Cover) An actor/musician specializing on strings and horns, David has played from Lincoln Center to the Castro Theater in San Francisco beside artists as diverse as Alan Cumming, Amanda Palmer, Tony Bennett, Justin Bond, and Dee Snider. He most recently performed in American Repertory Theatre’s production of Cabaret and will return this winter for Prometheus Bound, with music by System Of A Down front man Serj Tankian. He was a cast member of the TONY award-winning Broadway revival of Cabaret at the infamous Studio 54 (directed by Sam Mendes) and toured with the show in the United States, Canada and Japan. Mr. Finch appeared in the United States premiere of Woody Sez at the Lyric Theatre in Oklahoma City and in its month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the summer of 2009. His off-Broadway credits include Fame on 42nd Street and the New York premiere of Tennessee Williams’ sixty year old play Spring Storm. He also spent several years touring Europe, the U.S. and Canada with Fame the Musical and regionally has performed in Hank Williams’ Lost Highway, Grapes of Wrath, 1940’s Radio Hour, Fiddler on the Roof, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story and Cotton Patch Gospel. Mr. Finch is proud to have been an Associate Producer at Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS in NYC from 2004-2006. He makes his home in Brooklyn. MEGAN LOOMIS (Female Cover) also joined the cast of Woody Sez in Oklahoma, 2009. Theatre credits:  National Tour: John Doyle’s Sweeney Todd (Standby Mrs. Lovett, Beggar Woman), Sam Mendes’ Cabaret (Helga, Sally/Kost cover). Off B’way: The Mikado, Princess Ida (City Center).  NYC: Hell: the Opera (PS122), Northanger Abbey, Happy End (Theatre 1010). Regional: Ring of Fire (dir. David Lutken), Cabaret (with Deborah Gibson), Phantom (dir. Casey Hushion), Titanic (dir. Scott Schwartz), Pump Boys and Dinettes (Carousel Dinner Theatre). Education: Eastman School of Music, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art London.
ELEANOR BRUNSDON (London Female Cover) Eleanor trained at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama. Her theatre credits include The Comedian (Watermill Theatre), The Wind In The Willows and The Greek Plays (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Tom Sawyer (West End), August (Theatre Clwyd – directed by Anthony Hopkins) Chinamen (Sevenoaks Playhouse), A Midsummer Nights Dream and Teechers (Nuffield Theatre), Say Something Happened (Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells), The Yiddish Queen Lear (Bridewell Theatre, London), What If (Pop Up Theatre), The Ballad of Mad Dog Creek (Eastern Angles). Eleanor has also appeared in a number of films, including playing Megan in I Shaved My Legs For This and Sam in The Fall with South Bank Productions.

RUTH CLARKE-IRONS (Darcie's London Replacement) Ruth Clarke-Irons comes from South Wales and now lives in North London. She gained a music degree from Exeter University before studying Musical Theatre at Central School of Speech and Drama. Projects since drama school include And the World Goes ‘Round (Landor Theatre), The Merchant of Venice (Arcola) and Failed States (Pleasance, Edinburgh). Ruth is also the resident Musical Director of Paul Gladwin’s Principal Theatre Company, which specializes in outdoor musical Shakespeare productions in London. Recent productions with them include As You Like It, Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew. Ruth also plays viola with the London based Orchestra of Situation Opera, as well as performing opera with them as a soloist. She has recently joined forces with The Feral Pigeons, a group of comedy writers, as Musical Director for their new show Sisters: Return to the Isle of Queef. More than anything Ruth loves playing instruments and singing, and has spent many years learning several instruments including piano, flute, viola and more recently, the cello. She has been a keen folk singer and guitarist since discovering Joni Mitchell and Fairport Convention in her early teens.
AINDRIAS DE STAIC (Andy's London Cover) Aindrias has been described in the media as ‘a captivating yarn-spinner’. He is also an accomplished musician and actor. He won the Best Actor award at the Geelong Film Festival, Australia for Malarkey (dir. Joe Loh 2006) and The Galway Music Award 2007. Born in Galway, his rich and rare style of fiddling is as unique to the west of Ireland as his story-telling, antics and humor. Aindrias is known internationally for his one man show Around the World on 80 Quid which won Best Solo Show at New Zealand Fringe, rave reviews throughout Australia, and a nomination for Most Outstanding Performer at the Dunedin Fringe Festival 2008. The Year I Got Younger, a spoken word novel loosely based on his own experience of travelling in Australia, became a one-man theatre show, nominated for the Malcolm Hardee Award. Aindrias’ screen work includes Ras na Rún (TG4), The Clinic (RTE), Neighbours (Channel Ten), Green Freedom and Summer of My Flying Saucer (both for Magma Films), Aindrias recently played the lead role of Michael in Moment of Grace, which won the Bright Spark Award at Trop Fest 2010. He also played lead role Rafteiri in the Irish language feature film Mise Rafteiri for TG4. WILLIAM WOLFE HOGAN (Andy's London Replacement and David's Cover) Bilingual actor-musician William graduated from Goldsmiths’ College with an honours degree in Drama and French. Theatre credits include UK No. 1 Tours: Dan Cassidy in The Eva Cassidy Story, Captain Tempest in Return To The Forbidden Planet, Schlomo Metzenbaum in Fame (also Sweden and Norway Arenas Tour and West End); Bob Cratchitt in A Christmas Carol (Derby Playhouse), Sister Josephine in Sister Josephine Kicks The Habit (UK Tour), Vittorio Vidal in Sweet Charity (Oldham Coliseum), Pike in Black Eyed Susan (Theatre Royal, Bury St. Edmunds) Beauty and the Beast (The New Vic, Newcastle-Under-Lyme), City of Angels (The Landor, London) and The Ballad of Little Jo (The Bridewell, London). He has recorded on numerous albums as a vocalist and violinist and is founding member of jazz-rock trio Wolfe Hogan. Screen credits include feature films; Didier, Martyr, The Wedding Ensemble and Fever; several short films; idents for Channel 4, ITV and the BBC, and in France: New Apple Pie, and Sans Frontières (Arté/La 5).


CREATIVE TEAM
  NICK CORLEY (Director) Nick has directed many world premieres including Woody Sez for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, European tour and American engagements. Other premieres include the Off-Broadway productions of Tall Grass, Flight (Callaway Award Nomination) and Fables In Slang; The Civil War (Houston’s Alley Theatre); Eliot Ness...In Cleveland (also co-adaptation at The Denver Theat re Center); A Young Lady Of Fashion (also co-author at the historic Fulton Opera House); and the NY productions of Tim And Scrooge (NYMF and Queens Theatre), The Overcoat (Fringe Festival NY), Tall Boy Walkin’, and Moo. He recently served as Artistic Director for Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma where he directed acclaimed productions of Tommy, Steel Magnolia’s, The Music Man and Sweeney Todd. Other directing credits include The Bomb-Itty Of Errors (Adirondack Theatre Festival and St. Louis Rep.), Mother Russia (Carnegie Hall), The Little Foxes (Fulton Opera House); Ned Rorem’s Four Dialogues (Merkin Concert Hall); Sherlocks Last Case (The Alley Theatre); and The Robber Bridegroom, Man Of La Mancha, Bat Boy, Lucky Stiff and an original musicalized adaptation of Sea Marks for the Commons Group in Vermont. Workshop presentations include The Ghost Brothers Of Darkland County by Stephen King and John Mellencamp. He has directed over 100 developmental workshops and readings, many of them for NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre writing program. His extensive appearances as a performer include Broadway (Mary Poppins, A Christmas Carol, She Loves Me), Off-Broadway, regional theatre, film (Kissing Jessica Stein), recordings and television.   LUKE HEGEL-CANTARELLA (Scenic Designer) Luke is making his London debut with Woody Sez which he originally designed for the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. New York credits include work at The Atlantic Theatre Company, Lucille Lortel, HERE, The Lambs, and the 2004 Whitney Biennial. Internationally he designed Blue Shade at the Rozentheatre, Amsterdam and Redwood Curtain for the American University-Cairo. Luke has worked extensively in regional theatre, including projects at Yale Rep., Pittsburgh Public Theatre, CITY Theatre, Two Rivers Theatre Company, Berkshire Theatre Festival, TheaterWorks, Barrington Stage Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Adirondack Theatre Festival, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma and the Prince Music Theatre. Designs for Opera include La Clemenza di Titio at Wolftrap, Cosi fan Tutte at Curtis and La Traviata at Peabody. He was art director for the second season of the hit FX show Damages (starring Glenn Close) and has worked as a set designer on the films Julie & Julia, Pink Panther 2, State of Play, Synecdoche New York and The Accidental Husband. Luke is head of the set design program at the University of California-Irvine and a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

MATT FREY(Lighting Designer) Matt’s recent projects include Freefall with Dublin-based Corn Exchange at the Abbey Theatre; Credo at Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival featuring new work by Kjartan Sveinsson, Jonsi Birgisson (both of Sigur Ros) and Alex Somers; Orange, Hat, and Grace at Soho Rep; This Wide Night with Naked Angels; Melissa James Gibson’s This at Playwrights Horizons; Heidi Schrek’s Creature with P73 and New Georges; Jack’s Precious Moment also with P73; and Happy Now? at Primary Stages, all in NYC. Other credits include: Brooklyn Academy of Music, Ridge Theater Company, NY Theatre Workshop, Theatre for a New Audience and Paper Mill Playhouse, as well as many other theatres, regional and abroad.

JEFFREY MEEK (Costume Designer) Jeffrey is in his tenth season as costume designer and this past fall was privileged to costume his fiftieth production with Oklahoma’s Lyric Theatre. For ten years, Jeffrey served as principal costumer for The Ohio Light Opera. He has been privileged to work with such companies as The Point Theatre, Jewel Box Theatre, Carpenter Square, The Eastman School of Music and Colossal Studios. Jeffrey also designed Romeo and Juliet for Oklahoma City’s Reduxion Theatre Company. He has designed A Christmas Carol: The Musical, Annie and Disney’s High School Musical for Casa Manana Theatre. For the past five years he has designed A Very Merry Pops for the OKC Philharmonic. He has also branched out into the film, designing wardrobe most recently for Pearl Carter Scott with Media 13.



  MARY COSSETTE PRODUCTIONS (Executive Producer) Mary Cossette’s generosity and enthusiasm have brought Woody Sez to life. A long-time fan of Woody Guthrie’s music and message, she is pleased to have been the executive producer of this show from its initial development and production at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2007 through its European and American engagements. From her childhood in Hollywood in its heyday, to twenty-five years as the wife of the late, legendary impresario Pierre Cossette, Mary Cossette has been a strong theatrical presence behind the scenes. Cossette Productions’ music and entertainment credits, thirty-five years of the televised Grammy Awards and numerous other U.S. and Canadian programs, include acclaimed Broadway productions: The Egg, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Tommy Tune Tonight, The Civil War, and The Will Rogers Follies which garnered six Tony Awards.Mary Cossette Productions carries on this tradition with support of works Off-Broadway—Mind Games starring Keith Carradine and directed by Ken Russell, and On—The Addams Family with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, this season’s Bonnie and Clyde and upcoming revival of That Championship Season, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric.   THE MELTING POT THEATRE COMPANY (Developmental Producer) is a not-for-profit, Off-Broadway, theatre company in NYC, led by Founding Artistic Director Larry Hirschhorn. MPTC has produced 16 acclaimed Off-Broadway productions including Cobb, which received the 2001 Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble Performance and, with the support of co-producers Kevin Spacey and Elizabeth McCann, transferred to the Lucille Lortel Theatre for a celebrated commercial run, Woody Guthrie’s American Song and Miss Evers’ Boys. Melting Pot presented the acclaimed NY premiere of Cookin’ at the Cookery: The Music and Times of Alberta Hunter, which was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards, two Drama League Awards and six AUDELCO Awards. They first presented Woody Sez at the Edinburgh festival in 2007.
  PAUL LUCAS PRODUCTIONS (Developmental Producer) is an award-winning producing, general management, marketing and touring organization based in New York City. Known for fresh and innovative productions, its shows have appeared in New York and across the USA, throughout Europe and in Australia. In addition to the ‘07 Edinburgh Fringe production of Woody Sez and its London Southbank Festival premiere, PLP’s UK productions include What I Heard About Iraq (also at The Arts Theatre), Miss Coco Peru, The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac, and The Ziggy Stardust Meets Tiny Tim Songbook (all at Soho Theatre).   HARTSHORN HOOK PRODUCTIONS (London Producer) Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook have been hailed as the next generation of theatre producers. This is their second West End outing, following The Music of the Blues Brothers: A Tribute in October 2010. Since their first project as a duo, a fiftieth anniversary production of West Side Story in 2008, they have run two festival venues and produced twenty-four shows including The Crying Cherry, Boys of the Empire and Keep the Change. Both are passionate about music and have followed Woody Sez since 2008. They were thrilled to bring the show to the West End, where they felt it belonged.

 

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