WoodySez.com

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

	DAVID M. LUTKEN (Woody) has been making his living as a performer in music and theatre for 30 years. As a player of traditional American instruments, folk music comprises a very large part of his repertoire. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, David received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Studies from Duke University. He studied in London at the Royal School of Church Music, the Royal College of Music, and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts. His Broadway credits include Ring of Fire, The Civil War and The Will Rogers Follies. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall, with the New York City Opera, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and internationally in the UK and Europe. David began his professional connection with Woody Guthrie and Woody Guthrie Publications in 1988, which led to his creating various folk music/ American history lessons for school children and young adults. Most recently seen in the 2007 Broadway revival of Inherit the Wind, Mr. Lutken led the 1920's gospel-style quartet and served as the production's music supervisor.		DARCIE DEAVILLE (Lefty Lou) born in Toronto to a journalist/pilot mother and a bush helicopter pilot father, lived in Northern Canada and constantly moved around North America, from one culture to another. At 16, she struck out on her own, making her living on the streets of Toronto playing guitar. Now living in Austin, Texas, Darcie is well known for her fiery fiddling and singing her own songs, and working with artists including Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jimmy LaFave, Ani di Franco, Tom Paxton, Eliza Gilkyson, Slaid Cleaves, and The Meat Purveyors. A multi-instrumentalist, Darcie is also an accomplished actor, writer, producer, musical director and coach. She has recorded and released five CDs, the latest - Livin'on the Lucky Side. (Taller Dog Music, 2007). Darcieís theatre work includes the 2001 debut of her own one woman musical - Tornado in Slo Mo, Oil City Symphony, multiple productions of Woody Guthrieís American Song and Woody Sez, Back Bog Beast Bait, Cottonpatch Gospel, and Always, Patsy Cline. She is currently in a band called the Austin Lounge Lizards.
	HELEN J. RUSSELL (Nora) 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 Webmaster, and teaches piano and guitar. Her debut album, Holly Days, was released in November 2008. “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 (Pete) 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) joined the cast of Woody Sez for its U.S. premiere at the Lyric Theatre in Oklahoma City in March of 2009. In February, he had the honor of playing in NYC for Alan Cumming as part of the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center Jazz.An actor/musician specializing on strings and horns, Mr. Finch appeared in the TONY award-winning Broadway revival of Cabaret at the infamous Studio 54. His off-Broadway credits include Fame on 42nd St and the NYC premiere of Tennessee Williams’ 60-yr old play, Spring Storm. He has toured nationally and internationally with both Cabaret and Fame and performed regionally in Hank Williams’ Lost Highway, Grapes of Wrath, 1940’s Radio Hour, Fiddler on the Roof and Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. You might catch him fiddling with the Nashville based act Hank & My Honky-Tonk Heroes, or playing his 6-string electric Viper with Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, in Snider’s Ultimate Halloween Rock Concert Van Helsing’s Curse.		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.

	NICK CORLEY (Director) has directed several world premieres, including the recent off-Broadway productions of Tall Grass at the Beckett Theatre and Flight at the Lucille Lortel. Also to his directorial credit: Fables in Slang - A Ragtime Revue, The Civil War (co-directed with Gregory Boyd) at Houston's Alley Theatre, Eliot Ness…In Cleveland at Denver Theatre Center, A Young Lady of Fashion at the historic Fulton Opera House, The Overcoat (Fringe Festival), The Bomb-itty of Errors at the Adirondack Theatre Festival, The Little Foxes at the Fulton Opera House, Ned Rorem's Four Dialogues at Merkin Concert Hall and Sherlock’s Last Case at the Alley Theatre. Recent productions include The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County by Stephen King and John Mellencamp, and Lance Horne and Mark Campbell's A Hunger Artist. He was recently named Artistic Director at Lyric Theater in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where, in April 09, Woody Sez made its American Premiere.		COSSETTE PRODUCTIONS and MARY COSSETTE's generosity and enthusiasm have brought Woody Sez to life. A long-time fan of Woody Guthrie’s music and message, Mary is pleased to be the lead producer of this show. Along with her husband, PIERRE (founder of Cossette Productions, and whose distinguished music and entertainment credits includes five Broadway shows, 35 years of the Grammy Awards, numerous other TV shows, four Tony Awards), and Pierre’s son, JOHN (whose most recent production credits include The Million Dollar Quartet), Mary is proud to bring this acclaimed production to Woody fans, old and new.
	PAUL LUCAS PRODUCTIONS is a theatrical producing, general managing, and marketing company based in New York City. PLP has produced over a dozen plays and readings in New York, including Messages for Gary, Flyer, Nosferatu, 50 Minutes with Harriet & Phillis, TimeSlips, Son of Drakula, that Woman: Rebecca West Remembers, and When Aunt Daphne Went Nude. In Edinburgh, Paul has been engaged as the Press and Marketing Director of the Southside Venue and Aurora Nova venue (named Best Venue on the Fringe by the Guardian in 2004.) In 2004, he presented Kafka’s The Metamorphosis at the Fringe, which garnered a five star review in The Scotsman, and his 2006 productions of What I Heard About Iraq and Taylor Mac won a Fringe First Award and a Herald Angel Award, respectively. In 2007, he co-produced Woody Sez, A Conversation with Edith Head, Dai (Enough), Spawn and Die, The Panel, and Woody Sez on the Fringe. A familiar face on the international touring circuit, Paul Lucas Productions shows regularly tour the UK, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. He recently returned from Australia where he acted a theatre judge for the Adelaide Fringe Festival. He will be returning to Edinburgh this year with a full roster of productions.		THE MELTING POT THEATRE COMPANY is a professional, not-for-profit, off-Broadway production company led by Founding Artistic Director Larry Hirschhorn that seeks to explore the themes, people, and events that shape the unique American experience. MPTC presents culturally diverse theatre that is emotionally stirring, thought-provoking, and reflects the country’s population. Since 1997, MPTC has produced 15 acclaimed off-Broadway productions. 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, nominated for two Drama Desk Awards (including Best New Musical Revue, and the Outer Critics’ Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical); Miss Evers’ Boys, which received four AUDELCO Award nominations. Last season, MPTC presented the critically 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 (including Distinguished Production of a Musical), and six AUDELCO Awards.