Sleeping Beauty 2022 Cast and Creative Team
Hernia the Witch
Rotimi Agbabiaka*
Rotimi Agbabiaka is thrilled to return to the panto after playing Aladdin in The Magic Lamp. Recent acting credits include playing Oberon and Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Folger Theatre, Washington DC), and originating the roles of Salima in House of Joy (California Shakespeare Theatre) and Cellphone/Narrator in If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka (Playwrights Horizons, NYC). Rotimi has also performed at Yale Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Shotgun Players, Brava Theater, Magic Theatre, among others, and is a company member at Word for Word, BACCE, and the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe. Rotimi penned the solo shows Homeless, Type/Caste (TBA award), and MANIFESTO; co-wrote the musical, Seeing Red; dazzles nightlife stages (as alter ego Miss Cleo Patois); and teaches acting and solo performance at Stanford University. www.rotimionline.com | Photo credit: Cody Williams
Pecker
Andre Amarotico*
Andre Amarotico received his BA in Theater at Stanford University. He has performed all across California, and was most recently featured in SF Mime Troupe’s Back to the Way Things Were, and the world premiere of Remains to Be Seen (Jewel Theatre Co.). Andre also starred in Neighborhood Stories Mill Valley, in a short untitled play by Pulizer nominated playwright Amy Freed. Favorite roles include Anthony in Sweeny Todd, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, and the titular characters in Hamlet and Macbeth. Andre was nominated for a TBA for Best Actor in a Featured Role for Ross Valley Players’ The 39 Steps. He has also performed with The Mountain Play, Marin Onstage, The Cutting Ball Theater, New Conservatory Theater Center, Word for Word Performing Arts Company, 6th Street Playhouse, and Stanford Repertory Theater. Up next, you can catch him as John Wilkes Booth in Assassins at Hillbarn Theatre.
Assistant Director
Phoebe Angeni
Phoebe Angeni is an emerging international artist. Phoebe graduated with a BA Honours from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and attended intensive courses at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London as well as the Stella Adler Studio in NYC. Her most recent one-woman show, Ithaca, an autobiographical adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2021. Ithaca earned five star reviews, praise from Lyn Gardner, and will return to the festival this summer. Angeni’s debut collection of over 100 poems, titled Longitudes & Latitudes, will be published this January. Having grown up in the Presidio of San Francisco, Angeni is thrilled to be joining the Panto team for a second year of this wonderful holiday tradition! www.phoebeangeni.com | @phoebe_angeni
Ensemble
Jaime Miller Bardacke
Jaime Bardacke has been finding joy in movement since she took her first steps. A native of Watsonville, California, she grew up doing gymnastics and fell in love with dance as a college student in Los Angeles. Jaime has been living and dancing in the Bay Area for over twenty years, performing in hip-hop, jazz, and contemporary dance productions. By day, she is a clinical social worker in San Francisco. Jaime began the musical theater chapter of her life when she joined the Panto cast for the inaugural season at the Presidio Theatre in 2021. She is thrilled to be back for another year of fun. Jaime is grateful to all her teachers, especially Stacey Printz, Jenni Bregman, Micaya, Ruby Day, Little Mission Music Studio, and her parents. She thanks everyone involved with Panto for their light and inspiration, and her family and friends for their love and support.
Ensemble
Daniel Benitez
Daniel “Dany” Benitez (they/them) is a Bay Area-based actor, dancer, choreographer, educator, and Drag artist. During the day, they can be found teaching performing arts workshops to underserved youth in San Francisco and in the evenings, they can be found performing on stages all over the Bay Area as a dancer and Drag queen (Richie Richport) in the local nightlife scene. Dany is thrilled and honored to be returning to the panto again this year.
Costume Designer
Alina Bokovikova
Alina Bokovikova is an artistically diverse costume designer with around hundred professional and educational productions for live performances in her portfolio. She has several regional Best Costume Design awards and presented her works at the “Costume Design at the Turn of Century” exhibition in Moscow and was featured in “American Theatre Magazine.” Bay Area audiences saw her works at TheatreWorks, Cal Shakes, Cutting Ball Theatre, San Francisco Opera, Opera Parallele, WEO, Opera San Jose (La Boheme costumes were exhibited at the Museum of Quilts and Textiles). Alina Bokovikova has an MFA in Costume design from UC San Diego and teaches at Academy of Art University. Photo credit: Kelly Mann
Mission Burrito the Chicken
Phaedra Tillery Boughton
Phaedra Tillery Boughton is a Bay Area based actor, director, playwright, casting associate and arts advocate. Her past theater productions include Clybourne Park (Director), Aint Misbehavin’ as Armelia McQueen, 1940s Radio Hour as Geneva, Newsies, The Color Purple, To Kill a Mockingbird (Hillbarn), Caroline or Change, Little Shop of Horrors (Ray Of Light Theatre), Newsies (Woodminster), Tarzan (PAP), Avenue Q (NCTC). She consistently challenges the concept of traditional theatre and finds new ways to push the boundaries of creativity and inclusion in the theatre community. Phaedra dedicates this show to all of her nieces, nephews! TT Phae loves you! IG @phaedratboughton | Photo Credit @tracymartinphotography
Julia the Cook
Curt Branom
Curt Branom performed as a principal cast member in Beach Blanket Babylon for 25 years. During that time, he inhabited countless roles, from the flamboyant King Louis XIV to Bernie Sanders. Locally, he has performed with the SF Symphony, SF Gay Men’s Chorus, Festival Opera, and Peninsula Civic Light Opera, where he was nominated as Best Actor by the Bay Area Theater Critics Circle for Sweet Charity. New York credits include Hurlyburly, A Lie of the Mind, and Our Life and Times. Curt teaches at the SF Conservatory of Music and is a co-founder of Pacific Singers & Actors Workshop (pacificsingers.com), a nonprofit that serves Bay Area students and received a 2019 Jefferson Award for Public Service. He lives in San Francisco with his husband, Jake Heggie. His greatest role to date is being Grayson’s dad. www.curtbranom.com | Photo credit: Tanya Constantine
Sourdough the Chicken
Jen Brooks
Jen Brooks is ecstatic to be returning to the chicken coop in this clucking Panto after she flapped her way into yours hearts last year in The Magic Lamp. She was most recently seen, this past summer, in Something Rotten! (Bea) at Woodminster Summer Musicals and in The Mountain Play’s Hello Dolly! (Irene Malloy). She has had the honor to perform on stages across the globe from New York City to Munich and Guam. Credits include: A Chorus Line – European Touring Company and US Productions (Cassie/Val/Maggie), Mamma Mia! – Marianas Islands Premier (Donna), Into The Woods (The Witch), The Drowsy Chaperone (title role), Nice Work If You Can Get It (Billie) and Singin’ In The Rain (Lina Lamont).
www.JenBrooksOnstage.com | IG:@JenBrooksOnStage | Photo credit: Nina Pelfini
Co-Playwright
Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown is a Bay Area native singer-songwriter and writer-composer for sketch comedy and musical theater. In 2005 she co-founded Funny But Mean, a San Francisco-based sketch comedy group that has performed at The Shelton, The Magic, and The Marines, with features at SF Sketchfest and the Upright Citizen’s Brigade in New York City. Her credits include script, music, and lyric composition for over 20 original live shows and comedy musicals such as Law & Order: SFU; Flavor of Death: A Guy Fieri Musical; Once Upon a Time in San Francisco, and Wild Scooters.
Co-Playwright
Richard Ciccarone
Richard Ciccarone is so proud to work with this incredible group of people and honored to be a part of this production. His past credits have included 20+ original sketch shows in San Francisco and New York at The Marines’ Memorial Theatre, The Magic Theater, The Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater, and the Improv Cafe. His shows, The Hope Gene and The American Gallery were both a part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and he has also written, directed, and produced several plays throughout San Francisco.
Ensemble
Maggie Connard
Maggie Connard is a teaching artist and performer who graduated with a BA in Dance from Point Park University. She teaches Rhythm & Motion and barre fitness at ODC, and has taught ballet, jazz, tap and musical theatre dance to children and adults. Maggie has performed with EmDance, Leyya Tawil’s Dance Elixir, Deborah Slater Dance Theatre, and Printz Dance Project, among others. She also loves musical theatre and has performed in local productions of A Chorus Line, Singing in the Rain, Chicago, Cabaret, and White Christmas. Maggie is thrilled to be back for her second year of Panto fun at the beautiful Presidio Theatre!
Projection Designer
Peter Crompton
Peter Crompton is a set and projection designer. He has won San Francisco Bay Area Critic’s Choice, Shellies, and Goodman Choice awards. He has also designed scenery and projections for Lamplighters, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Yucatan Symphony, Opera San José, West Bay Opera, Santa Barbara Opera, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Music of Remembrance, CCMT, Marin Theatre Company, MFDP, Revels, CCMT, SRT, Western Ballet, Jarvis Conservatory, SSU, SRJC, and Sonoma City Opera among others. He teaches design at Santa Rosa Junior College and occasionally Sonoma State University. Peter also makes monumental sculpture with his wife Robyn and their installations can be seen in downtown Cotati, Paradise Ridge, Cloverdale, Geyserville, at Hammerfriar gallery in Healdsburg. Photo by Tom Chown
Orinda the Fairy
Ruby Day
Ruby Day is thrilled to be back to the Presidio Theatre. You may have last seen her playing Snow White, as part of the final cast of San Francisco’s iconic Beach Blanket Babylon. During the pandemic, Ruby sharpened her Voice Acting Skills, booked a few commercials, and taught many virtual classes to young and eager actors. She couldn’t be more honored to step back on stage and make people laugh along side some wonderful new friends, and so many of her Beach Blanket Babylon Alumni. Enjoy the Panto!
Production Manager, Presidio Theatre
Patty Ann Farrell
Patty Ann Farrell has deeply impacted San Francisco’s performing arts field for over four decades, serving in various roles as production manager, stage manager, and lighting designer for many dance, theatrical works, and special events throughout the Bay Area, New York City, Washington D.C., Tokyo, Hawaii, and up and down the West Coast. Her artistic collaborations and lighting design for thousands of events include the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, the Oakland Ballet, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Black Choreographers’ Festival, Patrick Makuakane’s Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu, Eiko and Koma, Ballet Afsaneh, Lenora Lee, and many more. Patty Ann has received four prestigious Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and a Bay Area Critics Circle Award for her lighting designs. She is beloved by local artists and has furthered many of their careers through her mentoring work.
Ensemble
Merrill Grant
Merrill is thrilled to be back this season for a second panto with this amazing group! Bay Area credits include performances with Contra Costa Civic Theatre, Broadway by the Bay, and The Mountain Play. She began dancing at age two and then added classical singing to the mix at age fourteen. In New York she performed in concerts at Avery Fisher Hall, Weill Recital Hall, 54 Below, and the Metropolitan Room. She toured multiple productions with the NY Gilbert & Sullivan Players, and also performed leading roles in musicals regionally and in readings of new musicals. Her one woman show My Shirley Years toured to the Edinburgh Festival after the New York run. Her second show How I got to San Francisco, Plenty of Heart and Plenty of Hope can be viewed at www.merrillgrant.com
Technical Director, Presidio Theatre
Jeff Gregory
Jeff Gregory began his professional theatre career at age 10, performing in musicals, television, and later in the Catskill resorts through the age of 18. He is an accomplished bass player, having toured with the Queen Ida Band, and bands which opened for Patti Smith, Jimmy Buffet, Kenny Rankin, and Stephen Stills. He is a deeply respected lighting and sound technician, having worked at the Cowell Theater and Alcazar Theatre as Technical Director, and at Yoshi’s where his sound expertise was appreciated by a list of jazz greats, including Branford Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Joe Pass, Pharaoh Sanders, Bobby Hutcherson, and many others. He was part of a George Coates performance tour in Japan and was Stage Manager for a television collaboration with Ram Dass, which included musical guests Peter Gabriel, Arlo Guthrie, and Bob Weir. Jeff is also producing and directing a film on the life of Mason Williams. Photo credit: Gail Odom
Executive Producer
Peggy Haas
Peggy Haas has been active in theatre since she was eight years old. She has acted, directed and produced in both the US and Europe, and is currently enjoying hamming it up for Children’s Theatre of San Francisco, an 87-year-old non-profit organization that gives 6-8,000 schoolchildren their first live theatre experience at no cost to the schools. She is the person responsible for restoring the Presidio Theatre and gifting it to SF as a Community Theatre. She has always loved the Panto genre of theatre and the magic and laughter it brings. She feels Sleeping Beauty is also her joyous gift to Bay Area families and theatergoers, especially after the recent difficult years we have all endured.
Ensemble
M. Javi Harnly
M.Javi Harnly is thrilled to be making his Presidio Theatre debut. He was last seen over the summer as a featured dancer in Follies with SF Playhouse. His work can also be seen as a Scenic Artistic and Designer at various theaters throughout the Bay Area. CA Regional: The Fantasticks (Mortimer/ Fight Cap) – Tri-Valley Rep; Big (u/sPaul), James…Peach (u/s Grasshopper), Sister Act, Annie (u/s Rooster) – Berkeley Playhouse; Joseph… (Dance Cap.), Saturday Night Fever, Aida, Beauty & The Beast – BroadwayByTheBay; West Side Story (Bernardo/ Dance Cap.) – The Western Stage; Triassic Parq (Mimeasaurus) – Ray of Light; My Beautiful Launderette (Omar) – New Conservatory Theatre Center. / Edu. Tour (Aus): The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe (Man 1) – Cut Glass Theatre. “Infinite Thank You’s and Gratitude!” to Charley, Mom & Dad for your unwavering love and support.
Musical Director
Bill Keck
Bill Keck was Musical Director of Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon in San Francisco for 26 years. Bill studied piano with Soulima Stravinsky and worked theatrically with E.Y. Harburg, Sheldon Harnick, and Alan Menken. His tenure with singer and RCA artist John Gary spanned five nationwide tours, symphony concerts, showroom acts, and recordings. For five years he was guest conductor for Milwaukee’s Music Under the Stars. Bill ushered in the Millennium by conducting chanteuse Raquel Bitton’s Edith Piaf national concert tour, including three performances at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. He dedicates any and every musical experience to the memory of his wife Starry.
Prince Logan
Matthew Kropschot
Matthew Kropschot is grateful to return to the Presidio Theatre after performing in last year’s Panto, The Magic Lamp. Most recently Matthew could have been seen playing Little Charles in the San Jose Stage Company’s production of August: Osage County. Past credits include The Rocky Horror Show (San Jose Stage Co), Chicago (San Jose Stage Co), and Breaking the Code (Jewel Theatre Co). Matthew has a passion for both the stage and the screen, recently appearing in the HBO short film (available for streaming) 1, 2, 3 All Eyes on Me. Matthew considers himself a student of life, always trying to observe, learn, and grow from the world around him. He is honored to be surrounded by the wide array of inspiring performers and creatives that occupy the Bay Area. @cream0fthkrop | Photo Credit: kiayamariephotography.com
Queen Montgomery
Renée Lubin
Renée Lubin is noted by the San Francisco Chronicle as a city treasure for her 34-year run with Beach Blanket Babylon. Being a San Francisco native, she has performed with numerous theatrical companies. Favorite shows include Dreamgirls, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and For Colored Girls. She has performed with TheatreWorks, San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49er’s, Oakland A’s, and the San Jose Sharks. Renée is the former Vocal Jazz Coach at San Francisco State University and continues to perform at various jazz venues throughout the Bay Area. She is a proud recipient of the San Francisco Mayor’s Community Stalwart Award by the Human Rights Commission. Blessings!
www.reneelubin.com | Photo credit: Anna Ty Bergman
Executive Director, Presidio Theatre
Robert Martin
Robert Martin is the Executive Director of the Presidio Theatre. He led the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico for 16 years, where he developed the Lensic Presents series featuring more than 45 theatre, dance, music, and film events each year that reflected the cultural diversity of Santa Fe and supported local, national and international artists. Prior to that, Bob directed programming for the Cowell and Bayfront Theatres at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Bob earned a Bachelor of Arts with highest honors in political sociology at UC Berkeley and pursued graduate work at UC Santa Cruz, where he taught a course on the history of political theatre in America.
Understudy: Hernia the Witch
Dian Meechai
Dian Sitip Meechai (she/her) has performed in various productions from operetta and musical theater, to panto, concert halls, and an international cruise line. Favorite productions include The Empire Strips Back! — original US cast (Princess Leia/Twi’lek), A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Lady Eugenia), The Merry Widow (Lulu), The Gondoliers (Giulia), and The Roar of the Greasepaint (The Girl). Other favorites include singing onboard the Silver Spirit, and choreographing for Broadway Bares SF. Dian is a songwriter, recording artist, NASM-CPT and former contortionist. Born in the “Boogie Down” Bronx, Dian aspired to perform as a child. She is a graduate of Northwestern University. In 2007, Dian moved to San Francisco for circus school and fell in love with the city. www.dianmeechai.com | IG: @dmeechai
Cioppino the Chicken
Kaylee Miltersen
Kaylee Miltersen is thrilled to make her debut performance with the Presidio Theatre! Originally from Chugiak, Alaska, Kaylee recently moved to the Bay Area to earn her masters in voice at SFCM. Equally at home in both opera and musical theater, recent roles include the title character in Violet with FMT, Francois Poulenc’s one-woman opera La Voix Humaine, Luisa in The Fantasticks, and Claire in the new musical Living Large. She has performed with both Anchorage Opera and Opera Fairbanks, studied abroad in France and Germany, and has been a part of a variety of chamber ensembles in California and Alaska. When not singing or acting, she is likely found outdoors backpacking, trail running, or rock climbing.
Wanda the Wandering Fairy
Sara Toby Moore
Sara Toby Moore is an award-winning clown, actor, director and filmmaker who is currently founding Artistic Director of Thrillride Mechanics physical theatre troupe in San Francisco and also Director of Clown & Performance for Circus Center. Toby has four decades of experience as a performer, director, teacher, and writer, and her substantial body of creative work covers a wide spectrum of mediums including the big top, casinos, film, off-broadway, and regional theatre. Highlights include Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, The Krofft Puppets, and Merv Griffin’s Resorts Productions. With Thrillride Mechanics, her “clown opera” The Supers was critically lauded at its world premiere at Z Space in 2020. Next up: Atomic Comic, a punk rock-clown fantasia on the Z Space mainstage in June 2023. She is over the moon to be here in Panto-Land with this beautiful team! www.saratobymoore.com
Production Dramaturg
Christine Nicholson
Christine Nicholson has been teaching Theatre at the University/College level for twenty years, directing professionally for over twenty years, and has been a working actor since the 1980s. She is Associate Producer and Director for the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival, a founding member of Synergy Stage and Splinter Group Theatre (a theatre dedicated to Panto), and a member of Wildflower Women’s Shakespeare Ensemble. Sleeping Beauty will be the twelfth Panto that she has written/produced with her husband, Luther Hanson. Other Pantos include: The Magic Lamp, Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty (separate production), Robinhood in the Forest of Frogwarts, Moby Dick, the Panto, and Little Women, the Panto.
Production Stage Manager
Penny Pendleton
Penny is so grateful for this magical production and everyone involved! Penny trained in Stage Management at the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts. Recent Stage Management credits include Oklahoma! – North American Tour, Sleeping Beauty’s Dream (The Sting & Honey Company), Sense and Sensibility (TheatreWorks), A Christmas Carol (Golden Gate Theatre), Pericles, Prince of Tyre (San Francisco Shakespeare Festival). In 2023, Penny is looking forward to working with the American Conservatory Theatre and TheatreWorks. XOXO, P²
Choreographer
Stacey Printz
Stacey Printz is Artistic Director of Printz Dance Project (PDP) and has toured across the nation and internationally. Her choreography credits include: As You Like It at Cal Shakes, Aaron Davidman’s Wrestling Jerusalem, Sarah Shourd’s The Box, Woolly Mammoth Theater’s production of The Arsonists, Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s Scourge, The Break/s, and the Bessie nominated Red, Black & Green: a blues and /peh-LO-tah/. She has choreographed many regional musical theater productions, including Ragtime, West Side Story, A Chorus Line, In the Heights, and Grease. Stacey was nominated for an Izzie Award for her 2011 work Hover Space, and her work GLASSlands was presented at YBCA. In early 2020, Stacey developed a new show, Ink and Bone, as part of a residency at The Kennedy Center.
www.printzdance.org | Photo credit: Jeff Zender
Embarkadero
Scott Reardon*
Scott Reardon was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and has performed with Beach Blanket Babylon, TheatreWorks of Silicon Valley (Big River), Utah Shakespeare Festival (Lend Me A Tenor: The Musical – World Premiere), Musical Theatre West (Thoroughly Modern Millie), and 5-Star Theatricals (Kiss Me, Kate; Once Upon A Mattress), to name a few, as well as commercial work for Visa, Samsung, Philips, Dell, Verizon, LinkedIn, Logitech, LG, Dolby, Google, Cisco Systems, Symantec and more. He attended UC Irvine receiving honors in both Musical Theatre and Acting, and received his M.A. in Education from Alliant International University. He is an Actor’s Equity Association’s Roger Sturtevant Awardee.
www.ScottReardon.net | Photo credit: Aly Blue Headshots
Production Designer
Sean Riley
Sean Riley is a scenic designer, theater creator, rigger, television host, and father based in the Bay Area. Riley has created over 100 unique environments for time-based art which have toured nationally and internationally from Broadway to Istanbul. Awards and nominations include: Izzies, TBA awards, Bay Area Critics Circle, Isadora Duncan Sustained Achievement Award in scenic design. Large scale projects also include one-of-a-kind circus systems for Cirque Mechanics, custom rigging systems installed on buildings across the US, and the continuing construction of the 10,000-year clock. “I am thrilled to be a part of this production, a gift to San Francisco for the young and young at heart.”
www.VisibleGravity.com | Photo credit: Chelsea Riley
Major Major
Danny Scheie*
Danny Scheie has played principal roles at South Coast Rep, Arena Stage and Folger Theater (DC), The Old Globe in San Diego, Yale Rep, Trinity Rep (RI), Arizona Theater Company, Asolo Rep (FL), Actors Theater of Louisville, Pasadena Playhouse, A Noise Within (LA), Two River Theater (NJ), Merrimack Rep (MA), and in the Bay Area at Berkeley Rep, American Conservatory Theater, Z Space, Aurora, Magic, Rhino, TheatreWorks, Marin, The Marsh, San Jose Rep and thirteen seasons each with California Shakespeare Theater (where he last played Richard III) and Shakespeare Santa Cruz (including three years as Artistic Director). He recently appeared in world premieres by Amy Freed, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, and Daniel Handler. He received three Bay Area Critics Circle awards for leading actor, two for supporting actor, and one for directing, as well as the inaugural TBA award for leading actor. He is an emeritus professor at UCSC and holds a PhD from University of California Berkeley. Photo credit: Norbert von der Groeben
Princess Sonoma
Sharon Shao
Sharon Shao (she/her) is a Bay Area native actor and teaching artist. She holds a double B.A. in Theatre Arts and Psychology from UC Santa Cruz. Recent credits include The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (SF Playhouse), The Winter’s Tale, Good Person of Szechwan (CalShakes), Man of God, Iron Shoes (Shotgun Players), and UTOPIA (CuttingBall Theater). She is thrilled to be returning to Presidio Theater after appearing as Princess Jazz last year in The Magic Lamp! Aside from acting, Sharon is passionate about teaching voice and drama to young students, and collaborating on various interdisciplinary art projects with her collectives, SoulTalk and The Forum. Sharon dedicates this show, and all things, to her guiding spirit, her beloved mama. www.sharonshao.biz | Photo credit: Gabrielle Battista
King Powell
Gary Stanford Jr.
Gary Stanford Jr. is a Bay Area native who has been involved with singing, dancing, and acting since a young child. He has appeared in over 80 musicals with various theater companies and recent productions include Schoolhouse Rock Live Jr (2021) (director, choreographer, music director), Once on This Island (2020) (director, choreographer), and Into The Woods (2019) (Rapunzel’s Prince). Since 2019, he has been running his own theater company, North California Arts Collective and is on the Board of Directors for Z-Space theater (San Francisco), Woodside Community Theater, and Hillbarn Theater (Foster City). He retired from a 20-year tech career in 2019 and became deeply involved in education/mentoring and contracting in regards to social justice awareness (such as racism, colorism and emotional intelligence). He has his own radio podcast show, Planet Bay Area that is also dedicated to social justice, decolonization principles, self-care and empowerment. Photo credit: Steve Fogel
Casting Director
Annie Stuart
Annie Stuart’s credits include Marin Theatre Company, SF Playhouse, Center REP, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, San Francisco and Los Angeles Shakespeare Festivals, Brava!, Theatre Rhinoceros, and Z Space, among others. For more than two decades, Annie has cast over 300 roles per season on behalf of PlayGround, making her one of the most active casting directors in the Bay Area. She has taught at San Jose State University, Marin Theatre Company, Young Rep, and College of Marin. She got her start casting in television with CBS/Lorimar.
Ensemble
Jeffrey Mercury Van Sciver
Mercury is thrilled to be joining the cast of this years Panto in the Presidio. Van Sciver received his college training at The Juilliard School and earned his BFA from Dominican University. While in school, he danced with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera’s production of Moby Dick, and received awards and scholarships from the Dizzy Feet Foundation, the Chris Helman Award, and Princess Grace Awards. Upon graduating, Van Sciver joined Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, touring internationally for over six years. In 2018, he joined the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus as well as Sister Magic Productions. The following year, he joined the chorus’ a capella group, HomoPhonics, in which he’s been able to sing, dance, and choreograph. Van Sciver would like to thank everyone near, far and wide for being a part of his journey and appreciates the opportunity to show himself and his love of life.
Director
Liam Vincent
Liam Vincent is a professional actor, director, and casting director who is proud to have called San Francisco home for the last 25 years. His theater credits include work off-Broadway with The Civilians. His regional credits include: The Alliance, Huntington Theater Company, Portland Center Stage, Pasadena Playhouse, Arizona Theater Company, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. In the Bay Area, his work has been seen at the American Conservatory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, TheatreWorks, Marin Theatre Company, The Magic, The Aurora, Campo Santo, and the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Liam is currently the Associate Lead Director at The Magic Theater at Ft. Mason.
Photo Credit: Lisa Keating
Fremont the Fairy
Ryan Patrick Welsh
Ryan Patrick (RP) Welsh (he/she/they), The 8th Best Legs in San Francisco, is simply delighted to be returning to the Presidio Theatre this year for another Panto! RP has performed extensively in the Bay Area for the last 7 years most notably with The San Francisco Neo-Futurists, Peaches Christ Productions, & Baloney – San Francisco’s Gay All-Male Revue, which she also helps to produce behind the scenes. RP can often be found tearing up dance floors around the Bay or dazzling audiences at his cabarets. Much love & thanks to their sister, Sarah Catherine, their friends and family. Photo credit: Jason Hanasik
Creative Contributor
Mason Williams
Mason Williams is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning classical guitarist, composer, singer, writer and poet, best known for his song “Classical Gas” and for his work as a comedy writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, Saturday Night Live and a variety of TV specials for Andy Williams and Petula Clark. Mason has recorded more than 20 albums, five of which were on the Warner Bros. label. He has performed hundreds of live concerts, including performances with over 40 symphony orchestras. His music compositions have been featured in many movies and television series, including The Sopranos and The Queen’s Gambit. His artwork is part of numerous private collections and at the Smithsonian, MOMA (NYC) and was included in the Norton Simon Museum exhibition “Radical Past”. www.masonwilliams-online.com
Pacifica the Fairy
Eiko Yamamoto*
Eiko Yamamoto (she/they) hails from Japan, Korea, Hawaii, and settled in the Bay Area after Y2K. Recent credits include Emily Whitman in Follies (San Francisco Playhouse), M’Lynn Eatenton in Steel Magnolias (SierraRep) and Sarom in the world premiere of Downtown Crossing (Company One), as well as working at Playground SF, Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep (YWoCC), ZSpace, Marin Shakespeare Company, African American Shakespeare Company, FaultLine Theater, Hillbarn Theatre, Palo Alto Players, and Dragon Productions. Eiko is an alumna of University of California, Los Angeles and California College of the Arts, San Francisco. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA. www.eikoyamamoto.com | @eikoyh I Photo credit: Lisa Keating
*The Actor appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States