The Magic Lamp Cast and Crew

Rotimi Agbabiaka is an actor, writer, director, and teaching artist. Most recently, Rotimi originated the role of Salima in House of Joy (California Shakespeare Theatre) and Cellphone/Narrator in If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka (Playwrights Horizons, NYC). Other acting credits include Father Comes Home From The Wars … (Yale Rep/American Conservatory Theatre), Black Rider (Shotgun Players), Bootycandy (Brava Theater, TBA award), runboyrun (Magic Theatre), and several shows with 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; and dazzles nightlife stages (as alter ego Miss Cleo Patois). www.rotimionline.com | Photo credit: Cody Williams

Rinabeth Apostol was most recently seen at SF Playhouse in the musical Starting Here, Starting Now. Recent pre-pandemic projects included Groundhog Day: The Musical (SF Playhouse), The Chinese Lady (Magic Theater), House of Joy (CalShakes), Vietgone at Capital Stage, A Thousand Splendid Suns (Seattle Rep, ACT) and the world premieres of Two Mile Hollow (Ferocious Lotus); and we, the invisibles (Humana Festival, ATL). Select favorite credits include The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga (TheatreWorks), The Cable Car Nymphomaniac (FOGG Theater), Imelda: The Musical (East West Players), Avenue Q (San Jose Stage), peerless (Marin Theatre Company; BATCC Award), The Hard Problem and Monstress (ACT), The Kite Runner and Of Mice and Men (San Jose Rep), and Red (TheatreWorks). Rinabeth is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the College of William and Mary School of Theater and Dance. www.rinabeth.com

JM Appleby was born and raised in Redwood City and was a principal actor at Beach Blanket Babylon playing beloved roles that included James Brown, Bill Cosby, Barack Obama, Prince, and Serena Williams. From East Coast to West Coast, he is very thankful for all of the support from his family and friends, most importantly his mother. He thanks his mother for always being his number one fan and for encouraging him to do what he loves and love what he does! He shares this from George Carlin: “Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath; people who see life as anything more than pure entertainment are missing the point”. Photo credit: Tracy Martin

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 20 years. She has had the privilege of studying and performing with talented artists including Madonna Grimes, Micaya, Strong Current Dance Company, LV Dance Collective, Stacey Printz, and Jenni Bregman. Jaime is thrilled to be a part of the Magic Lamp production. By day, she is a clinical social worker in San Francisco.

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

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 is a co-founder of Pacific Singers and Actors Workshop, 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

Jen Brooks is fulfilling her lifelong dream of being a singing chicken. She is very egg-cited to flap her way into your hearts in her first Panto production. Her love of singing chickens began at the tender age of five when she discovered a record of Disney songs featuring Clara Cluck, the opera singing chicken and the rest is history. Off she flew to New York City to train and perform. An AMDA Graduate, Jen has performed in the international and national touring companies of A Chorus Line (Cassie, Val, Maggie) and the International-Pacific Islands premier of Mamma Mia! (Donna). Other credits include Singin’ in The Rain (Lina Lamont), The Drowsy Chaperone (Title Role), Nice Work If You Can Get It (Billie), Into the Woods (The Witch) and CATS (Rumpleteaser). www.thejenbrooks.com | Photo credit: Andrew Barry Fritz

No stranger to the creative arts, Calli Carvajal was nurtured by San Francisco performing arts parents, exposing her to theater and music that included the influence of Classical ballet and Rock n’ Roll. Inspired by her family she went on singing and dancing as well. In 2001 she moved to NYC to pursue her love of hair and wigs, mastering her cut and color techniques at Aveda Institute New York. After spending years behind the chair in NYC hair salons, keying backstage at fashion shows, and building a name for herself in the underground Club/Art/Fashion scene, it wasn’t long before her raw talent and undeniable edge would launch her creative skills independently into the world of celebrity, entertainment, and theater. Photo credit: Calli Cavajal

Sam Clevenger is an animator/ editor who enjoys finding a unique and fitting visual language within each project. Most recently he has had the pleasure of animating for Minnesota Opera’s Lucia Di Lammermoor, as well as for their Opera in the Outfield event. Sam’s past work includes animating for East West Players’ Assassins, Princess Cruises’ 5-SK1-E-5, Minnesota Opera’s Elektra, and Opera Parallele’s Trouble in Tahiti. His work in film includes assistant editing on the Emmy and Peabody nominated documentary film Survivors. He also builds tiny machines out of cardboard when there’s time for that sort of thing. Photo Credit: Eddie Sadiwa

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.

Marisely Cortés Fonseca is a freelance costume designer. She graduated from Academy of Art University in 2020 with an MFA in Costume Design. In 2014, she graduated from University of Puerto Rico with a BA in Psychology along with a minor in Art History. Theatre credits include Elliot a Soldier’s Fugue and Under Milk Wood for the Pear Theater, The Pirates of Penzance for UC Santa Cruz, Hot Mikado for 42nd Street Moon Theater, Fahrenheit 451 for Quantum Dragon Theatre. As a costume designer, she also has collaborated with other students across different majors such as motion picture, television, and acting by taking part in short films.

Ruby Day is thrilled to be back on stage after a long hiatus from 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!

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.

Merrill Grant moved to the Bay Area from New York a few months before the pandemic and is thrilled to join this performing family and kick her heels up onstage again. In New York, she performed solo at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, originated roles in workshops of new musicals, and was a regular performer with the New York Gilbert and Sullivan players (NY and tours) and the Ziegfeld Society. She originated the role of Marilyn Miller in a fully staged biographical musical titled “The First Marilyn…Marilyn Miller.”  Her cabaret act on Shirley Temple played the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2020, she created and filmed  a new act with Peter Grunberg which is available to view on www.merrillgrant.com. Photo credit: Ben Krantz

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

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 The Magic Lamp is also her joyous gift to Bay Area families and theatergoers, especially after the recent difficult years we have all endured.

Luther Hanson has written a collection of short one-acts called The Silliest Stuff That E’er I Heard, as well as several full-length plays, including King Arthur (in the style of Shakespeare); Bite Me, Cleopatra; My Little Druid; Malvolio’s Revenge; Another As You Like It Reunion; and adaptations of Mr. Toad and A Christmas Carol. He has co-written a number of British Pantos with Christine Nicholson. He teaches Playwriting and the One-Act Playwriting Workshop at Sacramento City College.

Albert Hodge is excited to be making his Presidio Theatre debut in this production. He most recently appeared as Eddie/Dr. Scott in The Rocky Horror Show at the Ray of Light Theatre. Other favorite roles include Horse in The Full Monty (Bay Area Musicals), Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors, Belize in Angels in America, Hud in Hair, and Juan Peron in Evita. He is proud to have been a member of the final cast of Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon after a run of 20 years with the show. Albert also works as an instructor for acting, improv, and singing with Pacific Singers and Actors Workshop, which is an afterschool program for Bay Area youth.

Lauren Howard is ecstatic to be back on the stage! She was a principle in San Francisco’s iconic Beach Blanket Babylon from 2015-2018) and has performed in many regional productions including Man of La Mancha (Aldonza), Ragtime (Evelyn Nesbit), and The Taming of the Shrew (Kate/Shrew). Her film/television credits include Sweet Bitter, Succession, and Beautiful Boy and she has done commercial work for McDonald’s, Ancestry.com, Bann Resort, and Source Naturals. You can also find her selling houses with eXp Realty on TeamFAST, or walking dogs in the neighborhood! Lauren would be nowhere without the unwavering love and support of her amazing family, Gary, & close friends. @lolo_how_b | www.laurenehoward.com

Matthew James is an artist and designer with over 35 years of experience, and is a San Francisco Bay Area native. His work has appeared on stage, on TV, and in print. He was the art director and lead hat and prop builder for Beach Blanket Babylon for 26 years. While there, he accompanied the show on its Covent Garden music and arts festival tour. Some other career highlights include being a cast member on Mad Fashion in 2011, designing hats for the opening of Salesforce Tower, and more hats for the 25th Anniversary of the San Francisco Symphony, and celebrations honoring Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. www.mattjamesart.com/bio | Photo credit: Brian James

Stephanie Anne Johnson is a second-generation theater practitioner. Her mother Virginia Greene worked with the American Negro theatre. Johnson has been working locally, nationally, and internationally for over forty years. Her work has been seen in France, India, Italy, and Canada, Locally, she has worked with Cultural Odyssey, Oakland Theatre Project, Shotgun Players, TheatreFirst, Aurora Theatre, and Marin Theatre. Johnson is an artist who has had one-person shows. Dr. Johnson is a founding faculty member of the Visual and Public Art Department at Cal State University, Monterey Bay. Her work can be seen online at www.lightessencedesign.com. She is very excited to be working on this production! Photo credit: Joan Osanto

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. Photo credit: Unknown

Matthew Kropschot is grateful to be returning to the stage after over a year of consistently irritating his partner with his at home “performances.” Matthew has worked around the Bay Area since graduating from college in 2019, namely with The San Jose Stage Company and The Jewel Theatre Company in Santa Cruz. 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, as well as various small projects around the Bay. Aside from acting, Matthew also moonlights as a wedding filmmaker. @cream0fthekrop  | Photo credit: kiayamariephotography.com

Devon LaBelle is a Prop Lead and SFX artist whose work has been seen across Bay Area stages since 2009. She is Resident Artist with Crowded Fire Theater, a Company Member with Shotgun Players, and a Theatre Bay Area-award–winning props designer for her work on Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice (Shotgun Players) and Vanya, Sonya, Masha, and Spike (Contra Costa Civic Theatre). Devon is the props shop coordinator at San Francisco State University. Upcoming projects include The Displaced with Crowded Fire Theater and Our Town with Contra Costa Civic Theatre.  Photo credit: Cheshire Isaacs

Vernon F. Lewis is an actor and director who has performed in Romeo & Juliet (as the Friar), A Christmas Carol (as Bob Cratchit), and twelve British Pantos, including Snow White, Robin Hood, and Peter Pan. He directed “Little Women: The Panto” in Sacramento in 2019 and has also directed “Paper Thin”, “My Daughter is Dating a Zombie”,  and served as assistant director for a production of “Skeleton Crew”. Vernon is excited to be working at the new Presidio Theatre, bringing his director ability to this production and he looks forward to getting back to doing in-person theatre again for audiences throughout the Bay Area and Sacramento.

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 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. Visit www.reneelubin.com. Blessings! Photo credit: Anna Ty Bergman

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.

Dian Sitip Meechai is a singer, dancer, songwriter, and former contortionist. She has performed in numerous productions from musical theater, concert halls, and an international sailing cruise line. She’s a recording artist and NASM-CPT. Favorite credits include The Gondoliers (Giulia) and The Roar of the Greasepaint (The Girl), singing onboard the Silver Spirit, dancing/choreographing for SF’s Broadway Bares and contorting at the former Supperclub. Born in the “Boogie Down” Bronx, Dian aspired to perform from her earliest days. She is a graduate of Northwestern University. In 2007, Dian moved to San Francisco and fell in love with the city. www.dianmeechai.com Photo credit: D. Carrillo

David Murakami is a projection designer and film director focused on the union between the cinematic and theatrical. Recent credits include the revival of Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum, “5-SK1-E-S” aboard Princess Cruises, Everest with Dallas Opera, and Habibati Man Takoun at the Abdel Haleem theatre in Saudi Arabia. Other design credits include Minnesota Opera’s Das Rheingold, Elektra, and Flight; Opera Parallèle’s Dead Man Walking, Champion, Les Enfants Terribles, Heart of Darkness, and Little Prince; and productions with Opéra de Montréal, McCoy Rigby, Skylight Theatre, San Jose Repertory, SFJazz, LINES Ballet, Arizona Opera, Grand Rapids Symphony, Cabrillo Symphony, and South Coast Repertory. David also teaches projection design at the University of California, Irvine. www.davidmurakami.com | Photo credit: Eddie Sadiwa

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. “The Magic Lamp” will be the eleventh Panto that she has written/produced with her husband, Luther Hanson. Other Pantos include: Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Robinhood in the Forest of Frogwarts, Moby Dick, the Panto, and Little Women, the Panto.

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, which she hopes to premiere in Fall 2021. www.printzdance.org | Photo credit: Jeff Zender

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, from Aliant International University. He is an Actor’s Equity Association’s Roger Sturtevant Awardee. www.ScottReardon.net | Photo credit: Aly Blue Headshots

Paul Renolis is a SF-based actor, dancer, and choreographer. Paul has been cast in numerous theatrical roles with companies such as Boston Stage Co. and Theatre Rhinoceros. He is a company actor with Left Coast Theatre Co. and is cast in the web series, Strings Attached, playing a supporting lead role (Cinema 3.0, in post-production). Paul is a hip hop dancer and choreographer and has represented dance companies on the East and West coasts—most recently with Mind Over Matter, directed by choreographer Allan Frias. Paul was selected by Tony Award-nominated choreographer Sam Pinkleton to contribute to his 2019 residency at The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep. Photo credit: Paul Renolis

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

Lindsay Saier is a Bay Area artist, designer, and educator who is passionate about storytelling through live performances. One of Lindsay’s most favorite things is watching actors of all ages transform into their characters as makeup is applied. Lindsay spent four seasons as the Wig Master at A.C.T. SF. She has designed wigs, hair and makeup throughout the Bay, recently including Festival Napa Valley, Berkeley Rep, Center Rep, and Portola Valley Theatre Conservatory. She has spent her time in theatres around the U.S including in educational, regional, tours and on/off Broadway. Her company Bearded Slaier offers flamboyant, hand tied lace facial and body hair, custom designed creations, and specialty education. IG/TikTok @BeardedSlaier or www.BeardedSlaier.com | Photo credit: Sonia Brussilo

Tim Santry is one of the nation’s most respected theatrical wig makers. He was on the staff at Beach Blanket Babylon for 15 years, where he made larger-than-life hair for more than a hundred different characters. He is also a very talented makeup artist who is constantly in demand because of his skill with prosthetics, his keen attention to detail, and his ability to work well under pressure. He is a regular makeup artist for the San Francisco Ballet, as well as for the San Francisco Opera during their seasons. Tim has worked in makeup for many movies filmed in San Francisco. He was working for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Curran Theater until the pandemic closed all the live theater in the area. He looks forward to The Curran’s reopening in January. Photo credit: Rick Markovich

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

Sharon Shao (she/her) is a Bay Area native actor, teaching artist, and musician. She holds a double B.A. in Theatre Arts and Psychology from UC Santa Cruz. Her favorite local credits include Winter’s Tale (CalShakes), Good Person of Szechwan (CalShakes), Hamlet (Ubuntu Theater Project), Iron Shoes (Shotgun Players), and UTOPIA (CuttingBall Theater), her virtual theater premiere during Covid-19. 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

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), 2020 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

Karen Szpaller has stage managed locally and across the nation for 20 years. Most recently she was a Stage Manager on Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations – from its world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, throughout its tour, and on Broadway. Karen has been wildly enthusiastic about helping shape new works her entire career, and is thrilled to be building a new theatre community at Presidio Theatre.

A Bay Area native, Tamroz Torfeh trained at UC Santa Cruz and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. By the age of 30, he was a veteran of seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Nicholas Nickleby on Broadway, the title role of Figaro in the West End, and the American premiere of Tom Stoppard’s Hapgood, playing opposite Judy Davis. Between subsequent West End roles, he directed the first professional all-female Shakespeare in the U.K. (Richard III), the first production at Stratford-on-Avon’s Waterside Theatre (Macbeth), The Country Wife (Drama Studio London), Romeo and Juliet (Jakarta) and The Real Inspector Hound (Kuala Lumpur). Photo credit: Sam Jones

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. He is currently Director of Growth for PlayGround/Potrero Stage where he nurtures his passion to help theater thrive.
 Photo Credit: Lisa Keating

Ryan Patrick (RP) Welsh (he/she/they), The 8th Best Legs in San Francisco, is delighted to be making his Presidio Theatre debut with The Magic Lamp. RP has performed extensively in the Bay Area for the last 6 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 Area or titillating crowds at Martunis. Much love & thanks to their sister, Sarah Catherine and their friends and family. Photo credit: Jason Hanasik

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