JENNY KOONS
Co-Director, Co-Choreographer, and Co-Conceiver
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Jenny Koons is a theater director and organizer. Theater Projects: 2021 Vision Resident (Ars Nova), Now Becomes Then (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Men on Boats (Baltimore Center Stage), Speechless (New Blue Man Group North American Tour), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Public Theater Mobile Unit), Burn All Night (American Repertory Theatre), Gimme Shelter (Why Not Theatre, 2015 Pan-Am Games Commission), A Sucker Emcee (National Black Theatre, LAByrinth Theater Company). Jenny was the 2017 curator of the Encores! Off-Center Lobby Project, co-curator of the 2016 ThisGen Conference, and co-founder of Artists 4 Change NYC (National Black Theatre). She has been a facilitator and educator in creating anti-racist spaces and engaging in conversations around race and equity for over a decade, in both non-profit and artistic spaces. She is a steering committee member of The Ghostlight Project, founded and leads Let’s Talk About Hard Stuff, an AAPI anti-racist affinity space, and is co-author of the open letter to Biden/Harris demanding cabinet-level representation for Arts and Culture.
SAM PINKLETON
Co-Director, Co-Choreographer, and Co-Conceiver
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Sam Pinkleton is a Tony Award-nominated director, choreographer, educator, and organizer based in Los Angeles. In LA his work has been seen in the Center Theatre Group productions of Soft Power, Amélie, and Kansas City Choir Boy, starring Courtney Love. His work on Broadway includes Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 — starring Josh Groban and Denée Benton — as well as Significant Other, Heisenberg, Amélie, and Machinal. Collaborations with Jenny Koons include the electropop club musical Burn All Night at American Repertory Theater and the youth-led civic spectacular Runaways at New York City Center and in Central Park. Other recent highlights of his work include Untitled DanceShowPartyThing (created with Ani Taj) for Virgin Voyages and new opera productions for The Dutch National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Opéra National de Montpellier. He’s a collaborating artist with The Civilians, The Dance Cartel, and Pig Iron Theater Company and a lecturer at Princeton University. The New York Times has described his work as “how the Ramones might have danced if Bob Fosse choreographed them.” He does not own any dance shoes.
KRIS KUKUL
Music Director
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Kris is a New York City based Music Supervisor, Orchestrator, Arranger, and Conductor. Current projects include Beetlejuice The Musical! (Broadway and South Korea), The Hamlet Project (Joel Kirk Producer), Against Women and Music (Grace McLean), and The Liz Swados Project (Ghostlight Records). Other recent projects include David Byrne’s Joan of Arc (Public Theater), In The Green (Lincoln Center Theater), Songbird (59E59 Theaters), Runaways (New York City Center), Jeff Buckley’s The Last Goodbye (The Old Globe), The Heart of Robin Hood (Royal Alexandria Theatre Toronto), Kiss Me, Kate (Hartford Stage/The Old Globe). Resident music director at Williamstown Theatre Festival 10 seasons. (Late-Nite Cabarets, June Moon, Animal Crackers, The Last Goodbye). Adjunct faculty and graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
DAVID MEYER
Scenic Designer
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Pasadena Playhouse: The Father, Native Gardens, Belleville, King Charles III, Our Town. Off-Broadway: A Sucker Emcee, The Way West, Empanada Loca, and A Family for All Occasions (Labyrinth Theater). Regional: Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Merrily We Roll Along. Feature Film & Television Production Design: Stu (upcoming), Without Remorse (reshoots), Secret Society of Second Born Royals, Corporate Animals, John Wick 2 (reshoots), and Permission. Art Direction: Top Gun-Maverick, Vice, Birdman, and The Wolf of Wall Street. David studied Architecture and Theater at Syracuse University and received his MFA in Production Design for Stage and Film at NYU/Tisch.
HAHNJI JANG
Costume Design
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Hahnji is an activist stylist and costume designer with a sustainable practice of telling intersectional stories. Select credits include: Hurricane Diane (The Huntington), BLUSH (Soho Rep), Theatre For One: Here Is Future & Theatre For One: Here We Are, The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), The City: Missing Them (The Working Theatre), Men On Boats (Baltimore Center Stage), Mobile Unit: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Public), No-No Boy (Pan Asian Repertory Theatre), Sister Mok-rahn (Princeton University). Hahnji is based on Lenape land.
STACEY DEROSIER
Lighting Design
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NYC lighting design credits: The Last of the Love Letters (Atlantic Theater Company), The Great Filter (The Wild Project), PEEP SHOW (Soho Rep. Project Number One), A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction; Swindlers: A True-ish Tall Tale; Men on Boats; The Glorious World of Crowns, Kinks and Curls (Baltimore Center Stage), Letters to My Father (M-34), American Dreams (The Working Theater), Here We Are (Theatre for One), School Girls, Or the African Mean Girls Play (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), All the Natalie Portmans (MCC Theater), Stew (Page 73), How to Load a Musket (Less Than Rent), The Copper Children (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), for all the women who thought they were Mad (Soho Rep.), White Noise conceived by Daniel Fish (NYU Skirball), Playing Hot! (Pipeline Theatre Company), Mies Julie & Dance of Death (Classic Stage Company), Novenas For a Lost Hospital, No One is Forgotten, Lewiston/Clarkston (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater) & 2018 Lilly Award Daryl Roth Prize recipient.
DANNY ERDBERG
Sound Design
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Danny is thrilled to make his Pasadena Playhouse debut. His work has been heard in New York at The Public, City Opera, 92Y, Roundabout Theatre Company, City Center, Atlantic Theater Company, and 59E59 Theaters. Regional credits include Arena Stage, Geva Theatre Center, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Geffen Playhouse, ACT, Merrimack Repertory Theater, Virginia Stage Company, and Long Wharf Theatre, as well as productions in Korea, Japan, China, Canada, and Cuba. Broadway associate credits include The Iceman Cometh (Tony Nomination), Significant Other, Violet, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Heiress, and The Nance (Tony Win). Daniel is a member of IATSE, USA829, SDC, and the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and a former professor at Tisch/NYU.
URSULA KWONG-BROWN
Sound Design
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Ursula is excited to make her Los Angeles theatrical debut. Previous designs include Native Gardens at Merrimack Repertory Theatre and the world premiere of Stonewall with NYC Opera. As a composer, her work has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Miller Theatre, le Poisson Rouge, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery in London, and by festivals and ensembles across the country and around the world. Ursula received her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and her B.A. from Columbia University.
SARA SAHIN
Stage Manager
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Sara is thrilled to be back at the Pasadena Playhouse! She has worked on and off-Broadway at Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Theater Company, Park Avenue Armory, MCC, Lincoln Center Theater, Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, among others. Regional: Pasadena Playhouse, The Wallis, Signature Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Barrington Stage Company. Sara has directed and co-produced with the writer Greg Turner, five of his original plays and a short film. Sara is a member of LCT’s Directors Lab and a graduate of New York University.
LYDIA RUNGE
Assistant Stage Manager
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Lydia is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse with a B.S. in Stage Management and is excited to return to Pasadena Playhouse after working on The Great Leap. Select credits include: Ragtime (Musical Theatre West); Assassins, Mamma Mia!, Allegiance: LA Premiere (East West Players); and Two Mile Hollow (Artists at Play). Member of Actors’ Equity Association.
DYLAN ELHAI
Assistant Stage Manager
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Dylan Elhai is extraordinarily pleased to be back at the Pasadena Playhouse. After such a massive shift in the industry, and the world, during this Great Pause, Dylan is joyous in welcoming you all back to live storytelling again. Dylan’s past Pasadena Playhouse credits include Little Shop Of Horrors. Dylan’s past credits include Clue, international tour of Peter Pan, national tour of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: the Musical, Anne, Singin’ in the Rain, and more. Hope you enjoy The Go-Go’s and our show!
LAURA HALL
Associate Music Director/Keyboards
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Laura Hall is best known as the Musical Director and Improvisational Pianist on the long-running television show, Whose Line is it Anyway, currently in its 18th season. She’s performed extensively as Musical Director for live improv, including shows at The Second City Chicago, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, London Palladium, and Royal Albert Hall. Laura has written and recorded music for theater, television, and film, including award-winning documentaries, Swimming in Auschwitz and After Auschwitz, and Patty, Patty, Bang! Bang!, which won an L.A. Weekly Award for Best New Musical. On-camera credits include Christmas with the Kranks, Arsenio Hall Show, Drew Carey Show, and Hollywood Squares. Laura saw The Go-Go’s open for The Police in 1982. They rocked her world.
B.B. KATES
Bass
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B.B. Kates is a session bassist and founder of the alternative indie-rock band The Drained from Southern California. B.B. proudly endorses Fender Musical Instruments and GHS Strings.
NICOLE MARCUS
Drum/Percussion
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Nicole is a drummer, singer, songwriter, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist. Credits include: Dear Edwina Off-Broadway original cast (drummer), HAIR first international tour (drummer). TV: Played drums, guitar, keyboards, and percussion in the onscreen band on Season 1 of Glee. She’s also performed on Oprah, Grey’s Anatomy, The Closer, Bones, One Mississippi, Best Cover Ever, and Mickey’s 90th Spectacular on ABC. Nicole wrote the music and lyrics, sang, and played all the instruments on her self-titled album which reached #4 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter EPs and Singles chart. She graduated with honors from the University of Miami Frost School of Music with a Bachelor of Music in Studio Music and Jazz Drum Set Performance.
HISAKO OWAZA
Guitar 2
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Originally from Tokyo, Japan, Hisako Ozawa is a LA Based guitarist who currently performs with the All Female Tributes to Guns N’ Roses Paradise Kitty, AC/DC HerWay To Hell, Black Sabbath Mistress of Reality, and UFO 2 Hot 2 Handle. She’s shared the stage with artists like Extreme, Tesla, Steve Vai, and more. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Theory & Composition and an Associate of Arts in Guitar Performance from the world-renowned Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA. While studying at Musicians Institute, Hisako won the D’Addario Women in Guitar Scholarship. Her stellar guitar playing has gotten her featured in Downbeat Jazz Magazine.
NIKKI STEVENS
Guitar 1
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Nikki Stevens is a Los Angeles native raised on rock & roll. Her dreams to play guitar came from her earliest memories of watching female-fronted bands such as The Go-Go’s on MTV. Early into adulthood, she performed in various local acts and also discovered her calling as a guitar instructor. Welcoming a change of scenery, Nikki moved to Montana in 2010 and co-owned a guitar shop. During this time, Jason Newsted (formerly of Metallica) visited Nikki’s store, and soon after she became a member of his Chophouse jam sessions. Nikki is now back home in Los Angeles performing for various projects and is also an on-camera instructor for Fender Play (online lessons) teaching guitar, bass, and ukulele lessons by Fender guitars.
THE TELSEY OFFICE
Casting | The Telsey Office Ryan Bernard Tymensky CSA, Brian Sutow
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With offices in both New York and Los Angeles, The Telsey Office casts for theater, film, television, and commercials. The Telsey Office is dedicated to creating safe, equitable, and anti-racist spaces through collaboration, artistry, heart, accountability, and advocacy.
THE GO-GO’S
Music & Lyrics
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The Go-Go’s are band members Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock, Kathy Valentine, and Jane Wiedlin and they will forever have the beat! These female pioneers formed The Go-Go’s in 1978 and were an integral part of the LA punk scene. The Go-Go’s made history as the first, and to date only, all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to ever top the Billboard charts. Their 1981 debut album, Beauty and the Beat, was #1 on the charts for six consecutive weeks and it remains one of the most successful debut albums of all time. Other albums include Vacation (1982), Talk Show (1984), and God Bless The Go-Go’s (2001). With a 1982 Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a place in history that no other band can claim, it is assured that The Go-Go’s will keep going with a classic catalog of songs that transcends time, trends, and genres. In 2021 The Go-Go’s were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
JAMES MAGRUDER
Adaptation
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James Magruder made his Broadway debut with the book for Triumph of Love. His adaptations of Marivaux, Molière, Lesage, Labiche, Gozzi, Hofmannsthal, Dickens, and Giraudoux have been staged across the country in Germany and Japan, and his dissertation, Three French Comedies, was named an “Outstanding Literary Translation of the Year” in 1997. Also a fiction writer, he has published Sugarless, a Lambda Literary Award Finalist; Let Me See It, a story collection; Love Slaves of Helen Hadley Hall; and the just-released Vamp Until Ready. He teaches dramaturgy at Swarthmore College and French drama at the Yale School of Drama.
HEAD OVER HEELS PRODUCTION STAFF
Stage Manager | Sara Sahin
Assistant Stage Manager | Lydia Runge
Assistant Stage Manager | Dylan Elhai
Associate Choreographer | Yurel Echezarreta
Associate Scenic Designer | Tanya Orellana
Associate Costume Designer | Jojo Siu
Wig Designer | Christopher Enlow
Assistant Wig Designer | Gillian Woodson
Wig Supervisor | Jenni Gilbert
Assistant Lighting Designer | Luz Gaitan
Head Carpenter | Sean Lewellyn
Carpenters | Nicolas Chamberlin, Tamara Chinen, Marcos Friedman, Jesse Graham, Dwight Alexander Ortiz
Head Electrician | John Bass, Hilda Kane
Electricians | Evan Drane, Sal Flores, Derek Jones, Greville Kellet, Paul Lang, Keannak Parvaz
Riggers | Michael Askew, Sean Lewellyn
Props Head | Hannah Olsen, Amy Sargent
Lead Scenic Artist | Johnny LeBlanc, Anastasia Sergeera
Deck Chief | Matt Petosa
Deck Crew | Nicholas Chamberlin
Lead Audio | Christian Lee
Mixer | Corey Charness
A2 | Dean Wright
Programmer | Keannak Paraz
Wardrobe Supervisor | Diane Weisman
Dresser | Stephanie Siegel
Stitchers | Katy Kincade, Tammy Minion, Ariel Thomke
This theater operates under an
agreement between the League
of Resident Theatres and Actors’
Equity Association, the Union of
Professional Actors and Stage
Managers in the United States.
The technical employees of the
Pasadena Playhouse are represented by the INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE
OF THEATRICAL STAGE EMPLOYEES,
MOVING PICTURE TECHNICIANS,
ARTISTS AND ALLIED CRAFTS, OF
THE UNITED STATES, ITS TERRITORIES AND CANADA, AFL-CIO, CLC:
Local 33 Stagehands, Local 706
Make-up Artists and Hair Stylists
Guild Local 768 Theatrical Wardrobe
Local 800 Art Director’s Guild. The
scenic, costume, lighting, and sound
designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists,
Local USA-829 of the IATSE.
The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.