About the Artists

Cast

ANGELA IANNONE*  |  Maria Callas

Angela Iannone is thrilled to be making her Ivoryton debut, and to return to the role of Maria Callas. Recent roles include Volumnia in Coriolanus and Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing for American Shakespeare Center, and a one-person A Christmas Carol for Contemporary Theatre of Columbus/Renaissance Theatre of Mansfield, Phyllis in Follies for Renaissance Theatre, and The Poet in An Iliad for Contemporary Theatre of Columbus. Other roles include Medea in Medea, Kate Hepburn in Tea At Five, Diana Vreeland in Full Gallop, Roxie in Chicago, and Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Ernest. She is a Folger Shakespeare Library Fellow, a Lunt/Fontanne Ten Chimneys Estate Fellow, a Hendrix/Murphy Directing Fellow, and an American Theatre and Drama Society Research award recipient. She is a Joseph Jefferson Award winner, a Queen’s Kudos Award winner, a Footlights award winner, a Broadway World award winner, and a four-time “Best of Milwaukee” best actress award winner. She is the author of “The Edwin Booth Plays” series, and an audiobook narrator for Audible.com. www.angelaiannone.com 
*Appears through the courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

AMY BUCKLEY  |  First Soprano (Sophie De Palma)

Amy Buckley is thrilled to once again perform with Brief Cameo Productions, having previously appeared in Ragtime in concert and Sunday in the Park with George in concert! On the musical theater stage credit highlights include: The Music Man (Marian Paroo), Mary Poppins (Mrs. Banks), Grease (Miss Lynch) and Man of La Mancha (Antonia). Notable operatic roles include: Die Fledermaus (Adele/Lincoln Center), Così fan Tutte (Despina/Pocket Opera of NY), Cendrillon (La Fée/Aspen Opera Theater) and Orfeo (Euridice/Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival). Ms. Buckley received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Connecticut, where her study afforded her the opportunity to train at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She then went on to receive a Master’s of Music from The Juilliard School. Ms. Buckley resides in Westbrook, Connecticut where she has a private voice studio and plays her favorite role of Mom to daughter Viviana.

LISA WILLIAMSON  |  Second Soprano (Sharon Graham)

Generously sponsored by BONNIE STONE
Lisa Williamson has forged a diverse career in opera, musical theater, and concert throughout the world. Her roles include Sarah (Ragtime), Amalia Balash (She Loves Me), Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady), Eileen Sherwood (Wonderful Town), Laurie (The Tender Land), Bessie Coleman (Bessie and Ma) *world premiere, The Rose (The Little Prince), Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica), Cendrillon (Cendrillon), soprano (The Little Match Girl Passion), Musetta (La Boheme), Despina (Cosí fan tutte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Adele (Die Fledermaus) with Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Portland Opera, Opera Theater of Connecticut, Salt Marsh Opera, Hartford Opera Theater, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and New Haven Symphony Orchestra, among others. She was the soloist with the United States Coast Guard Band from 2005-2010. She teaches voice at the University of Connecticut.

GENE STENGER  |  Tenor (Anthony Candolino)

Hailed as an “impressive tenor” (The New York Times) who sings with “sweet vibrancy” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer) Gene Stenger is one of the country’s most called upon Bach specialists who is also heralded for his performances of oratorios by Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Mozart. Mr. Stenger’s 2023-2024 season includes solo debuts with the Washington Bach Consort (Bach’s St. John Passion), Winston-Salem Symphony (Handel’s Messiah), North Carolina Baroque Orchestra (Handel’s Messiah), Baltimore Choral Arts Society (Bach’s Magnificat), and Resonance Works Pittsburgh (Bach’s Magnificat & Esmail’s This Love Between Us). He makes returning solo appearances with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (Handel’s Messiah), Bach Society of St. Louis (Bach’s St. John Passion), Colorado Bach Ensemble (Bach’s Mass in B Minor), Upper Valley Baroque (Bach’s St. John Passion), Bach Collegium at St. Peter’s NYC (Bach’s St. John Passion), Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity New York (BWV 75 & 165), and a return solo quartet performance of David Lang’s the little match girl passion at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Gene’s past operatic highlights include Count Almaviva (cover) in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Teatro Nuovo at Lincoln Center, his debut at Jordan Hall with Odyssey Opera (Minstrel/Narrator in the world premiere performance of Rosner’s The Chronicle of Nine), which drew praise for being “tuneful and bold”, and “singing the narrating Minstrel with distinction” (Opera News), and Septimius in Handel’s Theodora with the Staunton Music Festival. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Gene holds degrees from Yale University’s School of Music, and Institute of Sacred Music, Colorado State University, and Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music. Recent discography credits include the role of the Minstrel/Narrator in the world premiere recording of Arnold Rosner’s opera The Chronicle of Nine with Odyssey Opera, and BMOP, tenor soloist in Schmelzer’s Le Memorie Dolorose with TENET Vocal Artists and ACRONYM, tenor soloist on Yale Schola Cantorum’s album Fauré Requiem and other sacred music led by David Hill released on Hyperion Records, and a new solo quartet recording of David Lang’s the little match girl passion which will be released on Cantaloupe Records this Fall. He currently resides in New Haven, CT, where he serves as instructor of voice at Yale. www.genestenger.com.

JACOB IGLITZIN  |  Accompanist (Manny Weinstock)

Jacob Iglitzin is a New York City-based theatre artist with a focus on creating new works of musical theatre. He is a lyricist, bookwriter, composer, pianist, performer, and dramaturg. Originally from Seattle, WA, Jacob is active in New York as a freelance piano accompanist, vocal coach, and creative consultant. Recent original musicals for which Jacob served as lyricist and/or bookwriter include AIDEN, Elaine?!, Boys, Boys, Behave!, Partners in Crime, and The Garden of Alla. Education: Columbia University (B.A. in European History, 2019), Musical Creators’ Institute of the Dramatists Guild (NYC), and the National Musical Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center (Waterford, CT). Jacob is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, and the Wagner Society of New York. He is thrilled to work with Brief Cameo Productions for the first time.

NATHAN RUSSO  |  Stagehand

Generously sponsored by LULU HUBBARD NEEDLEMAN
Nathan Russo is thrilled to work with Brief Cameo Productions once again! Past credits include Ragtime: In Concert (d. Jim Clark) and Sunday in the Park with George: In Concert (d. Alan Piotrowicz) with BCP, and Mamma Mia! (d. J. R. Bruno), Grease (d. Todd Underwood), and Oliver! (d. T. Rick Jones) with Ivoryton Playhouse. Nathan is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and a longtime IPH staff member. He’d like to thank his parents, friends, and colleagues for their tireless support and guidance.

Production Team

ALAN PIOTROWICZ  |  Director & Production Designer

Alan makes his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he has designed for several companies including All In Productions, Cooperative Performance, Danceworks, Falls Patio Players, First Stage Children’s Theatre, In Tandem Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Next Act Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, Sunstone Studios MKE, Theatre Gigante, Theater RED, Umbrella Group Milwaukee, and Windfall Theatre. Recent work also includes TITAN Theatre Company in New York City, Hope Summer Repertory Theatre in Holland, Michigan, and the Ivoryton Playhouse (The Porch on Windy Hill, Native Gardens, The Legend of Georgia McBride). His directing credits include Some Enchanted Evening - The Songs of Rogers & Hammerstein (Falls Patio Players), Dead Man's Cell Phone (Pink Banana Theatre Co.), Rocket Man (Soulstice Theatre), The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs (The World's Stage Theatre Co.), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Village Playhouse),The Lisbon Traviata (Sunstone Studios MKE), and Sunday in the Park with George in Concert (BCP). He received his training at UW-Madison and The Santa Fe Opera. Proud board member of Brief Cameo Productions. www.alanpiotrowicz.com

JILL BRUNELLE  |  Musical Director & Dramaturge

Jill Brunelle is a repertoire pianist at Yale University, working with Yale Opera, Yale School of Drama, the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and Yale College. Her recent music directing credits include The Fantasticks at Ivoryton Playhouse, and The Addams Family and Violet at Southern Connecticut State University. At Yale School of Drama Ms. Brunelle directed Steven Sondheim’s Passion, The Apple Tree, Trouble in Tahiti, and The Medium. As Yale Opera Chorus Master she has prepared ensembles for Eugene Onegin, Hänsel und Gretel, Die Zauberflöte, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Le Nozze Di Figaro and La Bohème. Ms. Brunelle recently celebrated five years as Music Director at the renowned Foote School Summer Theater. Her 2019-2020 season includes Fun Home at the Yale School of Drama, Ragtime with Brief Cameo Productions at the Ivoryton Playhouse, and the world premiere of the new opera Salt. Ms. Brunelle has served as faculty/staff at Boston University, New England Conservatory, Tufts University, Hartt School of Music, Connecticut Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Opera Boston. As a collaborative pianist Ms. Brunelle is highly sought after as a recital partner, performing internationally as well as at Carnegie Hall and Jordan Hall, and has performed world premieres at numerous festivals, including the celebrated Bang on a Can festival in New York City. Ms. Brunelle also collaborates frequently with area companies and ensembles, including Orchestra New England and Long Wharf Theater.

KATHLEEN SANTOMASSO  |  Costume Designer

Kathleen (Katie) Santomasso is returning for her second consecutive show with Brief Cameo Productions, after making her design debut with Sunday in the Park with George! Katie has worked both onstage and behind the scenes for countless shows. She is the resident Costume, Hair and Makeup Designer for the Foote School in New Haven, CT. During her off season you can find her roaming through stacks of books in the Perrine Library on campus where she has been working as a Librarian for the past 10 years. Katie’s design endeavors have brought her to various projects on both the East and West Coast.

GLENN BASSETT  |  Props & Poster Designer

Recent set designs include: Spamilton: An American Parody (Off-Broadway and Los Angeles), Anything Can Happen in the Theatre: The Songs of Maury Yeston (Off-Broadway), How The Other Half Loves (Saybrook Stage Co) and Biloxi Blues (Ivoryton Playhouse). Other work includes sets for: Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta, NY Times, Gucci and Banana Republic. As an actor he most recently played King George III in Spamilton (NYC and L.A.) and is featured on the original cast recording. As a writer he wrote lyrics and libretto for an original musical, Dig A Little Deeper, which had a NY reading in March 2018 starring Tony-winning actress Alice Ripley. Graduate of University of Hartford and Parsons School of Design.

HOLLY PRICE  |  Stage Manager

Holly Price is excited to stage manage another January show with Brief Cameo Productions, after previously working on Sunday in the Park with George last year. Holly has worked with the Ivoryton Playhouse since 2009 and currently serves as their Production Manager. A UConn Graduate with a B.A. in English, Holly is thankful to be working with such a wonderful cast and crew!

Author

TERRENCE MCNALLY  |  Playwright

Terrence McNally was awarded the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. He is the winner of Tony Awards for his plays LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! and MASTER CLASS and his books for the musicals RAGTIME and KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN. In 2010 the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presented TERRENCE McNALLY’S NIGHTS AT THE OPERA, a three-play festival of his work. His other plays include FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE; LIPS TOGETHER, TEETH APART; CORPUS CHRISTI; A PERFECT GANESH; THE RITZ; IT’S ONLY A PLAY; SOME MEN; GOLDEN AGE; DEUCE; THE LISBON TRAVIATA; BAD HABITS; THE STENDHAL SYNDOME; DEDICATION OR THE STUFF OF DREAMS; NEXT; UNUSUAL ACTS OF DEVOTION; SWEET EROS; WITNESS; WHERE HAS TOMMY FLOWERS GONE? and his first play... AND THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT. He has written the books for the musicals THE FULL MONTY, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, THE VISIT and THE RINK. He won an Emmy Award for Best Drama with his teleplay ANDRE’S MOTHER. He wrote the screenplays for FRANKIE AND JOHNNY, LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! and THE RITZ. He wrote the libretto for the opera DEAD MAN WALKING with music by Jake Heggie. Among his many awards are a Citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, four Drama Desk Awards, three Hull-Warriner Best Play Awards from the Dramatists Guild, two Obies, two Lortel Awards and two Guggenheim Fellowships. Mr. McNally has been a member of the Dramatists Guild since 1965 and served as its Vice-President from 1985 to 2001.