Mollye Maxner (Director / Choreographer) is the Artistic Director of kicking pig productions, a movement-theater company whose work has been produced in the US, Turkey, Taiwan, Germany, and the Republic of Georgia. Her directing work includes Mary’s Wedding and Master Harold and the Boys (kicking pig productions); Reading By Lightning, an original work premiered in NYC in 2007; and original plays for the Open Dream Ensemble. Mollye was Assistant Director at the Humana Festival of New American Plays (2010) and at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center (2008). She assisted Jeremy Skidmore on the Helen Hayes Award winning production of Kushner’s Angels in America: Millenium Approaches in DC (Forum Theater 2010); John Langs on The Shaggs at Playwrights Horizons (2010); and on two Kennedy Center productions: Knuffle Bunny, by Mo Willems and Barrio Grrrl, by Quiara Alegria Hudes. Dramaturgical work includes Drinking Ink, written by Nancy Bannon. Maxner is the recipient of the Kenan Fellowship at the Kennedy Center (2009-10), a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grant in Choreography (2005), a DanceWeb Europe Scholarship for Vienna’s ImpulsTanz Festival (2004), and numerous other grants from the Northampton Arts Council, the Semans Art Fund, and the US Embassy in Turkey. Mollye received a BA summa cum laude in Choreography and Playwriting from Mount Holyoke College, and a BFA in Drama/Directing at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, training under Gerald Freedman.
Michael McGushin (Music Director) is a professor of music at Cabrillo College and coach/accompanist for the UCSC Music Department. He is well known in the Santa Cruz area as a pianist, composer and conductor. He is currently the conductor of the chamber choir Ariose Singers and of Cabrillo College’s Westside Choir. He has served as Music Director for productions with Cabrillo Stage (Little Shop of Horrors, The Fantasticks, The Music Man), Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and the UCSC Opera Theater. Michael has performed regularly with New Music Works since 1985, and is a frequent performer
Dustin Leonard (Managing Director/Production Manager) has had the honor of working with Cabrillo Stage since 1998, including Annie, Honk, Peter Pan, Music Man, Scrooge, Forever Plaid, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Wizard of Oz, just to name a few. Dustin has directed, produced and starred in a number of shows in the Monterey Bay area, most recently directing Little Shop of Horrors and West Side Story for Cabrillo Stage. Dustin’s diverse directing credits include The Laramie Project, Lord of the Flies, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Outsiders and Romeo & Juliet. Dustin has managed and produced diverse shows such as A Street Car Named Desire, A Christmas Carol, Art, Carousel and many more. A versatile performer, Dustin has been in shows as diverse as Shakespeare’s R&J to Guys And Dolls. Dustin’s most beloved performances on stage have been Mercutio in the return of the West Coast premiere of Shakespeare’s R&J, Jeff in The Sum of Us, Mark in Mass Appeal and the Barber in Cabrillo Stage’s Man of La Mancha. His Musical Direction & Scenic Design credits include West Side Story, Honk, Annie, Crazy for You, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof and Oliver.
Katie Key (Assistant Production Manager / Stage Manager) first experience with Cabrillo Stage was as Deck Manager for the 2007 season’s Kiss Me Kate. She has previously Stage Managed Forever Plaid at Cabrillo and is thankful and excited to be involved with Cabaret. Other productions Katie has Stage Managed include When Things Stopped, Nora and The Moon Came Down. Katie has designed lights for Sweeny Todd, The Pillowman, Once On This Island, Woyzeck, Weren’t You That Girl, Giants, Nijinsky in Asylum, The General of Hot Desire, Iphigenia 2.0, and Mountain Language. She has written and directed the show’s Breech, Have a Brownie, and I Need. Her other directing work includes My California, Crave, The Importance of Being Earnest, Suddenly Last Summer, Enchanted April, and The Crucible.
Patrick Klein (Scenic Designer) is thrilled to be working with Cabrillo Stage again. Patrick’s last tour of duty in Aptos was as Production Stage Manager for the celebrated production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Prior to that Patrick performed three times at Cabrillo Stage in Some Like It Hot, West Side Story (Lt. Schrank), and Guys and Dolls (Lt. Brannigan). His local scenic design credits include Sunset Boulevard, The Drowsy Chaperone, Rent, Altar Boyz, Cabaret, Tommy, Little Women, Little Shop of Horrors, and many others. Patrick would like to thank Jon and Dustin for their confidence, and his beautiful wife Izetta and twins Parker and Austin for being such an inspiration.
Kevin Johnston (Light Design) has been designing lights in Santa Cruz County since 1997. Some of his favorite local shows include Fiddler on the Roof, Singin’ in the Rain, A Streetcar Named Desire (Mountain Community Theatre) Cabaret (Bay Shore Lyric Opera) Jungle Book (Little People’s Repertory) and The Pajama Game (Monterey Bay Repertory). While studying at the University of Southern California School of Theatre he designed lights for Falsettos, Equus, Rimers of Eldritch, Waiting for Godot, Extremities, Savage in Limbo, and Private Eyes. His NYC designs include Beware Bernadette! (Harmony Theater Group) Cut Loose (Naganuma Dance/Hydroflo) and A Brooklyn Nutcracker (Brooklyn Music School). He has been involved with Cabrillo Stage since 1999 as an actor, sound engineer, monkey flyer, and master electrician. He is currently the theater manager at his alma mater, Aptos High School.
Christina Dinkel (Costume Design) is a local costume designer and is excited to design her first production with Cabrillo Stage! Christina is currently completing the 5th Year Graduate Program at the University of California Santa Cruz where she received her B.A. in Theatrical Design in Art Historical Context. Christina’s undergraduate design work won her the Dean’s Award for excellence in the Arts and recently won her the Florence French Scholarship as well. Her most recent work includes the costume design for the world premiere of Mary-Kay Gamel’s Orestes Terrorist, the production design for Shakespeare to Go’s The Comedy of Errors, and the costume design for Jewel Theatre Company’s Of Mice and Men. Christina was also the designer for Danny Scheie’s HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical last spring. In addition to her continuous design work at the University, Christina has worked with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Jewel Theatre Company, Asolo Repertory Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, MPC Theatre Company, and is now pleased to announce Cabrillo Stage as well!
Michael Meek (Sound Design) This is Michael’s first semester with Cabrillo Stage. He is a student in the music department at Cabrillo College and is the teaching assistant for the recording arts program. He has been the intern to the engineer at Kuumbwa Jazz for the past year. Michael has worked as the ASM for La Jolla Playhouse’s 2004 production of Continental Divide: Mothers Against and Daughters of the Revolution. He is a drummer and sound engineer, and is pleased to be on the production team for The Last Five Years!
Ron Koinzan (Technical Director / Master Carpenter) is a California native who is very happy to be returning for his 9th season with Cabrillo Stage. During his time at Cabrillo Stage he has served as a Carpenter, Master Carpenter, Technical Director, and Rigger. Among his favorite professional experiences were serving as the Technical Director for Cabrillo Stageճ productions of Honk!, Little Shop of Horrors and Kiss Me Kate. When not working for Cabrillo Stage, Ron is the Technical Director at the University of Northern Iowa were he is starting his 4th year of employment. Some of his past credits include serving as the Technical Director for the University of Nebraska at Kearney, the Production Manager/Technical Director for the Opera Program at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska Repertory Theatre, The Redwood Curtain and Sacramento Theatre Company.
Ariel Buck (Catherine Hiatt) is thrilled to be returning to Cabrillo Stage, having appeared in this year’s remount of I Love You, You’re Perfect… (Woman 2) as well as last year’s original production. Other Cabrillo Stage credits include: Scrooge (Mrs. Cratchit/Christmas Past) and 2007’s Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey). Regional credits include: Fox/Snake in The Little Prince (Tabard Theater) Mother in Ragtime (Marquee Productions) Meg (understudy) in A Christmas Carol (NorthShore Music Theatre), Ruth in Plain and Fancy (The Barn Theatre) and two years in Encore! at Tokyo Disney Sea in Tokyo, Japan. Ariel holds a BFA in Theatre from The Boston Conservatory and is currently pursuing her interest in coaching and teaching.
Andrew Ceglio (Jamie Wellerstein) is honored to be back with Cabrillo Stage after appearing as The Scarecrow in last season’s The Wizard Of Oz. Favorite past roles include: Jon in Tick, Tick…Boom with Theatre On San Pedro, Tateh in Ragtime with Marquee Productions, Seymour in Little Shop… with Cabrillo Stage, Man #2 in Songs For A New World with Odyssey Theatre, Willy Wonka in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory with Tabard Theatre, and Snoopy in Charlie Brown with Jewel Theatre. Aside from his work on the stage, Andrew is also an active voice over artist and can be heard on a number of video games for the Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo DS game consoles. Some credits include: Redmond in Whiplash, Jake in Time Crisis 3, Hyuga and Shizuru in Phantasy Star Universe and Sgt. Hatter in Virtual On Marz. Andrew would like to thank the amazing staff at Cabrillo Stage for all of their hard work, dedication and support. Also many thanks to the family and friends who continue to support him in his artistic endeavors.
