THE OLD GLOBE Announces the Cast and Creative Team for
FAMILIAR
by Tony Award Nominee DANAI GURIRA
(Eclipsed, Black Panther, “The Walking Dead”),
Directed by EDWARD TORRES
(the Globe’s Water by the Spoonful and Native Gardens)
Performances Will Run January 26 – March 3, 2019

PHOTO EDITORS: Advance photos for Familiar are available by clicking here.

SAN DIEGO (January  3; updated January 14, 2019)—The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team for Familiarby Tony Award nominee Danai Gurira (Broadway’s Eclipsed, Black Panther, “The Walking Dead”). This funny, warmhearted look at tradition, marriage, and what it means to be an American family will be directed by Edward Torres (the Globe’s Water by the Spoonful and Native Gardens, Canción at Repertorio Español) and will run January 26 – March 3, 2019 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run January 26–30. Opening night is Thursday, January 31. Tickets start at $30.00 and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

Donald and his wife Marvelous have been living the American Dream since emigrating from Zimbabwe nearly three decades ago. They have a beautiful house and impressive careers, and now one of their daughters is getting married! But when the bride insists on a traditional African wedding ceremony, tensions start to rise. Throw in an eccentric aunt from the old country and a bewildered bridegroom, and soon it’s not certain the couple will ever make it down the aisle. The New York Times calls it “an engrossing, fiercely funny comedy–drama that probes with subtlety and smarts.” Contains strong language.

The cast includes Anthony Comis (Off Broadway’s Insignificance, Hulu’s “The Path”) as Brad, Lucas Hall (Broadway’s Farinelli and the King, King Charles III, six Globe shows) as Chris, Danny Johnson (Broadway’s All the Way and The Song of Jacob Zulu) as Donald Chinyaramwira, Ramona Keller (Broadway’s Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Brooklyn, and Caroline, or Change) as Margaret Munyewa, Cherene Snow (Broadway’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Scottsboro Boys, Small Mouth Sounds) as Marvelous Chinyaramwira, Wandachristine (tours of Familiar and Fences) as Anne, Olivia Washington (Off Broadway’s The Glass Menagerie, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, “Mr. Robot”) as Nyasha, and Zakiya Young (Broadway’s Stick Fly and The Little Mermaid, Off Broadway’s Storyville, Spamilton at CTG) as Tendikayi.

The creative team includes Walt Spangler (Scenic Design), Alejo Vietti (Costume Design), Jason Lyons (Lighting Design), Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (Sound Design), Somi (Composer), Rufaro Gwarada (Cultural Consultant), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Jess Slocum (Production Stage Manager).

“With Familiar, the brilliant actor-author Danai Gurira brings to the Globe a gloriously imagined play about America and family,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “Its basic situation—the chaos that surrounds a family wedding—is relatable, immediate, and accessible. But even as she keeps us laughing, Danai asks us to consider some deeper questions about American identity and the way we pass along our culture and customs from one generation to the next. The result is a smart, entertaining, and very moving play that looks at family in a fresh new way. The Globe’s great friend, director Edward Torres, gives the play a sharp and elegant production that kicks off 2019 at our theatre in style. I’m thrilled to ring in the New Year with this wonderful work.”

Danai Gurira (Playwright) is an award-winning playwright and actress. As a playwright, her works include In the Continuum (Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Helen Hayes Award), Eclipsed (Tony Award nomination for Best Play, NAACP Theatre Award, Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Production – Play), and The Convert (six Ovation Awards, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award). Familiar received its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre in 2015 and premiered in New York at Playwrights Horizons in 2016. She is a recipient of the Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award at the 2016 Drama Desk Awards, a Whiting Award, and a Hodder Fellowship, and she has been commissioned by Yale Rep, Center Theatre Group, Playwrights Horizons, and Royal Court Theatre. As an actor, she co-starred in Marvel’s blockbuster phenomenon Black Panther as Okoye, opposite Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, and Lupita Nyong’o, and she stars as Michonne on AMC’s “The Walking Dead” (NAACP Image Award nomination). Recently, she starred in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War and the Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez on Me. Her other select acting credits include the films The Visitor and Mother of George, as well as Shakespeare in the Park’s Measure for Measure (Joe A. Callaway Award). Born in the U.S. to Zimbabwean parents and raised in Zimbabwe, she holds an M.F.A. from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and serves as an ambassador for Bono’s ONE campaign. She is also the founder of LOGpledge.org, an awareness-building campaign focused on the plights of women and girls around the globe; and the co-founder of Almasi Arts, which works to give access and opportunity to the African dramatic artist. almasiartsalliance.org, @danaigurira on Twitter and Instagram, @DanaiGuriraOfficial on Facebook.

Edward Torres (Director) makes his debut in The Old Globe’s proscenium theatre after directing Native Gardens, Water by the Spoonful, and the 2017 Powers New Voices Festival reading of What You Are for the Globe’s in-the-round theatre. He directed the California premiere of The Happiest Song Plays Last (Center Theatre Group/The Los Angeles Theatre Center, also at Goodman Theatre in Chicago), Eric Aviles’s Where You From? What You Be About? (Downtown Art), the world premiere musical La Canción (Repertorio Español; Latin ACE Award for Best Musical, Artistas de Teatro Independiente Award for Best Director), Macbeth (The Public Theater’s Mobile Shakespeare Unit), Mosque Alert (Silk Road Rising), White Tie Ball by Martín Zimmerman (Teatro Vista), and How Long Will I Cry?: Voices of Youth Violence (Steppenwolf for Young Adults). He directed the world premiere of Kristoffer Diaz’s The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Victory Gardens Theater, produced in association with Teatro Vista), which was named Best Play of 2009 by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and Time Out Chicago; was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; and earned Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Production – Play and Best Director – Play. He also directed subsequent productions to critical acclaim at Off Broadway’s Second Stage Theatre (2011 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, Obie Award for Best New American Play) and at Geffen Playhouse. He serves as an Assistant Professor of the Practice in Theater at Wesleyan University, and Artistic Director Emeritus at Teatro Vista. His television credits include “Chicago P.D.,” “Luke Cage,” “The Following,” “The Deuce,” “The Get Down,” “Gotham,” and “The Romanoffs.” As a performer, he was recently seen in Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s critically acclaimed production of Downstate by Bruce Norris, which will transfer to the National Theatre in London.

Familiar at The Old Globe is supported in part through a gift from Production Sponsor United. Financial support is provided by The City of San Diego.

Additional events taking place during the run of Familiar include:

VICKI AND CARL ZEIGER INSIGHTS SEMINAR: Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at 5:30 p.m.
This series provides an opportunity to closely connect with productions both onstage and backstage. A panel selected from the artistic company of each show (playwrights, actors, directors, designers, and/or technicians) engages patrons in an informal and illuminating presentation of ideas and insights to enhance the theatregoing experience. Reception at 5:00 p.m. FREE; no reservations necessary.

POST-SHOW FORUMS: Tuesdays, February 5 and 12, and Wednesday, February 20, 2019.
Join us after the show for an informal and enlightening question-and-answer session with cast, crew, and/or Globe staff members. Get the inside story on creating a character and putting together a professional production. FREE for ticketholders of that evening’s performance.

SUBJECT MATTERS: Saturday, February 2, 2019 following the matinee performance.
Explore the ideas and issues raised by a production through brief, illuminating post-show discussions with local experts, such as scientists, artists, historians and scholars. Subject Matters will ignite discussion, bring the play's concerns into sharp focus, and encourage you to think beyond the stage! FREE; no reservations necessary.

AXIS EVENT: I Love Africa: Saturday, February 9, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Enjoy Zimbabwe-born musician and vocalist Piwai in concert. She will also teach an African-dance workshop, followed by a drumming workshop with Nana Obrafo Yaw Asiedu. There will be games, face painting, and the opportunity to create a traditional African mask craft with the support of a Globe Teaching Artist. Part of the Globe’s AXIS performing art series for the whole family. FREE.

Tickets start at $30.00 and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623], or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors, military members, and groups of 10 or more.

Performances begin on January 26 and continue through March 3, 2019 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run January 26–30. Opening night is Thursday, January 31 at 8:00 p.m. Regular performances: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday and Friday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. There will be an additional matinee performance on Wednesday, February 20 and no matinee performance on Saturday, February 23.

LOCATION and PARKING INFORMATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego’s Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. Through a special arrangement with the San Diego Zoo, Old Globe evening ticket-holders have the opportunity to pre-purchase valet parking in the Zoo’s employee parking structure. With a drop-off point just a short walk to the Globe, theatregoers may purchase fast, easy, convenient valet parking for just $14 per vehicle per evening. Pre-paid only, available only by phone through the Old Globe Box Office. Call (619) 234-5623 or visit www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/valet-parking. The Balboa Park valet is also available during weekend performances, located in front of the Japanese Friendship Garden. For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org.

There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Guests may also be dropped off in front of the Mingei International Museum. There is a 10-minute zone at The Old Globe, used only for daytime deliveries, ticket purchases, and handicapped access dropoff. For directions and up-to-date information, please visit www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/detailed-directions.

PLEASE NOTE: To look up online or GPS directions to The Old Globe, please do not use the Delivery Address above. For GPS users, please click here for the map coordinates, and here for written directions to The Old Globe and nearby parking in Balboa Park.
CALENDAR: Powers New Voices Festival (1/18-20), Classical Directing Fellowship (1/22-26),  Familiar (1/26–3/3/2019), Tiny Beautiful Things (2/9–3/10), AXIS: I Love Africa with Piwai in concert (2/9), Globe Guilders’ Celebrating Couture Fashion Show (3/22), Life After (3/22–4/28), They Promised Her the Moon (4/6–5/5), AXIS: Happy Birthday, Mr. Shakespeare! (4/20), AXIS: Manila Disco Fever in Concert (5/9), Ken Ludwig’s The Gods of Comedy (5/11–6/16), What You Are (5/30–6/30), AXIS: San Diego’s Gods of Comedy (6/15), As You Like It (6/16–7/21), AXIS: Make Music San Diego (6/21), The Tale of Despereaux (7/6–8/11), Steve Martin’s The Underpants (7/27–8/25), Romeo and Juliet (8/11–9/15), AXIS: Mexican Independence Day Celebration (9/14), 2019 Globe Gala (9/21), AXIS: Day of the Dead (11/3).
PHOTO EDITORS: Digital images of The Old Globe’s productions are available at www.theoldglobe.org/press-room.

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego’s flagship arts institution for over 80 years. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein and Managing Director Timothy J. Shields, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theatre’s artistic and arts engagement programs. Numerous world premieres such as the 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Meteor Shower, Bright Star, Allegiance, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.

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CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES

Anthony Comis (Brad) is so grateful to be making his Old Globe debut. Off Broadway he starred in the U.K.-based Defibrillator Theatre’s site-specific production of Insignificance at the Langham Place hotel. His other notable New York and regional theatre credits include Shafrika, The White Girl (Vineyard Theatre); Elemeno Pea (City Theatre); Finger Paint (HERE Arts Center); The Time of Your Life (Connelly Theater); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Almost, Maine; and Sex, Drugs, Rock-and-Roll. His television credits include a recurring role alongside Aaron Paul on Hulu’s original drama “The Path.” His film credits include No Pay, Nudity; Possum; and Lesson of the Evil: Prologue. He is a B.F.A. graduate from University of Miami and was presented the Emil Gould Award for excellence in drama.

Lucas Hall (Chris) is thrilled to be back at The Old Globe for his seventh production. His previous Globe credits include The Violet Hour, Hamlet, Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. His Broadway credits include Farinelli and the King and King Charles III. He has been seen Off Broadway in Tales from Red Vienna (Manhattan Theatre Club), The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and All’s Well That Ends Well (Theatre for a New Audience), Beyond the Horizon (Irish Repertory Theatre), Edward II (Red Bull Theater), and The Hasty Heart (Keen Company). His regional credits include La Jolla Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, Arena Stage, Goodman Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse, among others. His television credits include “Deception,” “Unforgettable,” “Codes of Conduct,” and “Elementary.” He trained at University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Danny Johnson (Donald Chinyaramwira) appeared on Broadway in All the Way and The Song of Jacob Zulu. He appeared Off Broadway in The Last Saint on Sugar Hill, Our Lady of 121st Street, and A Soldier’s Play. He has been seen regionally in Seven Guitars (Yale Repertory Theatre), The Mountaintop (Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company), What I Learned in Paris (Alliance Theatre), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Goodman Theatre), and A Raisin in the Sun (Intiman Theatre), as well as productions at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Huntington Theatre Company, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cleveland Play House, and more. On television Mr. Johnson appeared on “Daredevil,” “Luke Cage,” “Quantico,” “Shades of Blue,” “Deception,” “Madam Secretary,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Gotham,” “The Code,” “House of Cards,” and “Blue Bloods,” among many others. Mr. Johnson has three films coming out in 2019: Villains, Lazy Susan, and Meet Me in a Happy Place. He also notably appeared in Don King: Only in America.

Ramona Keller (Margaret Munyewa) made her Broadway debut in Smokey Joe’s Cafe and originated the roles of Ms. Paradice in Brooklyn and Radio 1 in Caroline, or Change on Broadway and at London’s National Theatre. She played Ronette in the Encores! Off-Center production of Little Shop of Horrors alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Ellen Greene, and she appeared at The Public Theater as Amira in Party People directed by Liesl Tommy. Some of her regional credits include Dreamgirls, Hugh Jackman: In Time, Handel’s Messiah Rocks, and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Ms. Keller has performed with several symphony orchestras including The New York Pops, Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Bay Atlantic Symphony, and Grand Rapids Orchestra. @RamonaKellerNY on Twitter and Instagram.

Cherene Snow (Marvelous Chinyaramwira) is happy to be making her Globe debut. On Broadway, she appeared in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Scarlett Johansson (Richard Rodgers Theatre). Her Off Broadway credits include Walking Down Broadway (Mint Theater Company) and The Last of the Thorntons (Signature Theatre Company). Her regional credits include Skeleton Crew and All the Way (TheatreSquared), Small Mouth Sounds (national tour), Welcome to Fear City and Coyote on a Fence (Contemporary American Theater Festival), Having Our Say (Philadelphia Theatre Company), The Little Foxes (GoodmanTheatre), Fata Morgana (Boise Contemporary Theater), brownsville song (b-side for tray) (Humana Festival), Black Pearl Sings! (Triad Stage, Merrimack Repertory Theatre), Doubt (Stamford Theatre Works, Cleveland Play House), and To Kill a Mockingbird (Ford’s Theatre). Ms. Snow’s film and television credits include Arthur, Perhaps Tomorrow, My Sassy Girl, City of Angels, The Long Walk Home, “The Code,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Third Watch,” “Chappelle’s Show,” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

Wandachristine (Anne) has appeared in the tours of Familiar (Guthrie Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre) and Fences (Hartford Stage, Dallas Theater Center, Portland Center Stage). Her regional credits include A Wonder in My Soul (Baltimore Theater Center), the solo show Beauty’s Daughter (American Blues Theater; Black Theater Alliance Awards’s Ruby Dee Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play), the solo show I Love You More...Than Shoes! (Greenhouse Theater Center), The Old Settler (Writers Theatre; Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for Actress in a Supporting Role – Play, Black Theater Alliance Award nomination for Best Actress), Gee’s Bend (Cleveland Play House), Thyestes (Court Theatre), The Vagina Monologues (Apollo Theater Chicago), and Oo-Bla-Dee (TheaterWorks Silicon Valley). Her film and television credits include Me & Mrs. Jones, “Chicago P.D.,” “Judging Amy,” and “The PJs.” She has written the plays I’m a Woman and I’m Bad, I Love You More...Than Shoes!, Welcome Home, One Day?, and Sammy, Harry, Oscar and Me...Morris. She also wrote the novel I Love You More...Than Shoes! She is a voice-over artist, producer, and writer, as well as an Ensemble member of American Blues Theater.

Olivia Washington (Nyasha) is very excited to be making her Old Globe debut. Her theatre credits include The Glass Menagerie (Off Broadway), Clybourne Park (Hanger Theatre), and The Taming of the Shrew (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Her television and film credits include “She’s Gotta Have It” season 2 directed by Spike Lee (upcoming on Netflix), Lee Daniels’ The Butler, and “Mr. Robot” directed by Sam Esmail. She holds a B.F.A. from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Zakiya Young (Tendikayi) recently participated in Ojai Playwrights Conference’s 2018 New Works Festival after starring in Center Theatre Group’s Ovation Award–nominated production of Spamilton. Her Broadway credits include Stick Fly and The Little Mermaid. Off Broadway, Ms. Young received an AUDELCO Award nomination for her starring role in Storyville. Her regional theatre credits include Disgraced (Goodman Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre), Good People (George Street Playhouse, Seattle Rep), Aida (Music Theatre Wichita), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Syracuse Stage), Little Miss Sunshine (La Jolla Playhouse), and It’s a Bird... It’s a Plane... It’s Superman (Dallas Theater Center). Ms. Young is the first and only known black actress to play the iconic role of Lois Lane in any Superman project. Her on-camera credits include the films Room Enough and The Vanishing of Sidney Hall and the television shows “Iron Fist,” “Orange Is the New Black,” and “Mozart in the Jungle.”

Walt Spangler (Scenic Design) designs for theatre, opera, and dance and has created works for nearly every major theatre company across the nation and for many projects around the globe. Based in New York, his designs for Broadway include Escape to Margaritaville, Tuck Everlasting, A Christmas Story, Scandalous, and Desire Under the Elms. Off Broadway he has designed the premieres of many acclaimed new works, including most recently the Pulitzer Prize–winning Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis, Fabulation by Lynn Nottage, The Medieval Play by Kenneth Lonergan, and The Jacksonian by Beth Henley. waltspangler.com.

Alejo Vietti (Costume Design) designed The Old Globe’s Allegiance, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, Engaging Shaw, and Lost in Yonkers. His Broadway credits include Allegiance (Drama Desk Award nomination), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (West End, Japan, Australia, U.K. tour, and U.S. tours; Olivier Award nomination), and Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical. His Off Broadway credits include Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Atlantic Theater Company, Primary Stages, MCC Theater, The New Group, Irish Repertory Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Soho Rep., Radio City Music Hall’s Rockettes, and City Center Encores!, among others. Mr. Vietti has designed regionally for La Jolla Playhouse, Ford’s Theatre, Arena Stage, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Colorado Ballet, Pasadena Playhouse, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Goodspeed Musicals, The 5th Avenue Theatre, and others. His international credits include Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Japan and Germany), Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and Ukraine’s Donetsk Opera. His select opera credits include Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera. He has also worked with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Mr. Vietti is a recipient of Theatre Development Fund’s 2010 Irene Sharaff Young Master Award. alejo_vietti_costume_design on Instagram.

Jason Lyons (Lighting Design) previously designed Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood!, Red Velvet, Macbeth, and Love’s Labor’s Lost at the Globe. His Broadway credits include Hand to God, On the Town, Bronx Bombers, Let It Be, Bring It On: The Musical, Rock of Ages (as well as the Vegas, Toronto, Australia, London, and national tours), The Threepenny Opera, Barefoot in the Park, and Good Vibrations. His recent credits include Clueless, The Musical (The New Group), Oklahoma! (Theatre Under The Stars), Sugar in Our Wounds, Linda, Important Hats of the 20th Century, and The Commons of Pensacola (Manhattan Theatre Club), The Honeymooners (Paper Mill Playhouse), Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (The 5th Avenue Theatre), Born for This (Arena Stage), Kings, Dry Powder, and Barbecue (The Public Theater), Crazy for You, Jesus Christ Superstar, La Cage aux Folles, and West Side Story (Signature Theatre Company), Smart People and Murder for Two (Second Stage Theatre), Heathers: The Musical (New World Stages), and All in the Timing (Primary Stages). Mr. Lyons has received the Joseph Jefferson Award, Helen Hayes Award, and Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Lighting Design. jasonlyonsdesign.com, @jasonlyonsdesign.

Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (Sound Design) have many Broadway credits to their names, including music composition and sound for No Man’s Land & Waiting for Godot, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Miracle Worker, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and The Speed of Darkness; music for My Thing of Love;sound for Sweat, Larry David’s Fish in the Dark, This Is Our Youth, Of Mice and Men, A Year with Frog and Toad, King Hedley II; and Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Broadway productions of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Superior Donuts, Buried Child, The Song of Jacob Zulu, and The Grapes of Wrath. Their Off Broadway credits include music and sound for The True, Gently Down the Stream, Guards at the Taj, Sticks and Bones, Checkers, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Boy Gets Girl, Red, Space, and Marvin’s Room; sound for Good for Otto, The Spoils, Brundibar, and Jitney;and music direction and sound for Ruined. They have created music and sound at many of America’s resident theatres and at several international venues. milbomusic.com.

Somi (Composer), an acclaimed vocalist and composer, was born in Illinois to immigrants from Uganda and Rwanda. She is known for her wide-ranging vocal technique, her original blend of modern jazz and African musics, and the innate poetry of her songwriting that often gives voice to issues of social justice, transnationalism, womanhood, and global constructions of Blackness. Her latest recording, Petite Afrique (Sony Music/OKeh Records), marks her sixth release. Recently winning a 2018 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album, it is a timely song cycle about the dignity of immigrants and the gentrification of Harlem’s vibrant West African quarter. Her guest collaborators on her albums include Common, Angelique Kidjo, Hugh Masekela, and Aloe Blacc. She is a TED Senior Fellow, a 2018 Doris Duke Fellow, an inaugural Association of Performing Arts Professionals Fellow, and a former Artist-in-Residence at Park Avenue Armory, Baryshnikov Arts Center, and UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance. She is currently touring internationally with her band, and last year she premiered her modern-jazz play about the legendary singer-activist Miriam Makeba. In her heart of hearts, she is an East African Midwestern girl who loves family, poetry, and freedom.

Rufaro Gwarada (Cultural Consultant) is a diaspora African committed to migrant rights, gender justice, and the advancement of African-led solutions for Africans. She is currently the Director of Cultural Strategies at Power California, formerly Mobilize the Immigrant Vote and YVote. Ms. Gwarada co-founded ThriveAfrica.us, a giving circle for and by African immigrants and refugees in the United States, and she sits on the board of Priority Africa Network. She is a Movement Maker at Move to End Violence and a 2016 Citizenship Fellow at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. She previously was content developer and editor of Africa Speaks 4 Africa, an online magazine that lifts up and advances African perspectives on key cultural, socioeconomic, and political issues. Ms. Gwarada is also a writer whose fiction, poetry, and commentary investigate gender, power, and familial dynamics inspired by her homeland, Zimbabwe. She holds a master’s degree in Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies at University of Sussex.

Caparelliotis Casting (Casting) has cast for The Old Globe for the past five seasons, including Barefoot in the Park, Native Gardens, The Wanderers, The Importance of Being Earnest, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and Skeleton Crew. Their Broadway casting credits include The Waverly Gallery, The Boys in the Band, Three Tall Women, Saint Joan, Junk, Meteor Shower, A Doll’s House Part 2, The Front Page, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Glass Menagerie, Jitney, The Little Foxes, The Father, Blackbird, An Act of God, Airline Highway, Fish in the Dark, It’s Only a Play, Disgraced, Holler If Ya Hear Me, Casa Valentina, The Snow Geese, Orphans, The Trip to Bountiful, Grace, Dead Accounts, The Other Place, Seminar, The Columnist, Stick Fly, Good People, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The House of Blue Leaves, Fences, Lend Me a Tenor, and The Royal Family. They also cast for Manhattan Theatre Club, Atlantic Theater Company, Signature Theatre Company, LCT3, Ars Nova, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre Center, and Arena Stage, among others. Their film and television credits include HairBrained with Brendan Fraser, “New Amsterdam” (NBC), “American Odyssey” (NBC), “How to Get Away with Murder” (ABC pilot), “Ironside” (NBC), and Steel Magnolias (Sony for Lifetime).

Jess Slocum (Production Stage Manager) previously worked on the Globe productions of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!; Much Ado About Nothing; Measure for Measure and Twelfth Night (Globe for All); Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood!; The Imaginary Invalid; Red Velvet; Picasso at the Lapin Agile; Love’s Labor’s Lost; tokyo fish story; The Metromaniacs; In Your Arms; Twelfth Night; Buyer & Cellar; Bright Star; Othello; Water by the Spoonful; The Winter’s Tale; A Doll’s House; Pygmalion; A Room with a View; Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show; the 2011–2013 Shakespeare Festivals; Rafta, Rafta…; Robin and the 7 Hoods; Alive and Well; Sammy; Cornelia;  Since Africa;and The Glass Menagerie. Her regional credits include Noura (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Indecent, Side Show, Ruined, The Third Story, Memphis,and Most Wanted (La Jolla Playhouse), and Post Office (Center Theatre Group). She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and a proud member of Actors’ Equity.