Marley may have been dead to begin with, but A Merry Little Christmas Carol at the Virginia Stage Company’s historic Wells Theatre is full of life.
Small cast, big story in Virginia Stage Company’s ‘A Merry Little Christmas Carol’
The heavy fog that descends on the Wells Theatre stage announces that the Virginia Stage Company’s “A Merry Little Christmas Carol” will be a play of atmosphere and moods…there is an eeriness in any ghost story, and Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” from which this script is adapted, is arguably the English-speaking world’s favorite ghost story. While it has plenty of the expected suspense and hints of tragedy, this version of the three Christmas spirits reforming the old miser Ebenezer Scrooge is dominated by high-spirited joy, laughter and ebullient glee.
A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS CAROL Production Photos
A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS CAROL Cast + Creative Team
Get Ready for A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS CAROL!
Coming This December...
DEAR JACK, DEAR LOUISE Cast + Creatives
DAN FENAUGHTY
(Jack) is grateful to be back on stage. VSC debut. After this year's turmoil, he is honored to share a story that exemplifies the hopeful nature of our human spirits. These characters reach out to each other across time and distance to find love in uncertain times. I pray that if, and when, your life is touched by struggle you can access the same hope exemplified by Jack and Louise. My humble thanks to our talented crew, production team and theater management staff who made this event possible. All my love to Larissa without whom this life, past year and all my tomorrows would lack the joy, passion and clarity that you bring. And my undying gratitude to all the service members and military families, like mine, who protect our country as we become a more perfect union. This role is dedicated to them. www.danfenaughty.com
LARISSA KLINGER
(Louise) is overjoyed by your support of Live, Local theater. VSC Debut! After growing up in an Army family that traveled the world, Larissa chose to pursue a performing career that has brought her around our country. Along with her theatre career, she has shared her talents with our military through the USO Show Troupe. Larissa hopes that you will join her in giving back to a community of service members and their families that need our support before, during and after deployment. Thank you to all the people at VSC who made this event possible during these uncharted waters. All my love to Dan, my favorite scene partner. www.Larissaklinger.com
CREATIVE TEAM BIOS + Additional Show Staff
SEEMA SUEKO
(Director) directs stage, digital, consensus organizing, and R&D projects for theaters, think tanks and community organizations. Previous positions include Deputy Artistic Director of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., Associate Artistic Director of Pasadena Playhouse, and Co-Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company. She recently co-created and directed Germantown Plays Pericles, an original, large-scale, outdoor artistic fair and performance with the community of Germantown, Philadelphia. During the 2020 global pandemic she created the Arena Stage Theater Artists Marketplace, a socially-distant way to connect artists with audiences and generate income for artists. Coming up, Seema has been commissioned by Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis to create an artistic piece inspired by interviews with 100 people across the U.S. starting with the prompt “imagine a U.S. without racism.” Seema earned her M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago. She serves on the boards of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and the SDC Foundation. You may find more info at www.seemasueko.com.
ALAN E. MURAOKA
(Scenic Designer) has worked in the entertainment industry as a production designer and art director for film and television, corporate communication as well as a theatrical set designer, having been honored with 2 Emmy nominations and 3 Art Directors’ Guild Award nominations. Splitting his time between New York and Los Angeles, Alan initially starting his career as an assistant set designer in New York on the Broadway productions of On Your Toes, The Tap Dance Kid, The Three Musketeers, Smile, Jerry’s Girls, and the ballets Bournonville Variations for choreographer Peter Martins and Ives Songs for Jerome Robbins, both at the New York City Ballet. Alan has had the privilege of working on new productions of operas by America composers, most notable, Ned Rorem's Our Town and Jake Hagee's Dead Man Walking for Central City Opera, Ricky Ian Gordon's Orpheus and Eurydice for Long Beach Opera, Tobias Picker's Therese Paquin and Philip Glass's Fall of the House of Usher for Long Beach and Chicago Opera Theater and the world premiere of Stewart Copeland's The Invention of Morel for Chicago Opera Theater. More recent work included new productions of John Corigliano's The Ghost of Versailles at Chautauqua Opera and the world premieres of Nathan Wang's The Wreck of the Miranda and Henry Mollicone's Moses for LA Opera. In addition to opera, Alan has worked on non-operatic theater productions at The Old Globe Theater in San Diego and other theaters in Southern California. The productions of Dear Jack ,Dear Louise and Hold These Truths marks Alan’s debut with Virginia Stage Company. Film production design credits include Dirty Girl, BaadAsssss!and Edmond. Art direction credits include Little Miss Sunshine, Ghost World, Ace Ventura-Pet Detective, Washington Square, Liberty Heights, and the television series NYPD Blue. Alan is currently the production designer for the television series “New Amsterdam” for NBC/Universal. Alan earned his BA in Music and Art History from Yale University and MFA in Theatrical Design from New York University. In addition to design, Alan has been invited as a guest speaker on design at various colleges and universities including, University of Southern California, Yale University, New York University, Marlboro College and University of California Los Angeles. Member: United Scenic Artists L.829, Art Directors Guild L.800, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. www.alanmuraoka.com
JENI SCHAEFER
(Resident Costume Designer) is the Resident Costume Designer and Costume Shop Manager at the Virginia Stage Company in her 18th season. Regional credits include: A Christmas Story at Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Hound of the Baskervilles at The Hangar and White Heron Theatre, Always...Patsy Cline PCPA Theatrefest, World premiere of Tom Jones for Florida Studio Theatre, Wit for Playmakers Repertory Theatre and over 50 VSC productions including; Matilda, Secret Garden, Fun Home,Always Patsy Cline, Crowns,The Hound of the Baskervilles, Pride and Prejudice, The Wiz, A Streetcar named Desire, Oliver, The Tempest, Grounded, Peter and the Starcatcher, All my Sons,The Great Gatsby,The Fantasticks, Death of a Salesman, Red, Around the World in 80 days, Crowns, Billy Bishop Goes to War, Hank Williams Lost Highway and A Christmas Carol. Jeni Schaefer holds a MAC in Theatre/Costume Design from Wichita State University. Thank you to my family Tony, Sara and Ethan for being my inspiration and for always believing in me.
LYNNE HARTMAN
(Lighting Designer) based in Norfolk, is delighted to collaborate on Dear Jack, Dear Louise and Hold These Truths at VSC. Other VSC designs: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Venus in Fur, The Hampton Years, All My Sons, Peter and The Starcatcher, The Taming of the Shrew, Honky Tonk Angels, The Tempest, and Swingtime Salute. Lynne is a freelance designer transplanted from Richmond. Virginia Repertory Theatre (Richmond) designs include Beauty and The Beast, Airline Highway, A Raisin In The Sun, Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical, Gypsy, Mame (Emily Skinner), Other Desert Cities, Shrek!, Spring Awakening, Seussical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Jeff McCarthy), Legacy of Light (2011 RTCC Award) and The Sound of Music (2010 RTCC Award). For over 40 years Lynne has also designed regionally for Company of Fools (Idaho), TheatreVirginia, Virginia Shakespeare Festival, CenterStage, Richmond Ballet, The Lost Colony, McCarter Theatre, Barksdale Theatre, Porthouse Theatre, Theatre IV and the Kings Dominion & Carowinds theme parks among others. Member USA, Local 829. In memory of my father, Charles L. Hartman, a Norfolk native and WWII US Navy pilot.
ANDRE PLUESS
(Sound Designer) Projects include the Broadway productions of The Minutes, 33 Variations, I Am My Own Wife and Metamorphoses, as well as the Lincoln Center production of The Clean House. His designs/compositions have been featured at regional theaters throughout the country including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Seattle Repertory, Yale Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Steppenwolf Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, The Huntington, South Coast Repertory, The Denver Center and Playwrights Horizons. He has received numerous awards for composition and sound design including multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards, an Ovation Award, a Barrymore Award, a Helen Hayes Award, and Lortel and Drama Critics Circle Award Nominations. Based in Chicago, André is an ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre Company.
BINDER CASTING
was founded by Jay Binder nearly 40 years ago and has been a part of RWS Entertainment Group since 2016. The office has cast 150+ Broadway, Off-Broadway, and National Touring productions, in addition to countless national and international projects spanning both stage and screen. Binder was featured prominently in the Broadway documentary, Every Little Step, and is a proud twelve-time recipient of the Artios Award for Excellence in Casting. The office infuses its work with both a deep respect for our roots and a commitment to growth. www.bindercasting.com
KURT HALL
(Stage Manager) is pleased to be making his Virginia Stage Company debut with Dear Jack, Dear Louise. Regional Credits include: Over 55 productions at Arena Stage in Washington, DC., McCarter Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, and The Kennedy Center. He would like to thank his family for all their love and support.
TOM QUAINTANCE
(Producing Artistic Director) is the sixth Artistic Director and the first Producing Artistic Director in Virginia Stage Company’s 40 year history. At the Wells, Tom has directed Pride and Prejudice and The Santaland Diaries, and Matilda The Musical. Previously as Artistic Director of Cape Fear Regional Theatre (CFRT), Tom produced over 35 plays and directed the World Premiere of Downrange: Voices from the Homefront, a play based on interviews with military spouses from Fort Bragg. Tom is an Associate Artist at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill where he directed An Enemy of the People, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and The Little Prince. He also directed The Little Prince at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As the founder of FreightTrain Shakespeare in Los Angeles, he earned a Drama-Logue Award for his direction of Pericles. Other Los Angeles credits range from King Lear to The Devil With Boobs. A member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Tom is a graduate of Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) with a B.A. in Theatre and Economics, and the University of California, San Diego MFA directing program, where he was the assistant director on the original production of The Who’s Tommy. Tom and his wife Wallis are the proud parents of Mireille Julia and Annika Christine.
Additional Show Staff
Spotlight Operator Jesse Hanna
Wig Designer James McGough
HOLD THESE TRUTHS Cast + Creatives
GREG WATANABE
made his Broadway debut in Allegiance and was recently seen in Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band at Victory Gardens, The City Theatre Pittsburgh, Merrimack Repertory Theatre. He has performed in the world premiere productions of The Ballad Of Yachiyo (Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Public Theater-New York), The Summer Moon (A Contemporary Theater, South Coast Repertory Theatre), The Happy Ones (South Coast Rep, L.A. Drama Critics Circle nomination for Best Featured Performance) and Extraordinary Chambers (The Geffen Playhouse, Ovation nomination for Best Featured Actor). Other appearances include Golden Child (Signature Theatre), Hold These Truths (Perseverance Theater, New Century Theater), Yellow Face (Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company, San Diego Theater Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play).
SEEMA SUEKO
(Director) directs stage, digital, consensus organizing, and R&D projects for theaters, think tanks and community organizations. Previous positions include Deputy Artistic Director of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., Associate Artistic Director of Pasadena Playhouse, and Co-Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company. She recently co-created and directed Germantown Plays Pericles, an original, large-scale, outdoor artistic fair and performance with the community of Germantown, Philadelphia. During the 2020 global pandemic she created the Arena Stage Theater Artists Marketplace, a socially-distant way to connect artists with audiences and generate income for artists. Coming up, Seema has been commissioned by Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis to create an artistic piece inspired by interviews with 100 people across the U.S. starting with the prompt “imagine a U.S. without racism.” Seema earned her M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago. She serves on the boards of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and the SDC Foundation. You may find more info at www.seemasueko.com.
ALAN E. MUROKA
(Scenic Designer) has worked in the entertainment industry as a production designer and art director for film and television, corporate communication as well as a theatrical set designer, having been honored with 2 Emmy nominations and 3 Art Directors’ Guild Award nominations. Splitting his time between New York and Los Angeles, Alan initially starting his career as an assistant set designer in New York on the Broadway productions of On Your Toes, The Tap Dance Kid, The Three Musketeers, Smile, Jerry’s Girls, and the ballets Bournonville Variations for choreographer Peter Martins and Ives Songs for Jerome Robbins, both at the New York City Ballet. Alan has had the privilege of working on new productions of operas by America composers, most notable, Ned Rorem's Our Town and Jake Hagee's Dead Man Walking for Central City Opera, Ricky Ian Gordon's Orpheus and Eurydice for Long Beach Opera, Tobias Picker's Therese Paquin and Philip Glass's Fall of the House of Usher for Long Beach and Chicago Opera Theater and the world premiere of Stewart Copeland's The Invention of Morel for Chicago Opera Theater. More recent work included new productions of John Corigliano's The Ghost of Versailles at Chautauqua Opera and the world premieres of Nathan Wang's The Wreck of the Miranda and Henry Mollicone's Moses for LA Opera. In addition to opera, Alan has worked on non-operatic theater productions at The Old Globe Theater in San Diego and other theaters in Southern California. The productions of Dear Jack ,Dear Louise and Hold These Truths marks Alan’s debut with Virginia Stage Company. Film production design credits include Dirty Girl, BaadAsssss!and Edmond. Art direction credits include Little Miss Sunshine, Ghost World, Ace Ventura-Pet Detective, Washington Square, Liberty Heights, and the television series NYPD Blue. Alan is currently the production designer for the television series “New Amsterdam” for NBC/Universal. Alan earned his BA in Music and Art History from Yale University and MFA in Theatrical Design from New York University. In addition to design, Alan has been invited as a guest speaker on design at various colleges and universities including, University of Southern California, Yale University, New York University, Marlboro College and University of California Los Angeles. Member: United Scenic Artists L.829, Art Directors Guild L.800, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. www.alanmuraoka.com
JENI SCHAEFER
(Resident Costume Designer) is the Resident Costume Designer and Costume Shop Manager at the Virginia Stage Company in her 18th season. Regional credits include: A Christmas Story at Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Hound of the Baskervilles at The Hangar and White Heron Theatre, Always...Patsy Cline PCPA Theatrefest, World premiere of Tom Jones for Florida Studio Theatre, Wit for Playmakers Repertory Theatre and over 50 VSC productions including; Matilda, Secret Garden, Fun Home,Always Patsy Cline, Crowns,The Hound of the Baskervilles, Pride and Prejudice, The Wiz, A Streetcar named Desire, Oliver, The Tempest, Grounded, Peter and the Starcatcher, All my Sons,The Great Gatsby,The Fantasticks, Death of a Salesman, Red, Around the World in 80 days, Crowns, Billy Bishop Goes to War, Hank Williams Lost Highway and A Christmas Carol. Jeni Schaefer holds a MAC in Theatre/Costume Design from Wichita State University. Thank you to my family Tony, Sara and Ethan for being my inspiration and for always believing in me.
LYNNE HARTMAN
(Lighting Designer) based in Norfolk, is delighted to collaborate on Dear Jack, Dear Louise and Hold These Truths at VSC. Other VSC designs: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Venus in Fur, The Hampton Years, All My Sons, Peter and The Starcatcher, The Taming of the Shrew, Honky Tonk Angels, The Tempest, and Swingtime Salute. Lynne is a freelance designer transplanted from Richmond. Virginia Repertory Theatre (Richmond) designs include Beauty and The Beast, Airline Highway, A Raisin In The Sun, Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical, Gypsy, Mame (Emily Skinner), Other Desert Cities, Shrek!, Spring Awakening, Seussical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Jeff McCarthy), Legacy of Light (2011 RTCC Award) and The Sound of Music (2010 RTCC Award). For over 40 years Lynne has also designed regionally for Company of Fools (Idaho), TheatreVirginia, Virginia Shakespeare Festival, CenterStage, Richmond Ballet, The Lost Colony, McCarter Theatre, Barksdale Theatre, Porthouse Theatre, Theatre IV and the Kings Dominion & Carowinds theme parks among others. Member USA, Local 829. In memory of my father, Charles L. Hartman, a Norfolk native and WWII US Navy pilot.
ANDRÉ PLUESS
(Sound Designer) Projects include the Broadway productions of The Minutes, 33 Variations, I Am My Own Wife and Metamorphoses, as well as the Lincoln Center production of The Clean House. His designs/compositions have been featured at regional theaters throughout the country including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Seattle Repertory, Yale Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Steppenwolf Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, The Huntington, South Coast Repertory, The Denver Center and Playwrights Horizons. He has received numerous awards for composition and sound design including multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards, an Ovation Award, a Barrymore Award, a Helen Hayes Award, and Lortel and Drama Critics Circle Award Nominations. Based in Chicago, André is an ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre Company.
ADRIENNE WELLS
(Stage Manager | Hold These Truths) is pleased to be rejoining Virginia Stage Company after the long Covid Pause. Past VSC productions include: Guys and Dolls, Sense and Sensibility, Native Gardens, and Matilda: The Musical. Ms. Wells has worked in live theater, educational tours and events, opera, jazz, fashion, television, special events, and festivals. Past work includes: 39 Steps, Baskerville, Laughter on the 23rd Floor (St. Michael’s Playhouse) Hair (Pentangle Arts), The Long Walk, Semele (Pittsburgh Opera), Sweat (Pittsburgh Public Theater), The Mask of Moriarty (Pittsburgh Irish and Classic Theater). Ms. Wells serves on the board of the Stage Managers’ Association, is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, and a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.
TOM QUAINTANCE
(Producing Artistic Director) is the sixth Artistic Director and the first Producing Artistic Director in Virginia Stage Company’s 40 year history. At the Wells, Tom has directed Pride and Prejudice and The Santaland Diaries, and Matilda The Musical. Previously as Artistic Director of Cape Fear Regional Theatre (CFRT), Tom produced over 35 plays and directed the World Premiere of Downrange: Voices from the Homefront, a play based on interviews with military spouses from Fort Bragg. Tom is an Associate Artist at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill where he directed An Enemy of the People, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and The Little Prince. He also directed The Little Prince at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As the founder of FreightTrain Shakespeare in Los Angeles, he earned a Drama-Logue Award for his direction of Pericles. Other Los Angeles credits range from King Lear to The Devil With Boobs. A member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Tom is a graduate of Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) with a B.A. in Theatre and Economics, and the University of California, San Diego MFA directing program, where he was the assistant director on the original production of The Who’s Tommy. Tom and his wife Wallis are the proud parents of Mireille Julia and Annika Christine.
Spotlight Operator Jesse Hanna
Wig Designer James McGough