We Are Gathered

TARELL ALVIN McCRANEY

Playwright

Tarell Alvin McCraney (Playwright) is Artistic Director of Geffen Playhouse. In this role, he is responsible for identifying, developing, and programming new works and re-envisioned classics. He sets the strategic artistic course for the Geffen’s Gil Cates and Audrey Skirball Kenis Theaters. McCraney is an award-winning writer, producer, and educator, best known for his acclaimed trilogy, The Brother/Sister Plays. His script In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue is the basis for the Oscar–winning film Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins, for which McCraney and Jenkins also won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. He is an ensemble member at Steppenwolf Theatre and a member of Teo Castellanos D-Projects in Miami, a graduate of New World School of the Arts, The Theatre School at DePaul University, and the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Warwick. He was recently Co-Chair of Playwriting at the David Geffen School of Drama, where he remains on faculty. He is an associate at the Royal Shakespeare Company, London, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Writers Branch).

KENT GASH

Director

Kent Gash (Director) most recently directed the acclaimed Pasadena Playhouse production of Jelly’s Last Jam; co-authored and directed Something to Live For at Pittsburgh Public (BroadwayWorld Best New Musical); The Three Musketeers at Oregon Shakespeare and The Acting Company; Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy at Steppenwolf and Studio Theatre (Jeff Award & Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award). LA: August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean at South Coast Rep, Harriet’s Return at Geffen Playhouse. NYC: Barbecue at The Public, Lockdown at Rattlestick, Miss Evers’ Boys (NYC premiere) at Melting Pot. Select from 100+ award-winning regional: Guys and Dolls at the Guthrie; The Wiz at Ford’s Theatre; "Master Harold"...and the Boys at Arizona Theatre Company; Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Wig Out! at Studio Theatre and Sundance; Jelly’s Last Jam, Pacific Overtures, Topdog/Underdog (Norton Award), God of Carnage, Five Guys Named Moe, Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Elliot, a Soldier's Fugue, and 26 Miles, as the Associate Artistic Director at Alliance Theatre (2001-2009); Troilus and Cressida, Godspell, Twelfth Night, Guys and Dolls, and Beehive, as Associate Artistic Director at Alabama Shakespeare Festival (1999-2001). Kent is the current Artistic Director at The Acting Company (2021-present) and Founding Director of New Studio on Broadway, Tisch, NYU. BFA: Carnegie Mellon. MFA: UCLA.

JASON SHERWOOD

Set Designer

Jason Sherwood (Set Designer) is a two-time Emmy Award-winning designer. He has designed world-premiere plays and musicals at New York Theatre Workshop, the Atlantic, Playwrights Realm, Signature Theatre, ART, The Old Globe, the Alliance, the Denver Center, and more. His TV production design work includes the Oscars, Rent: Live, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Grammy Awards, and performances for Elton John, Eminem, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Cynthia Erivo, and Janelle Monae. Sherwood also designed world tours for Sam Smith, the Spice Girls, and Sara Bareilles. He is the recipient of Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Henry Hewes Design Award nominations. NYU grad. Instagram: @jasonsherwooddesign

KARA HARMON

Costume Designer

Kara Harmon (Costume Designer) is delighted to return to DC. Previous productions at Arena Stage include The Other Americans, Native Gardens, and Nina Simone: Four Women. Other projects in the DC area include The Color Purple at Signature Theatre and The Wiz at Ford’s Theatre, for which she received a Helen Hayes Award. Select off-Broadway productions include The Great Privation with Soho Rep, Cullud Wattah at The Public Theater, The Niceties at Manhattan Theatre Club, and the inaugural production at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York City of Watch Night. Regionally, Kara’s work has been seen at Santa Fe Opera, Goodspeed Musicals, Goodman Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Guthrie Theater, The Old Globe, and many others. Please enjoy her work at karaharmondesign.com.

ADAM HONORÉ

Lighting Designer

Adam Honoré (Lighting Designer) is a Harlem-based designer for the stage. Recent designs include Purlie Victorious (Broadway), Ain’t No Mo’ (Broadway), Ragtime (City Center), Cats: The Jellicle Ball (PAC NYC), The Lonely Few (MCC), Jelly’s Last Jam (Encores!), I Can Get It For You Wholesale (Classic Stage), Empire Records (McCarter), Gun & Powder (Paper Mill), and Trading Places (Alliance). Adam is a Drama Desk nominee and a recent recipient of the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Lighting Design. Instagram: @itsadamhonore

LINDSAY JONES

Sound Design and Additional Music

Lindsay Jones (Sound Design and Additional Music) Broadway: Slave Play (Tony nominations for Best Score and Best Sound Design of a Play), The Nap, Bronx Bombers, and A Time to Kill. Off-Broadway: Privacy (Public), Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons), Feeding the Dragon (Primary Stages), and many others. Regional: Guthrie Theater, Center Stage, American Conservatory Theater, Hartford Stage, Alliance Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, and many others. International: Noël Coward (London West End), Royal Shakespeare Company (England), Stratford Festival (Canada), and many others. Audio dramas: Disney, Marvel, DC, Penguin/Random House, Audible, Next Chapter Podcasts. Film/TV scoring: HBO Films’ A Note of Triumph (2006 Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject) and over 30 other films. He is the co-chair of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA). www.lindsayjones.com

TRE'VON GRIFFITH

Original Music

Tre'von Griffith Tre G (Original Music) is an artist, composer, and creative architect shaping sound and spectacle across music and theater. Named one of ”The Most Influential People in LGBTQ+ St. Louis in 2024” by Out in STL and a Business of Pride honoree by the St. Louis Business Journal, his work spans continents, with creative contributions in the U.S., Europe, and China. As a composer and director, his mini-opera Madison Lodge premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and his directing and music direction credits include Twelfth Night (The Acting Company, NYC), A Christmas Carol (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis), among many others. He is the Co-Founder/CEO of WerQfest, St. Louis’ first festival dedicated to celebrating Black queer creativity. Master’s degree: Berklee College of Music (Valencia, Spain). Instagram: @treg_music

J. JARED JANAS

Wig, Hair, and Makeup Designer

J. Jared Janas (Wig, Hair, and Makeup Designer) At Arena Stage: Unknown Soldier, Ride the Cyclone. Select Broadway: Dead Outlaw, John Proctor is the Villain, Glengarry Glen Ross, Buena Vista Social Club, Our Town, Once Upon a Mattress, Mary Jane, Prayer for the French Republic, Purlie Victorious, Good Night, Oscar, Sweeney Todd, Ohio State Murders, & Juliet, Kimberly Akimbo, Indecent, Sunset Boulevard, The Visit, The Real Thing, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Motown, Peter and the Starcatcher, Porgy and Bess. Select Off Broadway: Sally & Tom (Drama Desk nomination), Yours Unfaithfully (Drama Desk nomination).

BYRON EASLEY

Choreographer

Byron Easley (Choreographer)’s choreography credits include Broadway productions of Camelot (Lincoln Center Theater) and Slave Play (Antonyo Award nomination). Other New York projects include The Jonathan Larson Project (Orpheum Theatre); Dorothy Dandridge The Musical (New York Theater Festival, Best Choreography Award); Richard III (The Public Theater); Slave Play (New York Theatre Workshop); X: Or Betty Shabazz V. The Nation (Lucille Lortel Award nomination); Twelfth Night (Classical Theatre of Harlem, AUDELCO nomination); The Bubbly Black Girl (City Center Encores!); Langston in Harlem (SDC’s Joe A. Callaway Award and an AUDELCO Award). Regionally, he has choreographed Ballad of Johnny and June (La Jolla Playhouse); Choir Boy (Steppenwolf); Matilda (Olney Theatre, Helen Hayes nomination); Twelfth Night (Yale Rep); The Wiz (TUTS); The Three Musketeers, Unison, The Wiz, The Comedy of Errors (Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Five Guys Named Moe (Arena Stage, Helen Hayes nomination); Jelly’s Last Jam, Sophisticated Ladies (Alliance Theatre, Suzi Bass Awards).

AVON HAUGHTON

Dramaturg

Avon Haughton (Dramaturg) is a film/television writer, dramaturg, and current steward of Baltimore Center Stage’s new works program. He is of the belief that narrative is integral to the function and preservation of community. Having recently worked alongside Lena Waithe, Jordan E. Cooper, and now, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Avon is delighted to be making his Arena Stage debut.

THE TRC COMPANY/TARA RUBIN, CSA

New York Casting

The TRC Company/Tara Rubin, CSA (New York Casting) Broadway: Dead Outlaw, BOOP! The Musical, Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her, Left on Tenth, The Outsiders, SIX, Aladdin. National tours: The Phantom of the Opera, Water for Elephants, Beauty and the Beast, The Wiz, Back to the Future, Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables. The TRC Company is proud to continue the casting legacy of Tara Rubin Casting and Johnson-Liff Casting.

RAIYON HUNTER

DC Casting

Raiyon Hunter (DC Casting) is a casting director, producer, and arts administrator from New Orleans, Louisiana. She currently works as the Casting Director/Line Producer of Arena Stage. Previously, she worked as the Casting Director of Children’s Theatre Company and the Spelman Leadership Fellow at the Alliance Theatre (Atlanta, GA) where she has contributed to a multitude of shows in varying capacities ranging from casting associate to director on productions such as Do You Love the Dark?, Darlin’ Cory, Bina’s Six Apples, Good Bad People, Confederates, and more. Additionally, she has been in residency at Oregon Shakespeare Festival under Nataki Garrett and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis under Hana S. Sharif.

CHRISTI B. SPANN

Stage Manager

Christ B. Spann (Stage Manager) has been working as a stage manager in DC since 2011. Recent Arena Stage productions include Holiday, The High Ground, Exclusion, POTUS, Tempestuous Elements, Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, and The Age of Innocence. She previously spent 12 seasons on the stage management staff at the Denver Center Theatre Company and has also worked with The Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN, and Virginia Repertory Theatre in Richmond, VA.

JAMIE BERRY

Assistant Stage Manager

Jamie Berry she/her (Assistant Stage Manager) is thrilled to be back at Arena and honored to be part of the team for this beautiful production! She prides herself on ensuring spaces are safe, equitable, and joy-filled for casts and crew. Her most recent/selected work includes Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (ASM, Arena Stage), the First National Tour of Back to the Future (Sub SM), Dreamgirls (PSM, McCarter Theatre 2024 and Goodspeed Opera House 2023), and the five-time 2024 Helen Hayes Award recipient, Fela! (PSM, Olney Theatre Center/Round House Theatre). Instagram: @jamiedreamsbig