Spring 2024: Fun Home – a YMTC+ Production
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Buy tickets for the Shadow Cast performance on May 9 here!
Welcome to our house on Maple Avenue.
Directed by Jacob Basri
Music Direction by Eric Walton
Choreography by Joe Ayers
Music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics and book by Lisa Kron, based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel of the same name
Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, April 26 – May 12, 2024
A winner of 7 Tony Awards, the original, refreshing musical Fun Home tells the story of cartoonist Alison Bechdel as she prepares to write her first graphic memoir and the memories of her youth overwhelm her. Diving deep into her past to write about the sudden death of her father, the adult Alison conjures two younger versions of herself to help her make sense of the volatile, brilliant, one-of-a-kind man she knew. With a tender score and a sharp, brilliant script, Fun Home tells the story of the universal, bittersweet experience of coming out in all its forms and seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.
Fun Home marks the return of YMTC+ for the first time since Next to Normal in 2018. YMTC+ shows feature YMTC alumni, teaching artists, students, and guest performers – all understudied by a shadow cast of current YMTC students.
BIOGRAPHIES – Creative Team
LAURA CORNWALL – Stage Manager
Laura Cornwall (they/she) started their theater career as a stage manager with YMTC 2006–2011, and is delighted to be back after all this time for Fun Home—particularly given the role Alison Bechdel’s work played in their own baby-dyke days! Laura has a BA in Stage Management and Dramaturgy from Oberlin College (another fun Bechdel connection) and an MFA in Theater Management from the Yale School of Drama. Laura spent a number of years creating theater in New York City, has worked as an Access and Sensory Consultant—including with National Disability Theater—and has a passion for bringing Disability Justice work and the Performing Arts together. Special thanks and endless love to Philip Waller.
MIKE LAWSON – Shadow Cast Stage Manager
Mike Lawson (he/him) has been working in performing arts management for the past decade and is currently the Senior Manager of Company Operations at the San Francisco Ballet. He has stage managed at Berkeley Playhouse and Contra Costa Musical Theatre. He is excited for his first project with YMTC and is eager to ‘map out’ a successful run with the Fun Home shadow cast.
CHAD OWENS – Scenic Associate, Builder
Chad Owens is a scenic designer, as well as a multidisciplinary artist and maker, with a broad background in custom wood and metal fabrication, painting, figurative drawing, and site-specific installation. He has designed scenery for more than 100 professionally staged productions, for companies including Washington National Opera, West Edge Opera, Cal Performances, RAWdance, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Aurora Theater, Central Works, and many others. Set Design and Art Direction for major motion pictures include Milk (Oscar and Art Directors Guild nominations for best production design), Blue Jasmine, Chasing Mavericks, Haywire, Contagion, The Pursuit of Happyness (sic) and others, and for television The OA, 13 Reasons Why, Trauma, and others. He has worked extensively as an Associate Designer on Broadway, including, among others, Wonderful Town, Dinner at Eight, 42nd Street, and Into the Woods, all of which received Tony nominations for best sets.
BERTRAND BLANK – Sound Engineer
Bert (he/him) is a sound engineer, DJ, and event producer in the Bay Area. He is the founder of By the Bay Productions, an innovative entertainment production company that specializes in sound design, lighting, and audio-visual effects. Bert has designed the sound for productions of Little Shop of Horrors, Be More Chill, Heathers: The Musical, Into the Woods, Matilda, Sunday in the Park With George, Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson Musical, Once Upon a Matteess (musical), and Don’t Stop Me. He is thrilled to be working with YMTC again, and very excited to be part of the team bringing Fun Home to bay area audiences. Visit bythebayproductions.com for more info.
HEATHER ONDERSMA – Intimacy Director
Heather’s intimacy direction credits include Rent (Dix Hills Performing Arts Center, dir. Adam Pascal aka OBC Roger), Rent, Cinderella and In the Heights (Berkeley Playhouse), Little Women and The Prom (YPTMTC/Randall Museum) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Alameda Foodbank Players). Film (selected): Chimera (dir. Steve Pink, with Pauline Chalamet), Companion (New Line Cinema with Jack Quaid, Sophie Thatcher, Rupert Friend) Splash City (prod. Berner/4 Ways Entertainment) and El Campo (dir. Octavio Pisano, prod. Guillermo Escalona). Member of Lincoln Center Directors’ Lab, treasurer of the National Society of Intimacy Professionals, organizing team member for the International Conference of Intimacy Coordinators–Berlin 2024. @heatherondersma
BIOGRAPHIES – Musicians
SUE CRUM – flute, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet and tenor sax
Sue Crum (she/her) is the music director for the Oakland Community Orchestra. She is also a private music teacher and a freelance reed player in several Bay Area music ensembles. Sue has been performing with YMTC for 15 years. When not conducting, performing or teaching, Sue enjoys baking and creating stained glass art.
J. MADDOX – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
A graduate of University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music, where he earned a Bachelor’s in Music Management and Master’s in Music Education, J. Madox has performed a growing number of musicals with companies in the Bay Area. He works as a music educator in Bay Area public schools and performs as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist in rock groups, jazz bands, a barbershop quartet, and the Awesöme Orchestra where he volunteers as a low brass section ambassador.
MARY DOUGHERTY – violin
Mary Dougherty teaches music in BUSD, directs the BHS Orchestras and developed the Longfellow Mariachi program. She is a frequent music instructor at the BM üZ summer camp and Cazadero Performing Arts Camp. She earned a BA in Music and Classics from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. Mary is a big fan of YMTC’s mission to nurture and empower young people through the arts.
RYAN KOTLER – bass
Ryan (he/him) is a native Angeleno—and Oberlin grad!—who is proud to call Oakland home. Before moving to the Bay Area, Ryan performed and recorded with a variety of artists in the Midwest, New York City, and Seattle. He frequently plays with the instrumental funk band El Metate and loves performing with the Awesome Orchestra as often as possible. Ryan keeps his home a fun home by giving his children an Otamatone and various drum machines to make music with (and try the patience of his loving and supportive partner, Courtney). Ryan is excited for his debut performance with YMTC! Catch Ryan at @rykobass on Instagram.
SAGE BAGGOTT – drums
Sage is a third-generation drummer and composer raised in the Bay Area and Austin, Texas. He plays drums and percussion in many styles, with a focus on Afro-Cuban, jazz, Flamenco, and orchestral percussion. He is a core member of Awesome Orchestra and has played for many years in musical theater, including a 4-month run last year of Natasha and Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 at Shotgun Theater. He also composes music for film and commercial projects as co-owner of Spiky Blimp.
DIANA LEE – cello
Diana (she/her) is a music director and teaching artist based in the Bay Area. She is a classically trained pianist and cellist, and maintains her own private studio in the East Bay. She has been the Music Director for various theater companies and schools including Hillbarn, 42nd Street Moon, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company, San Francisco Arts Education Project, Pacifica Spindrift Players, Spindrift School of Performing Arts, Bay Area Educational Theater Company, Berkeley High School, and Abbott Middle School. She has also been in the pit orchestras and rehearsal rooms at Mountain Play, Woodminster, and Young People’s Teen Musical Theatre Company. She is the Visual and Performing Arts Technician at the Berkeley Unified School District, and the cello coach at Berkeley High School. Diana is the Pit Orchestra Apprenticeship Program Coordinator at YMTC, and is grateful for the continued opportunity to work with the incredible staff and students in this company.
CHRISTINA WALTON – violin, viola
Christina (she/her) has performed in the pit for theaters across the Bay Area such as Berkeley Rep, Broadway By The Bay and Mountain Play. On the classical side, she serves as concertmaster and librarian for the Oakland Civic Orchestra, and for a taste of the blues, she performs as a member of The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol’s string quartet. Christina loves coming back time and again to play for YMTC productions, from the large scale orchestral musicals to the intimate chamber pieces.
AMANDA WU CHROUST – bass
Amanda Wu Chroust (she/her) is a double bassist and electric bassist in the Bay Area and plays for various musical ensembles, including San Francisco Playhouse, Berkeley Playhouse, 42nd Street Moon, Awesome Orchestra Collective, and with YMTC with some recent favorites including Ragtime and Little Shop of Horrors. She also serves in a fundraising advisory role with the YMTC board. Outside of music, Amanda works at a fundraising technology company supporting nonprofit organizations and volunteers her time as a fundraiser and strategic consultant for performing arts organizations.