Michael G. Bath was last seen at Ensemble Theatre in Hands on a Hardbody and Fiona: The Musical, as well as The Dancing Princesses, Tiny Beautiful Things, Fly By Night, The Legend of Georgia McBride, and countless others. Michael is a graduate of Wilmington College and a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. Much love to his wife Tricia and dog Misha.

Jamie Cordes is excited to make his debut with Ensemble Theatre! His favorite recent roles include Squire Western in the world premiere of This is Tom Jones!, Light Keeper in the world premiere of Sweet Lousia, Robert in The Bridges of Madison County, Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd, Harold in The Full Monty, Beauregard J. P. Burnside in Mame, Ed in Torch Song Trilogy, and Dan in Next to Normal. Other credits include performances with Short North Stage, Rockwell Productions, Seaside Music Theatre, Ozarks Lyric Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Ohio Light Opera, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, and others. Jamie is a resident artist with The Human Race Theatre Company and a senior lecturer in the Wright State University School of Fine and Performing Arts.

Denise Devlin is thrilled to be returning to the Ensemble Theatre stage after nine years abroad! Her most recent credits include the Australian national tours of Mamma Mia!, Shrek the Musical, and Kinky Boots. Her favorite Cincinnati credits include The Marvelous Wonderettes, Winter Wonderettes, Man of La Mancha, The Elephant Man, and Urinetown. She has been a featured singer onboard Disney Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line and in the Australian regional productions of Rent, High Fidelity, and Merrily We Roll Along.

Phil Fiorini was last seen at Ensemble Theatre in Hands on a Hardbody and What the Constitution Means to Me, as well as Fly By Night, Violet, Alice in Wonderland (2019), Hands on a Hardbody (2014), and others. He performed in the Broadway national tours of The Lion King (Pumbaa) and Greater Tuna. Some of his Cincinnati credits include A Flea in Her Ear with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and The Realistic Joneses with Clifton Performance Theatre. Some of his Kansas City credits include La Cage Aux Folles and The Legend of Georgia McBride, Kansas Repertory Theatre; Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood, New Theatre & Restaurant; Mauritius and Dirty Blonde, Unicorn Theatre; Finian’s Rainbow, Spinning Tree Theatre; Twelfth Night and King Lear, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival; and Inspecting Carol and Little Women, Kansas City Actors Theatre. Phil was seen in the film Dark Waters. He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.

Annie Fitzpatrick recently appeared in Morning Sun at Ensemble Theatre, where some of her favorite credits include The Wolves, Luna Gale, Hands on a Hardbody, Next Fall, Rabbit Hole, and String of Pearls. She recently appeared in Steel Magnolias at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Indiana Repertory Theatre. She has worked with various regional theatres including American Stage, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Geva Theatre, Florida Stage, and Florida Studio. Her TV and film credits include Chicago P.D., Those Who Kill, Army Wives, White Noise, Dark Waters, The Old Man and the Gun, Fun Size, Milk Money, and the upcoming films Mr. Manhattan and Hauntology

Deb G. Girdler began her career on the Showboat Majestic, attended UC’s College-Conservatory of Music, and has worked off-Broadway, in regional theatre, and in summer stock for over fifty years. Some of her favorite productions at Ensemble Theatre include Good People, Three Viewings, Three Tall Women, and The Last Session; her favorite roles also include playing the villainess in many ETC holiday productions. Deb is listed in the official scripts of several shows as a cast member of the premiere productions, including the stage version of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Hoodwinked!  The Musical, and It Runs in the Family. She can be seen in the films Carol with Cate Blanchett and First Kill with Bruce Willis.

Jim Hopkins (he/him) is originally from Nebraska and spent many years performing in the Dallas area but has called Cincinnati home for more than fifteen years. He is very excited to return to Ensemble Theatre for round two of Hands on a Hardbody. Among Jim’s many roles at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, he has been Sergeant Rough in the world premiere of Gaslight by Stephen Dietz, LBJ in All the Way, Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Mr. Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank, Julius Caesar in Julius Caesar, and Lennie in Of Mice and Men. Other past appearances include The Liar and School for Wives, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; The Manbeast, Know Theatre of Cincinnati; Romeo and Juliet, The Human Race Theatre Company; and Jerry Springer: The Opera, Playhouse on the Square in Memphis. In 2017, Jim wrote and performed White Privilege for the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Jim holds an MFA from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Jared Joplin is revved up to return to the Ensemble Theatre stage after appearing with his sister Jen Joplin in The Match Game. As a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, he has worked locally and regionally in New York and Canada. His favorite musical roles include The Sound of Music, The Carnegie; Don’t Cross the Streams, Falcon Theatre; Booty: A Pirate Musical, Cincinnati Fringe Festival; Smoke on the Mountain, The New Theatre STL; and Another Brick in the Wall, Cincinnati Opera, as well as the numerous roles he has performed in his car during his commute on I-75 from Dayton.

Deondra Kamau Means (he/him) was born and raised in Cincinnati and discovered his love for the arts through music at church and at Cincinnati’s School for the Creative and Performing Arts. There, he got involved with all aspects of the arts—technical theatre, piano, choir, drama, and musical theatre. After graduating from Webster University in St. Louis, he completed an internship where he served in many aspects of the work, including acting tour roles, office support, and fundraising, at the St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre. Deondra has owned his own theatre company, Kuumba People of Color Theatre Ensemble, and spent over two decades as The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s Resident Playwright. But Deondra has always been interested in arts integration and arts expression, helping to develop social skills and self-esteem in children and highlighting social justice issues.

Patrick Earl Phillips

is so grateful to be back at Ensemble Theatre, where he most recently hopped into the understudy role of Jason in Sweat. His favorite ETC credits include Luna Gale, Bloomsday, Fly By Night, This Random World, and Violet. Recent regional credits include Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Wrecking Ball with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and This is Tom Jones! and Around the World in 80 Days with The Human Race Theatre Company. In July, Patrick will be in a production of tick, tick… BOOM! at The Carnegie in Covington. He is also an active student with the Society of American Fight Directors.

Brooke Steele was last seen at Ensemble Theatre in Hands on a Hardbody and Fiona: The Musical. Some of her favorite ETC credits include Cinderella in Cinderella, Vasilisa in The Frog Princess, Miriam in Fly By Night, Violet in Violet, and Suzy in The Marvelous Wonderettes. Brooke lives in Kennedy Heights with her husband, two daughters, one bunny, and their little black dog.

Franco Valerga is thrilled to be making his debut with Ensemble Theatre! Recent credits include the Argentinian production of Dear Evan Hansen as the Evan alternate; 30 Years of Stephen Flaherty at Carnegie Hall in NYC; and Once on This Island with the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). He was also a soloist with the American Pops Orchestra at Lincoln Center. Franco is a rising senior at CCM for musical theatre.

Aleah Vassell (they/she) is excited to make their Ensemble Theatre debut! She is a Canadian-born, Jamaican-rooted, American singer, actor, and creator. They hold a BFA in musical theatre from Samford University and an MFA in acting from University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Along with being a performer and business owner, Aleah writes musicals and plays and creates content. Their ten-minute play A Sad Vampire was featured in Ensemble Theatre’s Studio Series 10-Minute Connections: Unity this past January. Local theatre work includes The Amen Corner, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; This Is Tom Jones, The Human Race Theatre Company; and The Wiz, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati. Their favorite roles include Bunny in Detroit ’67 and Dionne in Hair at Clarence Brown Theatre, as well as Deloris in Sister Act at Charleston Stage.

Kate Wilford is delighted to return to Wonderland with this wonderful cast! She was last seen in Hands on a Hardbody with Ensemble Theatre and Ellis Island: The Dream of America with the Cincinnati Pops. Some of her favorite ETC credits include Good People, Becky’s New Car, and Women of Lockerbie. She has worked at every professional theater here in Cincinnati such as Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Kate has taught theater arts for over thirty years and is now working on her yoga teaching certificate. She loves gardening, kayaking, and her talented painter husband Jay. She has been a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association for over forty years and hopes for forty more!

Doug Wright’s play Quills premiered at Washington, D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in 1995 and subsequently had its debut off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop. Quills garnered the 1995 Kesselring Prize for Best New American Play from the National Arts Club and, for Wright, a 1996 Village Voice Obie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting. In 2000, Wright wrote the screenplay for the film version of Quills, which starred Geoffrey Rush. Wright’s I Am My Own Wife was produced off-Broadway by Playwrights Horizons in 2003. It transferred to Broadway, where it won the Tony Award for Best Play as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The subject of this one-person play, which starred Jefferson Mays, is the German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. In 2006, Wright wrote the book for Grey Gardens. The musical is based on the Maysles brothers’ 1975 film documentary of the same title about Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (“Big Edie”) and her daughter, Edith Bouvier Beale (“Little Edie”), Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s aunt and cousin. He adapted the Disney film The Little Mermaid for the Broadway musical, which opened in 2007. In 2009, he was commissioned by the La Jolla Playhouse to adapt and direct Creditors by August Strindberg. In another La Jolla commission, he wrote the book for the musical Hands on a Hardbody, with the score by Amanda Green and Trey Anastasio. The musical had a brief run on Broadway in March and April 2013 after premiering at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2012. He teamed up with the musician and lyricist from Grey Gardens to write the musical War Paint, which played on Broadway in 2017, and his comedic play Good Night, Oscar premiered at the Goodman in 2021 and on Broadway in 2023. For television, Wright worked on four pilots for producer Norman Lear and teleplays for Hallmark Entertainment and HBO. In film, Wright’s credits include screenplays for Fine Line Features, Fox Searchlight, and DreamWorks SKG. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and serves on the board of New York Theatre Workshop. He is a recipient of the William L. Bradley Fellowship at Yale University, the Charles MacArthur Fellowship at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, an HBO Fellowship in playwriting, and the Alfred Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University. In 2010 he was named a United States Artists Fellow. Mr. Wright lives in New York City with his partner, songwriter David Clement.

Amanda Green is a Tony-nominated lyricist and composer. She is the recipient of the 2013 Frederic Loewe Award from the Dramatists Guild (with collaborator Trey Anastasio) for her music for Hands on a Hardbody (lyricist and co-composer), one of two musicals she premiered on Broadway in the 2012-2013 season. She also co-wrote the lyrics for Bring It On. For her work on Hands, she was nominated for a Tony Award, Two Drama Desk Awards (music, lyrics) and an Outer Critics Circle Award. She was nominated for a third Drama Desk Award the same year for her lyrics (with Lin Manuel Miranda) for Bring It On. She wrote the lyrics for Mr. Saturday Night, starring Billy Crystal and with music written by Jason Robert Brown, for which she and Brown received a Tony nomination in 2022. Additional credits include High Fidelity (lyrics) and Stars of David (original songs; 2013; DR2 Theater). Arthur Laurents asked her to write additional lyrics for the revival of Hallelujah Baby (Arena Stage, directed by Mr. Laurents). For the Love of Tiffany: A Wifetime Original Musical (lyricist, co-star; NY Fringe Festival). “Put a Little Love in Your Mouth! The Songs of Amanda Green” (Second Stage Theater, Joe’s Pub); Up the Week Without a Paddle (2001 LADCC Nomination (Best Score), Backstage’s Garland Award (Best Score). She is also an award-winning performer (2 MAC Awards, BISTRO Award) who performs her work, along with Broadway stars, in concerts everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Birdland to The Bluebird Café in Nashville. She has acted in musicals on Broadway and regionally, including originating the role of “Gary Coleman” in Avenue Q at The O’Neill Center. Legendary guitarist Trey Anastasio performs songs he and Amanda have co-written in arena concerts around the country with his bands Phish and TAB. Other Awards include The Jonathan Larson Award and The Songwriter’s Hall of Fame Abe Olman Award. She wrote episodes for the kids television show The Wonder Pets. She is an alumni of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop and received her BA from Brown University. Proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

Trey Anastasio is a composer, guitarist, and vocalist that has forged a multi-faceted career, winning acclaim in rock, classical, and theatrical circles over the past three decades. He is a founding member of Phish, one of today’s most successful and innovative rock bands. In the summer of 2017, Phish completed a residency at the world-renowned Madison Square Garden in New York – an unprecedented 13-night run known as The Baker’s Dozen. Phish’s total number of performances at the famed arena currently sits at 64. Anastasio has received Grammy nominations for his recordings with Phish and for his solo work. He has collaborated with such artists as Dave Matthews, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Toots and the Maytals, B.B. King and The Roots, and – as part of the trio Oysterhead – Les Claypool (Primus) and Stewart Copeland (The Police). He co-wrote the music for the Broadway musical Hands on a Hardbody, which received a Tony nomination for Best Original Score in 2013. In the summer of 2015, Anastasio joined the surviving four members of the Grateful Dead for five stadium shows, which celebrated the band’s 50th anniversary and served as their farewell shows. Anastasio has performed his original compositions with numerous symphonies. The New York Times hailed his Carnegie Hall performance with the New York Philharmonic as “that rarest of rarities, a classical-rock hybrid that might please partisans from both constituencies.” In 2014, he debuted a new piece for guitar and orchestra, entitled Petrichor, on a west coast orchestral tour that concluded with a performance at the Hollywood Bowl, marking his second performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In April 2019, Anastasio released his fourteenth solo album, Ghosts of the Forest, which Rolling Stone said was “built around psychedelic guitar liftoffs, ambitious arrangements, and extremely personal lyrics.” Between Me and My Mind, a film documenting Trey’s creative process, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and played a sold-out limited run engagement in theaters this past summer.

D. Lynn Meyers has been with Ensemble Theatre for over twenty-five years, having directed more than a hundred world and regional premieres, including Hands on a Hardbody, Fun Home, Morning Sun, The Wolves, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I Am My Own Wife, Next to Normal, Tiny Beautiful Things, and the world premiere of The Dancing Princesses. She began her career as the associate artistic director at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, has directed off-Broadway at the York Theatre, and has directed extensively throughout the US and Canada. As a member of the Casting Society of America, Lynn’s recent feature credits include The Bikeriders, Shirley, and Dark Waters, in addition to serving as the location casting director for The Shawshank Redemption. Lynn recently directed the world premiere of Fierce for the Cincinnati Opera. She was named a finalist for the Zelda Fichandler National Award in 2011, is a past recipient of the YWCA Career Woman of Achievement Award, and received the 2018 Rosa F. and Samuel B. Sachs Fund Prize for regional arts impact and leadership.

Steve Goers is thrilled to return as music director at Ensemble Theatre, where some of his credits include Fun Home, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, and Grey Gardens as conductor and keyboardist. He is a member of the musical theatre faculty at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and has worked locally with theatres throughout the region, including Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, The Carnegie, Cincinnati Landmark Productions, and NKU. Steve has composed numerous works for a variety of media, including ten feature film scores and twenty internationally produced musicals for young audiences. He has toured the U.S. and Africa with productions of Barnum, Jersey Boys, and Bubbling Brown Sugar and was featured as pianist and session producer on the album Ella Jenkins and a Union of Friends Pulling Together, which received a Grammy nomination for best children’s album. When not doing shows, Steve is a keyboardist and vocalist in several local bands including the Clyde Brown Band, the Ultrasonics, Aja: A Tribute to Steely Dan, and Just Strange Brothers. He is a graduate of the DePaul University School of Music and UC-CCM.

Chaz Wolcott is ecstatic to join the Ensemble Theatre family with Hands on a Hardbody! His Broadway choreography credits include Red Bucket Follies, Broadway Backwards, and Gypsy of the Year. He directed and choreographed regionally for Music Theatre Wichita, The Gateway, 3D Theatricals, Westport Country Playhouse, Forestburgh Playhouse, Short North Stage, Millbrook Playhouse, Winnipesaukee Playhouse, Woodstock Playhouse, and Interlakes Theatre. Chaz has served as an assistant professor of musical theatre at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and at Penn State University. He holds an MFA in theatre from the University of Idaho and earned his BFA in dance from Oklahoma City University.

Brian c. Mehring (he/him) has designed more than 100 productions at Ensemble Theatre. His favorite productions include Thom Pain (based on nothing), Next to Normal, 33 Variations, Freud’s Last Session, and I Am My Own Wife. Mr. Mehring’s regional favorites for set design include The Last 5 Years and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Henry IV, Part 1, The Georgia Shakespeare Festival; and I Am My Own Wife, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Peterborough Players, and Florida Studio Theatre.

Cat Schmeal-Swope is a costume designer in the Greater Cincinnati area and the costume shop manager at Northern Kentucky University. Various costume design credits include Torch Song and The African Company Presents Richard III, NKU; Looped and Around the World in 80 Days, The Human Race Theatre Company; Little Shop of Horrors, The Carnegie; Daddy Long Legs, CATCO; Othello, The Ohio State University/Royal Shakespeare Company; and True West, Minnesota State University. Cat holds an MFA in theatre design from Ohio State University and a BFA in theatre with an emphasis in costumes from NKU.

Matt Callahan (he/him) was the Resident Sound Designer for Actors Theatre of Louisville for seven seasons. Some of his most recent designs for Ensemble Theatre include Queen, Pipeline, Fortune, Fun Home, and Ripcord. He was also a co-creator/designer of Rock n’ Roll: The Reunion Tour. He spent two seasons as the Resident Sound Designer at The Eugene O’Neil Center for their National Playwrights Conference. He was formerly the sound engineer for Steppenwolf Theatre, the Assistant Engineer for Blue Man Chicago, and a member of the disbanded Defiant Theatre. He received a Jeff Citation for Red Dragon, a nomination for Fortinbras, and a Kevin Kline nomination for Sherlock Holmes.

Shannon Rae Lutz  (she/her) earned her Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music in 1996 and became Properties Master at Ensemble Theatre. Trained as a performer, she first appeared on ETC’s stage during the 1988-1989 New Works Festival. In 1991, she was granted an ETC internship. Now the Director of Apprentice Programming, she is honored to guide ETC’s essential ensemble: The Professional Acting Apprentice Company. Shannon would like to thank D. Lynn Meyers, Ruth Sawyer, and the Cincinnati theatre community and patrons for their generous, supportive, and tenacious spirit.

Jacob Dowell (he/him) is thrilled to be in his second season at Ensemble Theatre, this time as technical director. Jacob is a graduate of Morehead State University where he received a BA in theatre. Some previous technical direction credits include Kinky Boots, The Who’s Tommy, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Jacob would like to thank his family, friends, and cat (Ronnie) for their continued support

Chris Lipstreu (he/him) is a concert and theatrical lighting specialist and project manager based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. He recently served as the lighting director for the national tour of Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet and served as the lighting designer for The Wild Party, Into the Woods, RENT, The Rocky Horror Show, and Spring Awakening at Short North Stage in Columbus, Ohio. Additionally, he is the owner of Centerline Productions LLC, providing lighting services for numerous concerts, productions, festivals, and political and corporate events in the region. Chris received his BFA in lighting design from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music in 2021. This is his first season as the Associate Production Manager & Master Electrician for Ensemble Theatre.

Michele A. Kay is delighted to be the stage manager for Hands on a Hardbody with Ensemble Theatre! She has been stage managing for over thirty years across all genres, musicals, plays, opera, and dance in a variety of environments including New York, Chicago, and regionally across the United States. She is an associate professor of stage management at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. Most recently, Michele authored the essay Already Calm, I’m the Stage Manager for the book Off Headset: Essays on Stage Management Work, Life, and Career edited by Rafael Jean and Christopher Sadler (Routledge Press, 2022) and co-authored The Dance and Opera Stage Manager’s Toolkit with friend and colleague Sue Fenty (Routledge Press, 2024). Michele is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.

Lexi Muller (she/her) is delighted to be back at Ensemble Theatre, where some of her credits include include Fun Home, The Wolves, Skeleton Crew, and Fly by Night. Other regional credits include Sex with Strangers, The House, Legendale, and 26 Pebbles with the Human Race Theatre. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and a graduate of Wright State University, where she received her BFA in Stage Management.