The Fantasticks: Company Program
Presented by:
Directors Note
“Seven years ago I saw a play that blew my mind.
It was a musical – a classic one, a show that most Americans have heard of.
I had seen this play before, on stage and in the movies. I’ve acted in the show.
But this version was different.
The words were the same. The music was the same.
But the story that unfolded was almost unrecognizable.
Unlike the other versions of this play I had seen, this one felt – real.
It felt like a true story.
And defiantly, blazingly original.
The show you will see tonight, Lights Up’s production of The Fantasticks, owes a great deal to that play I saw seven years ago, Circle in the Square’s 2019 production of Oklahoma. It is our attempt – my actors and mine — to find a deeper story in this sweet 1960 musical. It is a true collaboration. And for that, I will always be grateful to my cast and my production team for this, the first show of our brand-new company, Lights Up.
Thank you for coming.
And stay tuned for what’s next. ”
Meet the Cast
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Darby O'Neill
MATT
(BIO Coming Soon!)
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Abigail Sorum
LUISA
Abigail Sorum is from all over: Alaska, California, and New Mexico. Currently she is studying at Cornish College of the Arts to receive her BFA in musical theater. Much like Luisa, Abi loves to travel and longs to see the world. Some favorite adventures of hers were visiting friends in Munich with her parents, and going to Greece with her mother, grandmother and aunt. Aside from musical theater and dance, Abi has a passion for fashion, film, reading, and spending time with her friends and family.
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Fisher Wapato
MUTE
Fisher Wapato is an actor, singer, and writer in Seattle Washington. He has previously been seen as Katurian in The Pillowman, Hanschen in Spring Awakening (Tacoma Little Theatre), and he played Mr. Curiosity in the new musical Curiosity by Mary Ann Tavi (Annex Theatre). Fisher enjoys writing plays about American Indians with near impossible stage directions, making experimental (bad) music on his laptop, and playing with a rusty antique BB gun in his bedroom. As a proud member of The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Fisher invites you to donate directly to the Duwamish Tribe at www.RealRentDuwamish.org
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Eric Newman
HENRY
Playing Henry, the old actor, completes a full circle of theatrical endeavors on Eric's part. He played the same role in high school @+##!*% years ago. This was before the author's re-writes. It’s amazing to realize El Gallo's song, "R*pe," (now "It Depends on What You Pay") was allowed in a Utah high school production!
In the interim, while pursuing his acting career (now hobby), paying-the-bills day jobs have included proofreading for Microsoft and Weyerhaeuser, answering phones for Deloitte, and bartending for Amazon. Favorite roles (which rarely paid as well) include Zach and Bobby in A Chorus Line, Prince Escalus and Lord Capulet in Romeo & Juliet and Barrymore in I Hate Hamlet. You may also have seen his face on billboards a few years back touting the Sounder train.
When not engaged in theatrical efforts, Eric spends inordinate amounts of time making pottery (www.cynosure-arts.weebly.com), playing bridge,
and cuddling with his cat, Kalliope (when she deigns to allow it).
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Michael K Jones
BELLOMY
Mike Jones is an actor, comedian, improviser, musician, and voiceover artist who has spent most of his life finding increasingly elaborate ways to avoid having a normal job.
Originally from Chicago and now based in Seattle, Mike trained at Second City Conservatory and Piven Theatre Workshop and continues his training at The Studio Seattle. His work spans stage, film, improv, music, and voiceover.
His screen credits include Hardball and Natural Born Killers, where he mastered the important acting technique of being visible without actually having lines. He is overjoyed to include Bellomy in The Fantasticks among various recent voice roles in Woman with No Wings at the Cornish Playhouse.
As a voice actor, Mike brings strong character instincts, comedic timing, vocal versatility, and natural storytelling to commercial, narration, animation, audiobook, and video game work.
Mike is also a guitarist, singer, writer, and podcast host, bringing a grounded, warm, slightly off-center sensibility to his work—and a particular love for finding the comedy in very human moments.
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Tyler Below
HUCKLEBEE
Tyler Below is thrilled to be returning to the stage as Hucklebee in The Fantasticks. A Seattle native and graduate of Southern Oregon University, Tyler holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts and has spent much of his career exploring the worlds of musical theatre, character performance, voiceover, and live entertainment.
Most recently, Tyler appeared as Sebastian in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Edmonds Driftwood Players and as George Banks in Mary Poppins with Musical Theatre Village. His other recent credits include the Monster in Young Frankenstein, Will Parker in Oklahoma!, and Cliff in Cabaret. Earlier credits include the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher, Lumière in Beauty and the Beast, Luther Billis in South Pacific, Rooster in Annie, and Pirelli in Sweeney Todd.
Tyler also spent seven years performing at the Disneyland Resort, where he brought characters including Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Baloo, and Sulley to life for guests. From 2017–2021, he was the voice of Crush in Turtle Talk with Crush at Disney California Adventure, where he particularly enjoyed the improvisational nature of the role. He also performed as Sulley in the Pixar Play Parade. His live entertainment experience extends to Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights, where he worked as a scare actor in 2018, 2021, and 2022.
Outside of theatre, Tyler works in the Seattle area and enjoys film, pop culture, travel, and spending time with the people he loves. He is thankful to Margie, his castmates, crew, and everyone at the New Skid Row Theatre for the opportunity to share this wonderfully timeless story with audiences.
“A special thank you to my family, friends and my Michelle for their love and support. Love you all”
He hopes you enjoy the show!
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Cu Cukale
MORTIMER
Cu Cukale is a Seattle theatre artist, drag performer and rugby player. She wants to thank her dog Ashley and her cat Layla as well as Curry Baker for always being there for her when she gets home. She always dreamed of being a clown. She just didn’t expect it to be a male clown. But she’ll take what she can get. Free Palestine!
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Will Halsey
EL GALLO
How did it all begin?
The boy was born. He grew up in the rural Midwest, in a season we might as well call - the eighties. Went to school, became shy. Secretly danced in the basement and Billy-Elliotted down long gravel roads in the middle of the night. Chose trumpet, made it his voice. Went to more school, studied music ed. Led a high-stepping marching band wearing a giant Q-tip hat. After that, even more school, now in the arid Southwest. His grad school mentor - surely not the first to see his heart (but the first to tell him so) - kicked Will out of a conducting lesson and into his first musical play. Turns out that little boy, jumping and spinning in the dark, had never really gone away. He took a dance class - for the first time in his whole life - a dance class! And the joy of it so stunned and thrilled him that he stopped immediately. Done with school, he traded life and love in the desert sand for the cool green breathing of the leaves here in Duwamish Land. Joined the Seattle Men's Chorus, roasted coffee, served food, kept books. Yes, he taught music, too. Somewhere along the path, theater curtains parted and our Will stumbled through - learning from folks at Driftwood, Second Story Rep, and Village Theater to name a few. You wonder, what's next? He doesn't know the answer, but here's the current plan: committing himself to helping, loving, learning.
And dancing when he can.
Meet the Production Team
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Margie Slovan
DIRECTOR
Margie has wanted to direct The Fantasticks ever since she got out of acting school, pretty much, when she was called back twice to play Luisa at the Sullivan Street Playhouse but never made it to the finish line. (This is what she looked like then!) Margie left theater for journalism thirty years ago, where her career has spanned radio, magazine writing, and newspaper reporting and editing. But she has also continued to work in theater as a teaching artist (Studio East, Stone Soup) and independent director. Her directing resume includes several premieres, because she is a big fan of new work.
A native New Yorker, Margie is a proud graduate of the High School of Music & Art (love you guys!) and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. She also has a master’s degree in theater production from Central Washington University.
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Mark Rabe
MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Having spent four whole decades in the theatre as an actor, music director, singer, pianist, vocal coach and solo cabaret artist (and somehow staying almost sane if not
exactly solvent), Mark is a thoroughly domesticated indoor creature, primarily nocturnal, who occasionally ventures out into the wild during daylight hours. Incredibly grateful to have found his tribe, he couldn’t be happier to do what he does.
Mark has been fortunate to get to play onstage or in the pit at most of Seattle’s theatres, as well as Key City Public Theatre in Port Townsend, and the Duplex cabaret room in NYC. And he regularly travels the country (and a couple of times abroad) with Frank Ferrante’s “An Evening with Groucho.”
Personal motto: Breathe deep, be kind
By the way, The Fantasticks was the very first musical score Mark ever played for public performance, way back in 1982. So this is a long-overdue homecoming for him.
Enjoy!
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Alberto Lacao, Jr.
PRODUCER
(BIO Coming Soon!)
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Carol Sage-Silverstein
PRODUCER
(BIO Coming Soon!)
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Tova Steele
WEB DESIGNER & MARKETING
(BIO Coming Soon!)
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Anton Bush
FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY
(BIO Coming Soon!)
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Luke Pfleger
CO-CHOREOGRAPHER
Luke Losi Pfleger is a dancer, musician, choreographer, and performer who started ballet classes at 6 years old and never looked back. After growing up in the Seattle area, he went off to New Jersey to attend Princeton University. There, he got his musical theater kicks in performing with the Princeton Triangle Club, a student group that writes, produces, and tours with an all-new musical comedy every year. (Their hits include An Inconvenient Sleuth and Tropic Blunder.) In addition to theater and classes, his electrical engineering major being somewhat tertiary in terms of importance, he honed his dancing skills with the Bodyhype Dance Company, choreographing and performing pieces in contemporary, lyrical, and hip hop styles.
He then uprooted his life and moved to Chengdu, Sichuan, China, where he performed as a singer, rapper, and music producer, including a few appearances in TV and movies. He began recording his own indie music under the stage name “workout jeans,” a creative endeavor which continues to this day. He considers his music career successful in every way except financially.
Missing home, he recently returned to the Seattle area, including, crucially, the Seattle theater scene. He loves choreographing in every genre, so the opportunity to work on this production of The Fantasticks was a dream come true. Working intimately with such a talented cast to tell this story through the language of vaudeville, ballroom, ballet, slapstick comedy, and even swashbuckling swordfighting has allowed him to appreciate this classic musical through an entirely new lens.
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Emilie Shjarback
STAGE MANAGER
Emilie Shjarback is a stage manager and artist, born and raised in Washington state.
When she is not working on a show (not often) you’ll either find Emilie on a big hike, knitting on her couch, or reading in a park. As a musician and (ex)dancer, Emilie is a big fan of all things musicals, and is thrilled to work on her first one in the big city!
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Jay Sharma
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR/DESIGNER
(BIO Coming Soon!)
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Daniel Self
ALTERNATE PIANIST
Daniel is a Seattle based pianist, woodwind doubler, musical director, educator, and arranger. His musical theatre experience spans over 20 years including a decade as the resident Music Director for Athens Creative Theatre in Athens, Georgia. In Seattle he has had the privilege of working with a range of theatre organization. Some recent projects include Elf The Musical with the 5th Avenue Theatre (Reed 1), Wild Party with Sound Theatre Company (Reed 2), Sweeney Todd with Cornish College of the Arts (Music Direction), and She Loves Me with the Renton Civic Theatre (Keys). Daniel is delighted to be playing the beautiful music of Harvey Schmidt in Lights Up Production’s The Fantasticks.
Beyond the stage, Daniel is an instructor with Iovanne Music Academy in Kirkland teaching both piano and woodwinds and is an active member of the Seattle Music Teachers Association. He also manages a small community choir based out of Alki UCC in West Seattle where he also serves as the director of music.
Special Thanks To:
THE FANTASTICKS
is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.
www.MTIshows.com
Make a Donation
Thank you for coming to support our production of the Fantasticks. If you would like to make a contribution to help us continue producing live theatre, learn more at the link below:
