Of Mice and Men

Previously with SRT: Ratchett / Arbuthnot in Murder on the Orient Express and the title role in Macbeth. Charles is the Artistic Director of Santa Cruz Shakespeare; he was the founding Artistic Director of The Porters of Hellsgate, which he ran for fifteen years. Charles has had a national career as actor, director, and teacher.

Jerry Lee is Sierra Rep’s Artistic Director. He’s appeared in the SRT productions of Misery, Sunday in the Park with George, Elf The Musical, Shrek The Musical, Camelot, Cabaret, Route 66, Intimate Apparel, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Man of La Mancha, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s State Fair, and The Drowsy Chaperone. As an actor: I Love You…Change, Forbidden Broadway (California Musical Theatre); Life Could Be a Dream, A Christmas Carol (CenterREP); A Little Princess, The Fantasticks (Sacramento Theatre Company); West Side Story (Mountain Play); Orlando, An Iliad, A Tale of Two Cities (SacImpulse Theatre). As a soloist: Rodgers and Hammerstein Celebration (Sacramento Choral Society); Billy Bigelow in Carousel in Concert (Sacramento Philharmonic). As a director: HAIR, Little Shop of Horrors, Mean Girls JR., Sh-Boom! A Christmas Miracle (World Premiere), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Twelfth Night, Jersey Boys, Clue, Disney’s Winnie the Pooh KIDS, Elvis The Musical (West Coast Premiere), Dogfight, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Steel Magnolias, Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka KIDS, I Love You…Change, The Wizard of Oz, Holiday Jukebox, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, The Robber Bridegroom (SRT); I Love You…Change (STC). Lee began his association with Sierra Rep in 2010 when he stepped in as a replacement in Guys and Dolls.

In 2019, Lee created SRT in Schools, a touring program that brings live professional theatre to Tuolumne County schools at no cost to the schools, students, or their families. In 2023, the program branched out to include Stanislaus and Calaveras counties.

SRT audiences have seen Allie in The Play That Goes Wrong and The Graduate. Regional credits include: 5 seasons with Santa Cruz Shakespeare most recently in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Pericles; Jewel Theatre Company; Thin Air Shakespeare; Seattle Shakespeare; Shakespeare by the Sea; Book-It Repertory; Taproot Theatre; Defunkt Theatre; Theateater Schmeater; Annex Theatre. Allie is a motion capture actor with 2K Games and an educator. She trained at PCPA Theaterfest, earned her BFA from Cornish College of the Arts, and holds an MA in Theater Arts from UCSC.

Don Bilotti has been seen at SRT as Scrooge in A Columbia Christmas Carol, Mr. Braddock in The Graduate, and Ezekiel in White Christmas. A co-founder of the Berkeley (later California) Shakespeare Festival, his half-century career includes many of Shakespeare’s roles from Puck to Petruchio to King Lear and in modern works such as To Kill a Mockingbird, A Man For All Seasons, The Crucible, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and The Foreigner. As the long-time artistic director of Stage 3 he directed signature productions of August: Osage County, The Grapes of Wrath, The Elephant Man, and Inherit the Wind, among many others.

Shaun Carroll has been a staff member of the Jewel Theatre Company in Santa Cruz, CA since 2015. There he has appeared onstage in Me & My Girl, The Odd Couple, All My Sons, Sylvia, Fallen Angels, and Woman in Mind. Previously, he has appeared around the greater Bay Area with TheatreWorks, Lake Tahoe and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals, Willows Theatre Company, and CapStage, among others. Shaun is also the prop master for Jewel Theatre Company.

Will Block is thrilled to be making his debut with Sierra Rep! Favorite regional credits: Hamlet in Hamlet (ETC Santa Barbara), Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, and Tom in The Glass Menagerie (Santa Cruz Shakespeare). Up next: Fred/Young Scrooge in A Christmas Carol with SRT and Richard Dreyfuss in The Shark is Broken with ETC Santa Barbara. He currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Porters of Hellsgate Theatre Company in Los Angeles, CA.

Nic is so excited to be here at Sierra Rep and to be in such an iconic show! A Detroit native and a graduate of the New York Film Academy, some of his favorite credits are: Jim Conley (Parade), Black Stache (Peter and the Starcatcher), Luis (American Psycho: The Musical), Horse (The Full Monty). While not on the stage, Nic lends his voice to projects as a voice actor or is (usually) playing video games and watching his favorite movies. TikTok: @thenicfolson

Ty Smith has appeared in 89 roles at Sierra Rep including Rumson in Paint Your Wagon, Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and Lear in King Lear. A graduate of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s Professional Actor Training Program, Ty is a veteran of Off-Broadway, regional theaters and Shakespeare festivals across the country. He spent several summers with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival where his roles included Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, Antonio in The Merchant of Venice, and Capulet in Romeo and Juliet.

Michael is thrilled to be making his debut with Sierra Rep! Raised on the Central Coast of California, he graduated from Cal Poly SLO with a degree in History and Film Studies before attending Pacific Conservatory Theater’s two year acting program. A recent graduate of the program, he’s honored to be joining this amazing company of artists. Some of his favorite past credits include: Holding the Man (John), Much Ado About Nothing (Claudio), Holmes and Watson (Holmes 3), Beauty and the Beast (Bookseller/Ensemble), Henry V (Captain Gower), Little Shop of Horrors (Wino & Plant Puppeteer), Cabaret (Cliff understudy). Much love to his sister, Elle, his family back east, and friends for all their love and support!

Hunter is ecstatic to be making his SRT debut! Regional (PCPA): Buddy u/s, Elf; Warwick, Henry V; Male Lead Swing, The Play that Goes Wrong; M. Darque, Beauty and the Beast; Sexton, Much Ado about Nothing; Harry, Lucky Stiff; Ensemble, Waitress; Shylock/ Ensemble, Something Rotten!

Jackie is thrilled to be returning to SRT once again! She has most recently been seen in SRT’s production of Cinderella as Charlotte. Jackie is a graduate of PCPA and holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Cornish College of the Arts. Favorite credits include: Cinderella, Sunday in the Park with George, Elf, Shrek, and The Wizard of Oz (Sierra Rep); Men on Boats (Cornish College); Freaky Friday (PCPA). Jackie would like to thank her friends and family for their constant love and support.

John Steinbeck (1902-68) was born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California, and educated at Stanford University. As a youth, he worked as a ranch hand and fruit picker. His works include Cup of Gold (1929), The Pastures of Heaven (1932), To a God Unknown (1933), Tortilla Flat (1935), In Dubious Battle (1936) and Of Mice and Men (1937).

Steinbeck’s most widely known work, The Grapes of Wrath (1939; Pulitzer Prize, 1940), the stark account of a family from the impoverished Oklahoma Dust Bowl migrating to California during the economic depression of the 1930s, is an American classic. Other works include The Moon Is Down (1942); Cannery Row (1944), which Rodgers & Hammerstein used as the basis for the musical Pipe Dream; The Wayward Bus (1947); East of Eden (1952); The Winter of Our Discontent (1961) and America and Americans (1968). In 1962 he wrote the popular Travels with Charley, an autobiographical account of a trip across the U.S. accompanied by a pet poodle. Steinbeck was awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in literature. He died on December 20, 1968, in New York City. His modernization of the Arthurian legends, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, was published posthumously in 1976.

Visit The National Steinbeck Center, Salinas, California.

Scott Viets is Sierra Rep’s Executive Producer. He has directed over 60 shows for SRT since his arrival in 2002. As a director, his SRT favorites include The Wizard of Oz, Intimate Apparel, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Christmas Story, All My Sons, Shipwrecked, The Robber Bridegroom, and The Glass Menagerie. Thank you for supporting live theatre and continuing (or beginning) your journey with us!

Sean is a composer and pianist based in Los Angeles. Originally from Sonora, he attended USC for Jazz Performance studying with Milcho Leviev and Cedar Walton. After finishing his degree, Sean spent a year in Glasgow, Scotland, playing in hotels and working with the Lothian Gaelic Choir. Then, after working in San Francisco with jazz and pop groups, he returned to Los Angeles and a career as a composer and pianist. He has music directed dozens of productions at various theatres including Sierra Rep, Milwaukee Rep, PCPA, The Odyssey, The NoHo Arts Center, Sierra Madre Playhouse, and has played and produced music for Disney and Universal Studios. Sean recently scored the award-winning feature Refuge, SMP’s production of Deathtrap, and received ASCAP’s Harold Arlen Award for film scoring.

Camryn is thrilled to return to SRT this season as an Artistic Associate! Previous SRT credits include: Sunday in the Park with George (Dot/Marie), Cinderella (Ella), Jersey Boys (Mary Delgado), and Elf (Jovie). Camryn has had the pleasure to perform at several regional houses including Casa Mañana and Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre. Camryn received her BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Arizona. She would like to thank her friends, family, and SRT for their endless love and support. Enjoy the show!

Josh is thrilled to return to SRT for the 2025 season! Previous SRT credits include Sunday in the Park with George, the World Premiere of Roger Bean’s Sh-Boom! A Christmas Miracle, Little Shop of Horrors, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Misery (as Props Designer). Josh currently serves as Technical Director at California State University – Stanislaus in Turlock, CA and has worked with a number of theatres across Western Canada, New York, Connecticut, and California’s Central Valley as both a Scenic Designer and Technical Director over the last 20+ years. Select favorite design credits include; Little Shop of Horrors and Sunday in the Park with George (SRT), 12 Angry Jurors and Murder on the Orient Express (Gallo Center Rep – Modesto, CA), K2, Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, and The Roommate (Shadowland Stages – Ellenville, NY), The Rocky Horror Show (CSU – Stanislaus), Woyzeck (Kraken Theatre Company – Merced, CA), Pump Boys & Dinettes (First Impressions Theatre – Vancouver, Canada), Rita Moreno Award nominated Hadestown: Teen Edition (Pitman High School – Turlock, CA), Ripcord (Seven Angels Theatre – Waterbuy, CT). Enjoy the show and thank you for supporting the arts!

Justin Kelley-Cahill is a California-based theatrical designer originally from Alameda, and a proud UCLA graduate (Go Bruins!). He is passionate about innovative storytelling and strives to illuminate the beauty of our differences through his work, aiming to spark joy and craft a memorable & entertaining experience for all audiences. He is thrilled to be returning to SRT after designing The Wizard of Oz and looks forward to collaborate with such a talented team on Some Enchanted Evening! Recent credits: The Wizard of Oz (SRT), Pacific Overtures (Kunoichi Productions), Electric, I (Theatre of NOTE), Forever Plaid (42nd Street Moon), and RENT (Jaxx Theatricals).

Matthew Rose: a man of many talents, from riveting audiences on stage in Daylight to Booneville, Deathtrap, and Into the Woods, to behind-the-scenes wizardry at Sierra Repertory Theatre. With a knack for bringing characters to life and a touch of humor, Matthew’s journey in theater is a delightful mix of passion and creativity. Whether wielding props or pulling strings, he’s a force to be reckoned with, both on and offstage.

Brenda O’Brien began her theater career in San Diego, where she was seen as Judas in Godspell, Louise in Gypsy, Nicki in Sweet Charity, and Viola in Twelfth Night (to name a few). She received awards for her roles as Ouisa in Six Degrees of Separation, Joan in Dames at Sea, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, and Electra in Gypsy. Brenda then went on to perform as Svetlana in the 1st National tour of Chess. Soon after she began portraying Carmen San Diego on the PBS television show and video games. In addition to acting, Brenda is an accomplished make-up artist and hairdresser for TV, Film, and Theater. She received her 25 years on Broadway pin in 2019 for her work on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Les Misérables, Jekyll & Hyde, and Disney’s The Lion King. SRT Audiences might remember her as Tanya in Mamma Mia (2018), or as Tootie in Meet Me in St. Louis (2021). So glad to be back!

Maggie Braun (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be back at her theatre home! SRT: Steel Magnolias, Murder on the Orient Express, Route 66, The Wizard of Oz, Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, and Million Dollar Quartet. With her associate degree in Theater from Modesto Junior College, she is proud to have her dream job here in Sonora. She would like to thank her family, best friends, and Connor for supporting her in her journey of chasing her dreams. “Look ma, I made it!”