Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

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!

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!

Madeline is thrilled and grateful to have been chosen for this beautiful role after a long absence from the stage. Thank you Scott and Jerry! Former director of choirs at Sonora and Summerville High schools and a graduate of the University of Pacific Conservatory of Music, she has been a member and soloist with the Columbia College Community Chorus and Placer Pops Chorale. She was last seen on the SRT stage in the role of Agnes in “I Do! I Do!”. Performing in local theatre companies (SRT, CAR, Modesto Performing Arts, Stockton Civic Theater), some favorite roles include Maria (The Sound of Music), Cinderella (Into the Woods), Julie (Show Boat), and Eliza (My Fair Lady). Much love to her family and friends, and to her grandchildren, may there always be “music in you”!

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.

Jodi is excited to make her SRT debut! After many years in Omaha, NE and NYC, she recently moved to Angels Camp, CA. Favorite regional roles include Ragtime (Mother), The Sound of Music (Maria), The Music Man (Marian), Mary Poppins (Miss Andrew), A Little Night Music (Charlotte), Legally Blonde (Vivienne), Les Misérables (Fantine u/s), Detroit 67 (Caroline), Lend Me a Tenor (Maggie), Love in the Title (Triona). National tours: Camelot, A Christmas Carol. UNL & AMDA grad. Much love to Todd!

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.

I am so happy to be back with my SRT family after a beautiful winter break, following a gorgeous run as Lord Pinkleton in SRTs production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella! Understudying and working crew is no simple task, so I am so happy to be able to contribute to this production in that way. Working with SRT is always such an educational experience for me and I am so excited to back in class.

Based in the heart of Brooklyn, New York, Christopher is incredibly grateful to finish out the season as a resident company member at Sierra Rep in Cinderella! You may remember him from a number of 2023 MainStage shows, SRT in Schools shows, as well as director/choreographer for SRT Jr. Favorite credits: Buddy the Elf u/s (SRT’s Elf the Musical), Louis/Franz u/s (SRT’s Sunday…), Tobias (Sweeney Todd), Prince Eric (The Little Mermaid), among others. Additionally, he teaches at Mother Lode Dance Academy. Rep: FSE Talent Agency. Love to Kevin.

Quinn Igoe (Louise) is 13 years old and in the 7th grade at Connections Academy. She loves theater and is excited to be on the SRT stage again. Previously with SRT, Quinn has performed in Disney’s The Little Mermaid (Youth Ensemble) and Shrek (Young Fiona/Baby Bear). She also just wrapped up performing in Newsies (Katherine) at Mountain Youth and Community Theater and in Connections Academy’s Dear Edwina (Edwina). Quinn is kind, thoughtful, and so genuinely passionate about life’s experiences; especially reading, singing, and dancing. She would like to thank her friends and family for supporting her and hopes you enjoy the show!

Bree Igoe (Windward/Ensemble) is 10 years old and is a student at Gold Rush Charter School. Last summer she delivered some amazing one-liners as Grumpy Dwarf in SRT’s Shrek. This spring she got many laughs as the over-indulgent enabler Mrs. Gloop in SRT Jr’s Wonka KIDS. Bree is always looking to bring joy to those around her with a good story and her full-body laugh. When she’s not talking or singing, she is busy daydreaming about the marvelous things she plans to do with her life.

Mia Mekjian (Aquata/Ensemble; u/s Ariel) is thrilled to be swimming back to Sierra Rep! Last seen in Baskerville, she currently resides in sunny San Luis Obispo and is a graduate of PCPA. Recent favorites: Sylvia (Sylvia, The Great American Melodrama), The Music Man (Zaneeta Shinn, Utah Festival Opera). She’d like to thank her family for always supporting and believing in her, especially her dad.

Robert Frederick Taylor: SRT debut! Is beyond grateful to create theatre magic and share the stage with this talented group of artists in Elf! New Jersey native. BFA from Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ. Select Regional: Springer Opera House, Cardinal Stage, Prather Entertainment Group, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Ocean City Theatre Company, Park Playhouse. All my love and thank you to God, and SRT! Always for my Mother, Grandmothers, Ree.

Richard Rodgers’ contribution to the musical theatre of his day was extraordinary, and his influence on the musical theatre of today and tomorrow is legendary. His career spanned more than six decades, his hits ranging from the silver screens of Hollywood to the bright lights of Broadway, London and beyond. He was the recipient of countless awards, including Pulitzers, Tonys, Oscars, Grammys and Emmys. He wrote more than 900 published songs and 40 Broadway musicals.

Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Lorenz Hart (1895-1943) wrote their first shows together when both were still students attending Columbia University. Their breakthrough came with the score for a 1925 charity show, The Garrick Gaieties, which introduced the classic valentine to their hometown, “Manhattan.”

Over the next five years they wrote 15 musical comedies for Broadway and London’s West End before relocating to Hollywood in 1930, where they contributed songs and wrote the scores for several movie musicals, most notably Love Me Tonight, starring Maurice Chevalier.

In 1935 they returned to New York to write the score for Billy Rose’s circus musical Jumbo, launching a golden era that included On Your Toes, Babes In Arms, I’d Rather Be Right, I Married An Angel, The Boys From Syracuse, Too Many Girls, Higher And Higher, Pal Joeyand By Jupiter. In 1943 the partnership disbanded temporarily when Rodgers collaborated with Oscar Hammerstein II on Oklahoma!, but it resumed with a revision of their 1927 hit A Connecticut Yankee, which opened on November 17, 1943 – less than a week before Lorenz Hart’s death.

For the next two decades Richard Rodgers collaborated exclusively with Oscar Hammerstein II on such musicals as Carousel, Allegro, South Pacific, The King And I, Pipe Dream and The Sound of Music. Collectively, their musicals have garnered dozens of awards, including Pulitzer Prizes, Tonys, Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, and Drama Desk, Drama Critics’ Circle, Outer Critics’ Circle, Laurence Olivier, and Evening Standard Awards.

After Hammerstein’s death in 1960, Rodgers continued to write for the musical stage, including No Strings, and collaborations with Martin Charnin, Stephen Sondheim and Sheldon Harnick. His fortieth, and final, Broadway musical, I Remember Mama, opened on Broadway less than eight months before his death on December 30, 1979.

The Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway was renamed in his honor, and Rodgers and Hart were each commemorated on a US postage stamp at the end of the last century.

Oscar Hammerstein II was born on July 12, 1895 in New York City. His father, William, was a theatre manager and for many years director of Hammerstein’s Victoria, the most popular vaudeville theatre of its day. His uncle, Arthur Hammerstein, was a successful Broadway producer and his grandfather, Oscar Hammerstein, a famous opera impresario.

Hammerstein started writing lyrics for the Columbia University Varsity shows while studying law. His earliest works included musical comedies written with a Columbia undergraduate seven years his junior named Richard Rodgers. (The 1920 varsity show, Fly With Me, was composed by Rodgers with lyrics by both Hammerstein and a fellow classmate of his named Lorenz Hart.) Withdrawing from Columbia Law School after his second year to pursue a career in theatre, Hammerstein took a job with his uncle as an assistant stage manager.

In 1919 Hammerstein’s first play, The Light, was produced by his Uncle Arthur; it lasted four performances. Undaunted, he continued to write both lyrics and librettos, principally with Otto Harbach as his collaborating author. His first success, with Harbach, Vincent Youmans and Herbert Stothart, was Wildflower in 1923. Hammerstein found his niche with some of the greatest composers of his day, breathing new life into the moribund artform of operetta with such classics as Rose-Marie (music by Rudolf Friml), The Desert Song (Sigmund Romberg), The New Moon (Romberg), and Song of the Flame (George Gershwin). With Jerome Kern, Hammerstein wrote eight musicals, including Sweet Adeline, Music in the Air and their masterwork, Show Boat. His last musical before embarking on an exclusive partnership with Richard Rodgers was Carmen Jones, the highly-acclaimed 1943 all-black revision of Georges Bizet’s tragic opera Carmen.

During the years that Hammerstein was redefining the terms of operetta, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart were challenging the accepted norms of musical comedy with shows that set new standards for wit, sophistication and innovation. The Rodgers & Hammerstein partnership began with Oklahoma! (1943). Like Hammerstein’s Show Boat and Rodgers & Hart’s Pal Joey, the first Rodgers & Hammerstein musical was a groundbreaking milestone, blending musical comedy and operetta into a whole new genre – the musical play. Oklahoma! was also the start of the most successful partnership in Broadway history and was followed by Carousel, Allegro, South Pacific, The King And I, Me And Juliet, Pipe Dream, Flower Drum Song and The Sound of Music. Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote one musical specifically for the big screen – State Fair – and one for television – Cinderella. Collectively, their musicals have garnered dozens of awards including: Pulitzer Prizes; Tonys, Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys; and Drama Desk, Drama Critics’ Circle, Outer Critics’ Circle, Laurence Olivier, and Evening Standard Awards.

As producers, Rodgers & Hammerstein presented plays, musicals and revivals, including John van Druten’s I Remember Mama, Anita Loos’ Happy Birthday, Irving Berlin’s blockbuster Annie Get Your Gun, the national tour of Show Boat (1947-49) and six of their own stage musicals (from the Pulitzer-winning South Pacific in 1949 to the Tony-winning The Sound of Music ten years later). They also produced the motion picture version of Oklahoma! and founded their own music publishing firm, Williamson Music (basing the name on the fact that both of their fathers were named William.)

Oscar Hammerstein II was a member of the board of directors of many professional organizations, including the Dramatists Guild and the Screen Writers’ Guild. He received many personal honors and awards including five honorary degrees, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Academy Awards and five Tony Awards.

His last musical was The Sound of Music, written with Richard Rodgers in 1959; his last song was “Edelweiss,” written for that musical during its Boston tryout. Oscar Hammerstein II died at his farm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on the morning of August 23, 1960.

In 1995 Hammerstein’s centennial was celebrated worldwide with commemorative recordings, books, concerts and an award-winning PBS special, Some Enchanted Evening. The ultimate tribute came the following season, when Oscar Hammerstein II had three musicals playing on Broadway simultaneously: Show Boat (1995 Tony Award winner, Best Musical Revival); The King and I (1996 Tony Award winner, Best Musical Revival); and State Fair (1996 Tony Award nominee for Best Score.)

“The Careful Dreamer,” a Time Magazine cover story on Oscar Hammerstein II, was published on October 20, 1947. A biography, Getting to Know Him by Hugh Fordin, was first published by Random House in 1977. A revised edition of Hammerstein’s Lyrics, edited by his son William Hammerstein and containing an introductory essay by the lyricist, plus a preface by his protege Stephen Sondheim, was published by Hal Leonard Publishing in 1985.

The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2008.

Douglas Carter Beane was Artistic Director for Drama Dept. at the Greenwich House for ten years. As director/writer his current projects include the musical Hood (score by Lewis Flinn, Dallas Theater Center), Noel Coward’s Me and The Girls (reading at Roundabout, being developed for Michael Urie), Star-Spangled (score by Lewis Flinn, workshopped at the Vineyard) To Wong Foo (score by Lewis Flinn), The Big Time (score by Douglas J. Cohen, concert at McCarter Theatre Center with Santino Fontana) and Rodgers and Hart’s Babes in Arms.

As a sole playwright/librettist, he has earned five Tony nominations and one Olivier nomination. Beane’s plays are The Little Dog Laughed, As Bees in Honey Drown, The Nance, Shows For Days, Music From A Sparkling Planet, The Country Club, Advice From A Caterpillar and The Cartells. His musicals are Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Lysistrata Jones, Sister Act and Xanadu.

He has written the libretto for the Metropolitan Opera’s Die Fledermaus, which is currently in their repertory, and the summer show at Radio City Music Hall.

He wrote the film adaptation of his play Advice From A Caterpillar, as well as the screenplay of To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar. He resides in New York City with his husband, composer Lewis Flinn, and their son, Cooper and daughter, Gabrielle.

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: 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.

Patrick is a music director, composer, and writer who has performed off-Broadway, regionally, and in national tours. He is the creator and star of the original one-man-musical From Foster Care to Fabulous which has won awards in New York and the Bay Area and played to enthusiastic audiences across the United States. Patrick’s plays have been produced off-Broadway and regionally and his writing has been featured online in The Atlantic, The Chronicle for Social Change, and Stage Agent. To learn more, check him out online at http://patrickburns.me/ or on social media with the handle

Whitney Lehn Meltz is a nonbinary Scenic Designer and artist of oddities from Las Vegas, NV. Credits include bobrauschenbergamerica for Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Angry F*gs for Majestic Repertory Theatre, and Mamma Mia! for Timber Lake Playhouse. Whitney’s previous design here at Sierra Rep, Shrek The Musical, won BroadwayWorld’s Sacramento Regional Award for Best Scenic Design of 2021. Whitney is thrilled to return! MFA University of Nevada Las Vegas ‘22, BFA Illinois Wesleyan University ‘19.

Andrew is excited to make his Sierra Repertory Theatre debut. He is currently a third year MFA Costume Design and Technology graduate student at the University of South Carolina. Previous design credits: Shout! The Mod Musical, Murder on the Orient Express, Driving Miss Daisy (Winnipesaukee Playhouse), Sideway Stories from Wayside School, Wonderland (Ballet), Small Mouth Sounds, This is Our Youth (University of South Carolina), Dog Sees God (Out Front Theatre Company). Special thanks to his family and friends for their love and support.

Jonnie is very excited to be returning to SRT this year. Jonnie graduated from Texas State University in 2020 with a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts. They have worked professionally as an electrician at the Ground Floor Theatre in Austin, Texas, and the Connecticut Repertory Theatre in Storrs, Connecticut. They have also designed productions at SRT including the Tribute Concert series and The Christmas Foundling. Jonnie looks forward to being a Master Electrician and Designer for SRT for many shows to come.

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!

Tatiana Covington-Parra is thrilled to be diving into another season at Sierra Rep after a whirlwind 2021 return. Beginning as a sound engineer at Modesto Junior College, she is grateful to have found a community and the opportunity to grow as an artist thanks to the guidance and support of the SRT company. Her favorite design work at SRT includes Cabaret, The Wizard of Oz, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. She would like to thank her Mom, Grandma, family, friends, the MJC Theatre staff, and all her mentors for always allowing her to create, explore, and grow with love.

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!”