The Drowsy Chaperone

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!

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!

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.

Making a return to Sierra Rep. It feels wonderful to be home and apart of another production. SRT Credits include: All Shook Up (Ensemble), Fiddler On the Roof (Fyedka), Guys & Dolls (Ensemble). PCPA Class of 2012. Thank you Scott and Jerry for giving me this opportunity. I would also like to thank friends and family who have been supportive, including my wonderful wife!

Laurie Strawn is delighted to be back at SRT! Recent SRT roles: Clairee in Steel Magnolias, Princess Dragomiroff in Murder on the Orient Express. Past SRT favorites include Noises Off, Picnic, and The Man of La Mancha. Regional roles include Tessie in Gypsy, Jean Louise Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Miss Shingle in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Laurie gives love and thanks to Lee Strawn, another SRT alum, and their wonderful daughter, Julia.

Lee is delighted to return to SRT where he performed in Shenandoah and Man of La Mancha (2000). For five years he appeared in the First National Company of The Phantom Of The Opera (LeFeve). Favorite roles: the title role in John Muir’s Mountain Days (Shellie Award – best actor in a musical), Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd, Pickering in My Fair Lady, FDR in Annie, Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, with Theatre Works, Diablo Theatre, AMT, Pocket Opera, 42nd Street Moon. Lee met his talented wife here at SRT and is delighted to be her Underling(!)

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.

Sarah is honored to get to reprise the role of Kitty after being a part of the production in 2015. Sarah was last seen at SRT as Marion/others in Elvis the Musical and then co-choreographed the East Coast Premiere at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater in PA. Favorite SRT shows: Elf, Carousel and Annie. Bay Area: Pegeen/Fan in Mame (42nd St Moon) and Lily St Regis in Annie (TVRT).

Gabriel Rodrigues is grateful to be returning to SRT, after last seen in Ripcord and Meet Me in St. Louis: A Radio Play and The Christmas Foundling. International/National Tours: Sister Act, Saturday Night Fever, Man Of La Mancha, Guys and Dolls. Regional: In The Heights (BroadwayPalm), The Full Monty (Palace Theatre), Man Of La Mancha (Cape Fear Regional Theatre), All Shook Up (Millbrook Playhouse), 110 In The Shade (Spirit of Broadway). BFA Musical Theatre – Montclair State University.

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.

Kyle Moses is a local actor here in Sonora. The Sword in the Stone marks his ninth production with SRT. He is very excited to be back at the theatre, having fun and doing what he loves alongside yet another marvelous cast and crew

Lisa Lambert’s stage credits include: The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards); Big Rosemary (book by Blake Edwards); Cole Escola: First Gay President (Duplex Cabaret); Stars of David (DR2 Theater); The Ant and the Elephant (Work Light Productions); Honest Ed:The Bargain Musical (Poor Alex Theater); and several shows for The Fringe of Toronto Festival and Second City.

For film and television: Slings & Arrows; Sensitive Skin; Michael Tuesdays and Thursdays; Highway 61; Blue; The Boy Who Smells Like Fish (Rhombus Media); Skippy’s Rangers: The Show They Never Gave; The Joe Blow Show (Comedy Network); Portrait of a Serial Monogamist (directed by John Mitchell); Pete’s Christmas (ABC TV); Getting Along Famously (CBC TV); Pippi Longstocking (Nelvana Ltd.); Battery’s Down; and Skinnamarink TV.

Upcoming: Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day (music by Greg Morrison, book by Robert Harling); and a film adaptation of The Drowsy Chaperone.

U.S. Credits: The Drowsy Chaperone (Center Theatre Group, Ahmanson Theatre; NAMT’s 2004 Festival of New Musicals). Canadian Credits: Composer/musical director for Hello…Hello (Tarragon Theatre_; Pochsy’s Lips; Oh, Baby; Citizen Pochsy an Pochsy Unplugged (Toronto Fringe, Canadian/U.S. tours); The Drowsy Chaperone (Toronto Fringe, Theatre Passe Muraille, Mirvish Production, Winter Garden Theatre, Toronto); Mump and Smoot in Something Else (Canadian Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre); Mump and Smoot in Flux (Canadian Stage); An Awkward Evening With Martin & Johnson (Tim Sims Playhouse); The Age of Dorian (Artword Theatre). TV sonwriter credits: “Slings and Arrows” (Rhombus Media for Showcase/Sundance), “Getting Along Famously” (CBC), “The Joe Blow Show” (Comedy Network). Other: musical director for the Secon City National Touring Company, Alumni Café (Tim Sims Playhouse), “The Chumps and the Muchrakers” (CBC Radio).

Bob Martin has been working as an actor and writer in Canadian theatre, film and television for over 3 decades. He has had a long association with the Toronto Second City, where he co-wrote and performed in four Second City revues, directed three, and had a stint as Artistic Director. He is a co-creator of The Drowsy Chaperone, and has performed in many of its incarnations including Ahmanson Theatre (Los Angeles), Marquis Theatre (Broadway), Novello (London). Bob has won a number of awards for his work including an LA Drama Critics Circle Award, an L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Theatre World Award, and a Tony Award. He is also co-creator of the critically acclaimed dramatic series Slings & Arrows. Recent TV projects include Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays I & II (CBC), Sensitive Skin I & II (HBO), and Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas (NBC). Recent theatre projects include Elf (Broadway), Minsky’s (Ahmanson LA), and in dev., Gotta Dance, The Sting, and Millions. Bob reunited with Elf collaborators Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin to create the new musical The Prom, which ran on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre and was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Don McKellar was born on 17th August 1963 in Toronto, Canada. Beginning his career in the theatre at a young age McKellar co-founded Childs Play Theatre, and went on to study English and theatre at the University of Toronto.  In 1989, he co-founded the Augusta Company with Daniel Brooks and Tracy Wright, then moved into feature films writing the screenplay for Bruce McDonald’s film ‘Roadkill’ (1989).

McKellar has continually collaborated on and produced engaging and provocative work in film, TV and theatre – whether acting, writing, directing or all three.  He made his directorial debut in 1992 with two short films, ‘Blue’ (starring David Cronenberg) and ‘Bloody Nose’, then in 1998 completed ‘Last Night’, his feature directing debut (which he also wrote and4 starred in), for which he won the Prix de la Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival.  He continued directing with his TV series ‘Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays’ in 2012 and is currently working on a remake of La Grande Séduction’.

He has numerous screenwriting credits to his name including the screen adaptation of ‘Blindness’ from Nobel Prize–winning author José Saramago’s novel, co-writing the critically acclaimed ‘Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould’, ‘Red Violin’ and Bruce McDonald’s early films ‘Roadkill’ and ‘Highway 61’.

Particularly memorable for his acting roles as anti-hero,TV-watching agoraphobic Curtis in 2 seasons of ‘Twitch City’, voicing the character ‘Jack’ in 5 seasons of Odd Job Jack and as pretentious theatre director Darren Nicholls in ‘Slings and Arrows’. McKellar has even covered the musical genre with his co-written play ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ which won him a Tony Award, touring Toronto, London and New York and currently has plans to create another musical.

Russell Garrett is excited to return to SRT and The Drowsy Chaperone, which he directed here in 2015. At SRT he has also directed and choreographed A Chorus Line, Pageant, Beehive, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, I Love a Piano, and others as well as performed in My Fair Lady (Higgins), Mamma Mia! (Harry), and A Chorus Line (Zach). Upcoming productions include directing and choreographing Chicago this summer and Legally Blonde in the fall. Thank you to Scott and Jerry and everyone at SRT for welcoming me back!

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.

Over 250 productions, notably: fifteen world-premieres including The Flight (State Theater, Kathmandu, Nepal), Dreaming Glacier Bay (Perseverance Theatre, Juneau, Alaska), Facing the Calm (Knightsbridge Theatre, Los Angeles), and One November Yankee (NoHo Arts Center, Delaware Theatre Co., transferred Off-Broadway to the 59e59st Theaters), other Off-Broadway: The Runner Stumbles (Beckett), The Dining Room (Beckett and Dorset Theatre Festival); Regional credits include Angels In America (Yale Drama), Los Angeles: Elizabeth Rex (Ovation Award, Best Set Design), Mother Courage, Company (LA  Weekly Annual Theater Award nominations), Much Ado About Nothing, Godspell (in American Sign Language). Dana loves to come home to his family at SRT, this being a remount of one of eight scenic designs here; others include Forever Plaid, Anna in the Tropics, A Christmas Story, Mamma Mia!, and The Glass Menagerie. Dana is a Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he has designed numerous productions including Kiss Me Kate, A Funny Thing… and Legally Blonde. He earned his Bachelor of Arts at Whitman College, and his MFA at NYU/Tisch School of the Arts.

As a theatrical costume designer, Jeanne served many theaters in San Diego including Lambs Players Theatre in Coronado, CA. for 30 years. Blessed with 28 Critics awards for Costume Design Excellence, her costumes have dressed productions in England, Canada, New York, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and here at Sierra Repertory Theatre for the production of It’s a Wonderful Life. She is grateful for the privilege to be back with the talented staff, designing The Drowsy Chaperone.

Christopher is always excited to work with Sierra Rep. SRT: Shrek The Musical, Baskerville, Man of La Mancha, Sweeney Todd, and Macbeth. Christopher lives in New York now, with his wife Christine Rowan and their daughter Vivian. He is known for his succinct bios.

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!

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.

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.

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 as Property Master and Puppeteer 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.

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!”

Ashley is thrilled to return to Sierra Rep! Ashley earned her BFA from Texas State University, with two years of teaching post graduation. Regional credits include: Newsies, Beautiful, Mary Poppins (Casa Manana), Elf (Sierra Rep), His Story (World Premiere), and Murder On the Orient Express (Surflight). Opera credits include La Boheme (FWO). Many thanks to her husband, Trevor, for supporting her from states away and to the Sierra Rep family for believing in her!

Bitten by the theatre bug at the age of 13 when he saw Carol Channing in Hello Dolly!, Michael began working professionally in theatre at 19 and has never looked back. Born and raised in Hollywood, California, he is a performer, stage manager, director and producer. For the last 17 years Michael has been involved with Sacramento Theatre Company, and recently retired from his position as Executive Director. Favorite productions: The Musical of Musicals and A Little Princess (both featuring Jerry Lee), Bark – The Musical, The Pirates of Penzance, Deathtrap, and Clue: The Musical. For a kid with a love of the theatre, life is good.