Fly

Shayne is a local boy and is THRILLED to be back with theREP. Credits include: Capital Repertory Theatre-Cinderella: On the GO! (King et. al), Sleepy Hollow: On the GO! (Brom Bones), Camelot (Guilliam/Percussionist), Blue Sky Boys (CJ Caldwell); Lake George Dinner Theatre-Buyer and Cellar (Alex More) and The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sir Henry et. Al); Troy Foundry Theatre-Where There’s Smoke: Ilium Burns, The Prohibition Project: Ilium Was, Catastrophe Carnivale and New World Order; Saratoga Shakespeare –Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 (Mistress Quickly et. Al), The Winter’s Tale (Clown), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Dull); Theatre Voices-The Birthday Party (Stanley). Creative Associate with Troy Foundry. Love to JSC. www.sdcameris.com

Other Theatres: Regional— Nollywood Dreams (MCC Theatre) Cymbeline (Utah Shakespeare Festival) Intimate Apparel (Northlight Theatre); Fences (American Players Theatre); Homebound, Ohio State Murders (Round House Theatre); Macbeth (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Richard III, Twelfth Night (Houston Shakespeare Festival); Othello, Love’s Labour’s Lost (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks). Awards: listed as one of Houston’s best actors in 2017 for his performance as Booth in Suzan Lori-Parks’ Topdog/Underdog; recently received an honorary membership into Alpha Psi Omega (the National Theatre Honor Society) from his alma mater, Norfolk State University. Education: MFA in acting from University of Houston. Professional Affiliations: Member of AEA (Actor’s Equity Association). Instagram: @Yaonation

Omar Edwards, internationally acclaimed Tap- dancer/Griot has been in love with Tap dancing since he was 12 years old. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Omar’s dancing has been shaped by the Masters, including Jimmy Slyde, Marie Brooks, Gregory Hines, and his cousin Savion Glover.  For over two decades, Omar has been on the Tap-dance scene dancing at music festivals all over the world including France, Germany, Japan, and the Philippines. In his travels he has shared the stage with Billboard Top 10 flautist Ragan Whiteside. song-writer- vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, and Grammy Award winner Gregory Porter. In addition to Omar’s performance in Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk   and the national touring company of Black and Blue, Omar is well known to theatre and TV audiences for his 7 – year stint as the “Sandman in NBC’s Show Time at the Apollo, a show he co- hosted with actress/ comedian Monique. Other notable performances include featured performer at Live at the Hollywood Bowl with Alicia Keys, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Stars on Broadway at the Kennedy Center, and featured performer at the 2021 Soul Train Awards. Omar originated the role of the Tap Griot in FLY and was nominated for a Bessie Award at the New Victory Theatre NYC, and a Broadway World.com LA Award for Best Featured actor in a Local Production at the Pasadena Playhouse. Omar and cast received the NAACP Image Award for Best Ensemble. Omar has recorded 3 Tap CDs, Tap Dancin’ is Music, Groovy Gravy and Al Unique.  He was the first of his generation to record a CD where the Tap Dancer Leads the Band.

Ryan Fuchs is originally from Spokane, Washington, and moved to the Capital Region in 2018 after spending 10 years living in Washington, DC. He recently completed a run of Ordinary Days at Schenectady Light Opera Company as an ensemble member and understudy for the roles of Jason and Warren. Past theater credits have included roles as Rolf in The Sound of Music, Simon in Jekyll & Hyde, and others. Ryan works full-time as the COO of a tech startup, he is a fitness enthusiast, and he is thrilled to be making his Capital Repertory Theatre debut in Fly. 

New York City credits include The Polish Play (off-Broadway); The Odyssey (off-Broadway); Tender (Thirteenth Night Theatre); As You Like It and The Recruiting Officer (New York Classical Theatre); and WTC View (59E59 Theaters). Regional credits include Amber Waves (Indiana Repertory Theatre), God of Carnage (Theatre Aspen),  Be Here Now (Cincinnati Playhouse); Doubt and Other Desert Cities (Capital Repertory Theatre); A Few Good Men (Pioneer Theatre Company); Harvey (Arvada Center); In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play (Perseverance Theatre); The 39 Steps and the world premieres of Love/Sick and Out of Sterno (Portland Stage Company); Ripcord (The Public Theatre); Pericles and Is He Dead? (Theater at Monmouth); Snow in June and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (American Repertory Theater); Life is a Dream and the world premiere of Billy Hell (Creede Repertory Theatre); Around the World in 80 Days (Cape Fear Regional Theater); Much Ado About Nothing and Elizabeth Rex (Stonington Opera House); The Lion in Winter (Commonweal Theatre Company); Three Sisters (Moscow Art Theater School); and Cinzano (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). Film credits include Adam and Where God Left His Shoes. Television credits include Blacklist, FBI, Bull, Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, and As the World Turns. Torsten received his MFA from ART/M.X.A.T. at Harvard University.

New York Theater: Bounce and Aliens Coming. Training: NYU Tisch School of the Arts – The Meisner Studio, Stonestreet Studios and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Trevor also owns and operates McGhie Productions, a film production company. His recent film, Lineage, has screened at multiple film festivals across the U.S. and can be streamed online. McGhie Productions upcoming films: Until It’s You, Bethesda and Hayawan. Much love to Mom, Dad, Ryan and Rebecca. Special thanks to everyone at KMR! This one is for the 332^d .

Is making his Capital Rep. debut! As the son of a retired 100% disabled Army Veteran, he’s honored to be a part of this production. He’s a graduate of Fayetteville State University (B.A.), located in his hometown, and The University of Alabama (M.F.A.) Credits: Intimate Apparel, A Raisin in the Sun, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and Henry V. Many thanks to his family, all those involved, and God for this ram in the bush! He dedicates this performance to his Father, Daryll J. Packer, Sr. and all those who have and continue to serve this country with pride.
www.jeremiahpacker.com

Calvin M. Thompson (W.W.) A native of South Carolina, he is an alum of USC-Aiken and AMDA. Off-Broadway: COURIERS AND CONTRABANDS, AT BUFFALO, WELCOME TO SHOOFLY. NY Theatre: A SOLDIER’S PLAY, EVERY 48 HOURS PLAYS. Regional Theatre: THE MOUNTAINTOP, THE ROYALE, JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE, A RAISIN IN THE SUN, VOODOO MACBETH, SEVEN GUITARS. Film & TV: OPHELIA, YING-YANG, LAW & ORDER.  Mr. Thompson is also the 2019 semi-finalist for the American Black Film Festival “Star Project”. He holds deep gratitude to God for infinite abundance, for family & friends, for Dottridge Management, for this talented cast and for the Tuskegee Airmen in which we honor their excellence and achievement.  Follow Mr. Thompson’s IG/Twitter Mr. CallyCal.

CLINTON TURNER DAVIS has directed productions Off-Broadway, and at regional theatres, colleges, and universities. A noted interpreter of August Wilson’s “20th Century Cycle of Plays,” his productions have received multiple AUDELCO awards and regional commendations. A recipient of the Lloyd Richards Directing Award from the National Black Theatre Festival, he has developed new works nationally and internationally. His future projects include Fault Lines, a Bunraku informed opera/music theatre work about the African presence in Asia; Kieu, his adaptation of the 19th century Vietnamese national epic poem, and Sapeur, a play that considers the diasporic implications of “Dandies” in the Congo. Most recently, he directed Two Can Play for the New Federal Theatre. 

 (Choreographer) winner of a Tony Award nomination, Drama-Logue, Calloway and NAACP Image Awards for JELLY’S LAST JAM (Broadway), has choreographed CAROLINE OR CHANGE and THE TEMPEST also on Broadway.  Other New York credits include SPUNK, THE COLORED MUSEUM, THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE (Public Theatre), THE ODYSSEY (Willow Cabin Theatre) and the original production of FLY at Lincoln Center Institute. She has choreographed for numerous regional theatres, including RESURRECTION (Philadelphia Theatre Company), JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR GOSPEL (Alliance Theatre), MY NAME IS STILL ALICE, CABARET, MACK & MABEL, ALICE REVISITED, all at Barrington Stage Company.  Hope has performed in several movies and television shows and has worked as a dancer and choreographer with several dance companies, including Katherine Dunham Company, Talley Beatty, Louis Johnson, George Faison, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Company.  

Beowulf Boritt (Set Designer) Broadway: Act One (Tony Award), The Scottsboro Boys (Tony Nomination), Therese Raquin (Tony Nomination), Come From Away, Flying Over Sunset, Freestyle Love Supreme, Be More Chill, The New One, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Meteor Shower, A Bronx Tale, Prince Of Broadway, Hand To God, Sondheim On Sondheim, …Spelling Bee, LoveMusik, Rock Of Ages, Chaplin, Harry Connick, Jr- A Celebration of Cole Porter, Bronx Bombers, Grace,  The Two And Only. Broadway Revivals: On the Town, Sunday in the Park… Off- Broadway: 100 shows including The Last Five Years, Fiddler On The Roof (in Yiddish), Sleepwalk With Me, and Miss Julie. 

Rob Denton (Lighting Designer) is thrilled to be returning to Capital Rep where he last designed The Irish.   Rob’s recent designs include Chicago, On Your Feet, Smokey Joe’s Cafe (The Muny); The Cake (Repertory Theatre St Louis); Dracula: A comedy of Errors (Maltz Jupiter Theatre); Girlfriend (TheaterWorks); Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park);  Will Roger’s Follies (Goodspeed Musicals); Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Theatre Under the Stars); Tosca and La Bohème (Opera San Antonio).Some of Rob’s upcoming designs include: The Marvelous Wonderettes  (Alabama Shakespeare Festival); Mary Poppins, Legally Blond and Chicago   (The Muny).  @rdentexdesign 

Mexican Costume Designer, is happy to be back At Capital Rep! CAP REP credits: HAVING OUR SAY, RAISIN IN THE SUN, SMELL OF THE KILL, & SUPERIOR DONIGHTS. Theatre credits: Director Martha Banta, SLOW FOOD, TRAFFIC & WEATHER. FILMING O’KEEFE; Director Mark Fleisher: BRUSH THE SUMMER BY, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG; Director Gabriel Barre LOVE SONG, TICK, TICK BOOM, A KID POPE; Director Andrei Serban, PEER GYNT; Director Jenn Rapp, MR ROGERS’ DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD NATIONAL TOURS. Dance: DORRANCE DANCE, Jacob’s Pillow; DIANA VISHNEVA, BEAUTY IN MOTION; KINGS OF THE DANCE TOURS; MARRINSKY BALLET. TV Credits: GHOSTS, POWERBOOK THREE; MADAM SECRETARY; DAVID LETTERMAN LATE SHOW; LAW & ORDER; POST CEREAL COMMERCIALS. Film credits: JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF THE TARAHUMARAS, Assistant Costume Designer (Mexico); NOMADAS, Costume Designer (USA / Mexico): MATTIE FRESNO, costume designer. Upcoming MARIANNA’S WEB, (Mexico/USA). Honors: Exhibitor Prague Scenofest Quadrennial / USA National Exhibit 2007; Virginia Museum Costume Design Fellowship. Thanks Maggie! 

(Sound Designer) has composed music and/or designed sound for forty Broadway productions, including All My Sons, Torch Song, The Elephant Man, The Trip to Bountiful with Cicely Tyson (Tony nomination), Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (Drama Desk Award), Clybourne Park, Seminar, Prelude to a Kiss, Proof,  Twelve Angry Men, the original A Few Good Men. His other New York credits include  The Cake, Amy and the Orphans,  Bruce Norris’ Domesticated, Old Hats, Measure for Measure (Delacorte Theater), The Orphans’ Home Cycle (Drama Desk and Henry Hewes Awards), Shipwrecked! (Lucille Lortel Award), The Singing Forest, Julius Caesar,  The Skriker (Drama Desk Award), Machinal (OBIE Award) and many more. His television and film credits include a score for the Emmy nominated  The Trip to Bountiful, and Showing Roots .Gromada has received the National Endowment for the Arts Opera/Music Theatre Fellowship and grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. 

Select projection credits include Halcyon Days (Oberon Theatre Ensemble), A Taste of Things to Come (Broadway in Chicago), Oslo (RepSTL), Guys & Dolls, Matilda, Gypsy, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Wizard of Oz (Muny), Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Seussical (TUTS), A Charlie Brown Christmas; Live! (National Tour), The Evolution of Mann, Shoes & Baggage (The Cell), Ruddigore (Skylight Music Theatre), Tosca (NYOS), Sister Act, Have You Met Miss Jones? (New Theatre), Water by the Spoonful (TheatreSquared), Spamalot (Arkansas Rep) Lord Tom (The York), La Plage (Tom Gold Dance). Nathan has also designed for artists like Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Selena Gomez, and Alice Cooper, as well as working with New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Lincoln Center Festival, Alvin Ailey, San Francisco Opera, and Center Theatre Group. Proud member of USA 829. www.nwscheuerdesign.com

ROMELLO HUINS (associate set designer) is a NY-based scenic designer for theatre/film (as well as exhibition and editorial). He graduated this year with a B.F.A. in Design & Production from UNC School of the Arts! Most recent work: Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill @ NCTheatre Raleigh, as well Off-Broadway debut of “The Last Boy”. Post Grad – Asst/Assc. Scenic Designer – The Sound of Music: Dallas Theatre / Freestyle Love Supreme: Bway / Merry Wives: The Public Theatre / Anastasia National Tour / Fly More: The Musical. He’s blessed to embark in spaces that uplift the voices of the unheard and the power of storytelling.  

Jessica is a New York City based assistant/associate designer with experience assisting in projections, lighting, scenic, wardrobe, wigs, and administration for the theatrical industry. Most recently, she has assisted on multiple productions at Theatre Under the Stars (Houston, TX), The Muny (St. Louis, MO), the first national tour of An Officer and A Gentleman, and The Confession of Lily Dare Off-Broadway. She is a graduate of Webster University and wishes happiness and health to everyone in these difficult times. Thank you for supporting the arts. 

Capital Repertory Theatre (theREP) Seafarers, Man of La Mancha, Full Monty. Fight Choreographer and Stage Combat instructor at places such as the New York State Theatre Institute (NYSTI), Theatre Institute at Sage (TIS), SUNY Albany, Sienna College, Schenectady County Community College. As writer, David’s play, Red Maple, was produced by theREP in Jan/Feb 2019. Proud member SAFD, SAG/AFTRA, AEA, Dramatist Guild. Love to Patti.

Mr. Ellis is a novelist, screenwriter, playwright, essayist and an associate professor in the Graduate School of the Arts at Columbia University. Mr. Ellis also co-created Fly with Ricardo Khan which was commissioned by the Lincoln Center Institute and continues to be performed around the country. His work for the screen includes the Peabody-winning and Emmy-nominated HBO film The Tuskegee Airmen.

Ricardo Khan is a director, writer, educator and Tony Award-winning Artistic Director. In 1978 he co-founded the Crossroads Theatre Company, one of history’s few African American theatre organizations to ever rise to national prominence as a major professional regional arts institution, and launched countless careers for writers, directors, designers and actors of color, and over one hundred premieres of new and innovative plays for the American theatre, for Broadway and for television. On June 5, 1999, his company became the first black theatre in history to receive the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in America. During his 21 years at Crossroads, Khan nurtured countless new works that have forever enriched the cannon of the American theatre, having worked with August Wilson, Ntozake Shange, former United States Poet Laureate Rita Dove, George C. Wolfe, Anna Deveare Smith, Melba Moore, Odetta, Leslie Lee, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, among the many. In addition to co-writing FLY with Trey Ellis, he co-wrote SATCHEL PAIGE AND THE KANSAS CITY SWING with Mr. Ellis, about Negro Leagues baseball and American jazz with Kansas City as its backdrop in 1947, the year Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major leagues baseball. KANSAS CITY SWING was developed and first debuted at the University of Missouri where he is a visiting professor in its professional training program for theatre. It received its professional premiere at Crossroads in New Brunswick, NJ followed by the Vineyard Playhouse on the island of Martha’s Vineyard where he is an Artistic Associate.

 is a PNW native. She fell in love with stage management while working in community theatre back in her hometown and never looked back! Previous credits include Avenue Q, Newsies and The Woman in Black as well as theRep’s 2019-2020 Season as their Assistant Stage Manager. Between rehearsals and shows, Laura enjoys hiking in the ADK and sipping gourmet teas. 

is thrilled to be back at theRep! Prior to working on Fly, Rose has worked both backstage and on stage! Past credits include directing and stage managing with companies such as Northeast Theater Ensemble, SLOC, BrownBox Productions, NSCP, Proctors, as well as many others. Outside of theatre she enjoys painting, reading and going on hikes. Wishing broken legs to the cast and crew who have worked tirelessly to put this show on stage!

Was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is currently finishing his senior year at Skidmore College. He has been in several productions at Skidmore and is honored to represent Skidmore here at the Capital Rep. This is his first time with the Capital Rep. Ajani is grateful for his entire cast and crew who have been supportive, professional, and welcoming. Lastly, Ajani would like to thank his family, friends, and mentors for their support. 

David is the Artistic Director of Troy Foundry Theatre. He has worked with The Rep in several capacities, most recently as dialect coach for The Irish and How They Got That Way, appearing in last years Next Act (Arthur in Guinevere) and as Burbage in their award winning production of Shakespeare in Love. David is a proud member of AEA and proud citizen of Troy. 

(Casting Director) is elated to return to working with Maggie, the Capital Rep family, and the FLY creative team. SKC’s award-winning work is frequently seen on Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally, on film, television, and streaming media.  Stephanie, along with her exceptional team, is dedicated to continuing to expand and champion diversity, equity, and inclusion in the business. Connecting creative, caring people to each other to make extraordinary things happen is amongst her greatest joys.  Ms. Klapper is passionate about arts education and working with creative teams to develop and expand the scope of established and new works. Ms. Klapper is a member of the National Board of the Casting Society of America, Casting Society Cares, and New York Women in Film.

(LCE) is the educational cornerstone of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Founded in 1975 as Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education, LCE enriches the lives of students, educators and lifelong learners by providing opportunities for engagement with the highest-quality arts on the stage, in the classroom, digitally, and within the community.  For over three decades, LCE has offered unparalleled school and community partnerships, professional development workshops, consulting services, and its very own repertory of music, dance, theater and visual arts. LCE’s work has reached more than 20 million students, teachers, school administrators, parents, community members, teaching artists, pre-service teachers, university professors and artists in New York City, across the nation and around the world.

(Capital Rep Producing Artistic Director) has worked on and off Broadway and in numerous regional theatres, directing more than 100 productions. As Producing Artistic Director of Capital Rep since 1995, she directs plays and musicals each season, including Shakespeare in Love, Nora, Red, Ring of Fire, The Secret Garden, To Kill a Mockingbird, Grand View, Metamorphoses, Terra Nova, Syncopation and The Irish And How They Got That Way. A great proponent of history and the power of theatre to ignite young imaginations, Maggie has written and co-written several plays for Capital Rep’s On the Go Theatre for Young Audiences tours, including Pure Poe, They Built America: the Immigrants Who Built the Erie Canal, Friend of a Friend (with Jill Rafferty-Weinisch), Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella! (with Margaret E. Hall). She is the recipient of the Norman E. Rice Award for Excellence in Arts Education, the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Chamber of Commerce and was named a Woman of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. She holds an MFA in directing from Columbia University.

has a rich, local history of excellent entertainment and strong community relationships. Established in 1981, it came into existence through the dedication and perseverance of a group of Albany business, community and civic leaders. Donated labor, materials and expertise transformed the National Biscuit Co., a two-story-and-basement industrial building, constructed in 1888, located at 251 North Pearl Street, into what was to become the home of Albany’s first professional resident theatre.

Outreach was made to The League of Theatre Artists, a group of diverse actors, directors and playwrights, who spent summers at Art Awareness in Lexington. Working together, these artists, community leaders and an army of volunteers founded Capital Repertory Company. This initial investment of time and resources created the highly acclaimed, award-winning Capital Repertory Theatre with an annual operating budget of $2.3 million, and a history of producing more than 5,000 performances, employing more than 1,500 professional artists.

In all programs and services, theREP serves its mission by embracing the community as a source of inspiration. We embrace cast, crew and audiences from every background to expand the horizons of thought and understanding of the human condition through the power of theatre.