For its 30th season, Shakespeare in the Schools (SIS) will present Macbeth, directed by Susan Felder, to middle and high school students in the way it was meant to be presented – in an engaging live performance. Accompanied by a lively post-show talk back and related and active workshops, SIS reaches 47 schools with 53 performances in Montana and Wyoming each fall with professional programming.
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Madison is thrilled to be joining MSIP on the summer tour after interning with the company last season. A recent graduate of University of North Carolina School of the Arts, some of Madison’s favorite credits include Three Sisters, The Wolves, Our Lady of 121st Street, Hir, and Twelfth Night. Madison is greatly honored to perform for you all.
Rashaud Williams was born and raised within the soul of Chicago. Currently working for his masters at the professional actors training program, University of Huston. This will be his 1st Tour with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, and he’s proud to be a part of this family and thrilled to share this story with welcomed guest, family, and friends. He recently appeared as Nym in Henry V, Lopahkin in Cherry Orcahrd, Rooftop in Our Lady of 121st, Agamemnon in Oresteia, Ajax in Ajax Sophocles’ Tragedy, and John Proctor in The Crucible.
Stephanie Neuerburg is an actor, playwright, and poet based in Chicago IL. Her work has been featured at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC; the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, among others. Her original play Science Night was a national finalist for the John Cauble Outstanding Short Play award. Her poetry has appeared in Dirt Children, Okay Donkey, and Lazy Women literary magazines. She is also the producer and host of The Saddest Case of Celibacy in the West, the ghost town road trip podcast. www.stephanieneuerburg.com
Gerrit Wilford is so excited to join this year’s Montana Shakespeare in the Schools tour and to get to share his love of Shakespeare with so many young students! Gerrit, a South Dakota native, graduated from the University of Idaho with a MFA in Acting. Among his recent credits are the Texas Shakespeare Festival’s productions of Othello and As You Like It. He would like to thank his wonderful family and his amazing girlfriend for their continued love and support.
Ethan Miles Perry is a Chicago based actor from Detroit, Michigan. For theater, he has been in Illinois Theatre’s productions of Mr. Burns (dir. Lisa Gaye Dixon), Romeo & Juliet (dir. Robert Anderson), Assassins (dir. J.W. Morrissette), Marat/Sade (dir. Laura Hackman), and Hit the Wall (dir. Robert Anderson). Outside of Illinois Theatre, he’s been in She Smashes Screens (dir. Athanasia Giannetos), We Are Proud to Present… (dir. Kevin Woodrow), Kindred (dir. Alexandra Smith), and Gloria (dir. Kevin Woodrow). TV Credits, he was on Empire (FOX) and Pericles (Optimist Theatre). Stay well and stay whole.
Emily is thrilled to be back touring with Montana Shakes! She most recently appeared as Silvia in the Montana Shakes! spring 2020 tour of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. As a resident of Chicago, Emily has worked with Chicago Children’s Theatre, The House Theatre of Chicago, Black Ensemble Theater, Oil Lamp Theater, and others. She has also performed regionally at Great River Shakespeare Festival, CityRep Theatre, and Oklahoma Children’s Theatre. Emily has a BFA in Acting from Oklahoma City University.
Andrés is honored to be a part of Montana Shakespeare in the Schools for the first time! Originally from California, he currently lives in Chicago, where he’s been lucky enough to be a part of productions such as A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and In The Heights (Porchlight), The Killing Game (A Red Orchid), Middle Passage, Sylvester, and Neverwhere (Lifeline Theatre), Adding Machine (The Hypocrites), as well as several regional shows; Schoolhouse Rock Live!, Scapin, The Fantasticks, and The 39 Steps. He is a proud ensemble member and Casting Director of Lifeline Theatre in Chicago, IL.
SAM CHEESEMAN is an actor/educator based in Chicago, Illinois. A graduate of the University of Northern Colorado, Sam is excited to be returning to Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, having previously appeared in their adaptations of Two Gentlemen of Verona for the Shakes! tour and Much Ado About Nothing for the Shakespeare in the Schools tour. Sam was one of the founding members of the “Virtual Shakes!” program designed in response to the pandemic. Outside of MSIP, Sam has taught for Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare All-Stars, and Drama in the Driveway, among others. Chicago theater credits include Midsommer Flight, Invictus Theatre, Greatworks, Chicago Theatre Works, and more. This is Sam’s fifth MT Shakes! tour!
Calvin Adams is an actor and musician from Minneapolis who is ecstatic to return to MSIP directly after his involvement in the high school tour of Much Ado About Nothing. After performing young in A View From the Bridge at the Guthrie Theater, he returned to study at the theater in the U of M/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program. He has since performed with The Playwright’s Center, BARd Shakes Back-Room Shakespeare and Fearless Productions in the Twin Cities, and now continues his adventures in the mountains of the west with Montana Shakespeare.
Nadja is excited to spend her second summer with MSIP! You may recognize her from last summer as Goneril in King Lear and Olivia in Twelfth Night, or remember her from the Shakes production of Bottom’s Dream and the Schools production of Much Ado About Nothing. After graduating from Marquette University, she has worked at regional theaters in the midwest including Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Forward Theater, Northern Sky Theater, First Stage Children’s Theater, Milwaukee Chamber Theater, CATCO, Florentine Opera Company, and more. Favorite roles include Luciana in The Comedy of Errors, Pilot in Grounded, and The Nina in Airness. You can catch her next as Letitia in Forward Theater’s production of Clyde’s. Lots of love goes to her family and those continuously fighting for justice. Black Lives Matter. www.nadjasimmonds.com
GABY MOLDOVAN is thrilled to be making her Montana Shakespeare debut with this production of Bottom’s Dream. She is a Chicago-based actor, a Governing Ensemble Member with The Story Theatre through which she acts as co-artistic director to six other incredibly talented folks, and a personal trainer. She just ended a run of Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play for which she understudied, and other previous credits include Leave Me Alone! (The Story Theatre), Spark (20% Theatre Company), and staged reading Fires, Ohio (The Story Theatre). Shakespeare credits include Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kate in Taming of the Shrew, and Calpurnia in Julius Caesar. She holds a BFA in Acting from Florida State University and loves to climb rock walls and play guitar on her off days.
Gavin Rhys is thrilled to be working with MSIP for his first tour. His Chicago credits include Queen C (Trap Door Theatre) and Reality Theatre (Trap Door Theatre). Gavin is a teacher at Black Box Acting and graduated from the ACADEMY at Block Box Acting in 2019. He holds a BA in Musical Theatre from Plymouth State University. Gavin is eternally grateful for his family and friends and is so excited for all the adventures to come this summer.
Jessica Kadish-Hernández is thrilled to be on tour with MSIP for the first time. Recent regional credits include the National New Play Network’s rolling world premiere of Alabaster (16th Street Theatre, Chicago) and I Now Pronounce (New Jewish Theatre, St. Louis, MO). She holds an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where her credits include Twelfth Night, Henry V, lago’s Plot, Travesties, Failure: A Love Story, Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, and Kingdom City. She’s an ensemble member with Aguijon Theater, Chicago’s longest-running Spanish-language theatre company, and Chicago’s 2nd Story collective, where she writes, directs, and curates personal narrative performance. Forthcoming screen credits include the independent films Final Summer, Intoxicated Rain, and Midwestern, all in post-production. jessicakadish.com.
Mikey Gray is so thrilled to be returning for her third summer season with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks after touring with The Complete Works, King Lear, Twelfth Night, Cymbeline, and Midsummer. Highlighted credits: Thicket (Dixon Place NYC); The Wolves (McCarter Theatre) A Woman in Black (A.C.T.); The Book of Joseph (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); and Spirits to Enforce (The Passage Theatre); among some other commercials, TV, and short films. You are truly my favorite audience in the world – thank you! mikeygray.org
Cameron Varner is elated to be part of his first tour with MSIP. He most recently appeared in First Folio’s production of The Secret Council. Further credits include The Show Must Go On (virtual productions): A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Mountain Repertory: You Can’t Take It With You, Grease, Death Trap and Denver Center for the Performing Arts: Anna Karenina. Recently moving from Colorado, Cameron is a graduate of The University of Colorado, Boulder with a BFA in Performance, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, with an MA in Classical and Contemporary Text.
Brennan Urbi Is beyond excited to be touring with MSIP for the FIRST TIME! In Chicago, B has recently appeared in: Hundred Days (Kokandy); The Tempest (Oak Park Festival); Belly up (Jackalope Theatre); Fragmented (Our Perspective); Peter and the Starcatcher (Big Noise Theatre); The Rover, Two Gentlewomen (Lakeside Shakespeare); Baby with the Bathwater (Eclipse Theatre); B earned a BFA in Acting from the Chicago College of Performing Arts. All the love to my family, friends, and mentors; thanks for your endless support. Proudly represented by Paonessa Talent www.brennanurbi.com.
Erik Pearson, a Minnesota native, via Chicago, is very happy to be in Bozeman for the Summer season. An MSIP alum since 2014, he’s appeared in As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Comedy of Errors, among others. Favorite performances include Malvolio in Twelfth Night with MSIP, A Doll’s House (BAT), The Explorers Club, Tulsa in Gypsy, West Side Story, Sunday in the Park with George, Falsettos, and Haymarket with Underscore Theater, and Chicago (JEFF Award; Best New Musical). He has also performed with the Guthrie Theater, Aspen Opera Theater, The Children’s Theatre Company, and the Minnesota Orchestra. Erik studied at St. Olaf College and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Riley is especially grateful to be celebrating his tenth tour with MSIP. He appeared last season in the summer as Edgar in King Lear and Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, before touring in the winter with The Complete Works. Other MSIP highlights include Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dr. Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Malcolm in Macbeth, and Dromio of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors. Regional credits include the Guthrie Theater, Jungle Theater, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Arizona Theater Company, and Salt Lake Acting Company. Originally from Sacramento, Riley is a graduate of the University of Minnesota/ Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program. Evermore thanks to the greatest audiences in the world! rileyotoole.com
Sonia Goldberg is honored to make her Montana Shakes debut, and tickled pink to portray the Fools in both King Lear and Twelfth Night. She is a Chicago-based actor, writer, musician, and teaching artist. Recent credits include Once Upon a Mattress (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre), Songs for Nobodies (U/S Northlight Theatre), Wake Up, Brother Bear! (Chicago Children’s
Theatre), …And I Am Not Afraid (Prop Thtr), The Man Who Was Thursday (Lifeline Theatre), and The Snow Queen (Filament Theatre). Shakespeare credits include Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Corin in As You Like It (Midsommer Flight), and Clarence in Richard III (Muse of Fire). She trained at Butler University, The London
Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA), and the Moscow Art Theatre School, and is represented by 10 Talent. soniagoldberg.com.
MATT FOSS received his M.F.A. in acting from Chicago’s Roosevelt University and Ph.D. in theatre studies and directing from Wayne State University in Detroit.
He toured as an actor with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks from 2003-2006 and wrote and directed 2020’s Faithful Friends, an adaptation of Two Gentlemen of Verona for Montana Shakes!
We worked and lived in Red Lodge, MT as a wildlife biologist before starting his theatre career.
In 2016, his touring production of The Glass Menagerie performed at Russia’s Moscow Art Theatre. He adapted and directed Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle for Oracle Productions in Chicago in 2014. The production received Chicago Jeff Award Nominations for Outstanding Production, Director, Ensemble, and won for best new adaptation. In 2012 his production of Six Characters at Iowa State University received the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival’s National Award for Outstanding Production of a Play and Outstanding Director of a Play.
In 2019, his adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front received the Kennedy Center’s David Mark Cohen Playwriting Award. The play had its professional premiere in Chicago in 2019, winning 6 Jeff Awards-including Best Production, Best Ensemble and Best New Work. Foss was the recipient of the ATHE/KCACTF Prize for Innovative Teaching in 2013 and the 2020 University of Toledo Edith Rathburn Outreach and Engagement Excellence Award.
Liam is thrilled to be joining the MSIP company on tour this summer. A recent graduate of the University of Houston’s MFA program, Liam received a BFA from the University of Evansville in 2021. Some favorite credits include: Konstantin in The Seagull, Alan in Equus, and Schultz in Circle Mirror Transformation. In addition to acting, Liam is also a singer/songwriter and has written and produced two original musicals with peers.
Charlotte Mae Ellison lives in Chicago, loves Montana, and is so pumped to be a part of the very first winter tour. With MISP she performed in Noises Off! and two summer tours – 2017 (You Never Can Tell, Macbeth) and 2018 (Othello, Love’s Labour’s Lost). She also just wrapped up A Christmas Carol with Montana Theaterworks at the Ellen here in Bozeman. In Chicago, she most recently had the pleasure of working with Matt Foss on his adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front, and has previously performed at Red Tape Theatre, First Folio, A Red Orchid, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Writer’s Theatre, and Steppenwolf Theatre, among others.
Avery is an actor and poet from Arlington, VA. Selected stage credits include Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest (VCU Theatre), Photograph 51 (The New Theater), El Eterno Femenino (Firehouse Theatre), At the Full Yum (Signature Theatre, DC), and SHOUT! (TheatreLAB RVA). He is also featured in the short films, “Changes” (VCU Cinema). In May he will graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.F.A. in Theatre Performance. Outside of theater, Avery is a semi-professional Rocket League player and spends his time writing, tinkering with computers, and gaming. Find him on Instagram and Facebook @AveryMichaelJohnson!
Emily is thrilled to tackle her first Summer Parks tour, after previously touring with Montana Shakespeare in the Schools and MT SHakes! For MSIP, she appeared in Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, and adaptations Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet. In the summer of 2022, Emily got to spend some more time with Shakespeare performing in Hoosier Shakespeare Festival’s productions of Macbeth and The Merry Wives of Windsor. As a resident of Chicago, she has worked with Chicago Children’s Theatre, The House Theatre of Chicago, Black Ensemble Theater, Oil Lamp Theater, and others. She has also performed regionally at Great River Shakespeare Festival, CityRep Theatre, and Oklahoma Children’s Theatre. Emily has a BFA in Acting from Oklahoma City University.
Sam is an actor based in Chicago, Illinois. He is very excited to perform with MSIP’S Summer Parks shows after touring with both their Shakespeare in the School and MT Shakes! programs for the past few years. This will be Sam’s 6th time performing with MSIP. He made his company debut in 2020, as one of the founding members of the “Virtual Shakes!” program designed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Sam is a proud graduate of the University of Northern Colorado. Beyond MSIP, Sam has taught for Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theatre, and Compass Creative Dramatics, among others. Chicago theater credits include Midsommer Flight, Invictus Theatre, Greatworks, and Chicago Theatre Works, to name a few.
Alex is an Actor located out of Chicago. This is his first time on tour with MSIP and can’t be more excited. He has appeared in productions all throughout his home state of Alaska, where he received his BA in Theatre. He has also appeared in numerous productions in Portland, Oregon where he trained for an additional two years at the Portland Actors Conservatory. He can’t wait to see the mountains again and take in whatever is thrown in front of him!
Emily is thrilled to be making her Montana Shakespeare in the Parks debut! Theater credits include Shaw! Shaw! Shaw!, A Christmas Carol (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey), Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (STNJ Shakespeare Live!), Verily Madly Thine (STNJ Shrewd Mechanicals), and The Hunchback of Seville (Know Theatre of Cincinnati). Emily recently returned from a year in France where she trained under legendary master clown, Philippe Gaulier. She holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Elijah (he/him) is a Chicago-bred actor, musician, writer and director — thrilled to make his Montana Shakes debut! Chicago theatre credits include: The Seagull (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Legend of Georgia McBride (Metropolis Performing Arts), As You Like It (Forest Park Theatre), PickleRickicles (Otherworld Theater), and Twelfth Night (The Frontier). TV credits include: Chicago Med (NBC). Elijah earned his BFA in Acting from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also creates and hosts Dawescast, a podcast about his favorite band. Elijah would like to thank his family, Madelyn, Stewart Talent, and this incredible company. elijahnewman.com
Katherine is so excited to be working on her fifth tour with Montana Shakespeare! Getting to play with the joy and artistry of the Shakes! programs is one of her very favorite things. In addition to work with Montana Shakespeare, Katherine has also recently begun work as the Education Director for the Utah Shakespeare Festival. She is currently completing a PhD in Educational Psychology from the UW-Madison, where she studies what and how people learn through arts practices and pretend play. Recent theatre credits include work with Door Shakespeare (actor, education director), Forward Theatre (playwright, actor), and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (playwright). Other credits include Interlochen, the Children’s Theatre of Madison, Whoopensocker, Four Seasons Theatre, Optimist Shakespeare, Double Edge Theatre, Missoula Children’s Theatre, and more. She holds an MS in EdPsych and an MA in Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies from the UW-Madison, and a BFA in Acting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Joshua Pennington (they/he) is thrilled to be working with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks for the first time! Theatre (selected): The Malignant Ampersands (A Red Orchid Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Illinois Shakespeare Festival), Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (Strawdog Theatre), Neither (Lifeline Theatre). A Midsummer Nights Dream and The Tempest (Midsommer Flight). Joshua is an ensemble member of the Shakespeare company, Midsommer Flight, which provides accessible and free Shakespeare to all communities of Chicago. Joshua received training as an actor and a painter from Illinois State University where he received two Irene Ryan nominations for his performances. Joshua is proudly represented by Shirley Hamilton Talent. Instagram @the.prince_joshua
Calvin Adams is an actor and musician from Minneapolis who is ecstatic to return to MSIP directly after his involvement in the high school tour of Much Ado About Nothing. After performing young in A View From the Bridge at the Guthrie Theater, he returned to study at the theater in the U of M/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program. He has since performed with The Playwright’s Center, BARd Shakes Back-Room Shakespeare and Fearless Productions in the Twin Cities, and now continues his adventures in the mountains of the west with Montana Shakespeare.
Riley O’Toole is grateful to be returning for his ninth tour with MSIP. He most recently appeared as Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Cloten/Cornelius in Cymbeline as part of MSIP’s 2021 summer tour. Regional credits also include the Guthrie Theater: Lion in Winter, Juno and The Paycock, Blue Stockings (Studio); Milwaukee Repertory Theater: Dreamgirls, A Christmas Carol, Of Mice and Men; Arizona Theater Company: Of Mice and Men; Jungle Theater (MN) and Salt Lake Acting Company: Hand to God. Originally from Sacramento, Riley is a graduate of the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program.
Rachel J. Jones is ecstatic to join the Montana Shakespeare in the Schools fall tour of Macbeth as Lady Macbeth. Rachel is an actor/creator currently residing in Chicago, Il, recently receiving her BFA in Acting from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music in the Spring of 2022. Collegiate credits include: Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan as Rosalie, both Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Puck, and Julius Caesar as Lucius/Messala, Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves as #8, as well as the titular role of Agnes in John Pielmeier’s Agnes of God. In her final year at CCM, she produced the Midwestern premiere of Nick Payne’s Constellations, where she also played Marianne. This is Rachel’s first tour with Montana Shakespeare, and she wants to thank Susan Felder, Kevin Asselin, and the whole team for this life-changing opportunity. She would also like to thank her boyfriend Lucas Prizant for all his love and support. Outside of acting, Rachel enjoys spreading kindness, being an advocate for women’s equality, and spending quality time with her incredibly supportive family in her scenic home state of Michigan. www.racheljjones.actor
John Hosking graduated from
MSU and first toured with MSIP in 1974 (the first full touring summer of Shakespeare in the Parks). He was a member of the Hillberry Graduate Repertory Theater at Wayne State University, and then worked professionally for three years with ACT Seattle. He also performed at the Virginia City Opera House. John co-founded the Vigilante Theatre Co., where he was an actor and director and toured Montana and the region for 33 years. Since then, you may have seen John at the Black Box as Willy Lohman in Death of a Salesman, or at the Ellen Theatre this winter as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, or in many other venues around the state. (“Wide Open Door” is John’s recently released music album.)
