Eugene Onegin
By Sarah Gancher
Performances
Saturday, JuNE 15 at 5pm–OVATIONS PLUS
Saturday, JuNE 22 at 5:30pm–TheatreSquared
About the play
Eugene Onegin by Sarah Gancher (creator of the Obie Award-winning Russian Troll Farm) is a modern bluegrass musical that is half pickin' party and half barbeque. Pushkin's novel-in-verse and Tchaikovsky's opera have been reset and given new life in 1940s rural Arkansas, when a girl who dreams of writing songs falls for a magnetic but jaded touring musician.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Sarah Gancher is an Obie Award-winning playwright whose work has been seen on stages worldwide including London’s National Theatre, Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre; in New York at The Public Theatre, New York Theater Workshop, Vineyard Theatre, Ars Nova, and the Flea; and regionally at Steppenwolf, Berkeley Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Hartford Stage, RoundHouse, Forward Theater, Geva, and Seattle Rep. Recent work includes Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy (Vineyard Theater and Geva Theater, dir. Darko Tresnjak; online production for Theaterworks Hartford/Theatre Squared/The Civilians, dir. Jared Mezzocchi & Elizabeth Williamson.) She writes books for musicals including Hundred Days and The Lucky Ones (both written with composers The Bengsons, dir. Anne Kauffman, choreo by Sonya Tayeh) plus Mission Drift (written with ensemble The TEAM, composer Heather Christian, dir. Rachel Chavkin.) Honors include the Richard Rodgers Award, New York Stage and Film Founders’ Award, The Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, the James Stevenson Prize for Comedy, the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Award, a Toulmin Foundation commission, several Lortel, Drama Desk, and Drama League nominations, several New York Times Best of Year lists, Broadway Women’s Fund Women To Watch list, and the AR Gurney Prize. An alumna of Ars Nova Play Group, WP Lab, P73 and The Playwrights’ Realm, she is a current resident at New Dramatists. Sarah grew up playing jazz violin with her father’s band, and has played bluegrass fiddle (sometimes with her Arkansas cousins) for about 15 years. This is her first book-music-lyrics musical. MFA: NYU.
ABOUT THE CAST & CREATIVE TEAM
Ken Cirniglia (Director/Dramaturg) makes his TheatreSquared debut. On Broadway, his dramaturgy is represented in Hadestown and Aladdin. During 16 years as dramaturg and literary manager at Disney Theatrical, he developed over 70 titles for Broadway, touring, international, and licensed productions, including Peter and the Starcatcher, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Freaky Friday, Newsies, The Little Mermaid, High School Musical, and Tarzan. He adapted several Disney librettos for young performers and developed a new series of Marvel plays for teens. Regional dramaturgy credits include Romeo y Juliet (CalShakes); Blood Moon (2020 PROTOTYPE Festival, NYC); the new musical Bridges (Berkeley Playhouse); and OLIVERio: A Twist on Dickens (Kennedy Center). He is a board member and past president of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas and holds a Ph.D. in theatre history and criticism from the University of Washington.
Pete Lanctot (Music Director) makes his TheatreSquared debut. He is a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and teaching artist. He has worked with John Cale, Yoshiko Chuma, Durand Jones and the Indications, Aaron Frazer, Iris Dement, Tony Conrad, Katie Von Schleicher, Eugene Onegin (musical), Hearthbound (podcast), Hyperballad Studios, Lady Lamb, and Holly Miranda, and has appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Last Call with Carson Daly, and Live at KEXP.
Allie Sorenson (Stage Manager) makes her TheatreSquared debut. Her SM credits include Birdie & the Beanstalk, Mariposa/Butterfly, The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Addams Family, Tortuga & the Hare, and Turning Red (Ovations+); This Bitch and Men on Boats (University of Arkansas). Her ASM credits include Ride the Cyclone and The Moors (University of Arkansas). She holds a BA in technical theatre and design from the University of Arkansas.
Melody Allegra Berger (Ensemble) makes her TheatreSquared debut. An award-winning fiddler, she has been raising a ruckus in NYC for nearly two decades and has toured nationally and abroad. You can see her on Saturday Night Live (S44E19) and hear her on House of Cards (S2E05), Trixie Mattel’s Two Birds, and Gangstagrass: American Music. Off-Broadway credits include: Elizabeth A. Davis’ My Name’s Not Indian Joe, Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge (Prospect Theatre Company), and covering Fiddle/Mandolin for Desperate Measures. Regional credits: Indecent (American Stage) and Once (Gallery Players).
Connor Johnson (Ensemble) makes his TheatreSquared debut. New York credits include Edwin in The Brutes and Nickel in The Wreck of the Queen Thomasina (spit&vigor Theatre Company); and Edgar in the Edgar Allen Poe Festival (Radiotheatre). Regional: Romeo and Juliet (Nebraska Shakes), Julius Caesar (Pennsylvania Shakes), Twelfth Night (Pioneer Theatre Company), and various other roles. Connor is co-founder of A Footpath Theatre Company, which performed in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last summer. He is a playwriting MFA candidate at University of Arkansas.
Bryce Kemph (Ensemble) returns to TheatreSquared, where previous credits include 15 productions, most notably David O. Selznick in Moonlight and Magnolias, Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol, and Mr. Wormwood in Matilda. Additional credits include Peter and the Starcatcher (Arkansas Rep); Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Go Dog Go, and A Year With Frog and Toad (Trike Theatre); Twelfth Night (Classical Edge); and Man of La Mancha (Inspire). NYC credits include Garage (NYC Fringe Festival); Superhero Celebrity Rehab the Musical (Access Theatre); Andromache (Full of Noises); and The Rivals (Ampersand). Film credits include Greater: The Brandon Burlsworth Story, Riot Act, No Exit, Mayfly, Neapolitan, and Waiting for Godot. He holds a BFA in theatre from Emporia State University, and an MFA in acting from the University of Arkansas.
Elise Kibler (Tanya) makes her TheatreSquared debut. She is an NYC-based actor, writer, and director for theatre, film, and TV. She’s worked as an actor on and off-Broadway since graduating from NYU Tisch’s Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & TV with a concentration in writing and directing. She’s an O’Neill National Playwrights Conference finalist, a National Young Playwrights winner, and her work has been developed at Flint Repertory Theater and Brooklyn College. Her screenwriting and filmmaking debut, Do It To Me If You Want (co-dir James Udom), made its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival and is currently enjoying its festival run. Up next: Netflix’s The Night Agent.
Michael Lavender (Ensemble) Michael Lavender makes his TheatreSquared debut. Coming from Little Rock after attending UALR for a jazz bass performance degree, he has appeared in multiple facets in music from performance to production. His credits include performances with the Arkansas Repertory Theater with Lawrence Hamilton, The Little Rock Community Theatre, and The Little Rock Community Orchestra, as well as countless local and regional bands. After moving to Northwest Arkansas in 2011, he has worked with the Walton Arts Center in audio production. With his bluegrass trio Fett’s Folly, he has been featured for multiple events such as Bentonville First Friday as well as the Gulley Park Concert Series. Michael is currently pursuing licensure as a professional land surveyor to fund further musical endeavors.
Alex Lydon (Eugene) returns to TheatreSquared where he was last seen as Ted/Leng/Cadre in Cambodian Rock Band. His credits include Actor 3 in the upcoming production of The Old Man and The Old Moon (South Coast Rep); Understudy Ted/Leng/Rom/Journalist in the national tour of Cambodian Rock Band (Alley Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Arena Stage, ACT/5th Ave Theatre); Oliver in As You Like It (Quest Players); Preventer/Jonathan in Such Things As Vampires (People's Light); Henry in Sisters Matsumoto (CenterREP); and Julian in It Can't Happen Here (Berkeley Rep). He holds a BA in theatre arts from Pomona College and studies acting with Joan Rosenfels.
Nikolai Margulis (Ensemble) returns to TheatreSquared, where he previously appeared as John Bechdel in Fun Home and in the developmental reading of A Place Called Home. As a banjoist and songwriter, he is the winner of 2023 FreshGrass Banjo Award, and has performed with Tony Trischka, Noam Pikelny, Tray Wellington, The Grascals, Broken Compass Bluegrass, and Béla Fleck, at venues ranging from City Winery in NYC, to Winter Wondergrass in Lake Tahoe, CA, to the Blue Ridge Banjo Concert in Brevard, NC, to the opening concert of the Banjo Gathering in Baltimore, MD. For three years, he has played in the IBMA Award Show Band at the International Bluegrass Music Association, performing for the Bluegrass Music Award nominees. He started the All Stars for All Y’all program, which raises money for IBMA’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. A Fayetteville native, he is a rising senior at Princeton High School in Princeton, NJ.
Pearl Rhein(Olga) makes her TheatreSquared debut. Broadway credits include the original cast of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (Imperial Theatre). Her credits include Jo March in Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Little Women (Dallas Theater Center), Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale (Hartford Stage), Florry in the world premiere of Becomes a Woman (Mint Theater at NYCC), and Jade in the rolling world premiere of Funny, Like An Abortion (Mile Square Theater). Television credits include Succession (HBO), Bull (CBS), The Blacklist (NBC), and Younger (TVLand). In September of 2024 she will appear as Angela the Goldsmith in Comedy of Errors starring Alex Brightman (Shakespeare Theatre Company, D.C.). Pearl is also a composer-lyricist, arranger and orchestrator in NYC. She holds an MFA in acting from UC San Diego and a BA in theater from Ball State University. Proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, AFM, Maestra, and Ring of Keys.
Sammi Shane (Ensemble) returns to TheatreSquared, where she appeared in the 2023 production of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and works as an assistant in the artistic department.
Daniel Tepper (Ensemble) returns to TheatreSquared, where he was seen in Once. Other favorite credits include shows at The Atlantic Theater Company, NYC Fringe Festival Encores Series, Williamstown Theater Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and The 92nd Street Y. Daniel is a long time musical comedian and improviser, and currently has the pleasure of performing fully improvised musicals all over New York City, touring the country, and performing overseas with shows including Baby Wants Candy; Shamilton; Your Love, Our Musical; Shitzprobe; and others. Daniel can also be heard improvising songs on multiple Audible projects (Funny Amazon Reviews with Jane Lynch and A Very Improvised Holiday Special with Laura Benanti), and once as a freestyling hot dog named “Lil Doggie” on Sonic Drive-In’s SnapChat account. BFA: NYU.
Shannon Wurst (Ensemble) Shannon Wurst makes her TheatreSquared debut. Her credits include Glinda and Experiential Facilitator in Journey to Oz (Trike Theater) and Bear in Bear State of Mind (Trike Theater), where she also composed and performed the music. Film credits include singer/songwriter in Gordon Family Tree. Shannon has written and released seven albums with award-winning songs.