As a courtesy to the artists and for the uninterrupted enjoyment of your fellow patrons, please turn off all cell phones, pagers, beepers and other electronic devices. Please unwrap any lozenges before the performance begins. No portion of this performance may be photographed, recorded, filmed, taped, broadcast or mechanically reproduced without the written consent of the Artist and/or the Presenter. Mayo Performing Arts Center is not responsible for lost or stolen items.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Our MissionMayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2014-2015 season is made possible, in part, by a grant from the  New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, F.M. Kirby Foundation and other numerous foundations, corporations and individuals.

Media PartnerFM KIRBY FOUNDATION

THE BLANCHE & IRVING LAURIE FOUNDATION

Matt Murphy Productionspresents

Book byMichael Borton and Michael Slade

Directed and Choreographed byNancy Renée Braun

Originally Directed byPeter Flynn

Scenic Design byLuke Hegel-Cantarella

Musical Direction byKirsten Stowell

Orchestrations byR. MacKenzie Lewis

Casting byHolly Buczek

Music & Lyrics byMichael Borton

Originally Choreographed byDevanand Janki

Costume Design byLora LaVon

Stage Managed byDeirdre Cutler

The Berenstain Bears Live! in “Family Matters: The Musical”Joel Anthony Frank (Papa Bear) Joel is thrilled to make his Off-Broadway debut in Bear Country! National/International tours: Thomas and Friends Live! Cruise Ships: Nickelodeon Performer on Norwegian Cruise Lines. Regional: West Side Story, Charlotte’s Web, Pirates of Penzance, Carousel, and Annie Get your Gun. Proud graduate of Muhlenberg College with a BA in Theater and Political Science. Thanks Mom!

Lindsie Detota (Mama Bear) Lindsie is thrilled to be playing Mama Bear in Bernstain Bears Live. She just returned to NYC -from/ performing as the Blue Fairy, with American Family Theatre’s South East Tour of Pinnochio. She received her BFA in Theatre Studies from Niagara University. Some of her favorite roles are Mindy from Five Women Wearing the Same Dress and Raisa in AFT’s Ellis Island. Lindsie would like to thank her family, friends, manager Susan Campochiaro Confrey and agent Eileen Haves for their love and support.

Melissa Joiner (Sister Bear) Melissa is excited for her Off-Broadway debut! She was last seen performing at Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Favorite past roles include Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden, CB’s Sister in Dog Sees God, Liesl in The Sound of Music, and Doll Tearsheet in Shakespeare’s Henry IV. She hails all the way from Austin, Texas and holds a BFA in musical theater from Sam Houston State University. www.melissajoiner.com

Drew Torkelson (Freddy/Gramps/Other) Drew is thrilled to be bringing one of his favorite childrens books to life, and making his off-Broadway debut at the same time. Favorite credits include: Linus in ...Charlie Brown, Zeke in High School Musical, Silvius in As You Like It, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, and Hamm in Toy Story: the Musical. Thank you mom and dad for everything you’ve done on top of your love and support.

Haley Greenstein (Lizzie/Dr. Grizzly/Gran) Off-Broadway: Woyzeck Musical Deathmetal (Marie). Regional: Quest For The West: Adventures on the Oregon Trail! (Hope), A Christmas Carol (Belle/Charwoman/Ensemble), Wit (Student/Resident). Favorite NY credits: Hitgirls (Wake Up Marconi!), Building a House Out of Feathers (The Paper Industry), Medea (No.11 Productions). Haley is a proud member of the Gorilla Rep Acting Company and the No.11 Productions Ensemble. “Many thanks to the cast and crew, and my wonderful friends and family!”

Gerry Vega (Brother Bear) Off-Broadway Debut! is honored to be joining the cast of The Berenstain Bears LIVE! Past credits include Hair, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Into the Woods, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Thanks to the Vega’s, John, and Michelle. This one’s for you Loli! Luke 1:37.

Michael Borton (Book, Music & Lyrics) is thrilled that this production will entertain children this summer in NYC. Michael lives in the Philadelphia area and works as a composer, performer, music director, and private instructor. He’s composed for AFTY and the Walnut Street Theatre; including several of their outreach shows and annual A Christmas Carol. He has music directed at the Walnut Street Theatre, La Salle University, Theater Horizon and is currently the Director of Music at Waldron Mercy Academy.

Michael Slade (Additional Book Material) Playwright, librettist, Emmy-nominated television writer. Work for family audiences includes: Ten Theatreworks/USA musicals (Superfudge, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, The Three Pigs). Pokemon Live! (Radio City Music Hall, national, international tours). Several shows for TADA! And A Child Shall Lead, (PlayScripts) inspiring play about a group of child concentration camp prisoners (opened to rave reviews in Chicago, November 2010). Children’s novel The Horses Of Central Park (Scholastic Hardcover/Apple Paperback) won ISAR Award for Children’s Literature.

Devanand Janki (Director and Choreographer) New York credits: Zanna, Don’t! (Lortel, Callaway & GLAAD awards), Junie B. Jones (Lortel nom.), Cupid & Psyche, Henry & Mudge (Lortel nom.), Romantic Poetry, This One Girls Story. Broadway concerts: Funny Girl, Hair, Dreamgirls, Seth’s Broadway 101. Lincoln Center: Amahl and the Night Visitors, Babes in Toyland, Anything Goes in concert (assoc.). Regional: RENT, Aladdin, Man of La Mancha, The Full Monty, The Scarlet Pimpernel, How Can You Run With a Shell on Your Back?, Asphalt Beach, One Man’s Dream II (Tokyo Disney). Broadway Bares (9 years). Performance: Miss Saigon, Cats, The King & I, Side Show (Broadway), A Chorus Line, West Side Story (tour). www.devanandjanki.com

Lora LaVon (Costume Design) Credits include Junie B. Jones and Click Clack Moo with Theaterworks USA, A Child’s Christmas in Wales for the National Theater of the Deaf, The Time of Your Life and King John at the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, Lonesome West, Three Days of Rain and Proof at Hartford’s Theaterworks, ART and

M. Butterfly at Syracuse Stage, South Pacific and Suddenly Last Summer for Barrington Stage, and Measure for Measure at Yale Rep. Lora earned her MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

Luke Hegel-Cantarella (Scenic Design) NY: Make Me a Song (New World Stages), Human Error (Atlantic), Cam Jansen (Lambs), Junie B. Jones (Lortel); Regional: Lyric Theater of Oklahoma, Two Rivers Theater Company, Berkshire Theater Festival, Barrington Stage, Pittsburgh Public, Repertory Theater of St. Louis, Adirondack Theater Festival, TheatreWorks, Prince Music Theater, Yale Rep. International: Woody Sez (West End/London), Blue Shade (Amsterdam). Opera/Dance: The Wooden Floor, Peabody, Curtis, Wolftrap Opera Company, New England Conservatory, Eastern Connecticut Ballet, Hartford Ballet. Film/TV: Julie & Julia, Damages, Pink Panther 2, State of Play, Synecdoche, NY. Luke is the Head of the Set Design program at the UCIrvine.

R. MacKenzie Lewis (Orchestrations) has music directed, composed, orchestrated and performed for theatres, bands, and orchestras all over the country including the world premier musical with Ben Vereen, Soaring on Black Wings and the upcoming Wings at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. He is also the Co-Executive Director for 8th Wonder Productions and full-time composer/MD for Eastern Michigan University.

Nancy Renee Braun - (Associate Director/Choreographer) NY Choreography: Fantasy Football: The Musical? (NYMF Best of Fest Runner-Up), Godspell Times Square Flash Mob (over 40,000 YouTube hits!), Henri Gabler (Theatre 54), I’m Gonna Love You Forever (The Gene Frankel Theatre), A Night With Northwestern (Hudson Theatre). NY Associate Choreography: Fat Camp (NYMF Outstanding Choreography Award), Robber Bridegroom (Roundabout Theatre workshop), Perez Hilton Saves The Universe! (Joe’s Pub), Babes In Toyland (Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center), Funny Girl (Revision Theatre), If You Give A Pig A Pancake (Theatreworks), and three years as an assistant for Broadway Bares. NY acting credits: Broadway revival of Patti LuPone’s Gypsy, and the upcoming Off-Broadway show Fat Camp.Northwestern University graduate.

Ryan Scarlata (Associate Director) is proud to step into the role of Associate Director for The Berenstain Bears Live! after playing Papa Bear in the first national tour and original Off-Broadway casts. Regional directing credits include RENT, The Producers, Jekyll and Hyde, Beauty and the Beast and many others. www.ryanscarlata.weebly.com.

Matt Franzetti (Company Manager) completed his BA in Theatre and Business Administration at Muhlenberg College and his MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has worked as a stage manager for FAME at the Tropicana Resort and Casino on this side of the pond, and in London has worked with the Ambassador Theatre Group, Minor Entertainment, Whippet Productions, and the Wellcome Trust.

Renée Lynette Ferrara (Stage Manager) is the proud recipient of a Drama Desk Award. Favorite credits include, Rock of Ages, Platanos and Collard Greens, Foodplay! The National Tour, and Fuhgeddaboutit. She is very excited to be a part of the Berenstain Bears Family whose stories taught her when she was a child.

Matt Murphy (Producer) is currently one of the producers for the Tony Award-Winning musical Memphis. Other Broadway and Off-Broadway productions include Thurgood starring Laurence Fishburne, Impressionism starring Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons, and Altar Boyz, which became one of the longest-running Off-Broadway musicals in history. In addition to his work on Broadway, Matt is also currently producing an original musical for today’s texting, blogging, and Facebooking generation called Virtually Me!, which was recently profiled on Fox News and NBC for its efforts to educate young students today on how to use modern technology responsibly. Special thanks to wife Julie and daughter Hazel for supporting Papa as Producer Bear! www.mattmurphyproductions.com

FRIDAY, JULY 17 AT 7 PMSATURDAY, JULY 18 AT 3 PMSATURDAY, JULY 18 AT 7 PM