Ian Gallanar (Founding Artistic Director, Shakespeare Beyond Executive Producer) is a proud member of the distinguished National Theatre Conference, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (the union for professional stage directors) and the Dramatists Guild of America. He is a Helen Hayes Tribute Award, Telly Award, and Howie Award (Howard County Arts Council Career Achievement Award) winner. He is the recipient the Berger Award, given annually by the international Shakespeare Theatre Association for outstanding lifetime achievement as an Artistic Director of a Shakespeare company. He served as President of that organization from 2019-2021. He was also given the Distinguished Alumni Award from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Ian has directed over 40 productions for the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company including 18 of Shakespeare's plays and multiple productions of several. He looks forward next season to directing CSC's 100th mainstage production;. Shakespeare Beyond is Ian's creation, designed to provide additional access to arts and culture to communities across the State of Maryland.
Lesley Malin (Producing Executive Director) is a founder of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, and served as its Executive Director since 2003. She managed CSC’s building renovation of an 1885 bank into our modern Shakespeare playhouse as well as the associated $6.7 million capital campaign. She has performed in 28 CSC productions and previously in New York. She was, for 20 years, Vice President of the Board of Trustees of The Lark, the landmark new play development center in New York City, where she earlier was Managing Director. She served for five years on the Executive Committee of the international Shakespeare Theatre Association and organized its annual conference that CSC hosted in Baltimore in 2017. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, NYU’s Arts Management program, Leadership Howard County, and LEADERship Baltimore (2018).
Seamus Miller* (Director, Associate Artistic Director) has been a CSC Company Member since 2014 and is the Associate Artistic Director of Shakespeare Beyond. Recent directing credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and student matinee productions of Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth (2018, 2023). This winter, he will direct CSC's production of A Christmas Carol. He has also appeared onstage at Chesapeake in Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, and Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, among others. Séamus is a member of Actors' Equity Association and has appeared in over forty professional productions in the DC-Baltimore Area. He holds a BA from Cornell University and an MFA from the Shakespeare Theatre Academy at George Washington University. www.seamusactor.com/directing
Eva Hill (Stage Manager) is a freelance theater professional in the Baltimore-DC area. This is their seventh production with CSC. Their credits at CSC include Hamlet (ASM), Twelfth Night (ASM), Henry V (ASM), A Midsummer Night's Dream with Shakespeare Beyond (Wardrobe Supervisor). Wardrobe credits at Everyman Theater include: The Book Club Play, Dial M for Murder, The Chinese Lady, Flyin' West, Steel Magnolias.
Marshall B Garrett* (Production Manager) returns after previously stage managing CSC's 2023 production of As You Like It. Director of over 50 productions, including recently: Next to Normal (Harford Community College), Picnic (Johns Hopkins Barnstormers), Pericles (Sweet Tea Shakespeare), King Lear (Baltimore Shakespeare Factory). Currently on faculty at CCBC, Harford Community College, North East High School. MFA/MLitt: Mary Baldwin University. BA: Illinois Wesleyan University. www.MarshallBGarrett.com.
Chester Stacy* (Production Architect, Technical Director) has designed, built, and painted many CSC productions, including Alice in Wonderland, The Fantasticks, Red Velvet, and Titus Andronicus, and for Baltimore Center Stage’s Thoughts of a Colored Man and Shakespeare in Love. Chester Creates LLC, has provided production design for The Night Watchmen, set decoration for House of Cards and The Wire; and environmental graphics for Crunch Fitness, Royal Caribbean, Bmore Greek Grill, and Healthy Highlandtown
Joan Mather (Costume Designer) is an award-winning costume technologist and designer who has been the head of costume technology at UMBC since 2016. She has also taught at the University of Southern Maine and Truman State University. Her local work as a designer includes The 39 Steps at Rep Stage and Dracula: a Feminist Revenge at UMBC. In Maine, Joan designed for the Bath Shakespeare Festival, Camden Shakespeare Festival, Dramatic Rep, Heartwood Regional Theatre Company, the Public Theatre, Stonington Opera House Arts, and the Theatre at Monmouth. Professional costume construction includes work at Maine State Music Theatre, Opera Philadelphia, the American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cal Shakes and the Great River Shakespeare Festival. Her designs for A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream at Truman State University were featured in the 2005 World Stage Design Exhibition in Toronto.
Katherine Offutt Ross (Props Designer) is a DMV theatre technician and producer, who is delighted to join up with CSC again for Midsummer and Shakespeare Beyond. Catch more of her props work on stages this summer at Nu Sass (Bright Room Called Day) and Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre (Big Fish), and then catch her wandering about the Maryland Renaissance Festival this fall, where she's stage managed annually for over a decade.
Emi Erickson (Music Director)
Bess Kaye (Fight and Intimacy Direction) is an actor and fight director in DC and Baltimore. CSC credits include 2022’s Henry V (Orleans, Gloucester), 2014’s The Merry Wives of Windsor (Mistress Quickly), Macbeth [movable, 2019] (Ross, Witch, Fight Director), and Romeo and Juliet [Matinee, 2020] (Fight Director). Regional credits: Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night (PG County Shakespeare in the Parks); The Giver (Next Stop); Don Juan (Faction of Fools); One Man, Two Guvnors (1st Stage). Bess holds an MFA in Classical Acting from GWU and is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors. thebesskayescenario.com.
Eyobed Tadesse (Sound Designer, Audio Engineer) joina Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's Shakespeare Beyond tour as a Sound Designer with Rejoice production Agency. Specializing in theater, Eyobed has worked with The Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences on the "Show Way" Tour as a Sound Supervisor. As a graduate of The College of Saint Rose, Eyobed's journey in sound engineering began as a touring engineer for the renowned artist Marty Wendell. His expertise extends to Nashville, Tennessee, where he has worked in notable venues like Bell Tower, Bridge Building, and Cherokee Dock. Eyobed has also left his mark in New York, contributing his skills to the Massry Center of the Arts and Studio G3 in Albany.
Emily Erickson (Music Director) is a DC-based actor, coach, composer, music director, and multi-instrumentalist. Recent credits include The Oresteia, Much Ado About Nothing (Chesapeake Shakespeare), The Honey Trap (Solas Nua), People, Places & Things (Studio Theatre), Our Black Death (Taffety Punk), Fitting In (Arts on the Horizon), Man Covets Bird (Spooky Action), and Richard II (Her Majesty & Sons). Emily serves on the NTI faculty at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and is a resident teaching artist at Shakespeare Theatre Company and Round House Theatre. MFA graduate of The Academy at STC/GWU. BFA: NYU. @emierickson / emilynerickson.com
Sharon Zheng (Assistant Stage Manager) is excited to be the Assistant Stage Manager for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Sharon recently served as the Stage Manager for The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical at Howard Community College and for Monstrous: The Story of Medusa in the past. She has interned for Rep Stage as their Assistant Stage Manager in productions such as Songs for a New World, Ghost/Writer, and Falsettos. Other productions she has worked on as an Assistant Stage Manager include Gypsy: A Musical Fable and Jesus Christ Superstar (Young Artists of America). Sharon was also the Production Assistant of The Chinese Lady at Everyman Theatre. IG handle: @0605szheng
Griffin DeLisle (Technical Supervisor) is a Baltimore based theater artist and technician. This is Griffin’s first full production with CSC. Their recent credits include: Assoc. Director, Alight, sweet hearted (Strand Theater); Show Runner, The Boundary & Katalepsis (Submersive Productions); Stage Manager, Technical Difficulties II (Flying V Fights). Onstage: YPF (Baltimore Center Stage); The Codeswitch (Sisters Freehold); Here We Are (Interrobang); I Know These Roads (True Penny Collective). Upcoming: The Monroe Doctrine at Baltimore Theater Project. (He/They)
Molly Moores* (Acting Company Manager) See Actor Bios
Tameika Chavis* (Community Engagement Manager) is a resident company member of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, the Black Classical Acting Ensemble, and teaching artist. She is a graduate of the British American Drama Academy and the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. Recent theatre credits include: Chesapeake Shakespeare Company: A Raisin in the Sun, Macbeth (BroadwayWorld Best Actress in Play), Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, The Tempest, A Christmas Carol; Mosaic Theatre: Confederates, Charm, Inherit the Windbag; 1st Stage: The Rainmaker (Helen Hayes Nominated Outstanding Lead Performer), The Mamalogues; Imagination Stage: The Hula Hoopin’ Queen; NextStop Theatre: Middletown; Constellation Theatre Company: Caucasian Chalk Circle; BADA: Measure for Measure, Hedda Gabler; The Second City: The Revolution Will Be Improvised (u/s); Kennedy Center TYA: She A Gem (u/s). TELEVISION: Anacostia (Daytime Emmy nominated and recipient of the Indie Series Award for Best Lead Actress), The Wire, Psychic Detectives. FILM: Raven, Liam White, A Family Matters Christmas, Torn. Tamieka is a proud member of actor’s equity. tamiekachavis.com
Kathryne Daniels* (Community Engagement Specialist) is a CSC company member and has been recently seen in CSC's productions of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)[revised][again] (2023), Twelfth Night (2022) as Maria, and the student matinee of Romeo and Juliet as the Nurse (2022). Other CSC credits include: A Christmas Carol (2021), Dracula (2019), Measure for Measure (2020), Henry IV Parts 1&2 (2019) and Julius Caeser (2017). She has also worked with Baltimore Shakespeare Factory, Stillpoint Theater, Iron Crow and Fells Point Theater.
Molly Horton Booth* (Shakespeare Beyond Education Coordinator) coordinates the Shakespeare Beyond Arts Residencies, bringing fun performing arts workshops taught by awesome teaching artists to hundreds of students in Maryland. Their CSC experience includes running the Homeschool CORPS classes, as well as directing The Two Noble Kinsmen with an all-veterans ensemble. She is also an author of Young Adult Shakespeare-related novels, including Saving Hamlet, Nothing Happened, Twelfth Grade Night, and King Cheer, all published by Disney Hyperion. They also specialize in magical crafting and made the fairy wands for this production. Molly graduated with an M.A. in English (with a thesis in Shakespeare pedagogy) from the University of Massachusetts Boston. (they/she)
