Salt Lake Acting Company - Cast and Creative

Salt Lake Acting Company is proud to announce the cast and creative team for the upcoming World Premiere production of SLAC's Summer Show: Close Encounters in the Beehive by Olivia Custodio, David Knoell, and Penelope Caywood. Join us for this hilarious new take on life in Utah. When two aliens are sent on a mission to Earth, they're not quite sure what they will find. However, their instructions are clear: determine if Earth is worth saving by observing its people and their lives. Only problem - they've landed in Salt Lake City where the people are..........unique. SLAC's Summer Show is back with a comedic out-of-this-world romp in the Beehive State as we follow our intergalactic friends and their close (maybe a little too close) observation of the Jorgensen family.

This fantastic and funny cast is made up of several SLAC all stars and exciting new faces to our stage. The show will run in our upstairs theatre from June 26th to August 18th, 2024. Tickets are available here. Making up the cast, SLAC alumnus include Joseph Paul Branca* (SLAC's Summer Show: Down the Rabbit Hole, Saturday's Voyeur, Pete the Cat), Micki Martinez* (Pinkalicious, Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly), and Robert Scott Smith* (Sleeping Giant, Saturday's Voyeur, Climbing With Tigers). Making their Salt Lake Acting Company debuts will be Melody Baugh, Noelani Brown, Nate Ginsberg, Marc Nielson, and Alexa Shaheen. 

Understudies for the production, appearing as part of the Understudy Program at SLAC, will be announced shortly. The Understudy Program at SLAC is essential to allowing us to elevate, nurture, and employ emerging actors, as well as allowing seasoned performers the opportunity to stretch their creative muscles, all while widening and deepening our local artistic community.

From Top Left: Melody Baugh, Joseph Paul Branca*, Noelani Brown, Nate Ginsberg, Micki Martinez*, Marc Nielson, Alexa Shaheen, and Robert Scott Smith*. 

SLAC's Summer Show 2024 will be directed and choreographed by Cynthia Fleming, joining her on the creative team will be Zach Hansen (Music Director), Erik Reichert (Set Design), Jesse Portillo** (Lighting Design), Heidi Ortega (Costume Design), Joe Killian (Sound Design), Erika Ahlin (Props Design), Jennie Sant* (Production Stage Manager), and Bridgette Lehman (Stage Manager).

Joining the creative team as part of SLAC's Professional Theatre Program for Emerging Artists will be Anna Blaes (Asst. Props Design), and Hannah Keating (Asst. Director/Asst. Choreographer). The Professional Theatre Program for Emerging Artists supplies opportunities to theatre artisans in multiple disciplines to learn and develop their skills in professional productions. To date, SLAC has created more than 150 production-based paid positions for actors, assistant stage managers, assistant directors and assistant designers. For more information on the program, click here.

Join us on Saturday, August 3rd for THE PARTY, Salt Lake Acting Company's annual fundraiser to help support all of our wonderful programming! Tickets are available now, and more information on what you can look forward to will be released shortly!

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
**Represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 of the IATSE.

Salt Lake Acting Company is proud to announce the cast and creative team for the upcoming Regional Premiere production of Bald Sisters by Vichet Chum. Join us for this moving, funny, and powerful family story that pits sister against sister, old against new, right against ritual, and prayer against... karaoke.

The cast is made up of veterans of SLAC’s stage, as well as newcomers. The show will run in our upstairs theatre from April 10th to May 5th, 2024. Tickets are available here. SLAC alum include Wendy Dang (Egress), and David Knoell* (Hairy & Sherri, SLAC's Summer Show: A Beautiful Day in the Nieghborhood). They are joined in this production by SLAC newcomers Keiko Shimosato Carreiro*, Alec Kalled, and Audrey Pan. 

From Top Left: Keiko Shimosato Carreiro, Wendy Dang, Alec Kalled, David Knoell, and Audrey Pan

Bald Sisters will be directed by Seonjae Kim, joining her on the creative team will be Gage Williams** (Set Design), Jesse Portillo** (Lighting Design), Jennifer Jackson (Sound Design), Alicia Kondrick (Costume Design), and Erika Ahlin (Props Design). 

Watch out for more information on this hilarious and poignant Regional Premiere.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
**Represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 of the IATSE.

Salt Lake Acting Company is proud to announce the cast and creative team for the upcoming Regional Premiere production of You Will Get Sick by Noah Diaz. The cast is made up of veterans of SLAC’s stage, as well as several newcomers. The show will run in our upstairs theatre from February 7th to March 3rd, 2024. Tickets are available here.

SLAC alum include Ben Young (Climbing With Tigers), Latoya Cameron* (Passing Strange, Form of a Girl Unknown), and Marion Markham* (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City). They are joined in this production by SLAC newcomers Josh Tewell and Scotty Fletcher.

From Top Left: Ben Young, Latoya Cameron*, Marion Markham*, Josh Tewell, Scotty Fletcher

You Will Get Sick  will be directed by Christopher DuVal; he is joined on the production team by Cassandra Stokes-Wylie* (Asst. Director), Dennis Hassan (Set Designer), Nancy Hills (Costume Designer), Michael Horejsi (Lighting Designer), Cynthia L. Kehr Rees** (Sound Designer), Erika Ahlin (Props Designer), Theresa Martinez and Annie Fukushima (EDI Dramaturgs), Jennie Sant (Rehearsal Stage Manager/Production Manager), and Bridgette Lehman (Rehearsal Asst. Stage Manager/Run of Show Stage Manager). 

Joining us as part of Salt Lake Acting Company's Professional Theatre Program, promoting learning and experience opportunities for both seasoned artisans and students, will be Melanie Valera (Asst. Set Designer). The Professional Theatre Program for Emerging Artists supplies opportunities to theatre artisans in multiple disciplines to learn and develop their skills in professional productions. To date, SLAC has created more than 150 production-based paid positions for actors, assistant stage managers, assistant directors and assistant designers. For more information on the program, click here.

Watch out for more information on this joyous, fantastical, and funny tale which explores what it means to live in your own body as you struggle with the hard parts of being human.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
**The Sound Designer for You Will Get Sick is represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 of the IATSE.

SLAC's Summer Show is a staple of the culture at Salt Lake Acting Company. It's the most joyous and celebratory time of year! Season renewals are happening, patrons dine in the theatre, and we all get to enjoy a hilarious musical comedy that only people that live in Utah will truly connect with. It's one of the most beloved shows here at SLAC, but what does it take to create something that makes audiences laugh year after year?

We talked to the wonderful playwright of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Olivia Custodio, about playwrighting and her process:

What are you most excited for the audience to experience with this year’s show?

SO many things. Most importantly, the cast. We called back 30+ insanely talented people during the audition process and had the impossible challenge of whittling that down to eight actors. You will be blown away by them. This year’s show requires a LOT of diversity from these actors; they each play many, many characters. Also, there are puppets. Incredible puppets. Glen and Linda Brown have knocked it out of the park again (you’ve seen their work in many SLACshows). And lastly, THE TABLES ARE BACK, BABY! Having the cabaret tables close to the stage adds such an amazing energy to the room. Bring your favorite summer snacks and some drinks. I hope you enjoy the show

What was your starting point/process, as a playwright, for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood? What goals and intentions do you set for yourself before you write something as specific as this show (parodying Utah culture, relevancy/importance, commentary)?

The one thing I’ve learned from writing plays over the past couple of years is that inspiration will hit you out of nowhere. I was literally driving in my car one day and for some reason I thought about how hilarious it would be if Brigham Young and Big Bird were combined into one character. Why did I think this? No idea. Welcome to my brain. But that random thought got me thinking about Sesame Street and all of the classic PBS shows that influenced generations and wondering why we have such a strong sense of sentimentality around them. (I know I’m not the only one who cries at Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood clips!) So many of these shows were created specifically with equity, diversity, kindness, empathy, and access to education in mind. We think we’ve come so far in 2023, yet those basic principles have in some ways become even more contentious than when they premiered on TV decades ago. (Did you know that Mississippi actually banned Sesame Street for awhile in the early 70s?) What would it look like if these shows were trying to get through to us today, dealing with the problems and hardships that weigh on us as adults in this day and age? My goal with this show (both last year and this year) is to examine Utah life while taking into consideration the the variety of the people who live here. I’m not interested in making fun of one group of people or not trying to understand where they’re coming from (unless they’re racists, transphobes, or homophobes, etc.!). I personally think comedy is the most beautiful vehicle to examine humanity. I’m obsessed with the energy of a whole room coming together through laughter.

What makes SLAC's Summer Show (formerly known as SLACabaret) unique compared to other shows in your mind? What freedoms does this specific show offer?

Well, I think having the opportunity to completely start from scratch every year is an incredible thing for a playwright. A challenge, for sure, but luckily the world keeps on spinning and providing fodder galore. It also provides a complete freedom of structure. Last year’s show had a through line, with arcs for all ten characters. This year is much different with cutaways to self-contained scenes with unique characters in each one. My favorite thing about the Summer Show is that the audience truly is one of the characters. It feels like a theatrical “spilling of the tea” where actors and audience get to come together to commiserate and share laughs about the incredibly unique thing that is living in Utah.

What influences and experiences (personal or otherwise), as someone who lives in Utah, do you like to incorporate into the Summer Show?

I have lived here for 10 years now, so I come with the viewpoint of someone who arrived very much as a stranger, not knowing what to expect from Utah. But I am deeply influenced by my friends who were born and raised here and the news that comes out of Utah. Listen, I say this with love, but this place is crazy as hell. Half of the things that happen here are so bizarre and the rest of the country is looking at us like, “What is going on over there?!” That’s not to say that there aren’t wonderful things about where we live, but I do like to gently and humorously remind folks through the Summer Show that we are not normal. That being said, I make sure that the show is always ultimately a celebration of the good of where we are and who we are.

How does IDEA (Identity, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility) influence or shape your process?

As an artist and human being, IDEA work is a very important part of who I am. Theatre has masqueraded for a long time as an inclusive and safe space for all, but in recent years it has fully come to light how, unfortunately, that isn’t true. (I urge everyone to take a look at https://www.weseeyouwat.com/ ) Every individual, every industry, every community has a responsibility to IDEA work, and making that shift in theatre is extremely important. Theatre is storytelling, and if we’re not hearing diverse stories about all of the people in our world, what is the point? I am incredibly grateful to have had Latoya Cameron, SLAC’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Dramaturg as my dramaturg for this Summer Show. She was essential in all of the research and a thought partner to ensure that IDEA work was present in both the writing, casting, and final product.

Writing a script is hard enough alone, but incorporating music adds another layer of complexity; how do you decide what songs/genres to include throughout the show?

You know, adding the music is actually the easiest part of the process for me. I used to sit in my room as a kid and rewrite lyrics to pop songs just…because. I’ve always had a good ear for the rhythm of words. It’s one of those things that usually strike me out of the blue while I’m writing a scene. I’ll think, “Oh my god, this clever lyric would fit perfectly in this song” and off I go to build out the whole song. Sometimes there are songs that I know I want to use from the beginning, just because, selfishly, I love it. Sometimes I get stuck and have to think about it for a day or two. Sometimes there are lyrics that I just cannot figure out for the life of me. But that’s being a writer— you wait and suddenly it will come to you while you’re in the shower and not stressing about it. Also, having the incredible Mike Leavitt, the show’s Music Director, by my side eases every single worry. There is nothing that Mike can’t make work. Once I write all of the lyrics, I get with Mike to sing through it and he arranges it for the cast, musicians, and creates all of the pre-recorded track parts like drums and guitar.

Salt Lake Acting Company is proud to announce the cast and production team for the upcoming World Premiere production of SLAC's Summer Show: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (formerly SLACabaret 2023) by Olivia Custodio. The cast is made up of veterans of SLAC’s stage, as well as several newcomers. Stay tuned for more details about this laugh-out-loud comedy coming soon! The show will run in our upstairs theatre from July 12th to August 20th, 2023. Tickets are available here.

SLAC alum include Madison Archibald (Elephant & Piggie's We Are in a Play!), Sean Carter* (SLACabaret: Down the Rabbit Hole, Angels in America), Trevor Dean* (Saturday's Voyeur), Wendy Joseph (Hairy & Sherri, Elephant & Piggie's We Are in a Play!) and David Knoell* (Hairy& Sherri). Making their SLAC debuts are Trevor Bird, James Wong, and Akina Yamazaki. As part of the Understudy Program at SLAC, the understudies for SLAC's Summer Show include SLAC alum Daisy Ali All* (SLACabaret: Down the Rabbit Hole, Form of a Girl Unknown), and making their SLAC debuts will be True Leavitt, Brandwynn Michelle, Laurel Morgan, and Bryce Romleski. The Understudy Program at SLAC is essential to allowing us to elevate, nurture, and employ emerging actors, as well as allowing seasoned performers the opportunity to stretch their creative muscles, all while widening and deepening our local artistic community.

SLAC's Summer Show is written by Olivia Custodio and will be directed and choreographed by Cynthia Fleming; she is joined on the production team by Michael Leavitt (Music Director), Erik Reichert (Set Designer), Jesse Portillo** (Lighting Designer), Joe Killian (Sound Designer), Heidi Ortega (Costume Designer), Michael Francis (Media Designer), Glenn Brown (Puppet Designer), Linda Brown (Puppet Designer), Erika Ahlin (Props Designer), Daniel Jacob Hill (Wig Designer), Kenny Riches (Video Director/Editor), Sequoia (Drag Queen Consultant), Jennie Sant* (Production Stage Manager), Bridgette Lehman* (Asst. Stage Manager), Latoya Cameron (Dramaturg), and Robert Scott Smith (Script Consultant).

Joining the team as part of SLAC’s Professional Theatre Program for Emerging Artists will be Jorji Diaz Fadel (Asst. Director/Choreographer), Amea Allen (Asst. Sound Designer), Anna Blaes (Asst. Props Designer), and Janelle Asti (Asst. Lighting Designer). The Professional Theatre Program for Emerging Artists supplies opportunities to theatre artisans in multiple disciplines to learn and develop their skills in professional productions. To date, SLAC has created more than 150 production-based paid positions for actors, assistant stage managers, assistant directors and assistant designers. For more information on the program, click here.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. **The Lighting Designer for SLAC's Summer Show is represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 of the IATSE.

We are pleased to announce our next New Play Sounding Series free reading of Let Down Your Hair by Matthew Ivan Bennett. The reading will take place on Monday, May 1st, 2023 at 7 PM.

Written by SLAC alum Matthew Ivan Bennett (The Caretaker) and directed by Alexandra Harbold* (The Wolves, Death of a Driver) with Bridgette Lehman as Stage Manager. The cast features SLAC alumnus and several newcomers. SLAC alum include: Colleen Baum* (Four Women Talking About the Man Under the Sheet) as Frau Göthel, Alex Smith (NPSS - The Obsolete Unkindness of Ravens) as the Reader, and Ben Young (Climbing With Tigers) as Fable. Newcomers are Caro Ciet as Rapunzel, Amona Faatau as the Prince, and Brenda Hattingh Peatross as Hettie Wiegle. 

Let Down Your Hair is described by the playwright as follows: 

Let Down Your Hair is a modern re-telling of Rapunzel through the lens of sex education in America. In the 1812 edition of the Brothers Grimm tale, the fairy (later changed to an evil human) knew the prince had been visiting the tower after 12-year-old Rapunzel got pregnant.

Despite the fact that we still grapple with early unwanted pregnancies in 2023, most people only know the whitewashed version of this classic. Let Down Your Hair restores the cautionary-tale boldness of the original, using comedy, politics, and a talking cat.

RSVP Here

While admission to the NPSS reading of Let Down Your Hair is free, reservations are required. They can be reserved directly via the link above, or by contacting the SLAC Audience Relationship Team at or calling 801-363-7522.

For more information on the New Play Sounding Series, please click here.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

Salt Lake Acting Company is proud to announce the cast and production team for the upcoming Utah Premiere production of Yoga Play by Dipika Guha. The cast is made up of veterans of SLAC’s stage, as well as newcomers. The show will run in our upstairs theatre from April 12th to May 7th, 2023. Tickets are available here.

SLAC alum include Jeanette Puhich (Rapture, Blister, Burn, The Water Project) as Joan, Archelaus Crisanto* (Sleeping Giant) as Fred, and Joe Crnich (The Cake, Stupid F***ing Bird) as John/Gurugi/Ensemble. Making their SLAC debuts are Abhiijith Harikumar as Raj, and Jennica Anusua as Ramola/Ensemble. As part of the Understudy Program at SLAC, the understudies for Yoga Play include SLAC alum Tracie Merrill-Wilson* (The Wolves, Rapture, Blister, Burn) as understudy for Joan, and Robert Scott Smith* (Sleeping Giant, Saturday's Voyeur) as understudy for John/Guruji/Ensemble. Making their SLAC debuts will be Jordan Reynosa as understudy for Fred, Darci Ramirez as understudy for Ramola/Ensemble, and Mohan Sudabattula as understudy for Raj. The Understudy Program at SLAC is essential to allowing us to elevate, nurture, and employ emerging actors, as well as allowing seasoned performers the opportunity to stretch their creative muscles, all while widening and deepening our local artistic community.

Yoga Play will be directed by Penelope Caywood; she is joined on the production team by Gage Williams** (Set Designer), Matthew Taylor** (Lighting Designer), Jennifer Jackson (Sound Designer), La Beene (Costume Designer), Michael Francis (Media Designer), Erik Reichert (Props Designer), Sidikha Ashraf (Dramaturg/Dialect Coach), and Jennie Sant* (Stage Manager).

Joining the team as part of SLAC’s Professional Theatre Program for Emerging Artists, in conjunction with the Understudy Program at SLAC, will be Jennica Anusua as Ramola/Ensemble, Darci Ramirez as understudy for Ramola/Ensemble, Mohan Sudabattula as understudy for Raj, Erika Ahlin (Asst. Props Designer) and Joseph Paul Branca (Asst. Stage Manager). The Professional Theatre Program for Emerging Artists supplies opportunities to theatre artisans in multiple disciplines to learn and develop their skills in professional productions. To date, SLAC has created more than 150 production-based paid positions for actors, assistant stage managers, assistant directors and assistant designers. For more information on the program, click here.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. **The Set and Lighting Designers for Yoga Play are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 of the IATSE.

“Yoga Play” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com