LISA K. BRYANT (Producing Artistic Director / DIRECTOR) Lisa has directed over 25 productions at FRP. After a two-year pandemic hiatus, it is an honor and privilege to be back in the creative trenches with such remarkable talent on stage and off for West Side Story. Deepest gratitude to every artist and artisan who left their own mark on this production. And huge thanks to you, the audience, for supporting the arts and especially for supporting Flat Rock Playhouse. There is no FRP without our dedicated patrons and donors.
ETHAN ANDERSEN (MUSIC Director) Ethan is celebrating his 10th year of being a Vagabond: apprentice, actor, writer, apprentice director, and music director. He was the music director and conductor of the Saturday Night Fever national tour and Elon University’s Music Theatre program. He’s played piano for Broadway’s Mean Girls and Company and conducted for BCEFA’s Easter Bonnet Competition. As a writer, Ethan is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, ASCAP, and Dramatists Guild. His musical, Rootabaga Express!, can be seen every summer across the street at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, and his Playhouse Jr. shows, Letterland Alive! and Greetings from North Carolina!, will tour NC schools this fall. Ethan received a BFA in Music Theatre from Elon University. He is grateful and excited to be back on the Rock. ethan-andersen.com
MATTHEW GLOVER (ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE / Choreographer) In 1998, Matthew became a fellow Vagabond where he fell in love with the theatre at the age of 11 performing in The Sound of Music and The Will Rogers Follies followed by many more productions on the Rock! Thankful to continue to direct and choreograph for FRP. Matthew also creates, directs and choreographs the successful production of A Flat Rock Playhouse Christmas which is now in it’s sixth season! After receiving a BFA in Musical Theatre from Elon University, he traveled the worl performing in national tours, mumerous regional theatres, cruise ships and theme parks. Over the last several years, Matthew has transitioned to the creative side of the theater, wearing many hats that come with the territory. Huge thanks to the FRP Staff and team for bringing me back home!
Héctor Flores Jr . (Associate Choreographer) is a NYC based Puerto Rican Director/Choreographer. Growing up just outside of Manhattan, Flores is very familiar with West Side Story and is thrilled to be bringing authenticity and a Latino perspective to this production. Some of his favorite Creative Team Credits include Love & Yogurt (Off-Broadway), In The Heights (Mill Mountain Theatre) Sueños: Our American Musical (New York Theatre Barn) and Mommie Dearest: A New Musical (Birdland)
Adam Goodrum (Production Manager) Adam graduated from UNC School of the Arts in with a B.F.A. in Technical Direction. After graduating he went to Goodspeed Opera House where he spent 3 years climbing the ranks from a Carpenter, Lead Welder, Master Carpenter to their Assistant Technical Director 2007. He then moved to DC to become Signature Theatre’s Technical Director. After a year with Signature he returned to Goodspeed to take over as their Technical Director where he stayed from 2009-2013. In 2013 Adam moved closer to home and joined the Flat Rock Playhouse staff where he took on the position of Technical Director, and in 2014, he moved up to be the Production Manager. Adam is happy to have found his place back in his home state of NC where he is closer to family and friends and where he and his wife, Samantha welcomed their first child Ryden to the Vagabond Family in 2018.
Joshua Stewart (Associate Production Manager) Prior to joining Flat Rock Playhouse for the 2022 season, Joshua served as the assistant production manager for the Theater Department at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts. He has also worked as a stage manager across the US for companies such as Florida Grand Opera, the Atlanta Opera and Piedmont Opera, among others. Joshua holds a Master of Fine Arts in Stage Management from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a Bachelors of Science in Theatre Production from Illinois State University, and is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists.
Bill Muñoz (PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER) Words are hard to find to express the gratitude and happiness Bill feels to be able to return to work at this wonderful organization after two years of pandemic survival. Being able to call himself an active member of the Vagabond community is a very high honor. Celebrating his 31st season, it’s a feeling of rebirth. A time to look forward and be a part of a positive movement. Special thanks to those who support live theatre and make the arts an important contribution to society. Much love to his wife and daughter, the two most important people of his life.
Amelia Driscoll (ASSISTANT Stage Manager) is thrilled to be back at Flat Rock Playhouse working on another fantastic production. In 2012, she graduated from UNC Wilmington with a BFA in Creative Writing and a minor in Theatre. Since then, she has worked as an Production Stage Manager or Assistant Stage Manager for theatres in North Carolina, South Carolina, and California. She would like to thank the cast, crew, production team, and everyone at FRP for making this a wonderful experience. Finally, to her friends and family, a huge thank you for their endless support and love.
DENNIS C. MAULDEN (SCENIC DESIGNER) Apprenticed with the Playhouse in 1967 and continued for 11 years as Equity Stage Manager and Scenic Artist. He became Resident Scenic Designer in 1985 and joined the full-time staff in 2000. With an MFA degree from UNC-Greensboro in 1977 and membership in United Scenic Artists, New York Local #829, Maulden has designed standard and classical repertory works, experimental projects, new plays, operas, and musicals in regional, university, and New York theatres. Proud to have contributed to the theatre’s physical and aesthetic growth, artistic production quality, and strong educational development, Dennis feels particularly blessed to be a part of the Playhouse family. denniscmaulden.com
Ashli Arnold Crump (Resident Costume Designer / Costume Shop Manager) No introduction needed, Ashli has been a Vagabond for 30 years and has led the costume department for over a decade. What a long, strange trip it’s been. A graduate of the former FRP Theatre for Young People Conservatory program. She has a degree in Theatre Design and Technology from Appalachian State University. As the Resident Costume Designer she has designed countless FRP productions. Some of her favorites include South Pacific, All Shook Up, Annie, Joseph…Dreamcoat, Chasing Rainbows, Million Dollar Quartet, 9 to 5, The Music Man, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Hank Williams Lost Highway, The Little Prince, Peter Pan, and A Christmas Story. Ashli has also worked for New Stage Theatre, Florida Repertory Theatre, Mill Mountain Theatre, South Carolina Children’s Theatre, Blowing Rock Stage Company, The Opera Company of NC, Brevard Music Center, Brevard College, and Sapsis Rigging. You can also see Ashli’s handcrafted jewelry and designs at The Garage on 25 in Fletcher, NC.
CJ BARNWELL (LIGHTING DESIGNER) designs lighting and visual media for live events around the country. Regionally, CJ has designed a number of shows including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Million Dollar Quartet, 9 to 5, and South Pacific at Flat Rock Playhouse in Flat Rock, NC; Jeeves Intervenes, Brave New World, Grounded, and Curvy Widow at North Carolina Stage Company in Asheville, NC; and most recently Ring of Fire and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill for North Carolina Theatre in Raleigh, NC. Other recent designs include projections for Mountaintop and The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AK; and How I Learned What I Learned by August Wilson at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. See his other current and upcoming designs at www.CJLights.com.
Allen Sanders (Sound Designer) is currently on faculty at VT School of Performing Arts as the Sound Design Instructor. He holds a BA in theater from UNCG, and has had a colorful career with many adventures including regional theater, 15 national tours, and mixing sound on Broadway. Past work includes: Resident Sound Designer at Flat Rock Playhouse for two seasons designing such shows as Drowsy Chaperone, 39 Steps, The Producers, Miss Saigon, Hairspray, and others. FOH mixer for A Little Night Music on Broadway (which was a Tony Award nominee for Best Sound Design), Technical Director/Production Manager at the Jefferson Center, Head of Sound at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte NC, FOH mixer on First National Tour of Dirty Dancing, FOH mixer on First National Tour of Cash, Ring of Fire, vacation cover for FOH mixer on First National Tour of Newsies, FOH mixer on National Tour of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Fantasticks, Babes In Toyland, A2 on national tours of Sweeney Todd, Annie, The Who's Tommy (Tokyo), Miss Saigon, and others. Allen has helped produce two small children who gladly take up all his free time. Thanks to my family and especially my wife, Carrie.
Patrick W. Lord (Projection Designer) is happy to be back at Flat Rock Playhouse after designing South Pacific in 2019. He is based in Washington, DC, and has design credits across the country. NATIONAL TOUR: Hairspray, On Your Feet (upcoming). NEW YORK: Where Words Once Were (Lincoln Center); The Tempest (R. Evolución Latina); The Bodyguard: The Musical (White Plains Performing Arts Center). REGIONAL: Earthrise, Voyagers, Digging Up Dessa, Where Words Once Were (The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts); Hamlet, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Hedwig and the Angry Inch, A Christmas Carol (Olney Theatre Center); Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Skylight Music Theatre); Desvelado (Peppercorn Theatre); Beauty and the Beast, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Croswell Opera House); The Phlebotomist, Columbinus (1st Stage); The Phantom of the Opera (Synetic Theatre); Dreamgirls, The Wiz (Arts Centric); Love and Information, Building the Wall, Blackberry Winter (Forum Theatre); Mnemonic (Theatre Alliance, Helen Hayes Award Nomination for Best Projection Design); Big Fish, American Idiot, Bridges of Madison County (Keegan Theatre); Outside the Lines (Arts on the Horizon); Don Juan (Taffety Punk); Jumanji, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical (Adventure Theatre); . EDUCATION: MFA, The University of Texas at Austin. BFA, Emerson College. www.patrickwlord.com
Clara Ashe-Moore (ASSISTANT Projection Designer) is a projections and lighting designer based in Washington D.C. Recent credits include Projections Designer for Because (Kennedy Center Concert Hall); Associate Projections Designer for Bayard Rustin Inside Ashland (People’s Light Theatre) and Freedom Rider (Crossroads Theatre Company and Alabama Shakespeare Festival); and Assistant Projection Designer for: The Phlebotomist (1st Stage), Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Skylight Music Theatre), and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Olney Theatre Center).
Laura Rikard, (INTIMACY CHOREOGRAPHER) is an intimacy choreographer/director and coordinator, director, actor, and professor. She is Co-Founder and Head Faculty of Theatre Intimacy Education. She choreographs, consults, and teaches workshops on best practices for staging intimacy for professional and educational theatre and film nationally and internationally. Intimacy Choreographer credits include: Spring Awakening; Heathers, Indecent, Tick Tick Boom Scenes From an Execution; among others. Intimacy Coordinator credits include: Harlem; Mother’s Instinct; Interview With A Vampire; Ramy; Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches; and Billy Porter’s Anything’s Possible. She is a contributor to the first book on theatre intimacy, Staging Sex: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques for Theatrical. As a director and actor, she has worked in film and television, NYC, regionally, on national tours, internationally and devised solo productions. She is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of South Carolina Upstate. She is a recipient of the Best Acting award at the Virginia Film Festival and has been named by Academic Keys as a “Who’s Who in Fine Arts Education” Festival, the Kennedy Center Medallion for contribution to Intimacy Direction, and the Faculty Teaching Award at USC Upstate. She is based in Asheville, NC and the Mom of 3 year old twins.
