- New Musical Laboratory (NML) in collaboration with Wharton Center for Performing Arts
- Music by Dan Gibson and Book and Lyrics by Alex Higgin-Houser
- Run Time: 2.5 hours + 15 minute intermission
- Location: Pasant Theatre, Wharton Center for Performing Arts
- Dates: September 24 – 27, 2026
In 1986, the Challenger disaster shook the nation. Millions of school children watched as the accident unfolded on live television, claiming the lives of seven astronauts, including a beloved teacher. When the smoke cleared, the American astronaut corps led the reckoning, risking their careers to investigate what went wrong, then rebuilding NASA from the inside out. Based on years of interviews, Discovery tells the inspiring story of Sally Ride and the Astronaut corps, and how their journeys on Earth brought America back to space.
Content Notice: Contains discussion of death and grief.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Ride: Bel Corwin
Steve: Mahdi Osseili
Guy: August Garrett
Hoot: Noah Savage
Bolden: Curtis Bannister*
Rhea: Riley Crabtree
Cleave: Aubriana Scott
Brewster: Hugh Watters
Pinky: Connor Cavett
Walker: Brecken Styles (U/S Ride)
Young: David Meagher
Ensemble:
U/S Cleave: Olivia Welch
U/S Rhea: Jhanvi Gugneja
U/S Pinky: Nolan Osterhart
U/S Walker: Anna Zaccari
U/S Bolden: Zachary Barker
Samantha Jones
Ella Galens
*Appears courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
Director: Rod Caspers
Music Director & Piano: Dave Wendelberger
Production Stage Manager: Larry Smiglewski*
House Head Electrician: Joe Lancour
House Head Audio: Steve Vangel
Intimacy and Fight Director: Alexis Black
*Appears courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
Assistant Stage Manager: Emma Jestila
Assistant Stage Manager: Alex Vincent
Stage Management: Tina Neuhauser
Department of Theatre Chairperson: Kirk Domer
Executive Director of Wharton Center: Eric Olmscheid
Artistic Program Coordinator of New Musical Laboratory: Adam Yankowy
Wharton Center Director of Operations and Administration: Jarrod D. Bradford
Wharton Center Senior Production Manager: Sandy Thomley+
Wharton Center Production Manager: Dave Barnum+
Department of Theatre Production Manager: Chloe Seare
Wharton Center Senior Education Program Manager: Kelly Stuible-Clark
Wharton Center Community Engagement and Special Projects Coordinator: Ben English
Wharton Center Director of Marketing & Communications: Lisa Brinker
Wharton Center Ticket Office Manager: Jennifer R. Richard
Wharton Center Senior Marketing Manager: Ryonn Clute
Wharton Center Digital Marketing Manager: Kelsey Southwick
Wharton Center House Manager: Matt Kribs
Wharton Center Associate House Manager: Ana Whitman
Head Electrician: Joey Lancour+
Head Audio: Troy Boyd+
Production Photography: Ryan Frederick
Fiscal Officer: Sara Allison
Department of Theatre Office Operations: Kath Clark
Stage Crew: I.A.T.S.E. 274
+Members of Local 274 of the International Alliance of the Theatrical Stage Employees
ACT I
#2 We Know
#3 Numbers and Names Suite
#3.1 Sixes and Sevens
#3.2 Questions and Answers
#3.3 Watch and Rewatch
#3.4 Arrivals and Departures
#3.5 Plants and Prayers
#3.6 Rings and Reminders
#3.7 Names and Numbers
#4 Fly Again
#5 Sally Keeps Her Cool
#6 Blue
#7 The Roar
#8 Judy’s Chair
#9 Sally Keeps Her Cool (Reprise)
#10 We Say Yes
#11 They Knew
#12 Wish I Could Believe
ACT II
#13 Whidbey Island
#14 When Do You Know?
#15 We Say Yes (Reprise)
#16 Eileen’s Philodendron
#17 The Key
#18 The Weight
#19 Fly Again (Reprise)
#20 Tiny, Heavy Things
#21 Ready, Go Easy
#22 Earthbound
#23 Waiting On the Wind / Fly Again (Finale)
RESOURCES
The Challenger Disaster – What happened?
On January 28th, 1986, the Challenger space shuttle launched from Kennedy Space Center. 73 seconds into the flight, a leak in the right solid rocket booster (SRB), caused by a faulty seal (O-ring), allowed hot, pressurized gas to escape, which caused three simultaneous things to happen: the gas melted the connection between the SRB and the large, orange external fuel tank, causing the course to deviate sharply; this deviation caused the shuttle itself, no longer flying aerodynamically, to disintegrate; this also caused a breach in the external tank, which exploded. There were no survivors.
Downtime
After the Challenger disaster, a number of things changed within the astronaut corps. In the immediate aftermath, astronauts were given new jobs, with new duties, some of which fell well outside of their training. Some were put on the “recovery” team, coordinating with naval officers in the search for shuttle debris, others assisted in the Rogers Commission investigation, some were made “family escorts,” training with USMC escorts (the marines you see with dignitaries) to assist the families of those killed, and still others received truly miscellaneous assignments, responsible for everything from walking the Florida coastline to find possible debris, to speculating about missions well in the future, to determining what, medically, happened to those on board the shuttle. Some received no assignment at all.
The revelations of the Rogers Commission, coupled with a significant change in duties or lack thereof, caused several astronauts to reconsider their participation in the program, or to take extended leaves of absence. Some returned, others moved into administration, and some, like Sally Ride, left NASA entirely.
Return to Flight
On September 29, 1988, 32 months after the Challenger disaster, the space shuttle Discovery, with a newly-redesigned solid rocket booster, after a number of delays (some legitimate, others questionable), launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking America’s “return to flight.”
Alex Higgin-Houser is a lyricist, playwright, and theatre educator. As founding artistic director of Underscore Theatre, Alex developed new musicals in Chicago from 2011 to 2018, where he also co-founded the Chicago Musical Theatre festival. His piece Haymarket (mus: David Kornfeld) won Chicago’s 2019 Joseph Jefferson award for best new musical, and is being workshopped in 2026 at Oberlin College. In 2019, Alex assisted composer William Finn as he completed his final song cycle. Alex’s piece Discovery (mus: Dan Gibson) is under development with Drama Club Productions. His musical Adventurers (mus: Lucy O’Brien), a first-of-its-kind DnD musical wherein dice rolls influence the story, was workshopped in 2024 at Whitman College. Alex has worked with students at Oberlin, Whitman, Elon, NYU Tisch, and Carleton College. He resides in Ohio with his partner Dr. Francesca Chubb-Confer and their son August. https://www.discoverymusical.com/
Dan Gibson is a composer, music director, and arts educator. Currently in development with Drama Club Productions, Discovery (book/lyrics by Alex Higgin-Houser) DiscoveryMusical.com. Present and past artistic homes: Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Flat Rock Playhouse, Ivoryton Playhouse, Royal Caribbean Productions, Enlightened Theatrics. Dan has served as a Visiting Professor and Music Director at Elon University, where Gibson and Higgin-Houser’s Beast Mode Champion: The Pro-Wrestling Rock Musical made its workshop premier, and where he created Elon’s first Musical Theatre Songwriting course. MFA NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, BFA Elon Music Theatre, BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, AEA, The Dramatists Guild. DanGibsonMusic.com
Though inspired by true events that took place between the launch of the Challenger in 1986 and the return-to-flight launch of Discovery in 1988, this is ultimately a work of fiction. Thank you to NASA astronauts Mary Cleave, Pinky Nelson, Brewster Shaw, and Steve Hawley for entrusting and inspiring us with your stories, and to the NASA oral history project for a number of other firsthand accounts. Any heroism belongs to those who performed it, and any errors are ours.
DEDICATION
For Dr. Mary Cleave (February 5, 1947 – November 27, 2023), our first astronaut interlocutor, without whom this show would not be possible.
DEVELOPMENT
Discovery is under development with Broadway’s Drama Club Productions, and was developed in part at the Catwalk Arts Residency in Catskill, NY., and at Drama Club Camp in Mt. Vernon, Maine.
Welcome to the Pasant Theatre at Michigan State University and thank you for joining us for the 13th installment of the New Musical Laboratory (NML), an innovative musical development program created through a unique educational partnership between the Department of Theatre and Wharton Center for Performing Arts.
There are moments in our lives when we remember exactly where we were and what we were doing. Time seems to stop, and the moment becomes a permanent marker, a turning point, a touchstone that cannot be forgotten. The Challenger tragedy, on that clear January morning in 1986, was one of those moments.
Institutions failed.
Trust fractured.
Progress stalled.
People still chose hope.
DISCOVERY is not an exercise in nostalgia. It is a new American musical about rebuilding after catastrophe.
The story emerges from a contradiction: a nation capable of profound failure and extraordinary renewal. The same audacity that propelled America toward space also demanded that, after tragedy, its people confront what had gone wrong, accept the cost of failure, and find the courage to return. Here, patriotism is not the certainty that a nation is infallible. It is the belief that a country can reckon with its failures, recommit to its highest ideals, and try again.
In 2019, while studying in NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, Dan Gibson and Alex Higgin-Houser wrote a ten-minute musical called Return to Flight. That short piece would eventually become DISCOVERY.
With the optimism, curiosity, and fearlessness that only young musical theatre writers seem to possess, they set out to speak with the people who had rebuilt America’s space program after the Challenger disaster.
DISCOVERY asks what it means to choose hope in the darkness, to rebuild what has been fractured, and to carry a legacy forward without being crushed by its weight. For us, as directors, that exploration begins with the body.
Although the musical unfolds within NASA, a world defined by immense technical and engineering complexity, we have chosen to forgo the spectacle of special effects. Instead, the actors’ bodies become our primary means of storytelling. The body becomes the technology. Throughout this three-week workshop, we have explored music, weightlessness, the pull of gravity, the manipulation of time, and the ways grief, memory, and resilience live within the human form.
The Michigan State New Musical Laboratory provides the ideal setting for this rich and generous collaboration. Working alongside the students has allowed us to experiment boldly, make meaningful changes and uncover dimensions of discovery that we could not have imagined at the outset. Their curiosity, discipline and artistry have profoundly shaped the development of this work.
Above all, the story shared on stage honors the courage, service and ultimate sacrifice of the seven astronauts who lost their lives aboard the Challenger. Their legacy remains stamped upon our collective consciousness. We remember them not only through the tragedy, but through the lives that they lived, the possibilities they pursued and the future they helped make imaginable.
– Rod Caspers, Director
We collectively acknowledge that Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg – Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. In particular, the University resides on Land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. We recognize, support, and advocate for the sovereignty of Michigan’s twelve federally-recognized Indian nations, for historic Indigenous communities in Michigan, for Indigenous individuals and communities who live here now, and for those who were forcibly removed from their Homelands. By offering this Land Acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold Michigan State University more accountable to the needs of American Indian and Indigenous peoples.
COMPANY BIOGRAPHIES
Curtis Bannister is the 2021 recipient of the Actors Equity Foundation Roger Sturtevant Award and Drama League Award nominee (Fidelio), Curtis Bannister has been praised by TimeOut Magazine as “radiating with slowly simmering energy” and a “quiet revelation” by the L.A. Times for his performances in theater, film, and opera.
Last season, Curtis returned to Heartbeat Opera as Chastity in Slaylem: The Witch Trials, joined INSeries to portray Robert in the workshop of Damien Geter and Jarrod Lee’s new opera The Delta King’s Blues, and made his mainstage début with Goodman Theatre in Chicago as Buster in The Color Purple. This season, he looks forward to returning to Indianapolis Symphony as duet partner to Heather Headley in a series of Pops concerts throughout the holiday season. He also joins Pensacola Opera as a Gala soloist, returns to Chicago Opera Theater as Severin in Der Silbersee, and joins Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in a concert of Broadway repertoire, in addition to a robust schedule of regional theatre engagements.
Curtis recently débuted at Asolo Repertory Theatre to unanimous acclaim for his portrayals as Reverend Jeremiah Brown in the American classic, Inherit the Wind, George in Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Intimate Apparel, and Juror #8 in the world premiere production of the musical adaptation of 12 Angry Men following a sold-out run in Minneapolis. In addition, Curtis débuted at The Kennedy Center as Soloist 1/Celebrant (cover) in Bernstein’s MASS for the Center’s 50th Anniversary celebration with the National Symphony and has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony/Cincinnati Pops, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and The Philadelphia Orchestra in Bernstein’s Candide alongside Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan. Bannister has also performed leading and supporting roles with Lyric Opera of Chicago (Il trovatore, Porgy & Bess, Les Troyens), Sarasota Opera (I lombardi, The Crucible, Lucia di Lammermoor), Heartbeat Opera (Fidelio), Utah Festival Opera (Verdi’s Otello, Der fliegende Holländer, Vanessa, Porgy & Bess), Atlanta Opera (Candide), Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Candide), Chicago Opera Theatre (La hija de Rappaccini, Quamino’s Map, The Nose), and Opera Fairbanks (Le nozze di Figaro).
Since 2023, Curtis has been the concert partner of Grammy and Tony-Award Winner Heather Headley. Bannister made his début at the TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL in the feature film The Conductor and can be seen as Marquis on Season 2 of the Apple TV+ series, Dickinson and Firefighter Reimers in NBC’s Chicago Fire. Last fall, Curtis was seen as Enzo on Season 2 of the Netflix hit show Survival of the Thickest with Michelle Buteau.
For more info visit www.thecurtisbannister.com | Instagram: @thee_cb | Twitter: @theecb
Current as of September 22, 2025
ZACHARY BARKER (U.S. Bolden) East Lansing, MI; Junior, BFA Acting, Business. Some of his credits are Persuasion (Captain Harville), The Seagull (Trigorin), 9 to 5 (Ensemble/ Understudy for Hart), MSU Unscripted (Himself), Rocky Mountain High (Ensemble), In Emily’s Words (Ensemble). Zach would like to thank Dave Wendleburger and Adam Yankowy for this opportunity. He would also like to thank his family and friend Paris for their love and support. Instagram: @thezach_barker
Rod Caspers is an award-winning director, speech and presentation coach, and special events producer/consultant. He has more than thirty years of experience and has been involved with a wide range of productions and events – from intimate one-person performances to large-scale multi-media events for more than 30,000 attendees. Using his theater background, Rod focuses on the overall experience that is desired for each given audience and the story that needs to be told. As a speech and presentation coach, Rod utilizes his vast experience and expertise to help presenters reach their goals with engaging content and common sense delivery techniques. https://www.rodcaspers.com/
CONNOR CAVETT (Pinky) Tucson, AZ; Senior, BFA Acting. Connor is thrilled to bring this musical to life and is so grateful to be a part of this incredible cast and creative team. This is his fourth production at Michigan State, following Dandelion (Jordan). He hopes you enjoy the show as much as the cast and crew have enjoyed bringing it to you! Instagram: Connor.Cav
Drama Club develops and produces what’s next in musical theatre. Founded by Tony-nominated producers Shannon Morrison and Scott Ihrig, Drama Club brings writers, artists, institutions, and producers together to move ambitious new musicals from development to production. From early exploration to full-scale workshops and productions, Drama Club helps build the path a new musical needs to reach its audience. Credits include A Strange Loop; MEXODUS; CATS: The Jellicle Ball. Upcoming projects include WANTED; THE HEART. We are grateful to the MSU New Musicals Laboratory for their partnership in developing DISCOVERY. Learn more at drama.club.
SARA “BEL” CORWIN (Ride) Gambrills, MD; Senior, BS Animal Science, Musical Theatre Minor. Some of their favorite credits include Urinetown (Little Sally), Mean Girls (Ms. Norbury), and Into the Woods (Florinda). Sara would like to dedicate this performance to her late grandfather, Charles, who would have loved to see the show. His presence is deeply missed. Instagram: @s.isabel_c
RILEY CRABTREE (Rhea) Rochester Hills, MI; Senior, BFA Acting and BA Psychology, Musical Theatre Minor. Riley’s recent credits include Dandelion (Jane), Chemical Imbalance (Rosamunda), 9 to 5 (Ensemble and d/c), and Spring Awakening (ensemble). She would like to thank her parents for their endless love and encouragement. As well as her friends and roommates for supporting her through her last year at MSU! Instagram: @rileyc_5818
AUGUST GARRETT(Guy) Chicago, IL; Senior, BFA Acting, Musical Theater Minor. Past performances include MSU’s Taking Off!(Ensemble), 9 to 5(Josh), Echoes From The Banks of The Red Cedar(Ensemble), and Inherit The Wind(Ensemble U/S). He has also been a part of Second Stage Productions Into The Woods(Milky White, Jack/Princes U/S), The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals(Paul), and Ride The Cyclone(Ricky/Noel U/S). He would like to thank his family and friends for all of their love and support! Instagram: @official_augustgarrett
ELLA GALENS (Ensemble) Rochester Hills, MI; Junior, BFA Acting, Film Studies Minor. Her most recent credit is Boy Gets Girl (Theresa Bedell). Ella would like to thank her friends and family for supporting her through her acting journey, and looks forward to her future career! Instagram: @ella.galens
Dan Gibson is a composer, music director, and arts educator. Currently in development with Drama Club Productions, Discovery (book/lyrics by Alex Higgin-Houser) DiscoveryMusical.com. Present and past artistic homes: Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Flat Rock Playhouse, Ivoryton Playhouse, Royal Caribbean Productions, Enlightened Theatrics. Dan has served as a Visiting Professor and Music Director at Elon University, where Gibson and Higgin-Houser’s Beast Mode Champion: The Pro-Wrestling Rock Musical made its workshop premier, and where he created Elon’s first Musical Theatre Songwriting course. MFA NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, BFA Elon Music Theatre, BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, AEA, The Dramatists Guild. DanGibsonMusic.com
JHANVI GUGNEJA (Ensemble and Rhea u/s) Bloomfield Hills, MI; Junior, BFA Acting, BS Psychology, Musical Theatre Minor. Jhanvi would like to thank all of her family and friends for their support! Instagram: @jhanvi_640
Alex Higgin-Houser is a lyricist, playwright, and theatre educator. As founding artistic director of Underscore Theatre, Alex developed new musicals in Chicago from 2011 to 2018, where he also co-founded the Chicago Musical Theatre festival. His piece Haymarket (mus: David Kornfeld) won Chicago’s 2019 Joseph Jefferson award for best new musical, and is being workshopped in 2026 at Oberlin College. In 2019, Alex assisted composer William Finn as he completed his final song cycle. Alex’s piece Discovery (mus: Dan Gibson) is under development with Drama Club Productions. His musical Adventurers (mus: Lucy O’Brien), a first-of-its-kind DnD musical wherein dice rolls influence the story, was workshopped in 2024 at Whitman College. Alex has worked with students at Oberlin, Whitman, Elon, NYU Tisch, and Carleton College. He resides in Ohio with his partner Dr. Francesca Chubb-Confer and their son August. https://www.discoverymusical.com/
Scott Ihrig is a Tony-nominated producer and serial entrepreneur who keeps building his way back to theatre. He founded IMC more than twenty years ago and grew it from a startup into a global experience agency — one of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. When he and Shannon Morrison returned to theatre, they found extraordinary writers with nowhere to go — stranded not for lack of talent but for lack of infrastructure. They couldn’t find an on-ramp that fit the writers they believed in, so they built one. Shannon had the vision for Drama Club Camp. Scott built the structure around it — the partnerships, funding models, and producing infrastructure that allow Drama Club to support writers from first draft to opening night. His producing and investing credits include [title of show] (Off-Broadway), 13 (Broadway), and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes. His husband Shannon is the entropy in the system — the person who breaks the pattern, introduces the impossible idea, and makes Scott build things he never would have arrived at alone. The nonprofit theatre in Iowa, the law practice in Minneapolis, the queer political organizing — none of it is a detour. It’s the education of an entrepreneur who builds for people the system wasn’t designed to serve.
EMMA JESTILA (Stage Manager) Ishpeming, MI; Junior BFA Stage Management Major. Some of Emma’s previous productions here at Michigan State University would include Taking Off! (Stage Manager) and Persuasion (Stage Manager). Emma also worked this summer for Summer Circle Theater on The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Production Stage Manager) and Honky Tonk Laundry! (Production Stage Manager). They would like to thank their family and friends for their amazing support!
SAMANTHA JONES (Ensemble) Farmington Hills, MI; Sophomore, BFA Acting, Musical Theatre Minor. Samantha would like to thank her family for constant support and love. She would also like to shout out In The Mitten Productions for building her love of performing. Instagram: @samanthafrazerofficial
DAVID MEAGHER (Young) Milford, MI; Senior, BFA Acting and BM Music Education. David’s recent credits include The Grapes of Wrath (Connie), Boy Gets Girl (Howard Siegel), and Clue (Professor Plum). David would like to thank his friends and family for all their support!
Shannon Morrison is a writer, Tony-nominated Broadway producer, and musical theatre doula. He studied psychology and playwriting at Yale. He went to NYU for his MFA in musical theatre writing. Then he went to Broadway — to productions including Thoroughly Modern Millie, Movin’ Out, and Legally Blonde — and learned from the inside how the industry works, and who it leaves out. He served as IMC’s Chief Creative Officer, where he got very good at two things: helping people in power say what they actually meant, and understanding what moves an audience. In 2020, he and Scott Ihrig founded Drama Club. Two years later they opened Drama Club Camp — built not around a curriculum but around a community: writers helping writers, in enough numbers to actually change what gets made. His husband Scott is the reason the impossible has an address — the partner who takes Shannon’s wildest instincts and makes them load-bearing. He has spent his career learning how to galvanize teams around a creative vision. Drama Club is where that work lives.
MAHDI OSSEILI (Steve) Dearborn, MI; Senior, BA Human Resources and Labor Relations, Musical Theatre Minor. Some favorite past performances include Dogfight (Eddie Birdlace), Little Shop of Horrors (Seymour), and West Side Story (Riff). Mahdi was previously attending undergraduate at University of Michigan-Dearborn until he transferred to Michigan State as a Junior. He would like to thank his parents for their support in everything he does, as he couldn’t do it without them. Go Green!! Instagram: mosss19
NOLAN OSTERHART (Ensemble and Pinky u/s) White Lake, MI; Sophomore, Architecture major, Musical Theatre Minor. Some favorite previous credits include Into The Woods (Baker), All Shook Up (Dennis), and Hello, Dolly! (Cornelius Hackl). Outside the theatre Nolan enjoys playing tennis and pickleball as well as spending time with friends. He would like to give a huge thank you to his family for always being there to support him! Instagram: @nolan.osterhart
NOAH SAVAGE (Hoot) Auburn Hills, MI; Junior, BFA Acting for Stage, Screen, and New Media, Fiction Filmmaking Minor. Some of his recent projects include Fault (Bobby), That R.A. Life (Gregory), and several MSU student films. In his spare time, Noah performs with the MSU Accafellas and has recently gotten into woodworking! He would like to thank his friends, family, and girlfriend for their constant support and encouragement as he pursues his dreams!
AUBRIANA SCOTT (Cleave) Detroit, MI; Junior, BFA Acting, BS Finance, Musical Theatre Minor. Some of her recent credits include Into the Woods (Little Red Ridinghood), Taking Off! A New Musical (Julie), and Decision Height (Virginia Hascal). She is also a member of the Transforming Theatre Ensemble. She would like to thank her sister for always supporting her artistic endeavors! @aubri.scott
Larry Smiglewski (Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working with the talented team of Discovery! Broadway: Fallen Angels, Mamma Mia, Kiss Me, Kate, Company. Tours: Mamma Mia, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Ain’t Too Proud, School of Rock, White Christmas. Off-Broadway: Cagney, All is Calm. Regional: Roundabout, The MUNY, TUTS, Baltimore Center Stage, etc. Larry holds an MFA in Directing from University of Houston, an MS in Education from Mercy University (where he was a member of the 5th Cohort of the New York City Teaching Fellows, and named Model New Teacher of the Year in 2003), and an MS in Marriage and Family Therapy. When not backstage, Larry is also a Marriage and Family Therapist at Fire Island Pines Psychotherapy and Equity Therapy. Follow his adventures @therapywithlarry and www.TherapyWithLarry.com.
BRECKEN STYLES (Walker and Ride u/s) St. Croix Falls, WI; 3L Law student, Indigenous Law and Policy Scholar. This is Brecken’s second production at MSU after graduating with a BFA in Musical Theater and BA in Spanish from Southeast Missouri State University. Recent credits include Dandelion (Lilah and Depression u/s), The Wolves (#46), Men on Boats (Bradley), and Our Play (Claire). Brecken would like to thank her mom for enthusiastically supporting all of Brecken’s artistic, academic, and athletic endeavors. Thank you for supporting new theatrical works!
ALEX VINCENT (Assistant Stage Manager) Gaylord, MI; Senior, BFA Stage Management, Arts and Cultural Management Minor. Alex’s most recent shows include Persuasion (Assistant Stage Manager), Muses and Musicals Cabaret (Stage Manager), 24 Hour Theatre (Costume Designer), Boy Gets Girl (Assistant Stage Manager), and Chemical Imbalance (Assistant Stage Manager). Alex was also a House Manager for Summer Circle Theatre this year! Alex would like to thank their roommate, Kennedy, Griffin, Emma and their longboard! They hope you have the best time ever!
HUGH WATTERS (Brewster) South Lyon, MI; Senior. BFA Acting and BA Communications. Most recent shows include That R.A Life (Dougie), Othello (Cassio), and Taking Off! (Pilot). He spends his summers on Mackinac Island as a soldier at Fort Mackinac teaching history and performing reenactments. He has also been a member of State of Fifths a cappella for three years, and always loves to perform no matter the context. He wants to acknowledge his parents and family for their constant love and support, and he hopes everyone has an epic experience.
OLIVIA WELCH (Ensemble and u/s Cleave) Romeo, MI; Senior, BA Management and Musical Theatre Minor. Most recent credits include Into the Woods (Baker’s Wife), The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals (Charlotte/ Gen. McNamara), and Ride the Cyclone (Constance, Dance Capitan) with MSU’s Second Stage Productions, as well as Taking Off! (Ensemble, u/s Amelia) with the Department of Theatre. Olivia would like to thank her friends and family for always supporting her in her passion for performing, as well as her teachers and mentors that have helped her get to where she is today.
ANNA ZACCARI (Ensemble and Walker u/s) Effingham, IL; Junior, BFA Acting, Musical Theatre & Dance Minors. Anna’s most recent credits include Dandelion (Jane u/s and Gabby u/s), Chemical Imbalance (Euphronia), and 9 to 5: The Musical (Ensemble). She is the Vice President/Choreographer for Second Stage Musical Theatre and Co-Social Media Chair for Wharton Center Student Marketing Organization. Anna would like to thank all of her family and friends for their unconditional love and support throughout the years. She also would like to give a special shoutout to her NASA loving mom! This one’s for you! Instagram: @annamzaccari
THANK YOU
We would like to express our gratitude to the following friends who have generously supported the MSU Department of Theatre. If we have inadvertently left your name off this list, please accept our apologies and contact us so we may make the correction. This list reflects our donors from 5/1/25 – 5/12/26.
Friends of Theatre is a membership organization promoting, encouraging and enhancing activities of the MSU Department of Theatre. We organize events and programs that expand the community experience of theatre. We also create fund-raising opportunities and promote improvements in the programs and facilities of the MSU Department of Theatre. How can you join? Make a donation to the Michigan State University Department of Theatre and you will become a most welcome member. Click here to learn more.
Distinguished Department of Theatre Scholarship Donors
Dixie Durr
The Dixie Durr Scholarship Fund
Virginia E. Albright
The Virginia Albright Acting Scholarship Fund
Gretel Greist Rutledge
The Frank C. Rutledge Scholarship in Theatre
The Gretel Geist Rutledge Annual Student Awards for Design Excellence in Theatre Production
Selma Hollander
The Stanley and Selma Hollander Endowed Graduate Fellowship In Theatre
Mary Culpepper
The Barbara Hacker Baldwin Theatre Scholarship
Named Summer Circle Courtyard Donors
Sam and Mary Austin
Selma Hollander
Linda Nelson
Gretel Geist Rutledge
Jane K. Vieth and Alan P. Suits
Angels ($10,000 – $100,000)
Robert W. Matson
Andrea S. Rutledge & Richard Kief
Diamond ($2,500 – $5000)
Kirk A. Domer
Jeremy L. & Joan C. Mattson
Karen Marie Kangas Preston
Linda Chapman Stone
Platinum ($1,000 – $2500)
Sam & Mary Austin
Marianne & Jonathan Burdick
Barbara Beth Free
John & Gretchen Forsyth
Lauren J. Harris
Hari Edminster Kern
Karen & Charles Moellenberg, Jr.
John Irvin Nichols
Capital Region Community Foundation
Silver ($500 – $1000)
Robert M. Andrews
Norris & Carol Bryson
Barbara & Steven Bursian
Katharine M. Dennis
Greater Horizons
Gerald & Karen Jennings
Jean Lyle Lepard
John & Bridget Paff
Robert J. Roznowski
Dennis & Sarah White
Bronze ($100 – $500)
Philip & Jacqueline Babcock
John F. Baumgart
Margaret W. Bird
Debra J. Bittner
Beth & Joseph Bonsall
George & Susan Buck
Sandra Lee Cooper
Jeanie Ellen Croope
John & Donna Donovan
David & Debra Gift
Craig James Gunn
Leonore C. Helder
Lee Edward Henry
Linda & Ross Howard
Stephen Francis Kiersey
Marla & Dale Lambert
Michael Smith & Kate McNenly
Shelagh & Robert Miller
National Alliance for Musical Theatre
Tina & Edward Oxer
Susan Marie Pierson
Sylvia & Robert Stevens
Ralph Enos Taggart
Richard K. Thomas
Ewen & Zora Todd
David & Jean Wolski
Friends (< $100)
Dennis & Michelle Allen
Mark Axelrod & Marissa Miller
James & Susan Bence
Ian & Erica Boyko
David Brown
Martin & Julie Brown
Michael & Tina Burry
Mary Kathleen Canavan
Larry Lee Carey
Greg W. Checketts
Hui Hua Chua
John A. De Meo
Jeffrey & Michele Downes
Buu-Tran Tran Duong
Maribeth Elizabeth Fletcher
Tim Fox
Eric Franzen
Karen T. Gilluly
Kristen & Joseph Guerriero
Nancy Ellen Haney
Alan Christopher Harris
Wilma Jean Kahn
Stan & Toba Kaplowitz
Amy & Robert Kilbridge
Elizabeth Strange Lepak
Louisa Lee & Kin Sing Stephen
Frederick Zirm & Robinwyn Lewis
McGraw-Hill Companies
Michael & Rebekah Mckenney
Deric W. McNish
Vicki & Richard Miksicek
Bruce Mortimer & Kristine Parnell
Colleen & Michael Myers
Kenneth & Lesley Neufeld
Elizabeth & Robert Newell
Susan H. Neller
Linea Elizabeth Nicholls
Eric B. Olmscheid & Adam Yankowy
Hedy Popson & William Kahlert
Charlene G. Polio
Jamie L. Prevo
Isaac Record & Ellie Louson
Rosanne Renauer
Jeffrey Schenker & Michelle Traven
Leslie Shortlidge
Carol Ann Siemon
Alaina Simpson-Steele
Beth & Thomas Smith
Robert & Wendi Spagnuolo
Elizabeth C. Thomas
Lisa Anne Wenger-Menerick
Barbara Sue Wepman
Mary Kay Wolfe
CONTACT US
Website: https://theatre.msu.edu/
Email: theatre@msu.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichiganStateTheatre/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theatre_msu/
