Bryce Cleveland (Puff) is a dynamic young artist with a passion for performing! When he’s not busy crafting new original stories and bringing them to life, Bryce lends his vocal talents to the Heart of Worship Collective and his church youth group. He’s a familiar face in school musicals and was recently featured as one of the Three Little Pigs in Westminster Christian Academy’s production of Shrek Jr. He also earned a role in Union Avenue Opera’s production of Carmen. Bryce is thrilled to continue his performing arts journey with his role as Puff in Romeo and Zooliet. He’s excited to share his creativity, energy, and enthusiasm with audiences!

Rae Davis (Tybalt) is a Kansas City native that migrated to St. Louis after getting her Bachelor’s in Theatre in Columbia and appreciates every opportunity to perform. She has worked extensively with St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Metro Theater Company and Slightly Askew Theater Ensemble. She directed shows like The Super Fun Time Party Palace for SATE’s Aphra Behn Festival. Rae has enjoyed bringing all the characters she’s been blessed to play to life, sharing their stories, and is beyond honored to be a part of this beautiful project.”

Frankie Ferrari (Nurse/Apothecary) (she/they) is a theater artist with a love for strange and playful work. Recent credits include Wild Nights and Wolf Kings (YoungLiars), Reclaiming of the Shrew (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis’s Boozy Bard series), Your Story on Stage (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Classic Adventure Movie; or, Never Say Die (Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble), Dollhouse by Three Manufacturers (Equally Represented Arts), Scream, Echo. Scream, and The American Revolution (Theater Unspeakable). Frankie also works in stage intimacy, most recently as Intimacy Director for Little Women at The Rep. They believe the best theater begins with curiosity and connection.

Caleb D. Long* (Friar Lawrence) is an award-winning, St. Louis-based director, actor, and designer. After receiving a BFA in Musical Theatre from The Dobbins Conservatory, Caleb began working professionally locally and across the country. Recent projects include Fiddler on the Roof (Director/Choreographer/Props and Scenic Designer/Master Carpenter, Fly North Theatricals), Peter and the Starcatcher (Director/Choreographer, Ozark Actors Theatre), The Addams Family (Uncle Fester, Ozark Actors Theatre), Silent Sky (Scenic Designer/Master Carpenter, Missouri Baptist University), and Legally Blonde (Director/Costume Designer, Theatre West Summer Repertory Theatre). Up next: Elf: The Musical (Director/Choreographer, Cedar Street Players) and Amadeus (Ensemble, St. Louis Actors Studio). Big thank you to Gabe and friends for constant support and Patti LuPone for constant inspiration. @caleb.d.long

Zay Williams* (Prince/Paris/Peter) – is thrilled to be back with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and performing again this summer in Shakespeare Glen! Graduating with his B.F.A. in Acting from Dobbins Conservatory of Theatre & Dance at Southeast Missouri State University, Zay has grown to deeply appreciate work that responds to real-world issues, challenges conventional forms, and uplifts joy through community. Recent Credits Include: The Tempest, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, The Comedy of Errors, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Julius Caesar, Nashville Shakespeare Festival. Zay would like to thank his family & friends for their love and support! Special shoutout to Emily & Rachel.

Jennifer Joan Thompson is a writer, actor, and educator based in St. Louis. Her plays have been performed in New York and New Haven. She has been a finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and featured on Steppenwolf’s “The Mix” list. As an actor she has performed on and off Broadway, regionally and in television at theatres including Lincon Center, Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, Ensemble Studio Theatre and regionally around the country. She has taught playwrighting, acting, and theatre history at The University of Pennsylvania, Webster University, Brooklyn College, and City College and is currently an assistant professor of theatre studies at Southern Methodist University. Her book on Chilean theatre is currently available with Northwestern University Press. BA: Yale University; MFA: NYU; PhD: CUNY Graduate Center. She dedicates her work on this play to her two daughters, Eleanor and Rosie.

Tom has served as Producing Artistic Director of the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival since 2018. He is also a Drama Desk-nominated director who has developed or presented work at the Public Theater, The Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Red Bull and more. He’s worked with Tony nominees Sting, Sherie Rene Scott, Will Swenson, Kelli O’Hara, Bill Irwin and others, and his productions have won DFW Theater Critics Forum and ECNY Awards and been nominated for St. Louis Theatre Critics Circle, Connecticut Critics Circle and BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards. He came to St. Louis from Waterwell in New York City, the company he co-founded and led and as Artistic Director from 2002-2018. There he created and produced more than a dozen world-premieres and adaptations of classics that were nominated for three IT awards, a Drama Desk, a New York Magazine Culture Award and a Village Voice “Best of NYC”. Many involved innovative community partnerships, such as resurrecting the lost WWII-era Frank Loesser musicals, Blueprint Specials – featuring Broadway and military veterans and presented on board the former USS Intrepid aircraft carrier – and adapting and directing Waterwell’s dual-language (English/Farsi) version of Hamlet: designed and performed by a company largely of Middle Eastern and South Asian artists. As Artistic Director of Waterwell, he also oversaw the Waterwell Drama Program at the Professional Performing Arts School, one of the preeminent training grounds for young artists and innovators in the country, which offers daily, year-round, conservatory-style classes to more than 200 New York City public school students absolutely free of charge. Since taking over the Festival, he has won a St. Louis Magazine A-List Award for “New Arts Leader” and overseen the Festival’s shift to developing and producing new work, which also won an A-List Award for “New Programming”. The Festival’s regional premiere of George Brant’s Into the Breeches won the Theatre Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Production of a Comedy, and the collaboration he conceived between the Festival, Jazz St. Louis and Big Muddy Dance Company on a world-premiere adaptation of Duke Ellington’s Such Sweet Thunder won the Theatre Circle Award for Outstanding Musical as well as a St. Louis Arts Award for “Arts Collaboration”. His outdoor production of King Lear – starring Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner André DeShields, with an all-BIPOC cast – was the nation’s first major live theatrical event since the onset of Covid-19 and was named the “Best Live Theater” of 2021 by the Riverfront Times. The Festival’s new TourCo program he launched in 2021 is now the largest outdoor Shakespeare tour in the world. And the Confluence Regional Writers Project has commissioned over a dozen new plays from emerging playwrights in Missouri and Illinois since 2019, more than half of which have gone on to full productions at theaters around the country. He also led the effort, alongside Aaron Williams of 4theVille, to prevent the closure of Sumner High School, the oldest black high school west of the Mississippi, and give it a new focus on Arts and Activism. The Sumner Recovery Plan won a LaunchCode Moonshot Award for “Collaboration”, an ACAC IDEA Award for “Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility” and a St. Louis Arts Award for “Art Collaboration”. It now offers daily in-school instruction in Dance, Drama, Fashion, Music and Visual Art to over 200 St. Louis public school students through an innovative public-private partnership with over a dozen local arts organizations.

For 35 years, Michael Curry Design has been a leader in entertainment and attractions around the world, creating some of the most iconic forms of puppetry, set design, and spectacle. Our in-house design and production teams are made up of over 50 highly specialized artists, designers, technical consultants, and fabricators. This award-winning multidisciplinary team is sought out by the world’s foremost entertainment companies, including The Walt Disney Company, Universal, Wynn Resorts, Metropolitan Opera, Cirque du Soleil, as well as Olympic and Super Bowl Ceremonies. Michael Curry Design continues to innovate, heavily incorporating new technologies while being grounded in traditional theatrical techniques to create the world’s most exemplary entertainment experiences.

Denisse Chavez (Lighting Design) is happy to be back designing for the Saint Louis Shakespeare Festival! She received her BA in Theatre Arts from The University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX and her lighting design MFA from Purdue University. Her design work has been recognized by the United States  Institute of Theatre Technology with the Jonathan Resnick Lighting Design Award. Her credits include Cabaret with The J, As You Like It with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, and Mojada with the Indianapolis Shakespeare Company.

Jean M. Kerr (Fight/Dance Choreographer) is a Professor of Dance and Movement at Illinois Wesleyan University where she has just completed an eight year term as Director of the School of Theatre Arts. She has advanced training or certifications in: Labanotation, Feldenkrais, Pilates, and stage combat.  Jean has directed or choreographed (dances and/or fights) for several universities, dance companies and theatres, including:  Nevermore Theatre, Madison Repertory Stage, Little Theatre on the Square, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Northbrook Theatre, East Light Theatre, Illinois Wesleyan University,  Utah Musical Theatre and the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.  Jean provided dance and fight choreography to Subira, a musical, which had its world premier in Nairobi, Kenya. As an artist, Jean enjoys exploring the potential of the human form and the ability to investigate the human condition – what it means to be human – through the movement and dance arts.

Sarah Luedloff* (Production Stage Manager) is a St. Louis native and is delighted to return to Romeo & Zooliet for the second year in a row!  Also in Forest Park: The Tempest, Hamlet, and As You Like It. Other local Stage Management work includes Prayer for the French Republic at the New Jewish Theatre, Million Dollar Quartet Christmas, It’s A Wonderful Life- A Live Radio Play and A Christmas Carol at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and 27 shows over 10 seasons at Stages St. Louis. Sarah has also worked with Tuacahn, Riverside Theatre, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, the Playhouse at Westport Plaza, Variety Theatre, The Muny, COCA, Paper Mill Playhouse, Goodspeed Musicals, and several National Tours. She holds a BFA from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.

Michele Friedman Siler (Costume Shop Manager) returns to the Shakespeare Festival as Costume Shop Manager after also having designed the TourCo production of Two Gentlemen of Verona, Shakespeare In The Streets’ “Winds of Change” as well as Educational Tour shows Cymbeline, Macbeth, A Most Outrageous Fit of Madness and Found At Sea as well as the St. Louis Theater Circle nominated Into the Breeches! Recent St. Louis credits include Prayer for the French Republic, Cabaret (St. Louis Theater Circle Honoree) The Heidi Chronicles (St. Louis Theater Circle Nominee) for New Jewish Theatre, Flyin’ West for The Black Rep, Stellaluna for the Rep’s Imaginary Theatre Company, The Rose Tattoo, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire for TWStL, The Nerd for Moonstone Theatre, Hamlet, The Tempest, for St. Louis Shakespeare, Life is a Dream (St. Louis Theater Circle Nominee), Myth of the Ostrich for Upstream Theater and Blithe Spirit, Waiting for Godot for St. Louis Actors’ Studio. Michele was named “Best St. Louis Costume Designer” in the 2016 Post- Dispatch GO! List and named a 2022 “Unsung Hero” by the St. Louis Jewish Light.

Lexi Sims (Assistant Stage Manager) is excited to return to The Festival! Earlier this year, she was the Assistant Stage Manager for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Other St. Louis credits include: The Muny’s Meet Me in St. Louis and Evita (ASM), COCA’s The Little Mermaid (ASM), Tesseract Theatre’s Legally Blonde (PSM), The New Jewish Theatre’s The Heidi Chronicles (ASM), and more. Lexi is also an alum of Webster University’s Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts, where she earned her BFA in Stage Management. Many thanks to all of her family, friends, and mentors for supporting and encouraging her endlessly.

https://simslexi26.wixsite.com/portfolio

Colin O’Brien (Producer) is in his twelfth season with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. Favorite productions include Romeo & Zooliet, Hamlet, Q Brothers Christmas Carol, and King Lear. Through his company, Blank Slate, he works as a producer on concerts, parades, and theatrical productions. He serves on the board of Cinema St. Louis, is forklift-certified, and is currently meticulously rewriting, recutting, and redubbing The Lord of the Rings trilogy into Christmas movies for Colin and AJ’s Annual Christmas Party. colinandaj.com