U.S. Cast & Creative

Meet the U.S. Cast & Creatives!

Show Synopsis

About the Cast

Janna Cardia ★ Linda

Tours: Cinderella – Queen (Broadway Asia); Wizard of Oz – Wicked Witch u/s (CLO Tour).  Regional: Victor Victoria –Title Role (Stages); Spelling Bee – Rona (Riverside); Sweeney Todd – Beggar Woman,  Oliver – Nancy, Into the Woods – Witch, Joseph… – Narrator,  Grease – Rizzo (Fulton Opera); Falsettos – Trina (Porchlight/After Dark Award); Full Monty – Georgia (Arkansas Rep.); I Love You, You’re Perfect… – Woman 1 (Mt. Gretna); Closer Than Ever – Woman 1 (Phoencia Voice Festival); Sound of Music – Elsa u/s (John W. Engeman); Pump Boys and Dinettes – Prudie (Fireside); Sacramento Music Circus, 01’, 06’, 07’.  www.jannacardia.com

Samara Dunn ★ Courtney

Touring credits include, The Leader, Zorba, National Tour and Best of Broadway, European Tour. NYC credits – Elsa, Dissolving Elsa, Lark Theatre; Morgan le Fey in a rock version of A Connecticut Yankee, The Judith Anderson Theatre. Some favorite regional credits include Winnifred, Once Upon a Mattress and Patsy, Bingo, the Musical. Samara would like to thank her parents and her son Michael for their constant love and support.

Mary Jayne Waddell ★ Carolyn

Mamma Mia! National Tour (Donna), Les Misérables Broadway & National Tour (Fantine understudy), 2002 Sondheim Celebration, Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Kiss Me Kate (Kate), Man of La Mancha (Aldonza), A New Brain (Rhoda), The Andrews Brothers (Peggy Jones), You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up (Annabelle) All shows are for Mom with love www.maryjaynewaddell.com

Soara-Joye Ross ★ Sheila

Favorite credits include Les Misérables & Dance of the Vampires on Broadway, Jerry Springer: The Opera (Carnegie Hall), Dessa Rose (Lincoln Center), Single Black Female (The Duke/Playwrights Horizons), Tin Pan Alley Rag (Roundabout Theatre Co), Cross That River (NYMF’s “Best of Fest” Award: Outstanding Individual Performance, Aida (Colorado Theatre Guild: Outstanding Leading Actress Nominee). Film: Garden State. Grateful to God, mom, friends & family. Soara-JoyeRoss.com and facebook.com/soara.joye.ross

Scott Ahearn ★ Male Characters

Divorce Party (Stage West, Toronto), Grease (Kenickie, International Tour), Chicago (Ogunquit Playhouse, Broadway World Best Actor Nomination), Best Little Whorehouse (Phoenix), The Full Monty, Forever Plaid and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Arvada Center, Denver), and Shakespeare in Texas. Film: Zoolander, Live Till You Die.  Thanks to Jen and an amazingly tolerant family! www.scottahearn.net

 

About the Creatives

MARK SCHWARTZ

Conceiver/Author/Producer

Mark Schwartz has a 22-year career in Broadway and professional theater. He began his Broadway career with Nine, directed by Tommy Tune and starring Raul Julia (five Tony Awards). He co- produced Zorba starring Anthony Quinn, My One and Only (three Tony Awards), starring Tommy Tune and Twiggy and La Cage Aux Folles (six Tony Awards including Best Musical). Recent projects include the Tony nominated Broadway production of Dream; Jackie: An American Life (Broadway and London’s West End productions); the Broadway production of Epic Proportions directed by Jerry Zaks and starring Kristin Chenoweth; the London West End production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the long-running Off-Broadway production of Menopause the Musical and the Off-Broadway and US & UK touring productions of SHOUT! The Mod Musical, and now Divorce Party the Musical: The hilarious journey to hell… and back!, playing to record breaking capacity audiences.

DR. AMY BOTWINICK

Conceiver/Author/Producer

Dr. Amy Botwinick is the author of Congratulations on Your Divorce -The Road to Finding Your Happily Ever After (published worldwide by Health Communications, well known for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series) in addition to her most recent publication, Divorce Party and Moving On Handbook – Plan a Great Party for Yourself or a Friend!. After a successful 18 year practice as a chiropractor, Dr. Botwinick broadened the scope of her practice to coach women to powerfully manage the life transition of divorce and beyond.  Taking her own divorce experience and message of empowerment to the next level, she put together a team of experts to create www.womenmovingon.com.  Dr. Botwinick has appeared on national television to offer her expert advice on “The Tyra Banks Show,” as well as WeTV.  She is now excited to give the gift of laughter and sisterhood through her play Divorce Party the Musical – The Hilarious Journey to Hell and Back!

JAY FALZONE

Book/Lyrics/Director/Choreographer

is proud to be “changing the world one rabbit at a time” with Divorce Party the Musical. Other writing credits: Cooking with the Calamari Sisters (Book/Additional Lyrics – now running in Philadelphia), Christmas with the Calamari Sisters, and The Calamari Sisters’ Big Fat Italian Wedding; www.TheCalamariSisters.com.  Also, Parenting 101 (Co-Writer), and You Don’t Know Jack (Book/Lyrics), an adult retelling of the Jack & Jill nursery rhyme.  Directing/Choreographing credits: Bush Wars (Off-Broadway), SHOUT! The Mod Musical (Chicago; National Tour), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (National Tour), Snoopy! (50^th Anniversary National Tour), 42^nd Street (Naples, FL), and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Rochester, NY – 9-year run). Next up, Dear Mom, a play based on real letters written by daughters to their mothers.  Much love and thanks to Stephen for making life a party… and not the divorce kind.

VICTORIA LANG

Consulting Producer

Victoria Lang (Producer) has enjoyed a wide-ranging producing career in theatre, film, television and concerts. Theatre: The current Off Broadway & LA hit Silence! The Musical! (Best Musical: Off Broadway Alliance Award, Top 5 Musicals: Time Magazine), Matt & Ben in NY & LA (Top 5 Play: Time Magazine), Johnny Guitar (Best Off-Broadway Musical: Outer Critics Circle Award), Listen to My Heart: The Songs of David Friedman (Drama Desk nomination), Bat Boy (London), SHOUT! The Mod Musical (Off-Broadway, West End, Chicago, 1st National Tour, UK Tour) and Girls Night! The Musical (LA). She has been associated with the Broadway productions of Private Lives starring Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton,  Peg starring Peggy Lee, A View From The Bridge, Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Little Foxes starring Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Pan starring Sandy Duncan, Oklahoma!, West Side Story and Brigadoon. Upcoming: Found – The Musical. Film: Macbeth in Manhattan (Best Feature, South Beach & L.I. Film Festivals), Dark Tides (Showtime), The Last Lie and Chaos Theory. TV: “Live With Regis & Kathie Lee” (3 Emmy nominations), “Joy Philbin’s Haven” and Specials for A&E and PBS. Concerts: Talent Coordinator at Westbury and Valley Forge Music Fairs. She was a Founder and Co-President of PLUS Entertainment and PLUS Media and is currently the President of Lang Entertainment Group.

JONATHAN COLLINS

Scenic DesignJonathan designed the premiere production of Divorce Party at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, in addition to the Canada Tour. He has recently designed A Christmas Carol, directed by Mark Adam Rampmeyer and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, The Sunshine Boys, and the upcoming Boeing/Boeing, directed by BT McNicholl at the Engeman Theater. Upcoming, he is designing Wait Until Dark, directed by Alan Souza and Unhealthy directed by Brandon Ivie. MFA NYU. www.jonwcollins.com

KATE ASHTON

Lighting DesignTheatre: Chaos, Medea, Death of a Salesman (Theater Mitu), Blind Mouth Singing (NAATCO), Tape (dir. Sam Helfrich), Summer and Smoke (Theatre Row), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Another Part of the Forest (Peccadillo), The Winter’s Tale (Columbia). Opera: Armide, L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Midsummer Night’s Dream (Juilliard), Nina (U.S. Premiere, Manhattan School of Music). Dance: Skybetter and Associates, Syren. BA, College of William & Mary. MFA, NYU TSOA. www.kateashtonlighting.com

Bradley Vieth

Arranger & OrchestratorBradley is thrilled to work on Divorce Party with Jay Falzone and Mark Schwartz.  Off-Broadway credits: Wings, A Child’s Garden & SHOUT! The Mod Musical.  European tours: 42nd Street, Chicago, On the Town, West Side Story, Carmen, & Little Shop of Horrors (German premiere). Regional: Hello, Dolly! Camelot, Cabaret, My Fair Lady, I Do! I Do!, Forbidden Broadway, A Little Night Music (Jeff Award for Best Musical Direction), Pacific Overtures, First Lady Suite, Annie Get Your Gun, A Wonderful Life (premiere), Jerry’s Girls & Fiddler on the Roof.  Recordings: Wings, First Lady Suite, Far from the Madding Crowd/The Awakening, SHOUT! The Mod Musical.  Brad teaches and serves as the coordinator of the Musical Theatre program at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

MICHAEL LEWIS SMITH

Music Director

is glad to be back with Divorce Party the Musical after having recently music directed and conducted the World Premier and remount of this production at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Prior to this run, he played the inaugural production of Follies for Short North Stage. As a music director, arranger or conductor he has worked for many regional theaters including Lyric Stage, Circle Theatre, and Greenbrier Valley Theatre. Other past work includes pianist with the West Virginia Jazz Orchestra and as a Music Director and arranger at the Greenbrier Resort Hotel. Touring internationally with Andrea McArdle in the NETworks Asian revival tour of Cabaret, he has also served as a staff accompanist for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC.

ADAM RIGBY

Sound DesignAdam is a Sound Engineer and Designer in NYC.  He has been with Divorce Party since the beginning.  Previous work includes: Assistant Designer Wicked (First National and Chicago), Assistant Designer The Ritz (Studio 54), Co-Designer SHOUT! The Mod Musical (Chicago), Resident Designer at Ogunquit Playhouse 5 Seasons.

KAT WEST

Stage ManagerSelected credits; Off- Broadway; Altar Boyz, My Big Gay Italian Wedding - Davenport Theatricals, Little Flower of East Orange – The Public/LABrynith Theater, Iron Curtain, Illyria, Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge – Prospect Theater Company, Boozy, Heddatron – Les Frères Corbusier. Thanks to DPTM’s original and current crews. Love to Jaime.

SNUG HARBOR PRODUCTIONS

General ManagementSteven Chaikelson and Kendra Bator provide general management services for productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway and across the United States. Credits include, Broadway: Ring of Fire; Elaine Stritch at Liberty (Tony Award); George Gershwin Alone; A Moon for the Misbegotten; Death of a Salesman (Tony Award, starring Brian Dennehy); The Price and Fool Moon (Tony Award); Off-Broadway: Eve Ensler’s Emotional Creature; 3C; Elective Affinities (starring Zoe Caldwell); Slipping; Too Much Memory; Make Me A Song: The Music of William Finn; Evil Dead The Musical; Almost, Maine; The Normal Heart; They Wrote That: The Songs of Mann & Weil; The Tricky Part (Obie Award); Private Jokes, Public Places; Peter Brook’s Tierno Bokar and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children (RSC);  National Tour/Regional: Trumbo (starring Brian Dennehy); Fool Moon; The Vagina Monologues (Los Angeles) and Art (Chicago); International: Where Elephants Weep (Cambodia).  Steven teaches in the Theatre Program of the Columbia University School of the Arts where he directs the MFA concentration in Theatre Management & Producing.

PRODUCTON CORE

Production SupervisorProduction Core lends support and guidance to theatre companies that produce high quality theatrical performances and need direction/support on the collaboration, planning and execution of the production process. The Production Core team is James E. Cleveland, Jared Goldstein, Adrian White, Dave Upton, Amanda Raymond, Scott Andrews, Josh Morgan and Ron Grimshaw. www.productioncore.net