LUKE CANTARELLA (Scenic Design) Luke Cantarella is pleased to be making his debut at Geva with Woody Sez. He has designed productions of Woody at theaters across the country including Seattle Rep, ART, Northlight, Center Rep and many others. His work has been seen at numerous theaters including the Repertory Theater of St. Louis, The MUNY, Theater Works, Yale Repertory Theater, Pittsburgh Public, the Atlantic Theater Company, the Asolo and many others. Opera credits include productions at Santa Fe Opera, Peabody Opera Theater, Center for Contemporary Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera. Internationally, he has designed in London’s West End, Amsterdam, Sibiu, Vienna and Cairo. Luke is also a professor of design at Pace University. lukecantarella.com

Jeffrey Meek (Costume Design) Jeffrey is in his twelfth season as costume designer and this past fall was privileged to costume his fiftieth production with Oklahoma’s Lyric Theatre. For ten years, Jeffrey served as principal costumer for The Ohio Light Opera. He has been privileged to work with such companies as The Point Theatre, Jewel Box Theatre, Carpenter Square, The Eastman School of Music and Colossal Studios. Jeffrey also designed Romeo and Juliet for Oklahoma City’s Reduxion Theatre Company. He has designed A Christmas Carol: The Musical, Annie and Disney’s High School Musical for Casa Manana Theatre. For the past five years he has designed A Very Merry Pops for the OKC Philharmonic. He has also branched out into film, designing wardrobe most recently for Pearl Carter Scott with Media 13.

EMILY STORK (Lighting Design) Lighting designs for theatre, dance, opera, puppetry and performance art have been seen worldwide, including festivals in Italy, France, Scotland, and Israel and in the U.S. at places as diverse as PS 122, Dance Theatre Workshop, the Cherry Lane Theatre, the Public Theater, La Mama, St. Ann’s Warehouse, the Walker Arts Center, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the National Museum of the American Indian, On the Boards, the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center in Troy, New York, Lincoln Center and on the side of a building in Rochester, NY. In 2003, she was the resident lighting designer for the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, where she had the pleasure of working with Maestro Gian Carlo Menotti on Wagner’s Lohengrin. Some of her favorite collaborations have been with Split Britches on Peggy Shaw’s To My Chagrin, Pig Iron Theater Company’s James Joyce is Dead and So is Paris, Norah Jones’ Album Release Party for Little Broken Hearts at the Box in NYC and on the world premiere of Greg Kotis’ All Your Questions Answered directed by Sean Daniels at Geva Theatre Center. She was the Lighting Director at The Juilliard School for 12 years, where she designed countless shows and special events including the Leading Ladies Gala starring Audra McDonald and Barbara Cook and The Tempest benefit reading with Sir Derek Jacobi. She is a proud member of United Scenic Artists 829 (IASTE Local USA 829). Emily is the festival lighting designer for the Rochester Fringe Festival, where her designs included the aerialist dance group, Bandaloop, the Cirque du Fringe in the Magic Crystal Spiegeltent and the outdoor informal installation at the Spiegel Garden. Emily received her B.A. from State University of New York atNew Paltz and an M.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Examples of her work can be found at: www.emilystorkdesign.com

Rebecca C. Monroe (Production Stage Manager) Multiple credits on and off-Broadway, in regional theatre and opera, touring, business events, television, and film. Thanks to Perry Cline.

ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON (Artistic Director) has built a distinguished career as a producer, director, dramaturg, and adaptor. She has worked extensively throughout the U.S. and around the globe, including on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in London’s West End before becoming the Artistic Director of Geva Theatre in 2022. For Geva Theatre, she directed and adapted Jane Eyre to launch the 50th Anniversary season. Other recent projects include dramaturging the Young Vic/West End/Broadway production of Matthew López’ The Inheritance (Tony, Olivier, Critics Circle, Evening Standard, GLAAD, and Drama Desk Awards for Best Play, Outer Critics Circle Honoree); dramaturging the Hartford Stage/Broadway productions of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Tony Award for Best Musical) and Anastasia; artistic producing, co-directing and dramaturging the online version of Sarah Gancher’s Russian Troll Farm (Theater Works Hartford/ Theatre Squared/ The Civilians, New York Times’ “Best Theater of 2020”); directing and adapting Jane Eyre (Hartford Stage); dramaturging Bess Wohl’s Make Believe (Outer Critics Circle Honoree, New York Times’ “Best Theater of 2019”); and directing Henry V (Hartford Stage). Williamson’s extensive organizational leadership experience includes serving as Associate Artistic Director and Literary Manager at Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City from 2008 – 2012 and as Associate Artistic Director and Director of New Play Development at Hartford Stage from 2012 – 2020. As a freelance artist, she has also worked for About Face Theatre, the Act French Festival, ACT, Berkeley Rep, Cal Shakes, Court Theatre, Figureatret i Nordland in Norway, HERE, the La Jolla Playhouse, Steppenwolf Theatre, the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Primary Shages, Theatre de La Jeune Lune, Universal Studios, Westport Country Playhouse, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and London’s Young Vic. Education: M.St. Oxford University, B.A., Bennington College, trained at the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris and with Complicité. She is the 2007 recipient of an NEA Fellowship in Literary Translation. Member: SDC, LMDA

CHRISTOPHER MANNELLI (Executive Director) Joined Geva in 2016 from Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, a Tony Award-winning institution dedicated to new plays and playwrights, where he served as Managing Director. During his five-year tenure he led the reorganization of the institution and was responsible for the strategic planning, fundraising, and audience development initiatives that created the theatre’s new business model. Chris oversaw numerous award-winning productions, increased contributed income, and launched innovative membership and audience engagement initiatives. Prior to his work with Victory Gardens, he served as Deputy Director at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, one of the largest nonprofit theatres in Chicago. He oversaw operations and helped to produce the theatre’s “World Stage” international programming, including Chicago Shakespeare’s first-ever tour to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Before moving to Chicago, Chris was the Managing Director for HotCity Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. In this capacity, he was instrumental in the company’s financial and programmatic growth, which included education programs, new play initiatives, and several collaborations with prominent arts organizations. He has served on the board of directors of the League of Chicago Theatres, as a steering committee member for Enrich Chicago (a group of arts organizations in Chicago working collectively to address racial equity), and as a board member for the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce and the community board of Emerald City Theatre. In 2017 he was appointed to the New York State Council on the Arts’ Theatre Advisory Panel, where he served for two years. He has also served on the board of directors for the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), and the Washington Square Park Community Association. He currently serves on the corporate board for the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center and the board of the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation (RDDC) as a member of the executive and nominating committees. Chris grew up on Long Island and began his career as an actor and a musician, touring nationally and internationally. He holds a B.A. in opera performance from the SUNY Geneseo School of Performing Arts, an M.F.A. in Arts Leadership from DePaul University, and an Executive Scholars Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.