Seussical (Light Opera of New Jersey) 2024
Light Opera of New Jersey presented Seussical August 9-11 at the Rosen PAC in Wayne, NJ. This marked my directorial debut with LONJ as well as serving as set, prop, and co-lighting designer for this production.
To view the program, please click on this link.
"The Circus McGurkus" featuring Mark Uhlemann as Horton and the cast of LONJ's Seussical. Stage Direction, Set/Lighting/Prop Design by James Conrad Smith; Costume Design by Jessica McGovern
Emily Hughes (Jojo) and Mark Uhlemann (Horton)
Niko Lento (Cat) and Rebecca Madeira (Gertrude)
Emily Hughes (Jojo) and Mark Uhlemann (Horton)
Performance Photographs courtesy of Edward Wolf of Blue Crew Productions; Set Photographs by James Conrad Smith
James Conrad Smith
Erin Kennedy
Katie Claire
Jessica McGovern
Tara Wolckenhauer
Danny Viola
Quinton Tramm
Jason Tramm
Chris Dzerovych
stage director & set/prop/lighting designer
music director
choreographer
costume designer
assistant costume designer
sound design
SFX
executive producer LONJ
producer LONJ
Seussical (Villa Walsh Academy) 2024
In early January, I received a phone call from my high school choreographer who worked at a Catholic all-girls high school, Villa Walsh Academy (Morristown, NJ), and was seeking an immediate replacement for the stage and music director for their 2024 spring musical Seussical. Rehearsals began less than 48 hours later! This marks my music directorial debut and the first time working with high school-aged actors. I ended up also being responsible for designing (and building) the set, the lighting, and the costumes/wigs. There were three performances in mid-March with a cast of 20 mostly high school and middle school age girls (and one boy).
I'm happy to report that I've been hired back to direct the 2025 spring musical which will be announced in the fall of '24; casting before Christmas.
Side note: Due to the students and cast being underage, no pictures or brief-performance clips will be posted.
Die ZauberflÖte (NJVAC) 2022
What should have been a 2020 production finally was made manifest when NJVAC (New Jersey Vocal Arts Collaborative) announced the plans to move forward with its long anticipated second production: Mozart's Die Zauberflöte performed with orchestra. Following in the footsteps of 2019's Figaro, two casts rehearsed, coached, and performed with full orchestra Mozart's masonic opera under the baton of Brent Chancellor and with myself as stage director/SFX design.
Side note: This was the final production of NJVAC; the post-pandemic financial constraints led artistic director Julia Rolwing to unfortunately shut down the company.
SWEENEY TODD (MONTCLAIR STATE UNI.) 2022
I was asked by my friend Jason Zacher to direct his artist's diploma role recital at Montclair State University where we had both attended as undergraduates. Given the lack of resources and that the recital was scheduled in the early days of society clawing its way out of the pandemic, we did not have much to work with. I decided to utilize everything in the recital room as the 'set' in a nod to the Brechtian-esque approach the original Broadway production had taken. Of course, drama ensued as two of our cast contracted Covid the week of Jason's recital, so in addition to singing the role of Pirelli (and directing/choreographing), I also had to assume the role of Judge Turpin and a colleague in Jason's teacher's studio became Mrs. Lovett.
"Beauty's Truth" (TTO) 2020
In the Fall of 2020, I responded to an ad on Playbill seeking for a video design director for Transgressive Theatre-Opera's virtual production of Beauty's Truth, an adaptation by artistic director Aaron Hunt of Handel's oratorio "The Time of Triumph and Truth." Artists spread out over the United States were sent costumes and a few props, then they taped themselves in their homes. The raw footage was sent to me and I edited it with backgrounds and effects to sew the disparate elements together into one cohesive narrative.
Never having worked with any advanced film editing suite (I ultimately decided to use Premiere Pro) which I learned as I worked on this project (while I was navigating full-time substitute teaching at an elementary school coming back from remote learning). It was very challenging and tested my patience, but given the constraints of the material I had and the time, it ended up a success for the production and the company.
NJVAC's "Singing Summit" 2020
Following the inaugural season of New Jersey Vocal Arts Collaborative, a planned production of Mozart's "Magic Flute" had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Desperate to create a space for our casts to practice their crafts as we all sheltered in our homes, the NJVAC team decided to create a virtual month-long summit with masterclasses, workshops, lectures, and ultimately a gala performance all carried out on Zoom and YouTube. During the month of June 2020, we met five nights a week; I gave two masterclasses on acting for the opera singer, staged a few of the gala chamber ensembles, and even ended up participating in two of the selections.
Le Nozze di Figaro (NJVAC) 2019
New Jersey Vocal Arts Collaborative (NJVAC) was founded in 2019 by artistic director, Julia Rolwing. She envisioned a program catering to recent college graduates which offered the opportunity to learn, coach, and perform a role with piano (and eventually orchestra). For its inaugural production, she chose Le nozze di Figaro as the opera and hired Brent Chancellor as music director and myself as stage director. We had two complete casts plus covers in a month-long program of music and staging rehearsals, coachings, and master classes culminating in two performances with supertitles (also by myself) and piano accompaniment.
As stage director, I coached the actors for each role in character development as well as movement for the stage in general. There was no set, so instilling in the company the importance of both physical and emotional character development was crucial to bringing this story to life.
Side note: Unfortunately the only taped record of these performances was made by one of the members of the company and it has since been lost in the intervening years. For more information, please visit NJVAC's website.
Seussical Jr. (Pequannock Twnshp) 2018
Pequannock Township Parks and Recreation summer musical theatre camp presented Seussical Jr. catering to just over sixty 8-14 year-olds. I served as stage director (and camp counselor) as well as designing the sets and props for the production.
Side note: All the families signed publicity release forms, so these are shared with their permission.
"Broadway Bound" Camp (UFOMT) 2017
While I was employed with the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre (UFOMT) in 2017, I was able to also work as one of the directors of the Broadway Bound camps for youth and teen performers. For the youth company, I directed three young actresses as they performed "I Believe it's Today" from Shrek; with the teens, I was lucky enough to have two young men who performed "The Proposal/The Night Was Alive" from Titanic. For each scene, we were responsible for teaching the actors the music, stage directing, choosing set pieces and costumes from UFOMT's stock.
Side note: Since I am unaware of whether these children had to sign publicity release forms, I will not be sharing photos of their performances.
Shrek JR. (Pequannock Twnshp) 2016
Fresh out of grad school and unemployed, I was able to work the summer at the Pequannock Township Parks and Recreation musical theatre camp as stage director for Shrek Jr. There were approximately 50 children ages 8-14.
Side note: The families did not sign publicity release forms, therefore I will not be sharing photos of their performances.
Don Giovanni (Young Artists Initiative) 2014
Just having graduated from Montclair State University with a BM in Vocal Performance and headed to Indiana University to begin my graduate studies, I decided to produce, direct, and sing in a production of Don Giovanni with piano accompaniment and other fellow-graduates of MSU under the banner of a company I founded the previous winter, the Young Artists' Initiative. I was able to secure a rehearsal space, rehearsal pianist, performance venue, casting, and advertising before a mid-summer performance at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Montclair, NJ. (I was also able to recoup my expenses based on ticket sales and make a donation to the church for allowing us to perform there.)
Pirates of Penzance (Y.A.I.) 2013
Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance was the inaugural production of the Young Artists' Initiative which I founded as part of a chamber ensemble program I was able to create as part of the Montclair State University Cali School of Music program (thus they assumed the financial burden!). Pirates was the show which got me interested in a career in performance in the first place and it seemed fitting to mark the end of my undergraduate career directing this title with a student-led chamber ensemble.
In order to comply with the university standards and curriculum, I had to create a syllabus and coordinate with the administration regarding rehearsal and performance spaces, borrowing props from the university stock, etc. One semi-staged concert production was performed in December 2013 at the end of my penultimate semester.
As fate would have it, the weekend of the show I contracted laryngitis and, while able to phonate somewhat, I feared I wouldn't be able to support during the ensemble moments. My mentor Professor Jeffrey Gall graciously consented to singing as back up during the performance (seen seated behind the pirates).