Playwright

Idris Goodwin is an award-winning storyteller for multiple generations. An accomplished playwright, breakbeat poet, content creator, and arts champion, Goodwin is recognized as a culture bearer who celebrates community values and cultivates histories with care. Idris is the author of over 60 original plays ranging from his Hip Hop inspired breakbeat series to historical dramas to works for young audiences. Titles such as And In This Corner: Cassius Clay, How We Got On, Hype Man: A Break Beat Play, This is Modern Art (co-written with Kevin Coval) and the ground breaking Free Play: open source scripts for an antiracist tomorrow, are widely produced across the country by a diverse mix of professional and academic venues. Driven by a passion for cultural impact and civic engagement, Idris also serves as Artistic Director of Seattle Children’s Theatre. Prior to this he was Executive Director of The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, where he also taught as a professor in The Department of Theater and Dance. Previous to this Idris led StageOne Family Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky as Producing Artistic Director. Idris is Board President of Theater For Young Audiences/USA and also serves on the board at Children’s Theater Foundation Association. In addition to Idris’s work in theater he’s created original content for and/or appeared on Nickelodeon, HBO Def Poetry, Sesame Street, NPR, BBC Radio, and the Discovery Channel. Your House is Not Just A House, his first picture book, will be published by Harper Collins in 2024.

Director

Tim Bond is the Artistic Director of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Recent credits include the acclaimed productions of How I Learned What I Learned (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Gem of the Ocean (TheatreWorks), The Children (Seattle Repertory Theatre), and Pass Over (A Contemporary Theatre). He is an internationally known director and educator with past leadership roles as Producing Artistic Director at Syracuse Stage, Associate Artistic Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Artistic Director at Seattle Group Theatre, and full Professor and Head of the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Washington School of Drama. Tim has directed nationally and internationally at Market Theatre, Baxter Theatre Centre, Guthrie Theater, Seattle Rep, Milwaukee Rep, The Wilma Theater, Arena Stage, GEVA Theatre Center, Cleveland Play House, Indiana Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, PCPA, Arizona Theatre Co., Portland Center Stage, Dallas Theater Center, A Contemporary Theatre, Empty Space Theatre, Paul Robeson Theatre, and Seattle Children’s Theatre. He is the recipient of two Backstage West Garland Awards, two Syracuse Area Live Theatre (SALT) Awards, and a Dallas-Fort Worth Critics Forum Award. Tim is thrilled to be back at SCT he directed the show Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in 1992.

Composer

Divinity Roxx is a Grammy-nominated American recording artist, composer, and musician, with four solo albums (Ain’t No Other Way, 2003, The Roxx Boxx Experience, 2012, ImPossible, 2016, Ready Set Go!, 2021). In addition to her own work, she is well known for touring and performing with Beyoncé Knowles (2006–2011) as her bassist and Musical Director. Her career as a bass-player skyrocketed after attending a bass camp led by the legendary five time Grammy award winning bass virtuoso Victor Wooten where she was invited to join him on tour. Divinity has appeared on countless television shows including The Grammys, SNL, Good Morning America, The World Music Awards and more, with personal highlights including a special performance at The White House and an appearance on the hit TV show “Soul Man.” Her 2021 Family Music Album release, Ready Set Go! received critical acclaim and Scholastic Inc. published two songs from the album as full-color picture books. Her original compositions can be heard on television shows like “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta,” “Black Monday,” “The Bold Type,” and others. Divinity is currently performing around the world, teaching master classes and writing multiple projects including a new family music album, a solo stage play, and a series of children’s books with accompanying music.

Composer / Music Director

Eugene H. Russell IV is an Atlanta native, Tennessee State University alumnus, and proud Girl Dad. An accomplished musician/composer whose single “Brand New Day” can be found on all streaming platforms, Eugene IV wrote the music for the Alliance Theatre’s animated films Sit-In and Curious Cardinal as well as their stage production of Beautiful Blackbird.  He recently composed the music for Turn-Up, a play co-written with his wife for St. Louis Black Rep. As both a vocalist and saxophonist for countless bands, Eugene has opened for the likes of George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Boyz II Men, KC & the Sunshine Brand, Brand New Heavies, and Mother’s Finest. His regional theatre acting credits include East Texas Hotlinks (True Colors Theatre Company); Dutchman (Nebraska Repertory Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Alliance Theatre); and Before It Hits Home (St. Louis Black Rep), for which he received the prestigious Woodie King, Jr. Award. Film/TV appearances include Disney’s “Secrets of Sulphur Springs” and Bounce TV’s “Saints & Sinners.” @theeugeneiv www.eugeneiv.com

Choreographer

Sonia Dawkins has a BFA from University of the Arts, and an MFA from SUNY Brockport, and is founder and artistic director of SD/Prism Dance Theatre. Her selected choreography/directorial work includes Seattle Repertory Theatre, Dance This, Paramount Theater, Village Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and most recently Pieces of My Heart, based on August Wilson’s unpublished poetry, at the Des Moines Performing Arts Center. The first African American female faculty member at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Dawkins has either presented workshops or choreographed in Spain, France, Bulgaria, and Mexico. She is a two time of the Gypsy Rose Lee Award and currently teaches at the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre School/Fordham University, and is a member of Stage Directors, Choreographers Society and the Dance/Film Association Board.

Scenic Designer

Carey Wong has designed 35 shows for SCT.  Additionally, he has designed for the Seattle Rep, Berkeley Rep, Portland Center Stage, Arizona Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, ACT Theatre, Intiman, Village Theatre, Childsplay, Phoenix Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Hey City Theater, and Prince Music Theater. Carey has been Resident Designer for Portland Opera, Opera Memphis, and Wildwood Park for the Arts, and has designed for Seattle Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Vancouver Opera, the Spoleto Festival USA, the Macao and Beijing Music Festivals, and Nearco Producciones in Spain.  He is the Artistic Advisor/Designer of the new Portland Chinatown Museum, received his B.A. from Yale University, and thereafter attended Yale School of Drama.

Costume Designer

Alan Yeong (Costume Design/United Scenic Artist Local 829) is excited to be making his West Coast design debut with this project and especially with the amazing team at SCT. Regional: Seattle Children’s Theatre/Alliance Theatre: The Boy Who Kissed The Sky; Atlanta: Actor’s Express: Lizzie: The Musical, Falsettos, End of The Rainbow; Atlanta: GET: Pretty Pants Bandit, Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby; Aurora Theatre: over 20 productions including Cinderella, On Your Feet, The Children of Eden (2019 Suzi Bass Nominee), Christmas Canteen, Newsies, Mamma Mia, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2018 Suzi Bass Award for Outstanding Musical Costume Design), Les Misérables (2013 Suzi Bass nominee); Theatrical Outfit: An Iliad, Indecent, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Savannah Disputation; Synchronicity Theatre: The Bluest Eye; Theater Emory: The Nether (2019 Suzi Bass Nominee), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Ravished, Marisol, Macbeth, Peer Gynt; Others: Professor of Costume Design/Head of Design at the University of West Georgia Theatre program with over 20 years of design credits. Education: MFA in Design (University of Kansas), MFA in Costume Design (Wayne State University), and BA in Theatre (Bemidji State University). www.alanyeong.com 

Lighting Designer

Connie Yun has previously been at SCT for “Snow White,” “Black Beauty” and “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.”  Most recently, local designs include “Don Giovanni” for Seattle Opera and Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” for 5th Avenue Theatre.  Other recent designs include “Lucia di Lammermoor” for Madison Opera, “Tosca” for Portland Opera, and the world premiere of “The Rise and Fall of Holly Fudge” at Merrimack Repertory Theatre. She has also previously designed for ACT, Seattle Rep, On the Boards, Tacoma Opera, Pacific Musicworks, The Cabiri, Cornish College, Bellevue College, University of Puget Sound, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Kentucky Opera, Arizona Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Canadian Opera Company.  Upcoming projects include “The Elixir of Love” for Palm Beach Opera, “The Thin Place” for ACT, and “The Marriage of Figaro” for Seattle Opera. 

Sound Designer

Chris Lane is an Atlanta-based sound designer, DJ, composer, mixing engineer, and entrepreneur. His previous regional credits include: DATA, Ghost, A Very Terry Christmas, Sounds of the West End, Knock Knock, In My Granny’s Garden (Alliance Theatre, GA); Fannie, Four Women, Skeleton Crew, Paradise Blue (Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, GA); Shutter Sisters (The Old Globe, CA); Skeleton Crew (Westport Country Playhouse, CT); Too Heavy for Your Pocket (George Street Playhouse, NJ); Four Little Girls, Ruby (Alabama Shakespeare Festival, AL); The Royale (Geva Theatre Center, NY); The Children, SHAPE, A Boy and His Soul (The Kitchen Theatre Company, NY); Detroit 67’ (Virginia Stage Company, VA), Incendiary (The Kennedy Center, DC). He is also a Co-Founder and Executive Director at Multiband Studios. Check out the growing creative collective at www.multibandstudios.com.

Projections Designer

Miko Simmons is an international, award-winning Multimedia Artist & Projection Designer who has been innovating in the convergence of Film/Animation and Theatrical Production for more than 20 years. Theater Productions include: Seattle Children’s Theatre; The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963, Guthrie Theater; Valor, Fast Company, Macondo, Caviar on Credit, Postcards from Earth, Confluence, Bring Love to my Doorstep. Penumbra Theatre; Ashe Lab. The History Theatre, Gloria, Dirty Business. Old Log Theatre; Ghost Musical, Jack & Beanstalk. Park Square Theater, Snow Queen. Mixed Blood Theater, House of the Spirits. At Minnesota Opera: Salome, MotherKing Opera. TU Dance, Threads Dance, Uncertain Realties, Earth, Wind, and Fire International tour. MLK Sculpter Inauguration Ceremony on National Mall in D.C. Rock Opera Musicals: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Minnesota Ordway Theater. In Korea: Count of Monte Cristo, Wizard of Oz, Elisabeth Musical, Rudolf Musical.

Wig Designer

With great pleasure Joyce Degenfelder returns to SCT, to be working with amazing artists and directors to reach and engage young people. Joyce arrived in Seattle to work at Seattle Repertory Theatre, soon also with A Contemporary Theatre, Intiman, and The Bathhouse. Wig and Makeup Designer at Seattle Opera. Wigs for Pacific Northwest Ballet, Book-It Repertory, Seattle Shakespeare, Taproot Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, and Gulfshore Playhouse, FL. Joyce taught wig making at University of Washington, Western Washington University, and DePaul University. Joyce is honored to be the recipient of the Gregory A. Falls Sustained Achievement Award.

Stage Manager

Tori Thompson is a Seattle-based stage manager and is excited to be working with Seattle Children’s Theatre for the first time. She is an ACT Theatre Core Company Member and has worked locally with Seattle Rep, Village Theatre, The 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Book-It Repertory Theatre, The Williams Project, On the Boards, and New Century Theatre Company.

Assistant Stage Manager

Michelle Chesley (she/her) is delighted to be back at Seattle Children’s Theatre! Recent work includes R&H’s Cinderella, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Hansel & Gretl & Heidi & Günter (Village Theatre); The Boy Who Kissed the Sky (SCT); Souvenir and The Fantasticks (UFOMT); Beowulf, The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes, The Effluent Engine, The Canterville Ghost, Childfinder, and Howl’s Moving Castle (Book-It).

Assistant Stage Manager

Claire Stark’s Seattle credits include Annie, Sister Act, Bliss, and Afterwords at the 5th Avenue Theatre, and Corduroy and Black Beauty at SCT. Regional credits include three years with the Indiana Repertory Theatre, and five summers at Santa Cruz Shakespeare. She is thrilled to be back at SCT for The Boy Who Kissed The Sky, and sends love to her parents who have always given her two thumbs up!

Production Assistant

Isabella Marziello is thrilled to be back at Seattle Children’s Theatre, after a summer internship in stage management in 2019. She recently apprenticed at Seattle Repertory Theatre as a stage manager, working on both Ghosts and Bruce. Other credits include; Emerald City Development Workshop (SRT), UNEARTHED (dir. Jack Aldister), She Loves Me (UPS School of Music), The Penelopiad (UPS Theatre Arts), In The Forest Grim (SCT), Hedda Gabler (dir. Jack Aldister), Migrations: Forced and Choosen (Race and Pedagogy Institute), and Into The Woods (UPS School of Music). Isabella holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from University of Puget Sound.

Script Supervisor

Jay Chavez (they/them) is a Seattle based playwright, educator, and all-around theatre maker. They were crowned the unofficial title of Lil’ Miss Kennedy Center and Miss Kennedy Center Continental for their play how to clean your room (and remember all your trauma) which was awarded The KCACTF National Undergraduate Playwriting Award 2020 and the David Mark Cohen National Award in 2021. how to clean is featured in the Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays, a first of its kind anthology of Trans plays written by Trans playwrights for Trans people. It’s been over two decades and Jay is still chasing the knowledge of how wind works. They are on staff here at SCT as a teaching artist.

Guitar

Miles Harris is a guitarist, singer, composer, and arranger. A charismatic newcomer on the Seattle scene, he is excited to have The Boy Who Kissed The Sky be his major theatrical debut. He has a varied musical background which includes choirs, big bands, African ensembles, Latin ensembles, and much more.

Bass

In the 90s in Atlanta, Khari Cabral Simmons started playing bass for many of the artists in the scene, such as Bilal Sunni Ali (Sun Ra), Donnie (The Colored Section), Gaelle (Naked Music) and India.Arie. Eventually Khari Cabral looked toward creating his own vehicle for upbeat soulful music: JIVA.
While Khari Cabral & JIVA were making noise throughout the globe, Khari’s dear friend India Arie got signed to Motown Records. She asked Khari to become her touring bassist, and he spent years touring the world with India. Together, they performed on “The Tonight Show,” “The Late Show,” “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” The Grammys, “Saturday Night Live,” and many more. They also spent 3 months touring with Sade. After his success as a Grammy Award winning bassist, Khari was courted by NYC tastemakers, Giant Step Records. JIVA would go on to release 3 singles, an EP and a full length album, Sun & Moon, with Giant Step.
The era of COVID found Khari taking a break from playing live shows, reflecting on the roots of his band, and being inspired by the rise of D-Nice, the DJ that brought the nation together by playing upbeat soul music DJ-sets on Instagram. The result is the new Khari Cabral & JIVA album, 5.  

Drums

Raoul Hardin is a jazz vocalist turned drummer/bandleader living in Seattle, WA. Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, he has called the PNW home for more than two decades. While a vocal performance major at Bellevue Community College under the tutelage of grammy nominated composer/arranger Roger Treece, he shared the stage with a number of notable vocal jazz greats including Kurt Elling, Mark Murphy, and Janis Siegel of The Manhattan Transfer. Pivoting from vocal jazz to drums, he joined the local jam band Silkroot. The group made a name for itself by tackling the music of ensembles such as Phish, The Grateful Dead, The Police, and Weather Report. His unique style and “feel” is a direct result of his years of vocal jazz training, coupled with a love for playing diverse genres. Coming off of his most recent tour “The Dearly Departed Tour” with vocal powerhouse Shaina Shepherd has led to his rise as a sought-after drum substitute for bands such as The Marshall Law Band, General Mojo’s, Kathy Moore Super Power Trio, The High Council, and Luau Cinder, to name a few. Raoul’s most current projects include work with The Pazific, Torin Frost & the Patterns of Saturn, and afro-beat funk band Reposado. The latter will feature his style and flair on their new album Tequila Funk, due to release early 2023.