music by tom kitt - book and lyrics by brian yorkey
CAST
Faith Yesner (Diana)
Jake Collins (Gabe)
Shaun Yates (Dan)
Faith is grateful for the opportunity to bring Diana to life. Past favorite roles include Marge/Bridges of Madison County, Elizabeth Proctor/ The Crucible, Ms. Maudie/To Kill A Mockingbird, Esther/The Price, and multiple productions of Godspell!
As a singer-songwriter, Faith has two solo CDs. With love and thanks to husband Peter, and Scott and Jenna for your never ending support! And thanks to Tom and Lena for this incredible opportunity!
Jake Collins is extremely excited to be a playing Gabe in Next to Normal! As a member of the theatre community, he has played a few roles recently, including Gomez Addams (The Addams Family), Jean Valjean (Les Misérables), and Ché (EVITA) Next year, he is headed to Emerson College to pursue a musical theater BFA. Outside of acting, he also loves to music direct! In addition, he would like to thank his parents for helping him manage his very hectic summer schedule. He hopes you enjoy the show!
Shaun Yates is very excited to be making his debut with New Light Theatre. A native Texan, he is currently a company member at Bootless Stageworks as well as Hedgerow Theatre and has been performing in the area since 2010. In that time he has brought to life numerous characters including; Star Wars: A New Musical Hope (Obi-Wan) and You've Got Red On You (Shaun) at Bootless Stageworks, Peter and the Starcatcher (Alf) and Assassins (Gerald Ford) at the Eagle Theatre and Around the World in 80 Days (Actor 1) at Stages Theatre. Up next, you can catch Shaun in Oedipus for Kids at Bootless Stageworks (It is not for kids). Love and thanks to Mom, Dad, & Cris; and to you, theatre patron, for keeping the theatre alive. www.shaunyates.com
Jameson May (Henry)
Elsa Kegelman (Natalie)
Newton Buchanan (Doctors)
Jameson May is a rising junior at Pace University where he is majoring in Musical Theater and minoring in Environmental Studies. During his sophomore year, he was a part of Pace's quarterfinal winning a capella group, "Frequency." He also had the honor of writing music for Pace's freshman showcase "Hatched," which was performed at 54 Below in New York City. Before his college escapades, Jameson attended Cab Calloway School of the Arts and played hockey, baseball, and lacrosse. He has been in many productions over the years. He is delighted to be a part of this incredible cast and crew. Special thanks to Lena and Tom Mucchetti for the amazing opportunity.
Elsa is so thrilled to be a part of Next to Normal, playing one of her dream roles of Natalie. Elsa just received her BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied acting at the Stella Adler Studio. At Stella Adler, Elsa performed in Silent Sky, All’s Well That Ends Well, and Our Town. You may have seen Elsa last summer as Ilse in JustArts Theatricals’ production of Spring Awakening. Elsa is also an alumna of Ursuline Academy and the Salesianum School Theatre program. She would like to thank Lena and Tom for this amazing opportunity, her teachers at NYU and Stella Adler for the incredible training she received, and her family for their boundless love and support.
Newton Buchanan is a Philly based actor and theatre technologist. He has most recently appeared in Revolution Shakespeare Company’s production of Cymbeline in the 2017 Philly Fringe Festival. Some memorable credits include Student 3 in the Philly premiere of Shakespeare's R&J with Mauckingbird Theatre Company and Judah in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Devon Theatre (for which he and the ensemble were Barrymore nominated). This likable loquacious lad also holds many lighting design and sound design credit from Hedgerow Theatre, Curio Theatre, Painted Bride Art Center, and Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental, and is the Technical Lead for Padua Academy’s Theatre program. In his spare time, he holds a full time position at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a Simulation Research Engineer; where he is a project manager for clinical research studies. His medical simulation career involves him in a host of national and international societies for which he is an active member, and a published researcher.
To my son Ethan, for which all I do is in tribute.