A Christmas Carol – Creative Team Bios

Jefferson Mays, Performer, Adaptor
has appeared at Geffen Playhouse in I Am My Own Wife and Yes, Prime Minister!. Broadway credits are Oslo, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, The Best Man, I Am My Own Wife, Pygmalion, Journey’s End and Of Thee I Sing. Off-Broadway, he has performed in Measure for Measure, Lydie Breeze, Quills and many more. Regional credits include My Fair Lady, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Cherry Orchard, Tartuffe, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale and Peter Pan. Film and television credits include “Perry Mason,” “Westworld,” “The Blacklist,” Joel Cohen’s Macbeth, “I Am The Night,” the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Inherent Vice, Rebel in the Rye, I am Michael, The Notorious Bettie Page, “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “The Americans,” “Mildred Pierce,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Nurse Jackie,” “The Closer,” and “Dolley Madison.” Awards include Tony, Lucille Lortel, Drama Desks, Obies, Outer Critic’s Circle, Helen Hayes, Elliot Norton, Theatre World, Drama League, Jefferson, Dramalogue, and Helpmann. Mays received his B.A. from Yale College and an M.F.A. from University of California, San Diego. He is married to Susan Lyons.

Susan Lyons, Author
After graduating from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art, Susan worked extensively in theater, film, television, and radio, playing a wide range of leading roles with all the major companies. She was awarded the Marten Bequest in 1993. Married to Jefferson Mays, she directed him in the national and international tours of I Am My Own Wife.

Michael Arden, Adaptor, Director
began his theater career at age ten playing Tiny Tim in the Midland Community Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol in Midland, Texas. He is humbled to be working with the singular Jefferson Mays and all the incredible artists and technicians – including his longtime friend and collaborator Dane Laffrey – on this reimagining of Charles Dickens’ masterpiece. Past directing credits include Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), Once on This Island (Tony nomination and the 2018 winner of Best Revival of a Musical), American Dream Study (with The Forest of Arden), Maybe Happy Ending, Joseph… at Lincoln Center, The Pride, Merrily We Roll Along, My Fair Lady, and Annie at the Hollywood Bowl. Arden is a regular director for “The Conners” on ABC and will direct the upcoming feature Book of Ruth starring Ruth Wilson and Matt Bomer. He is the Founder and a company member of The Forest of Arden, a collective of artists who create site-specific, immersive, and inclusive new forms of theater. He hopes Scrooge’s visitations might inspire us all to lead more empathetic and benevolent lives. God bless us, everyone! Follow @michaelarden and @forestofardenco

Nikki M. James, Assistant Director
Once on This Island. Acting credits include Les Miserables, The Book of Mormon (Tony Award), All Shook Up, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. TV: “Braindead” (CBS), “The Good Wife” (CBS) and others. B.F.A.: NYU Tisch.

Maceo Bishop, Director of Photography
For over a decade, Maceo Bishop worked as a camera operator with many of the highest regarded directors and cinematographers of this era. Now, as a cinematographer himself, he is continuing to build relationships with visionary creators, bringing experience and genuine excitement to his new role. Recent narrative work includes: Uncut Gems (Africa Unit), The Goldfinch (2nd Unit), Y: The Last Man (2nd Unit), Escape at Dannemora (2nd Unit), Inventing Anna (Additional Photography). Recent commercial work includes: Zegna, Mastercard, Zara Kids, Budweiser, Beats.

Dane Laffrey, Scenic & Costume Designer
Broadway: Once on This Island (2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening, Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love. Recent Off-Broadway: Apologia (Roundabout Theatre Company), Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties (MCC), Summer and Smoke (Classic Stage), Rancho Viejo (Playwrights Horizons), The Harvest (Lincoln Center Theatre), David Greenspan’s Strange Interlude (Transport Group). Recent Los Angeles: Quack (Center Theatre Group), Annie (Hollywood Bowl), Sell/Buy/Date (LGBT Center/Geffen Playhouse/Manhattan Theatre Club), Merrily We Roll Along (Wallis Annenberg), The Christians (Center Theatre Group). Other regional: The Old Globe, Huntington Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Arena Stage, many others. Dane has been nominated for a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards, seven American Theatre Wing Henry Hewes Awards, and an Ovation Award and won a 2017 OBIE for sustained excellence in set and costume design.

Matt Iacozza, Associate Scenic Designer
Set Design: Burning Desire, a world premiere play written by Lou Diamond Phillips (Seven Angels Theater), Double Penny (Dixon Place), Halcyon Days (Chester Theater Company), Evita (Gallery Players), Legally Blonde, The Puppetmaster of Lodz, Romeo & Juliet, I’m Connecticut (Connecticut Repertory Theater). Costume Design: Punk Rock, The Puppetmaster of Lodz (Connecticut Repertory Theater) and Dogfight (Open Air Theater).

Sarafina Bush, Associate Costume Designer
LCT3: Plot Points, Pass Over. Other theater includes Grace, or The Art of Climbing (Art House Productions), The White Dress (Araca Project), One Flea Spare (Playhouse Creatures), This Time (Rising Circle), Good Men Wanted (Arena Stage), Couriers and Contrabands (Barrow Group) and Why You Beasting? (New York Rep), as well as associate and assistant costume design credits on and off Broadway. Education: B.F.A., Adelphi University.

Ben Stanton, Lighting Designer
A three-time Tony Award nominee, Ben Stanton has designed lighting for hundreds of productions on and off Broadway as well as across the U.S. and Europe. Recent Broadway designs include The Rose Tattoo, Derren Brown: Secret, Regina Spektor: Live on Broadway, Ayad Akhtar’s Junk at Lincoln Center Theater, the Broadway revival of Six Degrees of Separation, Deaf West Theatre’s revival of Spring Awakening, Becky Mode’s Fully Committed, and Fun Home (Broadway, Off-Broadway, first national tour, London). In addition to theater, Ben has designed concerts and tours for recording artists such as Beirut, Regina Spektor, Sufjan Stevens, and St. Vincent. Ben is a Lucille Lortel Award and Ovation Award winner and was a 2015 recipient of the Obie Award for sustained excellence in Lighting Design.

Alejandro Fajardo, Associate Lighting Designer
Alejandro Fajardo is a Colombian Lighting Designer and Photographer based in New York City with experience designing plays, musicals, operas, and events around the U.S. Most recently, Alejandro designed The Healing by Sam Hunter for Theatre Breaking Through Barriers. Other designs include shows at La MaMa, Clubbed Thumb/ Playwrights Horizon School, The Actor’s Studio, The Curtis Institute of Music, Pace University, and The Williamstown Theatre Festival (Free Theater). Additionally, Alejandro has assisted on off-Broadway and regional productions including Fall For Dance Festival and Flamenco Festival at New York City Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, and New York Theatre Workshop.

Jocelyn Girigorie, Assistant Lighting Designer
Jocelyn Girigorie is a designer for theater, dance, and opera based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work focuses on the emotional space held between the audience and performer/character. Since moving to New York, she has worked in event design and as an assistant designer on and off Broadway. Jocelyn holds an M.F.A. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, and a B.F.A. in Stage Design and Technology from the University at Buffalo (SUNY).

Lucy Mackinnon, Projection Designer
Lucy Mackinnon is a motion graphics artist, illustrator, and designer. Her Broadway credits include Jagged Little Pill, The Rose Tattoo, Regina Spektor: Live on Broadway, Lifespan of a Fact, Six Degrees of Separation and Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening. Other recent credits include Yen (MCC Theater), Ripcord (Huntington Theatre Company), The Treasurer (Playwrights Horizons), After the Blast (Lincoln Center Theater), The Rose Tattoo (Williamstown Theatre Festival), I Was Most Alive With You (Huntington Theatre Company), Unknown Soldier (Playwrights Horizon and Williamstown Theatre Festival) and Macbeth (Greek National Opera). She has contributed work to multi-media exhibits in such prominent institutions as The New York Historical Society and The National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Brian McMulland, Associate Projection Designer
Brian McMullen (Assistant Video Design) is based in New York, NY. Brian has recently worked as the Projection Designer of Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival), the Associate Projection Designer for From Here to Eternity, Treasure Island (Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival) and Cabaret (Fredonia Theatre and Dance), and the Video Content Creator for the 70th and 71st Annual Tony Awards (CBS). Brian received his B.F.A. in Theatrical Production and Design from The State University of New York at Fredonia.

Joshua D. Reid, Sound Designer
Most recent designs include: The Royal Family of Broadway (Barrington Stage Company), The Secret Garden (Theatre Calgary), Jerry Springer: The Opera (Signature Theatre), A Time Like This (Carnegie Hall), The New World (Bucks County Playhouse), The Pride (Wallis Annenberg PAC, Ovation Award nomination) and Beardo (Hewes Design nomination). Broadway associate design credit selections include: The Ferryman, Iceman Cometh (Tony nomination), Falsettos, The Color Purple, American Psycho, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, The Visit, Act One (Tony nomination), House of Blue Leaves and Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles. Off-Broadway sound design and associate credits include Bandstand, Passion, Soul Doctor, Dogfight and Carrie. Resident Sound Designer at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.

Daniel Lundberg, Associate Sound Designer
The Minutes, Jagged Little Pill, Freestyle Love Supreme, Amazing Grace and On the Twentieth Century.

D.J. Potts, Assistant Sound Designer
DJ Potts is a Sound Artist whose work is generally heard in off-Broadway and regional theatres in the United States. He has one statement: “Please call the office of Louisville Metro Mayor, Greg Fischer, and demand the arrest of Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove for their involvement with the Murder of Breonna Taylor. BLM.”

Cookie Jordan, Wig & Make-Up Designer
Broadway: Slave Play, Choir Boy, The Cher Show, Once on This Island, Sunday in the Park With George, In Transit, Eclipsed, Side Show, After Midnight, Fela, A View From the Bridge and South Pacific. Off-Broadway: A Strange Loop, Everybody, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Signature Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare in the Park). Tours: Fela! (National tour), Fela! (European tour), Dirty Dancing and Flashdance (national tour). Television: Emmy-nominated for makeup design for NBD “The Wiz Live!”

James Ortiz, Puppet Designer
James Ortiz is a director, deviser, performer, and puppet designer who’s most known for his off-Broadway creation, The Woodsman, which earned him a 2016 OBIE award for puppet design as well as a 2019 UNIMA-USA citation for puppetry. Previous credits include: The Public Theatre, Yale Rep, Carnegie Melon University, Dallas Theatre Center, Theatre for a New Audience, Shakespeare Theatre of D.C., Opera Saratoga, Skylight Music Theatre, Soho Rep, Naked Angels, New World Stages, Ars Nova, 59e59 and others. Awards: 2017 Eugene O’Neill residency recipient, 2015 and 2019 Jim Henson Foundation grant awardee and co-founder of Strangemen Theatre Company.