LEANDRA ACOSTA, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT (she/her), is a graduate of Rider University with degrees in dance performance and arts administration. During her time performing at Rider, she was awarded both the Dance Merit Scholarship and Mildred S. Hawkins Dance Scholarship and helped adopt the Dance Mentorship Program. She is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many fantastic choreographers during her time performing at Rider including: Kate Ladenheim, Randy James, Angela Cusumano, Merli Guerra, Jennifer Gladney, Robson Alves, Lynn Neuman, and Ryan Davis. She was recently featured as a choreographer for the 2023 Senior Dance Capstone performance, Acknowledgements. In her role as Associate Director, Leandra creates programs for and manages the social media pages for the Department of Performing Arts and Westminster Choir College.
JAMEL BAKER, STAGE MANAGEMENT MENTOR. Jamel is excited to be a part of this production of Asking Strangers the Meaning of Life as the Stage Manager Mentor. Jamel has been stage managing for over 10 years for theatre, opera and dance locally and nationally. In addition to stage managing, Jamel has also led Stage Management workshops with Opera Philadelphia & Riot Inc. When not stage managing, Jamel works at Passage Theatre (Trenton, NJ) as the Lead Producer.
LYDIA DIEKMANN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/ACTING COACH is a current Senior at Rider University as a BFA Musical Theatre major. Previous directing credits include: Pride and Prejudice (Assistant Director; Rider University), Love Letter to Lakehouse (Director; Rider Student Theatre Company), Coffee Hour (Assistant Director; Rider Student Theatre Company), …Visionary (Assistant Director; Rider Student Theatre Company). Select Rider performance credits include: LAST WORDS (Anne Boleyn), Much Ado About Nothing (Leonata), and Anything Goes (Ensemble/Hope US).
NICHOLAS FRANKI, PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER (He/Him) is a Senior B.F.A. Acting and B.A. Technical Theatre major. Professional Credits Include: Annie (Props Artisan), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Props Artisan), 5 Guys Named Moe (Props Artisan). Rider credits include A Doll’s House (Stage Manager), Ballymore: Winners (Assistant Stage Manager), The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Props Supervisor), Clean Slate (Sound Mixer) Pippin (Spotlight Operator), Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret (Spotlight Operator). Rider Student Theatre Company credits: Ride the Cyclone (Props Designer), Puffs or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic (Props Designer).
IVAN FULLER, DIRECTOR, serves as professor of theatre in the Performing Arts Department. Dr. Fuller was professor of theatre and chair of the Performing & Visual Arts Department at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD, from 1989 to 2011. For fifteen years he was the founder and artistic director of the Bare Bodkins Theatre Company producing Shakespeare in Sioux Falls. Over the past 30 years, he has directed 75 productions. Also a playwright, his play, "Eating into the Fabric," was chosen for the Mainstage Reading Series at the Great Plans Theatre Conference in May 2009 where it was awarded a Holland New Voices Award for Outstanding Play. It was also a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwriting Conference. In July 2009 he served as playwright-in-residence for Summer Literary Seminars in Vilnius, Lithuania where he completed the first draft of "Awake in Me." In 2010 & 2012, he returned to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he completed the play, "In Every Note" which had its debut at Rider in 2019. In 2016 & 2017 he spent time in Rwanda where he wrote and then presented his play, "Deceived by Silence." And in 2019 he was back in Russia to finish his adaptation of the best-selling novel, "Madonnas of Leningrad."
CLARE HANRAHAN, PROPS DESIGNER, is always happy and excited to come back and work for her Alma mater. Her recent work includes The Children’s Hour, Love and Information, and LAST WORDS at Rider University. Clare actively works in the North Jersey and New York City metro area theater scene, where she will join the team at Plays in the Park in Edison, NJ this summer. Clare would like to thank Louise Grafton for sharing her wisdom about the dangers of hot glue guns and for always being her inspiration.
OLI HARTDEGEN, STAGE MANAGER (they/them), is a Junior Theatre Arts Design and Technology major. Their recent professional credits include: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Lighting Build + Deck Crew) at Moonlight Amphitheatre, School Of Rock (Carpentry + Deck Crew), Jingle Terrace Live: The Doo Wop Project (Stage Manager) and Jesus Christ Superstar (Build crew, Deck Crew, and Followspot). They also include credits at The California Center for the arts, Escondido: Mannheim Steamrollers Local Crew (Build + Video), and San Diego Symphony (Strike).
DENISE KING, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/DRAMATURG, (they/them) is a senior double majoring in Contemporary Theatre Practice and Film & Television. Rider Main Stage credits include: Impressions: A Student Produced Play Festival (Director/Producer), Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (Script Supervisor), and The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Wardrobe Supervisor). Rider Student Theatre Company credits include: Ride the Cyclone (Costume Designer) and The Minor Feelings of a Minor Character (Script Supervisor).
DERYN C. KRANER, CHOREOGRAPHER, is a Junior BFA Musical Theatre Major with a Minor in Dance. Professional Credits include: Flashdance the Musical (Destiny, Ensemble), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Swing for Brides, Ensemble), and A Christmas Story the Musical (Child/Adult Ensemble). Rider Credits include: Rider Dances 2024 (Dancer and Costume & Makeup Designer), Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 (Assistant Costume Designer), Entre’Acte: Come Together (Soloist, Featured Dancer), Momentum: Rider’s First Year Showcase (Soloist, Featured Dancer). Upcoming credits include: Nell Gwynn (Choreographer, Rider University).
BUCK LINTON, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT. Earning his MFA in Scenography and Technical Design (Virginia Tech), Buck joined Rider University as its Technical Director in 2012 and became the Director of Production Management in 2022. He professionally produced more than 200 productions with such venues as The Kennedy Center, Paper Mill Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Club, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and McCarter Theatre. Selected works include Travesties, Sleeping Beauty Wakes, Take Flight, Herringbone, Lookingglass Alice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Falstaff, Die Zauberflöte, Pelléas et Mélisande, Dialogues des Carmélites, La Clemenza di Tito, Oreste, Sunjata Kamalenya, The Odyssey Experience, Die Fledermaus, Rigoletto, Turandot, Chicago, EDDA (Ping Chong & Sequentia Ensemble, international tour). Since 2012, he has produced more than 100 productions for Rider University’s College of Arts and Sciences in the performing arts.
TODD LOYD, LIGHTING DESIGNER, is the lighting director for Rider University’s Department of Performing Arts. He supervises the lighting for every performance that the department produces in addition to mentoring several students that assist in designing, hanging, focusing, and programming the lighting for each show. At Rider he has designed over 30 productions including plays, musicals, dance recitals, cabarets, and operas. Some of the highlights include Anything Goes, Radium Girls, The Prom, Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical, Urinetown, Cabaret, Polaroid Stories, Rider Dances: Moving in Our Community, Pippin, Bright Star, Hair, Heathers The Musical, Once On This Island, She Kills Monsters, A Chorus Line and Metamorphoses. Other selected professional projects include Rock of Ages and Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Forestburgh Playhouse), Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical and The Gun Show (Passage Theatre), and Journey to Oz (Children's Theatre of Charlotte and Experiential Theater Company).
JANESSA MACHADO, COSTUME DESIGNER (they/she), is a senior Musical Theatre and Tech & Design major. Technical credits include: Radium Girls (Hair and Makeup Designer), Anything Goes (Assistant Costume Designer), Children’s Hour (Assistant Costume Designer), Polaroid Stories (Co Hair and Makeup Designer), and Rider New Works (Makeup Designer). Performance credits include The Prom (Sheldon).
BELLA MAZZONI, SCENIC DESIGNER, (she/her) is a recent Rider University graduate, where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre and Psychology. Her past Rider technical credits include: Radium Girls (Props Designer), Anything Goes (Props Desinger), Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (props designer); Clean Slate: A World Premiere Musical (scenic designer); Rider Student Theatre Company’s Carrie (scenic painter); Rider Student Theatre Company’s Swingin’ in the Seasons (scenic designer); Godspell (scenic designer); Rider New Works 2022 (co-scenic designer); Hide & Seek (scenic designer); Pippin (scenic designer & props team); Rider New Works 2020 (scenic & props designer); Monstersongs (props master); Everybody (props master); The Wolves (assistant stage manager); and Hair (props coordinator).
RYANN REICH, CHOREORAPHER. Ryann is currently a sophomore pursuing a major in Acting with a minor in Film. She is thrilled to be part of her first production at Rider, collaborating with such a talented cast and crew. Ryann's passion for theater began with an 8-year journey at CCBC’s Children’s Playhouse of Maryland, where she learned many skills before graduating from the program. Her love for dance has always been a driving force in her life, starting with her first dance role as Andy in 42nd Street and most recently embodying the graceful Victoria in CATS over the summer. Ryann’s dedication to dance led her to become the dance captain during her final two years at Carver Center HS for Arts and Technology. She is excited to contribute her choreography to this production and hopes you all enjoy the show!
BRANDON RUSH, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, Brandon Rush is thrilled to make his debut as Technical Director for Rider University’s 2024-25 season! Since his graduation from Rider in 2015, he kept a consistent relationship with Rider’s Theatre Department, where he has worked as an overhire carpenter, Sceneshop Supervisor, and most recently as Assistant Technical Director. Rider University Production Credits include: Assistant Technical Director for Radium Girls, Doll’s House, Enemies, and Anything Goes. As a freelance Technical Director, his credits include: Dracula, The Last Five Years, and Emergency at Princeton Summer Theater.
SAMANTHA SCHUCHT, SOUND DESIGNER, (she/her) is a senior Theatre Design and Technology major with a double major in Arts and Entertainment Industries Management. Her credits include: ISM (Assistant Stage Manager), Rider New Works (Sound Designer), Urinetown (Sound Operator), and Love and Information (Projections).
ELENI SEGERBLOM, CHOREOGRAPHER, (she/her), is a senior Musical Theatre Major. She is ecstatic to be a part of this show! Select Credits include: The Prom (Mrs. Greene; Rider University), Inside the Spitz (Rider Student Theatre Company), Puffs (U/S Ernie Mac; Rider Student Theatre Company). Upcoming: Entr’Acte: FEMININOMENON (Feat. Choreographer; Rider University).
ROBIN I. SHANE, COSTUME DESIGN MENTOR. Robin is an Associate Professor of Theatre where she teaches classes in Design, Script Analysis, and runs the new Theatre-Making program at Rider University. Some favorite designs at Rider include Enemies: A Love Story, Last Words, Cabaret, Polaroid Stories, Pippin, Kiss Me, Kate, and many Rider Dance concerts. Robin has been a professional costume designer for over 25 years; recent professional credits include The Outsider (Act II Productions,) Children of the Sun (PAC) The Pillowman and In The Next Room, or, The Vibrator Play (Hedgerow Theatre) and OK Trenton (Passage Theatre). Regionally and nationally she has designed at The New Victory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, The Yale Rep, The Hedgerow, Theatre Exile, Philadelphia Artist’s Collective, EgoPo, Passage Theater, Shakespeare Theater of NJ, The National Constitution Center, The Revision Theater, the Jean Cocteau Repertory Theater, Soho Rep and The Harrisburg Opera, as well as for film and television. Robin holds a MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and a BA in Theater and Psychology from Wesleyan University.
SAMUEL STEPHENSON, COORDINATOR OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT (he/him/his), received his Bachelor of Arts degrees in English Literature and Music from Wabash College, graduating magna cum laude under a full-ride Lilly Scholarship. As a Joseph Flummerfelt Scholar, he received his Master of Music in Choral Conducting with distinction from Westminster Choir College. Samuel has performed with many choirs across the world. He toured with the Wabash College Glee Club internationally to Taiwan and organized and managed the renowned Choral Institute at Oxford, a summer program at the University of Oxford for inspiring conductors to work with leading figures in the choral world. He has performed with The Same Stream, whose recordings can be found on all major music services, and at the Weiwuying National Center for the Arts as part of the opera chorus for Verdi’s La Traviata. Most recently, Samuel conducted Morten Lauridsen’s Mid-Winter Songs with the Westminster Choir in concert at Washington D.C. He currently works as the Performance Management Coordinator at Rider University and Music Director at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Warminster, PA.
