Heather Gilbert returns to Studio Theatre after designing last spring’s Vietgone. She is a Chicago based designer, where her work has been seen on numerous stages including The Hypocrites, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Court Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Northlight Theatre, and countless storefronts all over the city. Her regional credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Repertory Theater, Magic Theatre, Kansas City Rep, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Huntington Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Alley Theatre, Berkeley Rep, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. International credits include the Almeida in London and the Singapore Repertory Theatre. Gilbert was a recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Grant and the 3 Arts Award. Gilbert serves as the head of lighting design at Columbia College Chicago and holds an MFA from the Theatre School at DePaul.

(As of November 2018)

Jeff Song makes his Studio Theatre debut with Vietgone. Other credits as Composer and Music Director include Mary Zimmerman’s The White Snake at Baltimore Center Stage. Regional acting credits include Nomad Americana for Fresh Ink Theatre; Memorial at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre; Pinocchio at Wheelock Family Theatre; Astro Boy and the God of Comics for Company One; Gunplay at Emerson College; and Wild Swans at the American Repertory Theater. Music festival performances include the San Francisco Asian American Jazz Festival, Knitting Factory’s What is Jazz? Festival, Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival, CSPS New Music Festival, Boston Asian American Jazz Festival, and the Texaco New York Jazz Festival. Touring as bassist for Ute Lemper, Jeff performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Istanbul Jazz Festival, L’Opéra de Vichy, and the Palermo Festival Di Verdura. He has appeared on over a dozen recordings on various labels, and his original music has been featured on radio, TV, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. A grant recipient of the New England Foundation for the Arts, Jeff holds an MM from New England Conservatory of Music.

(As of April 2018)

Robb Hunter has directed violence for more than 20 Studio productions including Vietgone, The Effect, Hand to God, Bad Jews, Belleville, The Motherfucker with the Hat, Reasons to be Pretty, Invisible Man, Superior Donuts, American Buffalo, Red Speedo (Helen Hayes nomination for choreography) and The Walworth Farce (Helen Hayes nomination). He also directs movement/violence for the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth (where he received a Helen Hayes Award for HIR and nomination for An Octoroon), Signature Theatre, and many others. He is a member of SDC, AEA, SAG/AFTRA, and is a Certified Fight Director for the Society of American Fight Directors. He is on faculty at The Shakespeare Theatre’s Academy for Classical Acting, is the Choreographer in Residence at American University and is a teaching artist for the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory.

(As of February 2019)  

Lauren Halvorsen is in her ninth season as Studio’s Associate Literary Director. Her dramaturgy credits here include Doubt, P.Y.G. or the Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle, Admissions, Kings, If I Forget, Vietgone, The Wolves, Skeleton Crew, The Father, Three Sisters, The Hard Problem, Hand to God, Moment, Between Riverside and Crazy, Chimerica, The Wolfe Twins, Belleville, Water by the Spoonful, Tribes, The Real Thing, The Motherfucker with the Hat, The Aliens, Bachelorette, The Big Meal, and Time Stands Still. Previously, Lauren spent three seasons as Literary Manager of The Alley Theatre. She was the Artistic Associate of the WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory for six years and has worked in various artistic capacities for The Kennedy Center, City Theatre Company, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, First Person Arts Festival, and The Wilma Theater. Lauren is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College.

(As of December 2019)

Cara Hinh most recently directed the premiere of Sa’idah at Cincinnati Fringe Festival, Heavy Hors d’oeuvres with Interrobang Theatre Co., and Oedipus at Miami University. Assistant directing credits include Disgraced at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and A Raisin in the Sun at Miami University. She is currently the Education Intern at Baltimore Center Stage.  

Lauren Pekel returns to Studio Theatre after stage managing last season’s Bright Colors and Bold Patterns. Additional Studio stage management credits include Cry It Out and Vietgone, in addition to her numerous assistant stage management credits with Studio including P.Y.G. or the Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle, Skeleton Crew, The Father, and No Sisters, among others. Her DC theatre credits include productions with Woolly Mammoth, Theater Alliance, Imagination Stage, and Arts on the Horizon. Regionally, she has worked with the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and Skylight Music Theater in Milwaukee, among others. Lauren is an alumna of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s Theatre Program, with a BFA in Stage Management, and is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association.

(As of August 2019)

Jonathan Hawkins joins Studio Theatre after three years living on the road performing music for the national touring companies of Mamma Mia!: Farewell Tour, Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, and Flashdance: The Musical. Residency credits include Man of La Mancha for Ohio Valley Summer Theater; Hands on a Hardbody, Les Miserables, and Shrek: The Musical for Rocky Mountain Repertory Theater; and the All-New Piano Men at the Palace Theatre. In between theater performances, Jonathan spends his time as a featured soloist and orchestra member onboard Princess Cruise Lines, as well as various roles “behind the booth” and in-studio as a performer and engineer/arranger for artists including A.J. Clarke (Acoustic A.J); Bryce Duncan (The Low Beat); Tribe of the Elk (In Velvet); noone Productions (Microcosm: Original Soundtrack; Footsteps); and Isabella Jones (Teatime for Tyranny: Original Soundtrack).

Keith Butler, Jr. is making his debut at Studio Theater with Vietgone. A North Carolina native, Keith is relatively new to the DC-area theater community. Area credits include Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill at Creative Cauldron, while his work in North Carolina includes Memphis at Thalian Hall, Carrie The Musical and Triassic Parq at City Stage, and Bukowsical at The Beam Room. Mr. Butler has also performed and recorded extensively with North Carolina artists including Mike Blair & The Stonewalls, Justin Lacey & the Swimming Machine, Temple5, and Onward,Soldiers. A graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, he earned his BA in Parks & Recreation Management (Travel & Tourism).

Andy Santospago is a Boston-based multi-instrumentalist songwriter, composer, and performer. Credits for commercial jingles, film scoring (documentary, short, and feature), and songwriting include the award winning film American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art, the reality television series Breaking Amish, infomercials for Boston Children’s Hospital, and WCVB Channel 5. In addition to releasing three solo albums and numerous projects, he is an active performer with many groups and songwriters. He can be regularly seen with Miriam (2016 Red Line Roots Americana/Roots act of the year) and has shared music on stage with Aoife O’Donovan, Susan Cattaneo, Rose Polenzani, Catie Curtis, Rose Cousins, David Champagne, Zack Hickman, Dietrich Strause, and Kris Delmhorst among many others. Mr. Santospago holds a BM from Berklee College of Music. 

Frank Labovitz returns to Studio Theatre where he has previously designed Wig Out!, having previously designed Cloud 9, Silence! the Musical, Laugh, Torch Song Trilogy, and Dirt. His other design credits include The Threepenny Opera and Dreamgirls for Signature Theatre, NSFW and Ordinary Days for Round House Theatre, Guards at the Taj and The Totalitarians for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and The Tale of The Allergist's Wife and The Religion Thing for Theater J. Mr. Labovitz is a company member of Pointless Theatre, where his designs include Gimme a Band, Gimme a Banana and Doctor Caligari. Mr. Labovitz received his MFA in costume design from The University of Maryland.

(As of April 2018)

Tony Cisek recently designed the premiere of Pearl Cleage’s Pointing at the Moon at Alliance Theatre; the premieres of Astoria, Parts One & Two at Portland Center Stage; A Raisin in the Sun at Indiana Rep and Syracuse Stage; and Nat Turner in Jerusalem with Forum Theatre. His work has also been seen at Roundabout Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, South Coast Rep, Milwaukee Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Baltimore Center Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, Ford’s Theatre, Folger Theatre, The Kennedy Center, and Woolly Mammoth, among others. Mr. Cisek has received four Helen Hayes Awards and numerous other citations for outstanding design. He was the principal theatre consultant for the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Northeast Washington, DC. 

(As of April 2018)