NORAH LONG (Dr Emma Phelps)
Norah has performed over 70 principal roles locally from the Guthrie to Ten Thousand Things in addition to her work regionally and abroad. With a strong focus on developing new works, her extensive list of premieres includes a dozen full-length musicals and operas, collaborations with Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Cuba's National Symphony, and hundreds of smaller works. Recent honors include 2015 Best Supporting Musical Actress (Lavender Magazine) and 2013 Best Actress in a Play (Broadway World). Norah also teaches, directs, and composes. For more information please visit: norahlong.com.
Jennifer Whitlock (Senator Louise Allen)
Jennifer is a long-time company member of Penumbra Theatre. She has performed in numerous productions, over the years, with most recent being her 23rdseason of “Black Nativity”. Jennifer is a former 35+ year ensemble member of Grammy Award Winning Sounds of Blackness. In addition to vocal contribution, she also served in the capacity of Road Manager, Stage Director and Manager of numerous productions of “TheNight before Christmas a Musical Fantasy”.
Joel Liestman (Jeffrey Phelps)
Joel has performed with several Twin Cities companies including the Guthrie Theater, the Ordway Center, Nautilus Music-Theater, Children’s Theatre Company, History Theatre, Theater Latté Da, and the Playwrights’ Center. He's also appeared Off-Broadway in New York, with regional theaters across the country, and in Tokyo. He is a member of Actor’s Equity and a member of the Musical Theater faculty at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. For more information, go to joelliestman.com.
Toussaint Morrison (Clay Simpson)
Toussaint is an avid mentor for youth, working as a paraprofessional in special ed. classrooms and leading spoken word workshops primarily in middle schools. He is also the host of PBS's civic engagement web series, America From Scratch. Graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Theater, Morrison now spends his time writing & producing film for majority casts of color.
Tira Palmquist / Playwright
Tira’s plays include, Overburden, Ten Mile Lake, Age of Bees, And Then They Fell, This Floating World, The Way North (finalist for the 2018 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival) and Two Degrees - featured in numerous festivals (Denver Center New Play Summit, New American Voices festival in the UK, Caltech 2014 Mach 33 Festival and the 2014 Great Plains Theater Conference) and which premiered in the Denver Center’s 2016/17 Season. Two Degrees was also listed in the Honorable Mention list for the 2016 Kilroys. Tira is currently working on Anyone’s Girl (working title), a commissioned play for the Lower Depth Theater Ensemble. Clutch Productions has also selected Tira for their 2017-2018 Clutch Commission. Tira teaches creative writing at the Orange County School of the Arts. She is a member of the Playwrights Union, the Anteaus Theater’s Playwrights Lab and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. More info at www.tirapalmquist.com.
Shelli Place / Director
For 30+ years Shelli has directed theater, musical revues and corporate shows in the U.S, Europe & Asia. As a director for Disney Business Productions, Shelli created product launches and award ceremonies for Fortune 500 companies. She has worked with former Presidents, Senators, CEOs, Sports Luminaries and Headliners in both music and comedy. MN directing/chorography credits include productions at Hennepin Theater Trust, Old Log Theater, Theater Unbound, MN Fringe,Theater NOW, Minnesota Jewish Theater Company, SOAR ARTS, and PRIME’s inaugural production, Little Warsat Mixed Blood. Shelli is a member of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, SAG/AFTRA and Actor’s Equity Association.