Talkbacks

Talkback with Joann Clark General Director and CEO of San Diego Opera, David Bennett

November 21, 2025 - Post-show

Under his leadership since 2015, the Company has embarked on a series of community-based initiatives including a citywide Listening Tour series, free public performances, and family-friendly operas to better serve the diverse San Diego region. In 2016, the Company debuted its wildly popular dētour Series, which explores the expressive nature of opera with the potency of intimate theater. Prior to San Diego Opera, David was Gotham Chamber Opera’s Managing Director and Executive Director, and prior to that was at Dance New Amsterdam (DNA), Lower Manhattan’s center for dance education, creation, and performance, where he served as Managing Director. While at DNA, he led a $5.7 million capital campaign for DNA’s new home and oversaw the organization’s emergence as a significant producer of modern dance in New York City. Mr. Bennett was a Senior Consultant with Arts Resources International, where he provided a range of advisory services to non-profit arts organizations, including project feasibility studies, financial operating estimates, economic impact and market analyses, and fund-raising feasibility studies.

Script Master Class with the Director, Phil Johnson

November 23, 2025  1PM

If you've ever really wanted to understand a script that was on stage, and why decisions were made to make the story go one way or the other, then this moment is for you. Theatre scripts can be the most fascinating reading material in the world because you're looking at behavior on all sides of every line. So come and discuss this with Phil Johnson, and try out some of your own ideas about the script as well! Join the director of Master Class, Phil Johnson in the courtyard of Scripps Ranch Theatre prior to the show.

Talkback with San Diego Opera Director, Cynthia Stokes

December 12, 2025 - Post-show

American stage and opera director Cynthia Stokes began her career at New York’s Circle Rep, an influential home for new plays, where she absorbed the craft of storytelling from some of the most important voices in contemporary American theater including Terrence McNally and Lanford Wilson. Her opera directing credits also include productions for Los Angeles Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, San Diego Opera, Opera San Jose, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Carolina, Glimmerglass Opera,  Michigan Opera Theater and Opera Philadelphia.

Sandy Campbell

Maria Callas

Parade (Critics Circle Award, lead), Follies, A Little Night Music, The Norman Conquests,Noises Off (Cygnet); Master Class (Critics Circle Award, lead) and Passion (ION); Beautiful, Hairspray, Ragtime and Into the Woods (Moonlight); Zhivago (La Jolla Playhouse); Clybourne Park and Mother Road (SD REP); Macbeth (Intrepid); The Music Man, 1776, Light in the Piazza (Lambs Players); Awake and Sing (NVA). Sandy also served as assistant director for Cygnets award winning production of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 and as director for Good People at OTC. Grateful for this opportunity to step into Maria’s shoes once again.

Kyle Adam Blair

Manny, Music Director

Kyle is a concert pianist, music director, répétiteur, and theatre composer who makes San Diego his home, both in the UC San Diego Department of Music and the Department of Theatre & Dance. Last season’s highlights include Milo Cramer’s, No Singing in the Navy (Playwrights Horizons, Aysan Celik), Caryl Churchill’s, Vinegar Tom (UCSD, Allie Moss), and The Civilians’, Gone Missing (UCSD, Aysan Celik). You can hear Kyle’s debut solo album “Palm Sunday” and many other releases on Apple Music and Spotify. Kyle received his DMA in Piano Performance from UC San Diego in 2018, under the mentorship of Aleck Karis.

Sara Frondoni

Sharon

Sara is excited to make her Scripps Ranch Theatre and The Roustabouts Theatre debut. She’s performed in musicals, operas, and choral groups across California. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from USC’s Thornton School of Music, sang with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and currently sings with the San Diego Symphony Festival Chorus. Favorite roles include Claudia Nardi in Nine (Coronado Playhouse), Annina in Verdi’s La Traviata (Pacific Lyric Association), Maria Rainer in Sound of Music (Temecula Performing Arts Company), and Rosie Alverez in Bye Bye Birdie (Star Theater Company).

Abigail Grace Allwein

Sophie

Abigail Grace Allwein is thrilled to be joining The Roustabouts for Comedy Smackdown and Masterclass fresh off a long run of ONCE:The Musical (Ex-Girlfriend), and The 70's Show at Lamb's Players. She has been seen in the Kathleen Marshall directed Much Ado About Nothing, and The Winter’s Tale at the Old Globe Theatre. Abigail has also appeared in Sister Act (Walnut Street Theatre), Indecent (Cape Repertory Theatre + Chatauqua Theatre Co.), Company (Fine Arts Assoc.), and numerous other theatrical productions. Her San Diego Opera productions include Pagliacci, Turandot, One Amazing Night, Così fan tutte, Romeo et Juliette, El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, Suor Angelica (Suor Osmina), and Tosca (Little Shepherd Boy), Madame Butterfly, La Boheme, and Making Merry. All my love to Bruce & Archie.  www.abigailgraceallwein.com 

Ben Read

Anthony

Ben is a San Diego based performer who loves music and theatre in all their forms. Most recently he performed in the Aix-en-Provence opera festival. Lambs theatre: The 70s!, RESPECTFULLY Christmas, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, RESPECT. Ben produced, composed, orchestrated, and musically directed a new musical (co-written with his sister): Taleggio's Last Unveiling. Other credits: musical director for The Sound of Music (Junior Theatre), 1940's Radio Hour  (Lamplighters Theatre), and pianist for La Traviata (FF collective). Ben's directing experiences involve creating productions in backyards with talented friends, The Fantasticks, and Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

Tim Benson

Stagehand & Assistant Stage Manager

Tim is ecstatic to be working with the illustrious The Roustabouts Theatre. A decorated combat veteran of the Marines, he has foregone the seasons of his native New England for the sunny locale of San Diego and continued to pursue his theatrical aspirations. He’s worked all over San Diego County in theaters such as the Welk Resort, Diversionary, Scripps Ranch Theatre, and the Avo, just to name a few. He’s worked in quite a few shows such as Puffs, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Evil Dead the Musical. 

Terrance McNally

Playwright

Terrence McNally was a trailblazing American playwright and four-time Tony Award winner whose work profoundly shaped contemporary theater. Renowned for his fearless exploration of love, identity, and the human condition, McNally's celebrated plays - such as Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class, and Ragtime - pushed boundaries and gave voice to underrepresented communities. With a career spanning six decades, he collaborated with some of the greatest talents in theater and opera, crafting emotionally rich narratives that resonated with audiences around the world. McNally’s legacy endures as a testament to the transformative power of storytelling on stage.

Phil Johnson

Director, Artistic Director - The Roustabouts Theatre Co.

Phil Johnson is the Artistic Director and proud co-founder of The Roustabouts Theatre Co. For TRTC he’s directed: Looped, Hand to God, Savoyard Murders, and readings of All My Sons, Falsettos,The Little Foxes, 12 Angry Men, Doubt, and others. He also started the new Great Jewish American Playwright Series/JPlays at the JCC. As an actor he has appeared at most San Diego theaters and in numerous original traveling solo shows including A Jewish Joke which opened Off-Broadway in NYC in 2019.  He played in Les Miserables on Broadway and on tour, the Canadian production of Sunset Boulevard, and the 1st National Co. of Miss Saigon. He is a two-time winner of the San Diego Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for acting, and he is a founder of the San Diego Theatre Alliance.

Jill Drexler

Artistic Director - Scripps Ranch Theatre

Jill Drexler holds a B.A. from Scripps College and an M.A, from San Diego State University. Drexler has been a teaching artist in San Diego and a performer at many local theaters. She has worked as a director, actor and producer in San Diego and is the proud recipient of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle award.

Josie Gerk

Stage Manager

Josie is thrilled to rejoin The Roustabouts Theatre Co and SRT for this production. Stage Management credits include: True West, Looped (The Roustabouts Theatre Co.); A Christmas Carol: A Radio Play (SRT); Finding Avi (La Jolla Playhouse WoW Festival); Dido & Aeneas (Bodhi Tree Concerts); Something Blue (Diversionary Theatre). Assistant Stage Management: The Savoyard Murders, gUnTOPIA (The Roustabouts Theatre Co.); Cabaret (Ion Theatre); Father Comes Home from the Wars, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Intrepid Theatre).

Ruth Russell

Co-Producer

Ruth thanks you for supporting this co-production! Producing credits at SRT: Kimberly Akimbo, Unnecessary Farce, Mary’s Wedding, White, Tiny Beautiful Things, Fully Committed, Vanity Fair, Stew, Chapatti, The 39 Steps, Lost in Yonkers, Neat, Extreme Home Makeover, The Outsider, The Taming, and The Dining Room. Recent acting credits: Kimberly Akimbo (SRT), Mast/Mask (Moxie), Twelfth Night of the Living Dead (Loud Fridge), I Hate Hamlet (Broadway Vista), The Jury Experience (Fever). Up next: (No) Exit to Mars with Loud Fridge (Performing at SRT Nov. 18, NVA Nov. 19), and A Hollywood Radio Christmas Carol with Southwestern Theatre (Dec. 4-13). IG: @theruthrussell @citydoggossd

Ted Leib

Sound & Projection Designer, Co-Producer

Sound Design: Kimberly Akimbo, White, Fully Committed, Stew, Chapatti, Lucky Stiff, The Outsider, Vanya & Sasha, Good People, The Liar, Five Course Love, Sleuth, Murder at the Howard Johnson’s and others (SRT); Man of La Mancha, Christmas Carol: A Radio Play, Picnic, Boeing, Boeing, The Boys Next Door, A Year With Frog & Toad, Lost In Yonkers, Jacob Marley’s Christmas and others (OTC); Day of Absence (Common Ground at the Old Globe). Projection Design: Kimberly Akimbo, Neat (SRT); Man of La Mancha, Sweet Charity and others (OTC); Christmas Carol: A Radio Play (OTC & SRT); Tarzan (Moonlight Youth). Ted is also a producer, director (most recently: Kimberly Akimbo) and actor.

Dawn Fuller-Korinek

Costume Design

Dawn is delighted to return to SRT after her last opportunity to costume, Mary’s Wedding. Other performances at SRT that she costumed were Lost in Yonkers, And Neither Have I Wings to Fly, She Loves Me, Fleming, For Better, and Accomplice.  Dawn has procured and designed costumes for over 140 productions; consisting of a wide range of professional, academia and dance theater performances. Prior to becoming a costumer, she was a menswear designer. She is an alumna of FIT, NYC.

Duane McGregor

Props Design, Set Dressing & Scenic Painting

Duane is delighted to return to Scripps Ranch Theatre. SRT credits: Kimberly Akimbo, Mary’s Wedding, Unnecessary Farce, Stew, Vanity Fair, Fully Committed, Tiny Beautiful Things, White. Other credits include: Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Carrie, Sheepdog, A People’s Cuban Christmas, Blue Period, Lonely Planet, Mugre (OnStage Playhouse) as well as a Craig Noel nomination for The Other Place. Arriving at scenic and set production design from a background in architecture and exhibit design, her work focuses on the interaction between audience and environment. Thank you to all the creative team at SRT for their never ending enthusiasm, support, and insight. 

Tim Botsko

Dramaturg

Tim has been allowed to practice his avocation as a dramaturg on four previous TRTC productions, most recently True West (Roustabouts at Diversionary). Much thanks to the founders of The Roustabouts for giving him the opportunity to be part of such an inventive company.

John Owen

Set Construction Manager

John is a retired construction Superintendent with over 40 years in the construction industry. John’s SRT credits include: Kimberly Akimbo, Mary’s Wedding, Tiny Beautiful Things, Chapatti, Lost in Yonkers, and The 39 Steps. He spends much of his time playing board or card games, camping in the desert, and enjoying time with friends and family. Much love to his wife Diana.

David Kievit

Lighting Design

David is new to TRTC and SRT. He’s taught theatre arts and has been the resident set and light designer at NYU, Brookdale Community College in NJ, The Masters School in NY, Grossmont College in CA and The Taft School in CT. Representative design credits include: Pippin (NYU); Torch Song Trilogy (Brookdale); Steel Magnolias (Masters); Oleanna (Phoenix, NY); Glass Menagerie and Little Shop of Horrors (Grossmont); La Pastorela (The Old Globe); Westside Story (CCT on Mount Helix); Pinocchio (SD Jr.); Matilda and Sound of Music (J Co. La Jolla); Shrek (Taft); Alice in Wonderland and Sweeney Todd (DCT); and Flaming Idiots (NYC; Taft; Lamplighters).

Dixon Fish

Set Design

Dixon is a native Californian. He holds an MFA from Arizona State University. Dixon has taught studio art, art history and photography at the high school and college levels. Besides printmaking, much of his creative time has been spent doing theatre set design and painting for a variety of professional regional theatres including Moonlight, The Avo, MiraCosta College and San Diego Junior Theater. For SRT he has designed: Kimberly Akimbo, The Dining Room, Lettice and Lovage, She Loves Me, Fully Committed, Tiny Beautiful Things, and Mary’s Wedding. His art and design work has been recognized with awards both regionally and nationally.