Tony Award-Nominee L Morgan Lee Cast as Nina Mae
EAST HADDAM, Conn. (April 10, 2024) – Goodspeed Musicals proudly announces the cast for A Complicated Woman, a new musical about embracing your true identity that features a gender-diverse cast. A Complicated Woman will appear at Goodspeed’s Terris Theatre from May 10 – June 2 in Chester, Conn. Opened in 1984 for the development of new musicals, The Terris Theatre will also be celebrating 40 years and its return to a full season of three new musicals.
John Kenley was a theatre impresario who brought Hollywood stars like Gene Kelly and Ann Miller to Ohio’s summer stock stages. But when summer ended, he wintered in Florida where John disappeared… and Jean came to life. A Complicated Woman is a new musical that features a Golden Age score and a gender-diverse cast. Join us for the intriguing story of a theatre legend who had to navigate the joy, pain and pitfalls of leading a double life.
When asked why they wanted to be part of A Complicated Woman, Nora Brigid Monahan who will play John/Jean said, “It’s been an amazing experience participating at various stages in the development of A Complicated Woman, and I’m humbled to get to bring the show to life at The Terris Theatre this spring with this wonderful creative team. Special credit is due to Donna Lynn Hilton and the entire team at Goodspeed for investing in new musicals – and for making sure that trans voices and stories are included in the future of the musical theatre canon.”
L Morgan Lee who will play Nina Mae said, “Ianne (book), Jonathan (composer) and Jeff (director) are cooking up quite the meal with this show. I’m thrilled to be part of its development! Nina Mae is a kind of woman many theatre ‘girls like us’ have been waiting for and her 40+ year friendship with Kenley is one for the ages. Mame and Vera better watch out because Kenley and Nina Mae are on the prowl!”
A Complicated Woman features a book by Ianne Fields Stewart whose work spans across many fields including: theatre, film, dance, creative writing, arts administration, and social justice. Music and lyrics are by Jonathan Brielle (Broadway: Foxfire, Off-Broadway: Himself and Nora) with additional lyrics by Sam Salmond.
John/Jean will be played by Nora Brigid Monahan, a playwright and performer best known for writing and starring in the award-winning solo comedy Diva. Nina Mae will be played by L Morgan Lee, who made history as the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Tony Award (Broadway: A Strange Loop). Oscar will be played by Christian Brailsford (Off-Broadway: Oratorio for Living Things, Cleopatra, Francois & the Rebels). Myrtle will be played by Klea Blackhurst (The Goodspeed: Hello, Dolly!; Off-Broadway: Party Face, Bingo). Lee Shubert will be played by Danny Rutigliano (The Goodspeed: Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn; The Terris: The Fabulous Lipitones; Broadway: I Need That, Irving Berlin’sHoliday Inn, Beetlejuice). Carl will be played by Dashiell Gregory (Off-Broadway: Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical). Muhlaysia will be played by ZacharyA. Myers (Broadway: A Strange Loop). Diamond will be played by Arewà Basit (Off-Broadway: A Map to Know Where).
The ensemble will feature Bryan Munar and Siena Rafter (Off-Broadway: Runaways, Deep Blue Sea, The Division).
A Complicated Woman will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award-nominee Jeff Calhoun (Broadway: Newsies, Bonnie & Clyde, Jekyll & Hyde, Grease).
Music direction will be by Debra Barsha (Broadway: Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Jersey Boys). Scenic design will be by Tobin Ost (The Goodspeed: Bye Birdie; Broadway: Disaster!, Jekyll & Hyde, Newsies (Tony Award nominee)). Costume design will be by Phương Nguyễn (The Terris: Private Jones). Lighting Design will be by Jason Lyons (The Goodspeed: Hello, Dolly!, Something’s Afoot; The Terris: The Bikinis, The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown, Cutman; Broadway: Hand to God, On the Town). Sound design will be by Jay Hilton who has designed countless productions at both The Terris Theatre and The Goodspeed and serves as Goodspeed’s Audio Supervisor/Resident Sound Designer. Wig, hair & make-up design will be by Tommy Kurzman (The Goodspeed: The Mystery of Edwin Drood; Broadway: I Need That, Gutenberg: The Musical!, The Cottage). Orchestrations will be by Jonathan Brielle and Nathan Dame.
Devin Day will be the Production Stage Manager. Casting for this production is by Paul Hardt / Hardt Casting.
A Complicated Woman will run May 10th – June 2nd, 2024, at The Terris Theatre located at 33 North Main Street, Chester, Conn. [Official Press Opening: May 29, 2024.] Curtain times are Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (with select performances at 2:00 p.m.), Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. (with select performances at 6:30 p.m.).
Single tickets are on sale now and start at $20. Season tickets are also available starting at $117 for all three shows at The Terris Theatre. Tickets are available through the Goodspeed Box Office (860.873.8668), open weekdays at 10:00 a.m. and weekends at 11:00 a.m., or online at goodspeed.org. For show highlights, exclusive photos, special events and more, visit us at goodspeed.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
The Terris Theatre is supported by The Norma Terris/Albert D. Firestone Foundation.
CAST BIOS
NORA BRIGID MONAHAN (John/Jean) [they/them] is a playwright and performer best known for writing and starring in the award-winning solo comedy Diva, which was later expanded into the cult hit musical Diva: Live from Hell with a score by Alexander Sage Oyen. Nora is thrilled to be collaborating with this extraordinary cast and creative team and to be working again with Jonathan Brielle, after having assistant directed the off-Broadway production of his musical Himself & Nora at the Minetta Lane Theatre in 2016. Many thanks to Jonathan, Ianne, and Jeff for this role. Love to Evan, Mena, and Quin.
L MORGAN LEE (Nina Mae) received a history-making Tony Award nomination for her breakout turn in A Strange Loop on Broadway. The performance also garnered her an Obie Award, as well as Drama League and Lortel nominations. She was seen in London playing the titular role in a musical adaptation of The Danish Girl (in development). In the studio, L Morgan was the voice of Ornate Williams in The Sugar Maple Series with Fred Savage (Osiris Media) and can be found on Joe Iconis’ album (Ghostlight Records), Ethan Carlson’s Her Sound, vol. 3, The Rainbow Lullaby Album (Broadway Records), Soft Butter (Kauffman/Teris), Isabella of Boston (Klein/Ingvarson) and the Grammy-nominated Broadway cast recording of A Strange Loop (Sh-K-Boom Records). She is a member of the Recording Academy and a Mark O’Donnell Prize recipient. For more info, visit lmorganlee.com.
DASHIELL GREGORY (Carl) is happy to be making his Goodspeed debut! Stage credits: Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical (Off-Broadway), Into The Woods. TV credits: The Mega-Brands That Built America (History Channel), Lethally Blonde (Investigation Discovery). Thanks to his agents at Boals, Winnett & Associates, to his family, friends, and Kelly. IG: @dashiellgregory
KLEA BLACKHURST (Myrtle) is an actress, singer and comedienne known for her award-winning tribute to Ethel Merman, Everything The Traffic Will Allow. Most recently she appeared Off-Broadway with Hayley Mills in the comedy, Party Face, at City Center Stage 2. She starred in Hazel during its world premiere production at Drury Lane in Chicago, as Dolly Levi in the highly-acclaimed 50th Anniversary production of Hello, Dolly! at The Goodspeed and as Miss Lemon in The Nutty Professor, which premiered in Nashville, directed by legendary comedian, Jerry Lewis and featuring a score by Marvin Hamlisch and Rupert Holmes. Klea also played Rose in Drury Lane Chicago’s production of Gypsy, garnishing rave reviews in 2012.
She’s performed with symphony orchestras and in theatrical productions across the country and abroad including the London Palladium presentation of Jerry Herman’s Broadway with Angela Lansbury, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra tribute to Marvin Hamlisch,, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, 15 Mabel Mercer Foundation Cabaret Conventions, New York’s Town Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, New York’s 92nd Street Y Lyrics & Lyricists, The Chicago Humanities Festival and as Ado Annie in the BBC Proms concert of Oklahoma! in London’s Royal Albert Hall. In addition to regular appearances at New York’s famed Birdland, Klea’s nightclub engagements include tributes to the Broadway career of composer Vernon Duke at the Café Carlyle with a subsequent sold-out engagement at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater and “Dreaming of a Song: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael,” a collaboration with Billy Stritch.
On television she has appeared in Ryan Murphy’s Pose and The Knick, on Showtime. She spent two seasons as former prosecutor, Shelby Cross, on the IFC Channel comedy series, Onion News Network. She’s done the requisite Law and Order: SVU, spent a week on Sesame Street and was a musical guest on The Rosie O’Donnell Show.
Theatre credits include: in New York – A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Bingo, By Jupiter, Radio Gals, Oil City Symphony; Regionally – Ragtime, Call Me Madam, Chicago, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Red Hot and Blue and Anything Goes.
CHRISTIAN BRAILSFORD (Oscar)Broadway National Tour: Pretty Woman (David Morse, Happy Man u/s, Alfredo u/s). Off-Broadway: Oratorio for Living Things, Cleopatra, Francois & the Rebels, Songs of a Serpent. International: Scar in Hong Kong Disney’s The Lion King. Regional: Bonnie & Clyde – Pioneer Theatre Company (Preacher/Sheriff); In the Heights – WPPAC, The Gateway (Benny); Summer: The Donna Summer Show – The Gateway (Andrew Gaines). Christian is proud to be making his Goodspeed debut with this beautiful group of human beings! He thanks his family and friends for their unwavering love and support.
DANNY RUTIGLIANO (Lee Shubert) most recently was the standby for Danny Devito in Roundabout’s Broadway production of I Need That. Also for Roundabout he was in Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn at Studio 54 which was also seen on PBS Great Performances. Other Broadway credits include Beetlejuice, Billy Elliot, Born Yesterday, The Lion King (original B’wy & L.A. cast, Ovation Award Best Featured Actor for Timon), and The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public. National tours include Elf (also at Madison Square Garden), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and starring as Marty Shmelky in the international tour of Cirque du Soleil’s Banana Shpeel. For the NY City Centre ENCORES! Series he starred in the title role of Fiorello! as well as Bells Are Ringing, Kismet, The New Moon and One Touch of Venus. Off-Broadway includes Silk Stockings and Hollywood Pinafore (both at York), Godspell (La Mama), Yiddle with a Fiddle (Town Hall), Topper (MTW), Daydreams-The Music and Magic of Doris Day (Intar)and A Scythe of Time at the NYMF Festival with a concert encore at 54 Below. TV/FILM includes Blue Bloods, Elementary, HAPPYish, Bored to Death, Without a Trace, all the Law & Order shows, the original pilot of My Big Fat Greek Life, Three Sisters, Brothers Garcia, Naked Brothers Band, Goodfellas, 13, the voice of Timothy Mouse in Disney’s Dumbo II and as a dancing Hitler in The Producers. Danny has appeared extensively in regional theatre such as Goodspeed, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Bristol Riverside, The Muny, Geva, North Shore, Maltz Jupiter, Theatrevirginia, Fulton, MSMT and many others. He has done numerous commercials and voiceovers, notably “Do It E-Bay” and as Sheep #5 for Serta Mattress. Favorite role: Husband to Jacqueline Monroe. Proud member of Actors’ Equity for over forty years. dannyrutigliano.com (290)
AREWÀ BASIT (Diamond) [she/they] is a Brooklyn based, artist, musician, and story-teller. Arewà is a co-founder of Legacy, a production company focused on providing resources to artists systematically excluded from—and exploited by—media and the arts. In 2023, Basit performed their original music at Copenhagen Winter Pride, TLDEF 20th Anniversary Celebration, The LGBTQ Center’s Juneteenth Block Party, Bob The Drag Queen’s EP release (and was also featured on Bob’s song “BLACK” along ft. Ocean Kelly), and headlined TRANSMISSION, NYC’s first all trans music festival. In 2024 Arewà performed as the closer for the April First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Musuem. Some theatre credits include Cellz: Packages O’ The Things We Deliver, National Black Theatre; Tribe: Hair, European Tour 2018 and Mzzz Erykah: A Map to Know Where, Soho Rep. IG: @basit_
ZACHARY A. MYERS (Muhlaysia) [she/they] Zachary is honored to join the Goodspeed family this spring! She joined the Broadway company of A Strange Loop where she understudied the roles of Thought One and Thought Two. Some of her other notable credits include: Head Over Heels, Dylan Mulvaney’s 365 Days of Girlhood Live, Rent, and Emojiland. “Much Love to Jhonika & Stacy who are my biggest supporters!” and a special thank you to Clear Talent Group. “Trans rights are human rights!” IG: @zacharyamyers
SIENA RAFTER (Ensemble) [they/he] is a nonbinary theater artist born and raised in New York City. They are so excited to be making their Goodspeed debut! Off-Broadway/Lincoln Center: Runaways, Deep Blue Sea, The Division, T, American SongBook Series. The Public Theater: Twelfth Night, Runaways, For the Love of Vinyl, From Hair to Hamilton…Gala ’17. TV: HBO’s Crashing. Thank you to this incredible team and to all my families for your endless love and support.
BRYAN MUNAR (Ensemble) is thrilled to continue his journey with this important show in its world premiere! Select NY/Off-Bway: Pump Up The Volume (workshop w/ Andrew Barth Feldman & Hailey Kilgore). Select Regional: His Story (World Premiere dir. by Jeff Calhoun), TheatreWorks SV, Berkeley Rep, SF Playhouse. Stream his debut single on all streaming platforms and stay tuned for more music! Thanks to his friends, fam, and his team at The Mine. Much love and gratitude. @bkmunar
CREATIVE TEAM BIOS
IANNE FIELDS STEWART (Book) [they/she] is a multi-hyphenate creative working at the intersection of art, activism, and pleasure. Their work spans across many fields including: theatre, film, dance, creative writing, arts administration, and social justice. She is dedicated to creating art, facilitating spaces, and influencing organizational practices that allow Black queer and trans people to radically luxuriate in our own joy. To put it simply, she wants to make their people feel good. The 2022 toast honoree of The League of Professional Theatre Women, NY Audiences have most recently seen Ianne performing at Lincoln Center with Sydnie L. Mosley Dances. Ianne has worked consistently in productions at NYC venues such as: Joe’s Pub, Dixon Place, La Mama, and many more. Ianne was personally requested by Sara Ramirez (And Just Like That) to play their love interest in an interracial polyamorous couple of color in the 3-time Emmy-Nominated web series The Feels. Other Film/TV Credits include: Dash & Lily (Roberta), The Bold Type (Chloe Blair), and Pose (Pretty Bartender). Media credits include: The New York Times, BBC News, Vogue.com, Out Magazine, Forbes.com, NBC, MSNBC, The New York Public Library, Buzzfeed LGBT, Playbill.com, Broadway.com, GLAAD, and Inside Edition.
JONATHAN BRIELLE (Music & Lyric/Orchestrations) His first Broadway credit was writing music and lyrics for Foxfire starring theater legends Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy (who won the Tony) and Keith Carradine. Subsequently, he became Composer in Residence of the prestigious Circle Repertory Company in New York, providing scores for some of New York’s top playwrights. His recent credits include his slightly autobiographical show, A Monkey and Me, Stories I Never Told My Mother (book, music, lyrics), Axelrod Performing Arts Center, in which he starred with Tovah Feldshuh and Veanne Cox; Himself and Nora (book, music, lyrics), Minetta Lane Theater; James Joyce Center Dublin, March 2024; Nightmare Alley (book, music, lyrics), Geffen Playhouse; and A Monkey and Me (book, music, lyrics), Eugene O’Neill Cabaret Conference. His Las Vegas shows include book, music and lyrics for Enter The Night (Stardust) and MADhattan (New York, New York). For television, he is the music director and composer for Wonderama on the Tribune network and is the founder of Vala Musicals, a streaming platform for new shows and forever-free musical theater education. At this year’s JMF Writers Grove at Goodspeed, Jonathan will be working with Black transfeminine poet, Ianne Fields Stewart on A Complicated Woman with two-time Tony-nominated director, Jeff Calhoun.
SAM SALMOND (Additional Lyrics)is a Jonathan Larson Award- winning composer, lyricist, and book writer. Among the many projects in development, Sam has written music and lyrics for an adaptation of Eighty-Sixed, the novel written by humorist and AIDS activist, David Feinberg. It had a developmental reading at Second Stage Theatre and a workshop with Playwright’s Horizons and Musical Theatre Factory. His musical Mother, Me and the Monsters (a Boston Globe Critic’s Pick) was produced at Barrington Stage. His children’s show, The Dot, is currently on a Multi-Year national tour with Theatreworks USA. He wrote book and lyrics for Cage Match, which premiered at Prospect Theater Company. He’s the creator of Uncool: the Party, an immersive night of rock ‘n roll, games, stories and dancing, which was workshopped at CAP21 and the Musical Theatre Factory. Sam is currently working on an original musical, The Homefront, about female factory workers who were fired at the end of WWII. He’s writing the score to Creature, a modern queer adaptation of the Frankenstein myth. He’s also currently under commission to write an original musical for Penn State’s Musical Theater BFA program. Sam’s work has been featured at Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, Symphony Space, Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, The Town Hall and venues all around the country. He has been a resident writer at Goodspeed Opera House, the Johny Mercer Colony, The Village Theater, Fresh Ground Pepper and more. He is a 2017 Dramatists Guild Fellow, a 2018 SPACE on Ryder Farm resident, and an alumnus of NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.
JEFF CALHOUN (Director/Choreographer) Broadway: Disney’s Newsies (Tony Award Nomination for Best Director), Bonnie & Clyde, Jekyll & Hyde, Grey Gardens, Deaf West’s Big River (Tony Award Nomination for Best Revival of a Musical), Brooklyn, Annie Get Your Gun, Grease (Tony Award Nomination for Best Choreography), Tommy Tune Tonite, and The Will Rogers Follies. Tours, Off-Broadway, and International: Between The Lines (Drama Desk Nomination), Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 (US National Tour, London, and Australia) and Disney’s High School Musical 1 & 2. Mr. Calhoun is an Associate Artist at The Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. He also serves on the Latin American Board of Directors for Covenant House and recently directed A Night of Covenant House Stars (2020 and 2021) on AmazonPrime. Currently, Jeff is working on an original musical for Deaf West entitled Elephant Shoes. Twitter and Instagram: @thejeffcalhoun
DEBRA BARSHA (Music Director) Broadway: associate conductor of Jersey Boys and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Pianist for Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. Barsha won the Jonathan Larson Award for composing the score to Radiant Baby, (co-written with Stuart Ross), produced at the Public Theater, directed by George C. Wolfe. Her musical A Taste of Things to Come (co-written with Hollye Levin) was produced at The York Theatre, published by Concord Theatricals. Her two one-acts, Every Other Thursday and Our Very Best People, (co-written with Sheilah Rae) were adapted from Edna Ferber’s short stories (publisher: Smith & Krauss). Barsha served as music director for the Steven Sater/Serj Tankian world premiere Prometheus Bound (A.R.T. – dir. Diane Paulus) and conducted Karen O’s opera Stop the Virgens! at St. Ann’s Warehouse and the Sydney Opera House. Upcoming: Bedlam’s Music City, where Barsha will be originating a role as well as music supervising.
PHƯƠNG NGUYỄN (loosely pronounced fu-ONG win) (Costume Designer) [she/they]is a New York and Southeast Asia-based costume designer. Recent theatre credits include The Slow Dance (59E59), Private Jones (Signature DC & Goodspeed), United States vs Gupta (JACK NY), The Good John Proctor (Bedlam); Once Upon a Korean Time (Ma-Yi); Queen (NAATCO & Long Wharf Theatre).Film: Grandma Nai by Chheangkea Leng. Dance: Return, My Mirrored Sister by Antonius Bui.They hold an MFA in Costume Design from Yale School of Drama. phuongtlnguyen.com.@nguyencostumes
TOMMY KURZMAN (Wig, Hair & Make-Up Designer) Goodspeed: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Broadway credits include: I Need That, Gutenberg: The Musical!, The Cottage, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Pictures From Home, The Collaboration, Macbeth, Mrs. Doubtfire, All My Sons, True West, Saint Joan, My Fair Lady, Little Foxes and Bright Star. Off-Broadway credits include: Little Shop of Horrors, MCC, Atlantic, The New Group, The Public, MTC, and NWS. Regional credits include Arena Stage. The Huntington, The MUNY, Geva Theatre, Cape Playhouse and Signature, VA. This one is for you Ms. Widner! Instagram: @tommykurzmanwigs
JAY HILTON (Sound Designer) has designed countless productions at both The Goodspeed and The Terris Theatre in Chester. In addition to being Goodspeed’s Resident Sound Designer, Jay serves as their Audio Supervisor and also spends some of his time recording, mixing and mastering musical theatre content for streaming platforms. He and his wife, Goodspeed Artistic Director Donna Lynn Hilton, make their home (and garden) in Hadlyme, Connecticut with Cookie and Macy.
ABOUT GOODSPEED MUSICALS
Goodspeed Musicals has achieved international acclaim and is the first theatre in the nation to receive two Tony Awards for outstanding achievement in musical theatre. Under the leadership of Donna Lynn Hilton, Artistic Director, and David B. Byrd, Managing Director, Goodspeed Musicals is dedicated to the celebration, development and advancement of musical theatre. Goodspeed creates powerful, world-class productions of enlightening new and established works to delight, inspire and challenge audiences on its two stages – The Goodspeed in East Haddam, Conn., and The Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn. From Goodspeed, 21 musicals have gone to Broadway (including Man of La Mancha, Annie, Shenandoah and Holiday Inn) and 88 world premieres have been launched. Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals, GoodWorks commissioning program and the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove at Goodspeed are distinguished cornerstones of the organization that highlight its commitment to nurture creators and the creative process. Goodspeed also maintains The Scherer Library of Musical Theatre and The Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre. The organization is supported in part by the Burry Fredrik Foundation; the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; The Hoffman Auto Group; Masonicare; The Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; The Shubert Foundation; and WSHU Public Radio. Additional support is provided by Sennheiser, the official audio sponsor; and United Airlines, the official airline of Goodspeed Musicals. For more information, visit www.goodspeed.org.