Production Team Bios
Scroll down for cast & creative team bios. Scroll to the bottom for a list of Music Acknowledgements in the show.
Director’s Note
Tolkien playwright Ron Reed included an alternate title for this play: Tollers & Jack: The Story of a Friendship. I mention that because it tells us the real story of the show. Friendship. The mere fact that Tolkien and Lewis were close friends for many years can be difficult to wrap one’s mind around – though it is also comforting in many ways – humanizing. Their friendship had, as friendships do, highs and lows. They were close, they grew apart. But the place they held in each other’s lives and hearts was undeniable.
The play follows their friendship over decades, with scenes skipping ahead at times months or years. Even though that’s a theatrical convention to condense the span of time, it’s also an incredibly honest view of how friendships can persist. When I think of my most cherished friendships, time almost has no bearing. Years may go by between meetings – and yet it seems as though no time has passed. Many times, I’ve found myself saying to a friend “Remember a couple years ago…” – only to soon realize that “a couple” of years was in fact 10 or 20 years. That sense of time is the lens through which we see Lewis and Tolkien’s friendship.
Finally, I just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been to bring this show to life with some amazing fellow artists and staff here at Open Window Theatre – making some new friends along the way. It feels only fitting to return to the worlds of Tolkien and Lewis since I was introduced to my friends here at Open Window through productions of The Hobbit and Shadowlands a couple of years ago… sorry – make that 12-13 years ago.
-Joe Hendren
Joe Hendren (Director)
Open Window Theatre: Macbeth (Director), Nicholas (Co-Director), The Jeweler’s Shop (Actor), A Man for All Seasons (Director), Shadowlands (Actor), The Hobbit (Music)
REPRESENTATIVE THEATER: Minneapolis Musical Theatre: Striking 12, Love Comics, Happy Days: A New Musical. TheatreX: Frost/Nixon, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol, Escape THIS, The Haunting of Hill House. Lakeshore Players: Baskerville, Of Thee I Sing, Laura, The Royal Family, Count Dracula. The Phipps: The Lion in Winter, Muskie Love, Weekend Comedy, Always… Patsy Cline. Chameleon Theatre/Theatre Uncorked: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Hamline University: Brecht’s Antigone. Lyric Arts: The Hobbit, You Can’t Take it With You,
UPCOMING: TheatreX: The Birds.
TRAINING: Hamline University.
LEARN MORE: www.theatrex.org
Patrick Campbell (Stage Manager)
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATER: Season’s Dinner Theater: Oh Crud! It’s Christmas, Halo! it’s Me, Bayberry Christmas, Grand’s Christmas Invitation; Lyric Arts: Bright Star, 39 steps, young Frankenstein, Anything goes, Boeing Boeing; Lakeshore Players: Cabaret, Of thee I sing, Laura; TheatreX: Haunting of the Hill house, Sherlock Holmes Christmas Carol; Phipps: Always, Patsy Cline; Totino-Grace High School: SpongeBob
TRAINING: BA theater management – Saint John’s university
Shad Cooper (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATER: Walking Shadow: The Three Musketeers, Mary Stuart, The Crowd You’re in With, See You Next Tuesday, William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead, Fat Pig; Bloomington Civic: A Few Good Men; The Jungle Theater: Bone Dry, The House of Blue Leaves
Caleb Cabiness (C.S. “Jack” Lewis)
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATER: Theater Latté Da: Scotland, PA. Ordway: Lalo’s Lunchbox. Sidekick Theatre: Robin Hood, Cinderella, Snow White & Rose Red. Self-produced: The Joy of Painting: A Bob Ross Musical.
UPCOMING: Sidekick Theatre: Perfect Wedding
TRAINING: B.A. in Theatre: Wake Forest University. NYC: Trinity/La MaMa Performing Arts Program. LA: A Cappella Academy
LEARN MORE: CalebCabiness.com @caleb_cabiness
Shana Eisenberg (Edith Tolkien)
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATER: Artistry: Footloose, Victor/Victoria, Fiddler on the Roof, Hairspray. Old Log Theatre: The Dixie Swim Club, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Six Points Theatre: The Moneylender’s Daughter. Stages Theatre Company: Finding Nemo Jr, Descendants, Rudolph (2022), Stuart Little, Elf the Musical Jr (2019 & 2021). Full Circle Theatre: Caught, 365 Plays/365 Days. Sidekick Theatre: The Emperor’s New Clothes, Be My Baby, Little Red Riding Hood, Treasure Island.
UPCOMING: Sidekick Theatre: Perfect Wedding, Return to Oz
Ian Hardy (Warnie Lewis)
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATER: Out of the Mist Celtic Theatre: The Weir; Open Door Community Theatre: Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella
TRAINING: Western Michigan University
Keith Prusak (Hugo Dyson)
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATER: Walking Shadow Theatre Company: Drakul, William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead; Theatre Pro Rata: Hamlet, The Spanish Tragedy, Metamorphoses; Paul Bunyan Playhouse: The Wizard of Oz, Picasso at the Lapin Agile; Starting Gate: Death of a Salesman; Self-produced: A Christmas Carol for Four Voices.
Corey DiNardo (Charles Williams)
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATER: Stage North Theatre: Mauritius; Walking Shadow Theatre: The Ugly One; Theatre Coup d’Etat: The Pillowman; Artistry: W;t
TRAINING: Bachelor of Arts – Bowling Green State University; Meisner technique with Rich Remedios; Chekhov technique with the National Michael Chekhov Association
Rob Ward (Roy Campbell)
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATER: Beta Fish Productions: Welcome To The Food Chain, How To Kill A Horse!; TheatreX: Frost/Nixon; Sidekick Theatre: Robin Hood, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood; Frosted Glass Creative: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Oncoming Productions: Geminae, The Last Bombardment, The Deep Dark
TRAINING: Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN – B.A. Theater Honors, Gaiety School of Acting, Dublin, Ireland – January Intensive Course
LEARN MORE: RobWardCreative.com
Alex Clark (Lighting & Projections Designer)
Open Window Theatre: MacBeth, Foshey: The Musical
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Romeo & Juliet (Collide Theatrical Dance), Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Phipps Center), Steel Magnolias (Yellow Tree Theatre)
UPCOMING: Silent Sky (Phipps Center)
TRAINING: BA Theatre, History, International Relations: University of Minnesota – Morris. MFA Lighting Design and Technology: University of Minnesota.
LEARN MORE: clarklighting.net
More Team Bios
Jeremy Stanbary (Founding Exec-Artistic Dir., Producer, Sound Designer & QLab Tech)
Nate Farley (Props Designer & Production Assistant)
Open Window Theatre: Nate has been with OWT since Season 2 and is now a designer in residence. Nate is a Librarian by day and a freelance designer/actor by night. He was last seen on the Open Window stage in our production of Leaving Iowa last season. He also shares his many talents with a variety of other theater and film companies in the area, in addition to serving as the Resident House Manager for Open Window Theatre.
Robin McIntyre (Scenic Designer & Master Carpenter)
Open Window Theatre: Dante’s Inferno, The Lilies of the Field, Macbeth, A Christmas Carol
MaryBeth Schmid (Costume Designer)
Open Window Theatre: Multiple productions over the past 4 seasons, including: The Originalist, Leaving Iowa, Nicholas, Mercy Unrelenting, Our Town, Foshay: The Musical, Willy Wonka, The Wizard of Oz
Music Acknowledgements
- Pre-show/Intermission/Post-show Music:
Telemann, G.P.- 12 Fantasies for Solo Violin (Augustin Hadelich & Georg Philipp Telemann)
ACT ONE:
- Music Transition 1:
Can You Find Me – Ruiqi Zhao (Epidemic Sound) - Radio Music & Music Transition 2:
Holst: The Planets, Op. 32_ IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity (Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan & Gustav Holst) - Music Transition 3:
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55: III. Peer Gynt’s Homecoming (Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan & Edvard Grieg) - Middle Earth Underscore & Music Transition 4:
Lemminkäinen Suite, Op. 22: I. Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island. Allegro molto moderato – Allegro moderato - Music Transition 5:
Alan A Craig – The Mission Begins (Artlist) - Music Transition 6:
Liszt: Waldesrauschen, S. 145 No. 1 - Music Transition 7:
Galadriel’s Song of Eldamar (The Tolkien Ensemble, Best Of) - Music Transition 8 & Radio Music:
Sibelius: Finlandia, Op. 26 (Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan & Jean Sibelius) - Music Transition 9:
Grieg: Holberg Suite, Op. 40_ V. Rigaudon (Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan & Edvard Grieg) - Music Transition 10:
Alan A Craig – The Mission Begins (Artlist) - Music Transition 11:
Risian – Inevitable (Artlist) - Music Transition 12:
J. S. Bach_ Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008 III. Courante – Laura Metcalf (Epidemic Sound) - Radio Background Music:
String Quartet No 2 In D, K. 155_ 2. Andante – W. A. Mozart (Epidemic Sound) - Music Transition 13 & End Act One:
Der Freischütz, Op. 77, J. 277: Overture
ACT TWO:
- Start Act Two & Music Transition 14:
Grieg: Holberg Suite, Op. 40_ IV. Air. Andante religioso (Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan & Edvard Grieg) - Music Transition 15:
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46_ II (Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan & Edvard Grieg) - Music Transition 16:
Risian – Inevitable (Artlist) - Music Transition 17:
Parry: Parry: Jerusalem (The Royal Choral Society, BBC Concert Orchestra & Barry Wordsworth) - Music Transition 18 (following Charles Williams’ death):
Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K.626: Lacrimosa (Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti & Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) - Music Transition 19:
Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela, Op. 22 No. 2 (Gerhard Stempnik, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan & Jean Sibelius) - Music Transition 20:
Holst: The Planets, Op. 32: VII. Neptune, the Mystic (Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan & Gustav Holst) - Music Transition 21:
Weber: Oberon, J.306: Ouvertüre (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks & Rafael Kubelik) - Music Transition 22:
14 – Sibelius_ Valse triste, Op. 44 No. 1 (Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan & Jean Sibelius) - Music Transition 23:
Holst: Thaxted (New England String Quartet) - End of Show Music & Curtain Call:
Holst: I Vow To Thee, My Country (Della Jones, The Royal Choral Society, BBC Concert Orchestra & Barry Wordsworth)