Pittsburgh Public Theater Presents
The Hobbit
Billing Credits
Artistic Director: Marya Sea Kaminski
Managing Director: Shaunda McDill
Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkein
Licensed by Middle-Earth Enterprises
Adapted for the stage by Greg Banks
Directed by Marya Sea Kaminski
Presented by the M. Patrick Daniels Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation
Originally commissioned and produced by Children’s Theatre Company, produced by special arrangement with Plays for New Audiences
Starring
Jamie Agnello*, Britt Dorazio, Maya B. Fullard, Ryan Patrick Kearney*, Shammen McCune*, José Pérez IV, Russell Saylor*
Scenic Designer: Jennifer Zeyl
Costume Designer: Melanie Taylor Burgess
Lighting Designer: Robert J. Aguilar
Sound Designer: Zach Moore
Puppet Director & Co-Puppet Designer: Matt Acheson
Co-Puppet Designer: Jamie Agnello*
Composer: Stewart Blackwood
Fight Director: José Pérez IV
Dramaturg: Lindsay L. Barr
Stage Manager: Lisa R. Stafford*
Assistant Stage Manager: Kelly Haywood*
Assistant Director: Dominique Briggs
Assistant Director: Oy Adebajo
Production Assistant: Gabriella Walko
*Denotes Actors' Equity Association membership
The O'Reilly Theater is a project of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
Letter from the Artistic Director
Dear Adventurers,
For many of us, The Hobbit holds a special place in our hearts. It was one of the first stories that truly transported me, opening a gateway to a world where magic was real and friendship was the greatest treasure. Now, as we revisit this beloved tale, I’m filled with enthusiasm, nostalgia, and a deep reminder that the journey is always brighter when shared with those we care about.
This 50th season at The Public is about looking back to light the way forward. In returning to The Hobbit, we have rediscovered the magic of storytelling with this magnificent group of artists, and now we invite you into our journey. Step into the late Belladonna Took’s house, where her son Bill is struggling with grief. Today, a group of his friends will bring him along on an adventure, reminding him of his own courage, the wild wonders that await us in the world, and the magic of friendship — even when a wizard isn’t there to show the way.
In building this story for you, we found ourselves reconnecting with our own childhoods — memories of our parents reading Tolkien to us before bed, the enchantment of the 1977 animated feature, and the epic Peter Jackson films. It brought us back to the joyful chaos of slumber parties and basement bands, when the floor could turn into lava and our friends helped us face the monsters under the bed. These memories remind us that the world is bigger than our grief, that we are loved despite our flaws, and that imagination has always been our portal to magic and possibility.
Tolkien wrote The Hobbit during a time of deep global uncertainty — after witnessing the horrors of World War I, amid the lingering shadow of the Great Depression, and as the world inched towards another great conflict. Out of that darkness came a story about a small but courageous hobbit embarking on a journey to save his friends. Tolkien read these chapters to his own children as bedtime stories, offering them a magical world to dream into.
Today, we invite you to join us on that same adventure — filled with sincere hope, wild creatures, and the belief that even the smallest among us can overcome the hardest challenges. We dedicate this production to our parents, our children, and to all the friends who refuse to leave us behind.
Onward,
The Cast
Jamie Agnello* Balin & Co-Puppet Designer
Britt Dorazio Bard
Maya B. Fullard Kili
Ryan Patrick Kearney* Thorin
Shammen McCune* Gandalf
José Pérez IV Bombur, Fight Director & Stunt Coordinator
Russell Saylor* Bilbo Baggins
*Denotes members of the Actors' Equity Association
The Creative Team
Jennifer Zeyl Scenic Designer
Jennifer Zeyl, (she/they) Jennifer is thrilled to return to Pittsburgh Public Theatre! Previous PPT designs include A Raisin in the Sun, and A Tell Tale Heart. JZ is a Seattle-based director, designer and producer. In Seattle, she has designed and/or directed for Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, ArtsWest, ACT Theatre, On the Boards, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Washington Ensemble Theatre and Seattle Children’s Theatre. Nationally, her work has hit the stage at Guthrie Theatre, New York Public Theatre, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, The Omaha Rose, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Long Wharf Theatre, New Orleans Fringe and Two River Theatre Company. She is honored to serve Intiman Theatre as Artistic Director, where she oversees an Associate of Arts Degree in Technical Theatre for Social Justice through Seattle Central College. She is Founding Co-Artistic Director of Washington Ensemble Theatre, winner of The Stranger Genius Award in Theatre and four-time Gregory Falls Best Scenic Design recipient. Jennifer is grateful to receive funding for her generative touring work from: The Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Theatre Communications Group, Map Fund, Creative Capital, Artist Trust, 4Culture, and The NEA. BFA Directing, BFA Theatre Design - University of Rhode Island 1996, MFA Scenic Design - University of Washington, 2003. Member United Scenic Artists Local 829.
Melanie Burgess Taylor Costume Designer
Melanie Burgess, an award winning Seattle based Costume Designer has designed costumes for more than 170 productions, including for: Seattle Opera, Seattle Repertory Theatre, 5th Avenue Theatre, ACT, Intiman Theatre and Village Theatre. Regionally: The Guthrie, Cincinnati Playhouse, PlayMakers, Denver Center, Arizona Theatre Company, Minneapolis Children’s Theatre, Tantrum Theater (Ohio), and Honolulu Opera. Melanie is Associate Professor of Costume Design at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.
Robert J. Aguilar Lighting Designer
Previous designs for Pittsburgh Public Theater include A Christmas Story: The Play, Little Shop of Horrors, and Marjorie Prime. Additional regional credits include: Indecent, The Great Moment, Tiny Beautiful Things, The Odyssey - Public Works (Seattle Rep); In the Heights (Portland Center Stage, Seattle Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Rep); Bulrusher, Native Gardens, Hir (Intiman Theatre); The Year of Magical Thinking, Romeo and Juliet, The Wolves (ACT); Urinetown, Little Shop of Horrors (ACT/The 5th Avenue Theatre); The Pajama Game, How to Succeed in Business…, Jasper in Deadland (The 5th Avenue Theatre); Spelling Bee, String, Trails, Afterwords (Village Theatre); Dancing at Lughnasa (Tantrum Theatre); Full Gallop (The Old Globe); In the Heights, Seven Spirits on the Sun (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park). Robert is the Lighting Director of Seattle Rep. robertjaguilar.com @fake_robert
Zach Moore Sound Designer
Is a lifelong Tolkien fan and is thrilled to be collaborating on The Hobbit. His 100+ sound designs at Pittsburgh Public Theater include the world premieres of Billy Strayhorn; Something to Live For, L’Hotel, The Chief, Harry’s Friendly Service, The Glorious Ones, and Paper Doll; original music for Marjorie Prime, A Doll’s House Part 2, Hamlet, Equus, and Circle Mirror Transformation; as well as designs for Sweat, The Diary of Anne Frank, Thurgood, Red, and Little Shop of Horrors. Other collaborations include Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Reduced Shakespeare Co., Asolo Rep, City Theatre, Pittsburgh Playhouse, NBA Ballet in Tokyo, TheaterWorks Hartford, The Huntington, Long Wharf Theatre, and Dallas Theater Center.
Matt Acheson Puppet Director & Co-Puppet Designer
Matt is a puppet and theater artist who was based in Brooklyn for 20 years and now lives in Pittsburgh. He is a founder of AchesonWalsh Studios, a kinetic creation studio providing design, fabrication, direction and performance services, whose clients include Amazon Studios, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall Lincoln Center Theater, The Alliance Theater and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Long Wharf Theatre, Radio City Music Hall, Disney Cruise Lines, Cirque Du Soleil, and the Yale School of Drama. Matt has had the pleasure of working with many exceptional artists including Basil Twist, Dan Hurlin, Mabou Mines, Lee Breuer, Paula Vogel, Chris Green, Metropolitan Opera, The Swedish Marionette Cottage, MTV, Lake Simons and Nami Yamamoto and directed and curated The Puppet Lab, an experimental puppet festival at St. Ann’s Warehouse for over a decade. He was the Puppetry Director for Warhorse, during its run at Lincoln Center Theater and for the North American tour. Matt designed, built, and directed the marionettes for Rinna Groff’s Compulsion, original production directed by Oscar Eustis and the recently remounted production of Compulsion directed by Johanna Gruenhut at Theater J in DC.
Stewart Blackwood Composer
Stewart Blackwood is thrilled to be joining The Public for this production! His creative and technical work has been viewed nationally at venues such as the Cleveland Play House, Center Theatre Group, and La Jolla Playhouse. He is a professor of Composition and Sound Design at Carnegie Mellon University and holds an MFA from UC San Diego.
Lindsay L. Barr Dramaturg
Lindsay L. Barr is a freelance dramaturg and arts administrator. A Carnegie Mellon University alum (BFA Drama '20), she's worked locally with Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh Public Theater, and City Theater. Recent credits: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (dramaturg, City Theatre). Lindsay is a member of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas and serves on the board of Aviva Arts.
Gabriella Walko Production Assistant
Gabriella is thrilled to be working on her first show at Pittsburgh Public Theater! She is a Pittsburgh based multi-disciplinary artist with focuses in stage management and performance. Select SM credits include: Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, Shake It Up: A Shakespeare Cabaret, Flight of the Monarch (Shakespeare & Company), A…My Name is Still Alice, Falsettos (Front Porch Theatricals), and Pittsburgh CLO's 2023 summer season (SM Production Assistant). She proudly holds a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Pittsburgh.
Lisa R Stafford* Stage Manager
Lisa R. Stafford is excited to return to Pittsburgh Public Theater after stage managing The Coffin Maker last season. Based in NYC, her recent works include the industry readings of new musicals Finding Helena, Yellow Rose and Belva. Her other NYC work includes The Chekhov Dreams, Offal Endings (Theatre Row), The Astonishing Times of Timothy Crachit, Through the Darkness, Composure, Mesquite, NV (Workshop Theater), Lost Not Found, Detained (UP Theater). Regionally, Lisa’s works include Almost Heaven, Honky Tonk Angels, Million Dollar Quartet (Riverside Theatre); The Tempest (Colonial Theatre of Rhode Island), Rock of Ages (Engeman Theater), Berta, Berta (Mile Square Theatre), The Spitfire Grill (Vanguard Theatre), Matilda the Musical, Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike, I Love You, You’re Perfect Now Change (Gretna Theatre). Lisa also serves as the Production Coordinator for the Broadway Stage Management Symposium. Lisa received her BA in Theatre from Catawba College, where she is a member of the Blue Masque Theatre Hall of Fame, and her Masters in Theatre Education from UNC-Greensboro. Member, Actors’ Equity Association.
Kelly Haywood* Assistant Stage Manager
Past Pittsburgh Public Theater productions: Steel Magnolias, A Tell-Tale Heart, Noises Off, An Iliad, Dragon Lady, Little Shop of Horrors, Barefoot in the Park, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Importance of Being Earnest. Kelly has also done several productions with Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Opera and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.
Marya Sea Kaminski* Director
Marya serves as the Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Public Theater. She is an award-winning director, writer, and producer, the founding director of Public Works Seattle, and a founding co-artistic director of the Washington Ensemble Theatre. She has taught theater, solo performance, and creative writing across the country and internationally, and holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Washington.
Oy Adebajo Assistant Director
Oy Adebajo is delighted to assistant direct their first ever regional production! A recent Muhlenberg graduate with a Theatre BA, and creative writing minor, she previously interned for Pittsburgh Public Theater over the summer. Muhlenberg productions include, The Stories We Tell to Cope (2022, writer/director), An Experiment (2020-virtual, director), and Carl in the Bathroom (2024, stage manager/board op). She was also an uncredited extra in Lee Daniels' Netflix Original, The Deliverance.
Dominique Briggs Assistant Director
Dominique Briggs is excited to serve as the Assistant Director of The Hobbit at The Public. This is her third show as Assistant Director with the Pittsburgh Public Theater. Other credits include PPT’s 2024 production of The Coffin Maker and the 2022 production of A Raisin in the Sun. Dominique has also appeared both on stage and screen in numerous productions including Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Company’s production of August Wilson’s Radio Golf. Dominique serves as Sr. Manager of Public Works and Partnerships at The Public.
*Denotes members of the Actors' Equity Association
Staff List
Our Leaders
Marya Sea Kaminski, Artistic Diretor
Shaunda McDill, Managing Director
Lindsay Barr, Executive Assistant & Board Liaison
Artistic
Sarah Ashley Cain, Associate Artistic Director
Brian Pope, Casting & Literary Director
Justin Emeka, Resident Director
Demeatria Boccella, Artist-in-Residence
Jamie Agnello, Artist-in-Residence
Matt Acheson, Artist-in-Residence
José Pérez IV, Resident Fight & Intimacy Director
Mora V. Harris, Resident Playwright
Anya Martin, Resident Playwright
Brian Pope, Resident Playwright
Kelly Trumbull, Resident Playwright
TJ Young, Resident Playwright
Human Resources
Lisha Logan, Director of Human Resources
Morgan Overton, Worforce Director
General Management
Stewart Urist, General Manager
Trent Wolfred, Associate Director of Operations
Savannah Merrill, Company Manager
Fred Noel, Systems Coordinator
Adrianne Redwood, Events Consultant
Finance
Adam List, Controller
Jim Overton, Finance Manager
Anna Skeels, Accounts Receivable/Accounts Payable Associate
Development
Toby Guinn, Chief Development Officer
Devan Mercurio, Associate Director of Development
Milton Melendez, Development Associate
Education & Engagement
Jenny Malarkey, Education Manager
Dominique Briggs, Senior Manager of Public Works and Partnerships
House Management
Kacie Belletti, Senior Manager of Guest Services & Belonging
Alana Moye, Guest Services Representative
Ryan Rattley, Guest Services Representative
Marketing & Communications
Aja Jones, Director of Marketing & Communications
Ben Geibel, Digital Content Manager
Christie Jay Snyder, Marketing & Communication Manager
Ali Mohammed Srour, Patron Services Data Associate
Brian Starks, Community Liaison
Production
Monica Bowin, Director of Production & Operations
Trent Wolfred, Associate Director of Operations
Savannah Merrill, Company Manager
Rob McLeod, Technical Director
Lisa Harshbarger, Scene Shop Manager
Drew Palajsa, Head Shop Carpenter
Sean DeKonty, Shop Carpenter
Joe Paski, Shop Carpenter
Shannon Seibel, Shop Carpenter
Celeste Parrendo, Charge Scenic Artist
Gay Kahkonen, Properties Head
Kelly Yann, Properties Coordinator
Venise St. Pierre, Costume Shop Head
Erin Prokopchak, Costume Shop Coordinator
Kyle Huber, Costume Shop Associate
Joshua Beumer, Head Electrician
Zach Moore, Head Sound Engineer
Mikey Abate, Head Stage Carpenter
Philip Cassidy, Production Key/A-2
Christina Dragen-Dima, Production Key
Jaime Ericson, Costume Design Assistant
The Hobbit
Julia Welch, Assistant Scenic Designer
Jaime Ericson, Assistant Costume Designer
Ian Stoll, Assistant Sound Designer
Core Company
Margot Allison
June Alvilda Almonte
Brian Dzuban
Amy B. Marsalis
Michael McBurney
Ryan M. Rattley
This performance of THE HOBBIT runs approximately 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission.
This show is rated PG and contains mature themes, moments of violence, the use of electronic cigarettes, drinking of alcohol depicted on stage, use of smoke, strobe lights and haze.
Land Acknowledgement
The ground on which we stand, at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers, is home to the Seneca People. They called this area Jaödeogë’ (Jaonh day ō gent’), Between Two Rivers, the crossroads of the Seneca, Lenni Lenape, Shawnee, and numerous nations who lived before, with and after them.
These Peoples, along with other nations in the Haudenosaunee (Hoe-dee-no-SHOW-nee) Confederacy, stewarded the land of this greater region; and like other First Nations across North America, their spiritual roots are buried deep within Mother Earth. We acknowledge this land and their continued spiritual connection to it as sacred.
We must also recognize the painful destruction of this connection and the injustices perpetrated on Native Communities through broken treaties and colonial occupation, resulting in enslavement, cultural genocide, forced assimilation, and dissolution of their right to independent self-governance.
Through awareness and action, we can write a new history that honors First Peoples’ spiritual connection to the land and combats Indigenous erasure, systemic racism and continued marginalization. We invite you to join us in action. Insightful information can be found at https://americanindian.si.edu and our website: https://ppt.org
This statement was crafted in collaboration with Dr. Joe Stahlman (Ska:ru:re), Ja:no’s Bowen (Onöndowa’ga:’), and Jamie Jacobs (Onöndowa’ga:’).
Union Information
The Actors and Stage Manager employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.
This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
The Director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and The National Theatrical Labor Union.