David Grindrod (he/him)

FOURTH SEASON

is excited to be back at Weathervane after co-directing and choreographing EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE (NH Theatre Alliance Award for Outstanding Choreography), directing and choreographing GUYS AND DOLLS (NH Theatre Alliance Award for Outstanding Choreography) and A CHORUS LINE. David is the associate to Tony Award recipient Baayork Lee, working alongside her on multiple national and international productions of A CHORUS LINE as well as CATS, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, WEST SIDE STORY and SOUTH PACIFIC. David choreographed THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA directed by Tony Award winner Victoria Clark. Other directing/choreographing credits include Quisisana Resort, White Plains Performing Arts, and Music Theatre Kansas City. @david.grin

Kyle de la Cruz Laing (he/him)

SECOND SEASON

NYC based performer, educator, & creative. National Tour: FUNNY GIRL; Regional: The Muny, Ogunquit Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Fulton Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company; BFA University of Central Florida. Love & gratitude to David always. @kylelaing

Andrew Morrissey (he/him)

SIXTH SEASON

Andrew Morrissey is a NYC-based pianist, award-winning music director, vocal coach, and composer. Experience includes educational, community, and semi-professional theatre in NH, NYC, and the DMV area. A NH native, regional credits include Interlakes, Jean’s Playhouse, Winnipesaukee Playhouse and Plymouth State University, where he received a BA in Music. He has an MM in stage music composition from CUA, and his thesis project grew into a fully-fledged staging of Lost In Wonderland with DC’s Pallas Theatre Collective. Current projects include a new musical based on Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray and another on the life of Rasputin. IG: Andrewmorrisseymusic

Hillary Jeffers (she/they)

SIXTH SEASON

Hillary s excited to return to the Weathervane Theatre for her 6th season. Favorite past designs include Weathervane Theatre’s Addams Family, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Disaster!, and Wig/ Makeup Design for Kinky Boots and Amadeus. She is currently the Owner of Midnight Menagerie, an inclusive up-cycling small business. Hillary holds a BS in Fashion Merchandising and Apparel Design from Georgia Southern University.

JEREMY BALDAUF  (he/him)

THIRD SEASON (Resident Lighting Designer) Based in Vermont, Jeremy has been a freelance technical designer for 10+ years, traveling the East Coast and beyond. He is excited to be returning for his third season with the Weathervane! Jeremy is also a gaffer and grip for film and television, and is an active member of IATSE Local #481.

CONNOR VON RENTZELL (he/they)

FIRST SEASON

Connor is a recent graduate from the University of South Dakota. Sound Design credits include THE 39 STEPS (University of South Dakota) and THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME (Black Hills Playhouse). Lighting Design credits include THE LIGHTNING THIEF and BAT BOY (University of South Dakota).

CASS BURGESSS  (he/him)

FIRST SEASON

Cass is known for his passion and meticulous attention to detail on his projects. He is excited to be making his props designer debut at the Weathervane. Some of his favorite credits as a props artisan include Primary Trust, Mary Poppins, Detroit ’67, and Dragon Pack Snack Attack.

Mel Brooks

Director, producer, writer and actor, Mel Brooks is the recipient of three 2001 Tony Awards (Best Score, Best Book of a Musical, Best Musical) and two Grammy Awards (Best Musical Show Album and Best Long Form Music Video) for THE PRODUCERS. Mr. Brooks began his distinguished career during television’s “Golden Age” as a writer for Sid Caesar on YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS in 1951. In 1955 and in 1957, Brooks received Emmy Award nominations (with others) for the best comedy writing for CAESAR’S HOUR, and in 1956 he was nominated (with others) for best writing for a variety or situation comedy. In 1952, Brooks wrote sketches for Leonard Sillman’s Broadway smash-hit revue, NEW FACES OF 1952, and in 1957, together with Joe Darion, he wrote the book for the Broadway musical SHINBONE ALLEY, which starred Eartha Kitt. In 1962, he wrote the book for the Broadway musical ALL-AMERICAN, starring Ray Bolger. In the’60s, Brooks teamed up with Carl Reiner to write and perform THE 2000 YEAR OLD MAN albums, which became immediate bestsellers. In 1960 and 1961, Brooks and Reiner received Grammy Award nominations for the best spoken word comedy for 2000 YEARS and for best comedy performance for 2000 AND ONE YEARS, respectively. In 1997, Brooks and Reiner teamed up again for THE 2000 YEAR OLD MAN IN THE YEAR 2000. Both a book and a CD were released, the CD winning a Grammy Award in 1998 for the best spoken word album: comedy. Brooks wrote and narrated THE CRITIC, a short satire on avant-garde art films, which received the Academy Award for best animated short subject in 1964. In 1965, he teamed up with buck Henry and created GET SMART, the long-running televisions show starring Don Adams as Agent 86. Brooks, along with others, received an Emmy Award for outstanding writing achievement in a comedy-variety in 1967 for THE SID CAESAR, IMOGENE COCA, CARL REINER, HOWARD MORRIS SPECIAL. In 1968, he wrote and directed his first feature film, THE PRODUCERS, starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, which earned him an Academy Award for the best original screenplay written directly for the screen. He then went on to create a remarkable string of hit comedies: 1970, he wrote, directed and acted in THE TWELVE CHAIRS; 1974, co-wrote, directed and acted in BLAZING SADDLES, and was nominated, along with John Morris, for the best title song, “Blazing Saddles”; 1974, co-wrote and directed YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN; 1976, co-wrote, directed and starred in SILENT MOVIE; 1977, co-wrote, directed and starred in SILENT MOVIE; 1977, co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART 1; 1983, produced and starred in TO BE OR NOT TO BE; co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in the hit sci-fi spoof, SPACEBALLS; 1991, co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in LIFE STINKS; 1993, co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS; 1995, co-wrote, directed, produced an starred in DRACULA; DEAD AND LOVING IT. For three successive seasons, Brooks won the Emmy Award for his role as UNCLE PHIL on the hit comedy show, MAD ABOUT YOU. His visionary film company, Brooksfilms Limited, founded in 1980, has produced some of America’s most distinguished films, among them: David Lynch’s THE ELEPHANT MAN, David Cronenberg’s THE FLY, FRANCES, Richard Benjamin’s MY FAVORITE YEAR and 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD, starring Anthony Hopkins and Mr. Brooks’ wife Anne Bancroft.

Thomas Meehan

Thomas Meehan received the Tony Award for co-writing the book for The Producers in 2001 and in 2003 for co-writing the book for Hairspray. He received his first Tony Award in 1977 for writing the book of Annie, which was his first Broadway show, and has written the books for the musicals Rocky, Elf the Musical, Cry-Baby, Young Frankenstein, Chaplin, Bombay Dreams, I Remember Mama, Ain’t Broadway Grand and Annie Warbucks. In addition, he was a long-time contributor of humor to The New Yorker, an Emmy-Award winning writer of television comedy, and a collaborator on a number of screenplays, including Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs and To Be Or Not To Be. Mr. Meehan was also a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild. He and his wife, Carolyn, divided their time between a home in Nantucket and an apartment in Greenwich Village, near which, on Hudson Street, she owned and presided over the long-running and near-legendary children’s store Peanut Butter & Jane. 

Music Theatre International

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world’s leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.

MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 100,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 150 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI’s Broadway Junior® shows are 30- and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI’s School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.

Sam Powers* (he/him)

FIRST SEASON

Recent credits include: Kennedy Center: SHEAR MADNESS; Everyman Theatre: AND THEN THERE WERE NONE; Round House Theatre: A HANUKKAH CAROL; Florida Studio Theatre: THE 4CNOTES, RHINESTONE COWGIRLS, THE WORLD GOES ‘ROUND, TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT, CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REMIXED!, BLACK PEARL SINGS!, THE ’70S-MORE THAN A DECADE; Proud Muhlenberg College graduate. www.sampowersstage.com @sampowersstage

TessaMarie Beard* (she/her)

FIRST SEASON

TessaMarie is a Chicago-based theatre artist and stage manager. This is her first season with Weathervane, and she is super excited to be part of the theatre’s 60th anniversary season!

RIEN SCHLECHT, she/her

TWENTY-FIRST SEASON

Favorite Weathervane designs include A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (NH Theatre Award), GUYS AND DOLLS (NH Theatre Award), EURYDICE, BUYER AND CELLAR, and SWEENEY TODD (NH Theatre Award). Her New York theatre credits – Out of the Box Theatrics, including the Drama Desk-nominated BABY, several seasons with Theatre For A New Audience, Radio City, Mark Morris Ballet, and many other theatres and TV commercials. She designed The Mysteries at The Flea (Drama Desk nom), The Jinx for HBO, worked on THE WOODSMAN at New World Stages, and the stage and film productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Julie Taymor. 

HANNAH SHOWALTER*, she/her

FIFTH SEASON

This is Hannah’s fifth season with the Weathervane! Hannah received a BA in Theatre and Dance from Keene State College. Some memorable shows she has worked on are… FUN HOME (Helen), SHREK (Humpty Dumpy), and CURIOUS INCIDENT… (Ensemble)! Hannah is thrilled to be back with the Weathervane crew and can’t wait to work on this awesome season!