Leora Morris (Director) Alliance: Ride the Cyclone, Hey Willy See the Pyramids, Winnie-the-Pooh, Crossing Delancey, The Dancing Granny. Other directing credits include The Philosopher’s Wife (Toronto), Labour of Love (Olney Theatre Center), Spring Awakening the Musical (Connecticut College), Knives in Hens, Orphans (Coal Mine Theatre, Toronto), He Left Quietly (2014 SummerWorks Best Production Award, Toronto), Amy and the Orphans, Women Beware Women, King John, Riverbank: A Noh Play for Northerly Americans (Yale School of Drama), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, love holds a lamp in this little room (Yale Cabaret). Awards: Toronto’s 2012 Ken MacDougall Award, Yale Julian Milton Kaufman Prize in Directing, O’Neill/NNPN National Directing Fellow, Alliance Yale Directing Fellow. Leora was recently shortlisted for the international 2020 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Prize. Leora is currently a Resident Artist in the Education department at the Alliance. leoramorris.com

Erik Poger Abrahamsen (Venti Mole Rat/H&M Singer 5/ASM) HOLY MOLE-Y are the only words that come to mind when trying to express his excitement for being at the Alliance for such a joyous piece of theatre!! Favorite credits: Titanic, Grease, Miss Saigon (Serenbe Playhouse), The Giver (Georgia Ensemble Theatre), Henry V (Shakespeare Tavern). Serenbe Playhouse Apprentice (2016-2017). He sends all his love to the wonderful folks over at The People Store, and the unmoving support from TTS+H!

Lowrey Brown (Grand-Pah Mole Rate/Stark Naked/Naked Mole Rat 4/H&M Singer 2/Announcer)  is so grateful to be returning to the Coca-Cola Stage. A graduate of Kennesaw State University, Lowrey has spent the past 10 years acting in and around Atlanta on both the stage and screen. Thank you for spending your time with us today. Many thanks to my family and incredibly wonderful wife, Lyndsay. Recent Regional Theatre: Company (Actor's Express), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Aurora Theatre), Les Miserables (Aurora Theatre), and A Christmas Carol (Alliance Theatre).  Recent Tv/Film: Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix), The Gifted (FOX), The Vampire Diaries (CW).  Find out more at lowreybrown.com

Abby Holland (U/S Tall Mole Rat/H&M Singer 3/Grande Mole Rat/H&M Singer 4/ Weather Mole/Naked Mole Rat 5/H&M Singer 1/Potential Customer/ Secret Service) is thrilled to be back at the Alliance. Recent credits: Ride The Cyclone (Alliance Theatre), Macbeth (Synchronicity Theatre), Head Over Heels, The Crucible, Little Shop of Horrors, Company, Appropriate (Actor’s Express), Freaky Friday (Horizon Theatre), Fun Home (Out of Box), What’s Past (Weird Sisters Theatre Project), Sordid Lives, Christmas With The Crawfords (Out Front Theatre), Red: A Crayon’s Musical (Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival), Love/Sick (Aurora Theatre, Appco Alumni Series). B.A. Theatre/Women’s Studies from UGA. Lots of love to friends, family, and the incredible cast and crew! IG: @abbyholland

Danielle Hopkins (Grande Mole Rat/H&M Singer 4) is thrilled to make her Alliance debut! Recent credits: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), The Three Musketeers, Henry VIII, Hamlet (Atlanta Shakespeare Company), Madeline’s Christmas (Horizon Theatre Company), A Christmas Carol, Beautiful Star (Triad Stage). B.F.A. Acting/Musical Theatre Minor from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. For: Ken, Corey, Matt, Denise and Justin. Much love and gratitude to all the educators that fight to make great theatre accessible to every student. Stay fierce! Instagram: @danielledhopkins

Alexandria Joy (Tall Mole Rat/H&M Singer 3) is proud and honored to make her Alliance debut. Recent credits: Ella Enchanted (Synchronicity Theatre), Jekyll and Hyde (Atlanta Lyric), HAIR (Serenbe Playhouse), Ragtime (Serenbe Playhouse). TV/Film: “Lovecraft Country”. Recent graduate of the Serenbe Playhouse Apprenticeship. B.F.A. Theatre, Emphasis Musical Theatre at Valdosta State University. Special thanks to my family and my adoring fiancé for always believing in me and supporting my dreams. 

K.D. O'Hair (Weather Mole/Naked Mole Rat 5/H&M Singer 1/ Potential Customer/ Secret Service) is so happy to be making her Alliance debut and finally brandishing her much studied Janis Joplin impression. She is a licensed cosmetologist of 10 years and can also be seen performing around Atlanta improv circles in The Jonestown Players. Recent credits include: Keely and Du (Innovocative Theatre), Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (The Heather). TV/Film: “Cobra Kai,” “Chicago P.D.,” “Halt and Catch Fire,” “Whatever We Want to Be.” Proud SAG-AFTRA member. Very grateful for this opportunity and her loving and supportive friends and mother.

Juan Carlos Unzueta (Wilbur J. Mole Rat, Jr) is so excited to make his Alliance Theatre debut after wrapping up a run in Fun Home at Actor’s Express. Other Atlanta credits: Atlanta: Miss Bennet Christmas at Pemberley (Theatrical Outfit), In The Heights, País de Bicicleta, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Beat Bugs A Musical Adventure (Aurora Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors and Merrily We Roll Along in Concert (Actor's Express), Freaky Friday (Horizon Theatre) Songs for a New World (BUICEntennial Productions). Education: B.F.A., B.A., University of North Florida.Other: Director of Cross-Cultural Programs at Aurora Theatre, Represented by People Store. IG: @juancho181

John Henry Ward (U/S Wilbur J. Mole Rat, Jr/Venti Mole Rat/H&M Singer 5/Grand-Pah Mole Rate/Stark Naked/Naked Mole Rat 4/H&M Singer 2/Announcer) is so excited to be back at the Alliance Theatre! Recent credits include Ride the Cyclone (Alliance Theatre) and The View Upstairs (Out Front Theater Company) and the upcoming feature film Yes, God, Yes. B.F.A. in musical theatre from Elon University. Thanks to my parents, teachers, and the Alliance for all the help and support. 

Eric Baumgartner (Music Director/Conductor) holds degrees in jazz studies from Berklee College of Music and DePaul University. He is thrilled to be returning to the Alliance after participating in last year's productions of Ever After and Max Makes a Million. Other Atlanta-based theatrical work includes productions with The Center for Puppetry Arts, Clayton State University, Actor’s Express, Atlanta Jewish Academy, The Lovett School, Gainesville Theatre Alliance and Georgia Ensemble Theatre. Eric works as a composer, arranger and clinician for the Hal Leonard Corporation. He has dozens of published piano works including the popular Jazz Piano Basics series. As a clinician he has conducted piano teacher workshops throughout the US, Australia, England, Canada and Germany. Eric is the principle pianist for the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus. He also enjoys rockin’ the keyboards with two celebrated Atlanta-based bands, Yacht Rock Schooner and A1A.

Clay Benning (Sound Designer) has been the Resident Sound Designer at the Alliance Theatre for 19 years and has designed more than 100 productions for the Alliance, including 30 world premieres, 35 musicals, and 30 Theater for Young Audiences productions. Recent works include Candide, Wizard of Oz, Ride the Cyclone, and Max Make A Million. Other design work has included Georgia Shakespeare, Atlanta Ballet, Cincinnati Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Theatrical Outfit, Geva Theatre, Synchronicity Theatre, and the Georgia Aquarium. Awards: Seven Suzi Bass awards for outstanding sound design with 16 nominations. He is a graduate of Presbyterian College (B.A.), North Carolina School of the Arts (M.F.A.) and a member of IATSE/USA829 and TSDCA.

Liz Campbell (Stage Manager) Recent Alliance credits include A Christmas Carol, Max Makes a Million, The Wizard of Oz, Paige in Full, Winnie the Pooh, The Jungle Book, The Dancing Granny, Cinderella and Fella, Ugly Lies the Bone, Pancakes, Pancakes!, Tiger Style!, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, James and the Giant Peach, Shrek, and  Charlotte’s Web. Local credits include Camelot, The World Goes Round, Million Dollar Quartet, Dreamgirls, Peter Pan, Monty Python's Spamalot, Ragtime and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Atlanta Lyric Theatre); Book of Will and It’s a Wonderful Life (Theatrical Outfit). She holds a B.F.A. in Theatre from Niagara University. Member of Actors’ Equity Association. Love to Ali and Maggie.

Kat Conley (Scenic Designer) is ecstatic to return to the Alliance and Courtenay’s Cabaret. She has designed more than 30 Alliance productions, including last year’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Wizard of Oz. Kat has designed scenery for Arena Stage, Orlando Shakespeare, the Kennedy Center, Georgia Shakespeare, Marin Theatre Company, Actor’s Express, The Atlanta Ballet, The Center for Puppetry Arts, 7 Stages, Theatrical Outfit, Synchronicity Theatre, Theatre in the Square, and Aurora Theatre. She continues to be the Charge Scenic Artist for the Alliance Theatre. Whether dramatically challenging, visionary of escapist, all theater and art is important, thank you for supporting it in our community.

Fabian Fidel Aguilar (Costume Designer) was born in El Paso, TX and attended Yale University and Boston University to pursue costume design. Most recently designed; Twelfth Night (Two River Theater), Mlima’s Tale, In the Heights, Man of La Mancha, Romeo & Juliet (Westport Country Playhouse), Slow Food (Dorset Theater Festival), Max Makes a Million (Alliance Theater), safeword. (Midnight Theatricals), and Recent Alien Abductions (Play Co.). Design credits also include Winnie the Pooh (Alliance Theater, Atlanta); Afterglow (Midnight Theatricals)¡Bienvenidos Blancos! or Welcome White People! (Team Sunshine) Philadelphia;; A View from the Bridge; Seven Spots on the Sun; set and costume for The War Boys (East coast premiere); Sotto Voce (Portland Stage); Midsummer; The Moors (Yale Repertory Theater world premier); He Left Quietly (SummerWorks Performance Festival, Toronto); While in Boston he worked for various theatres, conservatories, and universities including: American Repertory Theater, Boston Ballet, Moscow Ballet, the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, among others. In his spare time he likes to paint watercolors or urban sketch.  

Greg Hoffman (Lighting Designer) Off Broadway: Ride the Cyclone, MCC Theatre. Selected Regional: Man of Destiny, American Players Theater; River of Song, Milwaukee Repertory Theater; Ride the Cyclone, Alliance Theatre and ACT Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Jeff Award nominee), Nell Gwynn, Mary Stuart, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Ride the Cyclone, Road Show, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; Wizard of Oz (Jeff Award nominee), Elf, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mamma Mia, Hairspray, Oklahoma, Tommy (Jeff Award Recipient), Mary Poppins, Annie, 42nd Street, Paramount Theatre; Rock of Ages, The Game's Afoot, Les Miserables, Oliver!, Drury Lane Theatre; River of Song, Milwaukee Rep; Marjorie Prime, Outside Mullingar, Mr. Burns, Silent Sky, Sons of the Prophet, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, Forward Theatre; Beehive the 60’s Musical, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, and Great Lakes Theater; Something Wicked This Way Comes, Delaware Theatre Company. Greg has also designed over 50 productions for Cedar Fair Amusement Parks across the country.

Mike Tutaj returns to the Alliance Theatre after having designed projections for Ride the Cyclone in 2019. He has designed previous iterations of Ride the Cyclone at ACT Theatre (Seattle), MCC Theater (New York), and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Based in Chicago, Mike has designed for theatre and live performance for over 15 years. To learn more about his work and find a list of credits visit his website, miketutaj.com. Mike is the recipient of five Joseph Jefferson Awards and the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award in 2012. He is an artistic associate with TimeLine Theatre and teaches projection design at Columbia College Chicago. 

A composer, music director and orchestrator, Deborah Wicks La Puma is one of the most produced Theatre for Young Audiences artists working today. With bestselling children’s author Mo Willems she has created Elephant and Piggie’s: We Are In A Play; Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience; and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: The Musical. Her many and diverse works with playwright Karen Zacarías include Ella Enchanted (based on the book by Gail Carson Levine), Olivério: A Brazilian Twist, Frida Libre, Looking for Roberto Clemente and Einstein Is a Dummy. With playwright Adam Tobin she created She Persisted (based on the book by Chelsea Clinton), and the upcoming What Do You Do With An Idea? (based on the book by Kobi Yamada). Her adult works include the lyric opera Dakota Sky and the Mexican folk musical Perdita (based on Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale) with Kathleen Cahill. She received her MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, and studied folk music with ethnomusicologist Alfredo López Mondragón. Her honors include the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award, an NEA New American Works Grant, two Parents’ Choice Awards, and a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Musical Adaptation. A proud Mexican-American and “Navy brat” who grew up in Brazil, Portugal and California, La Puma is a member of TYA USA/ASSITEJ, ASCAP and The Dramatists Guild. Mother to three daughters and Mimi the Cat, La Puma lives in Southern California with her PR agent and loving husband, Chris.

#1 New York Times Bestseller Mo Willems began his career as a writer and animator for PBS’ Sesame Street, where he garnered 6 Emmy Awards for his writing. During his nine seasons at Sesame Street, Mo also served as a weekly commentator for BBC Radio and created two animated series, Nickelodeon’s The Off-Beats and Cartoon Network’s Sheep in the Big City. While serving as head writer for Cartoon Network’s #1 rated show, Codename: Kids Next Door, Mo began writing and drawing books for children. His debut effort, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! became a New York Times Bestseller and was awarded a Caldecott Honor in 2004. The following year Knuffle Bunny: a Cautionary Tale was awarded a Caldecott Honor. The sequel, Knuffle Bunny Too: a Case of Mistaken Identity garnered Mo his third Caldecott Honor in 2008. In addition to picture books, Mo created the Elephant and Piggie books, a series of “Easy Readers”, which were awarded the Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal in 2008 and 2009 and a Geisel Honor in 2011. For older audiences he has published an illustrated memoir of his year-long trip around the world in 1990-91 entitled You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons. Mo’s drawings, wire sculptures, and ceramics (done in collaboration with his father) have exhibited in numerous galleries and museums across the nation and his graphic story about his family experiences during 9-11 for DC comics resides in the Library of Congress’ permanent collection. Mo has been heard on NPR’s All Things Considered where he occasionally serves as the broadcast’s ‘Radio Cartoonist’. Mo voices and produces animated cartoons based on his books with Weston Woods studios. The animated Knuffle Bunny was awarded Best Film during the New York International Children’s Film Festival in 2008 and received the Andrew Carnegie Medal in 2007. The animated Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! garnered Mo his second Carnegie Medal in 2010. Mo wrote the script and lyrics for Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, commissioned by the Kennedy Center for its 2010 season. Mo lives in Massachusetts with his family.