Meet The Artists for
The Fantasticks!
Nathaniel Baker (Conductor & Pianist)
Nathaniel holds a bachelor's degree from The Hartt School in Piano Performance and Music Theory and a master's in Piano Performance from the University of Connecticut, where as a Graduate Assistant he worked as a coach/accompanist for the school's opera program. He studied piano with Luiz de Moura Castro and Irma Vallecillo. Nathaniel has music directed many local theatrical productions, including for Simsbury Light Opera Company, Seven Angels Theatre, and Choate Rosemary Hall. He is the Music Director of Peace Dale Congregational Church in Wakefield, RI. Nathaniel has also enjoyed an international career as a concert pianist, having performed in Europe and South America, as well as around the United States. He presently works as a staff accompanist at the University of Rhode Island. Nathaniel made his theatrical debut as a composer/arranger with Marc Deaton’s new play, A Memory of Truth, in May of 2021, and Elegy for a Fallen Angel in April 2022. Nathaniel has served as music director on numerous productions with MLS including: Into the Woods, Hansel and Gretel, Music of the Night, The Sun Sits Low, and many concerts. In the 2022 season, Nathaniel conducted Curlew River and The Seven Deadly Sins and was Music Director on Pippin for Madison Lyric Stage. MLS is very excited that Nathaniel will be serving as our Music Director for all events in Season 2024!
Marc Deaton (Director)
Mr. Deaton occupies a prominent place not only among today's most distinctive dramatic tenors but also as a creative and successful stage director, teacher, playwright, producer, and artistic director. As a singer, he has appeared with leading opera companies and orchestras throughout the world, including Vienna, Salzburg, Zurich, Berlin, Dresden, Paris, Barcelona, Augsburg, Munich, Mannheim, London, Bucharest, Budapest, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, New York, Bangkok, Hong Kong, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Santa Fe among others. He has portrayed the leading tenor roles of Wagner and Strauss: Tristan, Siegfried, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Parsifal, Erik in Der Fliegende Holländer, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, Narraboth and Herodes in Salome and Der Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten. He is also well-known for his portrayals of leading tenor roles in Samson et Dalila, Otello, Aïda, Turandot, Il Trovatore, Carmen and I Pagliacci; Schoenberg's Moses und Aron, Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu, Reimann's Die Gespenstersonate, Britten's The Turn of the Screw, Peter Grimes, and The Rape of Lucretia, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and operettas such as Das Land des Lächelns and Eine Nacht in Venedig. His concert repertoire is just as broad, ranging from classical to modern and comprising virtually all the great tenor parts in such works as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, Orff's Carmina Burana, Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, and Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. He was the first man to perform the role at Vienna's Schoenberg Center. His recordings include the title role in Tristan und Isolde with the Bulgarian Festival Orchestra on Titanic Records; the October 2011 Centaur Records release of Marc Deaton WAGNER, a solo disc of Wagner excerpts recorded with the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra; Calaf in Turandot with Bangkok Opera on DVD; and Stephen Suber's Upon the Bank at Early Dawn on Centaur Records. In addition to thirty years as an internationally renowned operatic tenor, Marc Deaton also brings a wealth of knowledge and experience as a stage director. Trained as an actor and director, Mr. Deaton appeared with the Utah Shakespeare Festival and performed key musical theatre roles including Che in Evita, Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Tony in West Side Story, and the title role in Candide, in European theatres such as Salzburg, Baden-Baden, Berlin, Bregenz, and Zurich. He is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Madison Lyric Stage, serving as producer and director of many of the productions in its twelve-year history. Mr. Deaton is also a playwright, writing the libretto for Glen Cortese’s monodrama The Swan Knight; penning the one-man show We Lived only for the Music: Max Lorenz and the Third Reich; and his plays with music A Memory of Truth? in 2021 and Elegy of a Fallen Angel in 2023, both with music by Nathaniel Baker.
Patty Carver (Bellomy)
Patty Carver (Bellomy) is a professional singer, actress, and writer with international credits. As Playwright in Residence for Connecticut Children’s Theatre, she has written over 40 original musicals for family audiences that have been produced for national tours and New York Productions. Six of her shows are published through Dramatic Publishing. Given the opportunity, Patty appears in CCT shows, and to date, she has performed for a wide range of audiences, including over a million children! Patty has an extensive performance resume in New York, Regional, Stock, Dinner Theatre, and Cabaret performances. Patty created Definitely Doris, the Music of Doris Day, celebrating the music of the legendary Actress. Premiering in London, the show had much success, including the full endorsement of Ms. Day herself. Subsequently, it was produced in Boston and at Garry Marshall’s Falcon Theatre in Los Angeles. Patty enjoys traveling and performing her numerous musical tributes and award-winning This Old Hat series celebrating women of American History in venues throughout the East Coast, Midwest, and New England. Her new musical, Radical Women, The Suffragists will be workshopped in the fall. Patty has appeared in MLS productions, including Memory of Truth, Pippin, and Angels in America Millennium Approaches. Patty is co-founder of Saltbox TV, a streaming platform created during COVID to provide programming for senior communities across the nation. Patty happily resides in Essex, CT with her husband, Jerry. Her children, Theresa and Andrew, are her constant pride and inspiration.
Bill Eggers (Henry)
Bill Eggers (Henry) is appearing for his 7th season with MLS. He has appeared in Otello, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Sun Sits Low, Look Of Love, Godspell, Climb Every Mountain, Curlew River, Of Mice and Men, Sweeney Todd, and Into The Woods. He continues to support the MLS family both onstage and behind the scenes and is extremely grateful to Marc and John for giving him the opportunity to be a small part of this wonderful organization.
Gabriela Esposito (Stage Manager)
Gabriela is a theatre technician based in New Haven, CT. Sure currently works for Yale's Schwarzman Center and Girl Scouts of Connecticut. This is her debut at Madison Lyric Stage. Her recent theatrical credits include Long Wharf Theatre's A View From The Bridge and Hartford Stage's All My Sons. She strives to engage her community through the arts and non-profit organizations.
Susan Kulp (Hucklebee)
SUSAN KULP (Hucklebee) is happy to be back at MLS after appearing in their productions of Angels in America (Angel) & Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Martha). Recent CT credits: A Slice (Lucretia), A Broken Umbrella Theatre; Grumpy Old Men (Ariel), Seven Angels Theatre; The Executioners Wife (Queen) Pantochino Productions; Barbecue (Lillie Ann), Collective Consciousness Theater; Beauty and the Beast (Mrs. Potts) Legacy Theatre. Susan is a company member with New Haven Theater Company (NHTC), can be seen and heard in commercial, print, VO and “acts” as a Simulated Patient/SP Educator for Quinnipiac & Yale University Medical & Nursing schools. Many thanks to Marc and the MLS team for having me back to play. Grateful to our audience for supporting CT theater.
John Johmann (El Gallo)
John Johmann (El Gallo) is a New York native and recently appeared with MLS in 2023 in Spring Awakening and in 2022 as Charlemagne in Pippin and George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? In 2021, he appeared as Michael in The Boys in the Band, and The Sun Sits Low. Previous seasons: Music of the Night, Hotel Fables, the Baker in Into the Woods, Robert in Company, Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, Che in Evita, Tom in The Glass Menagerie, and Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music. He also appeared in the title role of Macbeth with MLS, a role he also portrayed at the 13th Street Repertory Theater in New York. Other MLS credits include Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen, Weimar Masterpieces, Sondheim in the Barn, Phantom of the Barn, Bella Italia, and From Berlin to Vienna. In Connecticut, he played Frosch in Die Fledermaus with Opera Theater of Connecticut and Oliver in As You Like It with ArtFarm Shakespeare. Other NYC credits include Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Claudius in Hamlet, several seasons as Scrooge in A Radio Christmas Carol with Theater 2020, and Great Expectations with AMAS Musical Theatre (Gabriel Barre, dir.). Tours: Babes in Toyland with American Family Theater. Regional: Ralph Clark in Our Country's Good, Bob in Beyond Therapy, The Arbiter in Chess and many others.
Matt Landry-McWilliams (Mortimer)
Matt Landry-McWilliams (Mortimer) is delighted to return for his ninth season with Madison Lyric Stage, taking on the role of Mortimer in "The Fantasticks." Recently, he was seen on MLS stage in the award-winning revue, "Climb Every Mountain: Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein." Beyond his performances, Matt has contributed significantly as an Assistant Director, Stage Manager, Props Master, and Performer in various MLS productions. His recent performance work extends to East Haddam Stage Company, where he played Fred in "A Christmas Carol" at the Wadsworth Mansion. In addition, Matt is the Arts Department Chair and Performing Arts Director at Franklin Academy, a private boarding high school for teenagers on the autism spectrum and those with learning challenges. Under his leadership, Franklin Academy Theatre Arts has become one of the school’s premier Signature Programs, where its mission is to challenge stereotypes and promote neurodiversity through the performing arts, striving for a more inclusive world. For more info, visit fa-ct.org. Matt also directs the Family Theatre Program at Guilford Youth and Family Services. A third-degree black belt in Cheezic Tang Soo Do, he has dedicated twenty years to mastering this martial art. Matt dedicates this performance to his beloved dog, Abby, and cat, One-Eyed Willie.
Allison Lindsay (The Mute)
Allison Lindsay (The Mute) is an active operatic, theatrical, and concert performer from the Northeastern United States. A few of her notable roles to date include Frau/Inmate in Erwartung and Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel (both with Madison Lyric Stage), the title role in Handel’s Ariodante (New York Lyric Opera Theatre), Siebel in Faust and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (both with Connecticut Lyric Opera), among others. Ms. Lindsay’s New York television debut on BronxNet came in 2019 when she played Peep-Bo in Bronx Opera Company’s production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado that year. She has also appeared as a soloist in concert with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Binghamton Baroque Ensemble, Connecticut Virtuosi Summer Music Institute Faculty Ensemble, Boston Conservatory Baroque Ensemble, and Hofstra University’s Collegium Musicum. Ms. Lindsay has also been heard as a soloist at Carnegie Hall (New York, NY), the Berklee Performance Center (Boston, MA), and at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center and Wadsworth Atheneum, both in Hartford, CT. She made her international concert debut in the summer of 2018 at the Music in the Alps International Music Festival in Bad Gastein, Austria, where she performed as a soloist in chamber music concerts and as one of the winners of the festival’s Concerto-Aria Competition. Ms. Lindsay frequently appears in her hometown of Middletown, CT to perform the National Anthem at various events.
Meera Mennillo (Luisa)
Meera Mennillo (Luisa) has spent six years amassing an impressive body of work, and she is finally breaking into the music industry with her debut album Bloody Murder in a Midsummer Night's Dream under the name Meera Raphael, available July 11th. She has spent the last four years “cross-training” in opera and musical theatre through her involvement with Madison Lyric Stage and Simsbury Light Opera Company, as well as honing her stagecraft as the worship leader at Peace Dale Congregational Church. She also is a senior at the University of Rhode Island studying Psychology and Creative Writing. Meera has appeared with MLS in Suor Angelica, Pippin, Burt and Michel, Spring Awakening, Women of Opera, and this season, in addition to The Fantasticks, in Freedom, Elektra, and All That Jazz.
Theodore Zucconi (Matt)
Theodore Zucconi (Matt) is a recent graduate of Daniel Hand High School and the ACES Educational Center for the Arts and will attend Emerson College this fall for Musical Theatre. At MLS, he has appeared in Pippin, Spring Awakening, and Freedom. Other recent roles include The Zoo Story (Peter), Into the Woods (Baker), The Winter’s Tale (Leontes), and played the Boy this year in Daniel Hands show choir, Vibe.
