Cast

Joy Powers as Petrushka
Bonniejean Wilbur, Ensemble
Edward F. Speck, Ensemble
Allegra Dubus-Brandolini, Ensemble
Katie Formosi, Ensemble
Sierra Gitlin, Ensemble
Cailin McFarland, Ensemble

Creative Team

Directors …. Joshua Shack, Edward F. Speck, Bonniejean Wilbur, Joy Powers
Puppet Design …. Bonniejean Wilbur
Costume Design …. Bonniejean Wilbur
Puppet Theater Design …. Edward F. Speck, Gordon Przybyla
Poster Art …. Ben Wickey

Special Thanks to Paul Wann, Jeff Page, and Cailin McFarland

ALLEGRA DUBUS-BRANDOLINI is thrilled to be joining the cast of Petrushka’s Flying Puppet Circus. Credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Boston Theatre Company), Waiting for Godot (Firehouse Center for the Arts), Emotional Creature (Firehouse Center for the Arts), The Little Mermaid (Firehouse Center for the Arts), and School of Rock the Musical (Ogunquit Playhouse). She has performed in countless productions at Sarah Lawrence College such as Head over Heels the Musical and Twelfth Night. She trained at the British American Drama Academy in London and recently graduated with a BA in Theatre and Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She cannot wait to see what mischief Petrushka gets up to this time!

Allegra has previously appeared in Through the Wardrobe: A Winter Wonderland Panto (2022), The Game of Love and Chance (2022), Julius Caesar (2018), Antigone (2017), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2017) at Theater in the Open, among many other productions.

Katie Formosi as ensemble

KATIE FORMOSI (she/her) is excited to enjoy fairytales and fun with this show! Katie works as a paraprofessional with some very energetic 6th graders while finishing up a degree in Foreign Language Education. Recent credits outside of TitO include Jesus Christ Superstar (Ensemble, Peter and Simon u/s) with Dive in Productions and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Voice #5) with Firehouse Center for the Arts.

Katie has previously appeared in Through the Wardrobe: A Winter Wonderland Panto! (2022), A Nutcracker Panto! (2021), A Christmas Carol Panto! (2019), and A Cinderella Panto! (2018) at Theater in the Open.

SIERRA GITLIN as ensemble

SIERRA GITLIN has been working with Theater in the Open as an actor since 2017, performing in Antigone, The Tempest, Metamorphoses, and Poe. She has appeared as Medea and in several pantos. Sierra serves on the Board of Directors of Theater in the Open.

Cailin Mcfarland as ensemble

CAILIN MCFARLAND is a Newburyport based actor, educator, and costume designer.

Previous Theater in the Open credits include Metamorphoses (2021), Julius Caesar (2018), Antigone (2017), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2017), and POE (2017).

Joshua Shack, Director

JOSHUA SHACK Joshua Shack has co-directed the pantos for Theater in the Open since 2014. Petrushka's Flying Puppet Circus is his seventeenth collaboration with TitO. Josh decided to become a clown when he was just three years old. As a teenager, he spent his summers performing with Circus Smirkus, and then toured nationally with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. He is a co-creator and performer of The Piccolini Trio and directed their critically acclaimed stage show Circus in a Trunk. Other directing credits include Out of Orbit at The Theater at Saint Peter’s in New York City, and Nothing but Nonsense, a variety musical comedy at Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI. He is a teaching artist-in-residence for Circus Smirkus, and served as Production Manager and Director of Programming before becoming the Associate Artistic Director last spring.

Bonniejean WIlbur, DireCTOR/Ensemble

BONNIEJEAN WILBUR is an actress, director, costumer and maker of props and other whimsical things. She has worked with TITO for 30+ years with a hiatus here and there. Bonniejean is happily married to actor, director and teacher Paul Wann. Her favorite project is always the one she is working on right now!