Mac-Haydn Theatre Debut

Eric is thrilled to join the Mac-Haydn team as a music director this season! As an actor, Eric has been seen across the country and abroad, including productions at Paper Mill Playhouse, Goodspeed Opera House, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, The Cape Playhouse, Lyric Theatre Company, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Maine State Music Theatre, and Florida Repertory Theatre. He has sung with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and has performed in touring productions of Cats, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He would like to thank the entire Mac-Haydn staff for their support, especially John. Eric is excited to bring Chatham audiences such an incredible line-up of musicals. Enjoy!

Walter “Bobby” McCoy, a proud Nicaraguan-American, is thrilled to be returning to The Mac-Haydn Theatre this season! Music Direction Credits include- NEW YORK: The World Goes ‘Round (The Mac-Haydn Theatre). WASHINGTON DC: On Your Feet! En Español, Fame: in Spanish, In The Heights in Spanish (2018 HH WINNER, Outstanding Musical Direction) (Gala Hispanic Theatre); A.D. 16, Beauty and the Beast, Miss You Like Hell, Annie (Olney Theatre Center); Legally Blonde (2020 HH WINNER, Outstanding Musical Direction) (Keegan Theatre); A New Brain, A Civil War Christmas, Fly By Night (2019 HH Nom), Old Wicked Songs (2016 HH Nom), Bat Boy, Altar Boyz (1st Stage Tyson’s); Little Shop of Horrors (2020 HH Nom), Aida (2019 HH Nom), The Wild Party (2018 HH Nom) (Constellation Theatre). Bobby is currently on the faculty of Levine Music. UPCOMING: 42nd St (SSMT), In The Heights (STAGES St. Louis), Beauty and the Beast (Olney Theatre Center).

Themba Pieterse is super excited to be back at the Mac-Haydn this year. A student at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, Themba studies with musicians in both the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He started playing trumpet back when he was in third grade at the age of ten, falling in love with the commanding presence it demanded in all different types of ensembles. He has played in numerous ensembles from Jazz Bands to Full Orchestras, though his true love lies with Musical Theater Pit work. He will be playing in the pit for both A Chorus Line and Kiss Me Kate, and is very excited to work with the brilliant musicians, actors, dancers, and crew that call the Mac home!

Anthony is excited to return the Mac-Haydn! Originally from Brooklyn, NY Anthony is an international touring reed doubler. Most recently he joined the Hairspray National Tour as their saxophone player. Previous Touring Credits include: Waitress the Musical, The Spongebob Musical and Phantom of the Opera. Special thanks to Angela Carstensen for keeping being an amazing partner and keeping me sane these past 3 years. Check out Anthony on Instagram anthony.m.rodriguez

Andy Sharkey LOVES playing low brass instruments! Bass and Tenor Trombone, Euphonium and Tuba. Some of his favorite projects have been premieres of symphonic score reductions with Mahler Chamber Project and Ensemble 212, his Carnegie Hall debut on Verdi’s Requiem Mass, and consistent standing ovations for After Midnight on the Norwegian Escape cruise ship. Recently, he helped premiere the world’s first full transcription of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, with the Indiana Wind Symphony. He remains an in-demand symphonic freelancer, performing throughout Indiana with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Anderson Symphony and the Lafayette Symphony. He’s an active arranger and orchestrator, as well as blog author for bandtuning.com Catch him this fall as trombonist in the North American Tour of CHICAGO, The Musical.

Cyndy Elliott is a freelance bassist in the Washington DC area, performing many different styles of music for shows, big bands, small combos, orchestras, and chamber ensembles at venues ranging from Blues Alley to the Kennedy Center. Cyndy leads the Django Reinhardt-inspired Trio Speevy and co-leads the jazz octet Swingtopia. She has traveled extensively, spending several years “on the road” playing bass with national tours, including the big band show “In the Mood” and the musicals “Meet Me in Saint Louis” and “Sister Act”. Cruise ship work took her to the Caribbean, Central America, and all over Europe. She toured Australia and New Zealand with a jazz trombone ensemble and performed in nine cities throughout China with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony. Cyndy earned a master’s degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Maryland where she directed several ensembles and taught beginning jazz theory and improvisation.

Combining a passion for musical theater, performance, and teaching, woodwind specialist Katy Faracy has appeared with the Grammy-nominated Milwaukee Jazz Orchestra, acclaimed contemporary music ensemble Present Music, and Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra. Now based in New York City Katy has spent her time studying saxophone, clarinet, flute, and bassoon. Katy has enjoyed performing numerous shows with local theaters throughout NYC and Northern New Jersey. Katy holds a Bachelor’s degree in woodwind doubling from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and recently completed her Master’s degree in woodwind doubling from Montclair State University. In addition to being a theater musician Katy maintains a full private music studio. Katy was also a member of the orchestra for the most recent national Broadway tour of Chicago the Musical.

McKinley Foster is excited to be playing guitar for “Next to Normal” for his first production at the Mac-Haydn Theatre. While typically on the road as the guitar/mandolin chair for the National Tour of “Fiddler on the Roof,” he has performed in regional theatres across the country in states such as Colorado, New Hampshire, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. As a composer, his work has been featured in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival with “Oz.org,” and was selected to be featured in “The Isolation Project,” with Alynn Rinah Parola’s “Untitled.” Other recent projects include scoring “The Mount,” a film in collaboration with the dance collective “BODYSONNET,” “Piece of the Pandemic,” an online choose-your-own-adventure story on YouTube. Under the name “Core Memory,” he writes original instrumental beat-based music, available on all streaming services.

Hannah Burke is so excited to be joining the wonderful company of Xanadu for her very first show at the Mac-Haydn! Her most recent credits include the National Tour of Waitress (cello/guitar), Goblins & Gates at the Oskar Schindler PAC (cello), and The Problem is Me at the Green Room 42 (cello). She graduated from Rutgers University in 2021 with a BA in Music and Biomathematics, where she studied under Jichen Li. Aside from playing guitar and cello, she is passionate about environmentalism, ecology, and preserving our natural resources. Hannah would like to thank her friends and family for their endless support, as well as the music team at the Mac-Haydn for welcoming her into their orchestra. She hopes you enjoy the show!

Ryan Lepage is a trumpet player from Rollinsford, New Hampshire, where he has been performing for musical theater shows since he was a sophomore in high school. recently living in Maine for 4 years, Ryan completed a BA in trumpet performance with a concentration in jazz studies, graduating from the University of Southern Maine in 2019. Shortly after graduating, Ryan joined the national tour of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and continues to work as a touring musician. Usually spending his summers performing for shows in Brunswick, Maine at Maine State Music Theater, he is so very excited to be joining Mac Haydn for the first time ever for “The Full Monty”, and hopes you enjoy the show!

Sean Andrews, a New York based music director and pianist, is thrilled to be working with Mac-Haydn Theatre! Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Sean was one of the directors of an award winning youth theater as well as an in-demand music director/keyboardist and instructor in the St. Louis area. In New York City, Sean has worked in a variety of cabaret clubs, rehearsal halls, audition rooms, and educational institutions throughout Manhattan, Astoria, and the Bronx. He is a proud member of the music team of Broadway Artists Alliance and has worked with numerous casting directors, agents, and Broadway veterans through that program. As an avid traveler, Sean was fortunate to be the onboard music director/conductor for Royal Caribbean, working on productions such as We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia!, and Hairspray.

Andrea Vercoe, violinist and violist, has been performing for over thirty years in symphonies, chamber ensembles, and theater. Since graduating from Oberlin Conservatory, Ms. Vercoe has appeared on stage in Germany, Austria, Canada, France, Russia, and New Zealand. Venues include Carnegie Hall, the National Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center, the Czech Embassy, the French Embassy, the National Shrine, the National Cathedral, the Atlas Theater, Olney Theatre, Signature Theatre, and Ford’s Theatre. An avid world traveler and linguist, Ms. Vercoe received an M.A. in Ethnomusicology in 2017 and has performed in Middle Eastern, Persian, tango and flamenco ensembles. She is a member of the National Arab Orchestra, performing with them in Saudi Arabia in 2019. Ms. Vercoe currently teaches privately at the Landon School and directs the World Music Ensemble at Towson University.

Lydia Paulos (she/her) is a New York based cellist. She plays regularly for theater productions and cabarets: her credits include Alice By Heart at MCC Theater, the American In Paris national tour, Baby at Out of the Box Theatrics, and various shows at The Green Room 42 and 54 Below. She often collaborates with composers for new shows, and is a contributor on several recordings. She can be heard on Blake Allen’s “An Evening With: Series 1,” Margo Ross’s “Prairie Life,” Pom Pom Squad’s “Death of a Cheerleader,” as well as numerous other releases from young artists. Instagram: @paulosy15

Alex Lemma is a New York based bassoonist and woodwind doubler. He has recently completed his Master’s Degree in Multiple Woodwind Performance at Montclair State University and previously obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Bassoon Performance from Montclair State. As a musical theater pit musician, Alex has played a wide variety of instruments on numerous shows ranging in style from Meet Me in St. Louis to Reefer Madness to Into the Woods. Recently, he’s performed in ensembles that accompanied Broadway performers Sierra Boggess and Norm Lewis. Alex has performed as a second bassoonist and contrabassoonist with ensembles like the Montclair Orchestra and the New Jersey Wind Symphony and a tenor saxophonist with the Princeton Symphony. In addition to orchestral experience, Alex has performed in different chamber settings including woodwind quintets, reed quintets and doubling quartets.

Alex Atchley is a freelance drummer, percussionist and timpanist based in Albany, NY. Alex enjoyed a successful freelance career in Chicago before relocating to the Albany, NY area in 2016. Trained as a classical percussionist, he is equally at home behind the drum set. In the musical theater world Alex has performed with the National Tour of “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations”, The American Theater Company in Chicago and regularly appears with Playhouse Stage Co. and Park Playhouse productions in Cohoes and Albany. As an orchestral percussionist Alex was a member of Illinois’ third largest symphony orchestra, the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Elgin Symphony as well as numerous regional symphonies throughout Indiana and Western Michigan. In NY he has performed and recorded with the Grammy-award winning Albany Symphony, Albany Pro Musica and the Glens Falls Symphony.