Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind

Samya Aikens (QLab Programmer) is a third-year BFA Design and Technical Production with a focus in sound. She is beyond excited and grateful to be able to sound design on Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. Her earlier assignments here at UNCG include Sound Designer for ReformED, an A2 for both Frankenstein and Side Show, and Light Console Operator for Side Show. She would like to thank her family and friends for their constant support of her endeavors.  

Austin Cook (Ensemble) is a Greensboro, North Carolina native and senior at UNC Greensboro, pursuing dual B.A. degrees in Drama and African American & African Diaspora Studies (AADS). This production marks his first stage play, though he has appeared in short films and as an extra in Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It. Austin plans to attend film school and continue pursuing acting and filmmaking. 

Brian DeDora (Ensemble) is excited to return to the Sprinkle Theatre in Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (35 Neo-Futurist Plays in 70 Minutes). Brian’s first run-in with this space occurred in the Spring ‘26 semester when he transferred to UNCG’s B.A. Drama program, with a show called The Stories We Carry that is available for streaming on YouTube, though it can be tough to find. Brian has had a lot of fun through this rehearsal process and is grateful to be among a beautifully talented cast as he has in this play. He hopes not only that you enjoy the show but also that you come prepared to give your energy! Additionally, he says, “Thank you to my friends and family for your support. I love y’all <3”. 

Jacquelynne G.M. Domin (Production Electrician) is a first-year MFA at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro studying both Lighting and Costume Design for stage. Before choosing to attend UNCG, Jacquelynne worked at the Pablo Performing Arts Center in Eau Claire, Wisconsin as a Stage Electrician for touring and in-house productions. Before that, they received a Bachelors of Arts in Theatre Liberal Arts, specializing in Design and Technology for stage – learning from two UNCG Alumni and a great faculty and staff. Jacquelynne is excited to explore what the UNCG SoT has to offer and work with the faculty, staff, and fellow students to create art. 

Travis Eason (Assistant Director) is from Charlotte, NC, and he is a senior BFA Acting major with a minor in dance. Travis is taking a break from the stage and is excited to work under the director Robi as his co-assistant director on Too Much Light. His previous stage credits include Book of Days (Boyd), ReformED (Carter), Much Ado About Nothing (2nd Watchman), Everybody (Somebody/Skeleton), and Red and Alice (Mad Hatter). Travis would like to thank Robi for teaching him his way of directing, the ins and outs of directing, along with how to orchestrate a room. This role has taught him leadership, accountability, as well as real professionalism, which are all skills Travis will bring into his own directing project that he will produce later this semester. Travis would also like to thank God, and his family and friends for their continuous support throughout this process. It has been an absolute joy to be in the presence of such unique and talented people and is beyond proud of the cast for all of their hard work they put in each night! He can’t wait for everyone to see a show that’s not like any other! 

Sophie Ellenberger (Ensemble) is a senior BA Drama major with a minor in Media Studies. Most recently, Sophie played Baby Lincoln in UNCG’s TYA production of The Lincoln Sisters of Deckawoo Drive. Sophie is thrilled to be performing in her final mainstage production at UNCG! She would like to thank her incredible cast, as well as Robi, Grey, Tanner, Faith, Travis, & Theo for their phenomenal work on this production.  

Alexa Fields (Ensemble) is a junior BFA Acting major with a double major in Media Studies. She has done many shows at school and outside of school, with her most recent roles being Little Women with Kenkelmil Productions and the world premiere show, Discovering Blackness. Fun fact, Alexa is a very good rock climber. Too Much Light is a show like none that she has ever done, and she is very excited to share it with the audience, so have fun… 

Theseus “Theo” Hadad (Assistant Director) is a graduate student at UNCG and graduated with his Bachelors in Speech Pathology with a minor in Drama. During his undergraduate degree, Theo spent time as a member of MoB Theatre Company in Wilmington performing and creating original political performance art pieces, along with playing Peter Pan in a student-directed show of Peter Pan at UNCG. Theo is so grateful to everyone involved in the show for their hard work and wants to especially thank Robi for his guidance and vision. Enjoy the show!  

Sydney Hammond (Ensemble) is an acting major and dance minor in her second year at UNCG. She’s beyond proud to be kickstarting her sophomore year with Too Much Light! This quick paced play has pleasantly challenged her ability to pivot both on and off the stage. She’s a Georgia-native that’s passionate about telling stories that touch people. Thus far at UNCG, she’s played Nell in a student production of John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberlry Beloflower, ensemble in Frankenstein adapted by Nick Dear, and performed in the annual BFA performance Freshman Showcase. She’s overjoyed to add this show to her resume and to bring her teachings from this process into her future work!                                                        

Adam Jahrsdoerfer (Lighting Designer) is a junior BFA Design and Technical Production Major, focusing on lighting and is excited to be making his designer debut in Too Much Light  Makes The Baby Go Blind. He previously worked on Frankenstein (Light Design Assistant) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Electrician). He would like to thank his family and friends for their never-ending support. He hopes you enjoy the show! 

Fawndaria Johnson (Ensemble) studies drama and arts administration, which is a fancy way of saying she does a little bit of everything! She has been in two mainstage productions before, one of them being Princess Fearless (Lou) and African School Girls (U/S Gifty). When she’s not performing, she likes to pursue administrative art skills and theatre skills to keep under her belt or working on small crafts. 

Grey Jonas (Stage Manager) is a second-year student, currently pursuing a BFA in Drama, Design, and Technical Production, concentrating in Stage Management. As well as a minor in New Media and Design. Their previous credits include Book of Days (Assistant Stage Manager), Sweeney Todd (Assistant Stage Manager), Sideshow (Assistant Stage Manager), and Carrie (Light Board Operator). Grey would like to extend a big thanks to Laura Stone, Sophie Ellenberger, Emily Hodges and Kim Shively for supporting them throughout this production process and extends gratitude to their friends and family for their endless support.   

Whit Jury (Ensemble) is so excited to be a part of the Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind cast! Whit is a junior BFA Musical Theatre major at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. His performance credits at UNCG include Lempicka (Marinetti), Side Show (The Half-Man Half-Woman), and Sweeney Todd (Ensemble/Judge Turpin Understudy). Whit extends gratitude to his parents, professors, and sister for always supporting his journey! He is endlessly grateful for the opportunity to perform alongside such an outstanding cast and crew. Enjoy the show! 

Morgan Orta (Ensemble) is a second year BFA Acting major and a Spanish minor here at UNC Greensboro! She is originally from Elkin, NC, and you might have caught her there on stage as Elizabeth Bennet in Young Frankenstein: The Musical this summer. This is Morgan’s first main stage production at UNCG, and she is so excited to be a part of it! Morgan has adored the time spent with cast and crew throughout the process of this show, and she wants to thank her director, Robi Arce-Martínez, for giving her this incredible opportunity! Morgan would also like to thank her family and friends for all their love and support! As well as her professors for their help and direction! If you’d like to follow Morgan’s professional journey, her Instagram is @maortaoffical 

Nick Porcelli (Ensemble) is a second year BFA Acting major. During his time here so far, Nick has performed in UNCG’s New Play Festival, and Chicken and Biscuits through Black Play Readers. He also choreographed UNCG’s Lempicka. Nick is excited for everyone to see the show and would like to give special thanks to his fantastic cast and crew, his family, and his wonderful friends who are always in his corner.  

Nathan Prince (Ensemble) is a second-year B.A. Drama Major with a Minor in Dance. He is ecstatic to make his collegiate debut in Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. He is extremely grateful for this opportunity and thankful for the amazingly talented cast and crew that made all of this possible!  Before UNCG SOT, he’s been involved in many shows, including A Monster Calls, Little Shop of Horrors, Chicago, And Then There Were None, Metamorphosis, Sister Act, Taming of the Shrew, and the 24-Hour Play Festival. He would like to thank his family and friends for their unwavering support, as well as the connections made throughout his theatrical journey. @lookingatnate 

Annabelle Richard (Scenic Designer) is a third-year BFA Design & Technical Production student focusing on Scenic Artistry. She was fortunate to work as the Assistant Scenic Designer on UNCG’s most recent production of Lempicka, where she had the opportunity to design the floor treatment. Annabelle has also worked as a Paint and Props Artisan on past UNCG productions, including SideShow, Rough Magic, and Discovering Blackness. She is very thankful for the opportunity to serve as the Scenic Designer for Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, as the experience has opened her eyes to new ways of exploring performance and audience engagement. Looking ahead, Annabelle will also have the opportunity to work as an Undergraduate Assistant in the School of Theatre scenery studio, where she will contribute to the growth of this season’s productions, as well as the design of the touring production of Peter Rabbit. Annabelle would like to thank her mom for always believing in her, as well as the production team, instructors, friends, and family for their continued support. She hopes you enjoy watching the show and hopes to see you in it! 😉 

Aidan Short (Ensemble) is a second-year BFA Acting major and is very excited to share this show with you! Hailing from Asheville, some of his favorite prior roles include Pup in Different Stroke’s Monsters of the American Cinema, Moonface Martin in Asheville Highschool’s Anything Goes, and the First Witch in the Montford Moppet’s Macbeth. When not onstage, Aidan enjoys collecting rubber ducks, playing TTRPG’s with his brother, and swinging cool looking sticks around in a festive manner. He’d like to thank his girlfriend Sierra for being amazing, his friends for putting up with his antics, and Mom, Dad and Grandma for supporting him, even when it’s hard.  

Faith Shuman (Assistant Stage Manager) is honored to work as an ASM with UNCG for the first show of the semester. She would like to thank her friends and family for the unlimited support she received during the production. 

Tannis Boyajian (Scenery Studio Supervisor) received her BFA in Technical Theatre from Salem State University in Salem, MA, and her MFA in Technical Design and Production from Yale School of Drama in New Haven, CT. Between undergrad and grad school, Tannis taught a scenic construction workshop class at Salem State University, and was the scenic consultant for Endicott College (Beverly, MA), assisting with and guiding students in set construction and tool safety. She also worked as a carpenter at a variety of theatres in and around the Boston, MA area including Stoneham Theatre Company, North Shore Music Theatre, Boston Children’s Theatre, and Actor Shakespeare Project. While in grad school Tannis spent her summers as the Technical Director for Dorset Theatre Festival in Dorset, VT and Assistant Technical Director for Theatre at Monmouth in Monmouth, ME. After graduating, she made the move to North Carolina to become the Technical Director at Triad Stage here in Greensboro, where she worked for three and a half years before accepting her current position as Scene Shop Supervisor with UNCG. This is Tannis’ 6^th year with the UNCG. 

Marielis Garcia (Choreographer) has performed and toured with Brian Brooks, Peter Kyle, iKapa, Stefanie Batten Bland, and Helen Simoneau, among others, and she often collaborates with her friends Madeline Hollander and David Norsworthy. She is invested in creating and presenting collaborative dance productions. Garcia received her MFA in Digital and Interdisciplinary Art Practice from City College of New York. As of fall 2023, she is Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro, where she teaches contemporary forms, ballet, choreography/composition, and dance as a digital practice. Her professional affiliations include artistic advisor for Judson Memorial Church Arts, writer for the Gibney Journal, curator for STUFFED Arts, and associate special programs curator for the Museum of Modern Art’s Judson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done exhibition. Garcia believes in challenging presentational spaces and creating large-scale dance performances that engender a sense of impermanence and belonging — the spiritual and the corporeal.S he has been an Anne and Weston Hicks Choreographic Fellow at Jacob’s Pillow and received Ballet Hispanico’s Instituto Coreográfico residency and Alvin Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab residency. Other awards and projects include a Faculty Student Research Grant from the University of Maryland, a City Corps Artist Grant, and five Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement grants. She has also received an UpStream Residency from Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, created a new work through a Dance Initiative Residency at The LaunchPad in Colorado, and received a Dance Spoleto Residency Award from La MaMA Theater to present a new work in Spoleto, Italy. 

Lorena Guillén (Music Director) is a vocalist, songwriter, educator and artistic director, whose expressive singing finds no stylistic boundaries. A classically trained singer, with an extensive national and international career in concert stages, she has become a figure of the Tango scene in US by presenting with her Lorena Guillen Tango Ensemble (LGTE) imaginative programs that center on, but also expand, the notions of Argentine traditional and “new” tango.  

Lorena was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, initiating her voice training at the National Conservatory of Music, and later, moving to US to pursue graduate studies. She holds a Masters in Vocal Performance and a Ph.D. in Musicology from University of New York at Buffalo.  

Among her presentation highlights, in 2023, she toured the south of France and Monaco with her project “Because the Oceans” invited by the US Marseille Consulate, closing with a concert sponsored by the Monaco Oceanographic Institute and Prince Albert Foundation (who was present). In 2024, she traveled for concerts to Buenos Aires with her Lorena Guillen Tango Ensemble invited by the Astor Piazzolla Music Conservatory and the CAFF Festival of Alternative Tango. She had also solo concerts at: Kleinhans Buffalo Symphony Circle (NY), Fricks Museum-Summer Concert Series (Pittsburgh, PN), Chautauqua Institution (NY), “New Music New Haven” of Yale University (CT), Music Gallery at Toronto (Canada), Shakespeare Theater (Wash. DC), Stockhausen Music Festival (Germany), MusicBox Concert Series (Saint Lucia, W.I) and Puerto Rico University. 

Lorena has released two albums with her group, the LGTE, The Other Side of My Heart, (2018) Exótica Flor (2023) and is in the process of mixing four upcoming singles. Lorena also released a single with Because the Oceans, a piece by composer Alejandro Rutty based on texts, compiled from reports published by the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Sixth Assessment Report, AR6. 

As an educator, Lorena has served as a faculty member of Hartwick College (Oneonta, NY), as an Artist-in-Residency professor at the Saint Lucia School of Music (Castries, Saint Lucia Island, West Indies), and since 2007, at the School of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 

Tom McCoy (Technical Direction Supervisor) has been working professionally in technical theatre since 2004 and in Higher Education since 2012. Originally from Long Island, NY, Tom earned his B.A. from Greensboro College focusing on Scenery and Technical Direction. After graduation, Tom spent six seasons with Greensboro’s own nationally recognized Triad Stage (2007-2012, 50 productions) before heading back to NY. After 11 years working on 80 productions at two universities Tom returned to Greensboro in 2023 to join the UNCG’s School of Theatre, where he ripped the TD job out of Chip Haas’s reluctant hands and asserted dominance in the Scene Studio. He was quickly dethroned by Tannis Boyajian. After some adjusting and a hastily signed peace treaty, the Scene Studio is a land of peace and learning where all are welcome, except Todd. He knows why. Tom sends much love and appreciation to his family and friends for their patience and constant support. Tom also sends his appreciation for those who deal with his nonsense like what was written above.  

Alejandro Rutty (Music Composer) is best-known for his distinctive mix of South American styles, lyrical melodies, meticulous rhythmic detail, and exotic textures. His recent output includes solos, duos, trios and quartets for extended-range electric bass, which he performs by himself or with other musicians. 

Rutty’s compositions and arrangements have been played by the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Argentina, National Symphony Orchestra of Brazil, Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra, Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra, American Modern Ensemble, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, the Cassatt String Quartet, Beo String Quartet and Carlos Chávez String Quartet among other groups. Recordings of his music have been released by Navona Records, Capstone Records, Albany Records, Arizona University Recordings, and ERM Media.  

Alejandro Rutty is Professor of Music Composition at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. www.alejandrorutty.com