Darryl Kent Clark, BA, Columbia College, MFA, SUNY College at Brockport, brings a total of over forty years’ experience as a dancer, actor, choreographer, director and teacher to his position as Associate Professor of Musical Theater Dance at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. His performance credits include stints with Princess Cruises, Sesame Street Live!, Zyngara Performance Troupe and Concert Dance, Inc. He has played roles as diverse as Henry Brown in Race, Jacob in La Cage aux Folles, Mickey in The Normal Heart and Papa Ge in Once on this Island to Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet and Caliban in The Tempest. He has also performed as soloist with the Brockport Community Chorus in Brockport, NY and Men’s Chorus of the Ozarks. His choreography runs the gamut from concert work for the New York City-based #TapLife Dance Company, Springfield Dance Alliance and a special invitation to present work in the repertory of the Chicago-based dance company Winifred Haun and Dancers. His work for musicals ranges from shows as intimate as The World Goes ‘Round to large-scale works like The Producers, Gypsy and Hello, Dolly!. He has also created dance entertainment for the Mike Ditka Foundation Benefits produced by Clements, Brady and Associates. Recently, he has extended his creative interests to directions and staged productions of LeRoi Jones’ classic Dutchman, the award-winning musicals Ain’t Misbehavin’!, and Rent and newer scripts like Dragons Love Tacos, Ride The Cyclone, The It Girl and Norman Allen’s one-man piece, Nijinsky’s Last Dance. He has taught many forms of theatrical dance at Missouri State University, Western Carolina University, SUNY College at Brockport and the University of Amsterdam as well as at studios in the USA and the Netherlands.

Laurie Goux, a native of Chicago, began her dance career in 1981 at Columbia College. She is the Director of, the Center for Cultural & International Affairs at WV Wesleyan College, pursuing a Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Laurie was dance curator for the Jagged Path:https://www.blowingrockmuseum.org/jagged-path and Sankofa: From Africa to Appalachia. Laurie was an Adjunct Professor of Dance at Davis & Elkins College where she received a BA in Dance. She is a protégé of dance legend “Tommy” Gomez in Katherine Dunham Dance Technique, master classes with Katherine Dunham, and Jimmy Payne Sr. (Tap and Afro Caribbean), a former faculty of Columbia College Chicago Dance Center and was a principal dancer with Mordine & Company Dance Theater, a founding member of Danny Hines', Sundance MPAC. In 1988 she met Katherine Dunham and co-presented with Rasheed Akbar the first, Chicago Katherine Dunham Awards (1996), and curated with Sadira Muhammad, the 19th annual Keep the Legacy Alive: Tribute to Katherine Dunham, in collaboration with Ruby Streate. Laurie is honored to contribute to SIU and work again with friend and colleague, Associate Professor, Darryl Clark.

JAEMIN PARK He is a lighting designer and an assistant professor of lighting and sound design at Southern Illinois University. He is also a proud member of USA829. ​ In addition to receiving the Barbizon Lighting Company Jonathan Resnick Lighting Design Award from the United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT) in 2023, his work was selected at the USITT St. Louis Design Expo in 2023 and published in the Theatre Design & Technology (TD&T) Spring issue. ​ He is a native of South Korea and began his career as a lighting designer in 2005 by designing the opera "La Traviata" in South Korea. He has designed more than 100 productions in various genres such as plays, musicals, operas, and dances. ​ While he was in South Korea, he worked as a full-time lighting supervisor and resident designer in the national theatre with about 1,200 seats in Daegu, South Korea. His unique background in studying vocal music during his undergraduate courses has given him a keen ear for analyzing and expressing music. He has directed opera and loves musical works. ​ Recent professional design credits include: The Bridges of Madison County and Footloose at McLeod Summer Playhouse, The Prom and Little Shop of Horrors at Porthouse Theater, Passage at CWRU/Cleveland Playhouse, Sweeney Todd and The Lightning Thief at Rubber City Theatre, A Christmas Carol at Players Guild Theatre, La Siempreviva at LatinUs Theater Company.

Originally from Springfield, IL, Jane was previously the assistant costume shop manager at The Pacific Conservatory Theater (PCPA). She has also worked as a draper for Portland Opera, Portland Center Stage, Northwest Children’s Theater, Western Oregon University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Mcleod Summer Playhouse (MSP). She has also worked on costumes for Glimmerglass Opera and Signature Theater, DC. She has designed costumes for MSP, PCPA, and Allan Hancock Community College. She has a BS in Fashion Design and Merchandising and an MFA in Costume Design from Southern Illinois University Carbondale

M.K. Hughes (Set Designer) - M.K. is a two-time graduate of SIU with an MFA in Scenic Design for the Theater. She is currently the Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Scenic design at the SIU School of Theater and Dance. Her design work has been featured around the U.S. including Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA, University of Pittsburgh (PA), Prime Stage Theater (PA), The Pittsburgh CLO (PA), K-State Theater (KS), and the Dobbins Conservatory at SEMO (MO). Her theater craft work in Scenic Art and Props Design has been featured at several regional theaters including The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OR), The Alabama Shakespeare Festival (AL), and The Rep at Point Park University (PA).

Mitchell Brandon, a Lighting Designer and Stage Manager, is fresh off of a Summer working for McLeod Summer Playhouse wearing a number of hats: Lighting Designer (Dragons Love Tacos), Head Electrician (Dragons Love Tacos, The Prom), Production Stage Manager (Hello, Dolly!). Mitchell is in his senior year working towards a double major with a BA in Music with Vocal Emphasis and a BA in Theater. Interestingly, he has a rich history in performance and music making, performing professionally in choirs, operas, and pit orchestras. This background aids as influence to Mitchell’s design work by allowing him to have a deeper understanding of the music and the mood it set out to create. He is then able to enhance the music/ the story via his Lighting Design. He thanks you for supporting the arts and hopes you enjoy the show!

Matt is the staff technical director for SIU’s School of Theater and Dance Hailing from Cleveland, OH, Matt was previously a lead carpenter for MadeFirst: Experiential Marketing in Nashville, TN. Over the past year, he has built and erected an array of scenic installations for such events as SuperBowl LVIII, the NBA All-Star Game 2024, McDonald’s Investor’s Day 2024, and the 2024 Gatorade Player of the Year Awards amongst others. Matt formerly served as the technical direction apprentice for the Cleveland Playhouse in Cleveland, OH, a lead theater technician for Cuyahoga Community College, and lead carpenter for McLeod Summer Playhouse in Carbondale, IL. He holds a BA in technical theater and design from Cleveland State University and was an MFA candidate, with an emphasis in technical direction, from 2020-2023 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Charles Lockridge (Assistant Lighting Designer) is a second year Graduate studying Technical Direction at SIU School of Theatre and Dance. This is his first design opportunity at the school since working as the Technical Director at University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg where his responsibilities included scenic construction, lighting design, and teaching Basic Stagecraft each semester. Charlie is excited to get back under the lights as a designer and is looking forward to working with the other designers for this production.