James Ijames is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, Tony Award-nominated, and multi-regional award-winning playwright, director, and educator. Produced and developed at theaters across the country, including Wilma Theater (current Co-Artistic Director), The National Black Theatre, The Public Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, and many more. Plays include WHITE, …Miz Martha, and Fat Ham, among others. Founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first playwright producing collective. B.A. Drama, Morehouse College; M.F.A. Acting, Temple University. Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University.

_{Photo by Justin DeWalt}

A Seattle-based actor, director, and educator, Timothy (he/him) was seen at Seattle Rep as film producer David Brown in Bruce. Previous directing credits include A Raisin in the Sun and As You Like It (Seattle Rep); Hello, Dolly! and Hairspray, and next season’s 2025 production of The Color Purple (Village Theatre); and A Raisin in the Sun (Pittsburgh Public Theater), among others. He is a recipient of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship, the Gregory Falls Sustained Achievement Award, and three Gregory Awards, among other honors. He is currently a professor of theater at Cornish College of the Arts.

Seattle: Waterfall, Afterwords (The 5th Avenue Theatre). Broadway: Derren Brown: SECRET; In Transit; Harry Connick Jr., A Celebration of Cole Porter. Select NYC: Between the Lines (Drama Desk nomination); Sweatshop Overlord (Lucille Lortel nomination). Select Regional: Goodman Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Guthrie Theater, Alley Theatre, Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center. Video Coordinator: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ Broadway Bares since 2018. Eastern Regional Board for Local USA 829 IATSE and co-chair of the Respectful Workplace Committee. caitedesign.com, @caitehevner

Ricky German (he/him) holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from University of Puget Sound. He currently manages the costume shop for the University of Washington and is a freelance costume and fashion designer. Costume design credits include Reparations, Citizen: An American Lyric (Sound Theatre Company); Bulrusher (Intiman Theatre); Pass Over (ACT); John, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (ArtsWest); B, The Doll Pit (Washington Ensemble Theatre); Confederates (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, St. Louis Repertory Theatre).

Designs for Seattle Rep: Lydia and the Troll, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Indecent, In the Heights, MAC BETH, I Am My Own Wife, Lizard Boy, and others. Regional credits include Portland Center Stage, ACT, The 5th Avenue Theatre, The Old Globe, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Intiman Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Rep, and Village Theatre. Film: The Jinkx and Dela Holiday Special, Potato Dreams of America. Robert is the Lighting Director at Seattle Rep and a member of USA829. robertjaguilar.com

Phil is a theatrical producer and artist based in the Pacific Northwest. He currently serves as the Program Director for Coho Theatre in Portland, OR. Some of his favorite recent productions include Clyde’s (Syracuse Stage); Gem of the Ocean and Redwood (Portland Center Stage); Pipeline (Confrontation Theater); Hands Up (Red Door Project); American Fast, Everybody, An Octoroon, and The Humans (Artists Repertory Theatre). Phil has a B.F.A. and M.A. from Ohio University. philjohnsondesignstheworld.com, @philjohnsonlive

Earon Chew Nealey is the Obie Award-winning, Drama Desk-nominated, Hair, Wig, and Makeup Designer. Broadway: Fat Ham. Goodspeed: Dreamgirls and Little Girl Blue. The Public Theater: Hamlet, shadow/land, The Harder They Come, Baldwin & Buckley…, Fat Ham, cullud wattah, and Mojada. Other designs: Dames at Sea, Kinky Boots, The Last Supper, Twelfth Night, On Killing, …Meet Vera Stark, Matilda, On Sugarland, Nina Simone: Four Women, Little Women, and Cadillac Crew. @earonnealey

Jimmy Shields is a local performing artist and theater maker. He is excited to be working on this amazing piece of work with such a stellar cast and creative team! This also marks his debut as a lead choreographer at Seattle Rep. Previous theater credits: Tacoma Arts Live, Harlequin Productions, Showtunes Theatre Company, Village Theatre, and The 5th Avenue Theatre. “This show holds a special place in my heart and getting the opportunity to live in ‘this’ world, unapologetically, is a dream…come true!” 

Geoffrey (he/him) is thrilled to return to Seattle Rep for Fat Ham. His work was last seen in True West. A Thousand Splendid Suns (Seattle Opera), Sweat (ACT), Macbeth (Seattle Shakespeare Company), The Lady Demands Satisfaction (Phoenix Theater), and Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood (Village Theatre). Mr. Alm teaches stage combat at Cornish College of the Arts, UW, and Freehold Theatre. He is a certified teacher, fight director, and Fight Master with the Society of American Fight Directors. Proud member of SDC. geoffreyalm.com

Jasmine Lomax is a Cornish College of the Arts Original Works graduate working tirelessly to help shape the Seattle theater community into a healthy, creative, and collaborative environment. Some of their recent credits include Trouble in Mind with Burien Actors Theatre, The Niceties (Associate Director/Fight Choreographer) with Intiman Theatre, Tiara’s Hat Parade (Director) with Book-It Repertory Theatre, Pass Over (Intimacy Director/Co-Fight Choreographer) with The Spot Sun Valley, and This Bitter Earth (Intimacy Director) with Seattle Public Theater. 

Aaron is a performer, music director, composer/arranger, and educator originally from Compton, California. With a background in vocal performance, vocal health/technique, and music composition, Aaron has been blessed to work with incredible musicians across Europe, Canada, and the United States in many different genres of music. Select music directing credits include Mamma Mia!, Little Shop of Horrors, and Songs for a New World (Village Theatre); Nina Simone: Four Women and Little Women (Seattle Rep); and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Arts West). @aaronmdnorman 

Yusef Seevers (he/they) is a queer Detroit native and very thrilled to be supporting this production and its life. He holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from Santa Fe University and M.F.A. in Acting from Southern Methodist University. Select credits: Something’s Afoot and Sweeney Todd (The 5th Avenue Theatre); Beautiful (Dialects, Village Theatre); Black Nativity (Intiman Theatre); Last Drive to Dodge (Taproot Theatre Company); As You Like It (Pacific Conservatory Theatre). Thank you, Mom and Dad, for always making sure I found joy. @blackbassclef, yusefseevers.com

Ms. Thone is excited to be helping out with the text for this remarkable production. Amy first worked at Seattle Rep in 1991, when she was an intern in the third year of her M.F.A. Her introduction to Seattle theater was She Stoops to Conquer directed by Dan Sullivan, The House of Blue Leaves directed by Douglas Hughes, and Much Ado About Nothing, featuring John Aylward, Biff McGuire, Jeanne Carson, and Mark Chamberlin. Amy's last acting project was The Lower Depths in the Intiman/Seagull Project co-production. Ms. Thone will be playing King Lear next year for the Seattle Shakespeare Company. 

Amaya Zhané is a director and mixed-media artist based in Seattle, Washington. As a recent graduate of Cornish College of the Arts’ Original Works Program for playwrights and directors, she has most recently expanded on her thesis work in local film festivals and galleries in Seattle, including direction for Desdemona’s Child (blood cry) at Cornish Playhouse. She is very excited to work with Seattle Rep for the first time on Fat Ham and would like to thank her mother Amy Jean and sister Sigourney Bijou for their endless love and support. amayazhane.com

Select stage management credits: The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, The Odyssey (Seattle Rep’s Public Works); The Servant of Two Masters (Seattle Rep, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, ArtsEmerson); MAC BETH, Here Lies Love, A Raisin in the Sun, All the Way, The Great Society, The Piano Lesson, Boeing Boeing, Fences, Gem of the Ocean (Seattle Rep); Sweeney Todd, Beauty and the Beast (The 5th Avenue Theatre); Angels in America, A Doctor In Spite of Himself (Intiman Theatre); and A Raisin in the Sun (Pittsburgh Public Theater).

Shaina Pierce (she/her) is very excited to make her debut at Seattle Rep! Shaina has been stage managing across the country for over 10 years. She is proud to have received her M.F.A from The University of Alabama. Select stage management credits include The Wiz (The 5th Avenue Theatre); Dracula and Loving and Loving (Actors Theatre of Louisville); The Hot Wing King, Trading Places the Musical, Toni Stone (Alliance Theatre); and Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Alabama Shakespeare Festival). Thank you to my family and friends for their unending love and support.