LOU BELLAMY (DIRECTOR & PRODUCER) is the founder and artistic director of Penumbra Theatre. Under his leadership, Penumbra has produced 23 world premieres, including August Wilson's first professional production, and is proud to have produced more of Mr. Wilson's plays than any theater in the world. Mr. Bellamy is an OBIE Award-winning director, an accomplished actor, and sought-after scholar. He has been a member of the University of Minnesota's faculty for 32 years and is currently appointed to the rank of associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.  Recent directing credits include Black Pearl Sings!, Radio Golf, Fences and The Piano Lesson at Penumbra, A Raisin in the Sun and Gem of the Ocean, Penumbra productions staged at the Guthrie, Two Trains Running at the Signature Theatre in New York, Jitney at Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Arizona Theatre Company, and the staged reading of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Kennedy Center.

DOMINIC TAYLOR (ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR) is a director, playwright and the head of Penumbra's OKRA New Play Development Program. Most recently, Mr. Taylor directed Black Nativity: A Season for Change at Penumbra. Other select directing credits include the new opera Fresh Faust at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, The Negroes Burial Ground at the Kitchen, N.Y.C., Uppa Creek at Dixon Place, and Ride The Rhythm in the Hip-Hop Theatre Festival. He is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota where he has directed The Wiz, Night Train To Bolina and this spring will direct Execution of Justice. Mr. Taylor has worked with Crossroads Theater, Rites and Reasons Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, The Public Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, and Ensemble Studio Theatre, among others. He is an alumni member of New Dramatists and holds a Bachelor's and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Brown University.

SARAH BELLAMY (EDUCATION DIRECTOR) is the principal scholar and editor for Penumbra Theatre. Her work includes the research and composition of the contextual essays to accompany Penumbra's main-stage productions. Ms. Bellamy also oversees the creation of standardized, original curricula for educators to engage culturally specific arts in their classrooms. She has designed several programs that engage patrons of the theatre in critical thinking, dialogue and action around issues of race and social justice. Among the most renowned are the "RACE Workshop: Meet Your Metaphor," curated to accompany the Science Museum of Minnesota's exhibit RACE: Are We So Different?, and Penumbra Theatres Summer Institute, an intensive theatre-training program for youth to practice socially responsible art and civic engagement. Ms. Bellamy is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, and holds an M.A. from The University of Chicago. She is currently working toward her doctorate in Comparative Studies and Discourse in Society at the University of Minnesota.

AUSTENE VAN (MAME WILKS) recently performed in Penumbra's production of Gem of the Ocean, staged at the Guthrie Theater. Other select Penumbra credits include performances in Zooman and the Sign, Dinah Was, The Trial of One Short Sighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise & Safreeta Mae and Blues for an Alabama Sky, and she directed Black Nativity-Hear Again the Christmas Story! and Black Nativity: Twenty Years of Holiday Cheer! She has performed at Children's Theatre Company, Mixed Blood Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Ordway Center, Pantages and the Saint Louis Repertory Theatre. Television credits include Vernie and The Shakedown. Musical endeavors include writing and co-producing her own album.

T. MYCHAEL RAMBO (CO-CONCEIVER & SON) is a Penumbra company member. Select Penumbra credits include Gem of the Ocean, The Piano Lesson, Get Ready, Ain't Misbehavin' and several productions of Black Nativity. He has performed locally with the Guthrie Theater, Illusion Theater, Minnesota Opera, Ordway Music Theatre, and Mixed Blood Theatre. He has also performed at Carnegie Hall with the Minnesota Orchestra and throughout Canada, Europe, Africa and Brazil. Television credits include Endeavor, I Led Two Lives and the HBO mini-series Laurel Avenue. Film credits include Mighty Ducks, Crossing the Bridge, Grumpy Old Men, The Cure, Equinox, Wooly Boys and Justice. Recent honors include singing the National Anthem for President Obama during his recent Twin Cities visit, and receiving a 2008 regional Emmy Award.

SANFORD MOORE (MUSICAL DIRECTOR) has served as musical director for many Penumbra productions including The Piano Lesson, Get Ready, Blue, Black Nativity - A Homecoming and Ain't Misbehavin'. Other select musical direction credits include Crowns, Dream on Monkey Mountain, Triumph of Love, and As You Like It at the Guthrie Theater and Two Queens, One Castle at Mixed Blood Theatre. Sanford is an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota School of Music, and Minister of Music for Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.

URI SANDS (CHOREOGRAPHER) is the co-founder and co-artistic director of TU Dance Company. A principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for five years, he also danced with Minnesota Dance Theatre and James Sewell Ballet, as a guest artist with Complexions under the direction of Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, and as a principal dancer with North Carolina Dance Theatre. He has choreographed for Zenon Dance, North Carolina Dance Theater, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He was awarded a 2004 McKnight Artist Fellow ship and a 2005 Princess Grace Award in choreography. Uri Sands and Toni Pierce-Sands received the 2005 Sage Cowles Best Performance Award, and were named 2005 Artists of the Year by the Star Tribune.

MARY K. WINCHELL (STAGE MANAGER) is a longtime Penumbra Theatre company member. Most recently, she stage managed Penumbra's Black Pearl Sings!, Black Nativity: A Season for Change, Radio Golf and Gem of the Ocean. Other Penumbra credits include The Piano Lesson, Get Ready, Black Nativity: Twenty Years of Holiday Cheer!, Seven Guitars, Jitney, Two Trains Running, King Hedley II and Dinah Was. She has stage managed at the Orpheum Theatre, State Theatre, Pantages Theatre, Children's Theatre Company, Jungle Theater and the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami. She has lent her talents to Macy's Glamorama and served as production stage manager for Dorothy Hamill’s Nutcracker on Ice, Aveda's 20th Anniversary Celebration at Radio City Music Hall, and Super Bowl xxvi Winter Magic.

STEPHANIE LEIN WALSETH (August Wilson Fellow) is an M.A./Ph.D. candidate in Theatre Historiography at the University of Minnesota. Previously, she served as the Managing Director of Mu Performing Arts. She has worked professionally as a theatre administrator, actor, director, dramaturg, and stage manager with several theatres including Mu, Mixed Blood Theatre, the Guthrie Theater, The Playwrights' Center, Frank Theatre, Theatre in the Round, Starting Gate Productions, Theatre Unbound, Chaos Theories, CLIMB Theatre, and the Portland Stage Company. Her writing has appeared in the Baylor Journal of Theatre and Performance.

ERICK BALLARD (PERCUSSION) has played for various artists, events and venues throughout the Midwest. Since 2008, he has toured with blues giant Bernard Allison across the United States and Europe. Erick has also worked with G.B. Leighton, Catch Penny, Standard Thompson, The R Factor, Boogie Wonderland, The New Congress, Alex Rossi & Root City, and Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church Choir.

AIMEE K. BRYANT (Ensemble) is a founding ensemble member of Congo Square Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, and a graduate of Howard University. Recent theatre credits include Two Queens, One Castle with Mixed Blood Theatre, Seussical the Musical at The Children's Theatre Company, and Ain't Misbehavin' at Penumbra.

GINGER COMMODORE (DAUGHTER) has been a member of the Twin Cities music scene for many years and was recently inducted into the Minnesota Rock and Country Hall of Fame. During the summer, Ginger appeared as a featured soloist in Jazz at Lincoln Center, NYC with the Lincoln High School Choir of Thief River Falls, MN. She is currently a teaching artist with the VocalEssence Witness School Program. Through this program students of all ages in Minnesota schools have the opportunity to interact with nationally renowned African American artists, writers, storytellers, musicians, and dancers.

DAVID HURST (KEYBOARD) is a songwriter, musician, and actor. He is a member of the 2002 Stellar Award-winning and 2003 Grammy-nominated Excelsior Choir, and the Grammy award-winning Sounds of Blackness. David made a guest appearance on James Grear and Company's "Celebrate," and performed at President Clinton's New Year's Celebration at the White House along with Will Smith, Luther Vandross, Usher, Patti Austin, BeBe Winans, and Tom Jones. He has worked with many gospel artists including R. Kelly, Brian McKnight and Mary J. Blige, and has performed with The Clark Sisters, Kirk Franklin, John P. Kee, and Kim Burrell.

TONIA HUGHES KENDRICK (Ensemble) has been a featured soloist in numerous concerts and recordings, including background vocals for Mary J. Blige's single "No More Drama," vocals for gospel artist Judith McAllister, and opening for gospel artist Fred Hammond. Tonia also has a solo project, "Just For Hymn," and was nominated by Minnesota Music Academy for the 2004 Gospel Artist of the Year. She appeared in the debut of Encounters at Minneapolis' Southern Theater. This is Tonia’s fifth consecutive year performing in Black Nativity at Penumbra Theatre.

ALANNA MORRIS (MARY) is a graduate of Juilliard School and a company member of TU Dance. She has studied modern, jazz and ballet at Creative Outlet Dance Theater (Brooklyn, NY), Phillipa Schuyler Middle School, Ballet Hispanico, The Ailey School and La Guardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts. In 2003 she was awarded a Level One A.R.T.S. award from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. When she is not dancing, Alanna is collaborating with local artists and pursuing her passion for youth and community development, spending time with children of all ages.

GRETA OGLESBY (GRANDMA WALKER) is a Penumbra company member. Select Penumbra credits include The Piano Lesson, Dinah Was, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, A Love Song for Miss Lydia, and several productions of Black Nativity. Most recently, she starred as Caroline in Caroline or Change at the Guthrie Theater. Greta has also worked with the Children's Theatre Company, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Mixed Blood Theatre and 10,000 Things Theatre. Honors include the 2009-2010 McKnight Theatre Artist Fellowship Award, Black Theatre Alliance Award (BTAA), the Joseph Jefferson Award and BTAA for her role in Do Lord Remember Me, a BTAA nomination for her portrayal of Aunt Ester in Gem of the Ocean, and a Joseph Jefferson nomination for her portrayal of Ophelia in Dream of Ophelia.

SAMUEL G. ROBERSON, JR. (Ensemble) is making his Penumbra debut. Most recently he performed in The Ballad of Emmett Till at the Goodman Theatre, and he will be performing in Living Green at Victory Gardens later this winter. He has also worked with the Children's Theatre, Pillsbury House Theatre, Illusion Theater, Imagination Stage, Source Theatre and The Studio Theatre. His first play, Same Difference, was co-produced by Illusion Theater and Pillsbury House Theatre. He is the recipient of a 2007 Jerome Many Voices Residency through the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis and a 2008 Cultural Community Partnership Grant through the Minnesota State Arts Board. Samuel is a graduate of Howard University.

CYDNI SHEPARD (Ensemble) is making her Penumbra Theatre stage debut. She is a junior at St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and is interested in vocal performance and acting. Her stage credits include roles in H.M.S. Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance, Fiddler on the Roof, The Music Man, Peter Pan, and Evita. Cydni is currently recording a demo of R&B and hip hop music.

MARCIANO SILVA DOS SANTOS (JOSEPH) is a native of Brazil. He studied theater at the Escola de Teatro e Dança FAFI in Vitória, Espirito Santo, Brazil and danced with the Afro-Brazilian dance company, NegraÔ. He has studied ballet, capoeira, modern and contemporary dance and is currently a member of TU Dance. He has also danced with Homem Cia de Dança Contemporâneo, Balé da Ilha and Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater. He teaches at the University of Minnesota and at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. Marciano was named "Best Dancer 2008" by City Pages. This is his third consecutive year performing in Black Nativity at Penumbra.

NAMIR SMALLWOOD (Ensemble) has performed at Penumbra in Blue and On the Open Road. He is a Newark, NJ native and a 2006 graduate of the University of Minnesota/Guthrie B.F.A. Actor Training Program. He has performed with the Children's Theatre Company in Five Fingers of Funk!, Bud, Not Buddy, Lost Boys of Sudan, Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963, and Reeling, at Pillsbury House Theatre in Phoenix Fabrik, and at the Guthrie Theater in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

DENNIS W. SPEARS (WANDERER) is a Penumbra Theatre Company member and has performed in The Piano Lesson, Blue, and Get Ready. This spring, Dennis embarked on a tour in Crowns, a co-production of Indiana Repertory Theatre and Syracuse Stage. No stranger to jazz, Spears has performed nationally and internationally and is an original vocalist with Moore by Four. He has three solo recordings to his credit. As Creative Artistic Director for the Capri Theater, Dennis produces a very exciting Legends music series.

JAMES A. YOUNG III (BASS) studied with C. Scott Hood of Indiana State University and at the School of Music at the Naval Academy. He is a freelance performer, music educator, founder and president of Cartouche Records, and founding member of jazz ensemble Moore by Four. He has performed at the Ordway Center, Guthrie Theater, Children's Theatre, Walker Art Center, and the Kool Jazz Festival. He has performed internationally in numerous concerts and in several local and national television and radio commercials. He has received recognition and awards from the Minnesota Black Music Awards and the Minnesota Jazz Music Awards.

JENNIFER WHITLOCK (THIRD ANGEL) is celebrating her 18th performance in Black Nativity. Other Penumbra credits include Purlie, Tambourines to Glory, Ain't Misbehavin', Selma, Bubblin' Brown Sugar and A Soldiers Play. She is a member of the Grammy awardwinning Sounds of Blackness. For the last seven years, she has directed and performed in The Night before Christmas: A Musical Fantasy.

ERIKA K. DIXON GOSS (American Sign Language Interpreter) has been the ASL Interpreter for Penumbra Theater for 11 years. Erika has had the pleasure of interpreting works by the late August Wilson including Seven Guitars and King Hedley II, The Piano Lesson and Gem of the Ocean. Erika also interprets for Hopkin's Stages Theater, Plymouth Playhouse, Anoka's Main Street Stage, and The State and Pantages Theatres.

RICK JACOBSON (Audio Describer) has been describing theatre for 13 years and provides description for blind patrons at over 25 theatres in the Twin Cities. Recent shows include Fences, Spamalot, The Rocky Horror Show, and Les Misérables. He is the audio description coordinator for the Minnesota Fringe Festival. He describes the annual Flint Hills Children's Festival. Rick can be heard on Nickelodeon and PBS stations across the country. In 2006, he received an Access Arts Award from VSA Arts Minnesota. He also describes for blind and low-vision passengers on cruise ships, most recently in Mexico.

MARTIN GWINUP (SOUND & VIDEO DESIGNER) is an associate professor in the Theatre Arts and Dance Department at the University of Minnesota. He teaches audio and video technology, design and production. He has also worked in the Twin Cities area as a freelance sound and video designer and technician for 18 years. Martin has worked for the Frank Theatre, History Theatre, Children's Theatre Company, Cricket Theatre and Eye of the Storm. Select design credits at Penumbra include REDSHIRTS, Get Ready, Blue, Black Nativity - A Celebration of Family, A Celebration for the Soul... Testify! and Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers.

KATHY MAXWELL (LIGHTING DESIGNER) was the designer for Penumbra's Black Nativity: Hear Again the Christmas Story! and the assistant lighting designer for Penumbra's A Raisin in the Sun and Gem of the Ocean. Other select design credits include Self the Remix, Cooking con Karimi, Cipher, The Island, and the international tour of Farid Mercury by Kaotic Good Productions. Kathy has a B.A. in Theater and Dance from the University of Texas-Austin and is the Master Electrician for Penumbra Theatre.

CAROL ANN WINTHER (Costume Design) is the resident costume designer for the College of St. Catherine where she also teaches Makeup and Costume for the Stage. Previously at Penumbra, she assisted the designer with costumes for Black Nativity, and she is a charter member of the Penumbra Quilting Circle. She is a member of the Technical Advisory Board at Theatre in the Round. Design credits include Uncle Vanya, You Never Can Tell, and Ghost at Theatre in the Round. Recently she designed I Remember Mama for New Breath Productions, and Vote for Pedro at Teatro del Pueblo.

AARON CHVATAL (Assistant Costume Design) is a senior theatre major at Hamline University. His recent work includes designing costumes for The Cherry Orchard, directed by Zaraawar Mistry, Fefu and her Friends, directed by Jeff Turner, and Words Words Words, directed by Barbe Marshall.

EMILY A. MCPECK (Properties Master) recently worked at Penumbra as the Properties Assistant for Gem of the Ocean and as a carpenter for Fences and REDSHIRTS. Emily holds a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an M.A. in Theatre Production from Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA. She currently works at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.