Bios for Carousel in Concert

Ben Crawford (Billy Bigelow)
Crawford recently starred on Broadway as the title character in the hit musical Shrek, as well as appearing in the Broadway revival cast of Les Misérables. Regionally, Crawford has performed some of the biggest Broadway baritone roles, including Sky Masterson (Guys and Dolls), Jud Fry (Oklahoma!), Bill Sykes (Oliver!), and Billy Bigelow (Carousel), as well as starring as John Wilkes Booth in Sondheim's Assassins, and appearances in A New Brain, The Gondoliers, Next To Normal, A Little Night Music, Footloose, Little Shop of Horrors, White Christmas, and Titanic among many others. Crawford also has appeared in concerts with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Naples Philharmonic, and the National Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada. Crawford is a graduate of University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Theatre.




Alexandra Silber (Julie Jordan)
Silber began her career in London's West End where she made her professional debut as Laura Fairlie in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman In White. She went on to appear in the West End productions of both Fiddler On The Roof (Hodel), and Carousel (Julie Jordan - TMA Award - Best Musical Performance). Silber also has played Julie Jordan in Carousel for LA's Reprise Theatre (Ovation Award Nomination), made her New York debut last year as The Young Wife in the Off-Broadway revival of Hello Again (Drama League Nomination), and has played Sophie DePalma in Terrence McNally's Master Class opposite Tyne Daly at both The Kennedy Center and on Broadway. She has also been featured in 1408, and all three Law & Orders. Silber trained at Interlochen Center for the Arts and The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.



Sara Jean Ford (Carrie Pipperidge)
Ford was most recently seen playing Christine Daaé in Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera. Other Broadway credits include A Little Night Music and Finian’s Rainbow. Ford holds the unique distinction of performing in two Broadway shows at the same time: while she was playing the leading lady in Phantom, she received an emergency phone call from A Little Night Music to cover the role of Petra (a role which she understudied for only a month and had never played). Off Broadway, Ford starred as Luisa in the The Fantasticks and can be heard on the original revival cast recording. Ford recently made her Carnegie Hall debut as Pieta in Eric Whitacre’s critically acclaimed Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings and her Lincoln Center concert debut as the Soprano Soloist in Messiah… Refreshed! She can be heard on Michael Jackson’s HIStory album, Harry Connick Jr.’s When My Heart Finds Christmas, Finian’s Rainbow Revival Cast Recording, and The Sweet Bye and Bye. Ford graduated with a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University’s prestigious Drama program.


Christopher Fitzgerald (Enoch Snow)
Fitzgerald’s 30-year performing career began at age five when his mother enrolled him in clown class. He later originated the role of "Boq" in Broadway's Wicked and stars opposite Kristin Wiig and Annette Bening in the upcoming feature, Imogene. Fitzgerald also has appeared in Broadway productions of The Merchant of Venice, Finian’s Rainbow (Tony nomination), Young Frankenstein (Tony nomination), and Amour. Off Broadway, Fitzgerald has performed in Gutenberg! The Musical!, Stairway to Paradise, Babes In Arms, Broadway Bash, Fully Committed, and Saturday Night. Television and film appearances include Twins, The Electric Company, Personal Velocity, and Dedication. Fitzgerald received his Bachelor’s Degree in Theater from Rollins College and MFA from The American Conservatory. He resides in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons.



Rebecca Eichenberger (Nettie Fowler)
Eichenberger has been seen on Broadway as Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera, The Frogs, 1776, and A Grand Night for Singing, as well as Carousel and Dessa Rose at Lincoln Center. Eichenberger received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for her portrayal of Mother in the national tour of Ragtime and was Nettie in the critically acclaimed national tour of Carousel, directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner. Regional credits include Dot in Sunday in the Park with George (Seattle Rep), Sharon in Master Class (George Street Playhouse), Little Edie in Grey Gardens (Portland Center Stage), and Margaret in The Light in the Piazza (TheaterWorks). Eichenberger has sung with symphonies in concert halls across the country—including Symphony Hall and Tanglewood with the Boston Pops—as well as Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall. She can be heard on recordings of Carousel, The Frogs, Dessa Rose, and The Broadway Musicals of 1951.


James Leo Ryan (Jigger Craigin)
Ryan has appeared on Broadway as Rooster in Annie and Smee in Peter Pan, and in Broadway National Tours as Claquesous in Les Misérables, Pete in Show Boat, and Reuben in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Ryan performed at Carnegie Hall in the Cole Porter musical Jubilee, and has appeared in numerous Los Angeles productions including Carousel (Jigger), The Full Monty (Ethan), Footloose (Willard), Mask (John the Baptist), and Sisterella (Grubman). Regional theater credits include Sharpe in Equivocation, Ellard in The Foreigner, Peachy in The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and Leo in The Little Foxes. On television, he has appeared in Medium, CSI, The Shield, ER, Six Feet Under, Charmed, and Hannah Montana, as well as the television movies Though None Go With Me and Haunted Prison. Ryan’s film credits include Species III, Death Row, and Psycho Beach Party.



Susan Milner (Mrs. Mullin)
Milner thoroughly enjoyed performing in the RPO concert version of South Pacific two years ago and is thrilled to take part in this production of Carousel. She has performed with Pittsford Musicals, Downstairs Cabaret, Blackfriars, and Shipping Dock Theater. Favorite roles include Oliver! (Mrs. Sowerberry), Company (Sarah), Carousel (Mrs. Mullin), Dames at Sea (Mona Kent), Mystery of Edwin Drood (Helena/Janet), Guys and Dolls (Adelaide), Baby (Arlene), Arcadia (Lady Croom), and Love Letters (Melissa).







Richard St. George (Narrator/Mr. Bascombe)
St. George is delighted to be on stage once again with the RPO, last performing in a concert production of Guys and Dolls. St. George also performed in Every Good Boy Deserves Favor at the Geva Theatre Center. A full professor at SUNY Brockport, St. George served as Chair of the Department of Theatre for eight years. In addition to teaching theatre, St. George is also an actor, director, and playwright. He has performed in a dozen main stage productions at Geva Theatre and in 14 productions at the Downstairs Cabaret Theatre, and has toured his one man show, Bully, The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt, from New York to Florida. St. George was the recipient of a research award at SUNY Albany in 2003 and a Chancellor’s Award for Creative Activity in 2004; in 2007, a special directing award was named for him in Debrecen, Hungary.




John Hennessey  (Starkeeper)
Hennessey is happy to return to Kodak Hall, last appearing in South Pacific in Concert with the RPO. He has worked with Pittsford Musicals, Shipping Dock, Rochester Community Players, and Third Presbyterian Church. Some of his favorite roles include Charlie Cowell in The Music Man, FDR in Annie, and Arthur in Camelot. Comfortable on both sides of the footlights, he has directed Godspell, Fiddler on the Roof, Carousel, Steel Pier, and most recently, Company.







Vanessa Van Wormer (Louise)
Van Wormer is originally from Spokane, Washington, where she danced with Ballet Spokane performing contemporary works and classical ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, and Cinderella, as well as works in collaboration with the Spokane Opera, including Hansel and Gretel and Prince Igor. She is currently a company member of the Bill Evans Dance Company. Van Wormer’s choreography has been showcased in venues such as WAXworks, Movement Research Open Performance, Inland Northwest Dance Fest, Ballet Spokane Choreographers Showcase, The Eastman School of Music, American College Dance Festival Association conferences, Rochester Contemporary Dance Collective performances, and Roehampton University in London. Van Wormer earned her BA in theater and dance from Belhaven University in 2003, and in 2011 she completed her MFA in Dance at SUNY Brockport, where she has since been invited to teach ballet technique as an adjunct lecturer.


Matthew Frazier-Smith (Carousel Boy)
Frazier-Smith’s professional credits include Lend Me a Tenor at Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theatre, I’ll Be Seeing You at Millworks Theatre, It‘s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play with the Tennessee Repertory Theatre, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona with the Tennessee Shakespeare Festival. In the summers of 2008 and 2009, Frazier-Smith worked in Germany, where he performed in a musical revue entitled Die Amerikana Musikshow. He also traveled to Honduras where he toured a collaboratively written, original work entitled A Better Way, which focused primarily on the use of rhythm and physicality as tools for breaking down language barriers. In 2010-2011, Frazier-Smith toured with the Merry-Go-Round playhouse, performing in over 200 shows and teaching over 200 workshops in the New York state school system. Currently, he is an MFA Candidate in Dance at SUNY Brockport. Frazier-Smith graduated with a degree in Theatre and a minor in Dance from Middle Tennessee State University.


Colin Roth (Enoch Snow, Jr.)
Roth is currently a senior at Canandaigua Academy. He has appeared in three shows with the Academy Players: Show Boat (Jake), Les Misérables (Enjolras), and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Jimmy Smith). He also appeared in the Phelps-Clifton Springs Community Theatre production of Jekyll and Hyde (Jekyll/Hyde). He has been recognized in Rochester Broadway Theatre League’s Stars of Tomorrow Awards, receiving Best Supporting Actor in 2010 for the role of Enjolras in Les Misérables and Best Leading Actor in 2011 for the role of Jimmy Smith in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Roth is also a vocalist, representing his school at Conference All State (NYSSMA) and American Choral Directors All Eastern Honor Choir in Providence, Rhode Island.