Smugbug Productions
presents
A Healthy Marriage is a new musical comedy about New Brunswick’s infamous 1922 Hall-Mills murders, America’s first major tabloid story. Featuring original music, lyrics, and book by Dave Seamon (The Eleventh Hour!, Everything’s Fine: A Panic Attack in D Major), A Healthy Marriage is a story with humor, heart, and homicide.
The trial over the Hall-Mills murders, the mysterious deaths of a local pastor and his church choir mistress, has ended without a guilty verdict and no one is in jail. All but five singers have quit the choir and are desperate to recruit new members. They saw how the whole steamy affair went down and promise to share the full story as they remember it… if you join their tenor section.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
WED, 5/27 - SUN, 6/7
LOCATION
coLAB Arts
9 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Dave Seamon
Directed by Dan Swern
CAST
DEBRA WALTON*
Debra Walton (Frances Hall / Wickian 1) is an actress, director, and producer whose work spans theatre, television, and voiceover. Honing her skills on Broadway, national tours, and in the regions, Debra has played a variety of roles from the title character in CLYDES to Mini Fay in Hello Dolly! She has appeared on Law & Order: SVU, Blue Bloods, and voiced characters in Grand Theft Auto. Debra made her Broadway directorial debut as the Associate Director for Thought of a Colored Man and recently took on the iconic role of Bessie in Awake and Sing!
WAYNE HU*
Wayne Hu (Edward Hall / Wickian 2), a Taiwan-born actor and singer, is a 2013 graduate of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music as a recipient of the Wilfred Bain Fellowship in Opera. New York and regional theatre credits include Hal Prince’s final Candide (Maximilian u/s) at the Rose Theater in Lincoln Center with New York City Opera, Jane Eyre the musical (Edward Rochester) with Off-Brand Opera, Camelot (Sir Sagrimore) with Glimmerglass Opera, Disney’s Beauty & the Beast (Gaston) with Theatre by the Sea, Into the Woods (Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince) with Ocean State Theatre, The Merry Widow (Danilo) with New Rochelle Opera and Southold Opera, and Les Misérables with Amarillo Opera (Enjorlas), and in concert with LAPHIL at the Hollywood Bowl (Brujon/Foreman), amongst others. He is grateful to have the opportunity to join the coLAB Arts team in bringing to life Dave Seamon’s exciting new musical. Aside from his acting career, Wayne is a skilled voice teacher and vocal coach. @hookpushnpray
ALEXANDRA PALTING*
Alexandra Palting (Eleanor Mills / Wickian 3) is an NYC-based artist. Stage credits include CATF, Olney Theatre Center, Ford’s Theatre, InterAct, Theater J, and Imagination Stage. On-camera work includes Law & Order, independent films, and commercials like Apple, Capital One, and Home Depot. Palting’s voiceover work may be heard narrating NYT bestsellers on Audible, USPS, and Microsoft, among others. An award-winning writer, Palting is the creator of two solo musicals: 0874: A Filipino-American Love Story (developed at The Kennedy Center with performances at Connelly Theater, the U.S. Consulate in China, Lincoln Theatre, Merriweather Post Pavilion, and Olney Theatre Center), and Offering for the Earth: A Biorhythmic Celebration of Hildegard Von Bingen (commissioned by the St. Louis Concert Series and the best-selling concert in the series’ twenty-year history). Alexandra studied at the University of Delaware, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Bookwriting Workshop. www.alexandramariapalting.com • @alpal1210
JACOB KELEMAN
Jacob Keleman (James Mills / Wickian 4) is thrilled to be making his debut with coLAB Arts in A Healthy Marriage, and to be part of bringing new, original theater to audiences in New Jersey. A New York City-born singer, actor, and performer, Jacob’s recent credits include Senex in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Gleb in Anastasia, and King Charlemagne in Pippin. Jacob holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Westminster Choir College and has had graduate-level classical voice training at the Manhattan School of Music. In addition to his musical theater and operatic work, Jacob trains in the Meisner acting technique at the Matthew Corozine Studio (MCS) in Midtown Manhattan, continuing to develop a grounded, truthful approach to performance. Jacob is deeply grateful to his family, teachers, mentors, and friends for their continued support, and to his wonderful girlfriend, Sofia, for always being in his corner. Follow Jacob on Instagram! @Kelemanj
BETH SIEGLING
Beth Siegling (she/they) (Willie Stevens / Wickian 5) is thrilled to appear as resident fifth wheel Willie Stevens in A Healthy Marriage! Born in New Brunswick and based in NYC, she now revisits her hometown with a newly minted murderous lens. Select regional work: Short North Stage, Milton Theatre, Saint Croix Festival Theatre, Northern Lakes Arts Association, National Theatre for Children, Artistree, Great Plains Theatre, Catalyst Theater Company, and the Great American Melodrama. Favorite credits include The Spitfire Grill (Percy), Ordinary Days (Claire), Bat Boy: The Musical (Shelley), Cabaret (Sally Bowles), Songs for a New World (Woman 2), 25th Annual… Spelling Bee (Rona), Nine (Claudia u/s), Grease (Frenchie), and three regional productions of Godspell. Beth trained at The Gaiety School of Acting in Ireland and holds a BA in Gender Studies & Theatre Arts from Mount Holyoke College. Follow along at bethsieglingofficial.com! @bethsiegling
CREATIVE
Dave Seamon (Book, Music, and Lyrics) is an award-winning composer, educator, and singer/songwriter from New Jersey. He has written and composed two original musicals, A Healthy Marriage and The Eleventh Hour! His music composition and orchestration work for film and television include the musical short film Melody (Cannes selection, 2013) and the pilots Canusa Street (2023) and Everything’s Fine: A Panic Attack in D Major (Emmy Award, Best Comedy Series, 2019). His original music is available to stream, including 2025’s Separate Dreams, composed for NJ Monuments to Migration and Labor. As a teaching artist, Dave devises original musicals with K-12 students, currently serving as the coordinator of theater arts at Somerset County Vocational and Technical High Schools. daveseamon.com
Dan Swern (Director)is the co-founder and producing director for coLAB Arts, commissioning projects and residencies across artistic disciplines and communities, and as a director and writer creates verbatim theater projects that articulate the experiences of impacted communities. Swern was most recently represented off-Broadway with his Drama Desk-nominated culinary-performance production of Shake & Bake: Love’s Labour’s Lost and produced Dave Seamon’s original musical The Eleventh Hour! in New York. Swern also teaches for Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Ishita Mili (Choreography)
Ishita Mili is a Bengali-American director, choreographer, educator, and iconoclast. She founded IMGE (“image”), a dance company that unravels cultural roots to thread together global stories with diverse artists. Her work has reached inter/national stages including New Victory Theater, Lincoln Center, Seattle IDF, World Arts West, and Tempe Center for the Arts, as well as commercial clients including NBCUniversal, Ben & Jerry’s, and IndoWarehouse, and theater projects including Broadway Bares and Asolo Rep. Ishita was awarded Artist of Exceptional Merit ‘23 by the Asian American Arts Alliance, taught the IMGE methodology at Princeton and Gonzaga University, and was selected for the LabWorks ’24–’25 cohort at New Victory Theater. She received a ’25 Individual Artist Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and was recently nominated for a Bessie for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer. IMGE has been featured in Vogue and Vanity Fair and has amassed a loyal global following.
Ashley Basile (Scenic Design)
Ashley Basile is a NY/NJ set designer with a degree in Set Design from Mason Gross School of the Arts, along with continued education in Fine Arts and Asian Art from Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Recent work includes the Off-Broadway productions of Ivanov with New American Ensemble, Women of Will with BEDLAM, A Train Anthology (2024), Selling Kabul with Premiere Stages (2023), La Bohème with Amore Opera (2023), and Thou Shalt Not. Since 2019, her work with Red Bank Regional Theater Company has included Moby Dick: REHEARSED, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and James and the Giant Peach, earning Basie Awards for her designs. Upcoming projects include Liberty Madness and David Blum’s The Gin Game.
Sarah Woods (Lighting Design)
Sarah Woods is thrilled to return to A Healthy Marriage after working on the 2023 workshop. Her Off-Broadway design credits include Ivanov (New American Ensemble), You & Me (A.R.T./NY), and Duality (A.R.T./NY). Associate and assistant credits include Schmigadoon! on Broadway, ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| (Vineyard), Rob Lake Magic with Special Guests The Muppets (Broadway), Millions (Alliance Theatre), Joy: A New True Musical (Off-Broadway), and The Great Qin in Xi’an, China. Sarah lives in Jersey City with her Bengal cat, Kelly, and is a proud graduate of Rutgers University and member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.
Colleen Burns (Costume Design)
Colleen Burns is a Texas-raised, New Jersey-based costume technician and designer, and a recent graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts. Her design credits include Rutgers productions of Dancing at Lughnasa, Mud Row, Angela Davis’ School for Girls with Big Eyes, and In a Word. Outside of theater, she works as an overhire stitcher and as a technician for CHRISHABANA, creating masks for Masquerade, costumes for tours including Cowboy Carter, and pieces seen on the Met Gala red carpet. A Healthy Marriage marks her first professional design credit.
Christopher Mallari (Sound Design)
Christopher Mallari is an NJACT award-winning sound designer and lifelong music lover who studied Audio Engineering at the Institute of Audio Research in Greenwich Village, NYC. Favorite design credits include SPAMALOT! at Villagers Theatre (award-winning), In the Heights with Ewing High School, The Eleventh Hour! at Villagers Theatre (nominated), and Things I Know To Be True with Middlesex College. Chris currently works with students at Cranford High School, The United Nations International School, and Middlesex College, helping develop the next generation of theater technicians. Professionally, he serves as Lead Audio Tech with Kean Stage at Kean University and Lead Sound Engineer at Futuristic Feels Entertainment.
Kenny Savoy (Carpentry)
Among Scenic design, Lighting design, Theater Carpentry, Rigging, Event Production Assistant, Stage management & Audio Crews, I have worked for numerous theaters, universities, event companies, casinos, production studios traveling from New York to Hollywood. Thank you for the opportunity to work on this show. Also thanks to all of my teachers, mentors, family and friends.
Rafi Levavy* (Stage Management)
Rafi Levavy has toured nationally with Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and numerous productions with Theatreworks USA. His Off-Broadway credits include The Velveteen Rabbit, The JAP Show, Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, Stop Kiss (Public), Psychopathia Sexualis (Manhattan Theatre Club), Life Is a Dream (Pearl), and productions with Circle Repertory Company. Regionally, he has worked with theaters across the country including Arizona Theatre Company, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Virginia Stage Company, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, and many others. Rafi has also worked with Jim Henson Productions and Walt Disney Theatrical Productions, and stage managed clown school and productions for the NY Musical Theater Festival. A proud Equity member, he holds a degree in computer science from Brandeis University.
Mel Dikert (Assistant Stage Management)
Mel Dikert (they/them) is a New Jersey-based stage manager returning for their fourth project with coLAB Arts, having previously worked on several productions of Click Here (to Start Your Order), American Bhoot, and Shiv’s Project. Additional credits include AUGUSTA!, Constellations of Resilience, the Gi60 International One Minute Theatre Festival – U.S. Live, Intimate Apparel, Seussical Jr., The Female Body, Always Something There…, Bring It On: The Musical, Hamlet, Let Me Fluff Your Pillow, and Beauty and the Beast. Mel holds degrees in Theatre Arts, Sociology, and Performing Arts Administration from Drew University, where they collaborated with Tectonic Theatre Company on Monstress, a fully devised piece inspired by well-known myths.
BAND
Christynn Cardino Morris (Music Direction / Piano / Conductor)
Christynn Cardino Morris is a music director and collaborative pianist working across community, professional, and educational settings including NJ Ballet School, Somerset County Vo-Tech Performing Arts, and Mason Gross Dance. Recent credits include First Date (Studio Playhouse), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Villagers Theatre), and Fiddler on the Roof (Cranford Dramatic Club). Christynn is grateful to the production team, cast, and musicians, as well as the teachers, mentors, friends, and family whose wisdom, generosity, and support continue to shape her work.
Craig Stanton (Upright Bass)
Craig Stanton is an accomplished double bassist, conductor, and educator with more than 20 years of experience in professional musical theatre and orchestral performance. A mainstay of the Tri-State arts scene, he performs regularly throughout New York and New Jersey in musical theatre pits and symphonic settings. Leadership roles include Principal Bassist for the Raritan Valley Symphony and Livingston Symphony, and Assistant Principal for the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey. As a conductor and clinician, he has led ensembles including the Brook Orchestra, the New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra, and the CJMEA Honors Orchestra. Craig is also a dedicated educator at Westfield High School, where he was named the 2024 Distinguished Teacher of the Year. He holds degrees from The College of New Jersey and Teachers College, Columbia University.
Liam McGeary (Drums)
Liam McGeary is a musician, educator, and performer with a background in jazz, theatre, and music education from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. He has toured nationally as an actor, musician, and teaching artist, appearing at venues including the Count Basie Center for the Arts, NJ State Theatre, NJPAC, Paper Mill Playhouse, and McCarter Theatre. His work spans pit performance, arranging, music direction, acting, and arts education, and he is an NJACT Perry Award recipient for The Shawshank Redemption at Villagers Theatre. Liam currently teaches music and theatre in North Brunswick Public Schools and serves as a teaching artist at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton.
Rockwell Valentine (Trumpet)
Rockwell Valentine is a trumpet player, music producer, film composer, and educator based in New York City. Deeply committed to honoring the Black-American musical tradition, his work draws inspiration from artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, Beyoncé, Charlie Parker, Bobby McFerrin, and J.S. Bach. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Woodstock, Connecticut, Rockwell began playing trumpet at age 11 and was later selected for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Summer Jazz Institute and the NAfME All-National Jazz Band. He earned a degree in Jazz Performance with a minor in Religion from Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and is currently developing original projects that reflect his collaborative, forward-looking musical voice.
MARKETING
Marketing / Advertsing
Think Big Picture
Photographer / Videographer
Varner Creative
coLAB ARTS STAFF
Producing Director
Dan Swern
General Manager
Jeff Key
Producing Associate
Victoria Masteller
Director of Education
John Keller
Community Organizer
Yeimy Gamez Castillo
Education Associate
Jasmine Carmichael
PRODUCING TEAM
Dan Swern, Dave Seamon, Brad Clair, Michael Donahue, Cory Griffin, Brian Morris
*The Actor or Stage Manager appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.