With the 2025 season underway, we're thrilled to introduce you to the directors leading our production teams!
Despite the winter weather, we kicked off the year off with a fantastic Cabaret in a Day for our Market Theatre students, a kid-sized version of our annual 24 Hour Musical. Next, the school tour of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe launches on February 6, taking our cast and crew across the Upstate to present this imaginative retelling of the beloved children's story. And don't miss our next mainstage show: August Wilson's powerful Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, opening on February 14.
As always, we have something for everyone in our community, including free performances in the park to acclaimed musicals and cult classics. Learn more about the directors leading this season's exciting productions below!
Carlie Taylor
Cabaret in a Day
Three words to describe your show.
Fun, fast, unique
What are you looking forward to with your upcoming show(s)?
I'm looking forward to a day well spent with our amazing Market kids!
When you aren't directing, what are you doing?
Teaching theatre at Calhoun Academy of the Arts, hangin’ out with my son Elias, watching reality TV, playing games
What's your favorite snack and/or drink to have at rehearsal?
Coke Zero!
Noah Taylor
THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE
(School Tour)
If you could play any of the characters in your show, which would it be?
My favorite character in the Narnia series is Mr. Tumnus – we have had a blast creating that one in rehearsals!
What are you looking forward to with your upcoming show(s)?
I'm so excited to direct our third year of the school tour! This has been one of my favorite books since I was a kid, and I love getting to create a truly unique retelling of the story.
What's your post-rehearsal routine?
This show has been so unique – we rehearse early in the morning, and then I start my normal work day. I usually start by writing down all of my observations, to-dos, and notes from the morning rehearsal.
What's your favorite part of the rehearsal process?
I love table work – basically, anything that we have the luxury to tackle between the first read-through and the first blocking rehearsal. This time gives us the opportunity to sit down, talk about the meaning of the show, and dive into the motivations of each character before getting bogged down with production and logistics.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe runs February 6 - March 28. Free public performances will be offered at limited Anderson County Library locations on Saturday mornings.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom runs February 14 - 24 at Market Theatre. Tickets are on sale now!
Guillermo Jemmott
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Three words to describe your show.
Dynamic, powerful, thought-provoking.
What are you looking forward to with your upcoming show(s)?
Seeing how the audience connects with these characters who are very complex individuals but who are all dealing with their own types of traumas.
When you aren't directing, what are you doing?
Performing in regional theaters around the country and working on getting out new music.
What's your favorite community-building activity for a cast?
Sitting around the table or space and discussing how we individually connect with the characters being portrayed and why.
Christopher Rose
TICK TICK…BOOM!
Three words to describe your show.
Autobiographic. Dynamic. Explosive.
When you aren't directing, what are you doing?
Sometimes it seems like that time doesn't exist. lol. But, you will find me reading great books, cooking wonderful meals, exploring any museum I can find, and spending time with the people I love.
What's your favorite snack and/or drink to have at rehearsal?
This one is EASY! You will rarely find me without my trusty Route 44 Diet Cherry Limeade from Sonic!
What's your favorite part of the rehearsal process?
Creating a safe space and working within it to support my cast as we seek to tell the truth in a way in which our audience can hear it.
Tick Tick…Boom! runs March 14 - 24 at Market Theatre. Tickets are on sale now!
Something Rotten! runs April 25 - May 12 at Market Theatre. Individual tickets go on sale on March 14.
Dalton Cole
SOMETHING ROTTEN!
If you could play any of the characters in your show, which would it be?
Hands down I’d love to play Nostradamus. To have the gift to be able to see into the future as he does would be life-changing!
What are you looking forward to with your upcoming show(s)?
Getting to tell this Shakespeare origin story is going to be so much fun. I can’t wait to hear people talk about their favorite parts of this show
What's your favorite snack and/or drink to have at rehearsal?
Gosh, I love a dozen donuts (not to share).
What's your favorite part of the rehearsal process?
My favorite thing by far is the cast party. I know that this is towards the end of the process, but it’s great to see the unexpected lifelong friendships that come out of shows. Good friends and good food, what could be better?
Raekwon Fuller
24 Hour Musical (Secret Show…SHH!)
Three words to describe your show.
I'M NOT TELLING
What are you looking forward to at the 24 Hour Musical?
I am looking forward to being on the other side of the process! I have only directed a handful of times and I am excited for my biggest project yet! I am a tinge nervous but it's 24!!! FUN FUN FUN!
When you aren't directing, what are you doing?
I am currently a Theatre Management student at The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University! So that's what I am doing!
What's your favorite part of the 24HM process?
I think seeing the growing delirium and just leaning into the fun. I think 24hr, while serious, is ultimately just fun. It is not gonna be a perfect show in 24hrs and honestly, the audience loves seeing us make some stumbles haha! So just growing in the delirium!
You've participated in the 24HM for a quite a few years. What's your strategy for making it to the performance in the evening?
HUMORRRR! Truly leaning into the joy and having fun gets me there every time. Every single time it gets me there.
24 Hour Musical date and reserved ticket sales TBA.
The Little Mermaid runs June 12 - 16 in Carolina Wren Park. Admission is free, but premium reserved seating will be available for purchase on May 1.
Diane Lee
The Little Mermaid
If you could play any character in your show, who would it be?
URSULA….She is so deliciously evil, jealous, and vengeful. I’ve always been known as a “goody two shoes” kind of person, wearing my heart on my sleeve and wanting the good guy to win. What fun it would be to conjure up her glinting shades of terribleness! She’s clever, reads people well, plays on horrible instincts and emotions, and is one we love to hate. She is glamorous in a grotesque way and OOHHH!, her evil laugh and her ruby red lips! With her slimy sidekicks, it would be a gas to create the terrifying aspects of a totally engaging creature. Ahhh, revenge!
What are you looking forward to in your upcoming show?
Building an underwater world in Wren Park, a new and different look for our outdoor shows, with memorable, but unique characters that make the audience experience this familiar story anew. Also, building an ensemble of forever friends, working together to bring joy and delight to audience members of ALL ages. As always happens when directing a show, bringing all the elements of live theater into being: acting, singing, dancing, set building, costume creation, sound and light design, and special effects. It’s magic (and terrifying at dress rehearsals). I always cry that night and know it will never happen…and then it does.
What is your favorite part of the rehearsal process?
The magic of first run-throughs. The change in demeanor as the characters first wear their costumes. The “click” when an actor “gets it” or discovers who his/her character really is. The flush of excitement at Dress Rehearsal.
Drew Kenyon
COMEDY OF ERRORS (Shakesbeer in the Park)
If you could play any character, who would it be?
I’d have to choose one of the Dromios! These loyal, loveable, and long-suffering servants bring so much heart and hilarity to the story. Plus, their physical comedy is unmatched—it’s like they’re the original sitcom sidekicks.
Shakesbeer in the Park is moving to Magnetic South—what’s exciting about that?
This will only be Market Theatre’s second show in the Magnetic South space, and my first time directing there. The change of venue is both a challenge and an opportunity to think creatively about how to use the space. It’s intimate, fresh, and full of potential, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it enhances the energy of the show.
When you’re not directing, what are you up to?
I wear a few hats! I’m a middle and high school theatre teacher at High Point Academy in Spartanburg, where I direct four shows a year with my incredible students. I’m also the Program Operations Manager at Market Theatre, so I’m always around the space. Outside of work, I love spending time with my wife Kelly and our dog Pippin. We’re also eagerly awaiting the arrival of our daughter Isla, who will be here just in time for the show. I can’t wait to start introducing her to Shakespeare—she doesn’t know it yet, but her life will be full of it!
Comedy of Errors runs August 21 - 25 in North Main Commons (beside Magnetic South). Admission is free, but premium reserved seating will be available for purchase on July 10.
Puffs runs December 5 - 15 at Market Theatre. Individual tickets go on sale on October 23.
David Veatch
Puffs
Three words to describe your show.
Magic. Hilarious. Adorkable.
If you could play any of the characters in your show, which would it be?
Megan Jones or Mr. Voldy.
When you aren't directing, what are you doing?
Spending time with my cat Alfredo, watching TV, reading a book, writing a play, listening to Taylor Swift, or scrolling on TikTok.
What's your favorite community-building activity for a cast?
I like to create space at the top of rehearsal for a check-in, a space to acknowledge our lives outside of the rehearsal room and give us a chance to step into a space where we don’t have to hold on to that. Often this time is full of jokes and laughter, but it can also create space for us to support each other when going through a tough situation or when we need community and positive energy.
What's your post-rehearsal routine?
I love a Cookout run. I get three things of chicken nuggets and two chicken quesadillas.
