THANKSGIVING PROGRAM

Poet, playwright, composer, and experienced trial lawyer Julian Henry Lowenfeld is acknowledged to be one of the greatest living translators of Russian poetry into English, and also a celebrated authority on the life and work of Russia's national bard, Alexander Pushkin. Julian's book, My Talisman, The Poetry and Life of Alexander Pushkin (a combined anthology of Pushkin's verse and biography of Russia's most beloved poet), illustrated by Pushkin's own drawings, received the Russia's prestigious Pushkin Medal in 2020 for “outstanding literary achievement,” as well as the Petropol Prize for Literary Achievement. It was the first time the medals had been awarded to a foreigner, despite the increasingly dark political climate in Russia.

Julian has lectured and performed his translations of Pushkin at the Russian Academy of Sciences, in concert at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, at the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg,, at Moscow's MosKontsert Theatre, at the United Nations, New York, The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., Trinity College, Dublin, the Performing Arts Center of the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Boston Public Library, the Philadelphia Public Library, Pushkin House, London, the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, Lehigh University, The First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, The Russian Cultural Center, Washington, City Hall, Anchorage, AK, Anchorage Public Library, University of Alaska, Fairbanks,The Museum of Russian Art, The Tsvetayeva Musem, Moscow, the Akhmatova Museum, St. Petersburg, the Yesenin Museum, Moscow, and numerous other venues. He has performed his translations and been interviewed at length by the Voice of America, BBC World Service, Rain TV, Echo of Moscow, and many other media. Besides translating the Pushkin, he has also translated verse by Lermontov, Tyutchev, Blok, Mandelshtam, Tsvetayeva, Akhmatova, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Rilke, Goethe, Heine, Hugo, Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Lope de Vega, Machado, Martí, Pessoa, Vinicius de Moraes, Leopardi, Ungharetti, Dante, Catullus, Ovid, and Horace.

Besides Thanksgiving, Julian has just completed the script and score for Even Love's a Melody, a musical adaptation with his verse translation of four plays by Alexander Pushkin. He is also in the process of finalizing his complete verse translation of Eugene Onegin, along with footnotes and commentaries. Julian is also known for his translations of Pushkin's Fairy Tales, as well as Pushkin's long narrative poem The Bronze Horseman, a profound meditation on despotic power, madness, and the danger of humanity's hubristic detachment from nature. A unique four volume DVD set of Russian cartoons, entitled Animated Soviet Propaganda, translated and partially edited by Julian won a New York TImes Critics' Choice award in 2006.

Other works by Julian include the novella Rose-Colored Glasses (a love story framed within an almost farcical courtroom drama), the dark one act comedy Kafka for Beginners, and an anthology of Julian's own poems, mostly about love, entitled Nonetheless.

Katie McHugh is an award-winning international theatre director, producer, and educator specializing in devised and experimental theatre and the development of new work. She is the Artistic Director and Founder of Yonder Window Theatre Company, based in New York. Katie holds a BA in Theatre from Florida State University and an MFA in Directing from The New School for Drama. She is the Founding Director of the Southeastern Teen Shakespeare Company and Co-Founder of the Teen Shakespeare Conservatory. Katie is an educator and mentor to countless young artists pursuing a performing arts career.

For a full bio, including selected directing credits, visit yonderwindow.co/katiemchugh

Katie is thrilled to be Stage Managing Thanksgiving! 

Selected Theatre Credits: The National Ballet of Canada; Misery, Same Time Next Year (Watermark Theatre); It's A Wonderful Life (Young People's Theatre); Infinite Life, Appropriate, Yerma (Coal Mine); The Sound of Music (1000 Islands Playhouse); Bad Parent (Soulpepper); Gloria & The Great Divide (Harold Green Jewish Theatre); The Adventures of Pinocchio (Young People's Theatre); Sherlock Holmes (The Shaw Festival); King Charles (Mirvish Productions & Studio 180)

Sub ASM: & Juliet, SiX (Mirvish Productions);

Upcoming: The Wizard of Oz (Canadian Stage), People Places Things (Coal Mine)

Originally from Montreal, Quebec, James is a multi-hyphenate musician and theatre artist with a career spanning four decades. He lives in New York City, and is a faculty pianist at AMDA. Off Broadway: Me The People, Old Jews Telling Jokes, Living With Henry; NYC (selected): Goddess Wheel by Galt McDermott, The Gefilte Fish Chronicles (also performed at the Obama White House), Stephen Sondheim's Follies (Astoria Performing Arts Center), Ludwig Live as Beethoven (Subculture), The Drowsy Chaperone, Company, Sunday In The Park With George; Regional (selected): sound design and original music for Gladstone Hollow, and Violet and Me (both by Dorothy Lyman), Music of the Night (North Shore Music Theatre), Candide, Cabaret, South Pacific and dozens of others!

Visit his (rarely updated) website at iamjameshiggins.com!

Ryan has enjoyed a 30-Year career as an Actor, Singer and Dancer across Canada, USA, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Ryan began his career in Ontario, then moved to Sydney, Australia, where he lived from 2000-2022. He has appeared in a variety of Feature and Short Films including Kids in the Hall, the Movie, Instructional Guide to Dating and Counterstrike. On Television Ryan has made appearances on such shows as How to Die Alone, Matlock (2024), Due South, The Juno Awards, and Foolish Heart as well as numerous TV Commercials in the USA, Canada, Australia and China. Selected theatre credits include 8 productions at the Stratford Festival, including Equus, The Boyfriend, The Winter’s Tale, and Camelot as well as the Australian production of Man of La Mancha, alongside Anthony Warlow and Caroline O’Connor. Ryan also toured the world with The Wiggles for six years as a dancer and understudy to the Red Wiggle, appearing in their videos, performing in their live shows around the world, and providing backing vocals on over 20 CDs! In addition, Ryan is an accomplished musician, writing, recording and performing music regularly in venues across New South Wales and Southern Ontario, and his music can be found on Spotify and Apple Music.

Aleksandra's star is undeniably on the rise. Following her acclaimed performance in Grand Cancan, which continues to receive accolades at international film festivals like the MIFF Awards, Phoenix Film Festival, and Vienna Independent Film Festival, she shows no signs of slowing down. Expanding her repertoire, Aleksandra has ventured into voice-over work with industry giants such as Ubisoft, lending her talents to high-profile projects that highlight her versatility. Looking ahead, 2025 promises to be a landmark year, with two highly anticipated feature films—Mayday and Trust Me I Am a Doctor—currently in post-production and slated for release. With such an impressive range of projects on the horizon, Aleksandra's trajectory is one to watch closely as she continues to bring depth and dedication to every role she takes on.

Aly MacFarlane is a triple threat performer and graduate of George Brown Theatre School. Aly began singing, dancing and acting at a very young age, starting her professional career at Soulpepper Theatre in A Christmas Carol at the age of 7. Aly later continued to perform in subsequent performances at Soulpepper, The Rose Theatre, and Stage West Mississauga. From there, Aly attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts for high school where she was a member of the award-winning show choir “Splash”, and dance company “DancESAtion”. 

Previous credits include The Children’s Hour(George Brown), Legally Blonde (Stephenville Theatre Festival), Sirens of Song (STF).

Aly would like to thank her Mum and Dad for their endless support, and Fi for inspiring her to live authentically every day. Follow her on instagram @aly.macfarlane!

Chris Johnson (He/Him) is an actor, comedian, and writer based in Toronto. Chris is a graduate of Queen’s University with a BAH in Drama, as well as The Second City Conservatory Program. He can be seen performing improv and sketch comedy around the city regularly, along with Fringe Festivals and Sketchfests across the country. Chris is very excited to be returning to his musical theatre roots with this reading of Thanksgiving.

Madeline Brennan most recently finished a 9 month National tour with Bartlett Sher's My Fair Lady playing Mrs. Pearce. Prior to that, she's been acting in NY and regional theatres for many years. Favorite roles include Dr. Livingstone (Agnes of God), Aunt March (Little Women), Clairee Belcher (Steel Magnolias), Elaine Fitzpatrick (Five Women), Dr. Faber (Fahrenheit 451), Miss Hannigan (Annie), Eva Peron (Evita). Madeline also directs, teaches, sings jazz and writes music.

www.madelinebrennan.com

Autumn-Joy Dames 

Select Theatre credits include: ‘Grease’ (Mayfield Dinner Theatre), ‘The Full Monty’ (Capitol Theatre), ‘Beautiful: The Carol King Musical’ (Drayton Entertainment), ‘BitterGirl The Musical’ (Thousand Islands Playhouse), ‘The Soul of Motown’ (Stage West Theatre) ‘Legally Blonde’ (Hart House) and ‘Shopkins Live!’ (North American Tour/ Koba Entertainment). Training: Theatre Performance, Holland College.

Originally from The Bahamas, Autumn-Joy is a Toronto-based singer, dancer and actor. Special thanks always to her family and friends for their constant support especially Ruthie! Follow her adventures on IG @autumnjoy242