May 17 – Jun 28, 2026 | Roda Theatre
In This Program
- A Welcome from the Artistic and Managing Directors
- Berkeley Rep at Work: Set Your Team Up for Success Through the Power of Theatre
- From Silence to Song: An Interview with Ritesh Batra
- The Dabbawallahs Always Get It Right
- Show Program
- Artist Bios
- Some Words to Know
- What An Incredible Night!
- Print Edition
- More about Berkeley Rep
Welcome to Berkeley Rep
To ensure the best experience for everyone:
While always encouraged, masks are required inside the theatres during Sunday and Tuesday performances for the first three weeks of a show’s run.
Food and drink: Beverages in cans, cartons, or plastic cups with lids are welcome in the theatre during unmasked performances. Food is prohibited in the theatre during all performances.
Courtesy reminder: To avoid disruption to everyone, please turn off your cell phones, beeping watches, and electronic devices, and refrain from unwrapping cellophane wrappers during the performance. For the comfort of all patrons, please avoid wearing strongly scented personal products.
Photos: Photos may be taken in the theatre before and after the performance and during intermission. Photos and videos during the performance are strictly prohibited. Photos posted on social media must credit Berkeley Rep and the show’s designers.
Smoking and vaping: Berkeley Rep’s public spaces are smoke- and vape-free.
One of the joys of live theatre is the collective experience. Audience members respond to the show in many different ways. We invite you to join together and enjoy the show! If there is anything we can do to make your experience more enjoyable, please see a member of the house staff.
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From the Artistic Director
“NO WRONG MISTAKE.”
In the opening number of this world premiere musical, the dabbawallahs refer to the fact that as they transport more than 200,000 lunches around Bombay (now known as Mumbai since 1995) every single day, from homes to offices, only one in 3.5 million fails to reach its intended address. It is a miraculously analog system, entirely human-driven, and almost infallible. Almost…
As we began rehearsals, I reflected on the fact that “no wrong mistake,” especially when paired with the necessary “courage” of which Ila sings, may also be useful guiding principles as a group of artists gathers to build something new together. As we move through the rehearsals of any new work, I find that the things that feel like missteps in the moment often lead a creative team to some new revelation. As another line from this beautiful musical reminds us, “sometimes the wrong train will take you to the right station.” Ritesh, Rachel, the Lazours, Reshma, and the rest of the team have together built the capacity (and bravery) to make bold choices, to deeply explore, to know that some roads will lead to dead ends, and others to new discoveries, and, in so doing, have built this exquisite musical for you.
In this era in which we so often turn to technology to solve problems, to eliminate errors, and make us more efficient, the hand-hewn nature of theatre feels increasingly necessary. So much of what you see on stage is crafted by hand, from the scenery to the props to the costumes. The skills of the artisans who work at Berkeley Rep are unparalleled in our industry and increasingly rare. As we come to the final act of a season that has held so many disparate worlds, welcomed hundreds of artists and tens of thousands of audience members to come together in this beautifully analog method of storytelling, I am grateful to each person whose highly-developed craft makes this work possible.
This particular work of theatrical storytelling that we all make together every night is wildly inefficient, highly perishable, and profoundly necessary as a means by which we can explore our shared humanity. Thank you for being a vital part of this effort.
Warmly,
Johanna Pfaelzer
Artistic Director
From the Managing Director
WELCOME TO THE FINALE of your 2025/26 season at Berkeley Rep: the much-anticipated world premiere of The Lunchbox! I fell in love with this musical’s heart, humor, and hope the first time I encountered it. In a world that often prizes the grand and the loud, The Lunchbox reminds us of the profound power and beauty of the modest and the meaningful — how a one-degree shift, a courageous first step, or a small gesture of kindness can change everything.
This production exemplifies Berkeley Rep’s commitment to bold storytelling, inventive artistry, and the alchemy that occurs when human connection meets theatrical imagination. It has been a season of remarkable range and resonance, featuring new voices and fresh perspectives, daring premieres and reimagined classics — productions that have sparked conversation, kindled curiosity, and, at their best, shifted perspectives by that essential degree. It is especially gratifying to know we shared these incredible stories with more full-season, seven-play subscribers than we have had at any point in the past two decades.
But the journey does not end here. Your 2026/27 season awaits, with bold and ambitious narratives of transformation — the before and after, the evolution and the revolution — just what you have come to expect from Berkeley Rep. If you have not yet subscribed, we invite you to join us. Full-season subscribers receive the best prices and seats, free exchange privileges, early access to special engagements, and a host of benefits designed to make your theatre-going easy, flexible, and affordable. Performances will sell out, so subscribe today!
Thank you for making Berkeley Rep a home for fearless artistry and for being part of this vibrant community. There is great energy and momentum at your theatre right now, and your presence and support make this work possible — and meaningful.
Enjoy the show!
Tom Parrish
Managing Director
Berkeley Rep at Work
Set Your Team Up for Success Through the Power of Theatre
Berkeley Rep at Work approaches practical problem-solving skills through fun, insightful, and unique team-building exercises taught by professional theatre artists! No matter the goal, Berkeley Rep’s adaptive programming is ready to help your team succeed.
Workshop Highlights:
Improv & Team Building: Learn to embody the “yes and” spirit of improv in your everyday interactions. Using the basic building blocks of improvisation, this fun and fast-paced workshop develops communication skills, adaptive thinking, and collaboration.
Storytelling: Harness your creativity, trust your instincts, and quiet your inner critic! Through acting, improv, and writing exercises, this workshop explores communication techniques for a deeper understanding of how to effectively share your ideas with the world.
Social Advocacy: This workshop is open to anyone interested in exploring new avenues for social and personal change while developing spontaneity, fluidity, presence, creativity, and critical intelligence.
Learn more at berkeleyrep.org/atwork
From Silence to Song:
An Interview with Ritesh Batra
Berkeley Rep’s Resident Casting Director and Producing Associate, Karina Fox, sat with The Lunchbox’s filmmaker and book writer, Ritesh Batra, to reflect on the journey of adapting his award-winning film into a musical for the stage. Here are excerpts from their conversation.
Karina Fox: As an artist who has primarily used film as your expressive medium, what has your process been tackling theatre as a medium?
Ritesh Batra: Theatre is such a powerful tool because it’s so immediate. I love theatre, so I’ve seen a lot of it as an audience member. When I started the process of adapting the film into a stage musical, I spent a couple of years studying the form very deeply. Any musical that was playing near me I would go see multiple times. I would also get my hands on the scripts of musicals just to read the book.
I prepared myself to write it for almost five years. Once I started writing the musical, I never opened the script of the movie. It’s such a completely different form — I didn’t want to be beholden to what I had written for another medium. I wrote and directed the film, so I know the broad strokes of it. I know the story beats. But the musical has become a completely new thing that shares some of those beats but has become its own entity.
KF: What made you feel like this story belonged to a musical, as opposed to a play or another kind of adaptation?
RB: Honestly, I have two reasons. One is that my daughter loves musicals. It’s how she connects to the world and understands it, so in many ways this is a gift to her. That is the primary reason.
The second reason is that, in the movie, there are big things happening inside the characters that we convey through silence. In a play, because everything is driven by dialogue, we would have had to turn those moments into spoken text, and I don’t think we would have been able to translate them as well. In a musical, songs can be used to portray a character’s innermost feelings.
Once we had a song, the characters suddenly felt much further along emotionally than they would have in the movie. The story beats became more concentrated. Nobody sings in a musical unless they’re under duress or pushed to that point. In this piece, that’s even more true because the characters are so reticent and closed off.
KF: Writing and creating a musical is a collaborative process, and this is different from your role as sole writer and director on the film. What has it been like to open the process in that way, and how did that shape the collaborators you chose to bring onto the project?
RB: It’s less lonely than making movies, because when you’re writing a movie, you’re by yourself for years before you get on a set. You write it, you have to raise money for it, and it’s all on you. But with a musical, there’s just no way to work on it alone.
I always had the instinct that this musical would be both very small and very big at the same time. When I began looking for collaborators, I knew I wanted artists whose work felt both internal and expansive. I was introduced to the Lazours by the folks at the Lincoln Center Theater. The first song they wrote was Shaikh’s song, “Best Man,” and it felt so internal but also so exuberant. I immediately felt that they understood the tone and the scale of the piece, and that they would also be kind people to work closely with.
When we began working with Berkeley Rep to choose a director, I thought of Rachel Chavkin immediately. I was already a big fan of her work.
Now that I have seen Rachel in action, what really stands out to me is her approach to working with actors. She works closely with them and never in broad strokes. She is always mining the material with the actors and looking for the deepest, most nuanced performance. I try to do the same thing on my film sets. I think that is a similarity between us. We are both very focused on the actors and on taking care of them.
It also felt important to me that a woman directed this show. It took me a long time to fully understand the character of Ila while I was making the movie, partly because I am a man. I always knew the male lead, Saajan, better. Working with Rachel has been wonderful because she has presented Ila in a way that I could not have done myself. And of course, she has carried that perspective into the rest of the story with how the characters intersect.
KF: What makes Berkeley Rep the right home for the show’s world premiere?
RB: It’s really an energy thing. The people make a place. Obviously, Berkeley Rep is an institution that has taken big risks and big chances on new work. When I met the Berkeley Rep artistic team, there was an immediate sense that we were all responding to the piece in the same way. The thing I was describing before about it being both intimate and big, everyone felt that too. That made me excited about being here.
I also think there’s a large South Asian community in the Bay Area, but beyond that there’s just such a vibrant audience here. Even in Berkeley itself, the audience feels very representative of where we hope the show can go next. So, it feels like a great place for the show to start. It feels like the right home for it.
The Dabbawallahs Always Get It Right
by Ankita Raturi
Have you ever ordered food delivery and received the wrong order? It’s very likely the answer is yes. Our American apps are optimized for volume over accuracy. A few months ago, when a delivery driver came to me with a bag of cinnamon rolls instead of bánh mì, he told me to just take the wrong order. I (foolishly) did not accept someone else’s food, thinking this stranger might still get their sweet treat even if I couldn’t get my order. I hope the driver ate them in the end — it’s a thankless job.
In Ritesh Batra’s 2013 film The Lunchbox, Mumbai dabbawallahs unwittingly facilitate Ila and Saajan’s unlikely friendship (the two lead characters of the film and today’s musical). The dabbawallahs are nothing like these food delivery apps we’ve grown accustomed to in the last decade. They are an army five-thousand-workers strong who pick up, sort, and deliver Mumbai’s lunches every day, then return the senders’ containers. They’ve been part of Mumbai’s social fabric for over a century, originating in 1890 — over fifty years before India’s independence and over a hundred years before the invention of GrubHub.
These meals are delivered in the inexpensive tiffin box (far superior to the brown bag of the American worker) which is engineered for a well-rounded lunch. Each compartment in the stack carries its own element of a balanced meal: roti, achaar (pickle), a daal or curry, and, the star of Ila’s preparations in The Lunchbox, the sabzi (vegetable dish). These meticulously packed tiffins are handed off every morning to the first dabbawallah in the chain.
Riding a bicycle to bypass Mumbai’s infamous traffic, each dabbawallah carries about thirty tiffins. These are handed off to the next dabbawallahs in the operations chain who sort the tiffins for delivery into reorganized batches. Most of these batches take Mumbai’s local trains to different neighborhoods before another bicycle-riding dabbawallah assumes responsibility for their journey. At office buildings and final delivery locations across the bustling city, a third dabbawallah completes the delivery to the office worker for whom the hot lunch was prepared and packed. A simple coding system legible to every dabbawallah keeps everyone’s tiffin heading in the right direction through multiple handoffs. After lunch, the pickup and delivery process repeats in reverse, bringing Saajan’s empty tiffin back to Ila’s apartment for her to find them happily licked clean.
In a formal case study published by Harvard Business School in February 2010, titled “The Dabbawallah System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time,” the pickup and delivery system was awarded a coveted six sigma rating, meaning errors occur fewer than 3.4 times per million deliveries. It may be surprising that as one of the most densely populated cities in the world and its high volume of traffic, Mumbai also houses a near flawless network of punctual lunch deliveries for hundreds of thousands where the white-capped dabbawallahs can be recognized even beating ambulances while navigating the chockablock on their cycles. On a 2003 visit to India, even the then Prince Charles asked to see the dabbawallahs in action. He reportedly marveled at their accuracy and punctuality, and apparently even invited two dabbawallahs to his wedding two years later.
The word dabbawallah simply means the one with the boxes, as in, the lunchboxes. Wallah is a simple suffix meaning the one with, or the one from, or the one who makes, sells, provides, operates, etc. For example, chaiwallah: one who prepares and sells tea. Mumbaiwallah: the one from Mumbai. Dilwallah: the one with a big heart, i.e., the romantic. And of course, dabbawallah: the one with the dabba, the lunchbox, that holds the improbable power to connect two people across space, across time, across the relentless daily grind of this major metropolis. Magicwallahs, if you will.
Maintaining a system so precise in such a wonderfully hectic city for over a century is truly remarkable. Even more remarkable then is this magical connection that forms between Ila and Saajan. It is rare in the crushing loneliness of city life to feel a little less alone.
Even though the dabbawallahs’ flawless coding does somehow falter in the case of Ila and Saajan, perhaps they’re still getting it right somehow. That special something in home cooking that speaks directly to the soul through the right sabzi wasn’t finding its mark with Ila’s husband. It certainly wasn’t finding its way to Saajan from his regular restaurant. Even when they get it wrong, the dabbawallahs still always get it right.
Show Program
Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Johanna Pfaelzer, Artistic Director | Tom Parrish, Managing Director
in association with
Mark Lunsford and Nik Dodani
presents
The Lunchbox
Book and co-lyrics by
Ritesh Batra
Music and co-lyrics by
the Lazours
Scenic Design
Mimi Lien
Costume Design
Arjun Bhasin
Lighting Design
Bradley King
Sound Design
Justin Stasiw
Wigs and Hair Design
Charles G. LaPointe
Co-Orchestrations by
Nathan Koci, Rohan Krishnamurthy, Daniel Lazour & Arun Ramamurthy
Music Director
Sheela Ramesh
Casting
The Telsey Office
Kristian Charbonier, CSA, Adam Caldwell, CSA
Keertana Sastry, Priya Ghosh
Dialect Coach
Mahira Kakkar
Associate Director
Neeta Thadani
Associate Choreographer
Miles Crawford
Associate Music Director
Eric Kang
Production Stage Manager
Becky Fleming *
Stage Manager
Shana Ferguson *
Assistant Stage Manager
Kathleen Rose Gallardo *
Director of Marketing and Audience Services
Voleine Amilcar
Associate Producer — New Work
Victor Cervantes Jr.
General Manager
Sara Danielsen
Director of Production
Audrey Hoo
Director of the School of Theatre
Anthony Jackson
Director of Finance
Sam Linden
Director of Development
Ari Lipsky
Associate Artistic Director/Director of In Dialogue
David Mendizábal
Director of Human Resources and Diversity
Modesta Tamayo
Director of Operations
Amanda Williams O’Steen
Music Supervision by
Nathan Koci
Choreography by
Reshma Gajjar
Directed by
Rachel Chavkin
WORLD PREMIERE
SEASON PRESENTING SPONSORS
Stephen & Susan Chamberlin
Yogen & Peggy Dalal
Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer
Marcia Grand
Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau
Jonathan Logan & John Piane
Arjay R. and Frances F. Miller Foundation
The Strauch Kulhanjian Family
Gail & Arne Wagner
SEASON SPONSORS
The Hearst Foundations
Wayne Jordan & Quinn Delaney
Jack & Betty Schafer
Kelli & Steffan Tomlinson
DABBAWALLAH SPONSORS
Yogen & Peggy Dalal
Sudha Pennathur & Edward Messerly
HIDDEN NOTE SPONSORS
Anjali & Sundar Pichai
Anonymous
Melinda Haag & Chuck Fanning
MUMBAI LOCAL SPONSORS
Laurents / Hatcher Foundation
TIFFIN SPONSORS
Shelley & Jonathan Bagg
Dhanam Foundation
Thomas W. Edwards & Rebecca Parlette-Edwards
Scott & Sherry HaberOmar Khan & Kamini Ramani
The Lunchbox is made possible by Berkeley Rep’s Musical Theatre Development Fund, With leadership support by Yogen and Peggy Dalal.
CAST
(In order of appearance)
YASH RAMANUJAM * … Chorus, Dabbawallah
VISHAL VAIDYA * … Chorus, Office Boss/Cafe Owner
KINSHUK SEN * … Chorus, Waiter
SAVIDU GEEVARATNE * … Chorus, Office Worker/Cook
SHIV NADKARNI * … Chorus, Rajeev
BENJAMIN MATHEW * … Chorus, Cook
VAIBU MOHAN … Chorus, Mehrunissa
SUSHMA SAHA … Chorus
KUHOO VERMA * … Ila
SHAARADA KARTHIK, CARYNA DESAI SHAH … Yashvi
ANISHA NAGARAJAN * … Mrs. Deshpande
MANU NARAYAN * … Fernandes
AATHAVEN THARMARAJAH * … Shaikh
UNDERSTUDIES & SWINGS
HASHINI AMARASINGHE … u/s Ila, Swing
SAVIDU GEEVARATNE * … u/s Shaikh
AKSHARA GUNDA … Swing, Dance Captain
NASIR ALI PANJWANI * … Swing
SUSHMA SAHA … u/s Mrs. Deshpande
VISHAL VAIDYA * … u/s Fernandes
LEVIN VALAYIL * … Swing
BAND
SHEELA RAMESH … Music Director, Conductor, Keys
SASCHA JACOBSEN … Bass
ERIC KANG … Associate Music Director, Cello, Guitar
SHOTA OTAGURO … Mallets, Drum Set, Percussion
CHARITH PREMAWARDHANA … Viola
ROHAN KRISHNAMURTHY … Mridangam, Tabla, Dhol,
Additional Indian Percussion
ARUN RAMAMURTHY … Violin 1
SAHANA SHRAVAN … Violin 2
Understudies never substitute for listed performers unless a specific announcement or notice is made at the time of appearance.
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States
Musicians in this production are members of Musicians Union Local 6, American Federation of Musicians.
This theatre operates under agreements with the League of Resident Theatres, Actors’ Equity Association (the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States), the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and United Scenic Artists.
The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)’s rights, and actionable under United States copyright law.
Opening Night: May 27, 2026
Roda Theatre
The Lunchbox will run without an intermission.
For This Production
Assistant Director … Katie Genzer (Bret C. Harte Artistic Fellow)
Associate Scenic Designer … Jason Lajka
Assistant Scenic Designers … Alayna Klein, Vinita Gatne (Studio)
Additional Billboard Graphics … DC Scarpelli
Associate Costume Designer … Dina El-Aziz
Associate Lighting Designer … Aja M. Jackson
Assistant Lighting Designer … Claire Chesne (Electrics Fellow)
Lighting Programmer … Bridget Chervenka
Associate Sound Designer … Tracy Cowit
Assistant Sound Designer … Riley Oberting (Harry Weininger Sound Fellow)
Associate Wigs and Hair Designers … Sebastian Weber, Loren Skora (Studio)
Music Assistant and Score Supervisor … Ari Goldbloom-Helzner
Contractor … Sean Kana
Copyist … Utsav Bhargava
Keyboard Programmer … Cohen Keyboards
Production Assistants … Olivia Spreen (Stage Management Fellow), Trinity Wicklund
Script Production Assistant … Miranda Erin Campbell
Deck Crew … Julia Englehorn (Supervisor), James McGregor (Asst. Supervisor), Siobhán Slater (Automation), Isaac Jacobs, Michael Boomer, Emma Walz, Gabriel Holman (Assoc. Super/Sub), Oxford Lewis (Sub)
Wardrobe Crew … Rachel Pollard (Interim Supervisor), Caz Hiro (Associate Supervisor), Kamaile Alnas-Benson, Dieyla Diop, Malia Sittler, Mika Rubinfeld (Sub), Linda Wu (Sub)
Wigs and Hair Crew … Erin Taylor (Lead Technician), Karen Arriola, Katrice Hughes, Raegina Joyner, Emily Haynes (Sub)
Production Electrician/Board Op … Desiree Alcocer, Kenneth Coté
Followspots … Margaret Linn, Matthew Sykes
Sound Crew … Sarah Fox (A1), Angela Don (A2)
Lead Studio Teacher … Shelley K. Booker
Studio Teachers … Steve Elster (Sub), Dana Gardner (Sub), Rhona Gordon (Sub), Justin Max Gross, Martha Harris, Jamie Keller, Dawn Maurer (Sub), Ryan Waters (Sub)
Child Guardians … LeeAnn Dowd, Kina Kantor, Joel Ochoa
Scenic Fabrication by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Scenic & Paint Shops, Hamilton Scenic, Cal Scenic, and R Productions
Technical Design Consultant … Steven Schmidt
Additional Scenery Fabricators … Austin Louis Andrade, Cameron Edwards, Isaac Jacobs, Carl Martin, Troy McClendon, Drea Ronquillo, Krista Wright
Additional Scenic Artists … Cristina Anselmo, Kenzie Bradley, Julie Ann Brown, Wyn Di Stefano, Kinsey Erin, Rose Ernst, Mira Henry, Katie Holmes, Allie Kranyak, E Wayman-Murdock
Props Fabrication by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Properties Shop
Additional Prop Artisans … Cassidy Carlson, Hanbyul Joo, Anthony Lopez, Sofie Miller
Costumes Built by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Costume Shop
Additional Costume Technicians … Breanna Bayba (Draper), Chris Weiland (First Hand), Kelly Koehn (Crafts Artisan), Nelly Flores (Stitcher), Adriana Gutierrez (Stitcher), Malia Sittler (Stitcher), Hannah Velichko (Stitcher), Dieyla Diop (Costume Shop Assistant), Mika Rubenfeld (Costume Shop Assistant)
Lighting Services provided by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Lighting Department
Additional Lighting Technicians … Desiree Alcocer, Grace Marie Yum Alexander, Emma Buechner, Brittany Cobb, Angelina Costa, Jack Grable, A. Chris Hartzell, Jacob Hill, Brittany Johnson, Margaret Linn, Hannah Linaweaver, Todd Loyd, Charlie Mejia, Nori-Hayden Quist, Sarina Renteria, Riley Richardson, C. Swan-Streepy, Matthew Sykes, Trinity Wicklund
Lighting Rental Equipment Provided by Production Resource Group, LLC Sound Services provided by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Sound and Video Department
Additional Sound Technicians … Conor Fortner, Courtney Jean, Todd Loyd, Ellie Stalcup, Ben Reese
Additional Casting … Karina Fox
Production Manager … Kali Grau
Assistant Production Manager … Alex Hamm (Production Management Fellow)
Production Management Assistant … Anthony Lopez
Company Manager … Ryan Duncan-Ayala
Assistant Company Managers … Bella Hintzman, Katelin Shum (Company Management Fellow)
Workshopped at New 42nd Street Studios
Special thanks to the members of Berkeley Rep’s South Asian Leadership Council:
Yogen & Peggy Dalal, Dhanam Foundation, Omar Khan & Kamini Ramani, Sudha Pennathur & Edward Messerly, and Anjali & Sundar Pichai.
Special thanks to Claire Marberg and Arjun's team in India.
Piano provided by Yamaha — special thanks to Helen Prusell and Randy Cohen.
Medical Consultation for Berkeley Rep provided by:
Mari Bell MPT (UCSF), Ed Blumenstock MD, Charissa Chaban DPT, Cindy J. Chang MD (UCSF),
Christina Corey MD, Neil Claveria PT, Patricia I. Commer DPT, Kathy Fang MD PhD, Steven Fugaro MD, Anjali Gupta MD (Kaiser), Olivia Lang MD (Berkeley Pediatrics), Allen Ling PT, Liz Nguyen DPT,
Desiree A. Unsworth DPT, Christina S. Wilmer OD, Eric Yabu DDS, and Katherine C. Yung MD
Artist Bios
Hashini Amarasinghe
u/s Ila, Swing
Hashini is thrilled to be making her Berkeley Rep debut in The Lunchbox! She is a (very) recent graduate of Elon University, BFA Music Theatre and BA Vocal Performance class of ‘26. Her regional credits include Janice and Others in Come From Away (Ogunquit Playhouse). Huge thanks to the entire Lunchbox team, Mikey/The Collective, Berkeley Rep, and her incredibly supportive Amma, Thaththa, and Akka — so much love for all of you! Thank you for supporting emerging theatre! IG: @hashini_a
Savidu Geevaratne *
Chorus, Office Worker/Cook, u/s Shaikh
Savidu is a Sri Lankan
American actor, singer, and musician. He is a Bay Area native now based in Brooklyn and thrilled to be making his Berkeley Rep debut! His off-Broadway credits include Your Own Personal Exegesis (LCT3) and Monsoon Wedding (St. Ann’s Warehouse). Additional credits include Life of Pi (Nat. Tour). Grateful to his amazing teachers, family, and friends all over. Thanks to Julia, HCKR, and the Telsey Team for believing! He thanks his Amma for everything. IG: @the_savidoodle_
Akshara Gunda
Swing, Dance Captain
Akshara is an actor, singer, and dancer based in New York City. She recently wrapped the role of Tina in Tyler Perry's Where There's Smoke (coming soon to Netflix) and can be seen as a featured vocalist in Paramount+ and CBS Sports' UEFA Champions League campaign Nobody Watches Like U.S. Her other television credits include co-starring on Law & Order and CBS' CIA. She has participated in theatrical workshops for upcoming musicals in NYC and is excited to serve as the dance captain and swing on this beautiful production.
Shaarada Karthik
Yashvi
Shaarada is thrilled to make her Berkeley Repertory Theatre debut. A fourth grader from Los Altos, California, her Peninsula Youth Theatre credits include Newsies, Shrek the Musical, Tuck Everlasting, and Mary Poppins. Shaarada trains in Western voice and South Indian classical arts (Carnatic vocal and Bharatanatyam dance). She also plays violin with the Peninsula Youth Orchestra. Offstage, she enjoys tennis, reading, writing, and illustrating. Shaarada is grateful to her teachers, directors, and family for their constant encouragement and support.
Benjamin Mathew *
Chorus, Cook
Ben’s Chicago credits include Orlando in As You Like It (Writers Theatre), Pippin in Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Harvey Beaver in Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (Studebaker Theater), u/s Bank Manager/Andrej in Once (Writers Theatre), u/s Imran in Hatefuck (First Floor Theater), u/s Upton Sinclair in Campaigns, Inc. (TimeLine Theatre), and Kevin G in Mean Girls (upcoming August 2026, Paramount Theatre). His regional credits include TheatreSquared, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. He appeared in the 2024 film Apolitical. He holds a BFA in theatre from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Vaibu Mohan
Chorus, Mehrunissa
Vaibu is a performer, writer, and storyteller who brings South Asian stories and performance traditions to contemporary Western theatre. A mainstay in New York’s new work development scene, she is the recipient of the 2025 June Bingham Commission from Live & In Color for her play Bound To You (National Playwrights Conference semifinalist). Her Tamil bilingual drama Adi-Antham received a residency at the New Harmony Project. Her opera Jala Smriti premieres with the Atlanta Opera in 2026. She thanks her father, Mohan, who wrote the first play she performed in; her mother, Srimathy, who gave her the gift of dance; and her guru, R.K. Shriramkumar, who gave her a voice.
Shiv Nadkarni *
Chorus, Rajeev
Shiv is an LA-based artist whose work revolves around themes of mental health, spirituality, and masculinity. His background in Indian music, Kathak dance, and medicine drives his creative work. His dance work has been showcased through festivals in NYC, Philadelphia, Toronto, Berlin, and London. Shiv’s film, Turbinado, funded by the LA Department of Cultural Affairs debuted at the 2023 Pondicherry Film Festival in India. His acting credits include Heathers: The Musical (Penn Players), Finding Home: An Indian Musical, Blue Boy, Sandesh, and Esther Perel Ruined My Life (IAMA). Shiv's work has been supported by the Fulbright Program, UCLA, the Hammer Museum, and SONY Music. IG: @shivnadkarni
Anisha Nagarajan *
Mrs. Desphande
Anisha’s Broadway credits include Bombay Dreams and Company. Her off-Broadway credits include Monsoon Wedding. Her concert credits include Hair (New Amsterdam Theatre) and The Secret Garden (Lincoln Center). Regional work includes Princesses (5th Avenue Theatre), The Wiz (La Jolla Playhouse), Rent (Hangar Theatre), and Monsoon Wedding (Berkeley Rep). Anisha is known for her role as Madhuri on NBC's television series Outsourced. Other TV/film credits include Rita (Bravo/Fox), Ugly Betty (ABC), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Code Black (CBS), Jane Wants a Boyfriend (Showtime), gen:LOCK (HBO Max), and Kinda Pregnant (Netflix). She trained at NYU Tisch’s Stella Adler Studio where she earned her BFA. Love to Aalok, Aaliya, and Arin!
Manu Narayan *
Fernandes
Manu’s original Broadway cast credits include Company, Gettin’ the Band Back Together, My Fair Lady (LCT), and Bombay Dreams (Drama League nom.). His national tour credits include Miss Saigon. His off-Broadway credits include The Baker’s Wife (CSC), A Delicate Balance (Transport group/ NAATCO), Merrily We Roll Along (Roundabout), Yeast Nation (NYFF), Falsettoland (NAATCO), subUrbia (Second Stage), Fucking A (Public), The Lisbon Traviata, and The Who’s Tommy (Kennedy Center). Manu’s film credits include Anything’s Possible, 99 homes, The Love Guru, The Last Airbender, and A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song. His TV work includes Your Friends & Neighbors (recurring), And Just Like That, Prodigal Son, Emergence, Bull, Blacklist, Grey’s Anatomy, and Law & Order: SVU. IG: @TheManuNarayan
Nasir Ali Panjwani *
Swing
Nasir is an actor, designer, photographer, and activist based in New York City. He is thrilled to make his Berkeley Rep debut in this world premiere production. This one is for all the little brown boys who dream. His off-Broadway credits include Monsoon Wedding. Regional credits include Kevin J/Ali in Come From Away (Engeman Theater; Theatre Aspen), The Prince in Cinderella (Casa Mañana), Tunny in American Idiot (Weathervane Theatre), and Billy Nolan in Carrie (Casa Mañana). BM Music Theatre from Oklahoma City University. Free Palestine. IG: @nasirpan @designbynasir | nasiralipanjwani.com Pronouns: He/him
Yash Ramanujam *
Chorus, Dabbawallah
Yash is a NYC-based actor thrilled to make his Berkeley Rep debut. He was most recently seen on stage in Legally Blonde at the John W. Engeman Theater and on screen in Best of the Best (Netflix). He is a recent graduate of the University of Miami, where he earned his BFA in musical theatre. He would like to thank his family for their unwavering love and support.
Sushma Saha
Chorus, u/s Mrs. Deshpande
Sushma is a NYC-based queer South Asian American actor, singer, dancer, voiceover artist, model & songwriter. They have appeared on Broadway in 1776 (Roundabout); off-Broadway in Interstate (NYMF) and Presencia (Connelly); and off-off Broadway in Gooey’s Toxic Aquatic Adventure (Bushwick Starr), You Must Wear a Hat (Interstitial), 7 Minutes (Waterwell), and Girlfriend (Drama League). Their regional credits include Fun Home (Huntington), Maybe You Could Love Me (Theatre Mu/Mixed Blood), and The Wolves (ATL). They won “Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role” at New York Musical Festival for playing Henry in Interstate by Melissa Li & Kit Yan. She is working on her debut EP This Isn’t About You. IG & TikTok: @sushmasahahaha Pronouns: all
Kinshuk Sen *
Chorus, Waiter
Kinshuk is a Los Angeles-based actor and singer originally from India. His stage credits include Kuljit in Come Fall in Love: The DDLJ Musical (Palace Theatre, Manchester; The Old Globe, San Diego); Varun in Monsoon Wedding (off-Broadway); Benny in In the Heights, Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, and Ferdinand in The Tempest (McGowan Theater). Screen credits include Anderson in In A Silent Way (Apple TV), Lt. Shiv Raina in Jiya Jaye, and Hari Mohan in Iktarfa (Amazon/MX Player). Kinshuk is a graduate in cognitive science, BS from UCLA. Kinshuk is represented by Rothman Andrès Entertainment.
Caryna Desai Shah
Yashvi
Caryna is a nine-year-old passionate singer, pianist, dancer, and actress. She has played the role of Tiny Tim multiple times in A Christmas Carol at the renowned McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ. She was also selected for Broadway Artists Alliance intensives in voice and acting and cast in various commercials. Caryna’s heart shines through story, emotion, and love — for all living heartbeats.
Aathaven Tharmarajah *
Shaikh
Aathaven is thrilled to be making his Berkeley Rep debut with The Lunchbox. Aathaven has previously starred as Emmett Forrest in the national tour of Legally Blonde and as Laurie in the national tour of Little Women. Other theatre credits include Monsoon Wedding (St. Ann’s Warehouse), Waitress (Timber Lake Playhouse), May We All (The REV Theatre Co.), and Elf the Musical (Pioneer Theatre Company). He thanks his friends and family for their love, guidance, and support. IG: @aathaven_
Vishal Vaidya *
Chorus, Office Boss/Cafe Owner, u/s Fernandes
Vishal last appeared at Berkeley Rep in the world premiere of Swept Away. His credits on Broadway include Jerome in Merrily We Roll Along and Larry in Groundhog Day. His off-Broadway credits include Nicolas in TRASH and Johannes in Einstein’s Dreams. Regional work includes Ajit in Come Fall in Love (Old Globe), Marcellus in The Music Man (Olney Theatre; Helen Hayes nom.), Dr. Pomatter in Waitress (West Virginia Public), Frog in A Year with Frog and Toad (Adventure Theatre; Helen Hayes nom.), Bonnie and Clyde (Bay Street), The Secret Garden (Ahmanson Theatre), Crazy for You (Pennsylvania Shakespeare), and Dave (Arena Stage). His film credits include Merrily We Roll Along. IG: @vishgram
Levin Valayil *
Swing
Levin is thrilled to be back at Berkeley Rep for the premiere of another South Asian musical! He previously played Lottery in Monsoon Wedding at Berkeley Rep. Other theatre credits include Come From Away (Milwaukee Rep, Phoenix Theatre), Mystery of Edwin Drood (Goodspeed), Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily (Alley Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Hanover Rep), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Next Act Theatre), The Fantasticks (The Cape Playhouse), and Bhangin’ It (La Jolla Playhouse). His film credits include Descendants: Rise of Red as Aladdin. IG: @lvalayil | levinvalayil.com
Kuhoo Verma *
Ila
Kuhoo most recently starred as Veronica Sawyer in the New York revival of Heathers: The Musical. She is best known as the breakout star of Hulu’s original film Plan B. Other film credits include Space Cadet (Amazon) and Murder Mystery 2 (Netflix). Theatre credits include the original cast of Octet (Berkeley Rep, Signature Theatre; Lucille Lortel Award, Drama Desk Award), Nobody Loves You (ACT), and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Signature Theatre). Her opera credits include Cartier's Les Larmes d'Eugénie (Venice International Film Festival, Théâtre du Châtelet). Upcoming work includes 31 Candles, Lucy Is A Good Girl, and Jackrabbit. IG: @therealkuhoo
Sheela Ramesh
Music Director, Conductor, Keys
Sheela is a music director, pianist, composer, and arranger. Named a “Woman to Watch on Broadway” by the Broadway Women’s Fund, her credits include Broadway (SIX, Almost Famous, Once Upon a One More Time, Merrily We Roll Along, Hell’s Kitchen); off-Broadway (Lincoln Center Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, The York, Theatre Row, Stage 42); television (NBC's Annie Live!); concert (Carnegie Hall, Kings Theatre, Town Hall); and regional theatre (Berkeley Rep, ACT). Sheela received undergraduate and graduate degrees in music at Carnegie Mellon University and the Royal College of Music and also holds degrees in psychology/cognitive science (BS, Carnegie Mellon; MSc, University College London) and law (JD, Yale Law School).
Sascha Jacobsen
Bass
Sascha was born into a musical family, going as far back as his great-great-great-great-grandfather who was a bassist for the Moscow Opera. A 2022 Latin Grammy nominee, Sascha has performed with Kronos Quartet, Rita Moreno, Hugh Jackman, Martin Short, Mandy Patinkin & Patti LuPone, Marc Shaiman, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, Josh Groban, Kristin Chenoweth, Andrew Lippa, and many others. He is the founder of the Musical Art Quintet and Los Tangueros del Oeste which perform his original works. His music is described by Strad Magazine as "stylish and vigorous...beautifully arranged,” and by NY Music Daily as “Gorgeous, Provocative, Timely New Tango Sounds.”
Eric Kang
Associate Music Director,
Cello, Guitar
Eric is a pianist, cellist, and music director based in New York. His work on Broadway includes the associate music director of Maybe Happy Ending, and substitute conductor of Illinoise and Hadestown. His off-Broadway credits include Cats: The Jellicle Ball (PAC-NYC). He has worked on the first national tours of Hadestown, Cats, Love Never Dies, and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Eric holds degrees from Williams College and New York University and is a proud graduate of New Jersey’s and California’s state public school music programs. For ,
, and Eugene; and for the many teachers and mentors who guide him. Pronouns: he/him
Rohan Krishnamurthy
Mridangam, Tabla, Dhol,
Additional Indian Percussion, Co-Orchestrations
Dr. Rohan Krishnamurthy is an Indian American percussionist, composer, and educator. He is one of the leading voices of Indian classical and cross-genre music in the South Asian diaspora. Acclaimed a "musical ambassador" by The Times of India, he received mridangam training from the legendary Sri. Guruvayur Dorai. Rohan has performed with preeminent Indian classical musicians and Grammy Award-winning artists across the globe. He leads The Alaya Project, an Indo-jazz-funk collective, which has been praised by Jazziz Magazine, NPR, and San Francisco Chronicle. Rohan holds a PhD in musicology from the Eastman School of Music and directs the RohanRhythm Percussion Studio. His patented drum tuning system is available worldwide. IG: @rohanrhythm | rohanrhythm.com
Shota Otaguro
Mallets, Drum Set, Percussion
Shota is a percussionist based in San Jose, California, performing with several professional ensembles. He is the tuned percussionist for The Stinkfoot Orchestra, dedicated to the works of Frank Zappa, and principal percussionist for the Monterey Pops Band, where he also leads educational clinics for local students. Shota earned first-place solo percussion awards at the 2023 and 2024 North American Brass Band Association competitions with the San Francisco Brass Band, and previously won the Fremont Symphony’s Young Artist Competition, the SJSU Concerto Competition, and PAS California Collegiate Solo Marimba. He serves as Conductor of the San Jose Youth Symphony Percussion Ensemble, guiding young musicians in ensemble performance and artistry. He holds a bachelor's in music performance from San Jose State University and is a Marimba One Discovery Artist.
Charith Premawardhana
Viola
Charith is a San Francisco-based violinist and violist specializing in performing music of various styles. He is the founder and director of Classical Revolution, a global chamber music movement established in 2006 to bring live classical music to neighborhood venues. Charith has performed and recorded for dozens of prominent artists including The Mars Volta, Third Eye Blind, Alexander String Quartet, and Josh Groban. Charith has hired and/or managed musicians for such notable acts as Lindsey Stirling, Evanescence, Jacob Collier, and Foreigner. He can be heard on film soundtracks for Sorry to Bother You and The Shape of Water. The Lunchbox marks Charith's fourth show at Berkeley Rep, following To The Lighthouse, Paradise Square, and Swept Away.
Arun Ramamurthy
Violin 1, Co-Orchestrations
Arun is a Brooklyn-based violinist, composer, and educator whose work moves fluidly across traditions, genres, and geographies. Rooted in the South Indian Carnatic tradition, he performs in both Carnatic and Hindustani settings while forging a distinct, genre-blurring voice. He leads the Arun Ramamurthy Trio and performs in a dynamic violin duo with his wife, Trina Basu, creating music that is both deeply rooted and boldly exploratory. He has worked with luminaries such as Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Reggie Workman, and Martha Redbone. As a co-founder of the raga-inspired collective Brooklyn Raga Massive, he has helped cultivate a thriving global community around raga music. From Carnegie Hall in New York to the Bimhuis in Amsterdam, Arun brings a deeply expressive, improvisatory sound to
audiences worldwide. IG: @arunnj25
Sahana Shravan
Violin 2
Sahana is a NYC-based violinist. She received two degrees from The Juilliard School where she studied with Areta Zhulla and Catherine Cho. She has been awarded 2025 Van Lier Artist of Exceptional Merit, Joseph W. Polisi Prize for Artist as Citizen, and the 2025 Benzaquen Career Grant. Her collaborations include singers, dancers, and composers from Western and Indian classical traditions. She is primarily a chamber musician and teaching artist, but enjoys learning and performing diverse genres of music.
Ritesh Batra
Book and Co-Lyrics
Ritesh is a BAFTA Award-nominated writer-director named one of Variety’s “Ten Directors to Watch.” His previous films include Our Souls at Night (Netflix; starring Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, and Matthias Schoenaerts) and The Sense of an Ending (BBC and FilmNation; adapted from Julian Barnes’ bestseller, starring Jim Broadbent, Michelle Dockery, and Charlotte Rampling). His debut feature film, The Lunchbox, was supported by Sundance and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Rail d’Or. It was one of the best-reviewed films of the year, nominated for the 2015 BAFTAs for “Best Film Not in the English Language.” His most recent feature film, Photograph, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival. He is currently working on a movie adaptation of the novel A Fine Balance and developing a TV show with A24 and HBO.
The Lazours
Music and Co-Lyrics, Co-Orchestrations
Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour are music theatre writers. Their original musicals include We Live in Cairo (dir. Taibi Magar; American Repertory Theater, New York Theatre Workshop; Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk noms.) and Night Side Songs (dir. Taibi Magar; Under the Radar, Philadelphia Theatre Company, ART, Lincoln Center Theater; Lucille Lortel, Drama League noms.). They wrote original songs for Caroline Lindy’s feature, Your Monster (2024 Sundance Audience Award) and their movie musical Mikaela Wills & The Teacher in Space is being developed with Bruce Cohen Productions and Spark Features. Original songs can be heard on their independently released albums Two Short Songs in a Minor Key, Lullabies, Freres, Flap My Wings (Songs from We Live in Cairo), and Beth’s Homemade Cowboy Breakfast. They are Jonathan Larson Grant and Richard Rodgers Award recipients, MacDowell and Yaddo Fellows, and NYTW Usual Suspects. IG: @frereslazour
Rachel Chavkin
Director
Rachel is a director, sometime writer, and founding artistic director of Brooklyn-based experimental collective, the TEAM, whose work has been seen all over NY, the US, and internationally. She won the 2019 Tony Award for her work on Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown (Broadway, NYTW, National Theatre). Select projects include Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway, Ars Nova, ART; Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, Tony and Lortel noms.), My Joy is Heavy (NYTW; Drama League nom.), Lempicka (Broadway, WTF, La Jolla, Korea), Mission Drift (National Theatre), American Clock (Old Vic), RoosevElvis (Royal Court), The Thanksgiving Play (2ST), How to Defend Yourself (co-dir. with Liliana Padilla and Steph Paul; NYTW), The Royale (LCT; Obie Award, Drama Desk and Lortel noms.), Small Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova/tour), and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac, Heather Christian, and Chris Thorpe. She received the 2017 Smithsonian Award for Ingenuity.
Reshma Gajjar
Choreographer
Reshma is a first-generation American actress, interdisciplinary performing artist, and creative collaborator. She has acted on screen for visionary directors including Spike Jonze, Sam Mendes, and Kathryn Bigelow, and is recognized for opening Damien Chazelle’s Oscar-winning La La Land. In NYC, she was a member of the original cast of Life and Trust, where she devised, co-choreographed, and originated a role in the genre-defying work from the producers of Sleep No More. She has toured globally with Madonna and Ricky Martin, performing alongside Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, and Adele. A black sheep living in both the commercial and art worlds, she is a storyteller who centers humanity. As a Bay Area native, she is thrilled to make her musical theatre choreography debut at Berkeley Rep! IG: @reshmagajjar | reshmagajjar.com
Mimi Lien
Scenic Design
Mimi is a designer of sets and environments for theatre, dance, and opera. Her previous work at Berkeley Rep includes Regarding Strange Devices from the Distant West and Fairview. Other selected work includes Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway; Tony Award), Sweeney Todd (Broadway; Tony nom.), Antony & Cleopatra and Grounded (Metropolitan Opera), Parsifal (Bayreuther Festspiele), Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (St. Ann’s Warehouse), among others. Mimi is a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Tony, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award, and an OBIE Award for sustained excellence. Mimi is a co-founder of the Brooklyn performance space, JACK.
Arjun Bhasin
Costume Design
Arjun was born in India and studied film and costume design at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He returns to Berkeley Rep following his work on Monsoon Wedding where he continued his longtime collaboration with director Mira Nair with whom he partnered on The Namesake, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and A Suitable Boy. He designed the costumes for Ang Lee’s Academy Award-winning Life of Pi and was nominated for a Costume Designers Guild Award for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks. Other credits include Kogonada’s After Yang (A24) and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Ms. Marvel (Marvel Studios), and, most recently, the limited series The Beast in Me (Netflix).
Bradley King
Lighting Design
Bradley is a parent, proud union leader, and designer for live performance. He returns to Berkeley Rep following his previous work on Goddess. His Broadway credits include Hadestown (Tony Award), Great Comet (Tony Award), Water for Elephants (Tony nom.), Fat Ham (Tony nom.), Flying Over Sunset (Tony nom.), Lempicka, How to Dance in Ohio, and Bernhardt/Hamlet. His recent off-Broadway credits include High Spirits (Encores!), The Baker's Wife (CSC), Twelfth Night (Delacorte), Goddess (Public), We Live in Cairo (NYTW), and Monsoon Wedding (St. Ann's). He has designed for hundreds of regional productions across the US and around the world. Executive Board Trustee of USA 829. IG: @bradleykingld | bradleykingld.com
Justin Stasiw
Sound Design
Justin’s work on Broadway includes sound design on Lempicka and associate sound design on Moulin Rouge!, Beetlejuice, Frozen, Once On This Island, Anastasia, Something Rotten!, Side Show, and It’s Only a Play. Off-Broadway credits include Pericles, The Jonathan Larson Project, Night Side Songs, The Big Gay Jamboree, We Live in Cairo, The View Upstairs, and Songbird. Select regional work includes 5th Avenue Theatre, Asolo Rep, Shakespeare Theatre Company, ACT, and Ogunquit Playhouse. His international work in Manila includes Delia D, The Band’s Visit, Ghost, Jersey Boys, and Sweeney Todd. Justin is a proud member of IATSE
and of USA 829.
Charles G. LaPointe
Wigs and Hair Design
Charles is an award-winning designer who maintains a highly successful career on stages throughout the US and abroad. He has numerous design credits on Broadway, touring, regional theatre, and international productions including Hamilton (Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Award), Death Becomes Her (Drama Desk Award), MJ, Titanique, The Great Gatsby, Beetlejuice, Pirates! The Penzance Musical!, Suffs (Drama Desk nom.), Tommy, SIX, The Cher Show (Drama Desk Award), SpongeBob SquarePants (Drama Desk Award), Jersey Boy, A Gentleman’s Guide…, and In the Heights. His television work includes The Wiz Live! (Emmy nom.) and Jesus Christ Superstar Live! (Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylist Guild Award, Emmy nom.).
Nathan Koci
Music Supervision, Co-Orchestrations
Nathan's Broadway credits include Illinoise, Hadestown (Assoc. MD), and Oklahoma! (dir. Daniel Fish). Off-Broadway credits include The Seat of Our Pants (Public Theater). His regional and tour credits include Hadestown (MD; Nat. Tour), War Horse (1st Nat. Tour), Most Happy in Concert (Williamstown), and Mother Courage and Her Children (Arena). International credits include The Great Yes, The Great No (William Kentridge) and The Head and The Load (William Kentridge). Dance credits include Principles of Uncertainty (Maria Kalman/John Heginbotham). Opera credits include Suddenly Last Summer (Courtney Bryan/Daniel Fish) and The Source (Ted Hearne/Daniel Fish). His recording credits include The Hands Free, And Friends, Guy Klucevsek, The Solomon Diaries, Shovels and Rope, The Michael Leonhart Orchestra, and The
Opposite of a Train.
The Telsey Office, Kristian Charbonier CSA, Adam Caldwell CSA, Keertana Sastry, Priya Ghosh
Casting
With offices in both New York and Los Angeles, The Telsey Office casts for theatre, film, television, and commercials. The Telsey Office is dedicated to creating safe, equitable, and anti-racist spaces through collaboration, artistry, heart, accountability,
and advocacy. thetelseyoffice.com
Becky Fleming *
Production Stage Manager
Becky is thrilled to return to Berkeley Rep, having worked on The Thing About Jellyfish last season. Her Broadway credits include Newsies (OBC, 1st Nat. Tour), Waitress (OBC, 2021 revival), A Strange Loop, The Skin of Our Teeth (Lincoln Center Theater), The Wiz, and Hell’s Kitchen. Her off-Broadway work includes MCC, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Atlantic Theater Company, and NYTW. She has worked on over 20 productions at regional theatres such as Paper Mill Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Westport Country Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, Theater Under The Stars, Theater of the Stars, and Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
For my family always, and in loving memory of Thom Gates.
Shana Ferguson*
Stage Manager
Shana’s Broadway credits include Take a Banana for the Ride, Sweeney Todd, and Living on Love. Her national tour and West Coast credits include & Juliet, Hadestown, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (SF Company), Beautiful, and Motown. Off-Broadway credits include Marcel on the Train, Trip of Love, and Songbird. New York credits include Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes (Radio City Music Hall), Doom: House of Hope, The Doctor (Park Avenue Armory), How Long Blues (Little Island), and Cabin in the Sky (Encores!). Her regional theatre credits include Room Service (Westport Country Playhouse), Double Trouble, and The BFG (Imagination Stage). Shana is a proud alumna of the University of Maryland.
Kathleen Rose Gallardo *
Assistant Stage Manager
Kathleen’s Broadway credits include BOOP! The Musical and Here Lies Love. Her off-Broadway credits include Titanique, The Play That Goes Wrong, and Stranger Sings. Her regional credits include Kiss My Aztec (Hartford Stage), The Wanderer (Paper Mill), and Anastasia (WPPAC). Many thanks to the Lunchbox team. Lots of love to my family and friends!
Dina El-Aziz
Associate Costume Design
Dina's regional credits include English (Long Wharf/TheaterWorks, Hartford, Barrington Stage), The Scarlet Letter (American Stage), School for Lies (Dartmouth College), Forgiveness (Barrington Stage), Selling Kabul (Northern Stage, Seattle Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival), Layalina (The Goodman), Unseen (OSF), When Monica Met Hillary (Miami New Drama), 9 Parts of Desire (Portland Center Stage), King Lear (Northern Stage), and Noura (The Guthrie, Old Globe). Her off-Broadway credits include The Waterfall (WP Theater), Show/Boat: A River (Target Margin Theater), We Live In Cairo (NYTW), The Mulberry Tree (La MaMa), Munich Medea, Weightless (WP Theater), and The Vagrant Trilogy (Public Theater).
Aja M. Jackson
Associate Lighting Design
Aja is thrilled to be a part of this dazzling team! Aja's associate and assistant design work with Bradley King includes Fat Ham and Lempicka on Broadway; High Spirits, Goddess, and Monsoon Wedding off-Broadway; and Goddess at Berkeley Rep. Additional design credits include Hadestown (2nd Nat. Tour, based on original lighting design by Bradley King). Proud member of USA 829. Board Chair for Brighter Boston and serves on the board of the Hemsley Lighting Programs. Aja’s design work can be seen at ajajacksonlighting.com.
Tracy Cowit
Associate Sound Design
Tracy is an associate/assistant sound designer and A2 who has worked in numerous Broadway houses. Most recently, Tracy served as the associate sound designer for Night Side Songs, Big Gay Jamboree, We Live In Cairo, and Back To The Future, among others, and was the A2 on the Broadway productions of Beetlejuice, Leopoldstadt, and Company. She has also been the sound effects programmer for King Kong on Broadway. Tracy is thrilled to be part of this production and to be working with a great team!
Sebastian J. Weber
Associate Wigs and Hair Design
Sebastian recently made his Broadway associate debut with Titanique. His off-Broadway and other credits include Damn Yankees (Arena Stages), When Playwrights Kill (Huntington Theatre), and Turandot (Atlanta Opera), among others. He is excited to be a part of this production amd forever grateful to Charles G. LaPointe for the continuous collaboration and mentorship.
Mark Lunsford
Producer
Melee Media was co-founded by Travis LeMont Ballenger and Mark Lunsford, two producers with deep experience across Broadway, institutional theatre, and global live performance. Ballenger is a Tony-nominated producer, writer, and creative director whose credits include MJ, Almost Famous, Real Women Have Curves, and Fat Ham (UK), with prior leadership roles at Arena Stage, The Old Globe, Dallas Theater Center, and the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, as well as documentary producing for National Geographic. Lunsford is a veteran producer of new work with over 15 years of experience. He spent over a decade at Harvard’s American Repertory Theater, with world premiere credits that include Waitress, Jagged Little Pill, Real Women Have Curves (the musical), Gatsby: An American Myth, We Live In Cairo, and many more. He has been a producer and senior advisor for many organizations, including Manhattan Theatre Club and BAM. He is the co-director of the MFA Theatre Management program at Florida State University.
Nik Dodani
Producer
Nik is a producer, writer, director, and actor working across theatre, film, and television. He was a co-producer of Life of Pi on Broadway and on its North American tour, and he is thrilled to be part of The Lunchbox team. He is the founder of Cosmic Pomegranate, a production company developing work for stage and screen, and the co-founder of The Salon, a nonprofit supporting South Asian artists and executives in entertainment.
Yogen & Peggy Dalal
Sponsors
Yogen and Peggy are the lead supporters of Berkeley Rep’s Musical Theatre Development Fund. They are both members of Impact Partners, an organization that funds independent documentaries on pressing social issues. Yogen is on the board of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. His past board services include the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and TheatreWorks. Peggy is on the board of the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco. She also previously served on the board of TheatreWorks, and chaired the board of Avenidas, a non-profit that helps Bay Area mid-Peninsula seniors live well, learn, and maintain their independence.
Sudha Pennathur & Edward Messerly
Sponsors
Sudha Pennathur is a renowned designer and entrepreneur whose company, founded nearly forty years ago, brings the beauty of global artisan craftsmanship to luxury retailers and museums around the world. She serves on the Board of Trustees of Berkeley Rep, bringing her passion for the arts to the community. Her work has touched many lives. Her husband Ed Messerly is a retired, career member of the US Government Senior Executive Service. He served under six US Presidents. Together, Sudha and Ed are dedicated to supporting arts and educational institutions, strengthening cultural life and opportunities for future generations.
Johanna Pfaelzer
Artistic Director
Johanna joined Berkeley Rep in 2019 as its fourth artistic director following 12 years as the artistic director of New York Stage and Film (NYSAF), a New York City-based organization dedicated to the development of new works for theatre, film, and television. Notable works developed under Johanna’s leadership at NYSAF include Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, The Humans by Stephen Karam, Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell, The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, The Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar, A 24-Decade History of Popular Music by Taylor Mac, The Homecoming Queen by Ngozi Anyanwu, The Great Leap by Lauren Yee, John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, The Fortress of Solitude by Michael Friedman and Itamar Moses, The Jacksonian by Beth Henley, and Green Day’s American Idiot. In addition, Johanna has developed the work of many notable artists including Jocelyn Bioh, Zach Helm, Halley Feiffer, Billy Porter, Lucy Thurber, Duncan Sheik, V (formerly Eve Ensler), Steven Sater, Jaclyn Backhaus, Patricia Wettig, and Marcus Gardley. Since arriving at Berkeley Rep, Johanna has produced multiple world premieres as well as projects that have gone on to notable future productions including Swept Away, Galileo, Mexodus, and Cult of Love. She was formerly a producing director of Zena Group and served for five years as the associate artistic director of American Conservatory Theater. Johanna is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Actors Theatre of Louisville apprentice program and has taught in the MFA theatre program at Columbia University School of the Arts. She lives in Berkeley with her husband Russell Champa and their son Jasper.
Tom Parrish
Managing Director
Tom has served as a theatre leader and arts administrator for over 20 years, with experience in organizations ranging from multivenue performing arts centers to major Tony Award-winning theatre companies. Prior to Berkeley Rep, he served as executive director of Trinity Repertory Company, Geva Theatre Center, and Merrimack Repertory Theatre and as associate managing director/general manager of San Diego Repertory Theatre. His work has been recognized with a NAACP Theatre Award for Best Producer and “Forty Under 40” recognition in Providence, Rochester, the Merrimack Valley, and San Diego. He received his MBA/MA in arts administration from Southern Methodist University; BA in theatre arts and economics from Case Western Reserve University; attended the Commercial Theater Institute, National Theater Institute, and Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management; and is certified in leading diversity, equity, and inclusion by Northwestern University. He and his husband live in Berkeley.
Some Words to Know
In The Lunchbox, there are some words and phrases that may be new to your ears. Here are a few.
Auntie/Uncle: In India (as in many cultures, from Asia to Latin America to Africa), it’s customary to address people of an older generation as “Uncle” or “Auntie” as a show of respect. It can be seen as ill-mannered to call elders by their first names.
Dabbawallah: From “dabba,” meaning “box,” and “wallah,” meaning “carrier” or “holder,” a dabbawallah (sometimes spelled dabbawala or dabbawalla) is someone who delivers warm lunches to office workers.
Mumbai versus Bombay: The city of Mumbai, India’s commercial center and capital of the state of Maharashtra, was named for Mumba, the incarnation of the mother goddess Parvati, worshipped under the Maratha Empire. In the colonial era, the British colonizers called it “Bombay” based on the Portuguese term for the city. In 1995, the city was officially re-named Mumbai out of respect for the locals’ heritage.
Roti: Rotis are round flatbreads. Unlike naan or kulcha, which are made from yeasted dough, rotis are unleavened.
Subzi: Subzi (also called sabzi, sabji, or bhaji) refers to any vegetable dish.
Tiffin: During the era of the British Raj, “tiffin” became a slang term for the English custom of high tea — a late afternoon meal. Eventually, the term came to mean “lunch,” and, by association, the segmented, cylindrical, metal boxes used to transport hot lunches.
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE NIGHT!
On Saturday, April 18, Berkeley Rep hosted its biggest party of the year at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. With performances by the cast of The Lunchbox, and a special performance from the upcoming musical The Interestings, Berkeley Rep’s Ovation Gala was a night to remember. Supporters, trustees, and friends of the theatre toasted honorees Ritesh Batra and Peet’s Coffee as we celebrated the work of Berkeley Rep this season. Co-chairs Anna Bellomo, Christopher Doane, and Sudha Pennathur, along with their tireless committee members Christina Crowley, Jill Fugaro, and Gail Wagner, worked their magic to make the gala an extraordinary experience.
Thanks to the generosity of our community, we raised $800,000 in support of our world-class work on stage, in classrooms, and with partners throughout the region.
Thank you to the staff members, volunteers, guests, artists, and champions who made the Ovation Gala such a beautiful event!
And special thanks go to our incredible sponsors who made this night such a success: Presenting Sponsor Peet’s Coffee; Platinum Sponsors Marcia Grand and Gail & Arne Wagner; Gold Sponsors Robin & Rich Edwards, the Goodman Eye Center, Sudha Pennathur & Edward Messerly, and the Strauch Kulhanjian family; and all of our Silver and Bronze Sponsors and Hospitality Partners.
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