Extended Stay
Online Program & Artist Profiles
Online Program & Artist Profiles

Jenny Stafford (Book and Lyrics) is an award-winning playwright, bookwriter, and lyricist. Her works include Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour (Broadway/Hamburg), The Homefront (Village Theatre Originals, Beta Series), Extended Stay (Florida Festival of New Musicals, Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat), Prodigy (CCU, CDP, Two Rivers, Indiana University), The Artist and the Scientist (CAP21), Awakening, Beating a Dead Horse (Bloomington Playwrights Project), Color Inside the Lines (Edinburgh Fringe Festival) Secret Hour (Prologue Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre), and Eleanor and Dolly (Vintage Theatre). Her work has been featured at Lincoln Center (The Lyrics of Jennifer Stafford), Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova, 54 Below, Prospect Theatre, Barrington Stage, and elsewhere. She has received commissions from the Spotlight Youth Theatre and the New York City Children’s Theatre. Awards include the 2017 Reva Shiner Comedy Award, Best Solo Show at the Dever Fringe Festival, two-time finalist status for the Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre, the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, the Eugene O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference, and the Ronald M. Ruble New Play Competition, as well as second prize in the McLean Playwriting Competition, and the Paulette Goddard Award. Artist in Residence at the Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat, Goodspeed Musicals, Johnny Mercer Writers Colony, the Catwalk Institute, and others. She currently teaches playwriting and musical theatre writing at Temple University. Dramatists Guild member; MFA NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. www.jennystafford.net

Scotty Arnold (Music and Lyrics) is a musical theater writer whose works include When We're Gone (words by Alana Jacoby), That Time We Found A Sasquatch in the Woods (book by Nichole Jackson, lyrics by Brandon Michael Lowden), Trivøya Gold (book and lyrics by Alana Jacoby), Extended Stay (book and co-lyrics by Jenny Stafford), and his ongoing series of Shakespeare adaptations. His work has been seen at The Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Ars Nova, The Yale Institute for Music Theatre, Joe’s Pub, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Musical Theatre Factory, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Winter Park Playhouse, and Ravinia. He has completed residencies at Space at Ryder Farm, New York Stage and Film, CAP21, and the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. He is a founding member of the Musical Theatre Factory. He studied at Santa Clara University (BA) and NYU Tisch (MFA). scottyarnold.com

Emily Jackson (Director) is an artist and organizer based in NYC whose work focuses on collaboration, fundamental theatricality, and character narrative. She has collaborated with playwrights across the country and believes fully resourcing new work from playwright-led development to world premiere productions is the best gift we can give artists and the American theatre. Recent credits include Dramaturg for Shape at Kitchen Theatre Company, and Assistant Director for They Promised Her the Moon at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Directing: for KTC: I and You, The Soup Comes Last, Physics Fair; for Holmdel Theatre Company: Little Women the Musical; for Cider Mill Playhouse: Urinetown, Stage Kiss; for Fordham University: Into the Woods; for Sanguine Theatre Company: Jessica; Hamlet Isn’t Dead: Julius Caesar. Leadership roles include Artistic Director for Sanguine Theatre Company in NYC, Artistic Associate and Director of Audience Services for Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY, and Lark Theatre’s Literary Wing member. She has adapted the works of Italian playwright, Dacia Maraini. www.emilyjackson.org
Emily Jackson (Director) is an artist and organizer based in NYC whose work focuses on collaboration, fundamental theatricality, and character narrative. She has collaborated with playwrights across the country and believes fully resourcing new work from playwright-led development to world premiere productions is the best gift we can give artists and the American theatre. Recent credits include Dramaturg for Shape at Kitchen Theatre Company, and Assistant Director for They Promised Her the Moon at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Directing: for KTC: I and You, The Soup Comes Last, Physics Fair; for Holmdel Theatre Company: Little Women the Musical; for Cider Mill Playhouse: Urinetown, Stage Kiss; for Fordham University: Into the Woods; for Sanguine Theatre Company: Jessica; Hamlet Isn’t Dead: Julius Caesar. Leadership roles include Artistic Director for Sanguine Theatre Company in NYC, Artistic Associate and Director of Audience Services for Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY, and Lark Theatre’s Literary Wing member. She has adapted the works of Italian playwright, Dacia Maraini. www.emilyjackson.org

Katherine Gould (Music Director) is honored to join WoW for the first time for this festival! Kat is a music educator, singer, choreographer, and music director, living in Ithaca, NY. A graduate of Ithaca College and Teachers College, her goals in rehearsal are to foster a brave and supportive space, where music is a vehicle to explore identity and creativity, and build self-confidence and community. By day, she teaches vocal and general music at Caroline Elementary and Lehman Alternative Community School. Kat loves writing songs, dancing unhinged, and reading in her breakfast nook. A big thank you to the cast and creative team of Extended Stay for making this experience so wonderful and meaningful!

Lucy Purnine (Emma) is excited to be a part of her first production with WoW. She was most recently in Macbeth in June with Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park, playing Lady Macbeth. Her last Ithaca production was The Best of Shakespeare: The 2021 Yorick Awards with Ithaca Shakespeare Company, where she played Claudio and Borachio. Lucy is an avid juggler and circus enthusiast, and has enjoyed getting to sing again throughout this process.

Paul Aylett Morgan (Owen) is incredibly excited to be a part of their 2nd production with WoW! Virginia born and raised, they're a past Ithaca College music student pursuing ethnomusicology and performance. Paul is so thrilled to be here working with such incredible people. They were last seen in the WoW production of A Year with Frog and Toad in the Summer of 2021.

Jonah Hirst (Ethan) first joined Ithaca’s theater community in 2017 as Bobby in Two Truths and Allie at Cornell. His other stage pursuits include a workshop of The Loneliness Project (2018) and a staged reading of C.A. Johnson’s The Climb (2022). Jonah is also a songwriter, visual artist, and member of the Ithaca Gay Men’s Chorus and the AFAB4, Ithaca’s transmasculine vocal quartet. His most recent music release is an EP of five original songs called Stones. Jonah dedicates his performance to his three beloved cats: Ermy, Rosie, and Gil.

Kristin Sad (Mrs. McGorty) This is Kristin's second WoW adventure, having cooked up a storm in Estelle’s Kitchen in Comfort Food in 2021. She has been a part of the Ithaca theater scene for 15 years and has been privileged to take on ‘Lady M’, ‘Martha’ (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf) and ‘Dotty’ by Arthur Bicknell, among other roles. She hopes you enjoy Extended Stay, with its witty and warm music and writing. The very talented ensemble has been a joy to work with. Special thanks to Priscilla and Emily for letting me play! And thank you to Blaise for….well… everything.

Em Ludek (Collaborative Pianist) is grateful for the opportunity to work with Team Extended Stay! Primarily on piano, Em has previously accompanied performances and rehearsals for Now. Here. This., A Year with Frog & Toad, and Katrina: A New Musical for Walking on Water Productions, as well as Legally Blonde for Ithaca High School, Matilda Jr. for Dewitt & Boynton Middle Schools, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for Wells College. Em is an active musician in the Ithaca community, performing with Cayuga Vocal Ensemble and experimenting with solo piano improvisation as Five Dollars More Fancy. It's been an engaging process to develop Extended Stay for this audience, thanks for engaging with us!

Cady Vitale (Stage Manager) is thrilled to join WoW for another great show. This is Cady’s third show with WoW, her first two being A Year With Frog and Toad and Now. Here. This. Cady does all sorts of technical theatre, from lighting, to stage management, to construction, and beyond!