Cast Set For Mel Brooks' YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at Actors Theatre of Indiana

Actors Theatre of Indiana will perform Mel Brooks' YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN October 24 - November 9. Director Darrin Murrell, Music Director Nathan Perry and Choreographer Carol Worcel are joined by the following cast:

MEGAN ARRINGTON-MARKS (Elizabeth) is an Indianapolis based actor, singer and dancer. She holds her BFA in Musical Theatre from Belmont University. She has been seen performing both regionally and locally at Beef and Boards, Actors Theatre of Indiana, Zach and Zack Productions, and The Lily Theatre at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Some of her favorite roles include Sophie in Mamma Mia, Marian Paroo in The Music Man and Ellie in Freaky Friday. 

Ben Asaykwee (Frederick) Notable projects include: The Magnificent Fall – Actor / Producer (JoJoTomBilBen Theatricals), The Prom - Actor (Summer Stock Stage), White City Murder – Actor / Playwright / Composer / Director (Phoenix Theatre), Triangle - Director/Playwright (at the Phoenix Cultural Center), Prozack the Sad Elf: The Musical- Playwright/Composer/Performer (Phoenix Theatre), A Christmas Carol Comedy -  Playwright/Director (The District Theatre), Cabaret - Actor (Actors Theatre of Indiana), A Very Brilliant Thing - Actor (Store Front Productions), Cabaret Poe - Playwright/Director/Performer/Composer (Phoenix Theatre / Q Artistry), Typhoid Mary - Actor (Phoenix Theatre), Zirkusgrimm - Playwright/Director/Performer (Q Artistry) and Kiss of the Spiderwoman - Actor (Chicago Theatre, Chicago). Up next, Ben will be presenting a new holiday adventure musical, Wonders, at The District Theatre, Indianapolis. 

Julie Lyn Barber (Frau Blucher) is a director, choreographer, music director, playwright and actor based in the Midwest who directed Whodunit - The Musical for ATI this season. Locally, she has been an active participant in several seasons of the Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival and played ‘Berenice' in Cabaret Poe for its entire 10-year Indianapolis run. She played ‘Jaques'; in the Richmond Shakespeare Festival production of As You Like It and The Witch in the Nettle Creek Players production of Into the Woods. On the west coast, she has worked at Portland Center Stage, Portland Opera, Northwest Children's Theatre, Northwest Classical Theatre, Broadway Rose Theatre and triangle! productions. She is Head of Musical Theatre at Purdue University Fort Wayne where she regularly performs early music and directs musicals. 

HANNAH ELIZABETH BOSWELL (Ensemble) has been an active member of the Indianapolis theatre community since the age of 5. While Hannah has a love of costuming and directing, her real passion is performing whether it be burlesque, improv, musical theatre or Shakespeare. Past favorite roles include: Tammy (Escape to Margaritaville), Lisa M (Enjoy This EP), Malvolio (Twelfth Night), and Lucy (Jeykll & Hyde). 

NATALIE FISCHER (Ensemble) is a graduate of Butler University where she earned a B.A. in Theatre. Previous roles include Woman 2 (Songs for a New World), Audrey (Little Shop of Horrors), Olivia (Twelfth Night), Soloist (Godspell), Creon (Antigone), Sour Kangaroo (Seussical), Myrna/Myra (The Mineola Twins). Natalie is also passionate about bringing social activism to the stage as an actor, director and theatre educator. 

James Garrett HILL (Ziggy) has Regional credits: A Christmas Carol, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan, Joseph…, Mary Poppins, Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, White Christmas (Tuacahn), Rock of Ages, A Christmas Story(Engeman Theatre), Heartbreak Hotel (Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre), Sh-Boom! Life Could Be A Dream, Annie, Oklahoma!, The Little Mermaid, Newsies, Young Frankenstein (Little Theatre on the Square), Singin' in the Rain (Circa 21 Playhouse). He is a proud graduate of Ohio Northern University. 

JOBETH HILTON (Ensemble) is originally from Wytheville, VA. She earned her BFA in Musical Theatre along with a minor in Technical Theatre from Lees-McRae College in 2023. Her favorite roles include Doralee in 9 to 5 the Musical, Mrs. Wormwood in Matilda, the Ladybug in James and the Giant Peach, and Maud in The Music Man. JoBeth recently stepped into the spotlight in a new way, writing and starring in her original one-woman show, Viva la Diva—a glamorous celebration of resilience, humor and the power of storytelling. Offstage, she is equally passionate about arts education and finds great joy in inspiring young performers to shine in their own spotlight.

Sophie Jones (Inga) Audiences may remember her as Amalia Balash in last year's production of She Loves Me.  Select Credits: Off Broadway: Finding Madame Curie (Celine/u/s Marie/Swing). Regional: Titanic (Kate McGowan), Into the Woods(Cinderella), Escape to Margaritaville (Rachel), The Sound of Music (Maria Rainer), Cabaret (Fraulein Kost/u/s Sally Bowles) and A Gentleman's Guide… Murder (Sibella). 

DREW KEMPTIN (Ensemble) Recent credits include Mr. Heere in Be More Chill at Summer Stock Stage's Eclipse, Don in Kinky Boots and Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast at Footlite Musicals. He is an Indianapolis-based actor and singer with over 6 years membership with the Indianapolis Men's Chorus, having performed as a chorus member with Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. 

Eric Olson (Inspector Kemp) has been seen performed with ATI many times over the last decade. Theatre credits: First National Tour of Ragtime, Off-Broadway and regional theatres across America and Europe including Goodspeed Opera House, Trinity Repertory Company, Sacramento Music Circus, The Kennedy Center, American Stage, The Link Theatre Company, Gateway Playhouse, Theatre by the Sea, The Garry Marshall (Falcon) Theatre, Disney's Hyperion, Eclipse, Phoenix Theatre, Constellation Stage & Screen and many more. Favorite appearances include Ada & the Engine (Charles Babbage), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Andrew Jackson), The Sound of Music (Captain Von Trapp), Peter & the Starcatcher (Black Stache), Fun Home(Bruce Bechdel), Macbeth (Macbeth), American Idiot (St. Jimmy), Evita (Che), West Side Story (Tony) and Avenue Q (Nicky/Bad Idea Bear). Film Credits include the features Malum, Raising Helen, Someone Saved My Life and Mardi Gras Murder.

Adam B. Shapiro (Hermit) has been seen Off-Broadway in Death of a Salesman, The Mikado, Bastard Jones, Wikimusical, and since 2008 a fixture of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene in The Golden Bride, The Megille of Itsik Manger, Gimpel the Fool and most especially, the Drama-Desk and Outer Critics Award winning Fiddler On The Roof in Yiddish, in which he played The Rabbi and understudied Tevye and Lazer Wolf. Film/TV credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, 30 Rock, Master of None, FBI Most Wanted, and HBO's Emmy-winning film The Normal Heart, among others. Adam  is also a MAC Award winning solo performer and released his debut EP “Let Love In” in 2021.

Craig Underwood (Monster) appeared with ATI in Route 66 and The Liar's Bench last year! He currently lives in NYC but grew up in Hamilton County and is a proud Ball State Theatre and Dance alum. Some past favorite roles include Trunchbull in Matilda, Beadle in Sweeney Todd, Big Bopper in Buddy Holly, Baker in Into the Woods and Chef Louis in The Little Mermaid. 

John Vessels, JR. (Igor) ATI credits include Whoddunit, She Loves Me, The Big Bang, Sweeney Todd, A Year with Frog and Toad, Chicago and others. 

There's nothing like Mel Brooks' madcap comedy as it collides with Mary Shelley's classic monster tale in Young Frankenstein. 

Victor Frankenstein, the mad scientist of legend, has died and left everything to his grandson, Frederick, who wants nothing to do with the family's notorious legacy. To settle his inheritance, he travels to his grandfather's castle in Transylvania, meeting the grandson of Victor's loyal henchman, Igor; the beautiful lab assistant, Inga; and the mysterious Frau Blücher. Before long, Frederick is sucked into his grandfather's experiments and succeeds in creating human life. But by the time they realize that the Monster's been accidentally given an abnormal brain, the Monster has already escaped, seemingly set to terrorize the countryside like the Frankensteinian monsters before him. Will Frederick repeat the mistakes of his grandfather? Or will he succeed where the others have not and turn his Monster into a dapper, intelligent man about town?