Sunny in the Dark at Salt Lake Acting Company
Dates: 2/4/2026 - 3/1/2026
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📍 Theatre: Salt Lake Acting Company |
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168 West 500 North
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
Phone: 8013637522
Tickets: TUES/WED/THURS/SAT MAT/SUN EVE: $35 | FRI/SAT EVE/SUN MAT: $45 | 30 & Under Discount: $20 | Student Discount: $15
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A World Premiere from celebrated local playwright Elaine Jarvik. 15-year-old Sunny wonders about the universe, God, and her own creation story. When a DNA test reveals a complicated truth, her journey gets... well... complicated. Sunny in the Dark is a play about mysteries, yearnings, and lies. Oh, and astrophysics!
Ages: All of our productions, excluding our annual Children's Show, are intended for mature audiences.
Cast and Creative Team for Sunny in the Dark at Salt Lake Acting Company
Cast
CoCo May Berwald
Sunny
CoCo May is honored to make her Salt Lake Acting Company debut as Sunny in Sunny in the Dark. Previous credits include Miranda in The Tempest with MadKing Fellowship, Kate in Dancing at Lughnasa, and Violet in The Sweet Science of Bruising at the University of Utah. She sends all her love and deepest thanks to her family and friends — your constant support, encouragement, and willingness to run lines late into the night mean the world. She truly wouldn’t be here without you.
Alexandra Harbold*
Elise
Alexandra Harbold is thrilled and thankful to return to Salt Lake Acting Company. Previous projects at SLAC include acting in Hand to God, Two Stories, Circle Mirror Transformation, and Six Years, and directing Western Minerals & Their Origins (Footpath Theatre Company, SLAC’s Making Space for Arts program), The Wolves, Death of a Driver, Tribes, The Persian Quarter, and a man enters. Recent projects include co-creating From Code to Universe and To See Beyond Our Time with Daniel Charon (Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company); and serving as dramaturg for Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 and The Lehman Trilogy (Pioneer Theatre Company); current and upcoming projects include directing The Cherry Orchard with Video Director Nick Dunn (U of U, Babcock Theatre) and dramaturging Come from Away (PTC). Harbold is Resident Director for Footpath Theatre, the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Flying Bobcat Theatrical Laboratory, and an Associate Professor with the University of Utah’s Department of Theatre, where she serves as the Theatre Studies BA Area Head. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and LMDA and an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. AlexandraHarbold.com
Matthew Ivan Bennett
Astrophysicist
Matthew Ivan Bennett has been active in Salt Lake theatre scene since 2005, where he’s premiered several stage and radio plays as a playwright, including the fractured fairy tale Troll at Plan-B/RadioWest, A Night With The Family at PYGmalion, and From June To August at Meanwhile Park. He’s acted with SLAC (The Caretaker), Plan-B, PYGmalion, Voodoo, and Utah Shakespeare. He’s twice been a contributor at Great Plains Theatre Commons and has been a finalist at the O’Neill for his play Let Down Your Hair. His feature screenplay The Whole Lot was an Official Selection at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival in 2022. His poetry has been published with Sugar House Review and his novelette Assimilant will soon be published with The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Matt was a 2024 artist fellow at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in New Mexico and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Micki Martinez*
AJ
Martinez was first seen on the SLAC stage back in 2016. As a freshman in college, Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly was her professional acting debut. A decade later, she is so excited to be back for her first professional play! Other SLAC credits include: Bat Boy: The Musical, SLAC's Summer Show: Close Encounters in the Beehive, and Pinkalicious. Martinez holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Utah. Additional credits include: The Rocky Horror Show, The Prom, Something Rotten, Elf: The Musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, La Cage Aux Folles, and In the Heights (Pioneer Theatre Company), and In the Heights (West Valley Arts). Micki would like to thank her mom for all the ways she has supported her over the years, but they would not all fit in this bio! @Micki_Martinez
Jason Andrew Hackney
Dad/Priest/Man
Making his SLAC debut, Jason's recent local roles include Cassius in Julius Caesar (Whispering Room Theatre Co.), Donny Kirschner in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Pioneer Theatre Co.) and Michael in The Words at the Door (Sackerson Theatre co.) A Park City native and U of U Actor Training Program graduate (BFA), when not acting this Hemingway-wannabe enjoys outdoor adventure, writing, and international travel. "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" – Mary Oliver
Paul Mulder*
Tom
Paul was last seen at Salt Lake Acting Company as Torvald in A Doll's House, Part 2. Additionally at Salt Lake Acting Company he was in the world premier of Seeing the Elephant and Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. Paul graduated from The University of Utah Actor Training Program, and then moved to New York City. Paul performed off-Broadway in Dr. Dietrich’s Process. Off-Off Broadway credits include Twelfth Night, Dancing at Lughnasa, and Angel “Uh” God. Paul Was a member of the Circle Repertory Theatre company in NYC. Regional credits include Sins of the Father at the Walnut Street Theatre, and The Second Shepard’s Play at Delaware Theatre Company. Locally Paul has appeared with Pioneer Theatre Company, SB Dance, Plan-B Theatre, The Emily Company, and the Utah Opera Company. Paul keeps busy with many local TV commercials and film productions. Paul is delighted to be back on stage at Salt Lake Acting Company.
Creative Team
Marion Markham
Director
MARION MARKHAM (She/Her) (Director) is thrilled to be making her SLAC directing debut with Elaine Jarvik’s exquisite play, Sunny in the Dark. New York directing credits include Into Temptation (American Theatre of Actors), Dancing At Lughnasa, The Tinker’s Wedding, The Ring of Kerry (Irish American Historical Society), and A Child’s Christmas in Wales (Off Center Theatre). Outside of New York, Marion has directed A Perfect Analysis Given by a Parrot (Portable Production Company), The Golden Fleece (starring Tim Daly and Lorca Peress) and The Successful Life of Three (Bennington Theatre). For the Colonial Theatre, where she is the Artistic Director, Marion has directed Shakespeare’s Dead Dames, Persons of the Play, The 39 Steps, Backstage Bards, The Tempest, Waiting for Godot, and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)[revised]. Marion is currently working on a new musical, Newport, which will showcase in New York in the Spring of 2026. Marion has appeared in film, on stage, television and social media sites. She created and directed the hilarious PRISSY FITCH film shorts on YouTube. Marion’s Cabaret experience extends from New York City to Florida writing and acting in over 50 original cabaret/comedy shows. www.MarionMarkham.com
Elaine Jarvik
Playwright
ELAINE JARVIK (She/Her) (Playwright) most recent play at Salt Lake Acting Company was Four Women Talking About the Man Under the Sheet in 2021. Previous plays at SLAC include Two Stories (2015) and a man enters (2011), co-written with her daughter Kate Jarvik Birch. Other plays include productions at Plan-B Theatre, Pygmalion Productions, and The Humana Festival of New American Plays. She is a former newspaper reporter and current drummer with The Distractions. She has many questions about the universe and religion.
Gage Williams**
Scenic Designer
GAGE WILLIAMS** (He/Him) (Set Designer) Previously at SLAC: Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, Robertassey, Two Bald Sisters, Yoga Play, SLACabaret: Down the Rabbit Hole, Pete the Cat, Pinkalicious, Mercury, and Hand to God. Gage Williams is Professor of Theatre at the University of Utah. He has designed scenery for more than 300 productions in theatre, television, and opera throughout the United States. His professional appointments include Associate Artist (2002–2008) at Great Lakes Theater in Cleveland, Resident Set Designer (1994–2008) at Idaho Shakespeare Festival in Boise, and Chair of the Department of Theatre at the University of Utah (2009–2018). His design work spans major networks and studios including ABC, CBS, NBC, HBO, MTV, Disney, Showtime, ESPN, and FOX. Local and regional theatre credits include Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah Opera, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Phoenix, and Childsplay. Williams’s work has been exhibited internationally at the Prague Quadrennial (1999, 2003, 2019, 2023) and World Stage Design 2022. In 2016, he presented a retrospective of his theatre design work at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Conference in Salt Lake City. In 1994, he received a CableACE Award for Art Direction for the Showtime film Mastergate, by Larry Gelbart. He is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and USITT.
James Padilla
Lighting Designer
JAMES PADILLA (He/Him) (Lighting Designer) is a Lighting and Scenic Designer from Farmington, New Mexico. He holds his Master's of Fine Arts in Lighting and Scenic Design from the University of Idaho. He also holds a Bachelor's of Arts from New Mexico State University. He currently serves as the Lighting Supervisor at Kingsbury Hall, located at the University of Utah. He also freelances as a lighting designer in his free time. This is his first production with Salt Lake Acting Company. James has previously served as a lighting designer for Four Corner's Musical Theatre Company, The American Southwest Theatre Company, Durango Playfest, and the Adobe Theatre. He has also previously served as a faculty member at Fort Lewis College where he taught courses in theatre design and technology. His favorite design credits include To Be a God (801 Salon feat. Little Moon), Behind Me is Silence (Fort Lewis College), and Little Shop of Horrors (Four Corners Musical Theatre Company).
Jennifer Jackson
Sound Designer
JENNIFER JACKSON (She/Her) (Composer/Sound Designer) is excited to return for another season with SLAC. Previous design and/or original music credits include Romeo and Juliet (Yale Repertory Theatre); Lifespan of a Fact (Pioneer Theatre); The 39 Steps, Much Ado About Nothing, and Gold Mountain (Utah Shakespeare Festival); many shows with SLAC including Bald Sisters, Yoga Play, Egress, Alabaster, Form of a Girl Unknown, Silent Dancer, The Wolves, Hir, Hand to God, Harbur Gate, Bull Shark Attack, Streetlight Woodpecker, Blackberry Winter, and Two Stories (Salt Lake Acting Company); Radio Slam (Plan-B Theatre); Twelfth Night, The Last Five Years, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry IV, Part I (Salt Lake Shakespeare); and Ion (Westminster College). Her sound installations have been exhibited at the Yale University Art Gallery and the University of Utah. Jennifer is on the faculty of the University of Utah Department of Theatre where her credits include The Heart of Robin Hood, The Tempest, Storm Still, The Odyssey, The Two Noble Kinsmen (with OSF Play On!), Good Kids, and School For Lies.
Calvin J. Vinson
Assistant Sound Designer
CALVIN J. VINSON (He/Him) (Asst. Sound Designer) is excited to be back at SLAC and joining the creative team this time! Some of his favorites from his recent work are: The School for Scandal (Sound Designer & Composer) with the University of Utah’s Department of Theatre, OMNIA (Lighting & Sound Designer) with Foreground Movement Collective, Machinal (Sound Designer & Composer) with The College of Southern Idaho, and The Deer and The Antelope (A1) with The Ephemerates Theatre Collective. He is currently a Junior in the University of Utah’s Performing Arts Design Program (Sound Design emphasis) after completing his first two years of studies at The College of Southern Idaho. He’d like to thank SLAC and Jennifer Jackson for giving him the opportunity to be a part of this amazing production!
Spencer Potter
Costume Designer
SPENCER POTTER (He/Him) (Costume Designer) is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Westminster University and a freelance costume/set designer. Spencer's professional design credits include: Cape May Stage Cape May, New Jersey (set): Sidekicked, Erma Bombek: At Wits End, Outside Mullingar, Billy Bishop Goes to War, Buyer and Cellar, The Whipping Man, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life, Red Hot Patriot, Blithe Spirit, How to Make a Rope Swing. Salt Lake Acting Company(set)The Roommate. (costumes) – Can I Say Yes to That Dress, The Women Talking About the Man Under the Sheet, The Cake, Hir, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Sundance Summer Theatre (costumes) The Wizard of Oz, Newsies: The Musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. Lyric Repertory Company Logan, Utah, (set) Fences, Mamma Mia, Grey Gardens, Wait Until Dark, Singin' in The Rain, Noises Off, And Then There Were None, Tons of Money, The Woman in Black and Steel Magnolias. Tuacahn Amphitheatre Ivins, Utah (costumes) - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, spencerpotterdesign.com
Jessica Graham
Props Designer
JESSICA GRAHAM (She/Her) (Props Designer) is a Salt Lake Based theatre maker, thrilled to be back designing props for Salt Lake Acting Company's Sunny in the Dark after an exciting SLAC prop design debut with their fall production of The Roommate. Armed with a BFA in acting from the University of Utah and a love of being silly with friends, she can be found acting, directing, designing, and producing when she isn't running around in the mountains. Some favorite recent productions include Western Minerals and Their Origins (actor/set/props/technical director/co-creator) with Footpath Theatre Company, The Quiet Rule (actor) with emily's house, and Sender (director). Much love to her family and friends for allowing her to run wild and supporting her art.
Adriana Lemke
Intimacy Director
ADRIANA LEMKE (She/Her) (Intimacy Director) is a Salt Lake City based theatre-artist and movement professional. Previous Salt Lake Acting Company productions include Bat Boy: The Musical, The Roommate, Whitelisted, Hairy & Sherri, Sleeping Giant, Surely Goodness & Mercy, and The Wolves. Other fight and/or intimacy direction credits include The Sweet Science of Bruising, As You Like It, and Julius Caesar (UofU). At the Bottom (Pinnacle Acting Company), Ion (The Classical Greek Theatre Festival), Head Over Heels (The Grand Theatre), Twelfth Night (Salt Lake Shakespeare), Man and the Moon (Good Company Theatre), and Hamlet (Sun Valley Shakespeare).
Bridgette Lehman
Stage Manager/Production Manager
BRIDGETTE LEHMAN (She/Her) (Stage Manager/ Production Manager)
Favorite select stage management credits include: Hairy and Sherri, You Will Get Sick, The Robertassey, Close Encounter in the Beehive, R+J: Star-Cross’d Death Match (SLAC), The 25th Annual (Good Co. Theatre), Orpheus in the Underworld (Utah Vocal Arts Academy). Favorite select assistant stage management credits include: Bald Sisters, Whitelisted, The Roommate, Bat Boy, The Secret Lives of The Real Wives in The Salt Lake Hive (SLAC). She is also a sound designer, including credits: Five Carols for Christmas, Shrek! The Musical (Ogden Musical Theatre) and various covid-zoom projects.
Tahra Veasley
Deck Manager/Production Manager
TAHRA VEASLEY* (She/Her) (Deck Manager / Production Manager)
Favorite select Stage Management credits include: The Roommate, The Secret Lives of The Real Wives in The Salt Lake Hive (SLAC), Dating Comprehension (CH Productions), The Utah High School Musical Theatre Awards 2025 (Eccles Theatre), Whitelisted, Bald Sisters, Can I Say Yes To That Dress? (SLAC), Senior Stages Play Tour Series (Plan-B Theatre Company) and Eclipsed (KCACTF). Off-Broadway: The Bleeding Class (59E59). Favorite select Assistant Stage Management credits include: The Robertassey, Elephant & Piggie's: "We Are in a Play!", Hairy & Sherri, and A Year With Frog & Toad (SLAC), Once on This Island, Mamma Mia, Cagney, and Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Pioneer Theatre Company), & First Date (Grand Theatre).
Cynthia Fleming
Executive Artistic Director
CYNTHIA FLEMING (She/Her) (Executive Artistic Director) has been an integral part of Salt Lake Acting Company since 1998 and was named Executive Artistic Director in 2015. Over the years, Cynthia has lovingly shaped Salt Lake Acting Company into what it is today–creating and implementing SLAC’s Arts Education Programs (Title I Arts Education Program, Professional Theatre Program), deepening SLAC’s commitment to New Play Development through the Playwrights’ Lab, establishing a culture of community through the Making Space for Artists Program, outreach, and partnerships with other organizations. Under Cynthia’s leadership, SLAC has continually set the standard for accessibility, equity, diversity, and inclusion; in 2020, SLAC launched The Amberlee Fund, a capital campaign to make SLAC’s historic building wheelchair accessible. To date, Cynthia has produced over 100 plays.
News About Sunny in the Dark at Salt Lake Acting Company
We have no news on this show at the current time.
About the Theatre
From its humble beginnings in a Unitarian Church in 1969, SLAC has gone on to become the region's premier theatre for contemporary plays. In 1978, SLAC moved to the Glass Factory Theatre, which it called home for five years before returning to a church. Today SLAC's home is the historic 19th Ward House of Worship, originally built in 1896 by early settlers with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the Marmalade Hill District of Salt Lake City. The 14,000-square-foot facility, which SLAC leases from the City, contains rehearsal space, dressing rooms, offices, lounge and kitchen. Fully-renovated, it includes two flexible theatres: the 113-seat Chapel Theatre, and the 160-seat Upstairs Theatre, which converts into a 206-seat cabaret space for the theatre's annual summer parody, SLAC's Summer Show.
Since 1970, SLAC has produced and presented Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwrights, and has commissioned, developed and produced an impressive body of world premiere plays, many of which have gone on to further productions throughout the world. SLAC Founder Ed Gryska said of the theatre's beginnings, "We were throwing stuff out there that the audience had never heard of; they didn't know what it was, and we educated them. We did the traditional stuff, but we'd always try to do a new play, something very different to balance that out, and I think that got the audiences in. And the audiences grew. I think that SLAC was always growing and becoming more and more important to this community, and it still is."
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