Crossover Camp is an intensive experience for singers. Artists from the opera and Broadway industries come together to build skills which enable singing actors to cross between genres with confidence.
Benton Whitely
Benton Whitley is a Casting Director/Partner at Stewart/Whitley. BROADWAY/NY: The Great Comet, A Clockwork Orange, As You Like It, Elf the Musical, On The Town, Pippin, Chicago The Musical, La Cage Aux Folles, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Carnegie Hall West Side Story, The Band Wagon, Stuffed, Curvy Widow, Pageant; WEST END/UK: Thriller Live, Menier Chocolate Factory; TV: Freaky Friday (Disney Channel); TOURS: Finding Neverland, The Bodyguard, Dirty Dancing, The Sound of Music, Elf the Musical, Into The Woods, Once, Shrek, Flashdance, Anything Goes, Bullets Over Broadway, The Duck Commander Musical, We Will Rock You; UPCOMING: Hadestown, Stephen Schwartz’ The Prince of Egypt, Maltby & Shire’s Waterfall, August Rush, Andrew Lippa’s The Man in the Ceiling, John Denver’s Back Home Again, Chasing Rainbows; REGIONAL: American Repertory Theater, The Alley Theatre, Bay Street Theater, Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS), Hollywood Bowl, The Goodspeed, The Ahmanson, Seattle’s 5th Avenue, Aslo Rep, TheatreWorks, Philadelphia Theatre Company, For The Record productions, and the Broadway-branded shows on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
Prior to forming Stewart/Whitley, Benton worked in the in-house casting department for National Artists Management Company (NAMCO) on various productions in development for Broadway and West End. Previous to this he assisted in the casting of 2009 Broadway revival of Ragtime, and regional world premieres by Randy Newman and Terrance McNally.
Benton has been a TV guest judge and panelist for ABC’s Emmy-winning, “Extreme Weight Loss” and was recently named by ARTINFO.com as one of the "Top 25 Under 35 Emerging Broadway Players”. He is often a guest lecturer and seminar/workshop leader at schools and universities around the country and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and the University of Michigan Musical Theatre Department. Mr. Whitley is an Artios Award winner and a proud member of the Casting Society of America (CSA). www.stewartwhitley.com
“Guest Artists”
Kevin Newbury
Kevin Newbury is a theatre, opera, film and event director based in New York City. Kevin has directed over seventy original productions and his work has been presented by many opera companies, festivals, theatres and symphonies including the Park Avenue Armory, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, Barcelona Liceu, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Minnesota Opera, The San Francisco Symphony, L'Opera de Montreal, The Prototype Festival, Urban Arias (DC), Bard Summerscape, Portland Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Cincinnati Opera, The Virginia Arts Festival, The Wexford Festival in Ireland, American Repertory Theatre, and Center Theatre Group, among many others.
Kevin is especially committed to developing and directing new work. He has directed over two dozen world premiere operas and plays, many of which were subsequently published or recorded. Recent world premiere highlights include Spears/Pierce's FELLOW TRAVELERS (Cincinnati Opera, Prototype Festival/NYC and Lyric Opera of Chicago), Bates/Campbell's THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS (Santa Fe Opera, upcoming: Seattle Opera and San Francisco Opera), Todd Almond's KANSAS CITY CHOIR BOY (starring Almond and Courtney Love, NYC, Boston, LA and Miami), Spears/Vavrek's O COLUMBIA (Houston Grand Opera), Puts/Campbell's THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and Cuomo/Shanley's DOUBT (Minnesota Opera), Lopez/Cruz's BEL CANTO (Lyric Opera of Chicago, broadcast on PBS' Great Performances), Morrison/Cox's OSCAR (Santa Fe Opera and Opera Philadelphia), and Spratlan's Pulitzer Prize-winning LIFE IS A DREAM (Santa Fe Opera).
Kevin’s production of FELLOW TRAVELERS was named "One of the Best Classical Music Events of 2016" by The New York Times and the New Yorker named the commercial recording "One of the Best Classical CDs of 2017." His production of VIRGINIA for the Wexford Opera Festival won the 2010 Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Opera Production and his productions of OSCAR, BEL CANTO, and THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS were all nominated for "Best World Premiere" at the International Opera Awards, three years in a row. His co-production of NORMA at Canadian Opera Company won three Dora Awards (Best Costume Design, Best Set Design, Best Female Performance). His work has also been nominated for a Grammy Award (BERNSTEIN'S MASS with Marin Alsop, also named “One of the Best Events of the Year” by The New York Times and The Washington Post), a Drama Desk Award (Best Actor: Vince Gatton, CANDY & DOROTHY) and the GLAAD Media Award (Winner: CANDY & DOROTHY, Nominated KISS AND CRY). Kevin's first two short films, MONSURA IS WAITING and STAG, have screened at a total of forty film festivals and have each several won festival awards. MONSURA IS WAITING and STAG are both available on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon, and his third, EPIPHANY V, a music video collaboration with Jimmy Lopez and David Johnson, is streaming for free on youtube in an effort to bring classical music to a wider audience.
He has collaborated with many top artists in multiple mediums including (in addition the writers listed above): Roland Orzabal, Courtney Love, Ricky Ian Gordon, Patti Lupone, Joyce Di Donato, Sondra Radvanovsky, John Adams, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kimbra, The Young Professionals and Tracy K. Smith, just to name a few.
Upcoming projects include the world premieres of Rodewald/Di Novelli's THE GOOD SWIMMER (New York City), Fairouz/Hanif's BHUTTO (Pittsburgh Opera and Beth Morrison Projects), CANDIDE (Philadelphia Orchestra). Upcoming film projects include CANDY & DOROTHY.
Kevin was raised in Maine, graduated from Bowdoin College and spent a year at Oxford University.
Sam Pinkleton
Sam Pinkleton is an American theatre choreographer and director. He is best known for choreographing the Broadway musical Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812, for which he received a Tony Award nomination. Pinkleton's additional work on Broadway includes choreographing the 2017 productions of Amélie and Significant Other. Upcoming: Soft Power
Sam crosses between opera and musical theatre frequently, working with directors like Kevin Newbury and Ted Huffman.
David Cash
David Cash has been a theatrical and commercial agent at Nicolosi and Co. since February 2012. He currently has clients in principal roles in such Broadway shows as FALSETTOS, THE COLOR PURPLE, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, ALADDIN, WICKED, KINKY BOOTS, and SCHOOL OF ROCK. Clients have been series regulars on CHICAGO PD, LOOKING, POWER, and MINORITY REPORT, and have appeared as Guest Stars on LAW & ORDER: SVU, ELEMENTARY, THE BLACKLIST, BLUE BLOODS, MADAM SECRETARY, and many others. In addition to serving as the Company Manager for New York City Opera for 12 years, David has been both a theatrical and commercial agent for almost 25 years