RedBird Theater Company presents 
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS CAROL
by North Carolina Playwright Dr. Elliot Engel

JJ Bauer (Stage Manager/Dramaturg/Properties Designer)

JJ is delighted to be working again with longtime friends at Redbird Theater Company. She has been a stage manager, props manager, costume designer, set designer and completely unwilling actor for various area theater companies, including Deep Dish Theater, Ghost and Spice Productions, NC State Theatrefest, The Open Door Theatre, Street Signs Center for Literature and Performance, and Wordshed Productions.

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Dr. Elliot Engel (Playwright)

Dr. Engel has written ten books published in England, Japan, Turkey, and the United States. His mini-lecture series on Charles Dickens ran on PBS television stations around the country. His articles have appeared in numerous newspapers and national magazines including Newsweek. He has lectured throughout the United States and on all the continents including Antarctica. In 2009, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Arts in England for his academic work and service in promoting Charles Dickens.  Dr. Engel has taught at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and Duke University. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at UCLA. While at UCLA he won that university’s Outstanding Teacher Award.  For his scholarship and teaching, Dr. Engel has received North Carolina’s Adult Education Award, North Carolina State’s Alumni Professorship, and the Victorian Society’s Award of Merit.  He was named Tar Heel of the Week for his thirty years of delivering public programs in the humanities and sponsoring state and national literary contests for high school students.

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Hannah J. Haverkamp (Costume Designer)

Hannah is a Minnesota-born costume designer and freelance illustrator, and teaches costume design and construction at Duke University. She holds an MFA in Costume Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and has designed for theater, opera, and independent film. This is her second design for RedBird after having designed EUREKA DAY earlier this year.

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Derrick Ivey (Scenic Designer)

Derrick is a co-Founder of RedBird Theater Company and has worked as actor, director, designer, and producer in collaboration with many theater companies throughout North Carolina.  Designs for RedBird include THE WOOLGATHERER, A DOLL'S HOUSE PART II, NUMBERS ARE DOWN, THE GIRLFRIENDS' GUIDE TO THE WHITE HOUSE, ART, and THE TREASURER.  He also directed RedBird's THE WOOLGATHER and THE TREASURER and appeared in RED and ART.  Recent regional designs include SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS (Honest Pint), PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and TROUBLE IN MIND (Raleigh Little Theater), WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME (PlayMakers Repertory Company), SILENT SKY and THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Center Theater Company), A GOOD BOY (Hidden Voices), and MR. BURNS - A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY (Duke Theater Studies).  Derrick will direct Arthur Miller's THE PRICE for RedBird in the spring of 2026.

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Louis Landry (Sound Designer)

Louis is a performer, composer and instructor based in Durham since 2011, following stints in Virginia and Texas as a touring and recording musician. He teaches private lessons at High Strung School of Music, and leads music classes for local preschools. In North Carolina, Landry has collaborated on music and sound for theater productions like Manbites Dog Theater’s PARIS 76 and THE BEST OF ENEMIES; Honest Pint’s SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS; Common Ground’s MACCOUNTANT; and most recently, RedBird's REVOLUTION. He also served as musical director for Duke University's productions of BOB: A LIFE IN FIVE ACTS, JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS, and GRANDFATHERED IN.

More at www.LouisLandryMusic.com​​

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Christine Morris (Vocal and Dialect Consultant)  

​Christine is a vocal coach, actor, director, and writer based in Chapel Hill. She has coached over 100 productions at various venues including Triad Stage in Greensboro (where she was Resident Vocal Coach for over 10 years) and American Players in Spring Green, WI. As an actor, her work includes roles at NY Shakespeare Festival, The Public Theatre, The Asolo, Archipelago Theatre, Playmakers, Triad Stage, and Profile Theatre in Portland, OR. In a teaching career spanning 30+ years, she has taught creative drama at a K-5 arts magnet school and at the university level on theatre faculties at Duke and UNC Greensboro, from which she retired as Associate Professor Emerita in 2021. 

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Adam Sampieri (Charles Dickens) 

Adam is thrilled to revive Elliot Engel's THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS CAROL as Charles Dickens, under the direction of long-time mentor and friend Jeffery West, who originated the role. A Durham-based theater artist, educator, and musician with numerous credits to his name as an actor, director, designer, playwright, and composer,  he most recently had the privilege of performing alongside Tim Crouch in his 2007 Obie-Award winning play AN OAK TREE for Duke Arts. Other memorable performances include originating the role of Fyodor Dostoyevsky in IN THE DOG HOUSE: THE EXECUTION OF DOSTOYEVSKY (Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern) as well as turns in PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE (Picasso, ArtsCenter Stage), MISTERIOSO (Bob Dylan, Duke Arts), ARCADIA (Valentine, Deep Dish Theater) and THE MAN WHO (Manbites Dog Theater) for which he also composed the score. His songwriting work with The Alan Davis Band, Mojo Train, and as a solo artist has been featured on stage, screen, and radio, with a new solo EP, I Was Never Here, anticipating release in late 2026. An instructor of Drama and English, he shares his passion for storytelling with the next generation of artists at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, where he founded the curricular theater program in 2008 and just directed his milestone fiftieth production. In 2024, he was inducted into the Blair Academy Arts Guild as a member of its third class–and just the second actor–to receive the honor. He holds a BA from Duke University and an MA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

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Jeffery West (Director)

Jeffery is delighted to be working with Redbird on NBCC...again! In the 1990s he originated the role of Charles Dickens at the Temple Theatre. He then reprised the role for four more Christmases. More recently he appeared in Raleigh in NCT’s WEST SIDE STORY and in Theatre Raleigh’s AUGUST OSAGE COUNTY with the same remarkable director, Eric Woodall. He has been an actor, director and teacher for over 40 years. For 16 years he was a Greensboro resident and professor at UNCG and Elon where he appeared in Triad Stage’s productions of AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, NEW MUSIC, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, PROVIDENCE GAP, GHOSTS, BLOODY BLACKBEARD, and ON GOLDEN POND. For Triad he also directed RED. Other regional work includes TRUE WEST, DEATH OF A SALESMAN, KING LEAR, THE MISER (PlayMakers Repertory Company),  ANGELS IN AMERICA (AEA Guest Artist, Duke University),  and HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE at Manbites Dog Theater as well as SHOWBOAT, GYPSY, 42ND STREET, BIG RIVER (NCT).  Television: ALL MY CHILDREN, GUIDING LIGHT, SURFACE, DAWSON'S CREEK, ONE TREE HILL, BROOKFIELD (pilot). Artistic Director, Raleigh Ensemble Players, 1993-1997. Faculty: UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, UNCG, Elon University, Greensboro College, High Point University. Education: BA, College of William and Mary: MFA, University of Virginia. Proud member of AEA and SAG/AFTRA.