Dr. Geoffrey Stephenson pecializes in musical theatre history, literature, and vocal performance; serves as the academic advisor for the Department of Theatre and Film's musical theatre specialization program; holds a BFA in musical theatre performance from Kent State University, a master’s in music education from BGSU and a doctorate in theatre from BGSU; has taught voice for the National Broadway tour of Billy Elliot: The Musical; has acted in and directed Huron Playhouse productions for the last three decades; has directed CMA opera productions of Dialogues of the Carmelites, Hänsel and Gretel, and an Evening of One Acts by Thomas Pasatieri; has taught vocal music in the Huron City Schools and Ottawa Hills Local Schools, and directed musicals at Otsego High School and Kettering Fairmont High School; awarded the Mark Twain Comedy Award by the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival; has worked in virtually every aspect of the theatre and has performed many roles with companies in New York City, Chicago, Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska and Ohio.

CJ Capen is musical coordinator and accompanist in the department of Theatre & Film. He holds an MM in Collaborative Piano from University of North Carolina, Greensboro, a BFA in Piano Performance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Choral Conducting from Messiah University. 

He has been staff accompanist & vocal coach for Chicago Summer Opera, Elon University, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. He has served as keyboard artist for Georgetown Chorale, Vienna Chorale Society, and the semi-professional choir, "Voce Chamber Singers" from 2013-2023. He has toured China with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra flutist Lauren Sileo in 2014, given lecture recitals for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and he has given benefit concerts to include: S.O.M.E's 40th Anniversary Celebration, St Thomas More Cathedral Recital Series, Reston Drop-In Center, Cornerstone, and the Maryknoll Society.

He is also a conductor, having served as conductor for Opera Steamboat's production of "Frida", guest conductor for Reston Chorale's Messiah Sing-Along, conductor for the Arlington Diocese Choral Festival, choral director and musical director at Paul VI High School for many years, and he served as Director of Music at St John Neumann Church in Reston VA from 2008-2023, one of the largest churches in the Diocese of Arlington.

Seeräuber Jenny from Threepenny Opera

(Pirate Jenny)

Gentlemen, you now see me washing your glasses,
And I’ll make your bed up for you,
And you’ll tip me a penny, and I’ll thank you very quickly,
And you’ll see me in tatters in this tattered old hotel,
And you cannot tell who stands before you.
And you cannot tell who stands before you.
But one of these evenings there’ll be shrieks in the harbor,
And men ask: “Who the hell would shriek like that?”
And they’ll see me give a smile across my glasses,
And they’ll say: “What’s she got to smile about?”
And a ship with eight sails
And its fifty guns loaded
Will tie up at dusk.

Men say: “Get on with your glasses, my dear!”
As they fish out a penny for me.
And their penny is accepted and their bed is made up tight,
Although nobody will get much chance of sleeping tonight.
And they still can’t tell who I might be.
And they still can’t tell who I might be.
But one of these evenings there’ll be explosions in the harbor,
And men’ll ask what’s that bloody awful din?
And they’ll see me as I gaze out of the window,
And they’ll say, “What’s caused that vicious grin?”
And the ship with eight sails
And its fifty guns loaded
Will lay siege to the town.

And a hundred men will land in the bright noonday sun,
And will tread where the shadows cloak him.
They’ll look from door to door and seize anyone they see,
And throw him in irons and bring him to me,
And say: “Give us the word, and we’ll kill him.”
And say: “Give us the word, and we’ll kill him.”
In that noonday heat there’ll be a hush ´round the harbor,
As they ask which I want to die.
And then they’ll hear me quietly answer: “All of ‘em!”
And when the first head rolls I’ll say, “Hoop-la!”
And the ship with eight sails
And its fifty guns loaded
Will sail off with me.

“En fermant les yeux” from Massenet’s Manon

Instant charmant, où la crainte fait trêve,
où nous sommes deux seulement!
Tiens, Manon, en marchant,
je viens de faire un rêve.

En fermant les yeux, je vois là-bas une humble retraite,
une maisonnette toute blanche au fond
des bois!
Sous ses tranquilles ombrages,
les clairs et joyeux ruisseaux,
où se mirent les feuillages,
chantent avec les oiseaux!
C'est le Paradis!
Oh! non! Tout est là triste et morose,
car il y manque une chose:
il y faut encor Manon!

Non! là sera notre vie,
si tu le veux, ô Manon!

Charming instant where fear makes a truce
Where we are just the two of us
Listen, Manon, as we walk
I just had a dream

When I close my eyes I see far away a modest retreat,
a little cottage all white in the depths
of the woods!
Under the quiet shade,
the clear and joyous streams,
in which are reflected the leaves,
singing with the birds!
It's Paradise!
Oh no, everything there is sad and melancholy,
because it is missing one thing:
Manon ought to be present!

No, that will be our life,
if you want it, oh Manon!