The people have asked and we have answered: the Dean’s Men’s doing a lesbian cowboy show. When Rosalind and her loyal cousin Celia flee into the forest to escape the scheming Duke Frederick, they encounter a world where gender, power, and authority are unsteady at best. Meanwhile, Rosalind’s love interest Orlando is being cheated out of her inheritance by her brother Oliver whenever she’s not showing off her poetry and physique to the ladies. When the lovers meet again in the woods, hijinks ensue as women dress as men, shepherds outsmart courtesans, and someone gets in a fight with a lion.

Ticket link coming soon!

This show includes onstage depiction of stuffed animals and lesbians!!! Scary stuff.

Physical accessibility information can be found at FXK Theater's information page.

Cast

Lexie Vogel (Rosalind) is a staff member at the University of Chicago in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. She loves theatre and this show marks her 36th production and second time in As You Like It! Her recent credits include House of Desires (Celia), 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche (Ginny/Dale), and Julius Caesar (Soothsayer/Cinna the Poet)! In a Western film, Lexie’s horse would be named Elsa/Elsinore after the character in Kristin Hannah’s novel The Four Winds. (It is a very heart-wrenching book set during the Dust Bowl/Great Depression, please take this recommendation with caution.⚠️) Lexie hopes the play may please!

Maela Mazzone (Orlando) is a first year, and is so excited to be in As Ya’ll Like It. In high school, Maela’s favorite performances were Beauty and the Beast (Belle), The Crucible (Abigail), The Prom (Alyssa), and The Play That Goes Wrong (Robert). If they were in a Western, Maela would struggle with choosing their horse’s name, but some possible contenders include Casper the Friendly Horse, Peppa Horse, May the Horse Be With You, or (their personal favorite), Roy. They would like to thank their dad for helping them come up with these horse names, their mom, who laughed even though she thought the names were stupid, and the incredibly supportive cast and crew of this show.

Alex Flores (Jaques & Le Beau) is a fourth year MENG major and TAPS minor. He has previously worked on The Arsonists (Policeman/Dr. of Philosophy) and The Tempest (Alonso). For reasons he cannot articulate, he thinks Tailgate would be the perfect name for a horse.

Robert Stimpson (Celia) is a Third Year Sociology and Comparative Human Development Major, and the lead archivist of Dean’s Men History. With UT he has played Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing, Gonzalo in the Tempest, danced in 35mm, and played Dallas Richman (not Richmond) in Strings Attached, so while this not his first time playing a character in cowboy boots, it is his first time playing a woman. He would like to thank the coincidences of casting that made this possible, the Dean’s Men for their scintillating past, and all of the members of his family who are coming to watch! He would name his horse Sven (like from frozen) or Cliff because it’s cool.

Logan Carlson (Touchstone)

Henry Roth (Oliver & Amiens)

Sara Romai (Corin & Adam)

Kati Langille (Duke Senior & Charles) is in her 4th year at the University of Chicago. She studies English Literature and performed in The Play that Goes Wrong (Annie) in 2024. She is happy to be here.

Lola Flores (Duke Frederick & Audrey) is a 4th year Classics major. This is her first UT and Dean’s Men show, but is wondering if she can get half credit for performing in the Romeo and Juliet ballet. In an ideal Western film, she would have a horse named Mystery just like Spongebob.

Production Staff

Ryan Witter (Co-Director) is a third-year Linguistics, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies major. He has previously worked on Troilus and Cressida (Director), The Play That Goes Wrong (Props Designer), Arcadia (Asst. Props Designer), Richard III (Clarence/York/Derby), and The Taming of the Shrew (Vincentio/Curtis). If he were in a country film his horse would be named “1989 Chevrolet Durango”. There would be no abbreviation.

Seth Wang (Co-Director) is a third year Anthropology and Gender Studies major. He has previously worked on Troilus and Cressida (Props), The Play That Goes Wrong (Asst. Props), Arcadia (Asst. Props), and Much Ado About Nothing (Asst. Scenic). If he was in a Western, his horse would be named Jebediah.

Alasdair Dodd (Production Manager) is a fourth-year EALC and Religious Studies major. He has previously worked on Falsettos (Lighting Designer), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stage Manager), The Arsonists (Lighting Designer), Troilus & Cressida (Co-PM), and The Tempest (PM). He is well-practiced in write bios for other people, but struggles to work on his own. His horse would choose its own name through a complicated divination ritual.

Jasmine Li (Stage Manager) is a third-year Anthropology and Mathematics major. She has previously worked on Cactus Flower (ASM), Troilus and Cressida (ASM), Strings Attached (APM), and Taming of the Shrew (ASM), and is very excited to take on a full SM role this season (even though she is rather tired and has been eating so much instant ramen and random snacks). In order to properly honor and celebrate the aforementioned ramen and snacks she has been consuming, if she were in a country film, she feels she is now obligated to name her horse Yogurt Jelly Spicy Noodle Soup.

Cami Delgado (Dramaturg & Assistant Director) is a third-year Astrophysics and Visual Arts major. Their previous UT credits include Taming of the Shrew (Assistant Lighting Designer), Richard III (Lighting Designer), The Play That Goes Wrong (Assistant Stage Manager), Much Ado About Nothing (Lighting Designer), and Troilus and Cressida (Lighting Designer). If they were in a Western film, they would have a horse named Tumbleweed and a miniature horse named Twig.

Aneth Rodriquez (Scenic Designer)

Elisa Gao (Costume Designer) is a third-year Astrophysics and TAPS major. Her previous theatre and ballet costume design credits include Coppélia, 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, Sylvia, Royal Flush, and Falsettos (asst.). Her scenic design credits include The Tempest, Troilus and Cressida (asst.), and Royal Flush. She is also working on costuming UBallet’s winter and spring productions of Giselle and Swan Lake. She would name her horse “MyHat,” so no one would know she’s calling her horse.

Kaiden Wu (Scenic Designer) has managed to become a third-year Applied Math and Computational Bio major. Despite doing props and lighting for the Deansmen for the last two years, he somehow does not know the plot of a single Shakespeare play. He is very proud of making the saloon doors, which he has not started as of writing this bio, and hopefully will not turn out embarrassingly bad. If he was in a country film he would name his horse Megan The Stallion.

Simon Tsuchiya Lenoe (Props Designer ) is a second-year PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations. You may remember him from such UT shows as Richard III (Buckingham), Much Ado About Nothing (Don Pedro), and Cactus Flower (Harvey). An actor his entire life, he has flipped to the production side to resemble his role model, Shohei Ohtani, as a “two-way player.” He thinks his horse would be named “Oldsmobile” in an ironic, anachronistic way.

Will Rehmus (Lighting Designer) is a third year astrophysics major and TAPS minor. They’ve worked on more UT shows than they can count (just kidding, it’s 11, plus 6 T[24]s), in lighting, sound, scenic, and stage management. They’re really excited for you to see the show, and hope you enjoy this next iteration of the Dean’s Men’s classic: Queer Shakespeare! If they were in a country film, their horse would be named Daisy (short for Whoopsie Daisy, a name given to her after The Accident™)

Maya Bond (Sound Designer ) is a second year TAPS major. This is Maya’s second time working on sound for a Dean’s Men show. You may have also recently seen her as Emily Webb in Our Town. Last year, Maya acted in many productions as various young women and the mother of a dog-child-puppy-boy. If Maya were in a country film, her horse would be named Giddy.

Lena Wei (Assistant Stage Manager)

Natalie Williams (Assistant Costume Designer) is a second year, tentatively majoring in Psychology and Comparative Human Development. This is her first (but not last!) involvement in UT. If Natalie were in a country film, she’d have a dappled grey horse named Silver Springs.

Jack Zirin-Hyman (Assistant Sound Designer) is a first-year Mathematics and Music major, and this is his first (of hopefully many) shows with UT! If he were in a country film, he would name his horse Évariste Galois, after the mathematician.

Josiah Rubio (Committee Liaison)