Yippee wouldn’t be tenth of the show it is today without the contributions from these amazing artists and creatives who gave their talent, time, and funny to this silly little show. Thank you for taking the time to recognize them. And say hi to us if you see us in the world! Makes us feel special.
2018-2019 CAST & creative
Band
STEPHANIE MCCULLOUGH
Music Director / Keyboard
PAUL DESMAN
Guitar
AARON HOMARD
Drums
producers
DREW DESANTIS
Lead Producer
JIM JENSEN
Producer
MARK MICHELSON
Producer
CREATIVES
MICHAEL SHEPHERD JORDAN
Book & Lyrics
STEPHANIE MCCULLOUGH
Music & Lyrics
ALEX GARDAY
Book & Lyrics
TIFFANI MOORE SWALLEY
Director
SHEENA LAIRD
Choreographer
ERIC LUCHEN
Scenic Designer
LINDSEY LYDDAN
Lighting Designer
BRANDON REED
Sound Designer
KATELYN DOWNING
Costume / Prop Designer
BILL GORDON
Fight Choreographer
FREDO AGUILAR
Technical Director
SARA SAVUSA
Assistant Director / Dance Captain
DANIELLA MAZZIO
Stage Manager / Lighting Engineer
STEFAN CARLSON
Assistant Stage Manager
CAROLYN CAKE
Sound Engineer
CHRISTOPHER WEGNER
Production Assistant
RAY NARDELLI
Sound Consultant
ADELL MEDOVOY
Graphic Designer
CATHY TAYLOR PUBLIC RELATIONS INC.
Public Relations
SEAGULL WORKS
Scenic Construction/Installation
ROBBIE ELLIS
Copyist & Keyboards
Come to the show…have a few laughs.
Yippee Ki-Yay Merry Christmas: A Die Hard Musical Parody debuted November 29, 2014 at MCL Chicago, a storefront theatre founded in July of the same year by Stephanie McCullough, Michael Shepherd Jordan, and Alex Garday to celebrate the art of music comedy, blending their shared experiences in improv, musical improv, and musical theater. In late September, only having been open three months, the founders realized they needed a show for the Fall/Winter season. Acting volunteer secretary at the time, Alex Richmond, mentioned that her family watched Die Hard every holiday season and the C4 was set, so to speak. The founders quickly went to work parodying the beloved 80s action movie turning it into the hilarious musical audiences know and love today.
Yippee Ki-Yay Merry Christmas Original Cast
Alan Metoskie (BRUCE)
Mark Rudy (HANS)
Alex Richmond (HOLLY)
Dujuan Pritchett (CARL)
Erin Long (KLAUS)
Courtney Fontaine (WILLIS)
Ashley Geron (DWAYNE)
Seth Origitano (FBI JOHNSON)
Alex Garday (Producer)
Michael Shepherd Jordan (Director) - Stephanie McCullough (Music Director)
Holly Gombita (Choreographer) - Zach Stinnett (Tech Director)
Kyle Mantegna (Guitar) - Heather Scholl (u/s Holly)
Jordan took on the major task of writing the script while McCullough began creating the music for the show. Garday served as editor and collaborator for both the book and the score. Once the creative team had the first version of the show, they put together a cast of comedians to breathe life into the characters. It is through these actors that the show was successful the first year and all subsequent years. The collaborative spirit the creators fostered throughout rehearsals and performances allowed the show to be unique each night for the audience while keeping the root of the story. Audiences loved it! The success inspired the creators to extend the run into the middle of January with nearly every show selling out.
additional artists who have brought the show to life.
Artists
Alex Garday - Director - 2016-2017
Laura Marsh - Choreographer - 2015-2017
Sam Cain - Tech Director - 2016-2017
Jesse Greco - Guitar - 2014-2015
Paul Desman - Guitar - 2015-Present
Aaron Homard - Drums - 2015-Present
Actors
Eric Oren - u/s BRUCE - 2015
Ed Selvey IV - u/s CARL - 2015
Mo Phillips-Spotts - CARL - 2016
Damian Jason White - CARL - 2016-2017
Nate Curlott - u/s BRUCE/FBI - 2016-Present
Gary Fields - u/s HANS - 2017-present
The creators knew they had a hit and continued to edit, develop, and update the show each year. Core cast members returned, and more importantly, audiences returned. The show has developed some die hard “Yippee Ki-Yay Merry Christmas” fans, and every year audience members come back to discover what fun new jokes, songs, or bits the creative team has in store. In fact, some audience members have seen the show every year - sometimes multiple times per year - bringing friends and family members to experience our holiday tradition.
Yippee has run every holiday season since 2014 and expanded each year. This holiday season will be the biggest and best to date. The creative team has returned to the source material reinvigorating the book and score with more characters, songs, and plot twists. With the backing of established theater producers Drew DeSantis, Jim Jensen, and Mark Michelson the 2018-2019 run of Yippee will be the best yet! “Yippee Ki-Yay Mother F*#%@&$!”
Yippee Ki-Yay Merry Christmas is an unauthorized musical parody and is in no way affiliated with the feature film DIE HARD nor Twentieth Century Fox, Gordon Company, Silver Pictures, nor any of its distributors. Visit our DISCLAIMER for more information.