CREW
CREW
Samantha Daynes
- Director & Playwright
Born in Hong Kong and raised in Singapore, Samantha is a graduate of Brigham Young University where she studied Theater Arts and Education. Growing up she struggled in school and was later diagnosed with ADHD. Her work on Different won the Vera Hinckley Mayhew Creative Arts Award for Best Concept of A Musical. Along with Different, her two other Mayhew Award-Winning plays include Long-Term Care and Time Management, which premiered at the BYU Microburst Theatre Festival in Fall 2021. Samantha has also been an actor, director, dramaturg, stage manager, and costume designer. Her recent acting credits include Amy in Little Women, Ophelia in Hamlet and Luciana/Angelo in Comedy of Errors. She was assistant director for the BYU production Escape from Planet Death and helped to stage manage 13 student productions in Winter 2022. She and her husband are planning a move to Virginia in the Fall where she will continue to pursue opportunities in Theater Education. She hopes this play will inspire young people who struggle in school as she did to celebrate their differences and be proud of who they are.
Alyssa Call
- Production Stage Manager
Alyssa is a Senior in the Theater Arts Studies major at BYU and a minor in Music. Growing up with Epilepsy, her favorite realm of theater to work in is in disability inclusion and advocacy. Her play Beautiful Monster, which centers around a mother and her daughter with Epilepsy, recently was produced in BYU’s Microburst theater festival and was a regional finalist for KCACTF. Earlier this summer she stage managed Alpine Community Theater’s production of The Sound of Music and was the choral director for their musical theater summer camps. She is excited to assistant direct for BYU’s Go, Dog, Go! this fall and workshop one of her new plays in BYU’s WDA program. She is also an avid ventriloquist. She would like to thank her mother for helping her get to where she is today and her puppets for always being there to cheer her up when she’s feeling a little blue.
Isabella Beals
- Assistant Stage Manager
Isabella is a Junior at BYU with a major in Theatre Arts Education and a double minor in English Teaching and Music. During her time at BYU, she has worked on several advanced directing projects as both a stage manager and a dramaturg as well as on the BYU production of Escape From Planet Death as an assistant dramaturg. She is excited to be the head dramaturg for the Young Company production of Go, Dog. Go! in Fall 2022. She is honored to be the assistant stage manager for the world premiere of Different: The Musical and is so grateful to have learned so much about theatre and special needs from the talented cast and crew. She wishes to thank her supportive parents and family who have cheered her on through every new adventure; her friends, roommates, and boyfriend, all of whom are her own “best buddies,” who have encouraged her and let her rant about this incredible show all summer; Sammy, our extremely thoughtful director, who gave her the opportunity to participate in this musical; and the Master Creator, who teaches her a new lesson every day.
Kate Hendrickson
- Choreographer
Kate Hendrickson: Kate is a recent BYU graduate and performing arts enthusiast. Although her degree was in Physics Education, she made time for several dance classes and performing groups at BYU, most notably the Ballroom Dance Company. Kate enjoyed the role of Cinderella in Into the Woods and being a part of the SCERA’s The Scarlett Pimpernel with her brother in 2020. Previously on stage as a performer, she has loved being a part of Different as a first time choreographer. Starting this fall, Kate will be a full time Physics and Astronomy Teacher at CHHS where she will also enjoy the opportunities to coach Tennis and E-Sports. She hopes to have another opportunity to choreograph in the future. Kate would like to thank her parents for allowing her to pursue many passions as a child. This has allowed her to do a little bit of everything and find fulfillment through opportunities like choreographing for Different.
Marion Pack
- Music Director
Marion is a super senior at BYU studying theatre education. She loves acting and singing, but also enjoys directing and stage managing. She was most recently seen on the BYU stage as Yente in Fiddler on the Roof and Henrietta Leavitt in Silent Sky. Marion has also recently worked on several productions, including this one, as music director, which she has also fallen in love with. She is so excited for the world premiere of this new musical and its very important story to tell. Lots of her family members are on the autism spectrum, and she has loved working on this show to help tell their story.
[see also CAST - Marion Pack as Mom]
Robby Moore
- Follow Spot
Name: Robby Moore
Year at school: Final semester at Wgu
Major: Wgu: Masters in English Education. Bachelors: BYU: Theatre arts studies with an emphasis on directing.
Past: Acted: The Comedy of Errors.
Directed: The Trump Card and The Monsters are Due on Maple Street.
Future: I will be doing student teaching this fall and hope to be teaching by this time next year.
Thanks: I just want to thank all of the people who have believed in me and stuck with me and have helped me become the person I am today.
Rose Allen
- Props
Rose Allen just graduated from BYU with a BA in Theatre Arts Studies, emphasizing in directing and playwriting. Recent experiences include writing a ten-minute play, A Perfectly Ordinary Christmas Dinner, which was performed last fall at the Microburst Play Festival, and directing In Shakespeare and the Bible for her senior capstone last April. She's looking into applying for theatre jobs locally and across the country in the near future, so if you're hiring, please reach out! She would like to thank her family and a local witch for support both financially and emotionally.
Justin Kwan
- Crew
Justin Kwan. I go by JKwan which has been a nickname since my sophomore year. I acted in a theater during my junior year at Salt Lake Lutheran Highschool. I have a BA in History from Westminster (Salt Lake, 2014). I have helped set up and tear down coaching and mentoring business events for 2 years. I also do photography and I'm getting into videography. I have some experience choreographing fight scenes. I have acted as an extra in commercials. I have been in commercials such as Utah Food Bank and Dystopian. I have acted as an extra on film sets for Hallmark (My One True Love, 2021) and non-Hallmark films. Most recently, I have been helping on film sets however they need my help. My last production before Different, the musical, was a student project called, Something Extraordinary that I helped as Sound PA, boom mic, and crew.
Pollyanna Eyler
- Dramaturgy
I am a Junior at BYU. Majoring in Theatre Education (k-12) with a TESOL minor and an emphasis in Dramaturgy. I have provided dramaturgy for 3 Student Productions and 3 Main Stage plays at BYU: The Glorious Story Emporium, Radium Girls, and Much Ado About Nothing. This Fall I will be the dramaturg for The Merry Widow, my second foray into opera. I want to thank my "Twue Wuv" Pat Eyler, when he's not playing my Prince Charming, he also doubles as my Chef, Tech Support, Uber Driver & Personal Assistant. I also want to give a shout-out to my posterity, Lizzy & Ty, Michael & Raquel, and our newest addition, Tommy. I owe everything to my poor parents that put up with me singing into my hairbrush till they could start sending me off to rehearsals at the tender age of 8, thus kickstarting my life in the entertainment industry. And last, but not least ... "Thank you" to my Dramaturgy Professor, Shelley Graham, for teaching me everything I know about dramaturgy!