DAKOTA, 2019
"Dakota" is a musical project created in collaboration with Ben Cherington, Kaiti Barta, Jude Caminos, and Samantha Toy Ozeas. I've always loved the haunting nostalgia of 60s and 70s folk rock, and was inspired by the poetry of Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Cat Stevens, and Paul Simon to create a musical about a girl coping with the recent death of her father, a music lover who died from complications due to early onset Alzheimer's. Dakota finds a cassette tape labeled "Dakota" when sorting through her father's belongings. When she presses play on the tape recorder, her room bursts to life with the memory of her father, but is the vividness of his presence the first sign that she could follow in his footsteps?
Dakota
Created by Cameron King and Ben Cherington
Director: Cameron King
Music Director: Jude Caminos
Book Writer: Samantha Toy Ozeas, Cameron King
Dramaturg: Kaiti Barta
Sound Designer: Rachel Kolb
Lighting Designer: Hannah Kerman
Scenic Designer: Katherine Sharpless
Costume Designer: Alexa James-Cardenas
Hair and Makeup Designer: Julia Timmons
Mother: Kate King
Father: Don Roy King
Dakota: Nuala Cleary
Young Dakota: Alice Smith
Singers: Dan Bittner, Adam Brett, Patrick Davis, Sunday Saari, Wesley Matthews, Georgia Mendes, Riley Noland, Maddie Rubin, Anthony Saldaña, Jason Schmidt
Keys 1: Joe Brauch
Keys 2 / Accordion Guitar: Alex Kampas
Bass: Tamao Cmiral
Percussion: Jude Caminos
Special Thanks: Tony McKay, Andrew Smith, Joe Brauch