CMT Mainstage Presents
Chess
May 8 – 16 • Featuring local performers ages 14-20*
*High School Rule Applies
Auditions: March 11, 2026
Chess
The collaborators on Chess are giants of rock music and rock musicals, and here they have created a complex rock opera that played to full Broadway houses and standing ovations. In this musical, the ancient game becomes a metaphor for romantic rivalries, competitive gamesmanship, super-power politics, and international intrigue. The pawns in this drama form a love triangle: the loutish American chess star, the earnest Russian champion, and a Hungarian American female assistant who arrives at the international chess match in Bangkok with the American, but falls for the Russian. From Bangkok to Budapest, the players, lovers, politicians and spies manipulate and are manipulated to the pulse of a monumental rock score that includes “One Night in Bangkok” and “Heaven Help My Heart.”
Sean Book (Director)
Bio
Sean is excited to be directing his first CMT production. He has previously worked on the artistic teams of 13 and Hadestown. Sean joined the CMT staff in 2016 and became the Artistic Manager in 2022, supporting all CMT productions and programs. He continues to be inspired by the talent and passion of all the performers and artistic teams. Sean is a graduate of Saint Louis University’s Theater and Business programs and received his MBA & MFA in Theatre Management from CSU Long Beach. Sean would like to thank his wife, Caitlin, and son, Calvin, for all their support and encouragement through this entire process.
Whitney Janssen (Choreographer)
Bio
Whitney Janssen is thrilled to be working with CMT. Whitney, most recently, choreographed Something Rotten with Marquee at Children’s Musical Theater of San Jose. Whitney toured regionally in Aida with Theatreleague and Southern California in Beauty and the Beast, Footloose and A Chorus Line (Maggie) with Theatrical Arts International. Locally, Whitney has appeared in Peter Pan (Wendy), Music Man (Zaneeta) at Cabrillo Stage, Music Man at American Musical Theater of San Jose, Chicago (Hunyak), A Chorus Line at Children Musical Theater’s Marquee. She has also taught at American Musical Theater of San Jose’s Theater Arts Institute, Archbishop Mitty High School, Marie Stinnett Dance, San Jose State University and Campbell Community Center. She has choreographed numerous musicals for Archbishop Mitty High School and Children’s Musical Theater of San Jose including Beauty and the Beast, 42nd Street, Rock of Ages, Bright Star, Guys and Dolls, Descendants, Young Frankenstein and Spelling Bee. Whitney completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater from Millikin University and a certificate in Pilates at Core Pilates NYC.
Micheal McGushin (Vocal Director)
Bio
Michael McGushin is a composer, conductor and pianist based in Santa Cruz County. He is the conductor of the UCSC Chamber Singers. He served for roughly three decades as the coach/accompanist for the music department at UCSC, retiring from this position in 2021. He is a frequent performer as pianist with various ensembles and soloists in the Monterey and San Francisco Bay areas. His long association with Cabrillo Stage, serving as one of the music directors for their productions, has included musical preparation and performance on the shows
Rent, The Addams Family, Urinetown, The Last 5 Years, Cabaret, and The Music Man along with numerous others, most recently 2023’s production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Michael was the vocal director for West Valley Light Opera’s production of Something Rotten (2022), and has recently worked as the music director and vocal director for Watsonville High School’s productions of Little Shop of Horrors and Alice by Heart. Michael’s compositions have
been featured in recent seasons with New Music Works (Santa Cruz), Ensemble Monterey, the San Francisco Choral Artists and the San Francisco Bach Choir. Though the premiere is currently delayed, his opera The Nightingale (with a libretto by Lee and Lincoln Taiz) is slated for performance in the near future by UCSC’s Opera Theater.