Program for Smuin's The Christmas Ballet - Flipbook - Page 15
COMPANY PROFILES
KATHRYN T GRAHAM | PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
KT Graham, Smun’s longtime Production Director, passed away in early November 2025. She
joined Smuin in 1997 after working as Production Stage Manager and Lighting Designer for Lewitzky
Dance Company in Los Angeles, as well as Technical & Lighting Director for The Washington Ballet
in Washington, D.C., with whom she toured extensively both nationally and internationally. She also
engaged in freelance projects and particularly enjoyed serving as Production Stage Manager for the
Gay Games Arts & Cultural programs in NYC and the UN Conference on Women in China.
MICHAEL OESCH | LIGHTING DIRECTOR & LIGHTING DESIGNER
Michael is a professional lighting designer for dance, theatre, operas, and musicals. Since joining
Smuin Ballet in 2004, he has designed the lighting for The Christmas Ballet, Salsa Til Dawn,
The Turntable, Be Here Now, If I Were a Sushi Roll, Tutto Ecceto il Lavandino, Oh, Inverted World,
and Fly Me to the Moon, as well as many other Smuin productions. He also designs lighting for
many other companies throughout the Bay Area, where his designs have won a Theatre Bay
Area award and a Shelly Award, and have been nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award and
BATCC Awards. Michael also serves on the board of United Scenic Artists Union, local 829.
www.Michaeloesch.com.
DAVID JUSTIN | PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
David Justin is a multidiscipline artist focusing on the collaborative performing arts of dance,
opera, music, theatre and design. Before returning to the Bay Area, David served in academia
for seventeen years between the Conservatory of Music and Dance, UMKC and as a tenured
professor at University of Texas at Austin, TX where he was head of the BFA program, coproducer of the David Mark Cohen New Works Festival, and founding Artistic Director of
the American Repertory Ensemble. David has also held posts as Ballet Master in Residence at
Kansas City Ballet, Executive Artistic Director for NWA Ballet Theatre and Artistic Director
of Ballet Wichita. Formerly a principal dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet, a soloist with San
Francisco Ballet and beginning his career with Boston Ballet, David holds a Master’s degree in
Dance in Education and the Community from the University of Birmingham, England.
SANDRA WOODALL | COSTUME DESIGNER
Sandra Woodall has contributed scenic and costume designs to San Francisco Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet,
Stuttgart Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, National Ballet companies of Finland, Georgia and Norway, State Opera
Ballet of Austria, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Houston Ballet, Hubbard Street
Dance, and Singapore Dance Theatre, among others. Recent productions include visual design of Winter
Journey (Beijing), written by Wan Fang, director, Stan Lai; Camino Real (Atlanta Ballet) choreographed
by Helen Pickett; and Be Here Now, choreographed by Trey McIntyre for Smuin.
DOUGLAS SCHMIDT | SCENIC DESIGNER
For the past 50 years, Schmidt has designed for film, television, arena, and theme park presentations,
as well as more than 200 productions for Broadway, Off Broadway, regional theaters, and major
opera companies in the U.S. and Europe. His Broadway credits include the original productions of
Grease and Frankenstein. In 2015, he received the United States Institute for Theatre Technology
Award for Distinguished Achievement in Scene Design and The Robert L.B. Tobin Award for
Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design.
SMUINBALLE T.ORG • 15
