Be Our Guest with Carol Ziske & William Linster (Quentin: A Roosevelt Musical)
Carol Ziske is an accomplished theatre director, choreographer, and actor with over five decades of professional experience in the industry. They have numerous acting credits on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theatre and national tours. She has starred alongside the likes of John Lithgow, Jerry Zaks, Bob Gunton, Beth Fowler, Robert Morse, Rudy Valee, Rita Rudner, Chip Zien, Ron Holgate, and F. Murray Abraham. Additionally, I have worked with notable directors including Jerome Robbins, Joseph Hardy, Patricia Birch, and John Bowab. Carol is a recipient of the Colgate Palmolive Achievement Award and the New Jersey Drama Critics Award. They are directing a production of One Touch of Ava this summer at Ivoryton Playhouse as well as a series of workshops for the musical, Hurricane Jimmy later in 2023.
William Linster is a Connecticut native and New York-based pianist, composer, music director, and arranger. Having been playing since the age of two and performing professionally since the age of seven, William has an extensive background in classical training, as well as in jazz and other contemporary styles. A graduate of the world-renowned New School For Jazz And Contemporary Music, William has studied and worked with some of the greatest musicians in the world, including Grammy® nominees Bobby Sanabria, Dave Douglas, Charles Tolliver, Cecil Bridgewater, and Andy Mckee, as well as Grammy® winners Bill Kirchner, Robert Sadin, and Hank Schocklee (Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Inductee, Public Enemy). As an accompanist and session musician, he has worked with artists such as Katie Stevens (American Idol, The Bold Type), Coyle Girelli (Your Vegas, The Chevin), Ron McClure (Blood, Sweat & Tears), R&B hitmaker James "D-Train" Williams, and numerous other Broadway stars and opera singers. Upon first working with William, the late acclaimed librettist Roger O. Hirson (Tony Award®-nominee, Pippin) simply said, "He's a genius." He made his Carnegie Hall debut at age 16, and was featured on NBC Nightly News at 17 while at the Havana International Jazz Festival in Cuba. William is also a trained vocalist, in addition to having received training on violin, trumpet, clarinet, mallet percussion, concert percussion, drums and handbells. He recently served as the Music Director for the Off-Broadway production of Fringe Deaths (2019). William is currently in the process of developing four full-length musicals he wrote with late Hollywood screenwriter, Lawrence Alexander (Charlie’s Angels, CHiPs, Barnaby Jones). He was recently named a 2022 Jonathan Larson Grant Finalist by American Theatre Wing.
The musical centers around Quentin Roosevelt, the youngest son of Theodore Roosevelt, who embarks on a forbidden romance with Flora Payne Whitney, a wealthy heiress from a different social sphere. The Roosevelts, renowned for their political activism and their role in trust-busting (which significantly impacted the Whitney family's wealth), stand in stark contrast to the reserved Whitneys, who are determined to avoid scandal of any kind.
The story follows Quentin as he navigates the pressures of familial expectations, personal ambition, and the looming shadow of war. Through a mix of historical events and artistic interpretation, the musical delves into themes of heroism, love, and the impact of war on individuals and their families. Quentin weaves together dramatic scenes, emotional soliloquies, and powerful musical numbers to create a moving portrait of a young man caught between personal desire and duty, love and loss, and the enduring question of how to make one's mark in the shadow of a powerful legacy.
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