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About
Cast and Crew
Guinevere Govea
Writer, Lyricist, Composer, Musical Director, "Sea Monster"
Guinevere Govea is a fourth-year Theatre and Dance and Journalism double major at the University of Texas. Recent acting credits include “Desamaya” in La Ruta (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2020) and “Hannah” in her first original musical, Trash! The Musical (Take the Wheel Productions, 2020), which was selected as a semi-finalist for the O’Neill National Musical Theatre Conference this year. Upon graduation, she plans to continue to pursue acting, writing, and songwriting. For more info, go to guineveregovea.com.
Anna Pickett
Director, Website Developer, "Queen"
Anna Pickett is a fourth-year Youth and Community Studies major at The University of Texas at Austin, as well as a member of the first cohort of Texas Immersive. Recent theatrical credits include playing “Son” in The Trail to Oregon! (Take the Wheel Productions) and directing Gwenny’s first original musical Trash! The Musical. She’d like to thank her parents for their constant love and support, the cast and crew for their amazing work, and her bestest friend Gwenny for letting her live out her directing dream. You can keep up with her work on Instagram @zooweeanna
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Emily Watson
Finley Frankfurter
Emily Watson is a second-year English major at the University of Texas at Austin. She grew up in North Texas and found her love for singing and performance at a very young age. Emily is incredibly excited to be voicing the role of Finley Frankfurter in her first podcast musical! Emily hopes to pursue writing, film production, and acting in the future. You can follow her adventures on instagram @emily.g.watson.
Will Derden
H.S. Crank
Will Derden is an 18-year-old kid of fairly simple tastes: good music, good food, and good friends with whom he can share his fairly nonsensical passions with. Ever since Will began guitar lessons at the age of nine, he has had an undying love of music and storytelling. This love has carried on into his teenage years as he continues to grow in his understanding of the world around him. Will desires to write music that will change the way we see people who think differently than us. Look up Wednesday Kid on SoundCloud for original music! Romans 8:28
Kathleen Guerrero
Mermaid, Elixir
Kathleen Marie Guerrero is a senior at The University of Texas at Austin. Where she is majoring in Theatre for Youth and Communities and minoring in both Business Management and Arts Administration. Her recent credits include La Ruta, 12 Ophelias, This is Life, and many other movies and theatre pieces. After graduation, she plans to head to New York City to participate in the University of Texas Internship Program and then to Iowa City. Where she will be pursuing her MFA in Acting at The University of Iowa.
Gabriella Bastek
Shopkeeper, Coach, Townsperson #1
Gabriella Bastek is an actress, singer and teaching artist in Austin, Texas and Connecticut. She is receiving degrees in Acting and Advertising in May 2021 from The University of Texas at Austin. She is playing the role of Shopkeeper in Spells of the Sea and has loved working with this amazing cast and crew. She is a huge fan of TYA work and hopes to continue voice over, musical theater and performing arts education in the future. You can learn more about Gabriella at https://gabriellabastek.com/.
Jayla Ball
Princess Kelp, Doctor
Jayla Ball is a senior theatre & dance and journalism major, with a minor in Radio-Television-Film. She was last seen in UT main stage production of Year of The Tiger. She's a student in the UTLA '21 cohort to grow her skills in entertainment marketing. She’s currently working as a hip hop and acrobatics dancer/performer in Austin, Texas and will one day take her talents to Los Angeles to pursue a career in performance.
Ben Cervantes
Captain Serpent Tyde, Townsperson #2
Ben is a second year Playwriting and Directing major at UT. He has worked as an actor, technician, and musician in shows with Take the Wheel Productions and Roundabout Players. He has also acted in Teatro Vivo's Austin Latinx New Play Festival. Ben has also drawn comics for The Daily Texan, plays piano, guitar, and sings, and is probably the world's biggest Meat Loaf fan.
Michael Williams Martinez
Ferris Frankfurter, Assistant to the Pirate Captain
Michael Williams Martinez is a third-year Performer's Process major at the University of Texas. Recent credits include the role of "Shoebill" in Wyeth Airlines, Flight 13 (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2020). He is playing the roles of Dad and Pirate Captain's Assistant in Spells of the Sea, and would like to thank everyone involved for being so wonderful to work with!
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Conner Darnell
Sound Mixer
Conner Darnell is a musician, sound engineer, composer, and college student who studies at Stephen F. Austin State University. He currently has one song out on Spotify and is also in a local band called Velvet Funk. He plays trumpet, flugelhorn, piano, and sings as well. He is also a part of a production company with his close friends called APAP Productions where he works on lots of music and short film projects. If you would like to contact him for a future project his email is darnconner17@gmail.com
Kasey Durham
Sound Designer
Kasey Durham is attending The University of Texas at Austin as a first year BA Design and Technology student with an emphasis in sound design. She has mostly trained sound design and stage management, but also has experience in lighting, costume, and scenic design. Kasey made her sound design debut earlier this year at The University of Texas and she is very excited to share the beautiful work of the cast and crew. She’d like to thank Anna Pickett and Gwenny Govea for giving her this opportunity and making it such an energetic and lively experience.
Alex Titsworth
Sound Designer
Alex Titsworth is a first-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in Sound design and technology at The University of Texas at Austin. This is one of her first productions with Texas Theatre and Dance.
Spells of the Sea was written by Guinevere “Gwenny" Govea while she was quarantining during the coronavirus outbreak of 2020 and felt the need to both travel extremely far away and be near her friends again. She also really missed theatre and was sad about old people dying and wanted to turn those feelings into songs. Thus, Spells of the Sea was born! Originally intended to be performed in-person in an intimate space, Spells evolved into a podcast musical format after Gwenny became unhealthily obsessed with 36 Questions and the third season of The Two Princes on Spotify over quarantine. Her wonderfully talented roommate Anna Pickett hopped on board to direct the show shortly after Gwenny told her about it (thank goodness!), and thus, the director-writer duo was born, with a stellar cast and crew to follow!
Spells of the Sea is a five-episode podcast musical that follows a fifteen-year-old fisherwoman named Finley Frankfurter and an old lighthouse keeper named H.S. Crank as they journey through the ocean to find the Elixir of Life to cure Finley’s terminally ill father. Along the way, the pair discovers the meaning of family, friendship, and believing in yourself in this audio adventure for the whole family!
Mallory Maybin
Dramaturg
Mallory is a fourth year theatre and dance major with an emphasis in Playwriting and Directing. Spells of the Sea is the first project for which she has served as an official dramaturg but considers herself an eager and perpetual student of theatrical texts and audience application. She hopes you'll remember to keep a spare bottle of kindness in your pocket, always--or at least when you venture across an ocean.
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