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ABOUT
A Feral Season is a new work that is still in development, by creator and librettist, Taryn Mayer. It is a contemporary musical dramedy that follows two best friends who have been burned by their relationship experiences and decide to run an under-the-table “relationship consulting” business. Equipped with dating wisdom from all their scars, online sleuthing skills, and a tendency to follow TikTok dating advice, Madelyn and Sadie help others navigate love while quietly avoiding their own unresolved toxic cycles.
This project was inspired by interviews done by Taryn with fellow students and some Tucson community members to craft a narrative about their relationships and dating experiences. It is currently being composed by Dane Alexander Carten and dramaturged by Roweena Mackay, Taryn’s faculty advisor.
This performance was made possible through support from the Dr. John Lee Compton Scholarship Award, the W.A. Franke Honors College, and the School of Theatre, Film & Television in support of Taryn Mayer’s honors thesis work.
This iteration of the workshop process, which will be a reading of Act I of the libretto with select compositions that are ready for presentation, will be starring:
Anna Kerr as Madelyn
Bo Shimmin as Greg
Claire Bustamante as Sadie
JJ Urquidez as Tyler
Lyric Crespo as Dante
Mandy Ressler as Diana
Natalie Haserot as Rose
CREATIVE TEAM
TARYN MAYER, Creator and Librettist, is a fourth-year Music BA student, with a thematic minor in Screenwriting. She recorded a solo album in 2014 and has since released several singles as well. Taryn transferred to the University of Arizona in 2024 after studying Vocal Performance at Pima Community College. She was accepted into the Vocal emphasis at the University of Arizona, as well as the BFA in Film and Television.
Long having a love for film, she produced an independent documentary called Mind Over Fatter, which has body positivity and mental health themes while telling a story of personal weight loss struggles. She has made two short documentaries at the University of Arizona as well, and is a skilled multimedia professional, managing the social media accounts for the School of Music.
As a JustArts fellow in 2024-2025, Taryn created a workshop event, Fit to Perform, to increase connections and performance opportunities amongst under-represented people in the local performing arts community. After her anticipated graduation in May 2026, Taryn plans to continue her education at the University of Arizona as an MA in Applied Intercultural Arts Research, or complete a low-residency MFA in Screenwriting at Western State University or The University of Georgia.
Learn more about her work at tarrynntino.com
DANE ALEXANDER CARTEN, (he/him), Composer, is a lifelong musician, performer, and composer, lending his voice to concert halls from Detroit to Tucson in professional ensembles such as the Audivi Symphonic/Opera Chorus, Detroit Symphonic Orchestral Choir, and the Helios Ensemble. He spent his formative years in the Punk and Metal scenes of Detroit, and toured the Midwest first as a Hardcore Metal vocalist, then as a Bassist and backup vocalist for several Rock and Pop-Punk bands. During this time, he also acted as a vocal coach to local Rock and Metal singers, co-owned and managed the High-Octane Concert Lounge in Romeo, MI, and worked to promote, book, and manage local bands across the Metro Detroit area.
Dane holds two Summa Cum Laude degrees in music – the Associate of Music Theory and Composition from Oakland Community College in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and the Bachelor of Music Education with a focus in Voice from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Most recently, he finished the Master in Choral Conducting at the University of Arizona in May of 2023. Dane was also awarded high honors for his work in the Communications department during his time at Oakland Community College and has served as a Teacher’s Assistant for courses across various institutions including Popular Entertainment, Sinatra-Era Music, Rock and American Popular Music, and History of American Popular Music. As of August 2023, he has begun working towards the Doctorate in Choral Conducting with a minor in Composition at the University of Arizona.
Dane has and continues to serve in many teaching and leadership positions – Chancel Choir Director at Lord of Grace Lutheran Church in Marana, Assistant Director of the Helios Ensemble in Tucson, Director of the University of Arizona’s Faculty/Staff Choir and Artistic Director and founder of the Neoteric Chamber Choir. During his time in Detroit, he helped establish their local chapter of the Justice Choir whilst creating and leading two separate children’s choirs within local Montessori schools. He also worked as Music and Vocal Director on several music theatre productions including Mamma Mia! and Little Shop of Horrors at Grosse Pointe Theatre in Grosse Pointe, MI.
JOSH McCUNE, Music Director, is an American musician and devout interdisciplinarian who is currently studying at the University of Arizona School of Music in pursuit of a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Performance. He is a multi-instrumentalist, and beyond his primary instrument of flute, he also plays the saxophone and is a vocalist. He currently performs in 6 ensembles throughout the Tucson community, including the Sudler Trophy winning Pride of Arizona Marching and Pep Bands. Josh fully commits to everything that he does and seeks to have as diverse a roster of skills as possible; beyond performance, he also works with music education, composition, and audio production. Josh believes in the kinesthetics and athleticism of making music, and through his educational method seeks to build good habits that allows music to be an equally consistent and rewarding endeavor for as many people as possible. Beyond the world of music, Josh also has a series of hobbies he occupies his time with, including gaming, cooking, creative writing, and reading.
ROWEENA MACKAY, Dramaturg, is the area head of Live & Screened Performance at the University of Arizona, she also teaches theatre at the Tohono O’odham Community College. She is a member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.
As a dramaturg, she has worked with August Wilson (Radio Golf, Yale Repertory Theatre), Culture Clash (Culture Clash in AmeriCCa, Yale Repertory Theatre), Mac Wellman (Two September, The Flea), Liz Swados (Kaspar Hauser, The Flea), Qui Nguyen (She Kills Monsters, NyLon), Rhiana Yazzie (The Dreaming Bundle, New Native Theatre) and Jon Bernson (When Lighting the Void, Bay Area Playwrights Festival). From 2006 – 2009, she was the resident dramaturg for Bone Orchard, an ensemble-based theatre company in NYC which she co-founded with theatre and film director, Anna Jones Rodriguez.
Roweena is also an independent contractor in film, television and new media: production credits include Art Department Coordinator for Sorry to Bother You (dir. Boots Riley), Location Manager for Appropriate Behavior (dir. Desiree Akhavan), Assistant Director for Glass Chin (dir. Noah Buschel), Script Supervisor for Anyone But Me (dir. Tina Cesa Ward), Production Coordinator for John Leguizamo’s Ghetto Clown (dir. Fisher Stevens), Producer for CC Dances the Go-Go (dir. Erin Buckley), Producer for The Birch Grove (choreographed by Gabrielle Lansner) and most recently, Researcher for Presumed Innocent (Apple TV).
Other professional highlights include working for 59E59 Theaters, Theatre Communications Group, Trisha Brown’s Dance Company, the Playwright’s Foundation and Borderlands Theater.
Roweena is currently digging in archives for a project she is developing on Native American participation in the 1940 movie Arizona and she is also interviewing her colleague Rick Wamer for a volume on Ecodramaturgies for the Routledge Focus on Dramaturgy series, edited by Magda Romanska.