Happy Birthday Mars Rover

HBMR

Happy Birthday Mars Rover
by Preston Choi
Directed by Helen Young 

The Mars Rover sings Happy Birthday to itself as it searches for life on Mars as humans back on Earth search to understand what life is. A medley of snapshots, from cave people naming abstract concepts, bubbles that scream when popped, housewives battling existential dread, cows trying to get to heaven, and the last human on Earth collecting jars of hair. Happy Birthday Mars Rover is a darkly comedic and whimsically morbid attempt to understand the human condition and life itself.

Production dates: 

November 13 | 7:30pm (FREE PREVIEW)
November 14 | 7:30pm (OPENING)
November 15 | 2:00pm & 7:30pm
November 16 | 2:00pm

Run time: 2hr 20mins

Cast

Alex Wilson

Anya Moseke

  • Anya Moseke is a fourth-year undergraduate studying Creative Writing and Art History. She has previously been involved as an actor with University Theatre and The Dean’s Men in Richard III (Queen Margaret) and The Arsonists (Barbara). She has learned so much working on her first TAPS pro-show and looks forward to more opportunities to perform soon! If she was a Mars Rover, her name would undoubtedly be Oxford Comma. 

Arman Olgun

  • Arman Olgun is a junior at the college double majoring in Economics and TAPS. This is his first time acting in a pro-show. As a Martian, he wanted to make sure his home planet was represented accurately. We have his stamp of approval. If he was a Mars Rover, his name would be Jar-ed.

Christine Hignite

  • Christine Hignite is a first year thinking about majoring in TAPS and Linguistics. She’s been doing theater since second grade, but this is her first show at UChicago and she’s so excited to be a part of it and many more! She also writes scripts and does improv with Occam’s Razor. Off the stage, she loves reading, watching movies, and fun little drinks.

Clara Bennett

  • Clara Bennett is a third year TAPS major from Oregon, and she is very excited to be a part of Happy Birthday Mars Rover! During her time here, Clara has acted in the university’s productions of Arcadia and The Wolves, and was heavily involved in props designing for the university and student theater. She was also a member of the Teen Musical Theater of Oregon for six years, acting in shows such as Into the Woods (Stepmother), Footloose (Ethel McKormick), and The Drowsy Chaperone (dance ensemble). She hopes you enjoy the show and have a Mars-velous time!  

Elisa Gao

  • Elisa Gao is a third-year astrophysics and TAPS major. She is most frequently involved in theatre as a designer, with costume design credits including Coppélia, 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, Sylvia, Royal Flush, and Falsettos (asst.), and is currently designing for As Y’all Like It. Her scenic design credits include The Tempest, Troilus and Cressida (asst.), and Royal Flush. She is also a dancer, stager, and the current Creative Director of University Ballet, where she is costuming Giselle and Swan Lake for the upcoming winter and spring productions. Although Enceladus was named in the play as the most likely site for extraterrestrial life, she invites everyone to join her on Team Europa for this debate.

Emma Beane

  • Emma Beane is a third-year physics major. This is her first TAPS Pro Show, and she has had so much fun being a part of this production. Her previous credits include Troilus and Cressida (Cressida) and The Tempest (Prospero), both with the University's RSO, The Dean's Men. She would like to thank the entire, incredible production team, her cast, and her friends and family for always supporting her endeavors. If Emma were a Mars Rover, she would be called 'Bamboozle.'

Margaret Nakiganda

Melanie Azpeitia

  • Melanie Azpeitia is a second-year student majoring in Theater & Performance Studies (TAPS). Born and raised in the Bronx, New York City, she proudly represents the Latino community through her art and performance. A lifelong dancer who also loves musical theater, her passion for dance began at a young age and evolved into a way to tell stories rooted in culture, identity, and emotion, which has helped her dive into exploring acting and character work. She previously performed in the Dance Pro show On the Back of Before in Winter 2025 and is thrilled to make Happy Birthday Mars Rover her second production at UChicago.

Melanie Zhang

  • Melanie Zhang is a third year from Atlanta, GA. At UChicago, she is triple majoring in Law, Letters, and Society; Theater and Performance Studies; and Comparative Literature. Because Mock Trial Team practices always seem to find a way to dominate Melanie's calendar, this is her FIRST play EVER! Melanie is thankful for your support and hopes you enjoy the show! Get ready to go to Mars!

Mia Xue

  • Mia Xue is a master's student majoring in Finance. She holds a minor in Educational Theater from NYU Steinhardt and trained with Stefanie Batten Bland in Concrete Immersive 2025. Her experience spans acting, choreography, stage management, and immersive theater. She has previously worked on Sleep No More Shanghai (Black Mask ASM), NYUSH Reality Show (Stage Manager), Pulse of Belonging and March 22 (Choreographer). She’s thrilled to be part of HBMR - Holy Moo, I get to play a cow! Curiosity leads the way:)

Nina Maxin

  • Nina Maxin is a fourth-year Business Economics and TAPS major. She has previously worked on Mary Poppins (Mary) and co-wrote and directed Coming Home (Danh), an original play. If she were a Mars rover, her name would be N.S.W.D. (New Satellite, Who Dis?).

Creative Team

Helen Young - Director

  • Helen Young is a Chicago-based theatre director and TimeLine Theatre company member. Her TimeLine directing directing credits include BLACK SUNDAY, WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME, THE CHINESE LADY, the virtual program SETTING THE STAGE: THE CHINESE LADY, and TimePieces readings of THE CHINESE LADY and THE PAPER DREAMS OF HARRY CHIN. She also previously served as Associate Director of THE AUDIENCE and Assistant Dramaturg of CHIMERICA. Other directing credits include THE GREAT LEAP (Farmers Alley), WILD BOAR and lead director for NEW CHINA FESTIVAL (Silk Road Rising), AMERICAN HWANGAP and TINY DYNAMITE (A-Squared/Halcyon), and TEA (Prologue). Additional directing credits include work with Remy Bumppo, Lifeline, Strawdog, Artistic Home, Chicago Dramatists, Token, and Goodman. Helen’s upcoming work includes collaborations with Rivendell and Raven. Most recently, she directed Lloyd Suh’s THE HEART SELLERS at Northlight.

Preston Choi - Playwright

  • Preston Choi is a Los Angeles based playwright whose work focuses on social science fiction, Asian-American/mixed race/queer lives, and the horror of being alive. His plays include Happy Birthday Mars Rover (2022 Planet Earth Arts Playwriting Award, 2022 Darrell Ayers Playwriting Award), performing class (2021-2022 NNPN Bridge Program, 2020-2021 Playwrights Realm Scratchpad Series), A Great Migration or The Migratory Patterns of the North American Monarch Butterfly and the Development of Fatherless Sons (2021 Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award, 2019 NNPN National New Play Showcase, 2017 Agnes Nixon Award), and This Is Not A True Story (2018 CAATA ConFest). His plays have been developed with Interact Theatre, Sideshow Theatre, Artist at Play, Silk Road Rising, CAATA, The Passage Theatre, and Our Perspective. He received a BS in Theatre from Northwestern University and an MFA in Playwriting from UC San Diego.

Rasean Davonté Johnson - Scenic & Projection Design

  • Rasean Davonté Johnson is a video artist and designer of scenery, sound, and projections for theatre, film, and installations. With his design studio eightinfinitystudio he has created and co-created such works as A Night of Wonder, A March to Liberation, We Are All In This Together, Living Sculpture, and Passenger. His installation and performance work has been commissioned by or performed at institutions such as the New York Philharmonic, the Beinecke Rare Books Library, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Logan Arts Center, Bay Street Theatre, dfbrl9r, the Columbus International Film Festival, Manual Cinema, Shadowbox Live, and Collaboraction. Theatrical design work includes collaborations with numerous institutions including Steppenwolf Theatre Company, South Chicago Dance Theatre, Chicago Opera Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Timeline Theatre Company, Yale Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Hartford Stage, Cleveland Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, Everyman Theatre, The Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and internationally with The Ningbo Song and Dance Company (China), B-Floor Theatre (Thailand), and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland). For his work as a theatrical designer he has been nominated and awarded the Joseph Jefferson Award, Connecticut Critics Circle Award, the SALT Award, and the Black Theatre Alliance Award. Additionally, he was a part of the the 2017 Opera America Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Showcase in Houston and given the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award in 2018. He received his BA in Theatre from The Ohio State University and his MFA in Design from the Yale School of Drama.

Izumi Inaba - Costume Design

Seojung Jang - Lighting Design

Emily Hayman - Sound Design

  • Emily Hayman is a Chicago-based sound designer and composer. Recent sound design credits include, Little Women (Geva Theatre); Henry V (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Seagulls (Oak Park Festival Theatre); Click Clack Boo, and Leaf (Lifeline Theatre). Associate and assistant design for Revolution(s), and Bust (Goodman Theatre); Ride (The Old Globe); Dream Girls (McCarter Theatre); Winters Tale (Hartford Stage); POTUS, Describe the Night, Choir Boy, and Seagull (Steppenwolf); Richard III, and The Notebook (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre). Emily received her BFA in Sound Design from The Theatre School at DePaul University. 

Isabella Spagnuolo - Choreographer

  • Isabella Spagnuolo is a third year PhD student in TAPS and Classics. She has previously choreographed for Long Island City Ballet, CityStep UChicago, and the Bard College Graduate Vocal Arts Program (The Cunning Little Vixen). She is excited to join this cast and crew in bringing HBMR to life.

Charlie Baker - Fight & Intimacy Direction

Carissa Greene - Stage Manager

  • Carissa Greene is a long time listener, first time caller to the Pro Show and a proud TAPS alumnus. They've worked at Court, Definition, and return to TAPS to manage a show for the first time in their theater career. They'd like to thank Brianna and Devon for trusting them with this opportunity and hope to dive further into stage management in the future.

Student Assistants

Jo Selmeczy - Assistant Director

  • Jo Selmeczy (they/them) is a BA/MA student in their fourth year studying Theater and Performance Studies and Comparative Human Development. Past directing credits include: 35mm: A Musical Exhibition (Spring 2025) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Spring 2024). Other TAPS Pro-Show credits include: Europera 5 (Assistant Projections), on the back of before (Assistant Scenic/Projections), Arcadia (Richard Noakes), The Ballad of Oedipus (A2), and The Wolves (#8). UT/Dean's Men credits include: The Tempest (Dramaturg), If/Then (Props Designer), Falsetto's (Props Designer), Richard III (Stagehand), Twelfth Night (Sebastian), The Laramie Project (Ensemble), and Romeo and Juliet (Romeo). Dance credits include: Coppélia (Board Operator), Apsara Winter Showcase (Sound Designer), and Sylvia (Stagehand). They currently work as the Court Theatre Dramaturgy Intern and act as a co-facilitator for the Court Dramaturgy Cohort alongside Marissa Fenley. If Jo were a Mars Rover, their name would be Tenacity.

Yee Ning Lim - Assistant Scenic Design

  • Yee Ning is a second year Biological Sciences major. Having danced on stage for most of her life, it has been incredibly eye-opening being part of the off-stage magic and she cannot wait for everyone to experience Happy Birthday Mars Rover! 

Josiah Rubio - Assistant Scenic Design

Ky Cruz - Assistant Costume Design

Alasdair Dodd - Assistant Lighting Design

Sam Doepker - Assistant Sound Design

  • Sam is a fourth year computer science major. This is Sam's first TAPS show, but Sam has previously been Sound Designer on University Theater productions of The Tempest, 35MM: A Musical Exhibition, The Arsonists, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Falsettos, and The Laramie Project.

Anoushka Gehani - Assistant Projection Design

Linden Martin - Assistant Technical Director

Kaden Kaden - Lightboard Programmer + Op

Joseph DePaula - Assistant Stage Manager

  • Joseph DePaula is a fourth-year Medieval Studies & History major and TAPS minor. This is his first TAPS Pro Show, though he has acted, directed, stage managed, and production managed in UT, Cup of Theater, and Attori Senza Paura/UChicago Commedia. He serves on the boards of all three organizations as Outreach Chair, Artistic Director, and Production Manager, respectively. He is very thankful to have worked under Carissa Greene, who has been incredibly helpful, professional, and kind throughout this entire production! And he hopes you enjoy the show!

Lucy Whitehead - Dramaturg

Adrian Tan - Run Crew

Daniel Mosoti - Run Crew