Hip-Hop Musical Co-Founders Announces Cast

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) has announced the full cast and creative team for the world premiere hip-hop musical, Co-Founders, running at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater May 29-July 6, with opening night scheduled for June 11.

Created by RyanNicole Austin, Beau Lewis, and Adesha Adefela, Co-Founders is the story of an underrated young Oakland coder, Esata, who hacks her way into the most competitive startup accelerator in San Francisco.

The cast of Co-Founders includes Adesha Adefela as Deb, RyanNicole Austin as Kamaiyah, Jordan Covington as Dhameer, Aneesa Folds (Freestyle Love Supreme) as Esata, Roe Hartrampf (Diana, the Musical) as Conway, Keith Pinto as Victor, Deanalís Arocho Resto as Chadwick, and Tommy Soulati Shepherd as Dadvatar. Understudies are Austin Dean Ashford for Dhameer and Dadvatar, Rolanda D. Bell for Deb and Kamaiyah, B. DeVeaux for Esata, and Ryan Torres for Chadwick, Victor, and Conway.

The creative team includes director Jamil Jude, composer, arranger, orchestrator, and music supervisor Victoria Theodore, beats producer Will Randolph V, choreographer Juel D. Lane, scenic designer Arnel Sancianco, costume designer Jasmine Milan Williams, lighting designer Xavier Pierce, sound designer Connor Wang, projection system designer Frédéric O. Boulay, video content designer David Richardson, and music director Tish Diaz.