Cast & Crew
 Sheila O'Malley (Mrs. Millwoood) received her Masters in
Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Regional credits: Virginia
Woolf in Virginia at Cloud 42 (Chicago), Sharla in Killer Joe at
Kitchen Theatre (Ithaca, NY), Hannah in James Agee's A Death in the Family with
Street Signs (Chicago), and Anna Bonaparte in Cactus Theatre's production of Golden
Boy (Chicago). New York credits include: Mary Ann in Cannibals with
Nerve Theatre, Jackie in Billy Aronson's The Art Room with Turbulence
Theatre, and Betsy in The Swingset with Word of Mouth Productions. The
Darkling Plain , a film Sheila appeared in, was screened at the Montreal
Film Festival, as well as the Salon de Refuseé Festival, and was also
nominated for a Blizzard award. Sheila has also written a one-woman show
entitled "74 Facts and One Lie", which she has performed in various New York
venues.
 Joe Rayome (Paul) is proud to make his New York theatre debut
with Phoenix Theatre Ensemble and Broken Journey. Joe holds
a degree in Theatre from Northern Michigan University and has continued his
training under the guidance of Austin Pendleton at HB Studio and Caymichael
Patten. Previous shows include Our Town , Picasso at the
Lapin Agile , The Laramie Project , and Romeo and Juliet . Thanks
to my friends and family for your continued support.
 Craig Smith (Troy/Phoenix Founder) is a veteran of over
200 New York stage productions--everything from Sophocles to Stoppard. He was
one of the original ensemble members of New York's prestigious Jean Cocteau
Repertory and made that his home for more than 3 decades. There he took on
such roles as Hamlet, Romeo , Wyoceck, Sigismundo ( Life is a
Dream ), Mr. Albatross ( The Skin of Our Teeth ), Estragon (in
the Cocteau's celebrated production of Waiting for Godot ), Bloody
Five ( A Man's a Man ), Davies ( The Caretaker ) among others.
He created the role of August in the world premiere of Tennessee Williams' Something
Cloudy, Something Clear and Philoctetes in the New York premiere of Seamus
Heaney's The Cure at Troy . Previous to Jean Cocteau Repertory
he appeared in Oedipus and A Midsummer Night's Dream at
The Guthrie Theatre. At Cocteau Repertory he also served as Director of Audience
Development and Press Relations for more than 10 years. He has also appeared
in films including BlowBack and Going Nomad and a recurring
role in the daytime drama The Guiding Light. Last season he appeared as The
Advocate in Phoenix Theatre Ensemble's inaugural production of The Trial .
A firm believer in the power of live theatre to have an impact on life and
also the essential power to simply entertain -- theatre work at the collaborative
Phoenix Theatre Ensemble is a natural next step.
 Elise Stone (Chloe/Phoenix Founder) is a founding member
of Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, and a former member of the resident acting company
of the Jean Cocteau Repertory. Elise has performed in over one hundred productions
over two decades on the New York stage, including critically acclaimed World
and American premiers. Some favorite roles include Mother Courage ( Mother
Courage) , Medea ( Medea) , Lulu ( The First Lulu) ,
Mary Stuart ( Mary Stuart ), and Ellida ( Lady from the
Sea) . Other credits include regional theatre, television, film, and cabaret.
With a deep belief in the value of long-term collaborative relationships, and
the power of art to change the world one story at a time, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble
was born in Elise's heart. Endless love and thanks to the Reverend Sandy Stone
for being there so lovingly and completely in every way - you are simply the
best!
 Michael Surabian (André/Phoenix Founder) received
his BFA from Hofstra University in 1990 and his Master of Fine Arts Degree
from the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Delaware
in 1995. Since graduating, he has worked regionally as an actor, director and
writer at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, the Texas Shakespeare Festival and
a number off-Broadway and off-off Broadway theatres, including The Accidental
Theatre, SoHo Rep, the Metropolitan Playhouse, and The Jean Cocteau Rep. Thanks
to Pam, Rich, Al, Deb, Matt, Kim, Rita, Humberto, Sarah and the countless other
friends and family members who support me everyday in this venture. And to
the teachers who have made a profound difference: J. Walker, S. Tague, R. Mason,
R. Weiner, E. Aden, D. Kaplan, L. Reidel, S. Robbins, S. Sweeney, J. Kolb,
P. Sander and L. Perrett.
 Glyn Maxwell (Playwright) of Welwyn Garden City, England,
has lived in the USA since 1997. His books of poetry include The Breakage , The
Nerve and Time's Fool, all of which were New York Times Notable
Books of the Year. His latest book The Sugar Mile will be staged at
the 92nd St Y in May 2006 . He has won several prizes for his poetry,
including the E.M.Forster Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
His plays include The Lifeblood (Riverside Studio and Edinburgh Festival
2005: Scotsman 5-star review, British Theatre Guide's 'Best
Play on the Fringe'), Wolfpit (Edinburgh Festival 1996, Scotsman 5-star
review) and Broken Journey (Hen & Chickens, Time Out Critics'
Choice 1999). His first play staged in New York was The Forever Waltz ,
which played at the WorkShop Theater in spring 2005 and transferred to the
Edinburgh Festival. He is the Poetry Editor of The New Republic and
teaches at NYU.
Ted Altschuler (Director) Opera at: New York City Opera,
Santa Fe Opera, Rode Hoode (Amsterdam) and Juilliard, where he taught for nine
years. Plays include: the long-running, award-winning Virginia (Cloud 42, Chicago), On The Verge , The
Road To The Graveyard , Hot Fudge , Icarus's Mother , Play
With Repeats and The Glass Menagerie . Former Artistic
Director and founding member of Clavis Theater Ensemble, Milwaukee. Currently:
Associate Director of Mint Theater Company. Recent projects have included:
an opera of Poe's A Tell Tale Heart , Georgia O'Keefe x Catherine
Rodgers . Upcoming: For the Living and the Dead , a music theater
work created from the poems of TomasTranstroemer.
Amy Domjan (Assistant Lighting Designer) originally hails
from Los Angeles. She is the resident lighting designer for the LA based
Asian-American comedy troupe Propergander and has lit their productions of Fertilizing
Eggy, A Burning Thing, and Everybody Dies . She is also the summer-stock
master electrician for the Lizardhead Theatre Company in Telluride, Colorado
and recently designed Tape at the Kraine Theatre.
Joshua John Frachiseur (Technical Director) is currently
a professor of theatre for West Virginia University, where he serves as instructor,
production manager, and technical direction supervisor. He spends summers
working as Assistant Technical Director for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Other
technical work includes tour technical director for Arkansas Repertory Theatre's Romeo
and Juliet ,
which was part of the NEA's Shakespeare in American Communities Initiative,
and properties and scenic crews for As the World Turns. Josh has also
served as publicity and archival photographer for numerous theatre companies
and designers including the Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre, the Handcart Ensemble,
Idaho Shakespeare Festival, and West Virginia University. Photographic Credits
include publication in The New York Times, Time Out New York, and New York
Magazine. Josh holds an MFA in Technical Production from West Virginia University.
Nicole Frachiseur (Costume Designer) is thrilled to
be a part of another production with this wonderful community of artists with
previous involvement in The Trial as assistant costume designer. Other
recent design credits include: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the
Forum and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change with the Idaho
Shakespeare Festival, The Maids and Medea with Jean Cocteau
Repertory, Ordet with The Handcarte Ensemble and Gianni Schicchi and The
Music Shop with The Juilliard Opera Theatre. Nicole has an MFA from West
Virginia University.
Tony Mulanix (Lighting Designer) has designed extensively
off Broadway. Recent credits include: Echo System:Action Station II - The
Desert (Carnegie Mellon), Lucie de Lammermoor ( ALD/Glimmerglass
Opera & Boston Lyric Opera), Belle Epoque (ALD/Mitzi E. Newhouse
Theater, Lincoln Center), The Trial (Phoenix Theatre Ensemble), The
Merchant of Venice, Medea (Jean Cocteau Repertory), The Good Faith,
What Happened to Me (La Mama ETC) , The Skin of Our Teeth (evidEnce
room, LA), Happy Birthday Wanda June (Actors Gang, LA), Elegies (The
Canon Theatre, LA), Station Abyss, All's Well That Ends Well, Blood
Wedding, The Good Person of Szechwan, (CalArts), and Laude in Urbis (Compagnia
de' Columbaria, Forli, Italy).
Alexis Powell (Assistant Stage Manager) is a recent graduate
of Sarah Lawrence College, where the majority of her theatrical life was spent
performing in plays and readings, writing, directing and performing in children's
theatre productions and collaborating with an improv/sketch comedy troupe.
Alexis also tried her hand at directing and this past spring had the pleasure
of directing Craig Smith in an adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. Alexis
is very excited to be involved with Broken Journey, her first Phoenix Theatre
Ensemble production.
J. Scott Reynolds (Dramaturg) is honored to participate
in the American premiere of Broken Journey . He is Artistic
Director of Handcart Ensemble, with whom he has directed, translated,
and adapted numerous works, including Racine's Andromache ,
Balzac's The Wild Ass's Skin (verse adapation of the novel published
in Plays & Playwrights 2002 ), Goldoni's The Mistress
of the Inn , and Munk's/Dreyer's Ordet . This spring he
will produce two plays by WB Yeats.
Elizabeth Rhodes (Sound Designer) New York theatre includes
the premieres of John Patrick Shanley's SAILOR SONG and DIRTY STORY, Steve
Martin's adaptation of THE UNDERPANTS and THE WINTER'S TALE with dir. Barry
Edelstein at Classic Stage Company. Other New
York Credits include THE TEMPEST with dir. Victor Maog; Robert Glaudini's DUTCH
HEART OF MAN, MEMOIR and Erin Cressida Wilson's TRAIL OF HER INNER THIGH
with LAByrinth; HAMLET, BLOOD IN THE SINK and THE EROTICA PROJECT with dir.
John Gould Rubin; last year's Annual Summer Show at Ellis Island
and JOURNEY THEATRE with dir. Marcy Arlin at Immigrant's Theatre Project. Regionally
she designed Lee Blessing's THE WINNING STREAK at George Street Playhouse,
STONES IN HIS POCKETS at the Alley Theatre in Houston, and three seasons at
The Penguin Repertory Company.
Narelle Sissons (Set Designer) Broadway: All My Son's at
The Roundabout. Off B'way; the Pulitzer Prize winning How I Learned
To Drive , original production at The Century Center. Also, Stop
Kiss , In The Blood , Kit Marlowe and Julius Caesar (Delacorte), Dutch
Heart of Man all at the Public Theater /NYSF. Our Lady of 121st Street at
the Union Square Theatre and Jesus Hopped the A Train directed
by Philip Seymour Hoffman at LAByrinth. At Classic Stage Company; The
Winter's Tale , Iphegenia and Other Daughters , Entertaining
Mr. Sloane (Drama Desk nomination), Therese Raquin and The
Misanthrope with Uma Thurman (American Theater Wing nomination for design).
Also designs for New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, The Acting
Company, Soho Rep and others. Regional and International includes: Jesus Hopped
The A Train directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman at the Edinburgh Festival
2001, Donmar Warehouse, and West End, London. The Doll House directed
by Lee Breuer at St Anne's Warehouse, The Ibsen Festival Oslo, Norway and a
current European tour. The Syringa Tree at Vienna's English Speaking
Theatre, Austria and Frankfurt in 2006. The Increased Difficulty of Concentration and The
Party , London Fringe. Also, Williamstown Theatre Festival, As
You Like It with Gwyneth Paltrow, New York Stage and Film, ACT Seattle, SideMan (Back
Stage West Award), Mark Taper Forum. Steppenwolf. Current or recent productions
include Dedication at Primary Stages and The Doll House Spoleto
Festival 2005.
Amy Wagner (Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be
working with the Phoenix again. Amy stage-managed the Phoenix productions
of The Trial and The Pub Plays , and directed the benefit
performance of Under Milk Wood earlier this year. Amy has worked
for many years throughout New York City as a director, stage manager, and technician. In
a past life, she served as General Manager and Associate Director of Development
at Jean Cocteau Repertory. Amy is also a former high school English teacher. She
would like to thank her Phoenix family and congratulate them on the start of
their second season.
J. Steven White (Fight Director) fight choreography is currently
featured in the musical version of The Color Purple on Broadway as
well as Hamlet for the Classic Stage Company and the McCarter Theater's
production of Gem of the Ocean . Last season on Broadway, he
was proud to work on the Tony-nominated production of The Pillowman . Also,
last season, his fights were seen in the New Group's production of Hurlyburly ,
Playwrights Horizons' On The Mountain , and People Be Heard ,
and The Theater For A New Audience's Coriolanus . Additional
Broadway credits are Bombay Dreams , the Roundabout's After the
Fall , A View from the Bridge , and A Lion in Winter . For
the Roundabout, he has staged fights for 10 shows and 18 productions for the
New York Shakespeare Festival. Mr. White is currently on the faculties
of Columbia University's Theater MFA track, the Graduate Acting Program at
NYU, and the Stella Adler Studio where he is also the Business Manager.
Back to top
|
