John Lenartz* (Joseph K) is honored to be included in Phoenix Theatre Ensemble's inaugural production, and to be reunited with many talented friends, including his eighth collaboration with the estimable Eve Adamson. Selected credits include: Macbeth (Macbeth), National Shakespeare Company; Henry V (Henry), Texas Shakespeare Festival; The Grapes of Wrath (Jim Casy), Arkansas Repertory; To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus), Hangar Theatre; The Idiot (Myshkin), Manhattan Ensemble Theatre. Much love to Bob & Patty who made this possible.
Karen Case Cook* (The Laundress, Bank Em-ployee) received a 2004 Best Actress Nomination, New Jersey Theatre, Vivian Bearing (Wit). NY/Regional Theatre: Jean Cocteau, Arkansas Rep, Barter, Oasis, DJM Productions, Oldcastle, Public Theatre (ME), NJ Shakespeare Festival, Women's Theater Company of NJ. Other favorite roles: Emilia (Othello), Lubov Andreyevna Ranevsky (The Cherry Orchard), Frankie (Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune) and Elsa Barlow (The Road to Mecca). Karen is thrilled and grateful to be with Phoenix Theatre Ensemble for their inaugural production.
Jason Crowl (Titorelli, Bank Employee) was a company member at the Jean Cocteau Repertory for five years. Prior to that, he was in the company at Pendragon Theatre in Saranac Lake, New York. Favorite roles include Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, Wagner in Night & Day, Melchior in On The Razzle and Dracula in Dracula. He is a founding member of Phoenix Theatre Ensemble.
Jolie Garrett* (Wilhelm the Guard, Important Client, Bank Employ-ee): NYC credits include Domingo in Don Carlos (Prospect Theatre), Ben in Freedom Train (Theatreworks USA), Lampito in Lysistrata, Montjoy in Henry V, Delroy in Sus, Mageeba in Night and Day, Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice, Jason in Medea (Jean Cocteau Repertory), Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (Gorilla Rep) and Philoctetes in The Cure at Troy (Blue Heron). Regional: The Shakespeare Theatre of Washington, D.C., Arena Stage and Shenandoah Shakespeare.
Angela Madden (Miss Burstner, Little Girl) is a former member of the Jean Cocteau Repertory, where she performed in thirteen productions. Angela studied in Houston, Texas, at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and with Stella Adler in New York. Working consistently with mostly ensemble repertory theater companies confirms her belief and faith in the necessity and importance of ensemble work. Being part of the creation of Phoenix has been a long time dream come true--artistic freedom-- Lovely.
Douglas McKeown (Elegant Gentle-man, Block, Bank Employee) joined the Jean Cocteau Repertory as an actor for their 1976-77 season and went on to design and/or direct many productions there over the years. He is the director and screenwriter of the cult sci-fi horror film The Deadly Spawn (1983), recently restored and released on DVD (2004). His forthcoming anthology, Queer Stories for Boys (March, 2005; Thunder's Mouth Press), is derived from the New York storytelling workshop, of which he is long-time facilitator.
Matt Neely (The Torturer, The Student, Bank Employee, A Client, The Chaplain): New York theatre: Stu and Ray (New Georg-es), Spare Change (Young Minds Productions), Linked (Hypothetical Theatre Co.), Not In Front of the Baby (Assembly Productions), Unreal City (Epiphany Theater Co.), Sex and Other Collisions (Assembly Productions), Marriage (HERE), The Heart of a Dog (NY International Fringe Festival), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Access Theater), The Curvature of The Earth (Ohio Theater), Gladiators or Kamikazes (Vital Theatre), Hunter and the Irish Giant (Irish Arts Center), Twelfth Night (Expanded Arts). In addition to theater, Matt has produced and acted in several movies including the feature Today Will Be Yesterday Tomorrow (New York International Film and Digital Video Festival) and the shorts "Marcy and Shea" (Woodstock Film Festival), and "The Grass That's Never Green." Matt holds an MFA in acting from Carnegie Mellon and the Moscow Art Theater, as well as a BS in theatre from Skidmore College.
Jason O'Connell* (Franz the Guard, The Chief Clerk, A Client) is proud to be involved in the inaugural production of the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble. Previous work with director Eve Adamson includes the title role in Hamlet at the Texas Shakespeare Festival and the role of Chris Keller in the Arkansas Repertory Theatre's production of All My Sons. Most recently, Jason appeared in Ten Unknowns at the Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota (where he will return in January for a production of The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?), played Richard III at the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival (where he has been invited back to tackle the role of Iago next summer), and, as a stand-up comic, headlined at Caroline's Comedy Club on Broadway. Thanks again to Eve, Michael, Craig, Elise, Angela and Jason C.
Carolyn Ratteray* (Leni, Little Girl) is honored to be a part of this production by the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble. After graduation from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, favorite roles have included Juliet in Romeo and Juliet with Shenandoah Shakespeare, Nicole in the Jean Cocteau Rep's production of The Bourgeois Gentleman and Vera from the one woman show The Dark Kalamazoo. Shanti!
Craig Smith* (The Advocate, Waiting Person) is a veteran of over 200 New York stage productions 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 three decades. There he took on such roles as Hamlet, Romeo, Woyzeck, Sigismundo (Life is a Dream), Mr. Albatross (The Skin of Our Teeth), Vladimir (Waiting for Godot), Bloody Five (A Man's a Man) and Davies (The Caretaker) among others. 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 ten years. He has also appeared in films, including Blowback and Going Nomad, and had a recurring role in the daytime drama The Guiding Light. He is a firm believer in the power of live theatre to have an impact on life and also the essential power to simply entertain; theatre at the collaborative Phoenix Theatre Ensemble is a natural next step.
Dan Snow* (The Inspector, The Judge) recently concluded a six-state tour as Prince Escalus in an NEA-sponsored production of Romeo and Juliet. Other touring credits include King Duncan in American Players Theatre's production of Macbeth, Florida Shakespeare Festival's Romeo and Juliet as Friar Lawrence and eight seasons with the National Shakespeare Company in such roles as Othello, Prospero, Shylock, Julius Caesar and King Lear, directed by Eve Adamson.
Elise Stone* (Mrs. Grubach, The Young Girl, Little Girl) is an artist deeply committed to theatre as a collaborative ensemble art form and creating an artistic home for theatre artists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines. During nearly two decades as a member of the resident acting company of the Jean Cocteau Repertory, she performed in over one hundred productions, including world and American premieres. Some favorite roles include Mother Courage, Medea, Lulu and Mary Stuart. Other credits include regional theatre, television, film and cabaret. She wishes to thank her family for teaching her what joy, love and courage really mean. With a deep belief in the power of art to change the world one story at a time, and the ability of artists to be decision-makers, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble was born in Elise's heart.
Antonio Edwards Suarez* (The Dep-uty Manager, The Bailiff): New York credits: John Guare's Chaucer in Rome at Lincoln Center; Waiting for Godot at Chashama; Richard III at The Sargent Theatre; Soho Repertory; National Black Theater of Harlem; Milk Can Theatre Company. Regional venues: Cincinnati Playhouse; St. Louis Repertory Theatre; American Repertory Theatre; Moscow Art Theatre (Russia). TV: Law & Order. Training: BFA, Marymount Manhattan College; MFA, ART/Moscow Art Theatre at Harvard University.
Michael Surabian (The Uncle, Bank Employee, A Client) has worked regionally as an actor, director and writer at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Texas Shakespeare Festival and a number of New York theatres, including the Accidental Theatre, SoHo Rep and the Jean Cocteau Rep, in plays ranging from The Merchant of Venice, Small Craft Warnings and The Importance of Being Earnest to The Wild Duck, Oedipus and Dona Rosita. BFA, Hofstra University; MFA, Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Delaware.
Eve Adamson (Director) has directed over one hundred classical and twentieth-century plays. She created Jean Cocteau Repertory in 1971 and was its Artistic Director until 1989. Active in international cultural exchange, she has traveled extensively in Eastern and Western Europe, the former USSR, South America, and Asia as a US theatre representative; directed in Russia and Korea; and hosted residencies of theatre artists from Russia, Poland, Den-mark, and England. She was a co-founder of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York and served for twelve years on its Board of Directors. She has also served on the theatre panel of the New York State Council on the Arts and has been actively involved with the International Theatre Institute. Since her resignation from Jean Cocteau Repertory she has worked nationally and internationally as a freelance director and lighting designer.
Robert Klingelhoefer (Scenic Designer) has been the resident designer at Lancaster, PA's Fulton Opera House since 1988, designing over one hundred productions, including a recent world premiere adaptation of The French Lieutenant's Woman. In New York, he has been resident designer for the Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre and Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, where his design for Cambodia Agonistes toured the U.S. and internationally to Egypt and South Africa. His work has been seen regionally and at universities across the country.
Margaret A. McKowen (Costume Designer): Her designs have been seen in Brazil, China and Europe. New York credits include over fifteen productions for the Jean Cocteau Repertory; costume/lighting for Pendragon Theatre including the world premiere Amber Patches, starring Julie Harris. Regional theatres: Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Tennessee Repertory, Texas Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Shakespeare Festival; costume/lighting design for the world premiere opera Wuornos at the Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco; and a national tour for the NEA program Shakespeare in the American Communities. Margaret is the chair and an associate professor at West Virginia University.
Nicole Frachiseur (Assistant Costume Designer) is thrilled to be part of this talented community of artists as they embark on this new adventure. Previously she assisted Ms. McKowen at the Jean Cocteau Repertory on the productions Lysistrata, Dona Rosita and The Wild Duck. Her own costume design credits include New York: Gianni Schicchi, The Music Shop (Juilliard Opera Theatre), Ordet (Handcart Ensemble) and regionally: I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Idaho Shakespeare Festival and the Blowing Rock Stage Company), Private Lives, Camping with Henry and Tom (Blowing Rock Stage Co.). Nicole has her MFA from West Virginia University.
Ellen Mandel (Music and Sound Designer) has composed music for Medea, On the Razzle, Lulu, Hamlet, Major Barbara, Travesties, The Wild Duck and many others for the Jean Cocteau Repertory in New York. She has composed music for the Asolo (Sarasota, FL) productions of Twelfth Night and Peter Pan, and for the Peterborough Players (NH), Riverside Shakespeare (NYC), Boarshead Theatre (Lansing, MI), Arkansas Rep, Tennessee Rep and Riverside Theater (Vero Beach FL). Ms. Mandel has written five film scores and performs around NYC with her jazz quintet. She has released two CDs: Every Play's an Opera, a collection of her theatre music, and a wind has blown the rain away, her e.e. cummings songs.
Tony Mulanix (Lighting Designer) has designed extensively off Broadway. Recent credits include Belle Epoque (assistant lighting designer/Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center), 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), All's Well That Ends Well, Blood Wedding, The Good Person of Szechwan, Three Sisters (CalArts) and Laude in Urbis (Compagnia de' Columbaria, Forli, Italy). Mulanix has worked on more than twenty productions with Eve Adamson at Jean Cocteau Repertory. The Trial continues his ongoing collaboration with Adamson. He holds a master of fine arts degree from California Institute of the Arts.
