Artist Biographies

AMARA JAMES AJA (HEATH)

Amara is making his Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut. His New York appearances include The White Devil (Red Bull Theater) and Tender Napalm (HERE Arts Center). Regionally, Amara has appeared at The Old Globe, Barter Theatre, The Argyle Theatre and Oregon Symphony. On television, he has appeared in Madam Secretary and Search Party. He received his Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of San Diego/Old Globe. amarajamesaja.com and @amarajamesaja on Instagram.

LaTONYA BORSAY (GRACE)

LaTonya is thrilled to be making her Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut. Her New York appearances include The Saintliness of Margery Kempe (The Duke on 42ndStreet), Des Moines (The Flea Theater), The Exonerated (Bleecker Theater) and Civil Sex (The Public Theater). Regionally, LaTonya has played at Yale Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Crossroads Theatre Company and Denver Center. On television, she has appeared in For Life, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Knick, Show Me A Hero, Orange is the New Black, Law & Order-CI and SVU. Her films credits include The Reunion, Sisterhood of Night, Unburden and It Takes Two. She received her Master of Fine Arts from Tisch School of the Arts/New York University. A recipient of the Van Lier and Fox Fellowship, she is also a proud member of The Actors Center in New York. LaTonya dedicates her performance to her mother Iris and daughter Yaania, who are her muses.

BRIAN D. COATS (PEEK)

Brian is pleased to be making his Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut. On Broadway he was a member of the premiere of August Wilson’s Jitney at Manhattan Theatre Club as well as the National Tour. Other New York appearances include On the Levee (LCT3/ Lincoln Center), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Two Gentlemen of Verona (The Public Theater), Travisville (Ensemble Studio Theatre), La Ruta (Working Theater), The Brothers Paranormal (Pan Asian Repertory Theatre), The Bacchae and The First Noel (Classical Theatre of Harlem). Brian has performed lead roles at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Seattle Rep, The Old Globe, Mark Taper Forum, Arena Stage, Cleveland Play House, Denver Center Theatre, Two River Theater, Geva Theatre, Studio Theatre, Huntington Theatre and many other regional houses in the U.S. On television he has appeared in FBI: Most Wanted, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, JAG, Blue Bloods, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Luke Cage and The Blacklist. He graduated from University of North Carolina School of the Arts/ UNCSA in Drama (formerly NCSA). His Instagram handle is @abc4coats.

KEVIN CRISTALDI (ZIEGLAR)

Kevin is pleased to return to Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, where he appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird. New York credits include (A)loft Modulation (the american vicarious), A Peregrine Falls (Loading Dock Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Masterworks Theater Company), A Dish for the Gods (The Lion Theatre), Message to Michael (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater) and The Dirty Talk (Center Stage). Regional credits include When I Come to Die (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), The Exonerated (Florida Studio Theatre), Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Schoolhouse Theater), An Actor’s Carol (Cape May Stage), Uncle Vanya: Scenes from a Jersey Life (Hudson

Theatre Works), Eddie Legs (Lillian Theatre, L.A.), The Miser (Hartford Stage), The Importance of Being Earnest (Two River Theater), Hamlet (Arden Theatre Company, Philadelphia) and The Last Station (Vermont Stage). On TV he has appeared in The Blacklist, Numbers, Medium, The Unit, raced his bike around town on Gilmore Girls, shot the bad guy on Criminal Minds and tried valiantly to save Buffy’s mom on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

SHANELLE LEONARD (CHLOE)

Shanelle is so excited to be making her Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut. She is a recent graduate student from University of North Carolina’s masters acting program. Her regional theater credits include Pride and Prejudice, Skeleton Crew, Dot, My Fair Lady, Tartuffe and Jump (Playmakers Repertory Company). On TV she has appeared on two episodes of Hulu’s Shrill. Shanelle is extremely thankful for the opportunity to perform in live theatre again. She would like to dedicate her performance to all the artists and creatives who continue to push forward in spite of what it looks like! Visit shanellenicoleactor.com and follow on Instagram @ShanelleNicole1.

KEITH JOSEF ADKINS (PLAYWRIGHT)

Keith is a playwright and a screenwriter. The world premiere of his play Safe House was produced at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in 2014. His play The People Before the Park (about Seneca Village), recently had a run at his alma-mater the University of Iowa. Keith’s other plays include A Refugee in Detroit, Pitbulls, The Final Daze, Sugar and Needles and The Last Saint on Sugar Hill. He’s been produced Off-Broadway and at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Aurora Theatre in Berkeley, among others. He was recently commissioned by the Apollo Theater in New York City to help curate their inaugural season at their new Victoria Theater. Keith’s the recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, Samuel French’s Award for Impact and Activism in the Theater Community, National Black Theater’s Teer Spirit Award as well as the Duncanson Residency at Taft Museum. He is also the artistic director of The New Black Fest, a 10-year-old theater organization committed to fostering insurgent voices from the African Diaspora. Keith’s TV credits include P-Valley on Starz, Netflix’s Outer Banks, ABC’s For The People and The Good Fight on CBS. He’s currently writing a sci-fi TV pilot for JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot and recently sold a TV project with Don Cheadle/Steven Soderbergh. His feature film project with Gamechanger Films/Amazon will be released later this year.

NICOLE A. WATSON (DIRECTOR)

Nicole is an associate artist at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and directed Daniel Beaty’s Mr. Joy here in 2017. She is the Associate Artistic Director at the McCarter Theatre Center and the former AAD of Round House Theatre. She is also a freelance director and educator with an interest in new play development and plays that deal with the past. A former history teacher, Nicole works in universities and theatres throughout the US. Most recently she produced a digital festival celebrating the work of Adrienne Kennedy and directed Kennedy’s She Brought Her Heart Back in a Box for that festival. She has worked with New Dramatists, The Lark Play Development Center, The Fire this Time Festival, The New Black Fest, the Women’s Project Theater, the 52nd Street Project, Signature Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Ashland

New Plays Festival, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Playwrights’ Center and Working Theater. Select credits include School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (Round House Theatre and winner of Best Ensemble, Best Supporting Artist, Helen Hayes Awards), Lynn Nottage’s Sweat (Asolo Repertory Theatre) Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew (Baltimore Center Stage) and Colman Domingo’s Dot (PlayMakers Repertory Company). Nicole is a 2013 Drama League Directing Fellow and the 2011 recipient of the League of Professional Theatre Women’s Josephine Abady Award, a New Georges affiliated artist, an alum of both the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and the Women’s Project Directors Lab, and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). BA: History, Yale. MA: NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study. nicoleawatson.com

LAWRENCE E. MOTEN III (SET DESIGNER)

Lawrence (he/him/his) is thrilled to be making his Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut. Most recently, his design work was seen on Broadway with Chicken and Biscuits. He was also the Broadway Associate to Rachel Hauk on What the Constitution Means to Me and assisted on Hadestown. Other New York productions include STEW with Page 73 Productions (Henry Hewes Design Nominee), Behind the Sheet at Ensemble Studio Theatre and both How to Load a Musket and The White Chip at 59E59 Theaters. Regionally his work has been seen at American Conservatory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Woolly Mammoth, TheaterWorks Hartford and Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Lawrence is a lecturer of Theater at Princeton University and an Adjunct at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. He is a proud member of Local USA 829 and Wingspace Theatrical Design. BFA: Ithaca college. @motendesigns

SARITA FELLOWS (COSTUME DESIGNER) Sarita’s selected New York credits include SOCIAL! the social distance dance club (Park Avenue Armory); A Bright Room Called Day (The Public Theater); Native Son (The Acting Company); Original Sound (Cherry Lane Theatre); Hatef**k (Women’s Project Theater); Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale and Measure for Measure (New York Classical Theatre); A Chronicle of the Death of Two Worlds (New York Theatre Workshop); Fur, MUD, Prospect and Fabuloso! (Boundless Theatre Company). Her regional credits include Seize the King (Alliance Theatre ); Top Girls and Her Portmanteau (American Conservatory Theater); The Royale (Arizona Theatre Company); Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Signature Theatre); Pipeline (Studio Theatre); School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (Pittsburgh Public Theater); The Haunted Life (Merrimack Repertory Theatre); Two Trains Running (Weston Playhouse); Berta Berta and A Late Morning with Ronald Reagan (Contemporary American Theater Festival); Having Our Say (Philadelphia Theatre Company). Lecturer: Princeton University. Associate Professor: NYU@ Playwrights. MFA: NYU/Tisch.

PORSCHE McGOVERN (LIGHTING DESIGNER) Porsche designed Skeleton Crew and We Are Proud to Present... (PlayMakers Repertory Company), The Thanksgiving Play (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), A Single Shard (People’s Light and Theatre Company) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). In New York, she designed Mothers (The Playwrights Realm), Ghetto Babylon (Dramatic Question Theatre), many shows with Spookfish Theatre Company, among others. She has an MFA from

California Institute for the Arts and a BA from St. Lawrence University. She is pleased to have served on the TCG Programming council (2017-18) and the USA829 Diversity Committee (Nov. 2015 - June 2020). She is currently serving on the Local USA 829 Executive Board. Porsche is the author of the HowlRound series, “Who Designs & Directs in LORT Theatres by Pronoun.” She is a frequent panelist, speaker and facilitator at regional and national events for conversations on diversity and social justice in theatre. She has been honored to attend the artEquity National Facilitation Training 2016, the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute Immersion NYC and the Emergent Strategy Facilitation Training, among others.

PAUL JAMES PRENDERGAST (COMPOSER/SOUND DESIGNER) Paul is making his Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut. His Broadway credits include All The Way, The Great Society and Julius Caesar. Regional theatre credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival (25 productions), La Jolla Playhouse, Guthrie Theater, American Conservatory Theater, American Repertory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Geffen Playhouse, People’s Light, Hartford Stage, California Shakespeare Theater, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Great Lakes Theater and Arizona Theatre Company. Paul is a former ensemble member of Cornerstone Theater Company. His theme park credits include Universal Studios, Disney and Knott’s Berry Farm. His museum credits include J. Paul Getty, Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Autry National Center. His dance credits include Diavolo Dance Theatre, Momix and Parsons Dance. Accolades include Grammy and Drama Desk nominations, and he is the recipient of Broadway World, Ovation, Drama-Logue, Garland, Gregory, Footlight and Gypsy awards. Paul’s work as a singer/songwriter has been featured in films, on recordings, and in music venues nationwide.

STEPHANIE KLAPPER, CSA (CASTING DIRECTOR)

Stephanie is thrilled to continue her 10th season of collaboration with Blake Robison and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Select shows she has cast for the Playhouse are Once on This Island, Alias Grace, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Thanksgiving Play, Two Trains Running and Cincinnati King. Her award-winning work is frequently seen on Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally, on film, television and streaming media. She is dedicated to continuing to expand and champion diversity, equity and inclusion in the business. Connecting creative, caring people to each other to make extraordinary things happen is amongst Stephanie’s greatest joys. She is passionate about arts education and working with creative teams to develop new work and expand the scope of established work. She is a member of the National Board of the Casting Society of America, Casting Society Cares and New York Women in Film.

BRANDON T. HOLMES (STAGE MANAGER)

Brandon is excited to return Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, having worked as a stage management intern during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. For the past eight seasons, he was the Production Stage Manager for Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati where he managed over 40 productions. Highlights with ETC include Fun Home, The Mountaintop, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Iliad, Grounded, Violet, Pipeline, The Humans, Skeleton Crew and Hands on a Hardbody. During the summers, he works with The Lexington Theatre Company where he has

stage managed productions of A Chorus Line, The Music Man, Legally Blonde, West Side Story and Newsies. He has stage managed other regional productions including Hello, Dolly!, The Drowsy Chaperone and Side By Side by Sondheim (LOOK Musical Theatre); Red, White & Broadway, Golden: MTWichita at 50 (Music Theatre Wichita); and workshops with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and Cleveland Play House. Brandon is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. He would like to thank his family, friends and A.J. for their continued love and support.

ANDREA L. SHELL

(SECOND STAGE MANAGER) Andrea is excited to be celebrating her 21st season with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, having worked on more than 90 productions, including 20 world premieres. This season, she takes the reins of the department, succeeding Jenifer Morrow as the Production Stage Manager. A highlight of every season for her is stage managing A Christmas Carol. Favorite Playhouse credits include Alias Grace; The Last Wide Open; The Roommate; Treasure Island; Be Here Now; Mr. Joy; Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End; Jane Eyre; Disgraced; Bad Dates; The Revolutionists; I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti; The North Pool; Merrily We Roll Along; As You Like It; Behind the Eye; The Understudy; Blackbird; Durango; Around the World in 80 Days; Altar Boyz; Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming; Reckless; Ace; The Clean House; A Picasso; One; Abracadabra (2002-2007); The Bible … (abridged); and Dark Paradise. She has also stage managed at Dallas Theater Center, The Old Globe, Cincinnati Ballet, Alliance Theatre, The Second City, and Ingenuity Festival of Cleveland. In 2014, Andrea joined the adjunct faculty of Xavier University’s Theatre Program, and in 2018, she became a contributor for Dramatics.org, writing backstage articles for their online content. Andrea is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. She would like to thank her family, friends, Dylan and Scott for their unending support.

BROOKE REDLER

(SECOND STAGE MANAGER) See bio on page 40.