THEATER DEPARTMENT CORNISH COLLEGE OF THE ARTS
www.cornish.edu/theater Phone: (206) 726-5042
SUMMER 2015 CORNISH THEATER HIGHLIGHTS What’s Happening and What to Look Forward To… SEATTLE THEATER At Seattle Repertory Theatre, Emily Chisholm TH 2004 and MJ Sieber TH 2001 (both pictured below) will be performing in Pulitzer Prize-winner Outside Mullingar by John Patrick Shanley, April 24- May 17.
Intiman Theater’s upcoming season boasts a strong Cornish presence in its company. The world premiere of John Baxter is a Switch-Hitter features Riley Shanahan TH 2014 in the title role, Jasmine Sim TH 2015, John Farrage TH 1990 and Drew Combs TH 2014. Intiman’s Children’s Hour, directed by faculty member Sheila Daniels, will feature Lanise Shelley TH 2004, Hannah Mootz TH 2011 and Jasmine Sim TH 2015, with interns Maya Burton TH 2016, Becca Love TH 2016, Meghan Dolbey TH 2016 and Te Yelland TH 2016. Rafael Molina TH 2016 is the assistant director. ACT Theatre’s production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof features dialect coaching by Alyssa Keene TH 2000, stage combat by Theater faculty member Geof Alm, and the assistant director /dramaturg is Victoria McNaughton TH 2015. It plays through May 17. Connor Toms TH 2001 reprised his much-praised ACT performance in The Invisible Hand at Portland’s Artists Repertory Theatre, and then joined the company of Seattle Children’s Theatre’s Robin Hood, playing April 16-May 17. Hans Altwies TH 1996 plays Robin. Book-It Repertory Theatre’s production of Little Bee (based on the celebrated novel by Chris Cleave) features Kaila Towers TH 2012 in the cast. It plays April 22-May 17. Coming up after that from Book-It is an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, with Rory Eaden TH 2015, Jason Salazar TH 2015 and Riley Shanahan TH 2014 in the company. That runs from June 9 – July 3. Andy Buffelen TH 2010 is in H.P. Lovecraft: Standup Comedian, playing April 28-May 13 at Annex Theatre. Also at Annex this summer: Bunnies by Keiko Green is directed by Pamala Mijatov TH 1999, choreographed by Noah Duffy TH 2013, and features Kayla Walker TH 2012, Sara Porkalob TH 2012, Pilar O’Connell TH 2012 and Andre Nelson TH 2011 in the cast. Bunnies runs April 24-May 16.
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Washington Ensemble Theatre presents Meg Miroshnik’s period basketball drama The Tall Girls at 12th Avenue Arts from May 1 to May 18. Directed by Theater faculty member Kelly Kitchens, the cast featured Leah Salcido Pfenning TH 2013 (below), and Chelsea Callahan TH 2014.
MUSICAL THEATER The 5th Avenue Musical Theatre presents the new musical Jasper in Deadland, running April 30-May 24. Featured in the cast are Diana Huey TH 2008 and Caety Sagoian TH 2006. Caety is also a popular nightclub performer in the area, appearing recently with her combo at the Edgewater. (Caety is also the voice actress for the roles of Bowser Junior and Baby Bowser in the Super Mario Brothers game franchise). The ACT Theatre /5th Avenue Musical Theatre revival of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris continues through May 17. Featured in the cast is Theater faculty member Timothy McCuen Piggee. This summer Timothy will journey to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ten Chimneys in the Midwest as a 2015 recipient of the prestigious Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship. Timothy and a group of actors from around the country will participate in a weeklong master class/retreat with Tony-Award-winner Phylicia Rashad. There is still time to see the Rep’s new musical Lizard Boy, which added a week of performances through May 2. William A. Williams 2004 received outstanding reviews for his performance. The Village Theatre’s production of Cabaret, running May 14 – August 2, is directed by Tony-award-winning playwright Brian Yorkey and features Quinn Armstrong TH 2012, Nichole Beerman TH 2002 and frequent Cornish guest artist and teacher Kathryn Van Meter. Dialect coaching is by faculty member Kate Myre and Kayla Walker TH 2012. Brian paid a visit to Cornish in April and spoke about writing and musical theater:
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Nikolai Mell TH 2015 plays Hero in Seattle Musical Theatre’s production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, through April 26. CenterStage premieres a new musical called For All That by Alan Bryce and John Forster, running from May 124. The cast includes Liza Delia TH 2015, Joshua Williamson TH 2010, Bridgid Abrams TH 2014, Katherine Jett 2011, Adam Canne TH 2014 and Barrett Penrod TH 2018. ArtsWest revives the classic Seattle rock musical Angry Housewives, playing April 23-May 24. Mark Tyler Miller TH 2010 plays Larry. CLASSICAL PRODUCTIONS The cast of Seattle Shakespeare Company’s production of Othello, directed by John Langs, features David Anthony Lewis 1999, Ray Gonzalez TH 1997 and Soren Gillaspy TH 2015 in the cast. Seattle Shakespeare’s outdoor touring arm, Wooden O, will produce Henry IV Part 1 and As You Like It in area parks this summer. The cast of Henry IV includes David Anthony Lewis TH 1999 as the title monarch, Conner Nedderson TH 2010 as his son Prince Hal, Jessica Kiely TH 2015 as Lady Percy and professional intern Michael Dreger 2016 as Prince John. As You Like It, directed by Annie Lareau, features faculty member Kelly Kitchens as Jaques. Both shows run from July 9 to August 9. BURLESQUE AND CABARET Café Nordo opened its new dinner-theater venue the Culinarium with Don Nordo del Midwest, featuring alumna Opal Peachey TH 2004 (below, with microphone) and faculty member Keira McDonald (right).
Internationally acclaimed cabaret performer Lady Rizo (Amelia Zirin Brown TH 1999) is drawing rave reviews as the lead chanteuse in The Hot Spot at Teatro Zinzanni, playing through June 7.
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THEATER IN THE NORTHWEST Emily Cawley TH 2010 and Michael Feldman TH 2013 will perform in Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre’s productions of First Date, Shrek the Musical and Singin’ in the Rain. The shows run June 18-August 23. In Portland Center Stage’s Cyrano, the title role is performed by Cornish Theater faculty member Andrew McGinn, while Colin Byrne TH 2003 plays his protégé / rival Christian. Performances run through May 3. Shanelle Leonard TH 2012 plays the legendary Dinah Washington in Soul Harmony, playing until May 3 at Portland’s Stumptown Stages. Jack StockLynn TH 2004 (below) hosts and produces Sir Teacup’s Queer Circus Goes Back in Time, a burlesque and circus extravaganza, at Portland’s Echo Theatre on May 8 and 9.
CALIFORNIA Faculty member Desdemona Chiang directs Heart-Shaped Nebula by Marisela Trevino Orta at Berkeley’s Shotgun Players; it runs from May 21 – June 14. Kelly Ehlert TH 2010 is the Coordinator of the Emerging Artists Association at A Noise Within Theatre Company in Los Angeles. MIDWEST Courtney Sale TH 2001 directs Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night this summer for the Heartland Repertory Theatre in Indiana. Bridgid Abrams TH 2014 has been accepted into Milwaukee Repertory Theatre’s 2015-2016 Resident Performing Internship Company. Mark Murray TH 2013 performs his solo show CODA (Children of Deaf Adults) at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Ron E. Rains TH 1996 performs in the musical Billy Elliott at Chicago’s Drury Lane Oakbrook through June 7. EAST COAST Don Darryl Rivera TH 2006 continues to delight audiences as the villainous henchman Iago in Disney’s Aladdin at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre. Don made a quick return to the Northwest in April to participate in his high school’s production of Pippen. Brenda Arellano TH 2004 plays Rosa in the House Theatre of Chicago’s acclaimed production of The Magnificents by magician-playwright Dennis Watkins, playing at Miami’s Arsht Center through May 3. John Pyburn TH 2013 performed with award-winning dance company Zoe|Juniper on the national tour of BeginAgain, including the Redcat in LA and FringeArts in Philadelphia.
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FILM/TELEVISION/WEB Brendan Fraser TH 1990 (below, left) stars with Bill Paxton (below, right) in the upcoming miniseries Texas Rising, premiering on the History Channel on Memorial Day.
Kittens in a Cage by Kelleen Conway Blanchard TH 1996 has been turned into a web-based comedy series premiering this summer.
Ellen Steves TH 2010 co-wrote and co-directed the independent film Summer of 69, which features Cornish Theater alumni Sophie Paterson TH 2014, Steven Ackley TH 2010, Amy Mayes TH 2012, Ryan Brantley TH 2008, Dan Theyer TH 2010, Gianni Cicco TH 2011, Lauren Currie TH 2010, Chelsea Hanawalt TH 2010, Lindsey Leonard TH 2013, Andy Buffelen TH 2010, and Allie Pratt TH 2013. Season Two of the prize-winning web series Capitol Hill, starring Theatre faculty member Marc Kenison (in his persona as “boylesque” superstar Waxie Moon) and Jonathan Crimeni TH 2013 is now being filmed. NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT Theater Chair Richard E.T. White will direct a developmental workshop of Eric Coble’s new play In Vivo for the Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, in partnership with ACT Theater. Theater and Humanities & Sciences instructor Christine Sumption serves as dramaturg for In Vivo.
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STORIES OF CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND TRANSFERABLE SKILLS Jillian Rose Darlington TH 2003 has created an app called Momco for mothers and the businesses that cater to them. StartMeUpLive’s review says: “We took this app out for a spin and found real value. If you are a new mom or a relocated mom - this app opens up a whole new world for you. Users can connect their social media profiles, use geotargeting to find other moms in their area, set up free events, see the latest deals from local vendors, make in-app purchases and it even has a great calendaring tool. Security is a big deal for geo-located applications - Jillan did her homework here. The geo-location feature uses your general location and not your specific home address. MomCo states they will never sell its' users personal data. Investors are already circling around this hot app. We give it 2 thumbs up. “
From Katherine E. Scharhon (below, right) Theater/Original Works 2003 “I wanted to let you know I think of the entire Cornish theater faculty often, if not every day. One of the things I've been working on, in addition to writing screenplays (I've been working on a feature film script for quite some time), and acting, is editing. Having not gone to "film school", or trained in any way for film and television editing, I worked my way up from being a night assistant (meaning I worked the night shift as an assistant editor in midtown Manhattan), and then quickly transitioned to being a day time assistant editor, and am now currently a junior editor on a popular HGTV program (Rehab Addict).
I am about to hit a milestone for myself, of being the lead editor of an entire 20 minute episode. (For the show I work on we story edit our own episodes, in addition to writing our own voice-over copy, so it requires quite a bit of storytelling skills.) I'm reaching out to you because there is no way I could have achieved this without my time and training at Cornish. Even if I am sitting in a chair editing something on a screen, I can't express enough how many times I use everything I learned at Cornish (even movement class). Telling a truthful story, and being able to work with others (no matter the circumstances), and having a strong sense of self confidence goes miles out here in New York, and I could not have achieved any of this without you guys. I never felt like I properly thanked you enough. I value everything you guys taught me, and I hope to continue to be able to make you guys proud as a productive artist, and storyteller.” -- Katherine E. Scharhon