Melissa James Gibson (Playwright) Other plays include [sic] (Obie Award for playwriting, Kesselring Prize); Suitcase or, those that resemble flies from a distance (NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights); Brooklyn Bridge, with a song by Barbara Brousal (AT&T OnStage award); and Current Nobody (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist). Her work has been produced and/or developed at Playwrights Horizons, Center Theatre Group, Soho Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, The Children's Theatre Company, Steppenwolf, Seattle Rep, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, among others regionally and internationally. Current Commissions: Atlantic Theater Company; Manhattan Theatre Club (Sloan Foundation); Second Stage Theatre. Honors: Jerome Fellow, MacDowell Colony Fellow, Whiting Writers Award, Lucille Lortel Foundation Playwrights' Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Lilly Award. MFA: Yale School of Drama; graduate of New Dramatists. Teaching: Lecturer in the Program in Theatre, Princeton University, spring semester, 2011. This and Other Plays is forthcoming from TCG.

 

Andrew Ableson* (Alan) Ableson, a U.S. T.V. regular, and English native, guest-starring in many shows such as The Shield, Las Vegas, Will & Grace, Medical Investigation, as well as a recurring role on Joan of Arcadia, began his career on the London stage in sell-out productions of The Ecstasy, Bent, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, at the Globe Theatre, as well as Sweet Charity and Godspell, premiering at the International Edinburgh Festival.
After two seasons on the UK sitcom Second Thoughts, as well as numerous commercial appearances, Ableson, son of beloved British crooning legend Frankie Vaughan, re-located to the US in 1995, landing roles immediately in Nash Bridges and the feature film Boyfriends (1996), ironically returning to the UK for his role as Owen, the film's bad-boy. In 2000 The West Coast premiere of Mark Ravenhill's ground-breaking play Shopping & Fucking, won Ableson many awards for his starring role as Mark, the needy, love-hungry heroin addict. He further built on that reputation one year later, starring as legendary theatre critic Kenneth Tynan, in another multi-award-winning L.A. premiere, Austin Pendleton's Pulitzer-nominated Orsons' Shadow. Torn, an acclaimed nightly-improvised play, the award-winning musical, The Beastly Bombing and Haywire! were other West Coast premieres, further solidifying his theatrical reputation.
Voice credits include the evil Valmont in two seasons of The Jackie Chan Adventures, as well as initial voicing of Gnomeo, in Disney's Gnomeo & Juliet, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Dead Man's Chest, not to mention numerous video games, and TV ads. Commercial credits include iPhone, Xelebri Communications, working with David Fincher, National spots for Microsoft, Audi, Lexus, and Ford and the well-known Cingular Star Wars ad with Chewbacca. He continues to live, work, and sing, whenever he is allowed, in Los Angeles, California.

Richard Baird* (Tom) Richard is thrilled to be returning to NCRT where he has appeared in The Lion in Winter, Ghosts, Tempest (co-production with MiraCosta College), Rashomon, Moon for the Misbegotten, Romeo and Juliet and Arcadia. Regional credits include: The Prince of Wales in The Madness of King George (Chicago Shakespeare, Jeff Award: Best Production); Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Diversionary Theatre, Kingsmen Shakespeare (title role of Macbeth and Leontes in The Winter's Tale) and many more. Richard served as Associate Artistic Director of Southwest Shakespeare Company where he played the title roles of Cyrano de Bergerac (Best Actor AriZoni award; directed by David Ellenstein) and Tartuffe, Iago in Othello, Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew (Best Actor AriZoni Award), Leontes in The Winter's Tale. In San Diego, Richard formed the San Diego based Shakespeare troupe, Poor Players, for whom he has acted and directed in over 20 productions (San Diego Critics Circle Award: Best Actor: Angelo in Measure for Measure. Richard currently lives in Chicago and is a proud member of Actor's Equity.

Courtney Corey* (Jane) Ms. Corey is delighted to be back at NCRT, having performed in Lend me a Tenor, Over the Tavern and Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris. She was an original company member of both the Los Angeles and Chicago companies of Wicked, in which she understudied and performed the role of "Elphaba." During her stint with L.A.'s Wicked, she appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and was featured as "the green girl" throughout the city in a Metro/Wicked Ad Campaign. She has played the role of "Maureen" in both the 1st and 2nd National Broadway tours of Rent. Other credits include: The Great American Trailer Park Musical (San Diego Rep), Limelight, Bonnie and Clyde, The Wiz, (La Jolla Playhouse), Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, (The Old Globe), Suds, The Pajama Game (Starlight Musical Theatre), and Shear Madness (MTP at The Theatre In Old Town). Also a director and theatre arts teacher, Courtney recently directed/choreographed Year With Frog And Toad (San Diego Junior Theatre) and Evita (Victoria Gardens Cultural Center/Lewis Family Playhouse in Rancho Cucamonga) and will choreograph/assist direct Rent at San Diego Musical Theatre this spring. She dedicates this and every performance to her wonderful husband, Matthew, and son, Jack. 

Matt Thompson* (Jean-Pierre) Select acting credits: Over the Tavern, Don't Dress for Dinner, Dracula, Leading Ladies, A Thousand Clowns (North Coast Rep); Dead Man's Cell Phone (Moxie Theatre); Cold Comfort Farm (Lamb's Players); Shear Madness (The Theatre in Old Town); Terra Nova (Compass Theatre); Angel City (Sledgehammer Theatre); Moonlight & Magnolias (Sierra Repertory Theatre); Rapunzal (Falcon Theatre); Six Degrees of Separation (Circle Repertory Theatre); The Hit, Who's Afraid of Me, Myself and Edward Albee? (The Road Theatre). Performed for two years with The Second City Improvisation Troupe. TV credits include CSI, Veronica Mars, The Invisible Man, Fashion House, Watch Over Me, Days of Our Lives, Baywatch, 18 Wheels of Justice, Cover Me, The Expendables.
Select Directing Credits: The Car Plays: San Diego (La Jolla Playhouse), Mistletoe, Music & Mayhem!, King 'O the Moon, A Christmas Carol, Ted Williams: A Tip of the Cap, (North Coast Rep); 9066, The Triangle Tragedy (Compass Theatre); Apemantus, Who's on Alpha? (The Road Theatre); The Odd Couple, Sylvia, If the Shoe Fits, Hamlet, Working, (Tennessee Players Theatre). He is also a playwright with more than 20 published titles through Dramatic Publishing, Heuer Publishing, and Norman Maine Publishing respectively. Matt is the Artistic Associate at North Coast Rep. He holds a Master's in Theatre from SDSU.

Judith Scott* (Marrell) Judith Scott is an alumnus of The Second City Theatre, having worked on the mainstages in Chicago and Toronto. Credits include: Doubt, Santa Barbara; To Be Young, Gifted And Black, Fountain Theatre; Frozen, Ventura Court Theatre; Anatol, Pacific Resident Theatre; The Book Of Judith, Pacific Resident Theatre; Comedy Of Errors, Shakespeare Festival LA. Judith can also be seen in Dexter, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, Flightplan, Fracture.

Kirsten Brandt (Director) NCRT: Little Women. Brandt has directed for San Jose Rep, TheatreWorks, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego REP, Diversionary and Sledgehammer (Artistic Director from 1999-2005). She served as the Associate Artistic Director of San Jose Rep (2007-2009). She recently wrote and directed a "telematic" play, a multi-site simultaneous performance connected via the Internet, The Thinning Veil at UCSC. Brandt has received two San Diego Critic Circle Awards and several Pattés. She studied theatre at UCSD and currently lives with her husband and daughter in Santa Cruz and lectures at UCSC.

Carla Harting (Assistant Director) Carla is delighted to assist Ms. Brandt on THIS. Ms. Harting has worked on numerous projects as an actor, including the following: OFF-BROADWAY: Dreams of the Washer King (Playwrights Realm), Dead Man's Cell Phone (Playwrights Horizons), Eurydice (Second Stage), Kid-Simple (Summer Play Festival), Valparaiso (Rude Mechanicals), Jimmy Carter Was a Democrat (Clubbed Thumb, PS122, The Kitchen), Freakshow, and Late: A Cowboy Song (Clubbed Thumb), Be Aggressive (Soho Rep), Straight Up & With a Twist (New Georges); REGIONAL: August: Osage County (Old Globe), Goldie, Max & Milk (Florida Stage), Becky's New Car (North Coast Rep), Legacy of Light, A Delicate Balance, and Passion Play (Arena Stage), The Lady From Dubuque (Seattle Rep), Eurydice (Yale Rep), The Scene, After Ashley, Kid-Simple, Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls, The Blue Room (various Humana festivals), Night and Day (The Wilma), What the Butler Saw (South Coast Rep), Uncle Vanya, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Imaginary Invalid, Zoot Suit (San Diego Rep), A Midsummer Night's Dream (La Jolla Playhouse), Our Country's Good (Signature, DC), The Bright and Bold Design (Studio, DC). FILM/TV: Never Forever with Vera Farmiga, Law & Order, Law & Order: CI. TRAINING: MFA UCSD, BA College of William & Mary.

Marty Burnett (Scenic Design) Designs for North Coast Rep are the last 138 shows. Mr. Burnett has designed sets for the Union Plaza, Sahara, and Hacienda Hotels and Casinos in Las Vegas; Harrahs Lake Tahoe; The Claridge Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ; The Grand Hotel in Anaheim; and The Drury Lane in Chicago. Mr. Burnett is the resident designer and technical director at North Coast Rep.

Matt Novotny (Light Design) Matthew recently designed the lighting for Visiting Mister Green, Lend Me A Tenor, Five Course Love, My Name is Asher Lev, King O' the Moon, Ghosts, Glorious, I Love You Because, Old Wicked Songs, Rabbit Hole, Shipwrecked!, The Dresser, Don't Dress for Dinner, Mornings at Seven, Baby and Rashomon at North Coast Rep. He's currently the Director of Production for Lyric Opera San Diego. Lighting designs include: Iolanthe, The Merry Widow, The King and I, Countess Maritza, and The Mikado. San Diego: Das Barbecu, The Wiz, West Side Story and Rumors. Regional: Yankee Doodle Dandy (Seattle), Noises Off! (Boston), The Game, (Washington DC) and Primal Twang, a guitar concert featuring six Grammy-winning artists. Matthew holds a BA in Technical Theatre from San Diego State University, and an MFA from Boston University.

Paul Peterson (Sound Design) has designed over 95 productions at The Old Globe, including Anna Christie, Odyssey, Engaging Shaw, Life of Riley, Plaid Tidings – A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, Welcome to Arroyo's, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, The Last Romance, Boeing-Boeing, Alive and Well, Lost in Yonkers, I Do! I Do!, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Cornelia, The Price, Kingdom, Six Degrees of Separation, Since Africa, The Women, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Bell, Book and Candle, Two Trains Running, Hold Please, Restoration Comedy, Pig Farm, Moonlight and Magnolias, Vincent in Brixton, Lucky Duck, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, Blue/Orange, Time Flies, Pentecost, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, The Boswell Sisters and Crumbs from the Table of Joy. His regional credits include designs for Milwaukee Repertory Theater, San Jose Repertory Theatre, CENTERSTAGE, La Jolla Playhouse, Sledgehammer Theatre (Associate Artist), Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company, San Diego Repertory Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Diversionary Theatre, Malashock Dance, University of San Diego, San Diego State University and Freud Playhouse at UCLA. Mr. Peterson received his B.F.A. in Drama with an emphasis in Technical Design from San Diego State University.

Annie Bornhurst (Props and Set Dressing) North Coast Repertory Theatre: Visiting Mister Green, The Lion in Winter, Heroes, Lend Me a Tenor, My Name is Asher Lev, King O' the Moon, The Drawer Boy, Gee's Bend, Becky's New Car, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Voice of the Prairie, Ghosts, Little Women, Glorious!, A Christmas Carol, Talley's Folley, I Love You Because, Don't Dress for Dinner, Over the Tavern, Old Wicked Songs, Rabbit Hole. Actors Circle Theatre: The View from Here. The Sanford Meisner Center: Frankie and Johnny, Babes and Brides.

Alina Bokovikova (Costume Design) Alina Bokovikova is thrilled to work with THIS theater again. Her last credits include: The Man His Wife and His Hat (Moxie Theatre) Henry IV (North Coas Rep), Raising in a Sun (Moxie), Les Noces (ballet), The Great American Trailer Park Musical (SD Rep), Hedda Gabler, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Stereoblind (Dance film), Phantom Band, Camino Real (Patte Award), Refraction, Proof, Be Aggressive, The Complete Work of William Shakespeare, Beehive the Musical, Good Doctor, La Traviatta...
Alina has a MFA in Costume Design from UC San Diego and Masters Degree in Education from Russia, so teaching theatre is one of her favorite activities.

John Finkbiner (Scenic Artist) John has been a member of the NCR staff for nearly two years. His favorite shows are Halpern and Johnson, SHIPWRECKED!, The Dresser and Jacques Brel. John received his BA degree at UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television in 1991. John is also an accomplished singer/songwriter and performs with his band, The Stereotypes. His music has been featured on Showtime's Californication, Fox's Bones and NBC's Knight Rider, among others. John lives with his wife Judi and his son John Gibson in Leucadia, plus Ilene and Jerry (the NCR mascots). www.johnfinkbiner.com

Aaron Rumley* (Stage Manager) North Coast Repertory Theatre: The Lion in Winter, Heroes, Lend Me A Tenor, My Name is Asher Lev, The Drawer Boy, Becky's New Car, Voice of the Prairie, Ghosts, Glorious!, Talley's Folly, Over the Tavern, Rabbit Hole, The Dresser, Don't Dress for Dinner, Madagascar, Mornings at Seven, String of Pearls, Dracula, Rashomon, Wit, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Leading Ladies, Collected Stories, Halpern & Johnson, Romeo and Juliet, The Bungler, The Chosen, A Life in the Theatre and The Rainmaker. North Carolina Theatre: Talley's Folly, Picnic, The Miser and On Golden Pond. Aaron received a B.A. in Theatre from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and is the production manager at the North Coast Repertory Theatre. Aaron is a Member of Actors' Equity.

Crew
Erika Lannom
Aaron Rumley (Production Manager)

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