Celebrating the life and art of Václav Havel
New York City, October through December 2006

Biographies: Designers

Amanda Bailey
(Costume designer, Unveiling) is a freelance costume, wig and makeup designer living in Indianapolis. Her work spans Theatre, Opera, Commercials and Print Ads for many Indiana stages and organizations including The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Civic Theatre, The Indianapolis Opera, The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indiana University, Ball State University, Brown County Playhouse, Bloomington Playwrights Project, The John Waldron Arts Center, and many others. She is excited to make her Cardinal Stage Company debut with Unveiling.

James Bedell
(Lighting designer, An Evening With Family) is a founding partner of Lively Arts Productions LLC. As a lighting designer Bedell’s work has been seen consistently throughout New York City. Some highlights include, The Tempest (Looking Glass Theatre, FHB Productions), winner of the SpotlightOn Award for best lighting design, The Snow Queen (Looking Glass Theatre, FHB Productions), nominated SpotlightOn Award, Baby Jesus One-Act Jubilee (Brick Theatre), Romeo And Juliet (ShakespeareNYC, Lion Theatre), Cocktails With Coward (Lively Arts Productions), The Girlhood of Shakespeare’s Heroines (Looking Glass Theatre), The Little Prince (Nicu’s Spoon), Camino Real (Michael Schimmel Center), Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Michael Schimmel Center. When not designing, Bedell coordinates lighting for Pace University’s Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts where the premier client Inside The Actor’s Studio resides.

Maryvel Bergen

Maryvel Bergen
(Lighting designer, The Ohio Theater) Maryvel Bergen’s recent designs include Where Three Roads Meet at the 2006 Midtown International Theatre Festival and Haunted at the Metropolitan Playhouse, where she also designed the lighting for Moby-Dick and The Scarecrow, as well as consulting on the recent Poe Fest. Other New York designs include Beyond: A Little Night Opera for the 2005 Fringe Festival and Enemy of the People at Gallery Players.

Phyllis Carlin
(Set designer, The Increased Difficulty of Concentration). B.F.A. Drew University, M.F.A. Rutgers Mason Gross School for the Arts.  Member United Scenic Artists 829. Worked with the Wooster Group on Phedre recently. Chosen by the New Jersey Council for the Arts juried shows: fine arts annual and crafts annual.

Juliet Chia
(Lighting designer, Largo Desolato) NYC: Betrothed (Ripe Time); Boozy: The Life, Death and Subsequent Vilification of Le Corbusier and, More Importantly, Robert Moses; A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant; President Harding is a Rock Star (Les Freres Corbusier); Orpheus; Erendira (HERE Arts Center); The Typographer’s Dream (Clubbed Thumb); After the Fall (Danspace). Regional: Augusta (Merrimack Repertory Theatre); Rounding Third (Virginia Stage), Lucia di Lammermoor (Tri-Cities Opera). Juliet’s a recipient of the 2005-07 NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Designers.

Katie Down
(Sound designer, Redevelopment) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and sound designer and has worked as a producer and teaching artist for NGOs based in Bosnia and Macedonia. She has composed for Ripe Time, the South Wing, Hourglass Productions, Target Margin Theatre, and many other production companies in the U.S. and abroad. Her sound-scores have been heard in theatres and concert halls, from Off-Broadway houses to abandoned coal mines in Croatia. More information: www.katiedown.com

Irma Escobar
(Costume designer, An Evening With Family) Design Credits: Grace Falls, The Musical (New York Theatre Festival), Shakespeare in Hollywood (Hope Summer Repertory), Avalon (The Looking Glass Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Rutgers University), Something in the Basement (Rutgers), Para*vision (Rutgers). Irma works as the Costume Shop Assistant at George Street Playhouse. Other companies include The Papermill Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Metropolitan Opera. Visit www.IrmaEscobar.com for more info.

Isabelle Fields
(Costume designer, Mountain Hotel) received a BFA in costume design from The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago.  Chicago credits include: Two Trains Running , Reskin Theatre; Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans [a salsa musical] (Reskin Theatre); All My Sons, Athenaeum; The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [abridged] (Athenaeum) ; Red Georgia Clay (Prop Theatre). New York Credits include: Intellectuals (Workshop Theatre Company) and assisting on A Mother, A Daughter, and A Gun (Dodger Stages). 

Carla Gant
(Costume designer, Audience and The Memo) is the resident designer for Untitled Theatre Company #61. Credits include Rhinoceros, Tales for Children, and Fairy Tales of the Absurd, and Linguish. She was recently nominated for a Spotlight On Award. For more on her work, please visit www.carlagantsdesigns.com.

Kanae Heike
(Costume and scenic designer, Protest) recent design work includes Fools & Lovers (Moonwork), The Charlotte Salomon Project (Polybe + Seats), The Armageddon Dance Party (Fringe NYC), The Flight of Icarus (Soho Think Tank, Ice Factory’06), The People Next Door (Yale Repertory Theatre), Marcus Brutus, The Real Thing, and As You Like It (Yale School of Drama). Donald and Zorca Oenslager Fellowship Award in Design. Kanae is a native of Kyoto, Japan.

John Kohan
(Mark Plume, The Garden Party; set designer, Mistake) Kohan has been a part of Oracle Theatre, Inc.’s production of Japanese Folk Tales of Love & Woe. Recent projects have also included work with Brooklyn Theater Arts Project in Bay Ridge. He would like to thank his family for their support. Most of all, he would like to thank Laura, “I love you baby, you rock.” Kohan is a visual artist/actor, currently living in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Contact him at KohantheMan@hotmail.com

Elliot Lanes
(Sound designer, An Evening With Family) is pleased to finally have the opportunity to work with the incredibly talented Glory Bowen. Previous design credits include Little Eyeolf (Fresh Look Theatre), It Isn't the Moon (Manhattan Theatre Source), Taxi Stories (MITF), Crossing Currents (Fringe NYC), and Italian American Reconciliation (Gene Frankel) just to name a few. He would like to thank Glory Bowan, Jillian Harrison and our fine cast of actors.

Brett Marshall Lefferts
(Sound designer, The Garden Party) Brett Marshall Lefferts is an emerging electronic musician, fusing funk grooves with acoustic folk instrumentation over a lush scape of digital noise; a style he calls funkfoltronica. Brett’s musical experience is varied: he trained as a classical flutist, is a self-taught guitarist and pianist, and also a lover of gritty synth sweeps and persuasive drum sequences. Audible influences include Moby, Peter Gabriel, and Nick Drake, among others.

Martin Lopez
(Costume designer, Largo Desolato) Martin is a NYC based scenic and costume designer. Recent projects include set and costume design for the American Premiere of Telemann's Orpheus (The Barns at Wolf Trap, directed by Lawrence Edelson) and The Tempest (Ohio Theatre, directed by Victor Maog); costumes for 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (The Storm Theatre, directed by Alex Lippard), and Trailerville (Blue Heron Theatre, directed by Wayne Maugans). Martin was a recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program.

Danielle Matland

Danielle Matland
(Props designer, Increased Difficulty of Concentration) a multimedia artist working usually with precious metals, glass or mosaic, has recently become involved in theatre. She has provided props for the Annapolis Opera Company and masks for an upcoming film (untitled Noah Baumbach production). This is her first project in Manhattan.

John Matturri

John Matturri
(Designer/photographer, The Increased Difficulty of Concentration) Performed / photographed / worked with Ken Jacobs, Stuart Sherman, Jack Smith, Richard Foreman, John Zorn, Gary Goldberg, Bob Fleischner, Michael Kirby, and others. Last seen with True Comedy in the title role of Eddie Goes to Poetry City. In 1980s, performed projections under the name of Circles of Confusion. Currently exhibits photographs at The Phatory. Has written on film, philosophy, performance, and gravestone / memorial landscape design. Teaches philosophy at Queens College.

David Evans Morris
(Set designer, Largo Desolato) A Feeling of a Beard (dir. Eva Burgess); Exercises for the Body Politic (co-created with Juliet Chia); Boozy (co-conceiver and set design); A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant; President Harding is a Rock Star (Les Freres Corbusier, Associate Artist); Orpheus (co-conceiver and set design); Erendira; Possessed (dir. Kristin Marting); Quail; Demon Baby; The Typographer’s Dream (Clubbed Thumb, Affiliated Artist). David’s a Resident Artist at HERE Arts Center and recipient of a Princess Grace Award.

Carolyn Mraz
(Festival set designer at the Ohio Theater; set designer, An Evening with the Family) began her New York career this spring by designing the scenery for Avalon by FHB Productions. Previously, she designed the touring children's show Strange Waves, produced by the Berkshire Theatre Festival, where she also worked as a scenic artist. Other scenic design credits include various productions at Oberlin College, such as Dancing at Lughnasa, Tales From Ovid, The Vagina Monologues, The Black Monk, and The Man Outside.

Jeff Nash

Jeff Nash
(Lighting designer, The Increased Difficulty of Concentration).Current shows: Timothy Reynolds’ Le Lycanthrope (Kraine); John Jesurun’s Philoktetes (Brussels) Inverse Theater’s The Death Of Griffin Hunter (Brick- January ‘07). With Yolanda, Matt and Amy, Byron and Emily Go to Work (Dublin Fringe). For Inverse Theater Company: Lost (NYFringe, Connelly); Bangers Flopera (NY Fringe, NYMTF) and Syndrome (NEUROfest). Directors that he has designed for include Ellen Stewart, Frank Corsaro, Stuart Sherman, John Vaccaro, Robert Wilson, and Gian Carlo Menotti.

Meredith Neal
(Costume designer, The Garden Party) Recently, Meredith designed costumes for ATA’s The Suitcase Chronicles and Oracle Theater’s FringeNY production, Breakfast for Dinner. Previously, she designed costumes for Why'd Ya Make Me Wear This, Joe?—the Fresh Fruits Festival, Savage/Love—Michael Chekhov Theater Company, and Better Living—T. Schreiber Studio. Other New York credits include Collaboration Town's They're Just Like Us (2006 NY Innovative Theater Award Nominee, Outstanding Costume Design), Temporary Theater Co.'s Iphigenia and Other Daughters, and Turtle Shell Productions' Blues for Mister Charlie. She also spent two summers designing for the Monomoy Theater on Cape Cod and has designed several productions for Princeton University. She holds an MFA from Ohio University.

Grant Neale
(Director and set designer, Redevelopment) is co-Artistic Director of Nomad Theatrical Company. Directing includes: Miss Julie, Richard III, Tennessee Williams' The Two Character Play, and Sharr White's The Last Orange Dying. Other favorites: Twelfth Night, Exit the King, The Family Show by Randy Neale. Performed in over 200 plays (U.S. and international). A former member of Jean Cocteau Repertory and The Ridiculous Theatrical Company, he teaches the Meisner Approach and Movement for Actors.

Shalon Palmer
(Puppet designer, Mistake) Shalon is a recent graduate of SUNY Purchase College Design Technology program with a concentration in Lighting Design. She spends countless hours as an artist in New York focusing her craft in sculpture.  Her work can be seen in Oracle Theatre’s Truth Be Told Series of New Works Showcases and in the upcoming Astoria Art Showcase. She has also designed the puppets for Oracle's WOLF Family Series. See her at www.sculpturalmyth.deviantart.com

DJ Potter
(Lighting designer, A Butterfly on the Antenna and Motormorphosis) DJ Potter is a writer, director, performer, designer from New Hampshire. He has worked with Henry Akona for the past nine years, most recently on the Goldberg Variations as a performer and film designer. Other shows with Henry include The Architecture of Sight, Pandora's Box, Tabula Rasa, Happy Ending, and The Little Prince.

Jay Scott
(Lighting designer, The Garden Party) Jay Scott is a graduate of SUNY Purchase College receiving a B.F.A in Lighting Design. He has been working in New York City for the last five years with experience in Theatre, Dance, Industrial, Television, and Concert Lighting. His recent theatrical credits include: Guys N Dolls; A Month in the Country; You Again for the 2005 FringeNYC; And Baby Makes 7; A Little of What You Fancy; Home, The Death of Tintagiles; Freestyle Love Supreme; Scenes from a Distance; Alice in Wonderland; and Wizard of Oz.

Alexander C. Senchak
(Technical director at the Ohio Theater, set designer, The Memo and Audience) This is Alex’s third festival with UTC. He recently graduated from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. He is now the lighting designer and touring production manager for the Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre. Alex is a freelance production manager and designer having worked at the BAM, Lincoln Center Festival, Metropolitan Playhouse, Beacon Theatre. Alex is also a member of the WNYC programming board and a certified EMT.

Hillary Spector*
(Luisa and costume designer, Redevelopment) has appeared as a performer at Danspace at St. Mark’s, HERE, New York Theatre Workshop, walkerspace, Chelsea Rep, Chashama, and Stratford Shakespeare Festival. As a director: Orphee aux Enfers at Tivoli Theater (Copenhagen); Nanita (Cincinnati Opera); and Tamburlaine (Target Margin Theater Lab). As a choreographer: A Parsifal (PS122); Les Contes d’Hoffmann (L’Opera d’Angers); and Thais (L’Opera de Nice). She is Co-Artistic Director of Nomad Theatrical Company.

Gordon R Strain
(Set designer, Unveiling) is a professor and resident designer at Franklin College. He received his MFA in Scenic Design from Indiana University and his BFA from Ithaca College. Professional experiences include Resident Designer at Cincinnati Country Day School, lead artist for ArtWorks Cincinnati, and member of creative design team at Spaeth Design. Recent scenic designs include Picnic, Arcadia, A Chorus Line, Bacchai, and Dracula. Gordon sends love to his wife, Amy and dog, Cayuga.

Heather Wolensky
(Set designer, The Garden Party) A BFA graduate of SUNY Purchase, Heather’s design credits include Nami last month at theatre row, Dialogue of the Carmelites, Guys & Dolls, Breakfast for Dinner and concept designs for Dionysus in ’69. Assistant Design include Broadway: Well and Tale of Two Cities. Regional: Where’s Charley?, The Boy Friend and King Stag. She works for several entertainment companies throughout NYC, has done storyboard art for Bruce Springsteen and is a member of USA 829.

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