Romeo & Juliet: SOTC 2017

Ramona Lisa Alexander returns to CSC after performing at the Hatch Shell in The Boys From Syracuse, a collaboration with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. She recently received an Elliot Norton Award nomination for her role as Myrna in Milk Like Sugar at the Huntington Theatre. Other local credits include Moon for the Misbegotten, Days of Atonement, Saturday Night Sunday Morning and The Barbecue at the Lyric Stage. Film credits include “Knock Around Kids.”

Chris Everett is making her CSC debut. Her recent stage credits include I’ll Never Do That! and End of the Line (Improbable Players, Inc.) and Hidden Faces of Courage (OWL, Inc.). Chris has recently returned to musical theater performing in productions of The Hairy Scary: A Musical Swamp Odyssey (Outside the Box 2016) and This Is Treatment (Reviving Visions). Feature film credits include “The Company Men”, “TED”, “R.I.P.D”, and “The Equalizer”. Chris has also appeared on ABC Family’s “Chasing Life.”

Brandon G. Green was seen in CSC’s King Lear in 2015 and recently appeared in The Scottsboro Boys at SpeakEasy Stage (Elliot Norton Award -Best Production), Mr. Burns… at Lyric Stage, and An Octoroon at Company One/Arts Emerson; (Elliot Norton – Best Actor).

Kario Marcel is making his CSC debut and was seen in The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of Troilus and Cressida last summer. Other credits include The Kite Runner at Actors Theatre of Louisville and The Cleveland Playhouse. NYU Grad Acting Candidate, 2018.

Gracyn Mix is making her CSC debut. Her credits include The Crucible at Arkansas Repertory Theater, Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis/Cincinnati Playhouse, Pride and Prejudice at Cincinnati Playhouse; A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare; As You Like It and The Rivals at Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Titus Andronicus at Great River Shakespeare Festival.

Equiano Mosieri  is honored to be making his CSC debut this summer. Theater credits include Aaron the Moor in Titus Andronicus; and Know Your Rites at The Living Theatre; Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Actor’s Shakespeare Project (directed by Patrick Swanson); Let Us Seek Death (directed by Randolph Curtis Rand) at LaMama Theatre; The Convert (Elliot Norton Award) at Central Square Theatre; Outside the World at The HERE Arts
Center; and The Parable Convention at B.A.M.

Celeste Olivia This is Celeste’s debut with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. Most recently she was seen in Stage Kiss (Lyric Stage) and Abigail 1702 (Merrimack Repertory Theater). Off Broadway Celeste played Barbara DeMarco in Shear Madness (Davenport Theater). Regional credits include Arcadia (IRNE) and Grounded (The Nora Theater), Chinglish (IRNE), Becky’s New Car, Rich Girl (Lyric Stage Co.), It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (MRT), Reconsidering Hannah (Boston Playwrights Theater). Celeste has principal roles in 3 upcoming films, “November Criminals”, “Thoroughbred”, and “The Burning Woman”. She voices books on tape and is part of the East of Hollywood Production Team that sheds light on diversity in casting and on film for Asian Americans. Look for her in the upcoming web series “Crooks”.

Mark W. Soucy performed in CSC’s The Boys From Syracuse (Aegean), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Sir Nathaniel), Romeo and Juliet (Montague), and King Lear (The Duke of Albany). Other favorite roles include The Royale (Max – IRNE Award Best Supporting Actor) at Merrimack Repertory Theatre and Lobby Hero (Bill) at Capital Repertory Theatre. Mark is a fundraising consultant and has served as Theater Manager for Arlekin Players Theatre and Development Manager at New Repertory Theatre.

Kai Tshikosi is thrilled to be making his Commonwealth Shakespeare Company debut. Other Boston Credits include: The Tempest (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), Franklin (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), Cymbeline (Brown Box Theatre Project), Colossal (Company One), Julius Caesar (Classic Repertory Company, New Repertory Theater), and Cyclops: A Satyr Play (OBERON New Works Series). Kai earned his BA in Acting and Stage Combat from
Emerson College in 2015 and also works as a teaching artist and fight choreographer in the Boston area. As always, boundless love and praise for the greatest mom to ever walk this earth, and to the mentors who’ve imparted their love of the Bard and the Sword.

John Zdrojeski appeared in The Kite Runner at New Repertory Theatre and How I Learned To Drive at the Boston Center for American Performance. His other credits include 10 x 10 at Barrington Stage, Monster at Potomac Theater Project/Atlantic Stage 2, The Choking Game at IRT Theater, and Peninsula at The Players Theatre. John is in his third-year at NYU’s Graduate Acting Program, and an alumnus of Boston University’s School of Theatre.

Alex Deroo is thrilled to be working with CSC for yet another epic season of Shakespeare. Alex was part of the 2015 Apprentice Company and at the end of that summer it was his goal to be accepted into CSC2 upon graduating college. He graduated from Salem State University last May with a BFA Degree in Theatre Performance. Alex has a variety of experience performing Shakespeare including Macbeth, Twelfth Night, King Henry IV, Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors.

Adam Ewer is a recent alum of The Juilliard School drama program. His previous work includes many Shakespeare plays as well as physical theater, short films, and voiceover. He lives in New York City but is proud to have grown up in little Norfolk, Mass.

Cassie Foote is excited to be back working with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. Previous credits with CSC include Julius Caesar (Cassius) with the CSC2 ensemble and Romeo & Juliet (Ensemble/u/s Lady Capulet). Other Boston credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Arts After Hours). NY credits: The Changeling (West End Theater), Othello, Love’s Labour’s Lost, (Easy Leap Theatre Company) Whaddabloodclot! (Williamstown Theater Festival), Sky Pony: Raptured (The Play Company), The Fourth Grader’s Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide (Dreamstem Productions).

Tim Hackney is thrilled to be a member of CSC2 this year. National Tours: Mrs. Bumbrake/Teacher in Peter and the Starcatcher, Robert u/s in The Drowsy Chaperone; NYC: Hudson Guild: Charles Ramsdell in The Whaleship Essex. Regional: Joe Pitt in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (Playhouse on Park); Jason Posner in Wit (Playhouse on Park); Film: The Upcoming Kathryn Bigelow Untitled Detroit Project. Proud graduate of The William Esper Studio in NYC.

Keith Hale National Tour: Miracle on 34th Street (Capstone Theatricals). New York credits include: Edward III & Twelfth Night (Hudson Shakespeare Company), Tofurkey (Ugly Rhino Productions), The Comedy of Errors (Bergen Shakespeare), and Writopia Lab’s World Wide Plays Festival (Writopia Lab). Keith is a Houston, Texas native with a BFA from Elon University. www.keithjhale.com

Kaci Hamilton is thrilled to make her Boston debut on the CSC2 stage. A graduate of the William Esper Studio in New York and native of Ocho Rios, Jamaica, she has appeared as Tituba in The Crucible with Perseverance Theater in Juneau, Alaska, and Katherine/Boy with Fairbanks Shakespeare Theater’s (FST) Henry V; she subsequently traveled with FST to Brisbane, Australia, re-staging Henry V at the 12th Annual World Shakespeare Congress.

Jamil Joseph a Brooklyn, NY native and recent alumnus from CSC’s Apprentice Program, is making his way back to CSC2. He has been in shows such as Spike Heels, Eurydice, Jackie & Me, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Through the Apprentice Program Jamil has had the pleasure of working with one of Boston’s finest Directors Jennie Israel on the show Measure for Measure. Since the Apprentice Program Jamil has been working on two shows in Bethlehem, PA with Allentown Public Theatre and with Mock Turtle Marionette Theatre.

Stephanie King is thrilled to be working with CSC2 in Julius Caesar and this summer’s Romeo and Juliet on the Boston Common. A recent MFA Acting graduate from Brooklyn College,favorite roles include Rosemary in William Inge’s Picnic and Thyona in Charles Mee’s Big Love.

Sarah Mass is delighted to return to Commonwealth Shakespeare Company after appearing in last year’s productions of Fear and Misery in the Third Reich, Julius Caesar (Stage2), and Romeo and Juliet (Free Shakespeare on the Common).on the Boston Common. Sarah is an alumnus of both the CSC2 company and the CSC Apprentice Program. Other local credits include Mame (Greater Boston Stage), Sense and Sensibility and The Winter’s Tale (Maiden Phoenix Theatre Co), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry V (Arts After-hours), Blinders (Flat Earth Theatre), Footfalls (Exiled Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Now!). Sarah received her B.A. in Theatre from Boston College and also studied at the British American Drama Academy in London.

Andrew Prensky is a Boston-based writer and actor. His most recent credits include: Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, (Umass Lowell), Elbow in Measure for Measure (Commonwealth Shakespeare Apprentice Program), and Macbeth in Macbeth (Tufts University). He has a BA in Drama and Political Science from Tufts University.

Joey Tyler is very excited to be returning to work with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. Last summer he completed CSC’s Apprentice Program where he played The Queen in a genderbent showcase production of Cymbeline and understudied Dull in Love’s Labour’s Lost on the Boston Common. He has most recently been touring with Boston Theatre Company in their productions of Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream to give students exposure to Shakespeare in schools around Massachusetts.

Allegra Libonati is a director for theater and opera. In Boston, she most recently directed The Rake’s Progress at the Boston Lyric Opera. She has been the Resident Director at the American Repertory Theater: The Pirate Princess, The Light Princess, Hansel and Gretel, The Snow Queen, The Tempest (Associate), In the Body of the World (Associate), Crossing (Assistant), Prometheus Bound (Associate), The Donkey Show (Resident Director). Internationally she directed a new immersive adventure show, Peter Pan’s Neverland currently running in Beijing, China. She has created outdoor theater for twelve seasons at the Summer Theatre of New Canaan: Legally Blonde (12 Broadway World Nominations) Hairspray (9 Broadway World Nominations), South Pacific, My Fair Lady, Carousel, 12th Night, Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and H4 (an original adaptation of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2). Broadway: Tony Award-winning revival of Hair. Later this year she will be directing Verdi’s opera Falstaff at Opera Omaha and King Lear at Wayne State University. Allegra has made Boston her home and guest teaches Musical Theater at Harvard University. She is a member of Tut & Zanni Theatre Company and a graduate of NYU and CMU.

William Shakespeare was a renowned English poet, playwright, and actor born in 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon. His birthday is most commonly celebrated on 23 April, which is also believed to be the date on which he died in 1616. Shakespeare was a prolific writer during the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages of British theatre (sometimes referred to as the English Renaissance or the Early Modern Period). Shakespeare’s plays are perhaps his most enduring legacy, but they are not the only things he wrote. Shakespeare’s poetry has also remained popular to this day.

Shakespeare’s work includes 38 plays, 2 narrative poems, a collection of 154 sonnets, and other poems as well. No original manuscripts of Shakespeare’s plays are known to exist today, and about half of Shakespeare’s plays are only available to us because a group of actors in his company collected them for publication after his death. These writings were brought together in what is known as the First Folio (‘Folio’ refers to the size of the paper used). It contained 36 of his plays, and none of his poetry. Shakespeare’s legacy is as rich and diverse as his work; his plays have spawned countless adaptations across multiple genres and cultures, and his plays have had an enduring presence on stage and film.

His writings have been compiled in various iterations of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by different entities, which usually include all of his plays, his sonnets, and his other poems. From Stratford to London and beyond, William Shakespeare was and is one of the most important literary figures of the English language.

Julia Noulin-Mérat In addition to her work as Associate Producer for Boston Lyric Opera, is Director of Design and Production for Guerilla Opera, and resident set designer for Attic Theater in New York. She has designed over 325 opera, theater, immersive shows, and television productions, including: a 50,000 square feet immersive show Peter Pan in Beijing; a 30,000 square feet immersive vaudeville dining experience in New York; Clemency, In the
Penal Colony and La Traviata at Boston Lyric Opera; Cosi Fan Tutte and Bluebeard’s Castle at Opera Omaha; Sumeida’s Song and 27 at Pittsburgh Opera; Giver of Light, Troubled Water, Pedr Solis, and No Exit at Guerilla Opera; L’Heure Espagnole and Scalia/Ginsburg at Castleton Festival; Transformations and Alcina at Boston Conservatory; These Seven Sicknesses, Restoration Comedy at The Flea Theater; November, The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Hangar Theatre. Her television work includes “Guiding Light” and “Inside the Actor’s Studio.” Her studio has created environments for the New York Aquarium, the Bronx Zoo, The Intrepid, Grand Central and Times Square. She previously designed Our American Hamlet with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. noulinmeratstudio.com

Neil Fortin is a Boston-based costume designer. He is a graduate of Boston University with an MFA in Costume Production, and additionally holds a Bachelors degree in History from Providence College. Fortin has most recently completed designing for the Boston Lyric Opera’s production of The Rake’s Progress, directed by Allegra Libonatti. Prior to that, Fortin designed James and the Giant Peach for the American Repertory Theater. As an ongoing project Fortin is working on the American Repertory’s new musical Burn All Night, as part of their 2017-2018 season. Fortin has also worked with Boston’s Huntington Theater Company, Guerilla Opera, The Boston Conservatory, Actors Shakespeare Project, The Walnut Hill School, and The Metro Stage Company. Fortin excels in period tailoring as well as corsetry and period dressmaking. Millinery and crafts work are also in his arsenal, with attention to period and light-handed detail. While Fortin enjoys costume production he is also facile at design work, and understands that the way clothing is constructed affects the design-driven outcome.

Jamie Roderick Off-Brodway: The Woodsman (New World Stages, PBS’s Theater Close Up), A Dog Story, Ken Davenport’s That Bachelorette Show, Afterglow, My Big Gay Italian MidLife Crisis, Liberty: A Monumental New Musical. Regional: The Bikinis! – A New Musical Beach Party (Long Wharf Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Westchester Broadway Theatre), Macbeth, Hamlet (Shakespeare on the Sound), Billy Elliot (Ocean State Theatre Company). Recent credits include: Kerrigan and Lowdermilk’s The Bad Years, More Than All The World (Theatre for a New City). Resident Lighting Designer: Broken Box Mime Theatre. JamieRoderick.com

David Remedios CSC: Romeo and Juliet (2017); Our American Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Twelfth Night (2014, IRNE nom.), The Last Will, Coriolanus, All’s Well That Ends Well, Othello. Recent: Knyum, The Royale, Women in Jeopardy!, The Making of a Great Moment, Merrimack Rep; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Scottsboro Boys (IRNE Award), SpeakEasy Stage; Wild Horses, The Niceties, Contemporary American Theater Festival; The Effect, Gloucester Stage; Faithful Cheaters, Trinity Rep; Finish Line, Boston Theater Company at Shubert Theatre. Other regional and local credits include Geva Theatre, 59E59, Huntington Theatre, Studio Theatre, Portland Stage, Theatre for a New Audience, American Repertory Theatre, Centerstage Baltimore, LaJolla Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse, among many others. International: prominent arts festivals in Bogotá, Paris, Hong Kong and Edinburgh. David is Assistant Professor and Program Head of Sound Design at Boston University. remediosssound.com.

Peter DiMuro returns to CSC after last year’s production of The Boys From Syracuse, presented with Boston Landmarks Orchestra. Peter’s work has been commissioned by leading presenters and universities, including The Kennedy Center/DC, Dance Place/DC, Bates Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, AURAS Dance/Lithuania, The Boston Conservatory and Point Park University. In theatre, he has created dance and movement for productions at Theatre J, Open Circle Theatre, and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. His original company, Peter DiMuro Performance Associates and his fifteen-year collaboration, including 5 years as Artistic Director, with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, laid the foundation for his current creative umbrella, Peter DiMuro / Public Displays of Motion. Peter is grateful for previous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Performance Network, and, more recently, from The Boston Foundation’s Next Step, the Boston Dance Alliance; the Mayor’s Office of Boston; and The Dance Complex, for which he serves as Executive Artistic Director. In May, Peter received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Dance from Salem State University.

Angie Jepson is a fight choreographer, actress, and professor in the Boston area. She is thrilled to return to CSC after having worked as the Fight Director of Romeo & Juliet.  Fight choreography credits include:  Villians’ Supper Club with Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Tiger Style!, Becoming Cuba and M with the Huntington Theatre Company, Fences with Gloucester Stage Company, The Scottsboro Boys, Appropriate, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and Bad Jews with SpeakEasy Stage Company, Camelot with New Repertory Theatre, and Guards at the Taj with Central Square Theatre among many others. Angie received her MFA in Acting from Brandeis University, is a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, and teaches at the New England Conservatory, the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and UMass Boston.

Kat Alix-Gaudreau attended UMASS Amherst and the University of Georgia, earning a BA in Theater and an MA in Sociology. Kat also earned her degree in Digital Filmmaking from Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts in 2009. She began work as Production Coordinator at Iguana Films in 2008, and has been involved in two national PBS broadcast documentaries. In 2012 she worked as an assistant editor for Universal Studio’s “Ted”, and in 2013, was the assistant editor for “Our Mockingbird”, a documentary film by Sandra Jaffey. Kat was Production Coordinator for the HGTV show, “Spontaneous Construction” (aired March 2013). She is also the founder and Artistic Director of Ghost Light Players of MetroWest, which has produced seven Shakespeare productions since its inception in 2011. Kat was recently admitted to the advanced degree program at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford- On-Avon and will be relocating to the U.K. this fall.

Nora Mally is very excited to be making her Boston theatre debut after working for six years in the Chicago theatre scene. Chicago credits include productions with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, Remy Bumppo, About Face, The Inconvenience, Looking Glass Theatre Company, and TimeLine Theatre Company. Most recently she was the Assistant Stage Manager for Jesus Christ Superstar at Paramount Theatre Company in Aurora, IL. Nora proudly holds a BA degree in Theatre from Smith College.