Creative Team

Previous Casts

Bios

Juliana de Abreu (Scenic Designer) – Juliana is in her 3rd year of the MFA scenic design program at California Institute of the Arts. Juliana is currently designing Carl Hancock Rux’s Smoke Lilies and Jade, a Center for New Performance and CalArts production, being directed by Nataki Garrett and to be opened in November of 2008. Other CalArts designs: Marsian De Lellis’ Growing Up Linda, G. Bernard Shaw’s As Far as Thought Can Reach directed by Lars Jan (Modular Theatre), Assistant designer: Hamlet (Modular Theatre); Big Baby, São Paulo, Brazil: F. Garcia Lorca’s O Amor de Dom Perlimplin por Luiza em seu Jardim (Ops! Cia. de Teatro); assistant: A Babá dir. Bibi Ferreira (des. Renato Scripilliti,); Grease, o Musical (des. R. Scripilliti). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Bosco Brasil’s O Dia do Redentor dir. Ariela Goldmann (assistant designer – des. Gianni Ratto,). Puppetry operation: Alison Heimstead and Shannon Scrofano’s Ronald Reagan Love Story(at The Manual Archives in Los Angeles); Christine Marie’s first workshop of Ground to Cloud (CalArts); Torry Bend’s Loser (Prague Quadrennial 2007); Christine Maries shadow puppetry for Satyricon (CalArts Modular Theatre). Juliana is from São Paulo, Brazil, where she graduated in Architecture and Urbanism and has worked in the field for 6 years before coming to CalArts

Brandon Stirling Baker (Lighting Designer) – Brandon has designed lighting for theatre, dance, puppetry and art installations. His designs have been seen at the New York Toy Theatre Festival, Los Angeles Music Center, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), Roy & Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) and most recently the Santa Monic Museum of Art. Brandon is currently a third year student at the California Institute of the Arts.

Alanna Blair (Linda Carvel) – Alanna Blair’s odyssey to Edinburgh began in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee and has seen her through New York and Los Angeles where she graduated from CalArts with a BFA in Theater. She’s also a poet, painter, photographer, and road trip addict. Alanna dedicates her Linda performance to Jackie Kay.

Ariel Boroff (Assistant Costume Design) MFA 2 CalArts Costume Design. BFA The Theatre School, DePaul University.

Melissa Jean Cooper (Stage Manager) – Theater Credits; CalArts: New Works Festival (PM), Beginner (SM), Skriker (SM), Lear (ASM), Matters of Faith (Producer/Director). Professional Credits: The Lucky Chance School for Scandal, Much Ado About Nothing and Antony & Cleopatra with the Queen’s Company, NYC. Huck Finn, Candida (ASM), Always… Pasty Cline (ASM), and Mr. Pim Passes By (ASM) with the Peterborourgh Players. Film Credits include: Still Life (Unit Production Manager), I’ll Know It When I See It (Producer)

Roz Fulton (Video Design) – MFA in Lighting Design and Integrated Media, California Institute for the Arts 2008. Video Design (CalArts): Le Petite Macabre, Pandora’s Box; Straylight (Interactive video installation). Graphic Chastity, Perception Cubed (Interactive video installation) for Dance USA, Growing Up Linda (video design), Lighting Design: (CalArts) Hoppla! We’re Alive, Hamlet, Edward Bond’s Lear, Roberto Zucco, In Watermelon Sugar, Closer, I Love You Goodbye! (CalArts School of Dance); Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, New Burlington and A Soldier’s Tale (Chautaugua Theater Company). Roz is the resident lighting and video designer for dance company Kinesthetic Sense.

Ian Garrett (Producer)  – Ian is a multi-disciplinary artist/producer/designer based in Los Angele. As a producer, his credits include week 42 of Susan-Lori Parks’ 365 days/365 Plays at DiverseWorks, the tour of Torry Bend’s adaptation of Aimee Bender’s Loser to the Prague Quadrennial, and as Assistant Producer, Richard Foreman and Michael Gordon’s  Opera What to Wear, which premiered at REDCAT in Los Angeles in September 2006. His design credits include: American Dead (Set, Rogue Machine), Body Politic (Lights, Echo Theatre at the Zephyr), Permanent Collection (Lights, Kirk Douglass Theatrer/Greenway Court; LA Weekly Theater Award), Picasso Draws My Maps (Set, Vox Humana). He has also worked throughout the USA at the McCarter Theater, the Williamstown Theater Festival, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston. Ian recently finished dual MFA’s in producing and lighting design at the California Institute of the Arts, where he also teaches courses on sustainable practice in theater, an issue he is working with the Center Theater Group, LA Stage Alliance and the Arts/Earth partnership to bring to the forefront.

E. M. Giminez (Sound Designer) – Martin has been lucky to make some noise in the following productions: CalArts: Hoppla! We’re Alive, Las Meninas, Growing Up Linda, Silver Circus (assistant), Geenbriar Valley Theater: The Tempest, Interlochen Center for the Arts; Rags, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Thanks to everybody who has put up with him through the processes!

Jennifer Koblosky (Production Stage Manager) – Jennifer is in her last year of graduate school at CalArts. Throughout her school years, she has worked on several projects as a stage manager as well as a production manager. This is her second year coming to the Fringe Festival and she could not be happier! Some of her CalArts credits include Silver Circus (ASM), The Castle (PM), Vineland Stelae (SM), and Platee (PM). She has worked several events at CalArts including the Halloween Party, the Fashion Show, and graduation. She would like to thank Calvin for believing in her.

Marsian De Lellis (Writer, Director) – Marsian De Lellis is a Los Angeles-based interdisciplinary artist who investigates contemporary forms of animism, death, sexuality, neurodiversity, and addiction. In their work, they employ artificial figures, cutouts, pop-ups, performing objects, and wearable architecture.

P.J. McWhiskers, (Co-writer) – P.J. McWhiskers, performance art entity, has for thirteen years been creating and collaborating in original works staged in both Massachusetts and New York. At the age of seventeen, P.J. joined the Massachusetts-based theatre company, “The Gold Dust Orphans” where she performed as a principal member for eight years. She is best known for curating the Provincetown-based performance salon and booze fest, KooK, co-writing and staring in Fun-time with Pea-pie and Jo-Jo and You Suck, a sketch comedy karaoke show. She is currently touring the middle east of the United States with her solo creation, How Pathetic and is working on her second collaboration with Marsian, The Bride of Wildenstein.

Brett Waldon (Ensemble) – Brett is a recent graduate from the California Institute of the Arts with an MFA in acting. As such, he is not embarrassed to remind all the fine arts – even the smaller, less significant ones – that he is in fact their lord and master. This is Brett’s second time attending the Fringe Festival, performing last year at Venue 13 in lonesco’s Jack or the Submission. He would like to thank all three people who saw the show last year ans would like to thank you for coming to see this show today. Lines will be forming outside Brett’s dressing room after the show. Bring a friend.

Rachel Weir (Costume Design) – Rachel will begin her third year at CalArts in the MFA program in Costume Design in the Fall of 2008. She received her BA from Reed College in 1998 in Theatre Costume Design and has since become a versatile and prolific costumer up and down the Pacific Coast. She has worked as the costume designer for acclaimed Seattle institutions including The Village Theatre New Works in Issaquah, WA, Arts West in West Seattle and the Seattle Fringe Festival. In Portland, Or, she designed for the season finale at Sylvia’s Class Act Dinner Theatre and worked as a design assistant at Portland Center Stage. She’s collaborated with established northwest directors including John Vreeke and Brian Yorkie, Katy Husentruit,  Kibby Munson, and Robert Quillen Camp. Her film credits include Urban Scarecrow, written and directed by Andrew McAllister, and Side Effect, written and directed by Liz Adams, winner of the AFI Directing Women’s Workshop. She has been design assistant to several designers including Paul Tazewell at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Martin Pakledianaz and Robert Israel at the Seattle Opera. She was a wardrobe professional at the Empty Space Theatre in Seattle and led the wig crew for the Pacific Nortwest Ballet’s productions of Sleeping Beauty, The Merry Widow and Swan Lake. Since begininng at CalArts, she designed the costumes for Room in Me, choreographed by Sung Yun Park, and for Task Force, a Stephan Koplowitz site-specific dance project in Los Angeles.

Steven Wendt (Ensemble) – is an actor, puppeteer and musician. He has traveled to Edinburgh with his ukulele, and if you would like to hear him sing a song, meet him after the show!

Anne Yatco (Ensemble) – is sublimely happy to be working on Growing Up Linda as it moves to Edinburgh. She is about to start her third and final year in the MFA acting program at CalArts. Fun fact: Anne also has a Bachelors in Science in Biomedical Engineering from Marguette University! Some of her favorite credits include Lead Feet and Nothing Upstairs (Manual Archives); Emily in Beginner and Anya in Cherry Orchard (CalArts); Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers, Dorine in Tartuffe, Geri in Redwood Curtain, and Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie (Marquette University). Thank you Marsian and the rest of the cast and crew for making me feel at home in this show!

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Advisors