Tennessee Williams
Playwright
Tennessee Williams was born in 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi, where his grandfather was the Episcopal clergyman. When his father, a travelling salesman, moved with his family to St Louis some years later, both he and his sister found it impossible to settle down to city life. He entered college during the Depression and left after a couple of years to take a clerical job in a shoe company. He stayed there for two years, spending the evenings writing. He entered the University of Iowa in 1938 and completed his course, at the same time holding a large number of part-time jobs of great diversity. He received a Rockefeller fellowship in 1940 for his play Battle of Angels, and he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for A Streetcar Named Desire and in 1955 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Other plays include Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo, Camino Real, Baby Doll, The Glass Menagerie, Orpheus Descending, Suddenly Last Summer, The Night of the Iguana, Sweet Bird of Youth, and The Two-Character Play. Tennessee Williams died in 1983.
Robert O’Hara
Director
Robert O'Hara has received the NAACP Best Play and Best Director Award, the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play, two Obies and the Herb Alpert Award. Broadway: Slave Play. Off Broadway: He directed the world premieres of Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play, Nikkole Salter and Dania Guiria’s In the Continuum, Tarell McCraney’s The Brother/ Sister Plays (Part 2), Colman Domingo’s Wild with Happy, Kirsten Childs’ Bella: An American Tall Tale, as well as his own plays, Mankind, Bootycandy and Insurrection: Holding History. His plays Zombie: The American and Barbecue world premiered at Woolly Mammoth Theater and The Public Theater, respectively. His recent directing projects include, Baum and Cheri’s Gun and Powder at Signature Theater, Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun at Williamstown Theater Festival, Aziza Barnes’ BLKS at MCC, Inda Craig-Galvan’s Black Superhero Magic Mama at The Geffen Theater, the Universes’ Uni/Son, inspired by the poetry of August Wilson at OSF and Shakespeare’s Macbeth at Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Joel Reuben Ganz
Doctor
Joel is a professional actor and teacher living in New York City. He received his BA in Theatre Studies from Emory University and his graduate degree from the International Theatre School of Jacques Lecoq in Paris, France.
His credits include: New York: War Horse at Lincoln Center Theater, Macbeth with Lincoln Center Educational, The Living Room at 59e59 Theaters, and The Clown Play in the New York Fringe Festival. Regional: Macbeth (Denver Center of the Performing Arts), Oslo (Pioneer Theatre), Other Desert Cities (Portland Center Stage and Syracuse Stage), Disgraced (Maltz Jupiter Theatre), Peter and the Starcatcher (Virginia Stage Company), Measure for Pleasure (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company), Othello (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Shear Madness, The Lisbon Traviata (Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), The Death of Meyerhold, Take Me Out (Studio Theatre), Honey Brown Eyes, The Admission, Pangs of the Messiah (Theater J), The Book Club Play (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), Dorian Grey (Round House Theatre).
Television credits include "Unforgettable" (CBS) and "What Would You Do?" (ABC). Joel has worked on productions internationally in Scotland, France and the island of Corsica.
He has been teaching physical foundation techniques and working as a movement and aesthetics consultant on productions for 16 years. Recent international training and development projects include Project CREO in Quito, Ecuador and Mind Adventures theatre company in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
www.joelreubenganz.com
Joe Goldammer
Steve Hubbell
Joe Goldammer is delighted to be working with the Williamstown Theatre Festival again after appearing in A Raisin In The Sun as Karl Lindner. Selected Chicago credits: Marie Antoinette ( Steppenwolf Theatre); Booty Candy (Windy City Playhouse); Rabbit Hole (Goodman Theatre); Suicide Inc. (Steppenwolf Garage); Cicada (Route 66); Dead End (Griffin Theatre); R.U.R. (Griffin Theatre); If You Take A Mouse To School (Emerald City). Regional credits include: Macbeth (Denver Center for the Performing Arts); Peter Pan, A Christmas Carol (Actors Theatre of Louisville); The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Stage One); Henry V (Walden Theatre). Joe would like to thank his beautiful wife for her love and support.
Carla Gugino
Stella Kowalski
Carla Gugino made her Broadway debut in Roundabout’s 2004 revival of Arthur Miller’s After the Fall (Outer Critics Circle nomination and Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut.) Other Broadway credits include: Desire Under the Elms and Road to Mecca.
Off-Broadway: Suddenly Last Summer (Drama League Award), A Kid Like Jake. She most recently starred in Atlantic Theater Company's production of Alice Birch's Anatomy of a Suicide.
Television: "The Haunting of Hill House", "Entourage", "Californication", "Roadies", and "Karen Sisco". She currently can be seen as the titular character in the crime drama "Jett" and starring in "Manhunt: Deadly Games".
Film: San Andreas, Gerald’s Game, Night At The Museum, Watchmen, Sin City, American Gangster, Match, Judas Kiss, the Spy Kids trilogy, and the upcoming Gunpowder Milkshake.
Carmen M. Herlihy
Eunice Hubbell
Theater credits include: Kingdom Come (Roundabout), The Tomb of King Tot (Clubbed Thumb), Doctor Faustus (Classic Stage), Bachelorette (Second Stage), Five Genocides (Clubbed Thumb), Buffalo Gal (Primary Stages), crooked (Women’s Project; Lucille Lortel Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress), The Piano Teacher (Vineyard Theatre), The Thugs (Soho Rep), columbinus (NYTW, Drama League Nomination for Ensemble).
Regional: Top Girls (Huntington Theatre), Recent Alien Abductions (Humana Festival).
TV: “New Amsterdam”, “Awkwafina is Nora From Queens”, “Mrs. Fletcher”, “High Maintenance”, “Madam Secretary”, “The Unusuals”, “Cold Case”, “Six Degrees”.
Film: The Trouble with Cali, The Switch, The Rebound, Two Lovers, Burn After Reading, Morning Glory, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, My First Kiss and the People Involved.
Training: BFA NYU Tisch, ETW Amsterdam, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, The Public Theater Shakespeare Lab.
Sullivan Jones
Harold Mitchell
Broadway: Slave Play.
Off-Broadway: Slave Play (New York Theatre Workshop), The Winning Side (Epic Theater Ensemble).
Regional (partial list): Williamstown Theatre Festival, Denver Center, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.
Film: The Surrogate, False Positive.
TV: "The Looming Tower" (series regular), "The Politician", "Wu-Tang: American Saga", "Blue Bloods", "Parks and Recreation", "The Blacklist", "The Good Fight", "House of Cards".
Upcoming: "Halston" for Netflix.
Education: Brown University; UCLA School of Theater.
Brian Lucas
Young Collector
Brian Lucas began his career in New York's youth and community theatre programs, honing his craft and quickly turning a passion into a career.
In 2018, Brian made his first appearance in front of the camera when he joined the cast of the festival-touring short film Champions, which earned him a Best Supporting Actor nod as well as garnered a Best Film (King Award) achievement for the project's director at New York's First Run Film Festival.
His most recent credits include co-stars on CBS series "FBI" and NBC series "New Amsterdam", as well as a large supporting role in a soon-to-be-announced indie feature film.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Brian is a fresh and raw talent who injects his bright smile and Latin charisma into all his projects. Living by his father's words of "Why not you?" Brian looks forward to forging new career-defining opportunities in theatre, film, and as a voice artist, and to providing support for future young Latinos with the same spark and passion for the performing arts.
Brian is immensely grateful to Director Robert O'Hara for taking a chance on him and for providing an invaluable experience. He is also thankful for the daily support from his Manager, Matilda Comers, who helps him chase his dreams.
Audra McDonald
Blanche DuBois
Audra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a singer and an actor. The winner of a record-breaking six Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and an Emmy Award, she received a 2015 National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama and was also named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people that year. Tony-winning performances include Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill – which served as the vehicle for her Olivier-nominated 2017 West End debut. On television, McDonald is known for her roles in ABC’s "Private Practice" and "NBC’s The Sound of Music Live!", and she won an Emmy as the official host of PBS’s "Live From Lincoln Center". She returned to Broadway in summer 2019 to star opposite Michael Shannon in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and can currently be seen as Liz Lawrence on CBS All Access’s "The Good Fight", which launches its fourth season in 2020. Recent film credits include Ricki and the Flash, Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, the movie-musical Hello Again, and MGM’s forthcoming Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect. The Juilliard-trained soprano also maintains a major career as a concert and recording artist. Her latest solo album, Sing Happy, was recorded live with the New York Philharmonic for Decca Gold. Of all her many roles, her favorites are the ones performed offstage: passionate advocate for equal rights and homeless youth, wife to actor Will Swenson, and mother.
Stacey Raymond
Nurse
Stacey can currently be seen recurring on NBC's hit series "New Amsterdam". In the television space, Stacey can be seen on recent episodes of "Mr. Robot", "Bull", "The Good Cop", and "Law & Order: SVU" and has graced the big screen in several critically acclaimed films that have garnered much praise at festivals such as Cannes. Stacey has been seen on stages across New York City including New York Theatre Workshop, LAByrinth Theater Company, and La MaMa. They are a proud graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Cesar J. Rosado
Pablo Gonzales
Works include: Plaza Suite dir. John Benjamin Hickey (Broadway); PLANO dir. Taylor Reynolds (Clubbed Thumb); NYLON dir. Knud Adams (Blockchain); The Things That Were There by David Greenspan dir. Lee Sunday Evans (The Bushwick Starr/Abingdon theater); Dolphins and Sharks dir. Charlotte Brathwaite (LAByrinth Theater); The Workshop dir. Knud Adams (Soft Focus/HB Playwrights); Seven Spots on the Sun dir. Weyni Mengesha (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater); EL COQUI ESPECTACULAR and the Bottle of Doom dir. Jose Zayas (Two River Theater).
Film/TV: Giving Birth To A Butterfly; "Manifest"; "Law & Order: SVU"; and "Guap".
Ariel Shafir
Stanley Kowalski
Off-Broadway: Mankind (Playwrights Horizons), Henry V (The Public), Medea in Jerusalem (Rattlestick), Craft (Flea).
Regional: Macbeth (Titular character, Denver Center), Marie Antoinette (Steppenwolf), Captors (Huntington), Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare), A Life in the Theater (Alliance opp. André DeShields ), The Crucible (Playmakers).
International: Disgraced (China Tour). Film: Bride Wars, What Happens in Vegas, Don Peyote, Listen, What Happens Next, Love and Communication, Hysterical Psycho.
TV: "When They See Us", "The Sinner", "Blue Bloods", "The Blacklist", "Orange is the New Black", "30 Rock", "Law & Order: SVU", "Army Wives", "M’Larky".
Lindsay Jones
Original Music Composition and Sound Design
Broadway: Slave Play (Tony nominations for Best Score and Best Sound Design), The Nap, Bronx Bombers, and A Time to Kill.
Off-Broadway: Bella, The Burnt Part Boys, Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons), Mr. Joy (LCT3), Dry Powder, Barbecue, Privacy (Public Theater), Smokefall (MCC), Feeding The Dragon, Rx (Primary Stages), many others.
Regional: over 500 productions in theatres such as Guthrie, Hartford Stage, Alliance, Goodman, Old Globe, ACT, Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, La Jolla Playhouse, Arena Stage, OSF, Denver Center, Huntington, Alley, McCarter, Lookingglass, Shakespeare Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Berkeley Repertory, Geva, and many others.
International: Stratford Festival (Canada), Royal Shakespeare Company (England), many others.
Awards: two Tony Award nominations, seven Joseph Jefferson Awards and 24 nominations, two Ovation Awards and three nominations, three Drama Desk Award nominations, three Helen Hayes nominations, two Barrymore nominations, and many others.
Film scoring credits include HBO Films’ A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (2006 Academy Award, Best Documentary), Magnolia Pictures’ The Brass Teapot, many others.
Faculty member of University Of North Carolina School Of The Arts.
Founding member of Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA), and co-founder of The Collaborator Party.
www.lindsayjones.com
Dawn-Elin Fraser
Dialect Coach
Broadway: Tina—The Tina Turner Musical; What the Constitution Means to Me, Slave Play, The Great Society, Once on this Island, Waitress, Finding Neverland.
National Tour: The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Waitress, Finding Neverland.
Off-Broadway: Slave Play, Nat Turner in Jerusalem, Sojourners, Her Portmanteau, An Ordinary Muslim, The House that Will Not Stand (NYTW); Fires in the Mirror; By the Way Meet Vera Stark, Our Lady of Kibeho (Signature Theater); Invisible Thread (Second Stage); Eve’s Song, Barbeque, Passing Strange (The Public Theater).
Regional: Finding Neverland, Crossing: An American Opera, Waitress (A.R.T.); Comedy of Errors (Oregon Shakespeare Festival).
Head of Spoken Voice and Speech, New Studio on Broadway NYU/Tisch.
Certified Teacher, Knight-Thompson Speechwork.
Education: MFA, American Conservatory Theater.
Deborah Hecht
Dialect Coach
Broadway: Sing Street, How I Learned to Drive, Hangmen, Flying Over Sunset, The Ferryman, Harry Potter..., the recent and original productions of Angels in America.
Off-Broadway: Signature, LCT, MTC, Playwrights Horizons, NYTW, others.
Regional: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hartford Stage, Yale Rep, Seattle Rep, McCarter, others.
England: RSC, National.
Film/TV: Fosse/Vernon, All the Money in the World, Under the Skin, others.
Faculty: Juilliard.
Nicholas Polonio
Assistant Director
Nicholas Polonio is a Filipino-American Director based in Brooklyn, NY. He is an alum of the Williamstown Theatre Festival Directing Corps, the Young Vic Genesis Directors Program, and the Conservatory at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. As an Associate and Assistant Director, he has worked on and off-Broadway, regionally and internationally for directors including Robert O’Hara, Tatiana Mallarino, and Bill Buckhurst. Nicholas is a 2016 National YoungArts Finalist in Spoken Theatre, a 2021 Drama League Directing Fellow, and received his BFA in Acting from Rutgers Mason-Gross School of the Arts.
