The Cleveland Play House
8500 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106
p: 216-795-7000
f: 216-795-7005
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The Case Western Reserve University / Cleveland Play House Graduate Ensemble presents:
The 2008 MFA Acting Showcase • May 12, 2008 • NYC
Presented at New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St., between 8th and 9th Ave.
directed by Paul Fouquet, CSA, of Elissa Myers Casting
For more information, contact Mark Alan Gordon, Associate Director of the MFA Program:
(216) 795-7000, ext. 208 or magordon@clevelandplayhouse.com
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standing, L-to-R: Taylor Valentine, Nathan Gurr, Annie Paul, Daniel Graham. seated L-to-R: Melynee Saunders Warren, Deric McNish, Tom Degnan, Amanda Duffy.
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Class of 2008 | Class of 2010
Graduate Ensemble: Class of 2008
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TOM DEGNAN is a native of Moorestown, New Jersey and a graduate from the University of Notre Dame. Some of his past roles include Cleante in Tartuffe, 20/20 Mike in Riff Raff, Danny in Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and George in Stop Kiss. As a member of the CASE/CPH Graduate Ensemble, he's played roles in Heartbreak House, The Little Foxes, The Seagull, As You Like It, and Big Love. He spent the summer of 2007 as a member of the acting company at Monomoy Theatre where his roles included Oberon in Midsummer, Mat Burke in Anna Christie, and Kholenkov in You Can't Take It With You. |
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AMANDA DUFFY is in the final year of training and performance with the CASE/CPH MFA program. In the Graduate Ensemble productions, she has appeared as Olympia in Big Love, Arkadina in The Seagull, Regina in The Little Foxes, and Nurse Guinness in Heartbreak House. She has worked regionally with the Utah Shakespearean Festival (Hamlet, Antony & Cleopatra, and the USF New American Playwrights Project) and The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (The Grouch, The Tempest, and Pygmalion). Amanda also toured with ShakespeareLIVE, an educational touring company, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and Hamlet. |
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NATHAN GURR is a third-year CASE/CPH MFA candidate. Some of his most recent productions include Cymbeline (Iachimo), Othello (Casio), American Revolution (Andre), and Great Lakes Theater Festival’s The Taming of the Shrew (Ensemble). Nathan was also with the GLTF’s Actor/Teacher Outreach Program for two years. He appeared in the CASE/CPH productions of The Little Foxes (Oscar), Heartbreak House (Mangan), Big Love (Constantin), The Seagull (Sorin), and As You Like It (Corin/Charles). Nathan received his BA in Theater and Philosophy at Whittier College in Los Angeles.
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DANIEL GRAHAM is proud to be a third-year CASE/CPH MFA candidate. He was last seen at The Cleveland Play House in Dobama Theatre's Lunacy (Edwin Forrest) during FusionFest and has appeared in the Graduate Ensemble productions of Big Love (Piero/Leo), The Seagull (Trigorin), Heartbreak House (Randall) and The Little Foxes (Ben). This season, he can be seen at The Play House in As You Like It, Tuck Everlasting and Pride and Prejudice. Daniel is also an ensemble member and co-founder of Standing Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Graham holds a degree in Theatre from Loyola University Chicago and, thanks to the Friends of Eldred Theater, is a recent graduate of The School at Steppenwolf Theatre.
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DERIC McNISH is a third year actor in the CASE/CPH Graduate Ensemble where he has appeared as Giuliano in Big Love, Mazzini in Heartbreak House, Konstantin in The Seagull, Leo in The Little Foxes, and Touchstone in As You Like It. Regionally, he has performed at the Porthouse Theatre, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Kraine Theatre, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, La Mama, Cider Mill Playhouse as well as a national tour out of NYC. TELEVISION: "Third Watch" and "Hamlet." FILM: Lead Paint and White Room. He holds a BA in Theatre from Binghamton University and has studied at Canada's National Voice Intensive and the American Academy of Dramatic Art. |
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ANNIE PAUL is in the final year of the CASE/CPH MFA program. She has performed with the Graduate Ensemble in As You Like It (Rosalind), Big Love (Lydia), Heartbreak House (Ellie), The Little Foxes (Alexandra), and The Seagull (Nina). Annie has also performed in Fusion Fest at CPH and with the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival. Regionally she has worked with American Players Theatre (Cymbeline, London Assurance, The Playboy of the Western World), Theatre X (The Bald Soprano, The Apollo of Bellac, What Matters), and Renaissance Theaterworks. Annie is incredibly grateful to have spent this past summer apprenticing with the United Stuntmen's Association thanks to a generous grant from the Friends of Eldred Theatre. She has also trained with Moscow Arts Theatre and The International Order of Pen and Sword. |
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TAYLOR VALENTINE hails from San Francisco, where he worked with esteemed Bay Area theatres such as American Conservatory Theatre, Berkely Rep, San Jose Rep, New Conservatory Theatre, and Shotgun Players. In addition, he has worked coast to coast, from children's theatre to summer stock, and is proud to be a founding member of the Daedalus Mythmakers with stints as Dionysus (The Bacchae) and Bottom (A Midsummer Night's Dream). At CPH he has appeared in The Little Foxes (Horace), Heartbreak House (Cpt. Shotover), The Seagull (Dorn), Big Love (Oed), and As You Like It (Jacques). Taylor received his BA in Theatre from Catawba College in North Carolina and completed the Journeyman Program at The Warehouse Theatre in South Carolina. |
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MELYNEE SAUNDERS WARREN is a third-year MFA student. She just completed the summer season at Monomoy Theater in Chatham, MA, where roles included Mrs. Pearce in My Fair Lady, M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Anna Christie in Anna Christie. She has previously appeared in the CASE/CPH Graduate Ensemble productions of Big Love (Thyona), Heartbreak House (Lady Utterword) and The Little Foxes (Birdie), as well as the CWRU workshop production of The Seagull (Masha).
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Graduate Ensemble: Class of 2010
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AJ CEDENO is a first-year MFA student and is ecstatic to be a part of the CASE/CPH program. He comes to Cleveland fresh out of undergrad where he earned his BA at the University of Notre Dame, double-majoring in Psychology and Film, Television, & Theatre. An avid musical theatre enthusiast, his past credits include Guys and Dolls (Big Jule), Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Joseph), Footloose! (Chuck Cranston), and Man of La Mancha (Pedro and the Barber). |
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MICHAEL FLOOD recently hails from New York City. He has been in the business professionally for three years, hitting the ground running, learning the ins and outs of the profession with many trials and errors, and garnering some memorable successes. His NY productions include: Two Gentlemen of Verona (Valentine), The Tempest (Ferdinand), Marat Sade (First NY revival produced by the Classical Theatre of Harlem), As You Like It (William and other roles) and has performed in other various contemporary and classical productions. He has also made television and film appearances in “Guiding Light,” American Gangster starring Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe, Bacardi NYC marathon commercial, VH-1, MTV Movie Awards, and other productions. Michael has trained at the Frederick Douglas Creative Arts Center with Petronia Paley and with the NY Stage & Film Powerhouse Theatre Program. |
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ZAC HOOGENDYK has performed at the Texas Shakespeare Festival ('05) as the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival ('04, '06) as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath and Ahab in Moby Dick Rehearsed. Other favorite roles have included Jim in The Glass Menagerie, Joe Keller in All My Sons, and Malvolio in Twelfth Night. He earned his B.A. from Pepperdine University with emphases in Acting and Production/Design. Upon graduation he was also awarded the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre Arts.
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LINDSAY IUEN is very excited to be a part of the CASE/CPH MFA program. She was last seen at The Crown Uptown Dinner Theatre where she played Miss Scarlett in Clue The Musical and Bell in Beauty and the Beast. Lindsay has also worked for Theatre West Virginia and The Great Plains Theatre Festival. Her favorite roles include Polly Peachum in The Three Penny Opera, Mildred Miller in Ah! Wilderness, and the roles of Miranda, Ariel, Trinculo, and Sebastian in The Tempest. She was part of the pre-professional program at New York University's CAP21 and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts in Theatre Performance from Wichita State University.
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SARAH NEDWEK is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and graduated from Marquette University with a degree in Spanish and Communications Studies. She recently toured with the National Theatre for Children and was seen in the premiere of Memorial Day, a Journeyman Pictures production. Sarah also performed in Uneventful Deaths for Agathon at the New York Fringe Festival, in numerous plays with the International WOW Company and appeared on "Guiding Light" and "All My Children." She is thrilled to jump into her first year at The Play House and looks forward to working with her new classmates and professors. |
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TOM PICASSO comes to Cleveland from New York where he was seen around town in Journeypath (Ontological Hysteric Theater), Three Sisters, Largo Desolato, and the premiere of Veritas (Columbia U. School of Fine Arts), The White Rose (New York Musical Theater Festival), and the original play C. Commute (Red Room Theater). Regional credits include Joseph... Dreamcoat (Hangar Theater), Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Triumph of Love (Timber Lake Playhouse) and in his native Kansas City doing Caught in the Net and Grease (New Theatre). Tom holds a degree in Theater from the University of Kansas. |
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TOM WHITE is a first year MFA student in the CASE/CPH Graduate Ensemble. He has appeared throughout Cleveland, working with The Cleveland Play House (Midsummer Night's Dream, Heartbreak House), Great Lakes Theater Festival (Merry Wives of Windsor), Dobama (Death of Frank, This is Our Youth, Heaven & Hell), Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, Night Kitchen, and Karamu Theater. In 2006, he portrayed Ben Affleck in the Ohio Premiere of the fringe hit Matt & Ben. Tom holds an undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University. |
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LEIGH WILLIAMS is thrilled to be a part of the CASE/CPH MFA program. She spent the Spring of 2007 playing Miss Havisham in the first national touring company of Great Expectations for TheatreWorks USA . Her regional credits include Proof (Catherine), Move Over, Mrs. Markham (Linda) and Perfect Crime (Margaret) at the Cider Mill Playhouse, and four seasons with Riverside Theatre Shakespeare Festival in Iowa City, where favorite roles have included Katherine in Taming of the Shrew, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Ariel in The Tempest, Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Beline in The Imaginary Invalid. Leigh has been living in New York City for the last seven years, where she has appeared in two FringeNYC productions and at various and sundry other Off-Off-Broadway venues, including The Gallery Players, P.S. 122, The Looking Glass and Chashama. Leigh holds a B.A. in theatre arts from Cornell University and also spent a semester studying at the British-American Dramatic Academy in London before joining the CASE/CPH program.
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