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Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program Announces Incoming Class

Posted May 27, 2015 in Press Releases

CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY/CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE MFA ACTING PROGRAM ANNOUNCES INCOMING CLASS

8 Students Selected from Over 700 Candidates

CLEVELAND, OH (May 27, 2015) The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program today announced its Class of 2018. The three women and five men represent eight different undergraduate programs from across the United States.

"It is always an exciting time for the program when a new MFA Acting class arrives to begin their intensive studies,” says Ron Wilson, director of the program. “The students in the class of 2018 will have the distinction of beginning their residence at CPH during the theatre's 100th year anniversary."

CWRU/CPH MFA Program Class of 2018

LAVOUR ADDISON is pleased as punch to be joining the Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House family. Lavour grew up in the Bahamas and attended high school in Florida. He graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a double major in Psychology and Theatre. He also holds a certificate from the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory in NYC. His professional experience includes serving as the Acting Captain of the Hawaii Pirate Ship Adventures and working as a full time member of the Professional Acting Company with the Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Favorite credits include Black in the The Wild Party, Rajo Nan Panjang in The Genteel Sabai, and Peter Evans in Bug.

PAUL BUGALLO was born in Miami, Florida, but raised in Seattle, where he discovered his passion for the performing arts. He attended Central Washington University where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatrical Performance. Paul has performed in many of Puget Sound's professional spaces, including the Seattle Repertory and Center House Theatres, as well as improvisational theatres such as Unexpected Productions and Jet City Improv. Ready for the next chapter, he now pursues an MFA at the Cleveland Play House where he intends on pushing his artistic prowess into the next phase of his career.

MARIAH BURKS will be a graduate this summer of Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a Specialization in Musical Theatre. She is beyond thrilled to be joining the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program. She had the wonderful opportunity to finish out her undergraduate training by performing Urinetown: The Musical as Little Becky Two-Shoes/Mrs. Millennium. She recently won the Irene Ryan National Scholarship Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Washington, DC. She can't wait to jump in and begin the process with everyone!

KYLE CHERRY hails from Sacramento, CA by way of Boston and New York City. He has worked regionally with the Huntington Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Whistler in the Dark, and Brown Box Theatre Project. Favorite roles include Malcolm in Macbeth, Lord Alfred Douglas in Gross Indecency, and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Kyle holds a B.A. in English from Tufts University.

SARAH CUNEO is beyond thrilled to be joining the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program this fall! A native of Montclair, New Jersey, Sarah will graduate from Princeton University in June with a major in Psychology and certificates in Theater and Neuroscience. She has been incredibly active in the Princeton theater community since her freshman year, acting in nearly twenty productions on campus and serving on the boards of several student theater groups. Her favorite roles include Father Toulon in Red Noses, Female Greek Chorus in How I Learned to Drive, Agave in The Bacchae, and Susy Hendrix in Wait Until Dark.

RANDY DIERKES hails from Nashville, Tennessee with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Florida State University in Music Theatre. He is beyond thrilled to join the MFA Acting Program at Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House. Some recent credits include Bud Frump in How to Succeed, Hanschen in Spring Awakening, Bo in William Inge's Bus Stop, and Ken in the original cast and International/Asian tour of Barbie Live! The Musical. This summer Randy appeared in Gypsy the Musical at The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina and will be playing Jean Michele in La Cage Aux Folles at The Lake Dillon Theatre Company in Colorado. He would like to thank his friends and family for their enduring love and support.

PETER HARGRAVE is thrilled to join the talented graduate ensemble at CWRU/CPH! A native Texan, Peter holds his BFA from Abilene Christian University and is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Tepper Semester. His favorite regional credits include Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Man of La Mancha, and The Taming of the Shrew at Texas Shakespeare Festival, Beauty and the Beast at Gateway Playhouse, South Pacific at Musical Theatre West, and several stints on Disney Cruise Line. Endless thanks to his family, his wife Kat, and the wonderful staff at CWRU/CPH who have already made Cleveland feel like home.

MEGAN MEDLEY is thrilled to be joining the CWRU/CPH Class of 2018! Home is Lexington, Kentucky, and she graduated from Butler University's Theatre Program in May 2014. Since then she continued to work in the Indianapolis theatre scene and her credits there include Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Giselle with NoExit Performance, The Rocky Horror Show with Zach Rosing Productions, Different Trains with Magnet Film Productions and Rapture, Blister, Burn at Theatre on the Square. She cannot wait to get up to Cleveland and get rolling!

ABOUT THE CWRU/CPH MFA PROGRAM

Since 1996, Cleveland Play House has partnered with Case Western Reserve University to offer a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting. In 2003, it became a conservatory program completely housed at Cleveland Play House. Every two years, the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program accepts a class of eight actors into its three-year program. All three years are spent in residency at Cleveland Play House, providing students with unique access to its new downtown Cleveland state-of-the-art facilities and the professional expertise of its staff. Program graduates include Rich Sommer (Mad Men, Harvey), Elizabeth A. Davis (Once – Tony Award Nomination, Allegro- Drama Desk Nomination), Tom Degnan (The Good Wife), and Stephen Michael Spencer (Oregon Shakespeare Festival).

ABOUT CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE

Recipient of the 2015 Regional Theatre Tony Award® and founded in 1915, Cleveland Play House is America’s first professional regional theatre. Throughout its rich history, Cleveland Play House has remained dedicated to its mission to inspire, stimulate and entertain diverse audiences in Northeast Ohio by producing plays and theatre education programs of the highest professional standards. It has produced more than 100 world and/or American premieres, and over its long history more than 12 million people have attended over 1,600 CPH productions. Today, Cleveland Play House looks toward its centennial while performing in three state-of-the art venues at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland. www.clevelandplayhouse.com

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Cleveland Play House with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. We also thank the residents of Cuyahoga County for supporting Cleveland Play House through Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

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