Reimagined Production of THE THREE MUSKETERS Takes Centerstage
Posted April 27, 2022 in Press Releases
(Cleveland, OH) Cleveland Play House closes its 2021-2022 season with a reimagined production of The Three Musketeers adapted by Catherine Bush, running April 30 – May 22, 2022 in the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square. Based on the classic novel by Alexander Dumas, the play is directed by Laura Kepley, with fight direction by Rod Kinter, and features Leraldo Anzaldúa, Isaac Baker, Sean Maximo Campos, Nehassaiu deGannes, Kristina Gabriela, Josh Innerst, Bridget Kim, Eli Lynn, Gustavo Márquez, Hassiem Muhammad, Tom Myers, Mark Rose, Jasmine Rush, Jordan Taylor, Dawn L. Troupe, and Noah Williams. Tickets can be purchased viaclevelandplayhouse.com.
Set between 1625 and 1628, the novel of The Three Musketeers follows the adventures of young D’Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, hoping to join the Musketeers of the Guard – Athos, Porthos, and Aramis – to defend the honor of the King and Queen against the villainous Cardinal Richelieu. Meanwhile, Richelieu’s top agents, the duplicitous Rochefort and mesmerizing Milady de Winter, carry out an intricate plan to sabotage the Queen and undermine the King’s power.
Published in French as Les Trois Mousquetaires in 1844, Dumas notes in the preface he was inspired to pen the swashbuckling tale based on a scene in the historical novel, Mémoires de Monsieur d'Artagnan (1700), written by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras. Additionally, Dumas wrote two sequels that concerned D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers.
Playwright Catherine Bush was commissioned to adapt the classic novel into a fresh retelling of the story in 2014 for the Barter Theatre (Abingdon, VA). It received its New York premiere in 2017 at the Classical Theatre of Harlem.
CPH Artistic Director Laura Kepley says, “Catherine Bush’s adaptation is fleet, fast, and fun. This is a romantic adventure story full of athleticism, theatricality, laughs, and a surprising amount of depth. This is the perfect show for people craving live experiences. This play celebrates friendship, love, and showing up for each other. The Musketeers – both literally and figuratively – have each other’s backs. Its themes of unity and justice feel particularly relevant in our current moment.”
When discussing the concept for the play, Kepley says, “The production uses 17th century France as a springboard to create a fictionalized world that bears resemblance to both the past and our current moment. The driving impulse is to pull this classic story closer to our current time. The production very intentionally employs identity-conscious casting to make more space for greater representation and to embrace the actors’ full identities in the creation of their characters. Identity-conscious casting opens up the story to new interpretations as the diverse cast brings themselves to these roles. In a play whose rallying cry is ‘All for One, and One for All,’ we are aspiring to have a multiplicity of ages, genders, races, and ethnicities included in that ‘All’.”
Fight Director Rod Kinter says, “The biggest fight scene in the play, which is this street fight scene…we’ll be seeing a series of entrances and exits of musketeers going in and out of different spots and fighting with the Cardinal’s guard. Every musketeer will be featured fighting sometimes up to three people at once.”
Kepley says, “Working with Rod Kinter has been a glorious experience. His fight choreography is breath-taking. He advances both the story and the characters’ relationships during the nearly 50 minutes of fighting in the play.”
The creative team for this production includes scenic design by Paige Hathaway, costume design by Lex Liang, wig and hair design by Jason Hayes, lighting design by Alberto Segarra, with sound design and original music by Curtis Craig.
This play marks the last production Laura Kepley will direct as Artistic Director of Cleveland Play House.
The Three Musketeers is sponsored by KeyBank, the 2021-2022 season sponsor of Cleveland Play House.
Additional support for The Three Musketeers is provided by The John P. Murphy Foundation.
Tickets range from $15 to $95. Student tickets are $15 (valid student ID required). Ohio Direction/EBT cardholders receive $5 admission to any performance (up to eight tickets). Military personnel and their immediate families receive 50% off tickets. Tickets can be purchased by calling 216.241.6000 or by visiting clevelandplayhouse.com.
BIOGRAPHIES
THE CAST
LERALDO ANZALDÚA (Cardinal Richelieu, et al) is a Houston, TX based Actor, Performance and Motion Capture for Film and Video Games Performer, Anime Voice Over Artist and Fight Director with the Society of American Fight Directors. Sentai Filmworks: Ken/G-1 in Gatchaman; Takashi in High School of the Dead; Ralph in Halo Legends; Noda in Angel Beats; Kei Tsukishima in Haikyu!; Ryo Kurokiba in Food Wars!; and Yuta Togashi in Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions. With Funimation: Largo in One Piece. He has been a motion capture performer and fight director with Sony Pictures in Tokyo, Japan and a Motion Capture Fight Director & Talent for video games in Stockholm & Uppsala, Sweden. Master’s Degree in Acting from the University of Houston. Assistant Professor of Movement and Stage Combat with the Dept. of Theatre, Drama & Contemporary Dance at Indiana University.
ISAAC BAKER (Braddock/Felton, et al) is grateful and excited for his second performance with Cleveland Play House. He recently appeared in the CPH production of Antigone, as well as the CWRU/CPH MFA Production of Twelfth Night. Other credits from his time with MFA Program include Middletown, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and Electra/Orestes. Other credits include: The Merchant of Venice and Shakespeare in Love at the Great River Shakespeare Festival; Romeo and Juliet and The Crucible at the Public Theatre of Kentucky; as well as the collegiate premiere of Fun Home at the University of Evansville.
SEAN MAXIMO CAMPOS (Athos) makes his debut at Cleveland Play House and comes by way of Abingdon, VA where he has served the last 15 years as a proud member of the Barter Theatre's Resident Acting Company. Some favorite credits include Don Lockwood in Singing in the Rain, Black Stache in Peter and the Star Catcher, Clown 2 in The 39 Steps, and Donkey in Shrek the Musical.
NEHASSAIU DEGANNES (Milady de Winter/Mystery Woman) returns to CPH where she appeared as Cynthia in Sweat. She appeared in the national rolling premiere of My Lord, What A Night at Florida Studio Theatre and Arena Stage’s Flash Acts Festival, as well as Isabella and Pompey in Measure for Measure at Shakespeare & Co. Off-Broadway: Is God Is at Soho Rep and SEAGULLMACHINE at La MaMa. Regional: Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Studio Theatre, DC, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Luna Stage, WAM, Theatre Aquarius, Stratford Festival of Canada. Awards: Berkshire Theatre Critics Award for her performance in Or, and a Wallstreet Journal Best Actor Citation for her portrayal of Esther in Intimate Apparel. FILM: Equal Standard, produced by Ice-T.
KRISTINA GABRIELA (Constance, et al) was recently seen in CPH’s world premiere production of Light It Up!. She is in her final year in the CWRU/CPH MFA acting program and received her BA in Acting/Directing at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. CWRU/CPH: Viola in Twelfth Night, Electra in Electra/Orestes, Sweetheart/F doctor/F tourist in Middletown. Regional: Sophie in Mamma Mia, Mimi in Rent, and Beauty in Smokefall. @quirky_kris
SIERRA GRABOWSKA (understudy for Milady de Winter) is originally from Shepherdstown, West Virginia, though she came to the CWRU/CPH Acting Program by way of Boston. After earning her BA in Theater and English from UMass Amherst, she performed in Boston with multiple touring companies and is a company member of Magnificent Bastards, an international Shakespearean improv comedy troupe. Other theater credits include Juliet in Shakespeare Now’s Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet in Boston Theater Company’s Hamlet, and Puck in Boston Theater Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
JOSH INNERST (Rochefort/Cahusac, et al) returns to Cleveland Play House where he was last seen as The Cop in the world premiere of Clue: A New Comedy and as Sir Guy in Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood. Select regional credits: The Utah Shakespeare Festival, The Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The American Shakespeare Theatre, and Dobama Theatre. Favorite roles: Hamlet (Hamlet), Algernon (The Importance of Being Earnest), Mr. Marks (Intimate Apparel), Gratiano (Merchant of Venice), Trigorin (Stupid F***ing Bird), Touchstone (As You Like It), Richard Hannay (The 39 Steps), and Brutus (Julius Caesar). Innerst works as an audiobook narrator and commercial voice over artist.joshinnerst.com
BRIDGET KIM (Kitty/Bicarat, et al) recently made her Cleveland Play House debut as Ismene in Antigone. She hails from Kentucky, where she earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Louisville. This spring, she will graduate with her MFA in acting from the CWRU/CPH MFA program. She also wrote, directed, and starred in her lively one-woman show, and appeared as Sir Andrew in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (CWRU/CPH).
ELI LYNN (Aramis) is a trans nonbinary actor and artist based in Philadelphia. They are also an IDC-certified Intimacy Director and Barrymore-nominated fight choreographer, whose work has been seen at PA Shakespeare Festival, The Wilma, People’s Light, Playwrights Horizons (NYC), Philadelphia Artists’ Collective (PAC), and Arden Theatre. Regional: The Sea Voyage, PAC; Midsummer Night’s Dream, PA Shakespeare Festival; The Winter’s Tale, Folger Theatre; the world premiere of Sensitive Guys, InterAct Theatre; Moby Dick, Hedgerow Theatre; Coriolanus, Shakespeare in Clark Park; and West Side Story, Media Theatre.Eli-Lynn.com
GUSTAVO MÁRQUEZ (Planchet, et al) is a graduate of the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting program class of 2022. They were last seen in CPH’s world premiere production of Light it Up! as well as Antigone. Regional credits: Sweat, A Christmas Carol, Native Gardens (Denver Center). CWRU/CPH credits include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Twelfth Night, Middletown, and Electra/Orestes. Other credits: The Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar (Colorado Shakespeare Festival Tour), The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest, Metamorphoses, You Can’t Take It With You, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, American Idiot, Dracula and Grease.Gustavo-Marquez.com
HASSIEM MUHAMMAD (D’Artagnan) is a New York City based Actor/Filmmaker/Mover and is excited to be making his debut at Cleveland Play House! He can be seen on CBS’s Blue Bloods, FBI, and Madam Secretary. Other credits: Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s Shoebox Picnic: Route 1, and the Pioneer Theatre’s Sweat. In addition, Hassiem’s latest independent project, Angels of Uptown, is available for streaming on YouTube. He is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD), Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), and Actors Equity (AEA). He is represented by HCKR Agency (legit), and A3 Artists Agency (commercial).
TOM MYERS (Louis/Lemieux/Bonacieux, et al) is making his Cleveland Play House debut and is a graduate of Ohio University. He was last seen on stage at the Geffen Playhouse in LA, in the world premiere of Revenge Song with The Vampire Cowboys Theater Company. While in LA, he worked on and appeared in a number of films and TV shows, including Veep, Young Sheldon, The Good Place, and the indie movies such as The Funhouse Massacre, All That We Destroy, and Back to Lyla.
MARK ROSE (Jussac/Herald, et al) is a NY based actor, stuntman, and fight choreographer. This marks his CPH debut. Favorite credits include: The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (Disney World), Quantico (ABC), Blacklist (NBC), and motion capture for the video game, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. His fight choreography has been seen at Trinity Rep in RI, the Sparta NJ Renaissance Faire, and at Asolo Rep in Sarasota, where he worked with Laura Kepley on the production of Into the Breeches.
JASMINE RUSH (Porthos) is a Milwaukee-bred, Brooklyn-based Black actress, writer, and director. Off-Broadway: As Much As I Can at Joe’s Pub/Public Theater. REGIONAL: Hangar Theatre/Central Square Theatre: Queens Girl in the World; Shakespeare Theatre Company: The Amen Corner; Academy for Classical Acting: Julius Caesar, Pericles; TheatreSquared: School Girls...; New Repertory Theatre: KEYP-ING; Sierra Rep Theatre: Intimate Apparel; Lyric Stage Company of Boston: Barbecue, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning; TV: Bull, Blue Bloods, The Sinner, Difficult People. Rush is a company member of Quick Silver Theatre Company in NYC. Training: STC’s Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University: MFA in Classical Acting, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities: BA in Theatre Arts.JasmineRush.com.
JORDAN TAYLOR (Queen Anne, et al) is a performing artist, aspiring intimacy director, and anti-racist theatre advocate. She recently made her CPH debut in Antigone. She is originally from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and obtained a BFA in acting from Oakland University. Jordan is currently pursuing certification in intimacy direction with IDC. Jordan also portrayed Olivia in the CWRU/CPH MFA production of Twelfth Night.
DAWN L. TROUPE (Captain Treville/Abbess, et al) makes her Cleveland Play House debut. Off-Broadway: Moby Dick (Mapple); Brothers ParaNormal (Delia); As Much As I Can (Patrice); Anne of Green Gables (Mrs. Lynde), Year of The Monkey (Igloo). Regional: world premiere of Begin The Beguine (The Woman), Black Oddysey (Alsendra/Carib'dis/Diana Ross), Sister Act (Delores), Death of a Salesman (Linda Loman), Spunk (Blues Speak Woman), Aida (Aida), Ragtime (Sarah), Memphis (Ensemble), Color Purple (Shug Avery), Big River (Maid), Once On This Island (Mama Euralie), Caroline or Change (Radio 2). Workshops: Memphis, Little Princess, Funkentine Rapture, The Giver, Rebel Genuis, Anne of Green Gables, Moby Dick. TV/FILM: Forward/Too Late, Twice As Good and Bicentennial Man.
NOAH WILLIAMS (Lord Buckingham, et al) came to the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program from Alabama where he attended Troy University. While there, he performed in numerous roles. Notable credits include Tom in The Glass Menagerie, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, and Black Stache in Peter and the Star Catcher.
RYAN ZARECKI (understudy for Jussac, Rochefort, Cardinal Guards) recently appeared in All My Sons, Miss Holmes, Cinderella and as Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Ohio Shakespeare Festival, where he is the resident fight Director and actor manager. He has worked and choreographed locally for the Beck Center for the Arts, Dobama Theatre, Akron University, French Creek Theatre, Kent State University, Blank Canvas Theatre, and Malone university to name a few.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
CATHERINE BUSH (Playwright) lives in Abingdon, VA where she is resident playwright at Barter Theatre. Her plays produced at Barter include: The Other Side of the Mountain, The Quiltmaker, Comin’ Up A Storm, Wooden Snowflakes, Tradin’ Paint, Where Trouble Sleeps, The Road to Appomattox, Walking Across Egypt, I’ll Never Be Hungry Again (book & lyrics), The Controversial Rescue of Fatty the Pig, The Three Musketeers, Winter Wheat (book & lyrics), Ghost, Ghost, Come Out Tonight, Great Expectations, Dracula, A Christmas Carol, and Frankenstein. Other produced plays include The Executioner’s Sons, unhINGEd, The Frankenstein Summer, A Jarful of Fireflies, and Just a Kiss, which was a finalist for the 2007 Steinberg Award. Catherine has also written over twenty-five plays for the Barter Players, whose work serves the younger members of Barter’s audience. Catherine is a proud member of Dramatists Guild.
LAURA KEPLEY (Director) became Artistic Director of Cleveland Play House in 2013 and has directed numerous CPH mainstage productions, including The Crucible, Sweat, The Diary of Anne Frank, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, Into the Breeches, Every Brilliant Thing, and the world premieres of Tiny Houses, The Good Peaches, Fairfield, and A Carol for Cleveland. She joined CPH in 2010, having arrived from Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island, where she was Resident Director and Artistic Associate for four seasons and Interim Director of the Brown/Trinity Rep M.F.A. in Directing Program for one. She has also directed for The Alliance Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Chautauqua Theater Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Syracuse Stage, Trinity Rep and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, among others. A native Ohioan, Kepley received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and her Master of Fine Arts from Brown University/Trinity Rep. She is a Drama League Fellow, a recipient of the 2009–2011 National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Career Development Program for Directors, and a member of Leadership Cleveland’s Class of 2021. She has been recognized with multiple Outstanding Director commendations from The Cleveland Critics Circle, a Cuyahoga Community College/Smart Business “Smart Women” Award and a Crain’s Cleveland “Woman of Note” designation.
ROD KINTER (Fight Director) is a New York based fight director whose work has been seen on Broadway and the First National tour with The Lightning Thief, the Percy Jackson Musical. His work was also seen on PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center in New York City Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess. Off Broadway theatres include The Pearl Theatre Company, The Lucille Lortel, Minetta Lane, Mint Theatre Company, The Lynne Redgrave, and East 13th Street Playhouse. He was the Resident Fight Director at New York City Opera from 1995 - 2011. Regionally, his work has been seen at American Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare, Hudson Valley Shakespeare, The Barter Theatre, The McCarter Theatre, Shakespeare on the Sound, Glimmerglass Opera Festival, and the Chautauqua Opera Company. Kinter teaches stage combat as a member of the faculty at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC.rodkinter.com
PAIGE HATHAWAY (Scenic Designer) is based in the Washington, DC area and is making her Cleveland Play House debut. She has designed regionally at The Muny, Asolo Rep, Arden Theatre Company, the John W. Engeman Theatre, People’s Light, Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, Round House Theatre, Theater J, Imagination Stage, Studio Theater, Woolly Mammoth, and Olney Theatre Center. Her upcoming productions include: Mary Poppins at The Muny, Dance Nation at Olney Theatre Center, and Nathan the Wise at Theater J. She received her BFA from the University of Oklahoma and her MFA from the University of Maryland. She is a member of USA 829.paigehathawaydesign.com.
LEX LIANG (Costume Designer) returns to Cleveland Play House having previously designed Light It Up!, Where Did We Sit On The Bus? (Scenic & Costume Design), Shakespeare in Love (Scenic & Costume Design), The Crucible (Costume Design), The Little Foxes (Scenic & Costume Design), among others. Regional: Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Alliance Theatre, The Asolo, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Dallas Theatre Center, Denver Center, Geva Theatre, The Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Woolly Mammoth, and others. NYC/Off-Broadway: 50+ productions, including Antigone, Nine Circles, and The Bacchae. He is the founder and owner of LDC Design Associates in NYC. Member, United Scenic Artists-829. LexLiang.com
ALBERTO SEGARRA (Lighting Designer) is a Washington DC–based lighting designer. Recent DC credits: Acoustic Rooster at The Kennedy Center; The Thanksgiving Play at Olney Theatre Center; Quixote Nuevo at Round House Theatre; Good People at Keegan Theatre; Tender Age at Studio Theatre; El Perro del Hortelano at GALA Theatre; Earthrise at The Kennedy Center; Blood at the Root at Theater Alliance (Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lighting Design); Satchmo at the Waldorf at Mosaic Theater; and An Act of God at Signature Theatre. Regional: 1776 and The Gift Horse at New Repertory Theatre; Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at Blue Barn Theatre. He is graduate of from the University of Maryland, College Park and a USA 829 member.albertosegarra.com
CURTIS CRAIG (Sound Designer) has served as sound designed for several Cleveland Play House productions including Where Did We Sit on the Bus? and Pipeline. Regional: The Devil and Me (Lantern Theatre), Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 (Syracuse Stage), and Indecent (Denver Center). World premieres of Dominique Morisseau’s Mud Row at People’s Light & Theatre Company, and The Great Leap at Denver Center Theatre Company. His work has been heard at Baltimore Center Stage, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Seattle Rep, Detroit Public Theater, Clarence Brown Theatre, Chautauqua Theater Company, Apollo Theater, New York Fringe, and the Dallas Theater Center.curtiscraig.com
JASON HAYES (Wig Designer) is a 2016 & 2017 Drama Desk Award Nominee for Outstanding Wig & Hair Design for his work on The Legend of Georgia McBride and The View Upstairs. Hayes was the Hair Supervisor for The Present starring Cate Blanchett. Broadway: Casa Valentina, The Realistic Jones's, Spring Awakening, Blithe Spirit, 13 The Musical and Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Film & TV: I Mordecai, The Rise Of Hollywood, The Mysteries of Laura, Smash, Hostages, 30 Rock, Mercy, Gossip Girl, Saturday Night Live, Transamerica, Camp, The Savages, and Party Monster.
ALICIA RODIS (Intimacy Director) pioneered the role of intimacy coordinator in the US, and is the creative director of Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC). She serves as the intimacy coordinator for HBO studios where worked on And Just Like That, The Deuce, Mare of Easttown, Insecure, Watchmen, Betty, High Maintenance, among others. Recent: The Juilliard School (Indecent, Cardboard Piano, Plano, Life is a Dream), Columbia University (Where Do We Live), Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (August: Osage County, 1984), the Yale School of Drama (Slave Play), and Come From Away’s post pandemic return to Broadway.
SUSANA MONTOYA QUINCHIA (Associate Fight Director) is an actor, stage combat artist, and fight director in NYC. Some of her fight directing credits include Julius Caesar (ED Tour, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival) and Romeo and Juliet (Cold Spring, NY). She has also worked as an intimacy assistant at Connecticut College and the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. Regional Theater: Julius Caesar (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Ed Tour), The Heart of Robin Hood, The Sea Maid’s Music (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival). New York: Twelfth Night (Viola, Lady Shakes Theatre Co.), More Than All the World (Theater for the New City), Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice; the Playroom Theater). She studied drama at the American Music and Dramatics Academy.
CHERIE CORRINE RICE (Vocal Coach) is a voice, speech and dialect professor who earned her Master of Fine Arts from Brown University/Trinity Rep in Providence, Rhode Island. Rice has contributed to creative teams and theater departments at Huntington Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, Long Wharf Theater, Lyric Stage, Capital Rep, Audible.com, Drew University, NYU Tisch, The Juilliard School, Rutgers University MGSA, North Eastern University, and Pomona College. She serves as the head of voice and speech for Waterwell Theater Department at the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan.
JOHN GODBOUT (Stage Manager) was Cleveland Play House’s resident stage manager from 2001 to 2008 and returned to CPH in the fall of 2011. John has also stage managed at North Shore Music Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre, The Weston Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Northern Stage, Seaside Music Theatre, and Porthouse Theatre.
OLIVIA LOUISE TREE PLATH (Assistant Stage Manager) is a Kentucky-based stage manager and director. She has recently co-directed her first musical, Elf with a local community theater, The Theater Downstream. Her recent stage management and assistant stage management work includes Antigone and Blackademics with Cleveland Play House, Laughing Wild with The Dorset Theater Festival, and Noura with the Guthrie. She is a graduate of Yale’s School of Drama.
CRAIG JOSEPH (Dramaturg) serves as Artistic Associate at CPH and is Artistic Director of Seat of the Pants theatre company. He is an adjunct professor at Malone and Mount Union universities, and maintains freelance acting, directing, writing, and curatorial careers throughout NE Ohio and the Midwest. Upcoming projects include Our Country’s Good, as well as a book of essays on his experiences as a US census worker. Joseph is a graduate of Wake Forest and Northwestern universities, with degrees in English, Theology, and Theatre.
COLLETTE A. LAISURE (Managing Director) joined the Cleveland Play House leadership in February 2021, partnering with Board Chair Anne Marie Warren and Artistic Director Laura Kepley to support the Board and staff with overall business operations. Previously, Laisure served as Vice President and Executive Director of the PNC Fairfax Connection from 2012 to 2017, spearheading the strategic and operational direction of the thriving community resource center located in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood. Collette served as the President and Executive Director of The Presidents’ Council and has held board leadership roles at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Foundation, Cleveland Public Theatre, Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation and Karamu House. Laisure also served as Director of The City of Cleveland’s Office of Equal Opportunity, where she managed a budget of $1 million and was responsible for administering and monitoring compliance with the Female- and Minority-Owned Business Enterprise program. She is a member of Leadership Cleveland’s Class of 2008, and a 2008 Crain’s Cleveland Business Woman of Note.
###
