Stephen Adly Guirgis
Stephen Adly Guirgis is a member of LAByrinth Theater Company and The Actor’s Studio. His plays have been produced on five continents and throughout the United States. His most recent play, Between Riverside and Crazy (dir: Austin Pendleton), premiered at Atlantic Theater Company, moved to Second Stage Theatre, and garnered numerous awards including the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His Broadway debut, The Motherfucker with the Hat (dir: Anna D Shapiro), received 6 Tony Award nominations including Best Play. Other plays include five directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and World Premiered by LAByrinth Theater company: In Arabia We’d All Be Kings (CSNY), Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (CSNY, CSC, Edinburgh, Riker’s Island, Donmar Warehouse and The Arts Theater in London’s West End), Our Lady of 121 Street (CSNY & Union Square Theater), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Public Theater), The Little Flower of East Orange (Public Theater, Starring Ellen Burstyn and Michael Shannon), as well as Den Of Thieves (HERE Arts Center, dir: Max Daniels) and Dominica: The Fat Ugly Ho(Ensemble Studio Theater, dir: Adam Rapp). For television, he recently co-created, wrote and executive produced Netflix's "The Get Down" with Baz Luhrmann. As an actor, he has appeared in theater, film and television, including roles in Alejandro Inarritu's Oscar winning "Birdman,” Kenneth Lonergan’s "Margaret," Todd Solondz’s "Palindromes," Brett C. Leonard’s "Jailbait" opposite Michael Pitt, and Adam McKay’s upcoming Driver’s Seat. He recently returned to the stage as an actor starring opposite Treat Williams & Oliver Palmer in David Mamet’s American Buffalo (Dorset Theater Festival, Dir: John Gould Rubin). Other awards include: the Yale Wyndham-Campbell Prize, The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Award, PEN/Laura Pels Award, Whiting Award, TCG fellowship, Fringe First Award, NY Drama Critics Circle, L.A. Drama Critics Prize, and a Lucy Lortel Award. A former violence prevention specialist and H.I.V. educator, he lives in New York City. Twitter: @CookieRiverside
Eve Cauley
Eve Cauley ’79 has been working in film and television since her first film, The Untouchables, in 1986. She has served as production designer for many feature films, including Factotum, Bound, The War at Home, and The Patriot (see IMDB.com). She was art director for Drugstore Cowboy and Sister Act, and was set decorator for the first Home Alone, Dennis the Menace, and recently, The Leisure Seeker, starring Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland. She is a voting member of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, having production designed the TV series Secrets and Lies, Cane, Dirt, and The Detour, along with many TV pilots. She is a member of the Los Angeles Art Directors Guild IATSE local 800 and Chicago’s IATSE local 476 for Film and Television.
After graduating with a BA from the University at Albany (SUNYA) as a double major in Theatre and English Secondary Education, and with a Theatre concentration in design and technology, Eve Cauley went on to achieve her MFA from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
She worked at many theatres after graduation including Milwaukee Repertory, The Guthrie, Missouri Repertory, Studio Arena, the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre (resident scene designer), and multiple Chicago area theatres including Northlight, Organic, Victory Gardens, Pegasus Players, and Stormfield (as resident scene designer). She received a Joseph Jefferson Recommendation for Excellence in Scenic Design for her design of Snow, about the Russian Revolution. She was technical coordinator for Chicago’s first Annual Off-Off Loop Theater Festival and was on the Screenplay Selection Committee for the second Festival.
Ms. Cauley just completed her first year teaching production design in the film department at University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She was asked to stay three years as permanent faculty, but is able to take a leave to design a film if she chooses, and then continue teaching. Before that, she was a guest lecturer on film, TV, and theater production design at UCLA, AFI, Columbia College, IFP North, and Los Angles City College.
Eve greatly appreciates her undergraduate training at UAlbany—with scene design professor, Robert J. Donnelly; lighting design professor, Jerry Hanley; and the English Department’s honors writing professor, Judy Barlow.
Doug Gentile
My student life at UAlbany prepared me for an unforgettable experience in the entertainment world. There were both students and faculty in the program that recognized the untapped talent in me and took me under their wings, helping me to discover my love for theatre. Being a Departmental Theatre major concentrating in lighting design in the late 70s turned out to be a godsend. President Jimmy Carter had just taken office and happened to be a big fan of The National Endowment for the Arts. Many national and international dance and theatre companies toured through our stages at UAlbany. At that time, I was a student Technical Director under the guidance of the resident Technical Director Tom Clark. Because of this, I made some excellent connections working on these UAlbany performances.
Right after graduation I moved to Manhattan and kicked around for a year, working for such greats as Twyla Tharp, plus in various Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theatres, as well as the Juilliard scene shop. I even toured with a small ballet company performing The Nutcracker (Every good theatre tech needs to work at least one Nutcracker in one’s lifetime). Is there an Off-Off-Off-Off-Broadway? There must be because I was their wardrobe supervisor!
I eventually went to visit family in California and stayed! I was again lucky enough to land a job with a lighting production company that had mostly music acts as clients. At that time in entertainment, moving lights were in their infancy. I became a moving light programmer and my whole world grew. Does anyone remember the show “Solid Gold”? This show was where moving lights and “smoke graphics” were introduced for the first time. Bobby Dickinson was the Lighting Director who had the vision to take theatrical lighting in this direction. I was part of his team and appreciated Bobby’s input in my professional future.
In the 80s I was fortunate enough to tour with Jimmy Buffett, The Grateful Dead, Barry Manilow, Santana, Michael Jackson, Teddy Pendergrass , Huey Lewis, David Copperfield, and John Denver, to name just a few. I also worked a couple of Super Bowl halftime performances and almost every Las Vegas act that was on tour at that time. Does anyone remember Paul Anka, Engelbert Humperdinck, Mac Davis, The Pointer Sisters, and Wayne Newton? I happen to know all of the lyrics to “Danke Schoen” if anyone is interested. I was asked for a short bio of what I’ve been up to, but come on, I’ve been in the business for 38 years!
I will quickly pass over the Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe years, only because I don’t really remember them. Fast forward to the early 90’s where I find myself working with Sir Richard Pilbrow, Jules Fisher, and Ken Posner on Broadway, not to mention a season with Saturday Night Live as their moving light programmer.
I’ve slowed down in my later years, but I am still a “roadie.” I am now enjoying a rather quiet life in Atlanta, Georgia with my family and spending my weekends in the fall and winter working as ESPN’s lighting director for their Emmy Award-winning College GameDay football and basketball shows. In the summer months I am working with the talented people of FOX Golf.
I am where I am today because of friends, family, and fellow workers believing in me and my convictions.
I'll leave you with a favorite quote that has always held true for me: “It will all be good in the end. So if it is not good, Then it is not the end.”
Amy Clark
Amy Clark is a NYC based costume designer whose work has been seen on Broadway, regional theaters, television, and arenas across the country. Amy's costume designs for Broadway include A Night With Janis Joplin and Chaplin. (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations). Other recent designs include Follies St. Louis Rep, Carefree Dancing with Fred and Ginger Northeast tour Mr. Wolf Cleveland Playhouse, Himself and Nora The Minetta Lane, Heathers The Musical New World Stages, Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus presents Legends and Circus Extreme, Chaplin, St. Petersburg Russia, My Life is a Musical Bay Street Theater, Somewhere, Hartford Stage, On Your Toes, City Center Encores! The Little Mermaid, Papermill Playhouse. Amy received the 2012 Theatre Hall of Fame Emerging Artists Fellowship and received an MFA in Costume Design from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Amy most recently designed the new musical adaptation of Romy and Michele's High School Reunion at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre.
Susan Brumley
Susan Brumley (M.A. in Theatre, 1999) has been a working company manager for Broadway, Off-Broadway, and touring theatrical productions since 2001. After completing her master's degree at the University at Albany (SUNY), she spent a year auditioning in NYC while writing for the arts and culture website CultureFinder.com. Two days before that business declared bankruptcy, Susan was offered two different touring jobs—one as an actor and one as a technician for almost three times the money. Because she had gotten used to eating every day, she accepted the job as a technician.
From there, she honed her skills in every aspect of touring theatrical productions over the next few years with Chamber Theatre of Boston, eventually moving into the areas of stage and company management. She earned her AEA (Actors’ Equity Association) card shortly thereafter, working as a Stage Manager for ArtsPower Touring Theatre. Her first AEA production contract was on Eve Ensler's tour of The Good Body, following its brief Broadway run. She earned her ATPAM (Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers) card with the Off-Broadway musical How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes.
Other credits include national tours of Hairspray, Yo Gabba Gabba Live!, Avenue Q, Next to Normal (starring Alice Ripley in her Tony Award winning role), the first national tour of the recent Broadway revival of Evita, and the Broadway runs of Sister Act and Bring It On: The Musical! Her most recent credits include three awesome years helming the first national tour of The Book of Mormon, including a three-month contract in Australia, and the Broadway run of The Present (notable as Cate Blanchett’s Broadway debut). She is currently company manager of the second national tour of Hamilton.
In addition to the graduate program at the University at Albany, Susan credits her four years of volunteer work with the Fringe Festival in NYC and her participation in a seminar with CTI (Commercial Theatre Institute) as the biggest contributors to her success, as well as for expanding her professional network and for helping her to find her niche in theatre.
Frank Whaley
Since his acclaimed debut opposite Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson in 1987’s Ironweed, Frank Whaley has appeared in over eighty films including, Pulp Fiction, Field of Dreams, Swimming With Sharks, Swing Kids, Career Opportunities, Born on the Fourth of July, The Doors, Broken Arrow, J.F.K., Red Dragon, School of Rock, World Trade Center, The Freshman, Hoffa, Vacancy, among many others. He can next be seen in Hustlers opposite Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu and Cardi B.
On television Frank portrayed Agent Van Miller on Showtime’s Ray Donovan. He starred opposite Richard Dreyfuss in the ABC mini-series Madoff and played Detective Rafael Scarfe in the Marvel/Netflix series Luke Cage. He has also made memorable appearances on Blacklist, Gotham, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Empire, Psyche, Sneaky Pete and recently recurred on the Netflix series The Good Cop and on Amazon’s Jack Ryan, and in the Blumhouse anthology series Into The Dark on Hulu. Frank also stars opposite Peter Sarsgaard and David Strathairn in the upcoming CBS All Access series Interrogation.
Frank has written and directed four feature films. His debut, Joe The King earned him the Waldo Salt Award for screenwriting and a Grand Jury Prize nomination at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. His other films include The Jimmy Show (2001), New York City Serenade (2007) and Like Sunday, Like Rain (2016). His next feature film as writer/director, Winning The City which he adapted from the novel by Theodore Weesner, will go into production next year.
Frank is also an accomplished stage performer. Along with Ethan Hawke he co-founded the acclaimed Malapart Theater Company in 1991. He also works frequently with the ground breaking off -Broadway theater company The New Group where he recently starred in the revival of Wallace Shawn’s Marie and Bruce opposite Marisa Tomei, and Sam Shepard’s A Lie Of The Mind opposite Laurie Metcalf.
D.B. Woodside
D.B. Woodside is an actor and director, known for 24, Romeo Must Die, and The Temptations. Most recently he played Jeff Malone in the TV series Suits, Det. Thomas in The Man in 3B, Robinson in Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, and Amenadiel in the TV series Lucifer.
Brian McNamara
Brian McNamara has been acting for over 30 years. He got his break in Hollywood with a part in the hit movie "Flamingo Kid" and has since appeared in numerous roles in both film and television. McNamara starred in "Storm and Sorrow", "The Secret Lives Of Second Wives", and Changing Hearts. Some of his other film credits include, "Short Circuit," "Arachnophobia," "Mystery Date" and "Dead of Winter," which was also his directing debut. Early in his career, McNamara was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work in the TV movie, "Billionaire Boys Club." Some of his many TV credits include guest starring roles in such popular series as, "Seinfeld," "Monk," "NYPD Blue," "St. Elsewhere," "JAG," "Mad About You," "Ellen" and "Murphy Brown," as well as playing Brooke Shields love interest in her series "Suddenly Susan." While still continuing his acting career, Brian also pursues directing, most recently, several episodes of “Army Wives” and “Granite Flats”.
Dion Flynn
Dion Flynn is a comic actor best known as Barack Obama on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show. Dion has performed stand-up and improv all over NYC and while serving overseas in the U.S. Army. He holds a BA in Theatre from UAlbany and an MFA in acting from NYU. His performance history includes mainstage of the Moth Storytelling Events, Shakespeare in the Park, The Public Theater and The Guthrie. Dion is half of the improv team of Farahnakian and Flynn and the newest member of NYC’s longest running improv ensemble: Big Black Car. In August, Dion performed his solo show The Only Brown Kid In the Trailer Park at Proctors Theatre.
Sharon Sobel
Sharon Sobel was Professor of Theatre and Costume Designer at University of Nebraska at Omaha for 21 years. Previous institutions include University of Connecticut and SUNY Geneseo. She has taught Stage Makeup at the college level since 1990. She has lead multiple KCACTF workshops in makeup design and application and served as guest respondent for student makeup designs. She has designed and draped costumes and served as advisor for makeup for over 100 productions and is a member of United Scenic Artists of America. She is also a recipient of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Gold Medallion. Professor Sobel is also the author of Draping Period Costumes: Classical Greek to Victorian, published by Focal Press, and Theatrical Makeup: Basic Application Techniques.
Joseph Travers
Joe has been a professional Fight Director, Stunt Coordinator and Stage Combat Teacher for over 25 years. He has created fights, stunts and action sequences for stage and screen, working with performers such as Mary Louise Parker, Peter Strauss, Mia Farrow, Julia Stiles, Michael Rispoli, S. Epatha Merkison, Robert Cuccioli and John Cullum, and directors such as Anne Bogart, Sheryl Kaller, Kristin Linklater, Michael Greif, Leigh Silverman and James Lapine.
Recent stage work includes the Broadway production of Bronx Bombers at Circle-in-the-Square Theatre, the Off-Broadway world premier of Billy Porter’s While I Yet Live, and the critically acclaimed Off- Broadway revival of Joe Pintauro’s Snow Orchid. He also staged fights for the world premiers of Adam Rapp’s Essential Self – Defense, Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone, and the James Rana adaptation of Zorro! His work has been seen at Primary Stages, Playwrights Horizons, Irish Repertory Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, Seaside Music Theatre, Harbor Stage Company, American Globe Theatre, the Shanghai International Experimental Theatre Festival and on tour with the National Shakespeare Company.
He also served as fight director for the U.S. premier of Ethel Smyth’s 1906 opera The Wreckersat Bard SummerScape 2015.
On film, he has served as stunt coordinator for The Depths, Tower of Silence, A-Alike and Lifted.
Joe holds the rank of Certified Fight Director and Certified Teacher with both the Society of American Fight Directors and Fight Directors Canada. He is a regular contributor to the SAFDjournal The Fight Master through his column, Fight Matters. He teaches stage combat to MFA acting candidates at Columbia University and he is the head of the stage combat program at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. Since 1995 he has been the managing director of Swordplay, a NYC based company that provides instruction in safe and effective stage combat techniques to professional actors.
John Fico
John Fico is an award winning New York City based character actor. Since 2010, he has been performing in the four-character one-man show MADE FOR EACH OTHER; written for him by Off Broadway playwright Monica Bauer and partly based on scenes from his own life.
MADE FOR EACH OTHER premiered in the 2010 Planet Connections Theater Festivity (Nominated: Outstanding Actor in a Solo Show) and has been performed in the UK at London’s Etcetera Theatre and The Dukebox Theatre in Brighton as well as in festivals on two continents: Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Orlando Fringe, East-to-Edinburgh (59E59, NYC), One Man Talking (TADA!, NYC) and United Solo (Theatre Row, NYC) and had an open run at Stage Left in NYC. Notable New York credits include the world premiere of A. R. Gurney’s SCREEN PLAY, directed by Jim Simpson (Flea Theater), IRON CURTAIN, THE MUSICAL (Prospect Theatre, Off Broadway), the new Marx Brothers inspired musical THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING YOU EVER HOID (2010 NYMF – winner Outstanding Ensemble Performance), A STOOP ON ORCHARD STREET (Mazur Theater), PINK ELEPHANTS - THE MUSICAL with Candis Cayne (Slipper Room) & several editions of the ongoing short play series STICKY! (Bowery Poetry Club). Also: A STOOP ON ORCHARD STREET (National Tour), HELLO, DOLLY! (Forestburg Playhouse), BEYOND THERAPY (The Egg in Albany), and several tours with POKO PUPPETS. He can be seen online in the internationally acclaimed comedy web series 50 TO DEATH, and in the upcoming horror series STREAM NO EVIL.
John is also a commercial voice over artist and former member of the celebrated Bat Theater Company at The Flea Theater. For more information visit www.johnfico.com.