MUSE
By Frank Tangredi
FEATURING:
Reanna Armellino as Bernie Day
Anne Fizzard* as Louise Wessler
Rachel Gatewood* as Sheila Day
Jeffrey Grover* as Austin Day
Robert Hickey* as Walter Wessler
and Matt O’Shea as Matthias Wessler
Directed by Hazen Cuyler; Stage Manager Victoria Herda; Assistant Director Eve Helak; Choreographer Ariel Polanco; Fight Choreographer Gabriel Rosario; Costume Design Amanda Scanze; Lighting Design Joshua Rusinov; Set Design Pearl Gopalani; With music by Benjamin Stu
*Actors are appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association. This is an Equity Approved Showcase
Reanna Armellino (Bernie) is honored to bring this character and this show to life. She is the Managing Director of the Greenhouse Ensemble and has appeared in numerous pieces of work in and out of the city. Reanna thanksFay Simpson, Hazen, Joey and James for their fantastic work putting this show together, and as always, you- the audience. For more information- www.reannaarmellino.com , @theoriginalreanna
Anne Fizzard* (Louise) is grateful that you’re attending Muse. “Thank you. Thank you, that’s very kind of you.” Originally from Canada (St. John’s, Newfoundland), Anne won her green card in the U.S. immigration lottery and has since spent many years acting in New York’s Off-Off-Broadway world. She is an emerita member of the Drama Desk-nominated WorkShop Theater, and is a frequent participant in Actors Studio PDW play readings. She created the COVID shutdown comedy web series Marigold & Martha (www.marigoldandmartha.com), in which she plays identical twins stuck together in quarantine. She is also a cartoonist for The New Yorker. Training: American Academy of Dramatic Arts (NY), Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (summer school), HB Studio (Alfred Molina, Austin Pendleton, Laura Esterman). Proud member, AEA / SAG-AFTRA / ACTRA. www.annefizzard.com
Rachel Gatewood* (Sheila) is a Texas actor currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Past credits include: Gumbo from A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (dir. by Jonathan McCrory) and Lena in “We’re Going to be Okay” (dir. by Basil Kreimendahl). Additionally, Rachel has devised and created works alongside several NY theatre’s including Brooklyn based theatre company One Year Lease, SITI Company, and other Greenhouse Ensemble productions. Rachel has a BFA in Acting from SUNY Purchase and is humbled to be a part of telling this story. Thank you to Hazen, the cast, and everyone that has supported her through the process. For those who needed to see themselves most. Instagram: @rgatewood
Jeffrey Grover* (Austin) has appeared in numerous NY and regional theater productions. Jeffrey is a Cleveland, Ohio native. Select productions there include The Life of Galileo, 8 and All The Way at the Cleveland Play House. Julius Caesar at Great Lakes Festival. Angels In America and Normal Heart at Ensemble Theater. Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Art, and The Seagull at Beck Center. Cherry Docs, Annapurna, God of Carnage, How I Learned to Drive and Lady at None Too Fragile, among many others. NY theater includes productions with Metropolitan Playhouse, Abingdon Theatre, The Tank, Wild Banshee, NY Theater Festival, theater (Untitled), among others. Jeffrey has appeared in over 40 films including roles opposite Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon in Take Shelter. Ann Dowd in Compliance. Don Cheadle in Miles Ahead. Amy Schumer in I Feel Pretty. Ben Foster in Galveston. Mark Ruffalo and Bill Pullman in Dark Waters. He will be seen in upcoming releases as Judge Liebowitz opposite Robert DeNiro in The Alto Knights, Kurt Davidson in Post Truth, and Timothy in the thriller, The Thaw. Television includes Feud: Capote’s Women, Succession, New Amsterdam and Partner Track. Jeffrey is partner in g2h films, recently completing filming for the new short he wrote and directed, “I Killed Angela.” Representation: Boals, Winnett & Associates and Ingrid French Management. www.jeffreygrover.com
Robert James Hickey* (Walter) is very excited to play Walter Wessler in Muse. Robert started out in acting in college and migrated to the technical side. Out of College, he worked as a news cameraman in Washington D.C. as well as a cinematographer shooting documentaries. Later he was hired as a staff Lighting Designer by NBC in NYC. After 15 years at NBC Robert left NBC to start his own TV Lighting company which he ran until retired from TV Lighting in 2014 with 7 TV Emmy lighting nominations. He returned to acting and added Voice Over. Towards those pursuits, he resumed his acting studies here in NY at various acting schools mainly HB Studio. He is a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity Association. Robert made his off-Broadway debut in 2018 at 59 & 59 Theater, NYC in Edge of Our Bodies and appears in national television shows, films, and commercials. He is represented by Resolute Artist Agency. http://www.rjhvoice.com
Matt O’Shea (Matthias) is an actor, filmmaker and composer based in New York. He has been a member of the Greenhouse Ensemble since 2019. Theatre credits include 4,000 Miles (DOBAMA Theatre), Tender Napalm (Cleveland Public Theatre), The Aliens (DOBAMA Theatre) and 33 Variations (Beck Center for the Arts). Film credits include The Assassin’s Code (Gravitas Ventures) and Jenny’s Wedding (IFC Films). Matt is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA.
Hazen Cuyler (Director) is an award-winning actor and director and the Artistic Director and Founder of The Greenhouse Ensemble. His production of The Unspeakable Passion of Mitch Devoe won all eligible awards including best director (Hazen), best writer (Frank Tangredi) and best actor at the LIC One Act Festival (out of 50 plays). His production of Twelfth Night was nomitated for Best Comedy by the NY Shakespeare Awards. He is honored to be a 2023 Fellow at Lucid Body House and has won or been nominated for several awards regionally. Hazen has trained extensively under Austin Pendleton, Aleksey Burago, Fay Simpson, Jack Garfein, Patsy Rodenburg, and many others. He teaches acting at The Greenhouse Ensemble and for the NY DOE. Greenhouse focuses much of their work on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where Hazen lives. www.hazencuyler.com
Victoria Herda (Stage Manager) is a rising senior at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. She will graduate in spring 2024 with a BFA in Theatre Performance. She is so grateful to have had the opportunity to intern with the Greenhouse Ensemble as their stage manager. She has learned so much from this wonderful community of artists and hopes you enjoy the show! Insta: @Tori_herda https://vherda8.wixsite.com/victoria-herda
Eve Helak (Assistant Director) is currently a student at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. She is very excited ,and appreciative, to have gotten the opportunity to be out here with Greenhouse Ensemble Theater and be a part of such a wonderful production and team. @who’s.eve
Gabriel Rosario (Fight Choreographer) Fight Director: Sweat at Fulton Theatre, Great Diamond Heist and Legacy of Sleepy Hollow stunt shows at Strasburg Railroad, Romeo and Juliet; Faust on 147 th Street; Valor, Agravio y Mujer(HOLA Award Best Fight Choreography), Rut, 12 Floors, Les Chienes. Stage Combat Faculty at AMDA. @gabrielrosarioprfights Gabrielrosariopr.com
Frank Tangredi (Playwright) is Resident Playwright with Greenhouse Ensemble, which has previously produced his college dormitory play God, Sex and Getting Even, an evening of short work, Dads, Dads, and Other Disturbances, and the award-winning short play The Unspeakable Passion of Mitch Devoe. His play Pastoral was the winner of the Christopher Brian Wolk Award and received a reading at the Pasadena Playhouse featuring Angela Bassett. Another play, Galatea, was nominated for a Los Angeles Weekly Theatre Award for Best Playwriting and was subsequently presented at the New York Fringe Festival and at Studio Theatre, Lindenhurst. He is also the author of Lifeline, produced in 2012 by Manhattan’s Abingdon Theatre Company, and A Disturbance at Hemingsford Hall, produced in 2022 by Studio Theatre. His one-act plays include Extracurricular (published in Best Ten-Minute Plays 2012), and Useless Information (winner, Best Production at the Eastern States Theatre One Act Festival.) He has had a record six plays produced at the annual Festival of One Act Plays at Theatre Three in Port Jefferson.
Joshua Eric Rusinov (Lighting Design) is a New York based Lighting Designer who graduated from SUNY at Purchase College with a BFA in Design/Technology in May of 2020. He has designed for many of Greenhouse’s Productions over the last few years and looks forward to continuing to work with the company on their next projects.
Pearl Gopalani (Set Design) is thrilled to partner with Greenhouse Ensemble on bringing the story of Muse to life. She is, first and foremost, a citizen of the world, and loves traveling and bringing other cultures to life through my designs. She is a set and costume designer based in New York. She enjoys reading and loves telling stories through creations. She has used Moroccan, Mexican and Indian influences in her past designs for film and theater, and loves working on diverse projects. She has a Master’s from Columbia University and most recently completed set and costume design education at Central Saint Martins.
Joey Rotter (Producer) Joey is an actor, director and writer, and has enjoyed wearing his producer hat on this important piece. Joey is the Director of Programming at The Greenhouse Ensemble and is just coming off having directed Dancing Shoes at the Queen’s One Act festival at the Secret Theater, where it won awards for best actor, best play and best director. His full length superhero satire play Captain Placeholder and the Adventures of We’ll Figure it Out Later will be returning this fall and his comedic short play First Date will run at NY Summerfest in May. See more at JoeyRotter.com and @amidoingthisrighttho
Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 50,000 actors. and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essentialcomponent of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence . www.actorsequity.org.