The Company:
The Open Fist Theatre Company is a community of actors, playwrights, designers, and directors who believe that to realize the force and potential of a relevant, contemporary, living theatre it is necessary to create, nurture, and unite a company founded on the pursuit of artistic excellence. We seek through diverse styles and forms to illuminate the essential relationships that connect individuals and their societies as we forge our own collective identity through our work.
For more information on each company member, please click on their name below.
Amanda’s most recent OFTC credits include playing Ms. Lowell in Moss Hart's Light Up The Sky, Dorothy Thompson in Michael Franco’s The Room (World Premiere), Stephanie in Michael Elyanow’s The Idiot Box (West Coast Premiere), and Sasha in Matai Visniec’s How To Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients (Edinburgh Festival Fringe.) Directing credits include the Los Angeles Premiere of James Stock's Blue Night In The Heart of the West, the West Coast Premiere of Neil LaBute’s Autobahn, and Directors Fest productions of I Stand Before You Naked by Joyce Carol Oates, and Never Swim Alone by Daniel MacIvor. Amanda was also proud to serve as assistant director for the World Premiere of Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage. Amanda holds a B.S. degree in Theatre & Creative Writing from Northwestern University and a Certificate in Directing from The Royal Court’s International School.
AEA-SAG-AFTRA. Andrew has been an OFTC member four years since catapulting head-over-heels from Chicago. OFTC roles include: Melancon (the artist) in Julie Herbert’s Saint Joan and the Dancing Sickness, Strong Man in Elephant’s Graveyard, Balthazar and Messenger in Comedy of Errors; Sergeant Daniel Shreveport, Blue Night in the Heart of the West; Felix, Do Do Love (LA Times Critic's Choice); Ross, Macbeth; Homeless Man, Executioner’s Guard, more 365 Days/365 Plays; Professor Eaton, Adam, A Chorus Line Director, Foodsexworksleepgod; Sailor, Cop, and three performances as Krupp, The Time of Your Live. Chicago credits include: Let Me Live, Goodman Theatre; The Horn, Steppenwolf Theatre; George in Of Mice and Men, Organic Theatre; The Mick Show, Second City; Les in Wrigley Field Beyond the Ivy, film narrated by William Petersen. MA, Philosophy of Mind, University of Illinois at Chicago. BA Philosophy, University of California at Berkeley.
Representation: Rogers Orion Talent Agency (818-789-7064).
www.andrewschlessinger.com
Angela, known to friends and family as Ang, knew at a very early age that she wanted to be on stage. After receiving a B.F.A. in acting, she moved to Minneapolis to pursue commercial work, regional theatre, and independent film. While there, she toured the country for 2 years with an improv/motivational troupe and continued to gain exposure through both film and commercial ventures. Her favorite stage credits include: Charity (Sweet Charity), Laura (Glass Menagerie), Maize (A Taste of Sunrise), and Iphigenia (Clytemnestra Project). Favorite film credits include: Time Again, Date With a Dead Girl, and The Kiss. She continues to pursue film and tv opportunities and is delighted to be a part of the company.
Arthur appeared in OF productions of James Joyce’s The Dead and Dario Fo’s Devil With Boobs as the Judge. A long time member of The Actors Gang, he also appeared in the revival of Klub - LA Weekly Revival of the Year for 2008.
An MFA graduate of FSU’s Asolo Conservatory, he has performed in many New York and Regional theaters including: NY Public Theater, New York Theater Workshop, WPA, Hudson Guild, Playwrights Horizon, LA Ahmanson, San Diego Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, Houston Alley, Philadelphia Drama Guild, Milwaukee Rep, Missouri Rep, St. Louis Rep, California, Utah and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals. On the National Tour of the musical Some Like it Hot with Tony Curtis, he playing Joe/Josephine, Tony’s role from the film and had the great pleasure of creating roles in the New York premiers of works by Tony Kushner (The Illusion) and Eric Overmyer (Amphitryon and In Perpetuity Throughout the Universe).
He is dedicated to the Virgos in his life, Stephanie and Zoe.
Barbara Schofield has worked as director or actor for New York’s Roundabout/Susan Bloch Theatre, Jean Cocteau Rep., Westbeth Theatre Center, The Kitchen, Boston’s Lyric Stage, Missouri Repertory Theatre, California’s Sierra Madre Playhouse and for her LA artistic home at Open Fist. She received her MA and PhD. in Theatre from Tufts University, and spent many years abroad performing in Germany and England and completing her undergraduate degree in Drama. Barbara has taught acting, directing, stage voice and theatre history at Tufts, University of Missouri, the University of California and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, where she is currently a master acting teacher, director and theatre history instructor. 
Becca began her theatre and dance training at Culver City High School's Academy of Visual and Performing Arts. She went on to study Theatre and Sociology at Boston College. She currently works as a dance teacher and choreographer on both coasts. Her choreography credits include Footloose, Sweet Charity, Reefer Madness, Thoroughly Modern Millie and ...Forum, among many others. Some favorite stage credits include Candide, Credible Witness, The House of Yes and The King Stag. In addition to her continuous study of the performing arts, Becca is also pursuing opportunities to engage in Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed techniques and most recently helped facilitate the creation and performance of an original play inspired, acted and written by mothers of California's incarcerated youth. 
Benjamin’s acting began in rural Idaho, most often telling tall tales to police to get out of scrapes. Due to the miracle of affirmative action, he was accepted to Yale University in order to fill their need for a farm kid. It was there his real acting life began- most often telling tall tales to professors to get more time for papers. He was also a proud member of the improv group, The Viola Question.
His most recent credits include:
Film- The Boy in the Box (with Josh Lucas), Walking Tall 3, Manticore, Touched (w/ Jenna Elfman), Tattoo, A Love Story (Grand Jury Prize winner, Florida Film Fest), The Board Room (HBO/Aspen and Montreal Comedy Festival Selection).
Television-Conspiracy (Series Regular), 24, Las Vegas, Entourage, CSI, Crossing Jordan, Born Free (Series Regular).
Theatre- Travesties (2008 LA Weekly Award winner for Best Comedy Performance), Blue Night in the Heart of the West (L.A. Premiere), Autobahn (West Coast Premiere) The Real Thing, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Time of Your Life, The Chekhov Machine, The Devils, The Cosmonaut’s Last Message….
As always, all my thanks to friends and family for their continued support. And to Monk: Thanks, thanks a million.
In his more than quarter century as an actor in L.A. Bill has been a member of five different theater groups. He gets lucky now and then and gets a paying gig- he's done a few direct to video movies and festival winning shorts; some TV, a couple of commercials. But the best luck he's ever had was getting hooked up with The Open Fist Theatre Company. His people skills are better, his painting and set building skills have improved and they even let him act in some marvelous productions- The Cowboy Scottish Play (Duncan) The Room (Dalton) The Comedy of Errors (Aegeon), The Devil with Boobs (probably the most fun he's ever had doing a play) (Geron de la Noche and the priest.) Thanks, guys.
Bjørn directed Light Up the Sky, this seasons premiere hit comedy. On stage he most recently appeared in the critically acclaimed Educating Rita at the Colony Theater in Burbank. This season he guest starred in the final episode of ER as well as Nip/Tuck. He has recently completed filming the upcoming features, Heartbreakers, The Hunger and The Instrument. Bjørn appeared in Beerfest by the makers of Super Troopers, and had a recurring role on Dexter. He has worked extensively on Broadway (Cyrano, Les Miserables, George White's Scandals), Off-Broadway, and in Regional Theaters throughout the United States and Canada. Other recent film and television work include: Pirates of the Caribbean II & III, The Pathfinder, Made of Honor, In an Instant (with Brian O’Byrne), Brave New World, How To Go Out on a Date in Queens, and the cult favorite, Salami Fight Club (MVPA award), Sopranos (opposite Sir Ben Kingsley) and Law and Order. Television audiences may also recognize him from his numerous commercials.
Favorite Los Angeles stage credits include; Summertime (Boston Court Theatre), Poets' Garden, Sight Unseen, The Stand-In (LA Weekly Award), All My Sons, You Shall Give Me Grandsons (with Michael Learned), Imaginary Invalid and Comings and Goings (Actors Gang). A member of the Open Fist Theater, shows there include The Chekhov Machine (as Chekhov), The Cosmonaut's Last Message…(LA Weekly award, Best Prod.), Macbeth, Criminal Geniuses and Threepenny Opera. Most recently with OFTC he directed Arthur Miller’s After the Fall as well as Vaclav Havel's Audience and Birdbath. Mr. Johnson also teaches acting at his own studios in Los Angeles and Berlin.
www.BjornJohnson.net
Caitlin Renée, Actress/Producer, has produced THEATRE~NY: Bulgakov’s Heart of a Dog, Gogol’s The Marriage, and Pinter's One for the Road, to name a few. LA: Arthur Miller's After the Fall, directed by LA Weekly Award-winning director Bjorn Johnson. OFTC's Summer Shakespeare Festival including 2008 Ovation nominee deLearious, for Best Musical in a Small Theatre, written by Ron West and Phil Swann. She was Marketing Producer for the World Premiere of Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage, which garnered 8 LA Weekly nominations, for Mr. Johnson’s 2009 helming of Moss Hart's Light Up the Sky, and for LoveWater, a joint theatrical production with The Open Fist Theatre Company and Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA.
INT’L THEATRE: Coordinating Producer for The Medea Project, a co-production with Zoo District and The Deaf Theatre School of Athens, slated to commence late September 2009 in Cave Davelli, in Athens, Greece; returning to Los Angeles for January/February 2010 performances at The Rialto Theatre.
FILM: Assistant Director: Fully Loaded, The Clear Horizon, Scream at the Sound of the Beep, “gAg,” Kemo Sabe (AFI-DWW Project) and Piranhas (pilot). She has produced both exclusive and public events for: ARTists in Need, Make it Happen Productions, Liquid Feast and fundraising events for artists & production companies. Currently Caitlin Renée is: in pre-production on Neil LaBute's new One Acts The Jesus Play and Helter Skelter slated for World Premiere in the OFTC Summer New Works Festival; and I HATE TV, Jennifer Lettelleir’s Rock Operetta. She produced & ADed the short film, Captain, the dark-comedy is currently making the film festival circuit, and most recently was accepted at Dances With Films Festival and IndieFest.
As an Actress, cRc was part of the OFTC Comedy of Errors ensemble, and in original works: Play Rough and Anne Droid & the Last Transport with the Dillon Street Players. She is an alumnus of California Institute of the Arts, and graduated with a dual Masters from the joint program with The Moscow Art Theatre and Carnegie Mellon University. Roles performed in Moscow included Abigail in The Crucible and Madame Glafira in Ostrovsky's Diary of a Scoundrel. LA & NY/regional theater: LA WEEKLY winner J.O.B. ... the Movie, Sondheim's The Frogs, directed by Michael Michetti, and John Gagliano’s The Bodoni County Songbook Anthology, Bulgakov’s Heart of a Dog, and Gogol’s The Marriage, to name a few. TV: Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and a recurring role on Guiding Light.
www.caitlinrenée.com
Charles Otte (Board Member/Producer/Director/Designer), Co-Founder of Velocity Productions, has over twenty years experience producing and creating award-winning content for theatre, film, special events, and multi-media presentations. As a producer and director his clients include 7th Level Interactive, A&E Television, HDTV, M.T.V., the Sundance Institute, Roger Corman Films, Lincoln Center, Traveling Light Media, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, the Texas State History Museum, BRC Imagination Arts, Resorts World, Sam Adams Brewery, NASCAR, TEA, and IAAPA.
His theatre work for the Open Fist includes directing King Stag, Flight by Michael Bulgakov, Threepenny Opera by Brecht, Xmass, Tom Stoppard’s Travesties (LA Weekly Best Director), and James Joyce’s The Dead. In addition, he has designed and produced multiple productions. Some of his favorite New York productions include Flood by Guntar Grass, Moliere’sImaginary Invalid, Brecht’s Baal, Mikhail Bulgokov's Bliss, as well as Songs from Liquid Days by Philip Glass. Additional New York productions include The Cuchulain Cycle (based on the writings by W.B. Yeates), the multi-media production This is a Test and restaging The Civil Wars and Einstein on the Beach for Robert Wilson.
Other Notable productions include creative direction for the CD-rom game Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail, La Belle Et La Bete for Oscar nominee Philip Glass, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Holy Grail was named best CD-ROM of 1996, and Otte was named one of the top AV producers of the year. He was honored in 2001 and again in 2005 with the award for Outstanding Achievement presented by the Themed Entertainment Association for his work on the Texas State History Museum and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.
Colin has appeared in many roles Off and Off-Off Broadway and in regional theatre. Apprenticeship at the Royal Court Theatre in London, member of the Italian speaking repertory theatre - Teatro Il Punto in Florence and studied three years with Stella Adler prior to graduation from New York University. His favorite stage roles include Polonius in Hamlet and the knife-wielding somnambulist Caesar in the original stage adaptation of the classic silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Recent movie work includes; Kiss Toledo Goodbye, with Christopher Walken, The Alarmist with Stanley Tucci, Spiderman with Tobey Maguire, Van Wilder with Tara Reid and the upcoming Iowa as Rosanna Arquette’s meth dealing brother-in-law. Recent Television appearances include; Threshold, Cuts and Numb3rs. Representation: Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty– 310-475-2111. Zanuck, Passon + Pace – 818-783-4890 SAG, AFTRA, AEA
Bio, Photos + credits @ IMDb.com.
Colin Walker is a New Orleans native. Since graduating with a dual degree in acting and directing, he has enjoyed working extensively in theater in LA, Santa Fe and New Orleans. His favorite performances have included the award winning (and “Ovation” ensemble nominated) Because They Have No Words, Open Fist’s Blue Night in the Heart of the West, and Gerry in Dancing at Lughnasa. His film and TV work include The Unit, Crossballs, Days of Our Lives, Passions, Texas Ranger Murder Files, Wyatt Earp, and Lightening Jack. Colin will be directing a John Patrick Shanley play in the fall of 2009 with the OFTC. He recently completed the Boston Marathon and the Chicago Marathon…and he is currently training for his second Ironman Triathlon. Colin recently completed building his own house, which will be the new stage for his annual crawfish boil. He dedicates each performance to his wife, Cathy, and their beautiful daughter, Brady.
Conor Lane is pleased to be an open fist member for a little over 2 years now after living in L.A. a little over 3. He studied Communications at Marquette University then moved to London for 3 years where he received his Masters in Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Productions at the Fist include James Joyce in Travesties, Raymond/Ramona in The Idiot Box (world premiere), Pinch in The Comedy of Errors, and Andrews/Albany in Delearious (world premiere). While not onstage he continues to pursue TV and Film which have included several Independent features, a new series for the Oxygen network, and a national commercial campaign for Aquafina.
David grew up in the great state of Kansas, where he graduated from the University of Kansas. He then spent 4 years in Chicago where he helped found Real Work Inc., a company that produced works by Neil LaBute in the mid-nineties. David has been with the Open Fist for over 13 years. In that time he has acted in over 25 plays, written, directed, and produced. Favorite roles at Open Fist include Robert J. Mathews in God's Country, Angelo in Measure For Measure, Mr. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera, Tristan Tzara in Travesties, and Father Riley in Joe's Garage. TV Credits include: Monk, Leverage, House, The West Wing, and Las Vegas.
Dylan has been called "One of the GREATEST actors of his generation" by family members. Close friends say he's "Not bad". He spent his childhood building snow forts in Alaska before living and performing in Seattle, WA. He then graduated with a BFA in Acting from the University of Southern California and has since continued to perform and produce in Los Angeles, New York, and Edinburgh, Scotland.
Recently Ehrin wrote and starred in a short film entitled Door 2 Door that will hit the festival circuit in 2010. Ehrin graduated from The USC School of Theatre. Before that he starred in Sea World’s Sea Lion and Otter Show as “Biff”, and as Host of Shamu’s House of Douse. He has studied improv with the Groundlings and performed with professional troupes GA$ Money and The Mutiny. He starred in Genital Warts! (The Musical) an award winning student health film. He is a photographer and Mac enthusiast. He can roller skate, roller blade, juggle, and belch.
Eric Ruyak is tremendously excited to be a part of the Open Fist Theatre Company. Eric most recently was seen in productions of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and The Shape of Things in Chicago, as well as Tom Beyer's The Merchant of Venice Beach in Los Angeles.
Training: Northwestern University, BS Theatre and the British American Drama Academy. Eric currently studies with Diana Castle at the Imagined Life Studio.
Ina Russell is a founding member of the Open Fist Theatre celebrating 18 1/2 years with the company.Time flies when you're having fun.
Theater: The Illusion (at Open Fist), Love Water (Open Fist), Plastic Crystal (Open Fist), True West, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Jesus Hopped the 'A Train, Tartuffe, Major Barbara, The Libertine, The Activist Project, The Blogger's Project, The Death of Mayakovsky, Il Gelosi, etc. Film Credits: Counter-Intuitive (nominated for best short at Method Film Fest).
Training: M.F.A. UCLA (Sir Ian Mckellan Acting Award), UPENN B.A. in Theater, British American Drama Academy.
A working actor in Los Angeles since 1988, John has appeared in such shows as Desperate Housewives, ER, 24, Criminal Minds, NYPD Blue, Malcolm in the Middle, Big Love, Shark, CSI, Numbers, Bones, Mentalist, Heroes, and will guest star next month on Saving Grace and Monk. John was a founding member of the Hidden Theatre Company and also performed on stage with the Actor's Gang in Asylum and Involuntary Homicide.
IMDB link
My twin sister and I played this game when we were young called, "Be Who Ever You Want." We incorporated other kids, sometimes playing for an entire day, always in full costume, and never breaking character. I would always be Cleopatra, my sister, Angela, would be my servant, and the neighbor boy would be Marc Antony, or Cesar, depending on our mood. Sometimes I was Andromeda from the Perseus myth, and Clash of the Titans fame. Angela obviously played the Kraken, Michael, the neighbor boy, played Perseus. Eventual we became old enough for our mother to put us in Children's Theatre Programs. And I've been a waitress/actress ever since! Since my move to LA, I've worked with some lovely actors, but none so lovely as the talented and hard-working members of the Open Fist. Since joining, I played Dromio of Ephesus, in The Comedy of Errors, directed by the delectable Ron West. Currently Angela and I are producing Children's Theatre through the Open Fist. Coming next fall to a theatre near you. Donations to the theatre always excepted.
Broadway: The Twilight of The Golds; over 100 productions Off-BWay, Regionally (Kennedy Center, Pasadena Playhouse, The Paramount, Marines Theatre, Walnut Street, Syracuse Stage, GeVa, The Hartman) And Internationally (International Theatre of Florence, Italy). Television: Co-Starred in several Movies for Television, Guest-Starred (Law & Order, Dragnet, ER, Drew Carey, Ellen, etc) Series Regular on Showtime's critically acclaimed Bedtime. Most recent films The Manual, Everybody Wants To Be Italian, Jesus, Mary & Joey, and Welcome Back Miss Mary with Olympia Dukakis and Stacey Keach. LA Theatre Productions: Tartuffe (Boston Court), The Dead (Open Fist), All My Sons (Odyssey), A Mother, Daughter and a Gun (The Court), Cassat & Degas (The Hudson), Ellipses, Sister Cities (Circus Theatricals). A member of Circus Theatricals ensemble, The Road Theatre Company and The Open Fist.
Katy Tyszkiewicz holds a BA and MA from Loyola Marymount University; favorite roles include Kattrin in Andy Robinson’s Mother Courage with the Antaeus Theatre Company, Viola with Shakespeare Festival Los Angeles, and Laura in Spite for Spite with Dakin Matthews’ company, Andak winner of the Franklin G. Smith Award for Production at the International Siglo de Oro Festival. She has worked with the Actor’s Studio, The Greenway Court, New Dramatists, and the Boston Court. She has also studied at the Oxford School of Drama. 
With Open Fist: James Joyce's The Dead. Kendra holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University and has studied with LAMDA, Berkeley Rep and UCB. She has worked with the American Conservatory Theatre, The San Francisco Mime Troupe, The Antaeus Company and Kingsmen Shakespeare. Past credits include La Ronde, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Richard III, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, A Lie of the Mind and The Rover. Kendra is a recipient of a “Dean Goodman Choice Award for a Principal Performance” and is a proud member of A2, Antaeus' Academy Company.
As a commercial actor Kevin can be seen currently as the national spokesman for Bob Evans restaurants and in national spots for Advil, Accenture and Plavix. He is a faculty member at USC in the School of Theatre teaching on camera acting technique. Look for him guest starring in episodes of 24, The Unit, Trust Me, The Shield and Cold Case. Favorite film roles include The Island and Bobby. Upcoming is Midnight Son a vampire film with a heart and Near Fall a film exploring the competitive world of high school wrestling. Theatrically Kevin’s latest roles have been in The Marriage of Bette and Boo at The Ventura Court Theatre, Beautiful Morning at The Egyptian Theatre, After the Fall and Light Up the Sky right here at The Open Fist. Look for him this fall as Pridamant in The Open Fist’s production of The Illusion. Kevin’s favorite role of all time is playing dad to Georgia and Jake.
A proud member of the company since 2007, Kim has played Adriana in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, Cecily in Stoppard’s Travesties and The Woman in Blue Night in the Heart of the West at the Open Fist. Other credits include Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare Santa Monica), Alexandrina in The Uneasy Chair (Ensemble Theatre Company, Santa Barbara), Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale (Embassy Theatre, London), Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and one of the Witches/Ross in Macbeth (London and European tour). Kim also wrote and performed her own one-woman show, Lady Vacating Basement. Film and television credits include True Blood, The Beast, Mad Men, Days of Our Lives, Gilmore Girls, Passions, and the Hallmark movie Love and Other Four-Letter Words. Kim received her BA in Theatre Studies from Yale University and her MA in Classical Acting from London’s Central School of Speech and Drama.
www.Kim-Swennen.com
Laetitia majored in theatre at St. Edwards University in Austin,TX for two years, RADA and AIU in London and earned her B.A. in Theatre at Fordham University in NYC. She attended the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts in 2007, and also studied improvisation at UCB NY and performed with several different improv troops. Some of her NYC credits are Peter and the Star Catchers (Dir. by Roger Rees and Alex Timbers), The Civil Wargasm, and a few independent short films. Other of her favorite stage credits include: Amadeus, Autobahn and Pride & Prejudice. She continues to pursue work in film, television and commericals as well. She is so happy to be apart of The Open Fist!
Laetitia's Vimeo Channel
Laura joined the Fist in November of 2008. Shows w/ the Fist include Light Up The Sky (March 2009) and Goliath (July 2009) In addition to many Off and Off-Off Broadway productions she has performed regionally at The Shakespeare Festival of New Jersey, the Florida Stage, The Magic Theater in SF, The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, and the Williamstown Theater Festival. She was part of Obie Award winning Salt Theater in New York and won the 2006 Charles Bowden Award for Acting from New Dramatists in New York. She holds and MFA from Carnegie Mellon and the Moscow Art Theater and a BA from Yale College and currently is on faculty at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Hollywood.
web.mac.com/laurafgh/
In 2009 Richardson latest play, Come Back, Little Horny, premiered at The Lost Studios and was directed by Open Fist’s very own Martha Demson, and received a WOW! In Stage Scene LA . Richardson’s theatrical play, Do Do Love, premiered at The Open Fist Theatre in 2007 and received a Los Angeles Times Critic’s Choice review. Her one woman show, Sweety’s Big Experiment, had its world premiere in Los Angeles at Actors Art Theatre where it garnered a “Critics Pick of the Week.” Most recently Richardson’s play, Chronic Pain, ran at the award winning Theatre East, her play, Lady Liberty was chosen for a reading at The Abington Theatre in New York City, Life Eats Mikey and Kitty Cornered were both recognized by the Writer’s Digest and Writer’s Network play contests, and her screenplay, Do Do Love, placed in the Scriptapalooza contest.
Along with writing, Laura is also an actor and has done a lot of theatre in LA, including the world premiere of Horton Foote’s play, Harrison, Texas and The Roads to Home at The Lost Studios. Recent film and television credits include Desperate Housewives, Windfall, Invisible Man, Judging Amy, and Jack and Bobby. She is a graduate of Playhouse West, holds a BA in Theatre Arts, and is a company member at Open Fist Theatre, Actors Art Theatre, Playwrights 6, Second Story Theatre, and The Dramatists Guild
Credits Include, New York: Made In Heaven (Barbara Ligeti and Andrew Shaifer in Conjunction with the Midtown International Theatre Festival) Chicago: House and Garden (Goodman Theatre), Vagina Monologues (Apollo Theatre), Night of The Hunter (Goodman Theatre), Taming of The Shrew, Winter's Tale, Twelfth Night, Measure For Measure, Cymbeline (Shakespeare's Motley Crew), Tony N' Tina's Wedding, The Spirit of Chicago. Los Angeles Theatre: Understudy for Joan Rivers in Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress by a Life In Progress (The Geffen Playhouse), Threepenny Opera, I Stand Before You Naked, Autobahn, Macbeth, Joe's Garage (Open Fist Theatre Company), Milk Cartons - Sketch Comedy Show, Bar Tricks - Sketch Comedy Show (Celebration Theatre), The Pick Me Theory - A One Woman Show (National Comedy Theatre - Los Angeles & Bailiwick Studio Theatre - Chicago). Television: Weeds, Bones, Huff, Wedding Bells, Miss Guided, Girlfriends, What About Joan, The Untitled Victoria Pile Project, Early Bird, Barbershop, Unfabulous, Strong Medicine. Training: Northwestern University. Groundlings.
Martha is the current Artistic Director of the Open Fist Theatre Company and received her principal theatrical education from Yale University and Sanford Meisner. During her tenure, Ms. Demson has directed and/or produced many award-winning productions for the Fist, including (as a director) Beautiful City (Walker), PAPA (deGroot), Abingdon Square (Fornes), Casanova (Congdon), Escape From Happiness (Walker), Vieux Carre (Williams), Flight of the Earls (Humble), God's Country (Dietz), and (as a producer) How To Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients (Visniec) (which moved to NYC and was recently remounted for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival), The Cosmonaut's Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union (Greig) (winner of Production of the Year by LA Weekly), The Devils (Dostoevsky, adapt. Egloff). She made her off-Broadway directorial debut in January 2001 with a production of Anna Devlin's Ourselves Alone. Ms. Demson is the recipient of 4 LA Weekly Theatre Awards and 7 Drama-Logue/Garland Awards
Michael is a proud member of The Open Fist and works as a writer, director, actor, producer
and designer. He has received LA Weekly, LADCC, Ovation and Garland Awards for his work on Nosferatu, The Master and Margarita, Pathe 'X, Uppa Creek, Noche Negro, The Slow and Painful Death of Sam Shepard, Heart of a Dog, Gorey Stories, The Swine Show, The Room and Joe's Garage. As an actor with The Open Fist, The Time of Your Life, How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients, Autobahn, James Joyce's The Dead. Michael is an alum of the famed Second City in Chicago. Michael toured the former Soviet Republics with The Despoiled Shore - Medea Material - Landscape of the Argonauts performing notably at The Lenin Theatre in Moscow and The Octobrynskaya Theater in Saint Petersburg. His adaptation of Heart of a Dog had it's world premiere at the Ivan Franko National Theatre of Ukraine in Kiev. Michael has also performed in Canada, Scotland, Ireland and England. Currently, Michael is directing Elephant's Graveyard and acting in Saint Joan and the Dancing Sickness.
Michelle has been a member of the Open Fist since 2007. She grew up in the small town of Elk Grove, California, just south of Sacramento. She was a member of Sheldon Theatreworks there and traveled with them to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, performing in The Coarse Acting Show. Michelle moved to Los Angeles to study at the University of Southern California School of Theatre. She also spent a summer semester at Oxford University studying with the British American Drama Academy.
With the Open Fist, Michelle has had the opportunity to perform in and assistant direct a wide array of productions. Last year she assistant directed, ran spotlight, and understudied for their production of Joe's Garage by Frank Zappa.
Michelle has performed regularly in an improv troupe at Ultimate Improv in Westwood. She is also a practiced pianist and has assistant musical directed shows including Cornerstone Theatre Company's Demeter in the City at the Red Cat Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.
Michelle spent last summer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland where she performed for a month in 3 shows. She co-wrote one of the shows, Shakespeare Made Easy, which has also been produced in Colorado, Georgia, and Northern California. This summer she traveled to Germany for her second run assisting directing Shakespeare's R&J with This Bridge Theatre Company. The production began its tour at the Mainzer Kammerspiele in Mainz and finished its run at the International Shakespeare Festival at the Globe Theatre in Neuss. She and her writing partner have written six children’s shows together and are currently in the process of publishing Shakespeare Made Easy.
www.michellelema.com
Nicola Hersh, a native San Franciscan, received a B.A. in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University. After traveling the world in her 20's she returned to California but didn't get to Los Angeles until 1999. Her favorite roles include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Martha) and Death of a Salesman (Mrs. Loman). TV and film credits include Providence, Monk, 50 First Dates and Apartment 206.
Prior to appearing as a member of the Muffin Utility Chorus in Joe's Garage, Nicole appeared as The Fool in the OFT'S 2008 Summer Shakespeare Festival's production of deLEARious and served as production manager and acted in PADUA Playwrights's, 'A Thousand Words, in downtown Los Angeles. More recently, she produced and performed in All Together Now, a mixed-media event introducing emerging female artist at Space 15 Twenty in Hollywood. Before relocating to L.A., Nicole performed with a variety of theater companies in Northern California. Productions include: Between This Breath and You and Pistachio Stories (Golden Thread's ReOrient Festival at The Magic Theatre), American Triage (Nu Werks Series at Marin Theatre Company), What the Butler Saw and Throwing Parties (B ST Theatre). Originally from Washington D.C. she graduated with a B.F.A. in Acting from Florida State University and served as an apprentice to Ann Reinking for three consecutive summers. Nicole is a proud member of Actor's Equity and can be seen harmonizing with the L.A. LADIES CHOIR or in the OFT's upcoming production of The Illusion.
www.nicoledisson.com
While pursuing a degree in Theater Arts in college, Patrick performed in numerous plays. He played the part of The Young Man in American Dream, Octavio in Scapino, and Brano in the production of Kittie Felde’s, A Patch Of Earth which was televised on KOCE’s Storefront Theater. Recently, he concluded a four-week run as Bernstein in A Lovely Place For A Picnic at the Whitefire Theater in Sherman Oaks. Patrick is currently attending Stella Adler Los Angeles Studio of Acting. He is a member of SAG and AFTRA and also works as a background actor in television, feature films, and commercials.
Phillip was born the second of three boys in South London. After graduating from Westminster College he studied acting at The Lee Strasberg Institute in London and later at The Beverly Hills Playhouse in Los Angeles.Theatre credits include: Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, John Buchanan Jr. in Summer and Smoke, Miss Julie, It Runs In The Family and The Dreamer Examines His Pillow at Theater West.
TV & Film credits include: Emmy Award winning series 24 as Reza Raiyeer (SAG Ensemble Nomination), FX's Golden Globe winning Nip/Tuck as Jude Sawyer. Rhys spent nine months in Shanghai, China shooting Flatland, with Dennis Hopper and produced by Academy Award Winner Al Ruddy. Flatland was the first US TV show filmed entirely in Mainland China. Other credits include: Rodrigo Garcia's Father and Sons, the war drama Wounding" with Ray Winstone and Guy Pearce and the Sundance Film Festival comedy Kill The Man with Luke Wilson. Upcoming projects include: BBC's post apocalyptic drama series, Survivors, Salomaybe?, directed by and starring Academy Award Winner Al Pacino and Steven Spielberg's Tintin.
Phillip William Brock has been a member of the Open Fist since fall of 2008 and has since appeared in the productions of Light Up the Sky directed by Bjorn Johnson, and our spring 2009 production of The Devil With Boobs, directed by Tom Quaintance. In regional theatre, Phillip has appeared as Brick in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof and as Lee in True West among many others.
Film work includes Tex, Baby It’s You, River’s Edge, Date With an Angel, Highlander II, Always Say Goodbye, Hometown Boy Makes Good, and Running Mates, among others.
Phillip is also a writer, having developed pilots for 20th Century Fox, HBO Independent Productions, and Paramount Television, among others. His play The Normal Child won the prestigious Arts and Letters Prize for Drama, and was published in the literary quarterly Arts and Letters.
Pilar Alvarez recently played The Egg Girl in the world premiere of Love Water at Open Fist. She was most recently seen at the Fist as Jacoba in The Devil With Boobs and later this summer she will be playing Reva Topps in the world premiere of St. Joan and the Dancing Sickness. Some of her other theatre credits include the world premiere of The Chinese Angle (Ruby), Woyzeck (Margaret), Beehive (Janis Joplin), Beowulf (Wealhtheow/Wiglaf), The House of Yes (Jackie-O), Reckless (Rachel), MacBeth (Witch 2) and The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Aniko/Suleka/Shauva). She is a graduate of the Training Artist Institute at The American Musical Theatre of San Jose, the Performance Internship Program at Actor's Express and holds a B.F.A. in Theatre Performance from The College of Santa Fe in New Mexico. Pilar’s other great passion is working as a theatre educator for youngsters. She has taught theatre performance and directed at The Theatre of All Possibilities, STAR Education and The Southwest Arts Center. To learn more about Pilar check out her website, www.pilaralvarez.org.
Chicago native Rebecca has been with the OFTC for about two years now, having played a Nazi mistress in The Room and an abused waitress in Blue Night in the Heart of the West, as well co-producing this season's The Devil With Boobs. Previous credits include Vixen in Jeff Goode's The Eight: Reindeer Monologues and Rose White in A Shayna Maidel. She is also an acclaimed screenwriter and new wife to her fabulous husband Steffen.
www.rebeccarosenak.com
Richard Michael Knolla is currently working on Karen Hartman’s Goliath as part of The Open Fist’s New Works Festival. He was last seen here on the Open Fist stage as the long suffering and insufferable Tyler Rayburn in last season’s Moss Hart comedy Light Up The Sky and before that as Nelson Doubleday in the 2007 production of The Room. In the last year he has also been plying his trade on other LA stages as a member of the original cast of I Want it All, a new musical review based on the collected works of Maltby and Shire and as Nick Sakisian in Baby, also from the talent duo of Maltby and Shire. Additionally, Richard can currently be heard on television and online as the” voice” of Kabillion, a children’s network. Richard would like to thank his wife, Margaret and two children, Avi and Lev, for their patience and understanding as he continues to devote time otherwise spent with them pursuing his artistic endeavors. Enjoy the Show!
In Los Angeles, Robert has appeared in the operetta, Charlotte: Life? Or Theatre?, at The Met Theatre and with Circus Theatricals in The Heiress, Iphigenia In Aulis, and The Circle. Regional theatre appearances include Undiscovered Country, Galileo, and After The Fall at Arena Stage, Richard III at The Folger Shakespeare Theatre, and The Miser and The Tenth Man at Olney Theatre. Other regional productions include Macbeth, The Seagull, A Man For All Seasons, Stephan D., Antony and Cleopatra, Ivy Day In The Committee Room, and King Lear. TV and film credits include HBO’s “Countdown To Looking Glass,” the short film, “The Toy Maker,” “Who Flew,” “TV Virus,” “The Passion According to John,” and “One Problem Leads To Another.” He received his MFA from The Catholic University.
Shawn was born and raised on a farm near Alexandria, Minnesota. He fled rural life at 18 to study theater and chemistry at St.Olaf college, then used his education as a springboard into the Seattle theater scene where he co-founded Theatre Paradox. Recent theatrical credits include: Love's Old Sweet Song, by William Saroyan; Blue Night in the Heart of the West, by James Stock; the world premiers of The Room, by Michael Franco and Little Golden Fish, by Jamie Duneier; the U.S. premier of Tender, by Abi Morgan; How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients, adapted by Jeremy Lawrence (both in LA. and in Edinburgh); and Voices from Chornobyl, adapted by Cindy Jenkins.
She recently co-produced and performed in Noel Coward's Present Laughter at the Edgemar Center for the Arts. At the Open Fist she played Luciana in Comedy of Errors and the Baroness Hatvany in Michael Franco's world premiere of The Room. Her other theater credits include Agave in The Bacchae, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, and Francois in Andrew Marshall's premier of Pan at the Long Beach Shakespeare Company and Georgie in Spike Heels at Edgemar Center for the Arts's Scene Bites. She had the pleasure of appearing as Maria in the recent award winning short film Help Wanted produced by Open Fist alumni Francis DellaVecchia.
Tara was born in St. Louis,Missouri and popped out performing! She went to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy for Musical Theater and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts for Shakespeare. She has recently moved here from New York and is pursuing film. She is currently in school at AMDA again but for film and acting. She is, as most actors are, drawn to the stage and is working to improve her abilities at OFTC as well as give her a family here in Los Angeles.
www.TaraBopp.com
Teresa Willis is a multi-talented multi-tasker who just can't say "no." This makes for an exciting life and an incredibly varied career - from indie film (Forgiving the Franklins - Sundance, SXSW 2006) to published and performance poet (Pushcart nomination, Caffeine, The Moment, Pearl, UCLA, UCSB, Gene Autry Museum, highways, Improv) playwright (The Roof - 5 productions, NYC & LA) singer (soloist, Vox Femina LA & avant-pop group Third Door Down) theatre (OFTC - The Room, The Dead, MacBeth) and television documentary producer (Our Seering Earth, Bluth Productions.) Her award-winning one woman show, Eenie Meanie melds all her talents and has toured extensively and been graciously received by critics and audiences in LA, NYC, & Edinburgh, to name a few. Teresa is also certified Pilates Instructor and Life Coach. www.eeniemeanie.com, www.teresawillis.com