Theater 100: Amusing Willie
Synopsis:
“ At which hour I wanteth thy opinion, I wilt asketh thee for it! -Shakespeare
Writer
Donald Loftus
Donald Loftus is an American playwright, librettist, and lyricist whose work has been presented on stages across America, The United Kingdom, Surathkal, India, and Uppsala, Sweden. He was selected to participate in the William Inge Theatre Festival, won the W. Keith Hedrick National Playwriting Award, The Southeast Texas Festival of New Plays, and was named a finalist for the Robert J. Pickering / J.R. Colbeck Award for Playwriting Excellence. Most recently, The Springvale Armadillo was chosen for The Cincinnati LAB Theatre's 2023 New Works Festival, and his musical, ILLUSION was chosen for the Colorado New Musical Festival and The Emerging Artist Spark Theatre Festival to be held in NYC in November.
Donald Loftus
Director
Rachel Berney Needleman
Rachel Berney Needleman is a director and dramaturg for new plays and classical work. As a director: 4 Minutes by DJ Hills (MeetCute LA 2022), Playground-LA (2021-22 Season), Theresa Rebeck’s What We’re Up Against (Pacific Resident Theatre Co-op), Cabaret Noel with Gigi Bermingham (Antaeus Theatre Co. and Skylight Theatre), Five Second Chances by Mattie Brickman (PRT Co-op), Cowgirls by Mildred Lewis (EST-LA), The Space Between (The Braid). Rachel has directed new play readings and workshops at The Blank, EST-LA, Skylight, and Theatricum Botanicum. Her dramaturg credits include Antaeus (Diana of Dobson’s, Cloud 9, Henry IV) and Arizona Theatre Company (At Wit’s End). Rachel is also a co-author of the LA Anti-Racist Theatre Standards.
Rachel Berney Needleman
Cast:
Willie - Kenajuan Bentley
Kenajuan Bentley: In four seasons at Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Wolf in Two Trains Running; Iachimo in Cymbeline; Oliver de Boys in As You Like It; Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in All The Way; and The Great Society, Lucio in Measure for Measure; Mark Antony in Julius Caesar; Osembenga in Ruined; Orsino in Twelfth Night.
Other theatres: Red Bull, Theatre for a New Audience,The Public Theater. Florida Studio Theatre, Shakespeare & Company; Philadelphia Theatre Company; Long Wharf Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company DC.
Film/TV: Babylon, Law and Order, NCIS, All American, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, 911, Station 19, The Young and The Restless, Grimm, All the Queens Men.
Training: MFA, University of Connecticut; BA, Western Michigan University
Kenajuan Bentley
Calliope - Gita Reddy
Gita Reddy is an actor, writer and director. TV acting credits include: I Think You Should Leave, Never Have I Ever, Orange Is the New Black, Marvel’s Iron Fist and Adam Ruins Everything. Voiceover: the Spirit Award-winning 7 Days and the Oscar-winning Zootopia. Theatre: Sundance Lab, Getty Villa, Old Globe, City Theatre (Pittsburgh), Mixed Blood (Minneapolis) and in NYC: Cherry Lane, Target Margin and Clubbed Thumb. As a solo-ish writer/performer: Highways (Santa Monica), the Public Theatre and Dixon Place, and published in Tokens?: The NYC Asian American Experience On Stage (Temple University Press). She has had fellowships with New York Theatre Workshop and New York Foundation of the Arts. As a writer, recent readings and workshops include First Fifteen and Chalk Repertory Theatre.
Gita Reddy
Thalia - Nicole Javier
Nicole is an actor, teaching artist, and yoga/pilates instructor. She is a Resident Artist at A Noise Within in Pasadena, where she received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Best Ensemble for Animal Farm, and will next be performing in the west coast premiere of MRS. CHRISTIE at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, written by Heidi Armruster and directed by Giovanna Sardelli. Nicole has a MFA from UC San Diego and BFA from Chapman University. More at www.nicolejavier.com IG: @nicjavi
Nicole Javier
Erato - Desirée Mee Jung
Desirée Mee Jung (she/her) is thrilled to be making her Open Door Playhouse debut! Select theatre credits include: Vietgone (Alley Theatre); Sense & Sensibility (South Coast Rep); Much Ado About Nothing (Denver Center); Gloria and The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide (Curious Theatre Company); Richard III, Comedy of Errors, and Pericles (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Love's Labour's Lost and Edward III (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); Measure Still for Measure (world premiere Boston Court); All's Well That Ends Well and Frankenstein (A Noise Within); As You Like It, Measure for Measure, Henry IV Part I, Diana of Dobson’s, and The Curse of Oedipus (Antaeus Theatre Company where she is a member); Hamlet (The 6th Act); The Bonesetter's Daughter (world premiere Book-It Rep); Rose and the Rime (Sacred Fools). TV: "NCIS", "The Winchesters". DesireeMeeJung.com
Desirée Mee Jung
Sound Production:
Recorded at Oak House Recording Studio in Pasadena, CA with Sound Engineer David Peters.
Sound Editor: David Peters
