America Play BIOGRAPHIES

Production Team

CAST

	LARRY BAO (Ensemble) is a junior majoring in Theatre and Drama. He recently appeared in the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center production of An American Ma(u)l (President/Ensemble). Larry is from Crown Point, Indiana.
	SHAUNA BURRIS (Ensemble) is a junior majoring in Theatre and Drama and Telecommunications. She recently appeared at the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center in Marisol (Angel) and with the IU Black Play Lab in Bulletproof Hearts (April). Shauna is from Indianapolis, Indiana.
	STEPHANIE FEELEY (Ensemble) is a sophomore majoring in Theatre and Drama. This is her debut at the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center. In 2006 she appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in "Perfect Children" (Lucy). Last October she played Columbia in the "Rocky Horror Show: Live in Bloomington". At IU she is a member of HoosOnFirst Improv Comedy Troupe and The Singing Hoosiers. Stephanie is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
	PATRICK HERCAMP (Ensemble) is a senior majoring in Theatre and Drama. He previously appeared at the Norvelle Center in Marisol (Man with Scar Tissue).  He has performed in the independent IU productions Aria da Capo (Cothurnus) and The Three Sisters (Solyony). Other credits include The Tempest (Ferdinand) at St. Mary’s and Therese Raquin (Laurent) at Aphra, both in England. Patrick has studied acting at the Kent School of Drama and the British Grotowski Project. Patrick is from Seymour, Indiana.
	SHEWAN HOWARD (Brazil) is a first-year M.F.A. student in Acting. He earned a B.A. in Drama and Psychology from Washington University. Shewan’s Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center debut was as the Player King in Hamlet. Some of his many roles: Raphael (Say You Love Satan), Senti (Ipi Zombie?), Dylan/Roger (Raised in Captivity), Orsino (Twelfth Night), and Robin Starveling (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Shewan is from St. Louis, Missouri.
	HARPER JONES (Ensemble) is a third-year M.F.A. student in Acting with a B.A. from Trinity University in San Antonio. At the Norvelle Center Hamlet was his M.F.A. thesis role. He appeared in Metamorphoses (Orpheus and others), Measure for Measure (Claudio), Side Man (Al), and The Birthday Party (Petey). At Brown County Playhouse he appeared in The Boys Next Door (Barry) and How the Other Half Loves (Bob). He appeared in the independent production of Reefer Madness (Jimmy Harper). Harper’s hometown is Minneapolis, Minnesota.
	JAMAAL R. MCCRAY (Foundling Father) received his B.A. from Indiana University in 2008. He appeared at the Norvelle Center in An American Ma(u)l (Delaware), Macbeth (Soldier), The Crucible (Herrick/Willard), and Twelfth Night (Sailor/Priest). President of Black Curtain, Jamaal was in Can I Take You Out Tonight, Baby? (Cliff) and Puerto Rican Obituaries (Poet) and directed Booty Candy. Jamaal was part of the creative team for the inaugural IU Black Play Lab in summer 2008. He participated in Suzan Lori-Parks’ 365 Plays with The Illusionaires and wrote, directed, and acted in the Independent Project Earth on Heaven. Jamaal is from Indianapolis, Indiana.
	DAWN THOMAS (Lucy) is a third-year M.F.A. student in Acting. Dawn received her B.F.A. from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. At the Norvelle Center, she appeared as Marisol, her thesis role, An American Ma(u)l (Georgina), Measure for Measure (Isabella) Side Man (Patsy), and The Birthday Party (Lulu). At Brown County Playhouse Dawn played Fiona Foster in How the Other Half Loves and Mrs. Fremus / Mrs. Warren / Clara in The Boys Next Door. Dawn is from Fort Washington, Maryland.
	TERRANCE TURNER (Ensemble) is a junior majoring in Theatre and Drama. He was last seen in the Norvelle Center production of An American Ma(u)l (Doctor Professa). Terrance is originally from Pontiac, Michigan.
	CAT VAN DORT (Ensemble) is a junior majoring in Theatre and Drama. She is an exchange student from the University of Kent this year. At IU she appeared in Chronicles Simpkins Will Cut Your Ass (Chronicles Simpkins), Between Two Friends (A.), and The Vagina Monologues (in The Vagina Workshop).  At The University of Kent she appeared in Foreign Lands (Chorus).  Cat is from Aldershot, Hampshire, England.

PRODUCTION TEAM

EDRIS COOPER-ANIFOWOSHE (Director) National credits: Trinity Rep; Woolly Mammoth; Mark Taper Forum; Water Tower in Dallas; Curious Theatre in Denver; Southern Rep in New Orleans; Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Capital Rep in Albany, NY. San Francisco credits include: Magic Theatre, Theatre Works, Exit Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, Lorraine Hansberry, American Conservatory Theatre’s M.F.A. Program Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience (her company). Acting credits include the West Coast premiere of Suzan Lori Parks’ The America Play and Robert O’Hara’s Brave Brood. She is an alumnus of the Tony award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe and an Artistic Associate of The Medea Project; Theatre for Incarcerated Women. Edris is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. She is the recent recipient of the New Frontiers Fellowship to develop a Black Play Lab at IU.  Last season she directed An American Ma(u)l at the Norvelle Center.

NICK PASSAFIUME (Scene Design) is a first-year M.F.A. student in Scenic Design with a bachelors from the University of Louisville. At the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center he was Props Master on both Hamlet and Stop Kiss. At U.C.L.A. he was the Assistant Scene Designer for The Threepenny Opera.  He served two seasons as a scenic carpenter for Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. Nick is from Louisville, Kentucky.

LYDIA DAWSON (Costume Designer) is a first-year M.F.A. student in Costume Design.  Most recently Lydia was the wardrobe crew head for Stop Kiss at the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center. She received her B.A. in Theatre from the University of Nebraska where she designed costumes for The Madwoman of Chaillot, Our Country’s Good, and others.  She was also First Hand atthe Nebraska Shakespeare Festival on King Lear and Much Ado About Nothing. Lydia is from Fort Calhoun, Nebraska.

LIZ REPLOGLE (Lighting Designer) is a second-year M.F.A. student in Lighting Design who graduated magna cum laude from George Mason University. At the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center she designed lighting for Dead Man Walking and Metamorphoses. At George Mason University she designed lighting for The Dead. Liz has been the Master Electrician for Imagination Stage, a Production Supervisor at Atmosphere Lighting, Inc., and a Stage Manager for the Theatre of the 1st Amendment. Liz is from Woodbridge, Virginia.

GABRIEL GULA (Sound Designer) is a junior majoring in Design and Technology in the Department of Theatre and Drama. At the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center Gabe served as Sound Designer for Dead Man Walking and Assistant Stage Manager for Marisol. Gabe is from Indianapolis, Indiana.

JAMIE HAHN (Stage Manager) is a senior majoring in Stage Mangement through the Individualized Major Program and Telecommunications. At the Norvelle Center Jamie stage managed Preemptive and Bulletproof Hearts for the Black Play Lab, the I.U. Faculty Dance Concert and served as Assistant Stage Manager for Metamorphosis. She was an Assistant Stage Manager for The Love For Three Oranges at IU’s Musical Arts Center and for Cardinal Stage Company's production of The Diary of Anne Frank. Jamie is from Elkhart, Indiana.

HILLARY KERN (Assistant Stage Manager) is a junior majoring in Theatre and Drama. This is her debut at the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center. For the University Players she designed costumes for The Pillowman and Eleemosynary (which she also stage managed).Hillary is from Malibu, California.

LISA MAYDWELL (Assistant Stage Manager) is a senior majoring in Theatre and Drama and Art History. At the Lee Norvelle Center she was Deck Electrician for Metamorphoses and Property Run Crew for Twelfth Night. At the Brown County Playhousehe served on the Wardrobe Run Crew for Plaza Suite. Lisa has served on the Paint & Property Crew at IU’s Musical Arts Center, and she has worked as a Lighting Designer for Dancer’s Studio, Inc. in Columbus, Indiana. Lisa is from Baltimore, Maryland.

ADAM NOBLE (Movement Coach) is Assistant Professor of Movement/Combat for the Department of Theatre and Drama. He is also a professional actor, with credits including Shakespeare in the Park, Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, Julliard, P.S. 122, Seattle Rep, Guild Hall, and On the Boards. Adam’s most recent solo show “QUEST/ions” played in Washington and New York. In addition to his role as a professor, Adam is a dancer, martial artist, traceur, and stuntman, with movement and combat credits in the worlds of film, theatre, and opera. Adam is a member of the Actors Equity Association, the Association of Theatre Movement Educators, and the Society of American Fight Directors. He has taught movement and combat in New York, California, Nebraska, Ohio, and Washington, and choreographed the violence for over 50 stage and film productions.

NANCY LIPSCHULZ (Voice/Dialect Coach), Associate Professor of Voice and Speech, has worked as an actress in New York, London, California, Michigan, Texas and Chicago, including the new play series at Chicago’s Victory Gardens  in High Holidays by Alan Gross, and is a veteran of six Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. She has worked on feature films, industrials, commercials, and, network television and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Actors’ Equity, and VASTA. Nancy has been a professor of Acting, Voice and Directing at Cornell University, Ohio Wesleyan, and Wayne State University. Directing credits include: Evita, Much Ado About Nothing, Twilight Los Angeles, and Fires in the Mirror. She recently coached the New York City Opera production of Dead Man Walking, directed by Tony Award winner Leonard Foglia, and the National Tour of Kiss Me Kate. She is the voice for Lexus GPS systems for Inter Group Corporation, Tokyo.

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