The Merchant of Venice
 

CAST
F. MURRAY ABRAHAM (Shylock). Theatre for a New Audience’s 2007 productions of The Merchant of Venice and The Jew of Malta. Professional debut in Ray Bradbury’s The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. Macy’s Santa, street theatre, commercials, live soap opera, children’s theatre, musical comedy, Broadway debut in Man in the Glass Booth directed by Harold Pinter, 20th anniversary production of Caretaker, Waiting for Godot directed by Mike Nichols with Robin Williams, Steve Martin and Bill Erwin; plays by Sophocles, Aristophanes, Jonson, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Molière, Fadeaux, Giraudoux, Rostand, Chekhov, J.C. Oates, Pirandello, Beckett, Pinter, Miller, McNally, Guare, Shepard. Experimental work with Joe Chaiken, Pina Bausch, Richard Foreman, Andrei Serban, Linda Mussman, two evenings of one-act plays by Ethan Cohn, “Law & Order,” “Bored to Death,” “The Good Wife,” Scarface, Amadeus, The Name of the Rose, many European films: Lena Wertmuller, Sophia Lauren, Giancarlo Giannini, Claudia Cardinale, Max von Sydow. Academy Award, Golden Globe, Obie, John Gielgud Award. Grandfather.
ANDREW DAHL (Balthasar). Regional: Six Degrees of Separation, The Madness of George III, King Lear, Cyrano de Bergerac, Twelfth Night and Coriolanus at The Old Globe in San Diego. New York: The Winter’s Tale, A Flea in Her Ear and The Twelfth Labor. Other credits include If This Is a Man at the Moscow Art Theater School and The Star Chamber in the Minneapolis Fringe Festival. Andrew holds an M.F.A. from The Old Globe/USD.
CATHERINE GOWL (Understudy). Regional: Six Degrees of Separation, King Lear, Coriolanus, The Madness of George III, Cyrano de Bergerac, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Old Globe); The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later (reading, La Jolla Playhouse); Taming of the Shrew, Othello (Virginia Shakespeare Festival); Proof. New York: Oh, The Humanity and Other Exclamations; The Director; ’Twas (Flea Theater). Training: B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard, M.F.A. from The Old Globe/USD.
JONATHAN EPSTEIN (Understudy) has performed on and off Broadway, in London’s West End, and at regional theatres across the country, but is best known for his long association with Shakespeare & Company, where he has appeared in The Winter’s Tale, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Richard III, Private Eyes, Brief Lives and many others. He lives in the Berkshires with his wife Ariel Bock and their three sons, all actors.
GRANT GOODMAN (Solanio) most recently appeared as Macbeth at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Theatre: Lincoln Center, Yale Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company (D.C.), Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Old Globe, Court Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory, PlayMakers Repertory, Aquila Theatre Company of London, Red Bull, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Tennessee Repertory, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and Illinois Shakespeare Festival, among others. Film/TV: “As the World Turns,” “Sex and the City,” “Sleepers.” Training: NYU.
LUCAS HALL (Bassanio). Off-Broadway: Othello, All’s Well That Ends Well (Theatre for a New Audience); Edward II (Red Bull); The Hasty Heart (Keen Company). Regional: A True History of the Johnstown Flood (world premiere, Goodman); Othello (Intiman); Hamlet, Measure for Measure, The Violet Hour (The Old Globe); Two Noble Kinsmen (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Cyrano, Henry IV (Shakespeare Theatre, D.C.); The Tempest (Pittsburgh Public); Romeo and Juliet (New Repertory Theatre). Film: The Love Letter, Late Summer.
KATE MacCLUGGAGE (Portia). Theatre: The Farnsworth Invention (Broadway); The 39 Steps (Off-Broadway); Stuck (Theatre Row); Three Sisters (The Assembly); King Lear (NY Classical); Evanston (Wolf 358/HERE); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (NCSF); The Importance of Being Earnest (Portland Center Stage); Noises Off (Denver Center); Twelfth Night, The Cherry Orchard (Chautauqua); and Honey Graham in Down Goes Rocky. TV: “All My Children.” Film: Natural Causes. B.A.: Wesleyan University. M.F.A.: NYU’s Graduate Acting Program.
CHRISTEN SIMON MARABATE (Nerissa). Royal Shakespeare Company: The Merchant of Venice (Theatre for a New Audience), Tantalus (chorus U/S, dir. Sir Peter Hall). Off-Broadway: The Merchant of Venice, Antony and Cleopatra, Oroonoko (Theatre for a New Audience); Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, Pudd’nhead Wilson (TAC). Regional: The Violet Hour (The Old Globe and DTC); Macbeth (Arizona Theatre Company); Cloud Nine, Much Ado About Nothing, Racing Demon (DCTC). Film/TV: “Law & Order,” “SVU” & “CI,” Starship Troopers.
MELISSA MILLER (Jessica). Most recent: I Never Sang for My Father (Keen Company); Richard III (NY Classical Theatre). Broadway: Tartuffe (Roundabout). Other work with Mint Theater, 13P, TACT, Flea Theater, New Georges, The New Group, Classic Stage, Red Bull and others. Regional: Alley Theatre, Premiere Stages, Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Williamstown, Chester Theatre. Television: “Ed,” “All My Children.” Vassar College (Phi Beta Kappa), RADA (Certificate). Special thanks to Darko and Jeffrey! www.melissamiller.org
JACOB MING-TRENT (Launcelot Gobbo). Broadway: Shrek the Musical (original cast, Papa Ogre, understudy Shrek). Off-Broadway: Widowers’ Houses, On the Levee. National tours: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (first national), The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Continental Divide (Time magazine Theatre Event of the Year). Other theatres: Barbican, Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Long Wharf, American Conservatory Theater, Epic Theatre Ensemble, The Acting Company. TV: “Law & Order.” Film: Forbidden Love.
VINCE NAPPO (Lorenzo). Off-Broadway: The Merchant of Venice, The Jew of Malta (Theatre for a New Audience); Phallacy. Other NY credits: The Swearing Jar (Bridge Theatre Company), Richard II/Trapeze (Matchbook Productions/Sonnet Rep), Henri Gabler (Exigent Theatre Productions). Regional: The Tangled Skirt (NJ Rep), Snow Falling on Cedars (Portland Center Stage), Glengarry Glen Ross (DCTC) and Amadeus (PlayMakers Rep). Film: Friends With Kids. M.F.A.: National Theatre Conservatory. Grad Acting Diploma: Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
TOM NELIS (Antonio). Theatre for a New Audience’s The Merchant of Venice and The Jew of Malta. Broadway: Enron, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Aida. Off-Broadway: The Public Theater, Signature Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, En Garde Arts, The Talking Band, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City Opera, Minetta Lane Theatre. Regional theatres throughout the country. Founding member of SITI Company. Awards: Obie (The Medium); Drama League nomination (Score); San Diego Critics Award, Ensemble (Wintertime); Barrymore nomination (Candide). M.F.A., UCSD.
CHRISTOPHER RANDOLPH (Arragon/Tubal/Duke). Broadway: King Lear at LCT (with Christopher Plummer). Off- Broadway/ regional: shows at MCC, Primary Stages, EST, Origin, The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, St. Louis Rep, Geva, Odyssey and many others. Films: Convention (Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden), Pumpkin Hell, Dream Date. TV: “Will & Grace,” “Mad About You,” “Newsradio.” He also voices the character Otacon in the best-selling “Metal Gear” game series. M.F.A.: UCSD.
MATTHEW SCHNECK (Salerio). International: Theatre for a New Audience’s The Merchant of Venice (RSC). Off-Broadway: The Merchant of Venice, The Jew of Malta, Antony and Cleopatra (all with Theatre for a New Audience). Most recent: world premiere of The Temperamentals (Drama Desk Award) at the Barrow Group and New World Stages. Broadway: London Assurance. Regional: Gross Indecency… (Alley Theatre), The Little Foxes (Shakespeare Theatre), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Major Barbara (San Jose Rep), Restoration Comedy (Seattle Rep), among others. As playwright: Badge (Rattlestick), A 12 Lb. Discourse (Soho Rep), The Real Meaning of Things.
TED SCHNEIDER (Gratiano). Theatre: Twelfth Night (SRT); Ghosts (CSC); Birdy (Women’s Project); Ivanov, Platanov, The Cherry Orchard and The Seagull (Chekhov at Lake Lucille); and others at EST, The Flea, Edge Theater Company, Urban Stages, Bay Street Theatre. Films: National Lampoon’s The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell, among others. Ted is currently developing a solo play. He is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, B.F.A.
RAPHAEL NASH THOMPSON (Morocco) has previously performed with Theatre for a New Audience in The Tempest directed by Julie Taymor. Other New York credits include Othello (Pearl Theatre), Black Codes from the Underground (Lincoln Center Theater), Pericles and Edward II (Red Bull Theater). Regional credits include Cymbeline (Huntington Theatre), Paul Robeson (TheatreWorks), Drowning Crow (Goodman Theatre) and Richard III (Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival). Films: Searching for Bobby Fischer, Clockers, Kiss of Death. Television: “Third Watch” (NBC), “Ed” (CBS), “Soul Food” (Showtime).

CREATIVE TEAM

JOHN LEE BEATTY (Scenic Designer). Theatre for a New Audience’s The Merchant of Venice and The Jew of Malta. Broadway: Time Stands Still, A View From the Bridge, The Royal Family, The Color Purple, Doubt, Chicago, Proof, Rabbit Hole, A Delicate Balance, The Heiress, The Sisters Rosensweig, Burn This, Penn & Teller, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Talley’s Folly, Crimes of the Heart, among others. Off-Broadway: Other Desert Cities, The Substance of Fire, A Life in the Theatre. Tony, Obie, DD, OCC awards; Theatre Hall of Fame. Graduate of Brown and Yale School of Drama.
BUIST BICKLEY (Properties Master). Broadway: Rock of Ages, Sondheim on Sondheim, Driving Miss Daisy. Buist was the props master for the original Off-Broadway productions of Rock of Ages; Other Desert Cities; Love, Loss, and What I Wore; and Freckleface Strawberry the Musical. Other NY credits include Lincoln Center Theater, New York City Ballet, Roundabout, New York Philharmonic, City Center Encores!, Red Bull, Keen Company, Columbia University, Clubbed Thumb, York and New Georges. Buist was the props master in residence at Westport Country Playhouse from 2007–2010.
LINDA CHO (Costume Designer). Theatre for a New Audience’s The Merchant of Venice. Cho has designed opera, dance and theatre Off-Broadway, internationally and at regional theatres across the country. New York: Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage, Vineyard Theatre, NY Theatre Workshop, Atlantic Theater, Classic Stage Company. Regional: La Jolla Playhouse, The Guthrie, Huntington Theatre, Hartford Stage, Chicago Shakespeare, Goodspeed, Yale Repertory Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Arena Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Westport Country Playhouse, Long Wharf. Opera: Virginia Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Los Angeles Opera.
CLAUDIA HILL-SPARKS (Vocal Coach). Broadway: Dance of the Vampires. Off-Broadway: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Public Theater, Shakespeare in the Park; Polish Joke, Manhattan Theatre Club; Time and the Conways, Epic Theatre Company; Stone Cold Dead Serious, Edge Theater Company. Regional: 2008–2010 Summer Shakespeare Festivals, The Old Globe; over 80 productions as Resident Vocal Coach for The Old Globe from 1993 to 2001; numerous national tours for Network Productions; Huntington Theatre Company; North Shore Music Theatre. Television: Dialect Coach for Richard Easton as Ben Franklin for PBS. Faculty: The Old Globe/USD M.F.A. Professional Actor Training Program, 1993–2001 and as visiting faculty in 2009; Boston University B.F.A. Professional Actor Training Program 1988–1993; The American Academy of Dramatic Arts; The Wilma Theater. Education: M.F.A. in Acting, Temple University.
CHARLES LaPOINTE (Hair and Wig Design). Broadway: Bring It On, Henry IV, The Rivals, Cymbeline, Lombardi, Fences, A Life in the Theatre, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, The Merchant of Venice, Looped, The Miracle Worker, Superior Donuts, Memphis, 33 Variations, Guys and Dolls, In the Heights, Jersey Boys, The Color Purple, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, Good Vibrations, The Apple Tree, A Raisin in the Sun, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Radio Golf, Sight Unseen, High Fidelity and Xanadu. New production of Angels in America. Love to James.
RENEE LUTZ (Production Stage Manager) is delighted to be back with Merchant having stage managed both NYC & Stratford productions. Other credits with Theatre for a New Audience include Othello, Measure for Measure, Antony and Cleopatra and All’s Well That Ends Well. Numerous venues include Barrington Stage, Goodspeed, Playwrights Horizons, A.R.T., Primary Stages, Coconut Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival and the Wiener Festwochen, Vienna. Her best credit and longest run is her husband, actor Gordon Stanley.
MATTHEW MYHRUM (Video Designer). Projections: The Merchant of Venice at Theatre for a New Audience/RSC; It Happened in Little Rock at Arkansas Rep; Treemonisha at Alice Tully Hall; Diss Diss and Diss Dat at The New Federal Theatre; Maybe Baby, It’s You at St. Luke’s Theatre; and Bubbling Brown Sugar and Damn Yankees for Amas Musical Theatre. Scenery and projections for The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 at Children’s Theatre Company; Chasen’ Dem Blues and Sam Cooke: Forever, Mr. Soul at Delaware Theatre Company; From My Hometown at the American Heartland Theatre; and A Question of Mercy at the A.R.T. Institute. Scene Designs: Betrayal at Penobscot Theatre Company; Home at Queens Theatre in the Park; Julius Caesar, Machinal and The Piano Lesson at Brandeis University. Art Director for David Weller Design, whose production designs include “Who Wants to be a Millionare,” the YES Network (2003 Emmy Award), WCBS2 News, Voice of America and “Rock Star” seasons 1 and 2. Event Designer for Preston Bailey Design from 2008–2010.
JANE SHAW (Composer/Sound Designer). Theatre for a New Audience: Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, The Jew of Malta, Measure for Measure. Recently: The Catch, House of the Spirits (Denver Center), The Coward (LCT3), The Sneeze (Pearl), Wife to James Whelan (Mint). Twelve years with Big Dance Theater, which this spring premieres Supernatural Wife at Chaillot in Paris. Lortel nomination, Connecticut Critics Circle nomination, Meet the Composer, NEA/TCG Career Development Program. Graduate: Yale School of Drama, Harvard. Hometown: Lawrence, Kansas.
DARKO TRESNJAK (Director). For Theatre for a New Audience: All’s Well That Ends Well, The Merchant of Venice (also for the Royal Shakespeare Company Complete Works Festival) and Antony and Cleopatra. Other Shakespeare productions: Coriolanus, All’s Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, Titus Andronicus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Winter’s Tale, A Comedy of Errors, Antony and Cleopatra, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Pericles (The Old Globe); Twelfth Night (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Two Noble Kinsmen (The Public Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Winter’s Tale (Williamstown Theatre Festival). He has also directed productions at Huntington Theatre Company (four seasons), Williamstown Theatre Festival (eight seasons), Westport Country Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Vineyard Theatre, Blue Light Theatre Company, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Florida Grand Opera, Sarasota Opera and Virginia Opera. He was educated at Swarthmore College and Columbia University. Awards: San Diego Theatre Critics Awards for outstanding direction of Cyrano de Bergerac, The Winter’s Tale and Pericles and Alan Schneider Award for Directing Excellence. He was the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Shakespeare Festival from 2004 to 2009. Upcoming: Titus Andronicus at Stratford Shakespeare Festival. darkotresnjak.com
DAVID WEINER (Lighting Designer). Theatre for a New Audience: The Merchant of Venice (NY & RSC), The Jew of Malta, Julius Caesar, Saved. Broadway: reasons to be pretty, Butley, Dinner at Eight (Lincoln Center Theater), Betrayal (Roundabout), The Real Thing. New York: Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, The Public, Atlantic Theater Company, MCC, Vineyard, New York Theatre Workshop, Primary Stages and Culture Project. Regional: Center Theatre Group, Guthrie, La Jolla, KC Rep, CENTERSTAGE, Alley, McCarter, Huntington, A.R.T. and Williamstown, among others. www.DavidWeinerDesign.com
BRIDGET WELTY (Production Manager) has recently finished touring a production of Messiah Rocks. Her prior tours include Tap Dogs, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Paul Taylor’s Taylor 2 and New Jersey State Opera. Bridget is a native Bostonian who received her B.A. in Technical Design from Emerson College and her M.F.A. in Design from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.