by Custom Made | Feb 28, 2020 | Uncategorized
Meet the Cast of “The Lady Scribblers”
Annika Bergman
(LUCINDA FAIRWEATHER) This is Annika’s first soiree with Custom Made Theater, and she loves playing such a conniving character. Most recently, Annika was seen as Charles the Wrestler/Phebe in San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals ‘As You Like It.’ When not performing, Annika loves wine tasting, healthy baking, and escape rooms. She’d like to thank her family and friends for their endless support, and to DT for putting up with her schedule. www.annikabergman.com
Emma Curtin
(CATHY) Emma is thrilled to be making her debut with Custom Made Theater and Those Women Productions in this witty show with this remarkable team. Credits include: Brooklyn Bridge (Sasha) at TownHall Theater; Watch on the Rhine (Babette) at Berkeley Repertory Theater; A Christmas Story (Schwartz), Ragtime (Little Girl), Billy Elliott (Debbie), Fiddler on the Roof (Bielke), Shrek the Musical (Young Fiona), and The Sound of Music (Gretl) with Berkeley Playhouse; Miracle Worker (Helen), Oklahoma! (featured dancer) and Our Town (Rebecca) at the Altarena; Wait Until Dark (Gloria) at Chanticleers; and Billy Elliott (Debbie) and Beauty & the Beast at Woodminster Summer Musicals. Emma attends Oakland School for the Arts (Vocal emphasis) and she studies ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, and lyrical dance with Dance10. Following Lady Scribblers, Emma can be seen in Violet (Young Violet) at TownHall and Newsies (Elmer) at Berkeley Playhouse.
Valerie Façhman
(ELIZABETH BARRY) Elizabeth is glad to return to CMTC, having played Mom/Aunt/Doo Wop chorus in ‘How I Learned To Drive’ (nominated TBA/Ensemble & BATCC/Female Supporting) in 2017. Seen last fall as Ellen in “There Is A Happiness That Morning Is”, opposite husband Scott Baker (directed by the marvelous Katja Rivera) at the Phoenix, with their company Performers Under Stress. She’s acted with the Exit, Shotgun, No Nude Men, Theatre Pub, Boxcar, Central Works, Playground, & many others here & in Chicago, where she lived over 10 years. Val does other stuff like sing with Conspiracy of Venus (a cappella woman’s chorus), write plays, poems & music (‘Failure 2 Communicate’, 2010, another in development), and draw (illustrator, “Kiss of Death Ditties”, published 2020). She does lots of yoga and sometimes teaches it. Val adores all the creatures (Peeps!) Love to Scott, Ella & Bela.
Michael Houston
(LORD HAMMINGTON) Michael Houston is a Brooklyn, NY native who recently earning his BFA in acting from Academy of Art University. He credits his growing success to all of his teachers with whom he is grateful for. His production credits include, Six Degrees of Separation (Paul), In the Heights (Benny), Death &The Artist (St. Peter and others), SF Olympians and more. He is happy to be a part of this fantastic production and extremely grateful Tracy Ward, Those Woman Productions and The Custom Made Theater Co. for this opportunity. He especially thanks his parents Michael and Michelle Houston for always loving and supporting him.
Oluchi Nwokocha
(DELIA) Oluchi is excited to be making her Custom Made Theatre debut in The Lady Scribblers. Oluchi was last seen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Marin Shakespeare Company. Previous credits: Macbeth at African-American Shakespeare, We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudewestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 at San Jose Stage, Clybourne Park at The Hippodrome Theatre, By the Way Meet Vera Stark at The University of Florida. Upcoming: The Claim at Shotgun Players. Oluchi holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Florida. Oluchi currently is a Lecturer at San Jose State University. Follow her on Instagram @loochluch.
Dave Sikula
(GEORGE PIX/THOMAS BETTERON) At Custom Made: Samuel Beckett (Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with Andre the Giant; world premiere, San Francisco & New York), George Kraft (Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother Night; world premiere, San Francisco & New York), The Professor (Life Sucks.), Col. Bouvier/Norman Vincent Peale (Grey Gardens), Max Tarasov (Superior Donuts), Narrator (Slaughterhouse Five). Other roles include: Duke Frederick/Duke Senior (As You Like It), SF Shakes; Howard (The Mystery of Love and Sex), NCTC; Edna Turnblad (Hairspray) and Lawrence Jameson (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Stage 1; title roles in Uncle Vanya and Bullshot Crummond; Boris Trigorin (The Seagull), Hildy Johnson (The Front Page), Charles J. Guiteau (Assassins), Tom (The Speakeasy), and Alexander Andrews (The Walls of Jericho). His translation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya won the 2016 Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Production in the South Bay. Love to Pidge
Emily Stone
(ANNE BRACEGIRDLE) Emily is pleased and grateful to be returning to Custom Made for the second time, having played Ella in Life Sucks last year. She holds a degree in Biology and is an alum of ACT’s Summer Training Congress. Recent credits include Cressida in Cabaret Cressida at Poltergeist, The Yellow Wallpaper at Cutting Ball, and understudy positions with Cal Shakes and SF Shakes. A local org that she cares deeply about is the Coalition to Close the Concentration Camps, which works to #DisarmICE of the tech that fuels its terror; you can help fund their all-volunteer work on CashApp: $ClosetheCampsBA Theater portfolio: www.emilystone.info
J.J. Van Name
(MARY PIX / Text Coach ) J.J. Van Name (Mary Pix) seems destined to bake and kiss men of late (on stage only!) since landing in the Bay in 2018 from the other coast. LOCAL: Della/THE CAKE-NCTC ( 2020 BATCC Best Principle Actress nominee), Alice/RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN-Lucky Penny Productions (TBA Best Ensemble nominee), Helen/SEEN/ BY EVERYONE-Theatre of Yugen. Off-Broadway: Sinclaire/SEALED FOR FRESHNESS-New World Stages, Bertie/MOTHER TONGUE- Abingdon Theatre/GayFest NYC. Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre and Delaware Shakespeare (Actress/Text Coach) and other NE coast classical theatres’ FAVS: Nurse/ROMEO & JULIET, Paulina/THE WINTER’S TALE, Goneril/KING LEAR, Maria/TWELFTH NIGHT, Cerimon & Bawd/PERICLES, Baptista/THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, Emilia/OTHELLO, Witch/MACBETH. Next up: Nurse/ROMEO & JULIET-Marin Shakespeare Company where J.J. served as Text Coach for last Summer’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. Much gratitude to the designers and production staff for all their talent and support.
Ted Zoldan
(CHRISTOPHER RICH) Ted Zoldan is a company member at Custom Made and has appeared here as the Cop in Middletown, Viigand in Chess and Reverend Tollhouse in The Book of Liz. He’s recently been seen with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival (Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), 42nd Street Moon (Titanic, Scrooge in Love), Killing My Lobster (To Bard or Not To Bard) Berkeley Playhouse (Ragtime, Annie), Ubuntu Theatre Project (American Jornalero), Town Hall Theatre (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) & West Edge Opera (Threepenny Opera, The Return of Ulysses) among a lot of other companies he is very proud to have worked with. Also a writer and director, Ted’s work has been seen with San Francisco Pocket Opera, Waffle Opera and Florida State University. He is a proud graduate of San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
by Custom Made | Jan 10, 2020 | Uncategorized
Meet the Cast of How to Transcend a Happy Marriage
Fenner
Fenner (PIP) is an actor, director and producer living in West Oakland. Trained in ensemble devising processes, clown, Suzuki and ancient Japanese theater, past collaborators have been Theater of Yugen, FoolsFury, Ragged Wing Ensemble and Naked Empire Bouffon. Producing credits include ‘Desire Caught by the Tail’ by Pablo Picasso, and most recently the collaboratively written piece ‘The Boy Who Cried Naked’. Around and in between and sometimes with theater they are also an adventure cyclist, musician and casual host with the most. Fenner is thrilled to be working with Custom Made Theater Co. for the first time!
Hilary Hesse
Hilary Hesse (JANE) is excited to be performing again at Custom Made, where she played Stevie last season in Edward Albee’s “The Goat,” for which she won a BATCC Award. Previously she played Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire” at the Shelton Theater, for which she received a nomination for a TBA Award. Hilary continues to do film, theater and the occasional musical. Favorite roles include Crystal in “The Women” and Serenity in “Lovesick: The Cat Allergy Musical.”
Celeste Kamiya
Celeste Kamiya (JENNA) is a theatre artist from San Francisco. She earned her degree in theater from The New School in New York City, and studied acting with Fiona Shaw, Derek Jacoby, and Pippa Nixon for a year at the British American Drama Academy in London. Her recent Bay Area credits include Macbeth on tour with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival (Lady Macbeth/Witch 1), Allegiance at Contra Costa Civic Theatre, and Next to Normal with YMTC+ (Natalie). Also a stage manager and teaching artist, Celeste has worked with Ubuntu Theatre Project, West Edge Opera, and is the resident stage manager at Youth Musical Theater Company. Much love to her family, and gratitude that she’s never had to witness them partake in group sex!
Karen Offereins
Karen Offereins (GEORGE) is happy to be returning to CMTC after appearing in The Pain and the Itch and M. Butterfly. She was last seen in Elevada at Shotgun Players, where she also performed in The Mousetrap, Top Girls, and Our Town. Past credits include Two Mile Hollow (Ferocious Lotus), Phèdre (Cutting Ball Theater), The Potrero Nuevo Project (PlayGround), and The Rules (SF Playhouse). A founding member and Artistic Director of AtmosTheatre, her credits there include Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Big Funk, and No Exit. Additionally, she has performed with Word for Word, Playwrights Foundation, SF Theater Pub (where she also produced and directed new works), and Theatreworks.
Malcolm Rodgers
Malcolm Rodgers (MICHAEL) was most recently seen at CMTC as the Public Speaker/Greg/Male Doctor in “Middletown” (2016) and Gene Dinkel in “How the World Began” (2014). Recent roles elsewhere include Malvolio in “Twelfth Night”, and Grossman in “These Shining Lives” at Ross Valley Players; Iago in “Othello” and Polixines in “Winter’s Tale” at Livermore Shakespeare; and George in “The Speakeasy” at Box Car Theater. Malcolm has also worked at CCCT, Arabian Shakespeare, Napa Valley Shakespeare, and the SF Shakespeare Festival. Malcolm studied theater performance and design at SFSU, and received his conservatory training at PCPA.
Nick Trengove
Nick Trengove (DAVID) is a professional actor with strong artistic roots in the Bay Area. From 2006 – 2015, he lived, studied, and worked in the Bay Area, performing in a multitude of professional productions, workshops, and new works. In 2015, he relocated to Chicago to attend The Theatre School at DePaul University’s MFA program in Acting. He performed in mainstage productions, including Tarell Alvin McCraney’s drag extravaganza Wig Out!, and devised and performed a thesis production on the nonviolent movements of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. After graduating in 2018, he performed for a short time in Chicago’s incredible storefront theater scene. In 2019, he returned to the Bay Area and, bolstered by his training and experience, is thrilled to return to the Custom Made stage and to this incredible community of artists and storytellers.
Louel Senores
Louel Senores (FREDDY) is delighted to be working with Custom Made for the first time! Recent acting credits include “The Importance of Being Earnest“ (Aurora Theatre), “Ward 6” (Central Works), “Universal Robots” (Quantum Dragon Theatre), “The Human Ear” (Anton’s Well), and “Hedge” (PlayGround). Recent stage management credits include: “Ageless” (Quantum Dragon Theatre), “Abominable” (Symmetry Th
eatre), and “Best of PlayGround 20” (PlayGround). Louel also works with Berkeley Interactive Theater (for 10 years and counting!) as an actor and playwright to help bring impactful workshops about issues of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion to universities and organizations all over California. When he’s not doing theatre, he LARPs, plays Smash, catches Pokémon, and manages As You Wish Frozen Yogurt in Albany. For more info, visit: LouelSenores.com
Matt Weimer
Matt (PAUL) is delighted to return to The Custom Made Theatre Company, having previously appeared in their productions of The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? and Six Degrees of Separation. Performing in the Bay Area since 1991, his recent work has been with such companies as New Conservatory Theatre Center, Theatre Rhinoceros, Left Coast Theatre Co., Indra’s Net Theater, and Exit Theatre. He has toured with children’s theater, performed improv and sketch comedy, appeared in independent films and video games, and written for the stage. TBA Award finalist (featured actor) for his performance in The Homosexuals at NCTC.
by Custom Made | Oct 31, 2017 | Dramaturgy, The Lion in Winter
The Events Leading up to The Lion in Winter
A history by director Stuart Bousel
The tombs of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine
The European Middle Ages began around 500 AD following the collapse of Roman infrastructure and the withdrawal of Roman troops from northern Europe, and was marked by a period of invasions from the Vikings and the Huns that reduced a once unified continent to a myriad of small kingdoms which wouldn’t know national cohesion again until King Charles of the Franks was crowned Charlemagne of France in 800. In 1066 the Duke of Normandy, a vast region on the north coast of France, crossed the English Channel and defeated the English king, Harold Godwinson, at the Battle of Hastings, just 3 weeks after he had defeated the Norwegian king, Harold Hadrada, effectively ending the era of Viking power. The victor crowned himself William the 1st of England and Normandy, thus ushering in the High Middle Ages (1066-1300) and laying the groundworks for the power struggle at the root of The Lion In Winter.
The battle of Hastings
William’s son William Rufus succeeded him as king, but died childless in 1100, and the throne passed to his younger brother, Henry the First. Henry’s only legitimate son (William Adelin) drown in a shipwreck in 1120 while attempting to save his half-sister, and so the crown passed to Henry’s daughter, Matilda. Though many people, royal and common, accepted Matilda, a rebellion lead by her cousin, Stephen, resulted in a period of civil partisanship known as The Anarchy, during which England was split into two kingdoms: Matilda’s in the northwest, and Stephen’s in the southeast. Eventually the two sides agreed that Stephen would reign as King, Matilda would reign as “Lady of England” (a title never held again), and her son by Count Geoffrey of Anjou would succeed Stephen upon his death. On October 25, 1154 the son in question, nicknamed Curtmantle, took the throne as Henry II, King of England. Through his marriage in 1152 to Eleanor, the Duchess of Aquitaine (the largest, richest county in France), and his inherited titles of Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, Henry was the ruler of more of France than the King of France himself, Louis VII, who was, incidentally, Eleanor’s first husband, before she divorced him in 1152.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
]Eleanor and Henry would have 8 children. The first, William, died as an infant, but the remaining 7- Henry, Matilda, Richard, Geoffrey, Eleanor, Joanna, and John- survived to adulthood and through their marriages and deeds Henry became the most powerful man in Europe. At the time of Lion in Winter, his empire included parts of Germany and Spain, the islands of Sicily and Ireland, and more of France, namely the county of Brittany through his son Geoffrey’s marriage. Under Henry’s leadership Europe achieved a stability that resulted in the flourishing of major cosmopolitan centers like London and Paris, and cultural advancements in international trade (particularly of English wool and French wine), romantic poetry (Marie de France composed the most popular version of the King Arthur legends during this time), and gothic architecture (work began on Notre-Dame in 1163). Determined to see the world he created last, Henry crowned his eldest son in 1170.
Henry the Young King
The crowning of Henry the Young King so enraged his mother and brothers (who saw it as an attempt to cut them out of the legacy) that they revolted in an Eleanor helmed uprising that ended in her imprisonment in Salisbury Castle for the rest of Henry Senior’s reign. Attempting to keep his sons in line, Henry brokered a potential marriage between Richard (who was his mother’s favorite) and Alais of Vexin, the daughter of Louis VII by his second wife, and half sister to Phillip Augustus, who would succeed his father as King of France in 1180. However, by the time Henry the Young King died of dysentery in 1183, Alais and Richard had still not married (though Henry Senior had set up a military presence in her homeland), nor had a new heir to the English throne been declared. Though the Christmas court of 1183 that is the setting of Lion in Winter never actually happened, all of the people in the play, and the various alliances at stake, were real, and would continue to affect life in Europe for the 200 years to follow.
by Custom Made | Feb 17, 2012 | A Bright Room Called Day, Blog
This is a big weekend for the Bright Room cast. It’s our first run through! It’s going to be a “rough draft” if you will, but I’m very excited to see how it’s all shaping up.
This is actually going to be the first time I’ve seen some of the other actors in rehearsal since the reading in January. Because of the way this play is set up, the rehearsal process has basically been broken down into three groups (and please note that these are the names that I have given these groups to help explain them): the “modern day” group, which consists of Zillah and all the people she interacts with in modern day Berlin. There’s the “new friends” group, which includes the people Agnes knows through her political ties as well as Die Alte (I’m not going to say too much about her because I feel it’s important for you to see her for yourself) and finally there’s the “old friends” group, which is the one my character Paulinka is part of. This group has known each other for a while (probably years) and we are trying to help each other get through the bad times. Of course what ties everyone in the play together is Agnes and her apartment. She is the home base, the nurturer who we all seek out to comfort us. For my my character, she has become somewhat of a moral compass, someone whose opinion Paulinka values very highly and whom she runs to for comfort when things don’t go well.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the other actors have discovered through their respective rehearsals. It’s going to be nice to get a feel for the play as a whole rather than thinking in terms of smaller pieces.
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