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.
