A Sharp Intake of Breath
biographies
Michael Allen (playwright, "West") graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University in 2002 with a BA in Creative Writing. He is currently completing his MFA at the Actors Studio Drama School, where his pieces, The After Party and Perfect Circle, were recently given workshop productions. His full-length play Wonderland received a staged reading by Shalimar Productions in 2002. His short play Wish was produced in New York earlier this year.
Melissa Attebery (director, "West") graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Dramatic Art and Film Studies and began her career in Los Angeles in television production and development. After working on various shows, such as MadTV, Frasier, Wings, JAG and Star Trek, and holding positions at Paramount, Viacom and Granada Entertainment, she yearned to return to the theatre and moved to New York. Her theatre directing credits include Two Rooms, Postmortem, Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove and The Stonewater Rapture. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Directing from the Actors Studio Drama School in New York City. In addition to her numerous school-related projects, she recently directed her first New York production, the original work Wish by Michael Allen. This Spring, she guest lectured at Parsons School of Design, serving as acting and directing coach for their graduate collaborative design class.
Jono Burns (Jesse, "West") has studied at the Actors Studio Drama School, The Stella Adler Conservatory and H.B. Studio. He received a Bachelor of Arts at Melbourne University. Theatre credits include
Troy Hill in Dirty Deeds (the original cast for the workshop for the Melbourne Festival), Buff in Suburbia (Melbourne Fringe Festival), Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra (Melbourne Fringe Festival), P.F.C. Wintergreen and Snowdon in Catch 22 (Melbourne Fringe Festival), Hamm in Endgame (Union Theatre), Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Union Theatre), The Foreigner in On the Razzle (Union Theatre), Richard 3 in Richard 3 (Shakespeare in the Quad), Horatio in Hamlet (Shakespeare in the Quad), Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare in the Quad) and Plato in Rebel Without a Cause (St. Martins Theatre). Television Credits: Stingers, Blue Heelers, Something in the Air and Round the Twist. Short Films: Karmarama and China Girl.
Vera Chernysheva (Student, "Art Gallery") is currently pursuing her MFA in theatre at the Actors Studio Drama School. Most recent credits include Emma in Betrayal, Karen in Children's Hour, and Olivia in Twelfth Night.
Carla Ching's (playwright, "Ring") plays have been workshopped and produced at venues like The Kraine Theater, St. Mark's Theater, The Tenement Museum, The Creative Space Theater and The Asian American Writers Workshop. She's one-third of LCC Productions who produce Lemonade, a staged reading series for works-in-progress by emerging and established Asian American playwrights. She's a former writer and performer with Peeling, an Asian American performance group based in New York. She's a MFA candidate in playwriting at the Actors Studio Drama School and a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Takashi Kurihara (director, "Ring") is from Kanagawa, Japan. He graduated from Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan with a BA in Theater and Literature. After being involved in several theater productions as an actor and assistant director in Tokyo, he moved to New York City and
studied at Hunter College's graduate program in theater. He is currently pursuing an MFA in directing at the Actors Studio Drama School. Takashi has directed Medea Japanesque at the Manhattan Playhouse in N.Y.C. Other credits include the Broadway Musical Rent Japan Tour, the off-Broadway production of The Winds of God at the American Place Theatre, and Love, The Musical. He will be directing the staged reading of Yellow Girl by Carla Ching this September.
Thai-Hoa Le (Norman, "Ring") In 1998, while still completing his Law Degree at the University of Montreal, a string of fortuitous events led Thai-Hoa Le to professional acting. He became part of the main cast of Caserne 24, a popular television show that ran for three seasons and broadcast throughout Canada. He then guest-appeared in several other notable French-Canadian series and soaps such as Quatre-et-Demi and Coroner. He is presently perfecting his craft in the MFA Program of the Actors Studio Drama School. Thai-Hoa is honored and feels blessed to make his New York debut in this production of Carla Ching's Ring.
Cheryl Leibert (Claire, "West") is an acting student in the MFA program at the Actors Studio Drama School in New York City. Previously, she performed in NYC in a variety of plays, short films, feature films and student projects, as well as being a regular on Oxygen Network�s Life in Progress. Before NYC, she received her BA from Skidmore College with a double major in Theater and Psychology. She is thankful for working with a wonderful cast, an amazing director and a talented playwright. She would like to send her love to her family and Mike for their support.
Brian Olsen(director, "Art Gallery") has previously directed Carla Ching's Aching For You for Love Creek Productions, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Much Ado About Nothing for Gorilla Rep, The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) at the Washington Shakespeare Festival, A Christmas Carol at Thirteenth Street Rep., and The Mousetrap and Camelot at the Saxtons River Playhouse. He wrote, directed and performed his one-man show, Typical, here in New York at Upstairs at Rose's Turn and in Vancouver, BC, at the Granville Studio. Also in Vancouver, at the Granville Studio and at New Image Studios, Brian taught classes in acting and scene study and led workshops in Shakespeare text. He has a BA in Drama from Stonehill College in Massachusetts, studied at the National Shakespeare Conservatory in New York, and is currently a directing student at the Actors Studio Drama School.
Jon Sheridan (Mike, "West") is currently a Masters of Fine Arts candidate at the Actors Studio Drama School. Although this is his New York City stage debut, his professional acting debut was as Danny in John Patrick Shanley�s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at Congress Theatre in Saratoga Springs, New York. Other credits include Lucio in Shakespeare�s Measure for Measure and Peter in Diana Son�s Stop Kiss. Jon would like to thank those who came before him and especially the one.
James E. Singletary (Lover, "Art Gallery") is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. He is currently pursuing an MFA at the Actors Studio Drama School.
Aurin Squire (playwright, "Art Gallery") Since he was a teenager in Miami, Aurin Squire has been working as a professional writer in both creative and non-fiction fields. In high school he worked as a gopher for local newspapers and worked his way up to reporter and columnist for three publications and editor of two internet magazines. At Northwestern University Squire majored in radio/tv/film with a minor in creative writing in the media. He wrote and produced short films and plays while continuing to write for publications like the Chicago Tribune and Miami Herald. After graduation he became associate editor for South Florida business magazine, "In Focus Interactive." On the side he directed two documentaries for a local consulting firm and had his AIDS drama, Crash commissioned by a state union. Squire moved to New York to pursue his playwriting MFA at the Actors Studio Drama School. He has worked for over a dozen publications, served as script doctor for two companies and has had four of his plays produced in the city, including White Bread, a hip hopera comedy that was featured in the annual Black Theatre Showcase at the Actors Studio. He's excited to have his play put up with his friends and thanks the directors for their dedication, wit and never-ending patience with us writers.
Tatiana Su�rez Pico (Lila, "Ring") originally from Colombia is currently pursuing an MFA at the Actors Studio Drama School (ASDS) in New York City. She has worked in Colombia and the U.S. in movies and theatre productions such as Green Card Fever, Mami's Feast, and Haciendo el Amor...Brujo. Her most recent work includes staged readings of That Takes Ovaries! (Rivka Solomon/Bobbi Ausubel) and Last Call (Kelly McAllister). She was also recently seen as producer, actor, and writer of the first Annual Latino Theatre Showcase at ASDS.
John Walsh (Professor, "Art Gallery") was last seen as Jacques in Gorilla Repertory Theatre Company's As You Like It, Sir Andrew in Twelfth Night, and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Other favorite roles include a crack-addicted reindeer in The Eight and a dancing monkey on Oddville MTV.
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