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.: Who We Are :.    - Board of Directors    - Advisory Board    - Artistic Associates Michael Stebbins, Artistic Director: As an actor, Michael's Off-Broadway credits include The Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival, Mint Theater, Masterworks Laboratory Theatre, and Stage Door Acting Ensemble of New York, Inc. Select regional theatres include: Woolly Mammoth, Round House, Washington Jewish Theatre, Maryland Stage Company, Bowman Ensemble, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, CTC (DC/Baltimore); Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, The Marsh (CA); New World Theatre, Monomoy Theatre, Chamber Theatre Productions (MA); Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Cedar Creek Rep (WI). He recently shared the stage with Tony Award winners Richard Easton and Frances Sternhagen, along with The Princess Diaries' Anne Hathaway, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, NYC, in A. A. Milne's Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Wurzel-Flummery. In 2004 he was the guest artist at the Maryland Arts Festival where he appeared as the "Emcee" in Cabaret. He has performed internationally, from the outback of Australia to Strasbourg, France. Mr. Stebbins has appeared in numerous commercials and independent films, the most recent being Everyone's Depressed, with Phyllis Newman. Recent directing credits include: three-time Obie Award winner, Walt Witcover, and actress/author (How To Be A Working Actor), Lynne Rogers, in Stages of Love, for Masterworks Laboratory Theatre, Inc. For MLT he also directed From Chekhov's Orchard, a full length evening of story-theatre, and the following "parlor programs": Gilbert Without Sullivan, Introducing Anton and A Serving of Verse-all of which have toured nationally. For Stage Door Acting Ensemble of New York, Inc. he directed Mamet's The Frog Prince, Graceland, the world premiere of Click This! and the recent workshop of Vaudeville or Bust! Regional directing credits include A Moon for the Misbegotten, Rep Stage, Columbia, Maryland; The Cemetery Club and The Roar of the Greasepaint…The Smell of the Crowd for CTC. In summer 2005, Michael will direct The Kathy & Mo Show: Parallel Lives and Forever Plaid for the Maryland Arts Festival. He is co-creator of Vaudeville: Humor on the 20th Century Stage, which had its premiere at the Washington Jewish Theatre. His revue, Sincerely, Frank, received its premiere at CTC. His most recent play, Vaudeville or Bust!, received its 2004 premiere at Theatre 54, NYC. He has taught acting/opera workshop at UMBC and is adjunct faculty at HCC where he teaches acting. He has directed several operas, including Mozart's The Goose of Cairo and Holst's The Wandering Scholar, for various universities. He received his BFA and MFA from the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Mr. Stebbins is a member of Actors' Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild. ^Top ^ Board of Directors: The Stage Door Board of Directors' purpose is to provide financial guidance and support to our organization. Peter Campbell: Coming soon.^Top Stephen Jacobs: Mr. Jacobs is Chief Legal Officer of GT Brands LLC, where he has responsibility for all legal and business affairs matters, as well as corporate development, human resources and facilities and administrative matters. GT Brands is one of the largest and most successful companies in the direct response marketing industry, and a leading independent supplier of home video titles to mass retailers. Prior to joining GT Brands, Mr. Jacobs was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of American Lawyer Media, Inc. since 2001. He joined ALM in 1998 as Vice President and General Counsel. Prior to his work at ALM, Mr Jacobs was responsible for global insurance mergers and acquisitions at American International Group, Inc. Previously, he practiced at Hunton & Williams and Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts, both in New York. Mr. Jacobs graduated with a B.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984. He received a J.D. degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1987. ^Top Nick Kierstead: Coming soon. ^ Advisory Board: Industry professionals who lend their expertise to the advancement of Stage Door's mission: to champion the collective body of American Theatre -- Past, Present & Future. Advisory Board members are crucial to our success as a growing company. Brian Freeman: recently accepted a position on the staff of the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, where he develops new plays and performance pieces, with a focus on African American playwrights and performers. Rebecca Jung: Rebecca Jung has worked for Pilobolus Dance Company since 1990 as a performer, choreographer, dance captain and teacher. She has had the pleasure of working extensively on four continents and has taught everywhere from New York's Julliard School to Brazil to Hawaii's Baldwin High. She has appeared on television including the Emmy Award winning Kennedy Center's 25th Anniversary Gala, in fashion shows, operas, and in the Marilyn Manson music video, Beautiful People. Since leaving Pilobolus' touring company in 1997, Ms. Jung teaches Institute Workshops and residences for the company and performs in galas, benefits, school shows, and special projects (most recently a car commercial). She's enjoyed her role as an assistant choreographer making a work for a group of Rockettes a.k.a. Rockobolus a.k.a. Pilobolettes. Her image appears in the work of photographers Lois Greenfield, John Kane, Michael O'Neill, and Howard Schatz and is included in Ms. Greenfield's book Airborne and Mr. Schatz's book Passion and Line and in the new book "Twisted Yoga". In recent years, Ms. Jung has enjoyed performing in the choreography of Verio Cesio, Doug Hamby, Austin Hartel, and Lisa Giobbi. She continues to perform internationally in Ms. Giobbi's aerial dance and in Richard Move's Martha @... Productions as well as visiting colleges as a guest-artist in residence and working in fashion production.^Top Gus Kaikkonen: Gus Kaikkonen has directed Off-Broadway productions of J. B. Priestley's I Have Been Here Before and Shaw's Heartbreak House (Pearl Theatre), The Voysey Inheritance, The Charity That Began at Home, The Flattering Word, Farewell to the Theatre (Mint Theatre), Richard III with Austin Pendleton, MacBeth with Stephen McHattie, Candida with Laurie Kennedy, and Fridays with Henderson Forsythe (Riverside Shakespeare). Regionally, he has directed at the Philadelphia Theatre Company, the Asolo (2002 Best Production and Direction Award for Twelfth Night), Coconut Grove Playhouse, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, GeVa, Northlight Rep, the Folger, Aspen Theatre in the Park, the BoarsHead: Michigan Public Theatre and for a season he was the Resident Assistant Director for the Washington Opera at the John F. Kennedy Center. From 1990-93 he was the Artistic Director of Riverside Shakespeare Company in NYC and is currently the Artistic Director of the Peterborough Players, a professional resident stock theater in Peterborough, New Hampshire where he has directed many productions including James Whitmore in Our Town, and You Can't Take It With You, James Rebhorn in Later Life and Mary Beth Hurt in Six Degrees of Separation. An actor and playwright as well, he made his Broadway debut in the original cast of Equus, appeared in Tommy Tune's production of Cloud 9 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre and won Vermont's 2000 Bessie Award for Best Actor for his performance of Richard III at the Lost Nation Theatre. He was the 1995 James Thurber Playwrighting Fellow at Ohio State University, a MacDowell Colony Fellow, and his plays have been produced Off-Broadway in New York at Playwrights Horizons and the Production Company, at the New End Theatre and the Theatre Museum, Covent Garden in London and at regional theatres across the US. ^Top Valarie Lash: Valerie Lash is the Chair of Arts and Humanities Division at Howard Community College, Columbia, Maryland and the Artistic Director and Producer of Rep Stage, a regional theatre in Columbia, Maryland. Past acting credits for Rep Stage include lead roles in The Italian Lesson, a Moon for the Misbegotten, Three Tall Women, Six Degrees of Separation, Frankie and Johnny, Who's Afraid of Vrginia Woolf?, Marvin's Room, The Glass Menagerie, The Human Voice, Ttartuffe, and Dangerous Liaisons. Past directing credits at HCC include The Kathy and Mo Show, Parallel Lives, Cabaret, and A Little Night Music. Her hosting credits for HCC-TV include F.Y.I., Theatre About Town, and An Evening at Smith Theatre. She was presented in 1993 with the Howard County Arts Council's Howie Award for "Educator of the Year." In 2003 she was inducted into the Howard County Women's Hall of Fame for her contributions to the arts in the community. Lash is a full professor of theatre and has chaired the Theatre Department for over 20 years. She holds both a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Theatre from Catholic University of America and has taught acting and theatre courses for 30 years. ^Top Stephen Macias: coming soon. Nicholas Psaltos: Nicholas Psaltos is General Manager of The Horror Channel, a cable television network that he founded in 2001. He has had an extensive career in the cable television industry-which includes stints at Bravo, Independent Film Channel, A&E, The History Channel and Discovery as well as in the field of biomechanics-for which he has earned patents on designs of orthopedic implants. As an actor Mr. Psaltos is proud to have participated in the 1999 MLT productions of Shaw's How He Lied to Her Husband (as "Mr. Bompas") and John Maddison Morton's Box and Cox (as "Mr. Box"). Other works include productions with Love Creek (NYC), Mug Shots at The Spotlighter's Theater (Baltimore), Outside the Norm (also at Spotlighter's), "Charlie" in On Golden Pond for the Leonia Player's Guild (NJ). In television he has appeared in Law and Order. Film work includes the role of "Gary" in Jim Cricchi's Gasoline Rainbows. As a writer Mr. Psaltos is nearing completion of his first screenplay, The Maori. Mr. Psaltos wishes to thank Walt Witcover, his creative mentor, for imparting the virtues of patience, process and perseverance. He is a graduate of the Walt Witcover Acting Studio (certificates in acting and directing), a resident member of Masterworks Laboratory Theater and a board member of Stage Door Acting Ensemble of New York, Inc. Mr. Psaltos is also a graduate of Lehigh University (BS '85) and Columbia (MBA '94).^Top Luoyong Wang: was last seen on Broadway as The Engineer in Miss Saigon. Regional credits include: The Woman Warrior, M. Butterfly, The King and I. In China: Personel and Hamlet. Film and TV credits include: Third Watch, Daylight, The Piano Teacher, Dragon, Vanishing Son, Lin Zexu, The Story of Liaozai and From the New World. Upcoming film: Lana's Rain. Awards include: Boston University Alumni Award, Fox Foundation Award, China TV National Award.^Top Walt Witcover: Actor, director, and teacher Walt Witcover grew up in New York City, attending Townsend Harris and then Cornell University. After service in the field artillery in France and Germany in World War II, he returned to Cornell, where he earned his BA and MA in Dramatic Production. He then trained at the American Theatre Wing, in Lee Strasberg's private acting classes, and in the Directors Unit of the Actors Studio under Mr. Strasberg and Harold Clurman. As an actor, Walt Witcover has appeared on and off-Broadway, in summer stock and repertory, as Artist-in-Residence at Stanford University, with the Barter Theatre of Virginia, in the early days of live TV, and in numerous projects at the HB Studio and the Actors Studio, as well as for Masterworks Laboratory Theatre Some of the notable artists he has performed with include Herbert Berghof, James Earl Jones, Helen Hayes, Jack Klugman, Mary Martin, Basil Rathbone, Lois Smith and Kim Stanley. He has directed over ninety productions in live theatre -- Off-Broadway (where three of his productions received "OBIE" Awards), in summer resident stock and touring star packages, and as guest director at Cornell University, Syracuse University, the University of Maryland, and Virginia Tech. His innovative and influential production of Verdi's La Traviata won the Actors Studio "Total Theatre" Award; he directed first productions of prize plays of Martin Sherman and Jerome Max and the American premiere of Yukio Mishima's Modern Noh Plays; and as co-founder and Artistic Director of Masterworks Laboratory Theatre, he has developed over twenty innovative stagings of classics of drama, opera and poetry-, song- and story-theatre over the last thirty years. Among the many leading actors he has directed are Jane Alexander, Barbara Barrie, Ruth Chatterton, Claude Dauphin, Sandy Dennis, Farley Granger, Ed Herlihy, Shirley Knight, Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller. A noted drama coach and teacher of acting, Walt Witcover has taught at the Stella Adler Studio, at the Brooklyn Music School, and at the West Side Opera Workshop. For twenty-five years, he served on the active faculty of the HB Studio, teaching basic and scene technique, musical theatre, a classics workshop, and directing. Most recently, he was Professor of Theatre Arts, first at SUNY Purchase and then at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He now offers private training to performers of stage, screen, and opera , as well as directors, at the Witcover Acting Studio in mid-Manhattan.^Top ^ Artistic Associates: en-sem-ble [on sómb'l ] 1. a group of complementary parts contributing to a single effect. Actors Playwrights Directors Technicians Designers Volunteers Teachers Business Professionals Consultants Stage Door Artistic Associates are those who continually contribute time, energy, and effort to the company before, during, and after productions. Artistic Associates act, direct, write, stuff envelopes, sweep the floors, do publicity, and work in countless other capacities. John Benoit: John made his first New York stage appearance with Stage Door as The Frog Prince. In the Baltimore/Washington area he has performed with Round House Theatre, Theatre of the First Amendment, Rep Stage, Everyman Theatre, Source Theatre, Theatre J, Washington Stage Guild, Le Neon Theatre, and Stanislavsky Theatre Studio, among others. International credits include a European tour of his one-man show Super Conquerant; a tour of Savage/Love; and appearances in Amsterdam at the Stasschowburg, Stalhouderij Theatre, Crea Theatre, Amsterdam Reitveld Academie, and Amsterdam Toneelschool.^Top Ron Bopst: Ron Bopst is an Associate Artist with Stage Door Acting Ensemble of NY, Inc. He was seen as Andrew Knox in Stage Door's inaugural production of Descent: A Darwinian Comedy and as Cupid in The Eight: Reindeer Monologues. More recently with Stage Door, Ron played Max in the reading of An American Comedy, the Servingman in David Mamet's The Frog Prince, and portrayed four roles in Bury the Dead. Most recently, Ron portrayed J. Florence Thackeray in the critically-acclaimed TOSOS II/ EAT production of David Bell's Bernadette and the Butcher of Broadway. Other New York credits include the title role in Iggie Imagines Marriage at the John Houseman Studio and John Scudder in The Zalmar Boys at Fool's Company Space. Favorite roles include Woyzeck, Andrei in Three Sisters, and Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire.^Top Delina Christie: Delina is a graduate of the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. She has toured in every state except Alaska and Hawaii and performed in theatre festivals in what was formerly known as Czechoslovakia, Poland and Australia. For Stage Door Acting Ensemble, Delina has appeared in Graceland, Bury The Dead and Frog Prince. She was also the co-director of Graceland with Michael Stebbins and directed the staged reading of An American Comedy. Most recently she appeared in the Lyric Stage of Boston's production of the musical, MesshugahNuns as the Mother Superior and as Abby Borden in the Stoneham Theatre's production of Lizzie Borden, The Musical. Her voice has been heard in hundreds of radio commercials throughout Connecticut, and she has appeared in two independent films. She also enacted The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Alan Poe for the cd rom entitled Writer's Solutions produced by Prentice Hall publishing. Delina currently holds the office of treasurer for Stage Door Acting Ensemble. ^Top Susan Cover coming soon. Bradford Cover As an actor Mr. Cover has performed on Broadway in A Thousand Clowns by Herb Gardner. He was a member of the Pearl Theatre Company for four years where he performed in many plays including: Richard II, School for Scandal, The Forest, Misalliance, Antigone, The Beaux Stratagem, When Ladies Battle, and Mrs. Warren's Profession. He was also a member of The Actor's Company Theatre for two years. He recently performed at the Lark Theatre in New York in Waxing West. Also at the Lark he is currently involved in a workshop of a new play entitled Dead City by Sheila Callaghan. Regionally he has been seen in the following productions: Learned Ladies (McCarter Theatre) Lives of the Saints (Philadelphia Theatre Company), An Empty Plate at the Cafe de Grand Beouf (Berkshire Theatre Festival), The Importance of Being Earnest (Cleveland Playhouse), Measure for Measure, Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Love's Labor's Lost (New Jersey Shakespeare Festival), Betrayal (Vermont Stage), Charley's Aunt and Private Lives (St. Michael's Playhouse), Love's Labor's Lost, King Lear (Texas Shakespeare Festival). As a director he recently did Summer for the American Academy of Dramatic Art. For Stage Door he directed The Eight: Reindeer Monologues and George Kelly's Finders Keepers. He directed Kate Hampton in a modern retelling of Tinkerbell, that was seen on theatre row. Around the country he directed The Mandrake (Bowman Ensemble), Gilgamesh (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), and The Diviners (Denison University). Mr. Cover was a founder and served as the Associate Artistic Director of Bowman Ensemble in Baltimore, MD from 1990 to 1993. Bowman Ensemble produced both classics and new plays in an outdoor setting. While serving in that capacity he also acted and directed for the company. ^Top Brette Goldstein: Brette Goldstein joined forces last year with Andrea Shane to form Shane/Goldstein Casting. Recent and current films include The Wedding Posse, Keeper, Man With Van (starring Kevin Corrigan), Piece of Cake, Live at Five (starring Dylan Baker and Annie Golden), Homecoming (starring Josh Hamilton and Maureen Flanagan), Future Imperfect, Chat Room, Serial, The Isabel Fish, Blue Rinse and Mamzer. They recently cast the short film AWOL that was featured at Cannes and Clermont-Ferrand for director/producer Rae McGrath, as well as industrial for Smirnoff Vodka and two spec commercials. Brette cast the independent feature films Thousand Year Reich, The Egoists and Everyone's Depressed and Noon Blue Apples, a film that was featured at Sundance in 2001. Brette is currently casting the 2004-2005 season at the Folger Theatre in Washington, DC, where she has been the Resident Casting Director for eight seasons. She has cast for such theatres as Epic Theatre Center (Off-Broadway), Dorset Theatre Festival, Muhlenberg Theatre, Colonial Theatre, and Stage Door Acting Ensemble of New York. A former casting associate at Elissa Myers Casting, she worked on seasons for many theatres including Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center, Cleveland Play House, Geva, Arizona Theatre Co., Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Studio Arena, Seattle Rep and the McCarter, as well as a PBS mini-series. She also worked on the West Coast premiere of Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul for Berkeley Rep. Brette has a producing background and is the former Co-Producing Director of Washington Jewish Theatre. ^Top Hope Lambert: Hope Lambert has performed in New York at Cherry Lane Theatre (Cherry Lane Alternatives), The Bank Street Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Source, and WOW Cafe. Regionally, she has performed in productions of a Norman Allen world premiere play, Fallen from Proust at Signature Theatre, MacBeth as Lady MacBeth (The Folger Shakespeare Library), The Road to Mecca as Elsa (Olney Theatre, Maryland), and Little Women as Beth (The Kennedy Center). She will be appearing in an upcoming production with Charter Theatre's 2005 season. She has been an acting company member with NYU's Department of Dramatic Writing and Washington Shakespeare Company. For Stage Door, Hope appeared as Rootie in Graceland, directed by Delina Christie and Michael Stebbins. ^Top J. M. (Marty) McDonough: New York stage performances in the past year include Dr. Armstrong in Ten Little Indians, at the Blue Heron Arts Center; Fetyukovitch in the 11th Hour Theatre Company's Bros. K II at LaMama; General Randolph in William Gillette's Secret Service at Metropolitan Playhouse. He has been featured as Joe McGinn, in the Stage Shadows production of Wearing of the Green on WFUV, and has been the voice of a variety of ads and animations, most recently as Gandalf in the on-line game Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. On television he has been featured in Homicide (opposite Michelle Forbes), Legacy, Unsolved Mysteries, The American Experience and Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show (with Dave Chappelle). In film, he has been featured in Hamlet: Prince of Denmark (Claudius), Paranoia (opposite Larry Drake), Boys (opposite Lukas Haas), and as Samuel in Death by Committee. ^Top Tom Patrick: Tom Patrick is an actor, writer and director. His play Descent (A Darwinian Comedy) has been produced by The Aardvark Theater of Chicago, Next Act Theater of Milwaukee and Stage Door Acting Ensemble in New York City and was published in The Porcupine, a literary arts magazine. His play Middleman was produced in Milwaukee by the Cedar Creek Repertory Theater which he also directed. Tom is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists where his play Soft Target was produced in 2003. His play The Vow was produced by Stage Left Theater of Chicago and his play Wildwood will be produced by The Road Theatre of Los Angeles in the fall of 2005. As an actor and director he has worked with several Chicago theaters including Lookingglass, Next, Shakespeare's Motley Crew, and Shakespeare on the Green. Tom currently lives in Los Angeles.^Top Natasha Staley: Natasha is very pleased to be an Artistic Associate for Stage Door. She is currently working towards her MFA in acting at FSU's Asolo Conservatory and will be returning to NYC in the bear future. Natasha has worked professionally throughout the Midwest, and was a company member of St. Croix Festival Theatre for two seasons. While forging a theatre career in New York City, Natasha studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the T. Schreiber Studio. NY theatre credits include Boy Meets Girl (Navarre Productions at Playwrights Horizons Studio Theatre), Legacies (Lead- T. Schreiber Studio directed by T. Schreiber), and The Frog Prince for Stage Door. Favorite Regional roles include Raina in Arms and the Man, Sally in Voice of the Turtle, and Pollyanna. ^Top Linda Stein: Linda grew up in Buffalo, NY and currently lives above "Party City" and "Playland" somewhere in Brooklyn, NY. She spent time living on a kibbutz milking cows and volunteering in the Israeli Army before attending the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, hon, where she received her B.A. in Theatre. She performed in Tony & Tina's Wedding before heading off to the University of Missouri, Kansas City where she received her MFA in Acting. She has performed with the Creede Repertory of Colorado, The Irish Classical Theatre in Buffalo, The Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, The Maryland Stage Company, The Missouri Repertory Theatre, and other various and sundry theatres throughout Baltimore and NYC. Linda was last seen performing her one woman show, Click This! based on her trials and tribulations of online dating, produced by Stage Door and directed by Michael Stebbins. ^Top How Can You Support Stage Door? click here