Three Sisters Bios
CAST
CHRIS ANDREKO (Kulygin U/S) is a junior BA Theatre Performance major from Danbury, CT. WCSU credits include Marat-Sade (Ensemble/Co-Dramaturg), Allegro (Props Master), and Something Rotten! (Props Master). Outside credits include Murder Me Always (Cabbie) and Newsies (Finch). Instagram @candreko03
ASSEF BADR (Andre) is a second-semester senior Theatre Performance and Psychology double major from Syria, based in Stratford, CT. WCSU credits include Fairview (Jimbo), Big Love (Oed), Metamorphoses (Male Understudy/Scenic Charge), and the one-act play “Password” (Quido). Outside credits include Water by the Spoonful (A Ghost/Professor Amman) at Capital Classics Theater Company, Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), The Little Mermaid (Chef Louis), 12 Angry Men (Juror #11), and Legally Blonde (Carlos/Elle’s Father). Instagram: @assef_ba
JAXON BEIRNE (Ferapont) is a senior BFA Acting major from Milford, CT. WCSU credits include Marat/Sade (Jacques Roux), Bat Boy: The Musical (Ron Taylor), and Ernest and the Pale Moon (Thomas Thistle). Other credits include Catch Me If You Can (Frank Abagnale Jr.), Footloose (Cowboy Bob/Lyle/Jeter), and Pippin (Pippin). Instagram: @jaxonbeirne
COLLAN CLEVELAND (Chebutykin) is a first-year Theatre Performance major from Meriden, CT. Outside credits include The SpongeBob Musical (Mr.Krabs), Guys and Dolls (Nathan Detroit), The Lightning Thief (Chiron), and The Addams Family (Mal Beineke) at Meriden Youth Theatre and Platt Theatre.
ALEXANDRA COLAIACOVO (Anfisa) is a senior Acting Major from Ocean Township, NJ. WCSU credits include Big Love (Bella U/S), Be More Funny (Nora), and one-act plays “Under the Bus” (Corey), “Baggage Unattended” (Security Guard, Man/Woman/Guard U/S, Stage Manager), and “The Individuality of Streetlamps” (Director). Outside credits include Camp: A New Musical (Sticks)* at Theatre Row. *Original Off-Broadway Cast
FIONA CONNOLLY (Irina (U/S) is a senior Theatre Performance major from Middlebury, CT. WCSU credits include Marat/Sade (Sister) and the student-directed one-act plays “La Mouche” (Pierre) and “Baggage Unattended” (Security Guard). Outside credits include Footloose (Ethel), Chicago (Mona), Shrek (Mama Bear), and Into the Woods (Lucinda).
NATHAN CORBETT (Fedotik) is a first-year BFA Musical Theatre Major from Attleboro, MA. Outside credits include Little Shop of Horrors (Seymour Krelborn), Mary Poppins (Bert), Elf (Buddy), and Matilda (Mr. Wormwood). Instagram: @nathan.corbett
SIERRA CUMMINGS (Masha U/S) is a junior Musical Theater major from Casco, ME. WCSU credits include Allegro (Ensemble Swing/Jennie Brinker U/S) and student-directed one-act plays. Outside credits include Tuck Everlasting (Mae Tuck), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Ella), and Big Fish (Josephine Bloom). IG: s.ierra.c
COLBY GROVES (Tuzenbach) is a junior Theatre Performance major from Woodstock, CT. WCSU credits include Marat/Sade (Polpoch), Season’s Greetings (U/S Eddie/Clive), Metamorphoses (U/S Poseidon, Hermes, Orpheus, Vertumnus, Silenus, Servant), and the one-act play “Date With Death.” Outside credits include Anything Goes (Spit) at Black Rock Theater.
LIV HENDRICKSON (Olga) (she/her) is a senior Musical Theatre major from Callicoon, NY. WCSU credits include Head Over Heels (Pamela), Sweeney Todd (Ensemble), Bat Boy:The Musical (Mrs. Taylor), and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Allegro (Woman 3). Instagram: @liv_hendrickson
DAKOTA JUSEM-LAPORTE (Anfisa U/S) is a junior BFA Acting major from Manchester, CT. WCSU credits include the one-act plays “Lonely” (Milly), “3 Characters Figure It Out” (Character 3), “The Fog” (Ann U/S), and “Legally Blond in Ten Minutes” (Ensemble/Judge).
MAX KONIDARIS (Solyony) is a first-year Musical Theater major from Putney, VT. Outside credits include Anastasia (Dmitry), Hamlet (King Claudius), The Addams Family (Gomez), and The Artificial Jungle (Zachary Slade). Instagram: @max.rené.k
LIV LANTERI (Masha) is a junior BFA Acting major from Southington, CT. WCSU stage and crew credits include Marat/Sade (Ensemble), Season’s Greetings (Pattie), Angels in America (Co-Dramaturg), and Ernest and the Pale Moon (Dramaturg).
CARA LEAHY (Natasha) (she/her) is a senior Musical Theatre major from Pawling, NY. WCSU credits include Head Over Heels (Philoclea), Allegro (Grandma Taylor/Ensemble) Metamorphoses (Little Girl), and In the Open (Riley). Outside credits include Mamma Mia! (Sophie) and Bring it On! (Eva). Instagram: @cara.leahyy
ALEX LEE (Kulygin U/S, Rode U/S, Fedotik U/S) is a first-year BA Theater Performance Major from Old Lyme, CT. Outside credits include The Addams Family (Gomez)*, High School Musical (Zeke), and How to Succeed in Business… (Mr. Peterson). *2022 Sondheim Awards Best Actor Nominee.
JAVEN LEVESQUE (Vershinin U/S) is a sophomore BFA Musical Theatre major from New London, CT. Outside credits include Jekyll & Hyde (Jekyll & Hyde) at Get Up Stage Company and Spring Awakening (Moritz) at Connecticut Theatre Company.
AMELIA MCGEE (Olga U/S) is a junior Theater Performance major from Oxford, CT. WCSU credits include The Individuality of Streetlamps (Melissa) and That Midnight Rodeo (Cindy). Outside credits include Pippin (Catherine), UBU TOXICA (Shoeski), Carrie (Sue), She Kills Monsters (Agnes), and Grease (Marty).
ELIO PEREZ-WILSON (Vershinin) is a junior Musical Theatre major from Deep River, CT. WCSU credits include Big Love (Constantine), Allegro (Ensemble Swing, Charlie u/s)* and the one-act plays “Halfway Down” (Jumper and Stranger u/s) and “The Proposal” (William Ainsworth). Outside credits include Heaven Can Wait (Messenger 3081) at The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center. *Indicates performed.
ANNA RAYMOND is a senior BFA Theater Arts major from Pomfret, CT. WCSU credits include Metamorphoses (Myrrha), Big Love (Olympia (U/S), and Marat/Sade (Charlotte Corday). Instagram: @anna.raymond
ZACHARY SPRENG (Rode) is a sophomore BFA Musical Theatre major from Bangor, ME. WCSU credits include Fairview (U/S Dayton), Allegro (Swing) and Season’s Greetings (U/S Neville and Harvey). Outside credits include Mary Poppins (Featured Ensemble) and Oliver! (Oliver Twist). Instagram: @zachary.spreng (he/him).
JACOB STEMMER (Solyony U/S) is a first-year Acting major from Bristol, CT. Outside credits include The Lion King, Jr. (Timon).
JUSTIN VILLARD (Kulygin) is a junior Acting major from Stamford, CT. WCSU credits include Fairview (Dayton), Season’s Greetings (u/s Bernard), Metamorphoses (Ensemble), Something Rotten! (Assistant Director), Big Love (Assistant Master Carpenter), and Noises Off (Production Assistant). Outside credits include The Addams Family (Assistant Director), The Pajama Game (Hines), The Drowsy Chaperone (Underling), Matilda (Sergei/Ensemble), and Elephants’ Graveyard (The Hungry Townsperson)
SAMYA WOODARD (Natasha U/S) is a junior Theatre Performance major from The Bronx, NY. WCSU credits include Dognap on Dekalb (June), Metamorphoses (Aphrodite/ Ensemble), and Fairview (u/s Jasmine).
CREW
TAI CARSON-SMITH (Production Stage Manager) is a junior Stage Management BFA candidate from New Haven, CT. WCSU credits include Season’s Greetings (Assistant Stage Manager) and Fairview (Assistant Stage Manager). Outside credits include Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Assistant Stage Manager) and Craters (Assistant Stage Manager).
FIONA CONNOLLY (Dramaturg) is a senior Theatre Performance major from Middlebury, CT. WCSU credits include Metamorphoses (Costume Crew) and Marat/Sade (Assistant Prop Coordinator).
MARIANNE GROSSMANN (Wardrobe Head) (she/her) is a junior transfer Musical Theatre major from Holden, ME. WCSU credits include Something Rotten! (Bea), Allegro (Swing), and Season’s Greetings (U/S Pattie). Outside credits include Mary Poppins (Ensemble, U/S Mary Poppins), 9 to 5 (Kathy, U/S Violet), and Mamma Mia (Lisa) at Penobscot Theatre Company. Instagram: @mari.grossmann
MIKAYLA LEBRON (Props Assistant) is a first-year Theater Design/Tech major from Griswold, CT. Three Sisters is her WCSU debut. Outside credits include Lend Me a Tenor (Lobby Stylist).
AUDREY LOVERRO (Co-Master Carpenter) (They/Them) is a junior Musical Theater major at WCSU. WCSU credits include Jester’s Dead (ASM/Fight Captain), Metamorphoses (A2/Fight Captain), Season’s Greetings (A1), department one-acts(Fight Choreographer), and Fairview (Fight Captain).
SANDRA MOOD (Sound Designer) is a sophomore BFA Acting Major from Somerville, MA. WCSU technical credits include Something Rotten! (A2), Allegro (A2), and Big Love (A1). WCSU acting credits include Marat/Sade (Coulmier’s Wife & Female Patient Swing*) and the one-act play “The Fog” (Lea). Outside technical credits include Frozen, Jr. (Dramaturg), Madagascar, Jr. (Dramaturg), Honk, Jr. (Assistant Director) and Shrek, Jr. (Assistant Director). Outside performance credits include The Mad Ones (Samantha Brown), Clue (Mrs. Peacock), Amèlie (Young Amèlie), and As You Like It (Phoebe). Instagram: @sandra_m.03 (she/her)
*indicates performed
BEN MUCKENTHALER (Assistant Director) (he/him) is a senior Musical Theatre major from Tucson, AZ. Directing credits include The FQ, The Very Unmerry Adventures of Robin Hood, and One Word Christmas Carol. WCSU performance credits include Something Rotten! (Nick Bottom), Bat Boy: The Musical (Dr. Parker), and Allegro (Dr. Taylor). @bmuck37
BEN WARNER (Assistant Sound Designer) is a Senior Design/Tech major from Ridgefield, CT. WCSU credits include Angels In America (Assistant Sound Designer), Fairview (Sound Designer), Big Love (Sound Designer), Ernest and The Pale Moon (Sound Designer and A1), Noises Off (Sound Designer and A1), and Hand To God (A1). Outside credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Assistant Stage Manager) and Urinetown: The Musical (Light Board Operator) at the Ridgefield Theater Barn.
LIBBY RESENDES (Assistant Stage Manager) is a first-year BFA Acting major from Bethel, CT. Outside credits include The Drowsy Chaperone (Mrs. Tottendale), The Little Mermaid (Aquata), Legally Blonde (Margot), and Mean Girls (Sophie K., Mrs. Heron).
SAMUEL RUSSELL (Props Manager) (he/him) is a first-year Theatre Design/Technology major from Trumbull, CT. Outside credits include Clue (Lighting Design, Scenic Construction), The Wedding Singer (Audio Assistant/Backstage Crew), Mean Girls (Scenic Construction, Audio Assistant/Backstage Crew), Almost, Maine (Light Board Operator), Urinetown:The Musical (Videographer), and The Little Mermaid (Scenic Construction, Audio Assistant/Backstage Crew).
HUDSON SCHLUMBERGER (Master Electrician) WCSU credits include Something Rotten! (Spotlight Operator). Outside credits include various productions at ACT of Connecticut.
BRIANNA WRIGHT (Assistant Costume Designer) is a sophomore BFA Acting major. WCSU credits include Marat/Sade (Ensemble). This is her first time assistant costume designing at WCSU.
DEX YAMOAH (Master Carpenter) is a junior Theater Design/Technology major from LaGrange, NY. WCSU credits include Metamorphoses (Assistant Props Master), Big Love (Master Carpenter), and Season’s Greetings (Master Carpenter).
FACULTY
PAM MCDANIEL (Director, Professor) is a professor of acting, directing and play production of the WCSU Department of Theatre Arts. At WCSU, she has directed productions of Noises Off, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Uncle Vanya, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Stepmother, Drunken City, Twelfth Night, Major Barbara, Sweeney Todd, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, City of Angels, Cabaret, The Cherry Orchard, Nine, The Full Monty, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Kiss Me, Kate. She also directed Two Nights Near Doolin, a play written by WCSU faculty member Louisa Burns-Bisogno. Her production of The Cherry Orchard received a Merit award as Outstanding Associate Production for Region 1, and her production of Sweeney Todd was chosen for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). Prior to coming to WCSU, McDaniel produced and directed extensively in San Francisco and Dallas/Fort Worth. She was a co-founder and artistic director of San Francisco’s Annual Working Women Festival, spotlighting outstanding female theatre artists, and she has worked with new plays for the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Her M.F.A in Directing is from the University of Texas-Austin with additional study at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and New York City casting with Daniel Swee at Theatre Communication Group.
CHRISTINA BEAM (Costume Shop Supervisor) is a freelance costume designer and technician working in New York and New England. Beam graduated from UMass Amherst in May 2019 with an M.F.A. in costume design, after completing an assistantship that also included rigorous work in costume construction. Her recent design credits include The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson (Silverthorne Theater), Queer and Now: Sync or Swim (NYPOP), She Loves Me (UConn Opera), and Taylor Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge: A Flowergory Manifold (UMass). Her designs for The Lily’s Revenge were included as part of the 2019 Emerging Artist/Imagination Exhibit at the 2019 USITT Prague Quadrennial. Since graduation, she has devoted much of her time to working as a draper for Connecticut Repertory Theatre and as a stitcher for Hartford Stage.
JUSTIN P. COWAN (Producer, Chair, Associate Professor) As a Producer/Director: Producing Artistic Director of North Carolina Summer Rep in Greensboro, NC. Producing Artistic Director of Big Arts Herb Strauss Theatre, in Sanibel, FL. Credits include The Santaland Diaries (Paper Lantern Theatre Company); Melancholy Play: A Chamber Musical; A New Brain; The Piano Lesson (UNCG School of Theatre); Single Rider (The University of Alabama). As a Conductor/Music Director: New York regional credits include West Side Story; The Producers; Hairspray; Cabaret; and Annie, Get Your Gun. Other regional credits include Sweeney Todd; Sunday in the Park with George (North Carolina Summer Rep); Damn Yankees; Avenue Q;, Gypsy; Guys and Dolls; Legally Blonde; How To Succeed… (Ocean State Theatre Company); South Pacific; Man of La Mancha; Pump Boys and Dinettes; Dirty Blonde; A Christmas Carol (Triad Stage); The Fantasticks (Florida Repertory Theatre); The Drowsy Chaperone (Maples Repertory Theatre); Always…Patsy Cline; Ethel Waters’ His Eye is on the Sparrow (Florida Studio Theatre); Little Shop Of Horrors; Something’s Afoot; A Grand Night For Singing (the Schoolhouse Theatre); The Secret Garden; Into the Woods (The Gallery Players); Zombie Prom; The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (North Carolina Theatre Alliance);, Caroline, or Change; Heathers; Hairspray; Into the Woods; Monty Python’s Spamalot; Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play; A Year With Frog and Toad; Dani Girl; Cabaret (UNCG School of Theatre); Church Basement Ladies; Are We There Yet?; The Winter Wonderettes (Prather Entertainment Group); Little Women; Single Rider (University of Alabama); Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Ain’t Misbehavin’; Das Barbecü; Songs For A New World; and The 25th Annual… Spelling Bee (BIG ARTS Herb Strauss Theatre). He holds D.M.A. and M.M. degrees in Conducting, a B.A. in Voice, and a Doctoral Cognate in Stage Directing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
MAUREEN FREEDMAN (Scenic Designer) A Designer for Performance, Maureen has worked with production teams in the US and abroad creating spaces and crafting characters for theatre, object theatre, opera and dance. Some notable work includes The Exalted by Carl Hancock-Rux (Anne Bogart, Director) at BAM, Colliding Classroom by Dr. Christopher Emdin at LCT, The Wolves at the Window by Toby Davis at 59e59, Pirandello: Raison D’etre (off-Broadway transfer), and Intimate Apparel for CT Rep (SILV award for design excellence, NAPAT award for scenic design, analyzed and published in ‘A Critical Companion to Lynn Nottage’ by Routledge). International work includes The Boat is Sinking (Fringe First award, Israel), The House by the Lake (Israel & touring), Silence Makes Perfect (UK) and upcoming Burning Blue (Norway). Maureen is a Linbury Prize finalist, Cheek by Jowl young Professional alum and a NYFA IAP fellow. www.maureenfreedman.com
KORI HANSEN (Technical Coordinator, Adjunct Professor) is responsible for the training and maintenance of the equipment for the Art, Music and Theatre Arts departments in the building. She is also an adjunct professor in the Theatre Arts department, teaching techniques in lighting and rigging. Hansen received her B.F.A. in Theatre Design Technology from SUNY Purchase and has spent more than thirty years working in live entertainment production and management. Her early work includes touring as an electrician for the Big Apple Circus and working on the lighting crew at Harrah’s Casino in Atlantic City. From there, she went on to work for Kliegl Brothers Lighting and was exposed to theatrical lighting from the manufacturing of fixtures to the design for some of the first computer and digital lighting systems. Before arriving at WCSU, she worked for a production company as a technical director for corporate events and most recently spent twelve years as the production manager for the Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill, New York, where she managed more than 500 shows including children’s shows, dance and countless rock-and-roll performances.
JONI JOHNS LERNER (Costume Designer, Production Manager, Associate Chair, Associate Professor) has been working in the New York professional costume industry for more than 35 years. As a textile artist, her work can be seen on the stages of the Broadway, national tours, and European and Asian companies of The Lion King for the last 23 years. Other examples of her work have been seen on the Broadway and national tour of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Wicked. Multiple projects have included New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet and Kansas City Ballet, and Bette Midler’s Kiss My Brass and Las Vegas shows, as well as the Spider-Man costumes at Universal Studios Theme Park in Florida. Lerner was co-owner of Fabric Effects in New York, a fabric dyeing, painting, and silk screening company serving the theatre, film and fashion industries. She has collaborated with numerous designers of stage, screen and ballet, including Maurice Sendak on several opera projects and an exclusive hand painted scarf series.
TOM SWETZ (Technical Director, Assistant Professor) is an alumnus of WCSU, having his B.A. in Theater Arts – Performance option. He also holds an MFA from the University of Idaho in Theatre Arts -Technical Direction. In addition to his work at WCSU, he is also the Technical Director for the Sharon Playhouse in Sharon, CT. He is the former Scenic Designer and Technical Director at Arlington High School in LaGrangeville, NY, former Production Manager and Technical Director at ACT of CT, a current owner of In Motion Dance Center – Lagrangeville, NY – 29 years, and a Professional Magician for 42 years, performing as RedMagik. Tom is a proud member of USITT, ESA (Event Safety Alliance), NYSTEA, SAFD (Certified Combatant – Single Sword, Broadsword/Shield), and S.A.M – Society of American Magicians. He has performed on camera in the NBC series Mercy, the Harrison Ford movie Morning Glory, and the Showtime series, The Big C. Tom spent three years at Hersheypark, (two as a performer, one year as writer, producer, director ,performer) as well as six months in Germany in The Magic of Traumland. For more information please visit www.redmagik.com
OLIVER WASON (Lighting Designer, BFA Design/Tech Coordinator, Professor) designs lighting and other things for theater, opera, dance, music, or anything in between. New York work includes Let’s Call Her Patty (LCT3 – Lincoln Center Theatre), ONCE UPON A [korean] TIME, The Chinese Lady, Among the Dead, House Rules (Ma-Yi Theatre Company); The Pen (Inner Voices), Sagittarius Ponderosa (NAATCO); Wonderland (Atlantic). Regional credits include shows at Signature Theatre, Indiana Rep, Barrington Stage, Berkeley Rep, Yale Rep, Berkshire Theater Festival, Playmakers Rep, and Triad Stage. BA/Hunter College and an MFA/Yale. oliverwason.com.