Jade Rosina McCutcheonWriter and Director
An Australian director and scholar, Dr. McCutcheon’s directing credits include over 50 productions at venues such as: the NIDA Theatre, Sydney; the Adelaide Festival; Wharf Theatre; Sydney Theatre Company; Colorado College Theatre; and Mondavi Center, UC Davis. After two years as a member of the International Theatre Research Company KISS in Holland, McCutcheon developed a shamanic approach to acting as part of her doctorate from University of Technology, Sydney, and has presented workshops and papers on her work at conferences around the world, most recently at the Actor's Centre in Sydney (patron, Hugh Jackman). A Visiting Scholar at the Tisch School of the Arts in 1996, she is currently co-Convenor of the Performance and Consciousness working group for the International Federation of Theatre Research. McCutcheon's research revolves around actor training, performance & consciousness, contemporary shamanism and the relationship between the actor and the audience. Recent publications include: 2008 Book, Awakening the Performing Body , July 2008. Rodopi Press. 2008 'Post Human Interactivity on the Global Stage: The Culture of Simulation'.Article for Consciousness, Literature and the Arts. Volume 9 Number 1,April 2008 October 2006 ‘Intuition as the Receptive Other’ chapter for ‘Technologies and Intuition’, edited by Jennifer Fisher, Montreal. Published November 2006 by YYZ Books, Montreal. Spring 2006 McCutcheon and Galland. Article in PostDocket, vol.4 issue2 ‘New Institute Provides Research Leadership and Management Training For Postdoctoral scholars’. 2005 ‘Under (Below) Standing Consciousness’ chapter in ‘Consciousness Theatre ,Literature and the Arts’ published by Oxford Scholars Press, England. Ed. Daniel Meyer-Dinkgrafe. 2003 ‘To Be Possessed: The Receptive Other’ Article for the International Journal of the Humanities.Vol.1 2001 Theatre-Re-assessing the Sacred in Actor Training . Published in Vol.2.no.2 of the international journal, Consciousness, Literature and the Arts
Link to UC Davis Department of Theatre & Dance Bio
Laurie San MartinComposer
LAURIE SAN MARTIN (Composer) is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of California, Davis where she teaches music theory and composition, and co-directs the Empyrean Ensemble. A native of Berkeley, she holds degrees from UC Davis, UC Berkeley and Brandeis University, where she studied composition, clarinet and conducting. Her principal teachers include Ross Bauer, Martin Boykan, Eric Chasalow, David Rakowski, Olly Wilson and Yehudi Wyner. Her works have been performed in the United States and Europe. She has received many awards for her compositions including a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Link to UC Davis Department of Music Bio
Garrett Ian ShatzerComposer/Conductor
GARRETT IAN SHATZER (Composer/Conductor), born 1980 in Detroit, MI, is a second-year graduate student at UC Davis. Holding degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of Miami, he has also had the privilege of studying in Paris, Rome, Melbourne and Buenos Aires. After concentrating on popular electronic music for many years, his focus is now exclusively on acoustic compositions. Aside from writing for the concert hall, he has also written music for films, dance clubs, rock and metal bands, hip hop MCs, modern dancers, and theater productions.
Kerry MehlingChoreographer
KERRY MEHLING (Choreographer) holds an MFA in Choreography from UC Davis and a BFA in performance from the University of Utah. In 2005, she formed Talismanic Physical Theatre. Kerry has performed and toured in the companies of Sideshow Physical Theatre, Della Davidson Dance Theatre, Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, and numerous Bay Area companies. In her travels, Kerry has had the opportunity to teach and choreograph nationally as well as internationally. Ms. Mehling continues to teach throughout Northern California, while creating her own works and collaborating with Della Davidson, Deborah Slater as well as other Bay Area Artists. She is so happy to have had this opportunity to work with Jade Rosina McCutcheon and the incredibly talented Elephant's Graveyard cast.
John IacovelliScenic Designer
JOHN IACOVELLI (Scenic Designer) for Broadway: Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby, The Twilight of the Golds, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Lifetime Achievement. He has designed over 300 productions at major theatres across the US. He has designed productions in Spain, Greece, and China. His film Art Direction includes the film Honey, I Shrunk The Kids and Ashley Judd's first film, Ruby In Paradise. He has designed many TV shows including Lincoln Heights, Babylon 5, Resurrection Blvd., The Book of Daniel, The Knights of Prosperity and he won an Emmy award for the A&E production of Peter Pan. He has been a professor in the UC System for twenty years and he is an honorary visiting professor at the Shanghai Drama School. He has an MFA in Design and Art Direction from NYU. Visit his website at www.iacovelli.com.
Link to UC Davis Department of Theatre & Dance Bio
Link to Iacovelli Design
Maggie MorganCostume Designer
MAGGIE MORGAN (Costume Designer) Designs seen at UC Davis include H.M.S. Pinafore, The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus, Urinetown: The Musical and The Laramie Project. Recent professional designs include Groundswell at San Jose Rep, The Night is a Child and Mauritius at the Pasadena Playhouse, The Heiress at South Coast Rep and Enchanted April at Arizona Theatre Company and Center Rep. Other theatres: Soho Rep, Hollywood Bowl, Deaf/West, The Kirk Douglas Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, L.A. Theatre Works, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, Playground, Sacramento Theatre Company, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival and Yale Repertory Theatre. Ms. Morgan designed the costumes for the films Sex and a Girl and Breathing Hard and worked as Assistant Costume Designer on Mona Lisa Smile, Wag The Dog, The Grinch, Casino, Men In Black, and A Bronx Tale. She is on the faculty and teaches costume design in the Department of Theatre and Dance.
Link to UC Davis Department of Theatre & Dance Bio
Thomas J. MunnLighting Designer
THOMAS J. MUNN (Lighting Designer), an internationally recognized Lighting Designer, has designed for Theater, Opera, Ballet, Television, Videos and Industrials and is a Professor of Lighting in the Department of Theatre and Dance at UC Davis. He served as Lighting Director/ Designer for San Francisco Opera from 1976 through 2000, creating designs and special effects for over 200 productions. These include the Emmy-nominated televised world premiere of A Streetcar Named Desire (Projection Design and Lighting) and Mr. Munn's Emmy Award-winning work on La Gioconda. Munn's credits as Lighting Director for television include Dangerous Liaisons, Samson et Delilah, La Bohème, Aida, Orlando Furioso, L'Africaine, Capriccio and Turandot. Recent designs of note include television lighting director for the LA Opera video of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny; Pioneer Theatre Company The Yellow Leaf, Julius Caesar, Beauty and The Beast; Mefistofele for Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy; Rodalinda, Dallas Opera; Samson and Delilah, Julius Cesare, Simone Bocconegra, San Diego Opera; Nest, Urinetown, Carmen, Big Love, Rocky Horror Show for UC Davis. Ballet and Dance include works for the Mary Anthony Dance Theatre in New York City, The Nutcracker and Coppelia for the Hartford Ballet and Ballet Arizona. As a Lighting Consultant he has worked on prestigious projects such as the renovated War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, Het Musiktheatre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, theatre spaces, school auditoriums, private residences and most recently on the lighting for the award winning renovation to St. Marks Lutheran Church in San Francisco.
Link to UC Davis Department of Theatre & Dance Bio
Claudia Marie MaupinEsme
CLAUDIA MARIE MAUPIN has not performed before an audience since she worked with her mother, Marie Maupin, director of vaudeville for the Suisun Theater. She is thrilled to be playing the role of Esme. Beginning in "family vaudeville" and ending up at the Mondavi has given her pause to reflect on all the wonderful gifts life has bestowed upon her.
Bella MerlinEve
BELLA MERLIN trained as an actor in UK and Russia. Her theatre work has included two seasons at the National Theatre, London, with director Max Stafford-Clark (plays include David Hare's The Permanent Way and Goldsmith's classic She Stoops to Conquer), as well as extensive work across the UK (including Lulu in Wedekind's Lulu, Masha in The Seagull, The Governess in The Turn of the Screw and Celia in As You Like It). She has also worked extensively for the BBC TV and Radio. Publications include THE COMPLETE STANISLAVSKY TOOLKIT (2007), BEYOND STANISLAVSKY (2001) and the forthcoming ACTING: THE BASICS (2010). Bella will be writing and performing Sideshow's production next Fall of Tilly Nobody, based on the life of Tilly Wedekind, wife of playwright Frank (Spring Awakening). Bella Merlin is a member of Equity UK.
Kim DeaconEsme's Soul/Singer
KIM DEACON is an Australian singer and actress. She has appeared in many films such as The Getting of Wisdom, Winter of Our Dreams, and Rebel, in television programs including Prisoner, G.P., Country Practice and Water Rats. Sher has appeared in theatre productions throughout Victoria and New South Wales, including Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company. Kim is currently writing a one woman musical performance on the women in Australian poet Henry Lawson's life accompanying herself on banjo, harp, and guitar. Kim has worked with Jade Rosina McCutcheon previously in Sydney, Australia and is thrilled to be part of this exciting new work.
DORIS BERESFORD (Elder) was born and raised in Ohio, where she attended Kent State University before moving with her family to California. There she raised three children, worked as a registered nurse, lived on a boat and co-build a geodesic dome in the foothills. In addition to her nursing degree, Doris holds an MS in counseling and a BS in psychology from California State University, Sacramento. Upon acquiring her licenses as an MFT, Doris established a private practice in marriage and family therapy, from which she retired in 2005. She now lives in Natomas with her partner and is writing her first novel, gardening, and building "do it yourself" projects. In her spare time, she is an avid sea kayaker. She is thrilled to make her acting debut in The Elephants' Graveyard.
LOIS GRAU (Elder), an authentic old lady, has seen many terrible and wonderful events during the past 91 years, but has never before participated in a professional theatrical production. She was born and educated in Berkeley, receiving her graduate degree in social welfare in 1941 from UC Berkeley. Married to a professor of avian sciences for 61 years, she raised four children, traveled widely and lived a full life. She now lives contentedly in a small senior co-housing community known as Glacier Circle and has no intention of trying life in a nursing home.
RUTH FISHER HALL (Elder) has degrees in religion and education from Denver and Syracuse Universities. She studied music for 14 years and was a member of the National Storytellers Network. As both a professional and volunteer she worked with churches and community organizations at local and national levels as they worked for equality and dignity for all humans. She and her husband have 3 children, 5 grandchildren and 1 ½ great grandchildren. Now at age 85, she's delighted to be a part of this presentation on a current social issue
NANCY JUNGERMAN (Elder) is a retired clinical psychologist with graduate degrees in Psychology from UC Berkeley. She has lived most of her adult life in Davis where she and her husband of sixty years, now a retired UCD professor, raised four children. Nancy worked part time and was a founding member of the UCD Student Counseling Center. She also maintained a private practice as a psychotherapist in Davis for over fifty years. Her special interest in dreams endured beyond her official retirement. She has continued to meet weekly with one group for over thirty years while two other groups hold reunion groups with Nancy once a year. Nancy is thrilled to be part of a play for the first time in her life, especially one where she doesn't have to remember many lines.
DAVID LUTHERAN (Francis / Company) is a junior Dramatic Art and History major at UC Davis. He is very excited to be in his first Sideshow/UC Davis production. He was recently in Studio 301's outdoor production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as Theseus and Oberon, and as Lloyd Dallas in Solano College Theatre's production of Noises Off!. He would like to thank Jade for this opportunity and experience, his family for their love and support, and his friends for all of the late night inspiration. Oonce Oonce.
CHRISTOPHER MANTIONE (Dr. Penn / Company) was last seen in an all male production of Claire Booth Luce's The Women in Concord, in which he played multiple roles. He was also involved with the all male cast and the all female cast as the show's Fight Choreographer. Some of his other credits include: Scotty in Evil Dead: The Musical with The Willows Theatre Company, George Reed in 1776 also with The Willows, Max in Lend Me a Tenor with Benicia Old Town Theatre Group, and Sgt. Carlino in Wait Until Dark with Solano College Theatre. Christopher has earned a certificate and two Associates degrees from Solano College. He is currently beginning his senior year at U.C. Davis finishing up his B.A. in Theatre. He would like to thank his parents Rich and Pam for their continued support and the support of his beautiful girlfriend Sarah. OH and one more thing, "Poptarts are good".
JAMES MARCHBANKS (Charles / Company): Last production: Westside Story as Lt. Shrank at Sonoma State. Last UC Davis production: The Island as Winston, directed by Peter Litchtenfels.
JORGE LUIS MOREJÓN (The Shaman / Company) has an artistic versatility nourished by two decades of theatre, opera, dance and performance-art experiences. He has participated in over forty productions with Prometeo Theatre, Telemundo, Creation Ballet, Ballet Theatre of Miami, The Greater Miami Opera, Brazarte and his own company Thelos Theatre. Most notably, he has appeared in The Maids and Sleepless City. Since his arrival in California a year ago, he has performed in Divide Light: A New Opera at the Montalvo Arts Center, The Ten PM Dream with Sideshow Physical Theater at The Sacramento Theater Company and The Winter's Tale with UC Davis Theatre and Dance Department at the Mondavi Center. Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. in Performance Studies at UC Davis. The Elephants' Graveyard is Jorge's second performance with Sideshow Physical Theatre.
ANNE REEDER (Emma / Company) is a second year MFA Acting candidate at UC Davis. Anne received her B.A. in Theater Studies with concentrations in Acting and Dance from Emerson College in 2004. After graduating, she moved to Los Angeles where she pursued a professional career in Acting and Production. Some credits include: Brotherhood (Showtime), The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS), and The Art of Being Straight (Great Graffiti Films). Most recently, Anne was seen in Granada-Artist-In-Residence John Jasperse's work Beyond Belief and in Private Eyes at UC Davis last season. Anne is thankful to be working and studying with the talented people at UC Davis.
DONNA SACHS (Elder) has a Ph.D. in psychology from The University of Michigan. She worked for the Counseling Center at UC Davis for 35 years. She now has a private practice and provides psychotherapy and seminars in spirituality and personal growth. Her last experience in theater was when she wrote and performed in a classroom play in the fifth grade. She is most pleased and honored to be working with Jade McCutcheon and Kerry Mehling.
MATT SULLIVAN (Steve / Company) is a professional actor of more than 25 years in film, TV and stage productions. Most of his work was in the film and TV industry in Hollywood but he has had some very good collaborations in Northern Cal with Kinan Valdez at El Teatro Campesino as well as with Theatre Works in Mountainview in the bay area. He wishes you all a blessed old age....forever.