10/11 Season

Chaim Potok (Author) Chaim Potok (1929–2002) was born in the Bronx to Jewish immigrants from Poland. Potok's years in an Orthodox household and schooling through college stood in stark conflict with the world of literature and art that early captured his imagination. Later he found in Conservative Judaism, with its emphasis on historical evolution of Jewish texts, an intellectual home where his love of Judaism and of secular culture could dynamically interact. Upon ordination he served as a US Army chaplain serving 16 months in Korea in the mid-50s with combat medical and engineer battalions. In 1959 Potok and his young family first settled in Philadelphia where he was scholar in residence at Har Zion Temple and pursued a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. He wrote The Chosen in Jerusalem, the same year he wrote his dissertation. In 1967 he became editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society of Philadelphia. He taught writing at Johns Hopkins University and a popular course in philosophy to the Benjamin Franklin Honors Fellows at his alma mater. The Chosen was followed by other famous works such as The Promise, My Name Is Asher Lev and The Gift of Asher Lev. He also wrote plays and children's literature in addition to non-fiction and short stories.

Aaron Posner (Adaptor) Aaron is a playwright, director, teacher and former artistic director whose work has been seen at major regional theatres across the country including Actor's Theatre of Louisville, The Alliance, Arden Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Arizona Theatre Company, California Shakespeare Theatre, Folger Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Rep, and many more. His adaptations of Chaim Potok's novels The Chosen and My Name Is Asher Lev have been produced at more than 50 regional theatres, as well as internationally. Other adaptations include a musical adaptation of Mark Twain's A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage, Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey, Who Am I This Time? by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., "What Ho, Jeeves" by P.G. Wodehouse, Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons, and Third & Indiana by Steve Lopez. He has won Barrymore Awards and Helen Hayes Awards for both playwrighting and directing, is an Eisenhower Fellow, is originally from Eugene, Oregon, and currently resides near Washington DC.

Craig De Lorenzo (Asher Lev) Craig is thrilled to be making his North Coast Repertory debut! Past roles include: Amadeus (Mozart), House of Blue Leaves (Ronnie, dir. Karen Carpenter) Labor Days (Sam, Dir. Austin Pendleton) The Memorandum (Mr. Pickford) Beast on the Moon (Vincent) and Brighton Beach Memoirs (Eugene). He is a graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. This performance is dedicated to his family.

 

David Ellenstein* (Aryeh Lev, Yitzchok, The Rebbe, Jacob Kahn) Born into a theatrical family, David has worked in theatres across the country. Before joining North Coast Rep in 2003 he served as Artistic Director for the Los Angeles Repertory Company and the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company (AJTC). A veteran of over 200 theatrical productions, directorial favorites include:

North Coast Rep – The Drawer Boy, Becky's New Car, Ghosts, The Tempest, Talley's Folly, Over the Tavern, Old Wicked Songs, The Dresser, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, Madagascar, A Shayna Maidel, The Honky Tonk Angels, Rashomon, A Moon for the Misbegotten; Tuesdays With Morrie; Collected Stories; Halpern and Johnson; Romeo and Juliet; Amy's View; Einstein Comes Through (also co-author); The Chosen; A Life in the Theatre; Story Theatre and Charley's Aunt. Coconut Grove Playhouse - Sonia Flew starring Lucy Arnaz; Halpern and Johnson starring Hal Linden and Brian Murray. Papermill Playhouse - The Chosen starring Theodore Bikel and John Lloyd Young. Portland Stage - Halpern and Johnson. Renaissance Theatre - Long Day's Journey Into Night. Actor's Theatre of Phoenix - Rabbit Hole. Alabama Shakespeare Festival - Rocket City (world premiere) and Honky Tonk Angels. Laguna Playhouse - Alexandros (world premiere). Southwest Shakespeare Company - Cyrano de Bergerac. AJTC - Awake and Sing. Meadow Brook Theatre - A Christmas Carol. Pirate Playhouse - Old Wicked Songs and Talley's Folly. Kingsmen Shakespeare - Hamlet. Portland Rep - Conversations With My Father and Gaslamp Quarter Theatre - A Shayna Maidel.

Favorite roles as an actor include Matt in Talley's Folly at North Coast Rep, title roles in Hamlet at Los Angeles Theatre Center and Los Angeles Repertory Company; Richard III at California Shakespeare Festival; Einstein in Picasso at the Lapin Agile at Laguna Playhouse; Calisto in The Illusion and Harker in Dracula at the Arizona Theatre Company; Jonathan in Sight Unseen at North Coast Rep and Portland Repertory Theatre.

Film and television credits include over three dozen roles including Star Trek IV, The Practice, Foul Play, Christine Cromwell, Renegade, Eight is Enough, and General Hospital. David has also been guest faculty for numerous universities including California State Northridge, Cal Arts, and Shakespeare workshops privately. David lives with his beautiful wife Denise and their amazing sons Jamie and Will.

 

Crystal Sershen* (Rivkeh Lev, Anna Schaeffer, Rachel) Crystal is delighted to return to the stage at North Coast Rep, where she played eight different characters in String of Pearls and Myrtle Brown in Morning's at Seven. Residing in Santa Monica, she has performed on stages throughout Southern California and has been associated with some of LA's most prominent theatre companies, including The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, The Actors' Gang, and City Garage. Crystal received her BFA at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and her MA in Classical Theatre at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She is honored to be a member of this fine cast.

 

*The actor or stage manager appears through the courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States

David Ellenstein (Director)

Gideon Rappaport (Dramaturge) Gideon Rappaport teaches English and Shakespeare at La Jolla Country Day School, where he also gives adult courses on literature and humanities. He has served as dramaturge for the North Coast Repertory Theatre, the San Diego Repertory Theatre, the California Shakespeare Festival, the Old Globe Theatre, the British-American Youth Festival Theatre (Bayfest), The Bishop's School, and La Jolla Country Day School. He has a Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Brandeis University.

Christopher M. Williams (Co-Director) NCRT credits: Glorious! (co-director); Tally's Folly (assistant director); King O' the Moon (stage manager); Tuesdays with Morrie (sm); The Smell of the Kill (sm); The Chosen (Danny); Don't Dress for Dinner (Robert); The Tempest (Ariel); The Nerd (Axel); Dracula (Seward); A Shayna Maidel (Duvid); The Uneasy Chair (Darlington). Other Theatres include: Arizona Theatre Company, Phoenix Theatre, Actor's Theatre, AZ Jewish Theatre, Southwest Shakespeare Company, New Village Arts. Christopher is the Artistic Director of the newly formed Oceanside Theatre Company. He will be playing Max in Lend Me a Tenor and directing Visiting Mr. Green, both for NCRT next season.

Marty Burnett (Scenic Design) Designs for North Coast Rep are the last 132 shows. Mr. Burnett has designed sets for the Union Plaza, Sahara, and Hacienda Hotels and Casinos in Las Vegas; Harrahs Lake Tahoe; The Claridge Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ; The Grand Hotel in Anaheim; and The Drury Lane in Chicago.
Mr. Burnett is the resident designer and technical director at North Coast Rep.

Matt Novotny (Light Design) Matthew recently designed the lighting for King O' the Moon, Ghosts, Glorious, I Love You Because, Old Wicked Songs, Rabbit Hole, Shipwrecked!, The Dresser, Don't Dress for Dinner, Mornings at Seven, Baby and Rashomon at North Coast Rep. He's currently the Director of Production for Lyric Opera San Diego. Lighting designs include: Iolanthe, The Merry Widow, The King and I, Countess Maritza, and The Mikado. San Diego: Das Barbecu, The Wiz, West Side Story and Rumors. Regional: Yankee Doodle Dandy (Seattle), Noises Off! (Boston), The Game, (Washington DC) and Primal Twang, a guitar concert featuring six Grammy-winning artists. Matthew holds a BA in Technical Theatre from San Diego State University, and an MFA from Boston University.

M. Scott Grabau (Sound Design) Scott's other sound designs for NCRT include No Way to Treat a Lady, The Smell of the Kill, Collected Stories, Back to Bacharach, and Honky Tonk Angels. Credits elsewhere include: The Book of Liz, The Santaland Diaries, Pageant, Curse of the Starving Class (Pattè award), Biederman and the Firebugs, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and Atwater: Fixin to Die for Cygnet Theater; The Sound of Music, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Dreamgirls, Annie Get Your Gun, Me and My Girl for Moonlight Stage; Romeo y Julieta for the Old Globe/CECUT; 'da Kink In My Hair (NAACP Award), Don Quixote and Ain't Misbehavin' for San Diego REP. Scott is an Assistant Professor of Theater at Irvine Valley College. Visit his website at www.mscottdesign.com.

Megan Schmidt (Costume Design) is pleased to be joining the North Coast Rep for the first time on My Name is Asher Lev. Her previous costume design credits include: Moscow, Diversionary Theater; The Piano Lesson, Cygnet Theater; Talley's Folly, Unity Theater; Into the Woods, 1001 Grains of Sand, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hollywood Heights (tv pilot), San Diego State University; Home Fires, AFI Short Film; and Walkabout, Raelux Music Video. She holds a MFA from San Diego State University and a BA from Texas A&M University.

John Finkbiner (Scenic Artist) John has been a member of the NCR staff for nearly two years. His favorite shows are Halpern and Johnson, SHIPWRECKED!, The Dresser and Jacques Brel. John received his BA degree at UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television in 1991. John is also an accomplished singer/songwriter and performs with his band, The Stereotypes. His music has been featured on Showtime's Californication, Fox's Bones and NBC's Knight Rider, among others. John lives with his wife Judi and his son John Gibson in Leucadia, plus Ilene and Jerry (the NCR mascots). www.johnfinkbiner.com

Annie Bornhurst (Props and Set Dressing) North Coast Repertory Theatre:
King O' the Moon, The Drawer Boy, Gee's Bend, Becky's New Car, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Voice of the Prairie, Ghosts, Little Women, Glorious!, A Christmas Carol, Talley's Folley, I Love You Because, Don't Dress for Dinner, Over the Tavern, Old Wicked Songs, Rabbit Hole. Actors Circle Theatre: The View from Here. The Sanford Meisner Center: Frankie and Johnny, Babes and Brides.

Aaron Rumley* (Stage Manager) North Coast Repertory Theatre: The Drawer Boy, Becky's New Car, Voice of the Prairie, Ghosts, Glorious!, Talley's Folly, Over the Tavern, Rabbit Hole, The Dresser, Don't Dress for Dinner, Madagascar, Mornings at Seven, String of Pearls, Dracula, Rashomon, Wit, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Leading Ladies, Collected Stories, Halpern & Johnson, Romeo and Juliet, The Bungler, The Chosen, A Life in the Theatre and The Rainmaker. North Carolina Theatre: Talley's Folly, Picnic, The Miser and On Golden Pond. Aaron received a B.A. in Theatre from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and is the production manager at the North Coast Repertory Theatre. Aaron is a Member of Actors' Equity.

Cindy Khoury (Production Assistant) Credits: Snapshots (Pico Playhouse), Bye Bye Birdie (San Diego Musical Theater) A Streetcar Named Desire, Wole Soyinka's Samarkand, Conference of the Birds (Moscow Art Theater), Damn Yankees (Reprise), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Cry Havoc. UC Irvine Credits: Cyrano deBergerac, The Laramie Project, Into the Woods, Physical Graffiti, Dance Escape, Trial By Jury. Cindy holds a B.A. in Theater from Loyola Marymount University and an M.F.A from UC Irvine.

 

“a must-see for anyone who has an ounce of humanity…. inviting and extraordinarily compelling…beautifully nuanced… emotionally-driven…will tear at your heart.”
-Jordan Young, LA/OC Examiner

 

“Exquisite…an immaculate, affecting performance to cherish.”
-Charlene Baldridge, wordsarenotenough.info

 

“Theater patrons won’t forget ‘My Name Is Asher Lev… engrossing…gut-wrenching…thought provoking. Don’t miss “My Name Is Asher Lev.”
-Diana Saenger, The La Jolla Light

“Eloquent…moving…compelling... Ellenstein makes a welcome return to acting, bringing both humor and intensity to the multiple characters he portrays.”
James Hebert, SDUT

Press photos are available here