Vagabond Acting Troupe | Core Ensemble Members

LESLEY BERKOWITZ - is a Philadelphia area native. She received her BA in theatre from Muhlenberg College in 2005 and has been a bit of a nomad the whole year since. Favorite pieces from collegiate days include SUMMEROFLK, WASP, and SORRY. The Summer of '05 was spent as an apprentice with the Contemporary Stage Company in Wilmington, DE working as crew for the mainstages (including light board operator for THE FOUR POSTER), acting in 7 children's shows, and performing in 30 plays in 60 minutes with the apprentice ensemble. Afterwards she tried out New York, performing in THE BAR, THE COWBOY PLAY and directing THE GOWN. Upon return to Philadelphia, she directed for the University of Pennsylvania. Her first show with Vagabond was BY GRIMM where she appeared as the Boy in search of the shivers. She was in the development cast of the Barrymore Award Nominated THE TRIAL OF AKHENATEN, our collaboration with the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at UPENN, and also has worked on TALES OF THE FIREFLY KING, ROMEO AND JULIET and in the one act and solo work festivals. This season Lesley is working on our Philadelphia Fringe Festival ensemble challenge piece, A PRIEST WALKS INTO A BAR.

JEFF BEIDEMAN (RESIDENT MUSIC DIRECTOR, YOUTH ENSEMBLE)

KRISTEN GLEASON BLOCK (BOARD OF DIRECTORS)

CARLY BODNAR is a recent graduate of Temple University, receiving a BA in theatre and a minor in art history. She is excited to a part of Vagabond's Night of One Acts and one of the newest core ensemble members. Some of her favorite past roles have been the sleeper in Pink Hanger's production of "Poe-sers", Meg in "A Lie of the Mind" and being an ensemble member in Scarlet Theatre Company's production of "What is Space" in London England. With Vagabond, Carly appeared during last year's one act play festival. www.carlybodnar.net

JOANNE CUNNINGHAM has a Bachelors Degree in Theatre from West Chester University. She is a South Philly Native and has worked with companies in New York and Philadelphia. She joined the ensemble in 2003 with the development ensemble of THE ART OF WAR, and since then appeared in PMS! A PERIOD MUSICAL, ROMEO AND JULIET and in several solo works festivals. Joanne had her directorial debut with Walt Vail's NEIGHBORS which was premiered in Vagabond's first annual one act play festival, which was remounted for both the Philadelphia and Ursinus College Fringe Festivals. She assisted in co-writing THE TRIAL OF AKHENATEN for the Amarna project with the Museum of Archaeology. Joanne can frequently also be seen onstage with THE WAITSTAFF.

CLAIRE GOLDEN DRAKE (Secretary, Board of Directors/Core Ensemble) has been working with the Vagabond Acting Troupe since it's second producing season, when she was part of the developmental team for COMMEDIA FOR KIDS, one of the troupe's most popular touring children's works. Claire has since appeared in SLAPPED, AS YOU LIKE IT, TALES OF THE FAIRY QUEEN (numerous casts), PAUL BUNYAN'S AMERICAN TALL TALES, ALICE A WONDERLAND ADVENTURE, and many others. Most recently she appeared last season in the Third Annual One Act Play Festival. Claire serves on our board of directors as Secretary as she takes a short sabbatical from the stage to care for her three small children.

ROSE EVANS — Drama Studio London — came home from England intent on exploring a more physical style and has made a home with Vagabond since 1997, when she appeared in LIFE IS A DREAM. Since then she has toured with the children’s company (SNOW QUEEN) and been involved in the adaptation of MACBETH, AS YOU LIKE IT and AN IDEAL HUSBAND as well as development of the world premiere ORIGINAL SINS and THREE WORLDS INTERTWINED (2003). She served as Board President on our board of directors for several years, and now serves on the Advisory Council. Rose has also worked with such companies as Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, The Wilma, The Brick Playhouse, Cheltenham Theatre Co., and more. Currently Rose is on sabbatical as she explores the theatre stages of Atlanta, GA.

DOUG GREENE served as V.A.T.'s General Manager and Associate Artistic Director for the 2006/2007 season. Favorite roles with Vagabond include Lysander in A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM, George in SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER and Davy Crockett in FRONTIER TALES.. Most recently with V.A.T, Doug shared a Barrymore nomination for Outstanding Ensemble in THE ART OF WAR and played the role of Allen in DESIGN FOR LOVING. He appeared as Shakespeare this season in WRITING THREADS at Winterthur, and appeared in the 2006 SPARK production SUPER DUPER! He also appeared in GLOSSOLALIA in the 2008 One Act Play Festival. Doug has worked locally for City Theater, Madhouse, Insperado, Snowday, Wandering Rom, Irish Rep of Philadelphia, Allen's Lane, DTC, PDC, PCT, Philly Shakes and the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. He is currently on staff at Ego Po Theatre Company.

JEREMY HAGAN lives in Collingswood, NJ. He simply enjoys acting and making people laugh, and is grateful for the opportunities that Vagabond has provided him. He has played Jeff in the Vagabond production of Rag and Bone, and has also performed in both their annual one-act play festival and solo-works festival. More recently, he was part of the ensemble cast for A Priest Walks into a Bar. Other notable roles include Ted in Writing Man Production’s Identity Theft and Leon in Represented Theatre Company’s Fringe Festival production of Conversations from the Café. In October, he will play Edgar and Oswald in Collingswood Theatre Company’s King Lear. InDecember, he will reprise the role of Leon for Represented Theatre Company’s Sidewalk Café. When not doing plays, Jeremy enjoys performing stand-up comedy and working on independent film projects. In January he will move to the New York metropolitan area to further pursue his acting and stand-up goals.

MOLLY HECKARD is excited to be working with Vagabond! She is a graduate from Temple Univesity, and recieved her BA in Theatre. Recent credits include: MURALISTA, FOR WHOM THE SOUTHERN BELLE TOLLS, MAD DOG BLUES, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, and MACBETH. She was part of last year's one act play festival, part of the development ensemble for A PRIEST WALKS INTO A BAR at the beginning of the season, and is currently touring in TALES OF THE FAIRY QUEEN with us and is working on the 2009 One Act Play Festival. Molly also works as the Program Assistant for Young Audiences of Eastern PA (www.yaep.org).

JILLIAN IVEY is a proud native Texan who has been either studying, living, or working in Philadelphia since 2002. Jillian is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied Creative Writing, while holding down a job at the Kelly Writers House (www.writing.upenn.edu/wh) and participating extensively in Penn's theatre community. Favorite roles include Mistress Quickly in HENRY V, Elsa in THE MUSICAL COMEDY MURDERS OF 1940, Alison in LADY IN THE DARK, and Goneril in KING LEAR. Although her current employment sees that she's no longer performing as much as she would like, Jillian stays rooted in performance arts and she serves as the primary theatre critic for Phillyist (www.phillyist.com), which she also co-edits. She joined the ensemble this year as she created her solo work for the solo works festivals – part one and two!

ELLEN JOFFRED (Board of Directors/Resident Vocal Coach/Core Ensemble) is thrilled to be both a core development member with Vagabond Acting Troupe as well as a board member. She received her BA in French and Theater with an emphasis in acting and directing at Dickinson College, where she also graduated Phi Beta Kappa and received the Gould Drama Memorial Award. While studying abroad she interned at Theater Sorano in Toulouse France, and during her time at Dickinson she interned for two summers as a dramaturg at Pendragon Theater in upstate NY. Upon graduating, Ellen was asked to return to Pendragon for the '07 summer season as a company member. Ellen joined the troupe as an intern assistant director as well as an intern in dramaturgy for "Rag and Bone", she later acted in the Vagabond One Act Festival and as a core development member of A PRIEST WALKS INTO A BAR. She joins the troupe this season as vocal coach for the Vagabond Youth Ensemble's production of A WIZARD OF OZ sharing with them her many years of vocal training with both Holly Altenderfer and Professor Lynn Helding and Dr. Christopher Arnerson. Most recently Ellen was Musical Director for Montgomery County Cultural Center's BUGSY MALONE JUNIOR. Elle is also Administrative Associate at The Academy of Vocal Arts to thoroughly round out a very art filled life.

KATIE KUHL (President, Board of Directors/Core Ensmble) - BA Theatre Arts and Afro-American Studies, University of Pennsylvania - Katie joined Vagabond in June 2006 as the PR and Acting Intern, and became a Core Ensemble Member that December for the remainder of the season. In that year, Katie stage managed THE WEDDING CONSULTANT, wrote and performed "Mr. Maryland" for the FIRST ANNUAL SOLO WORKS FESTIVAL, directed THE FAIRY QUEEN, understudied Juliet in ROMEO AND JULIET, was the Stage Manager/Assistant Director/Understudy for THE TRIAL OF AKHENATEN, and originated the role of Butterfly in WHY BUTTERFLIES HAVE WINGS. Following that season, Katie stepped down from the Ensemble and joined the Board of Directors to continue supporting VAT as she switched careers and moved to Brooklyn. She is now the Parent Coordinator and Theater Teacher at Bard High School Early College II in Queens, and volunteers with Regeneración Childcare NYC.

CONRAD LAWSON (conradlawson@gmail.com) is a writer, performer, producer and director. For Conrad, it all started with him performing for an invisible audience at his great-grandmother's house. Early on he realized that he had talent in both acting and comedy. Through his own perseverance and force of will, he nurtured his skills, following the path they laid. He began by taking improv classes at the Second City Training Center in New York; as well as joining plays and theatre troupes to fortify his natural abilities. He later took center stage as a stand up comedian where he, using his own brand of comedy, began to make a name for himself. Showing his stuff at such venues as the Original Improv in New York and the 78th St. Theatre Lab, he still manages to find the time to perform for the invisible audience that gave him so much support during his humble beginnings. Conrad appeared in BY GRIMM, BUTTERFLIES HAVE WINGS, the Barrymore Award Nominated TRIAL OF AKHENATEN, ON A WOODEN GLOBE, PAUL BUNYAN and played the title male role in ROMEO AND JULIET. He was named MVP for the 2006/2007 season for his work as box office manager while performing numerous artistic roles. Currently Conrad is in Los Angeles focused on his comedy career.

CHRISTIAN LISAK (Associate Artistic Director) - (MFA Acting, UNC-Greensboro) is an actor, director and teacher of movement, acting, improvisation, mask and Commedia. He is a resident director at Vagabond Acting Troupe, as well as a member of the core ensemble. This season Christian brought the first stage of his new one man work, THAT'S WHY THEY DON'T CALL IT PICNIC to the stage during the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Last season Christian development directed BY GRIMM, creating our critically acclaimed first show of that season. In past he has performed in such shows as SLAPPED!, ORIGINAL SINS, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM with Vagabond. As an actor, he has worked with numerous theatres in Philadelphia and in handfuls of independent films and commercials. Christian has also produced several shows with his own company, Gravy Theatre Co., most notably the 2000 summer touring show Parking Lots and Madness that played "shakedown street" up the East Coast and across the Midwest and Canada. Christian has directed shows for Gravy Theatre, The Brick Playhouse and Arcadia University. Most recently Christian was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre at Arcadia University. His favorite role is as Dad to Elly and husband to Becca.

AILEEN MCCULLOCH (Executive Artistic Director) - inthelime@aol.com- M.A. Theatre Villanova University - BA (Theatre) Mary Washington College - co-founded the Vagabond Acting Troupe in 1993 as an educational training company. Past VAT original core development works (over 15 to date) include: ORIGINAL SINS, IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK (The Philadelphia City Hall project), THREE WORLDS INTERTWINED (The UPENN Museum of Archeology and Anthropology project - recipient Ted and Stevie Wolf award for New Approaches to Theatre, Barrymore Awards, 2003), COMMEDIA FOR KIDS, R-R-R SAVE THE WORLD (The Huntingdon County Recycle Project), PMS! A PERIOD MUSICAL, and most recently SUPER DUPER and the Barrymore nominated TRIAL OF AKHENATEN collaboration with the University of Pennsylavnia's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. She has written and directed ALL of our youth ensemble productions, including THUMBELINA, A CHARM SCHOOL WITCH and THE WIZARD OF OZ. She has directed over 35 productions in the last ten years, both here and elsewhere, with highlights including: A VAGABOND CHRISTMAS CAROL (Barrymore nominated outstanding ensemble, 2000), and critically acclaimed productions of SLAPPED and LIFE IS A DREAM, both of which she adapted with the help of original language translators. She has appeared in over 100 productions in the past 20 years, favorite Vagabond roles include Blossom in Walt Vail's NEIGHBORS, Marvel and Slime in SUPER DUPER, Roberta in DANNY IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA, Rosalind in AS YOU LIKE IT, Frankie in FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIRE DE LUNE and the many roles of A VAGABOND CHRISTMAS CAROL. Aileen was Director of Theatrical productions for Pennsylvania Performing Arts Academy for three years, where she directed 12 productions, and a teacher there for 7 years. She has worked for such other Philadelphia area companies as Brat Productions, The Eternal Spiral Project, Azuka Theatre Collective, The Brick Playhouse (including BEST OF IT winner THE LACTATING WOMEN'S MOVEMENT), Villanova University Theatre (Irene Ryan nominee), Eureka Theatre, Centre Theater and more. In addition, she has been a workshop leader for the Philadelphia Young Playwrights festival for many years, and her audition tips have been used to educate Theatre Alliance auditioners for many years as well (www.theatrealliance.org). This season Aileen is a voter for the TAGP Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre and has been a nominator and judge in seasons past. She created three new works during Vagabond creative residencies with the Winterthur Museum in Delaware: WRITING THREADS (a theatre interactive project with the museum's costume in film exhibit), TALES OF THE FIREFLY KING and BE NICE TO MOTHER NATURE, a new children's work. Her play about the last three moments of Shakespeare's life, ON A WOODEN GLOBE made it's world premiere at the Kenan Center in New York. She is currently working on an original translation/adaptation of Maeterlink's THE BLUEBIRD and Machiavelli's THE MANDRAKE (or THE MAN ROOT), and an original play about the infamous Borgia family entitled BEING BORGIA. This season she heads up two more works with the youth ensemble, and has assisted the core in their challenge play for the 2008 Fringe Festival, A PRIEST WALKS INTO A BAR.

JAN MICHENER (BOARD OF DIRECTORS) is an actress and a theatre teacher. She has a BA degree in theatre from SUNY New Paltz and a Masters of Education degree from Widener University. She was the recipient of Widener University's Outstanding Student Teacher Award in 2001 for her unit called "Don't Laugh at Me" which incorporated theatre to stop bullying in middle schools.

She is a teaching artist with Philadelphia Theatre Company where she designs and facilitates workshops for PTC's PASSPORT Residency program for High Schools, plus leads Community Audience Partnership workshops and is the lead teaching artist for YAEP's Arts for Learning project (www.yaep.org). In addition, Jan has been a teaching artist with Philadelphia Young Playwrights since 2005 where she designs and facilitates hands-on, interactive theatre and playwriting workshops for students of all ages.

She also runs a Living History and Storytelling Project with the Kennett Square Senior Center. Through the use of improvisational theatre, creative movement, and storytelling the seniors explore the joy of transforming life stories into artistic presentations that celebrate human connections and community.

CATHERINE MARY MORONEY has worked on and offstage regionally for such companies as American Family Theater, Penobscot Theater Company, Philadelphia Theater Company, Azuka Theatre Collective, The Brick, Mum Puppettheatre, Lantern Theater Company, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, and the Prince Music Theater. Her grant writing work with Theater Catalyst resulted in a Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theater Education and Community Service in 2002. She was a teaching artist for playwrighting in inner city schools for the Philadelphia Young Playwrights. Her most favorite recent job is as studio manager and scenic artist for American Family Theater, with whom some of her artwork tours to over 1.4 million children annually. She performed onstage last with Vagabond Acting Troupe in a reading of Walt Vail's La Duse.

JANA NOGOWSKI (WEB DESIGNER) is thrilled to be a part of Vagabond Acting Troupe. She was a board operator for VAT’s second Solo Works Festival, a tech and sound intern for Rag and Bone, and stage manager for the Third Annual One-Act Play Festival. She also performed “Ruffles, Feathers” in the third Solo Works Festival and most recently, A PRIEST WALKS INTO A BAR. She has previously been involved with several theatrical productions at Montgomery County Community College. Jana has also written and performed her short works with Green Light Theatrical Production’s NEW LIGHT SERIES.

KRISTEN SCHIER is a graduate of the Universtiy of the Arts with a BFA in theater. She has been teaching and performing in the Philadelphia area for several years. She has worked with Vagabond on a number of projects including SLAPPED, ALICE: A WONDERLAND ADVENTURE, TALES OF THE FAIRY QUEEN, IT TAKES ALL KINDS, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, PAUL BUNYAN'S AMERICAN TALL TALES, ON A WOODEN GLOBE and the Barrymore Nominated THE ART OF WAR. She has also worked with Scrap, Azuka Theater Collective, B. Someday Productions, City Theater Company and Classic Commonwealth Theater Company. Kristen is also co artistic director of The Philly N Crowd, a local improv troupe. She teaches improv regularly at the Actors Center of Philadelphia, and has also taught with Delaware Theater Company. In addition to acting and improv Kristen has also held several certifications from the Society of American Fight Directors.

ADAM SHELLENBERGER was a staple of the 2006/2007 season with Vagabond Acting Troupe in his first year as a core ensemble member. Appearing as the title role in PAUL BUNYAN'S AMERICAN TALL TALES, Adam went on to create the role of William Shakesperea in ON A WOODEN GLOBE, and then performed as Diggleby in TALES OF THE FAIRY QUEEN. For ROMEO AND JULIET, Adam appeared as Peter/Montague/Paris. Last season he appeared in the award-winning GLOSSOLALIA at the Third Annual One Act Play Festival. He also performs with area companies such as Wandering Rom and Ego Po Theatre Company.

ERIC SINGEL (RESIDENT SOLO WORKS COORDINATOR)

SUMMER ROSE STEELE made her VAT debut as Steel Falcon (and alter ego, Bird Girl) in SUPER DUPER, for the 2006 Spark Festival. A graduate of Arcadia University's BFA acting program, Summer is currently pursuing graduate studies. Summer has appeared with us in BY GRIMM, ROMEO AND JULIET (understudy) and THROWING STONES. She was development director for the 2008 Philadelphia Fringe Festival project, A PRIEST WALKS INTO A BAR. She has worked with The Lantern Theater Company, The Simpatico Theater Project, The Walnut Street Theater (Camp Walnut '05), and Mike Lemon Casting as a casting intern for the Disney film Annapolis. Summer is in Europe during the 2008 season for further movement based training!