Theater Breaking Through Barriers:The Cast

Oedipus, June 2005.

Cast for A Nervous Smile Melanie Boland, Pamela Sabaugh, Marilee Talkington, Nicholas Viselli Set and Lighting Design – Bert Scott Stage Manager – Kimothy Cruse Assistant Stage Manager – Brooke Elsinghorst
	John Belluso (Playwright) John Belluso’s plays include: The Poor Itch (produced by The Public Theatre), A Nervous Smile (produced by the Actor's Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival of New American Plays), The Body of Bourne (produced by the Mark Taper Forum), Henry Flamethrowa (produced by Trinity Repertory Company, Victory Gardens Theatre and Studio Dante), The Rules of Charity (produced by the Magic Theatre and TBTB), Body Songs, created with legendary theatre director Joseph Chaikin (Eugene O'Neill Center/NPC, workshopped at the NYSF/Public Theater), Traveling Skin, and Gretty Good Time (produced by the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Perishable Theatre, Falcon Theatre, and by VSA arts at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts). Awards and Honors include a National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Playwright-in-Residence Grant for a residency at the Atlantic Theatre in New York, the AT&T On-Stage Award, the Mark Taper Forum's Sherwood Award, the VSA arts Playwright Discovery Award as well as grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Berrilla Kerr Foundation Award and honorable mention for the Kesselring Prize. In addition, from 1999 to 2002 he served as Co-Director and from 2002-2005 as Director of the Mark Taper Forum's Other Voices Project for Disabled Theatre Artists — one of the nation's only professional developmental labs for theatre artists with disabilities. Mr. Belluso received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Dramatic Writing Program where he studied with Tony Kushner, John Guare, Tina Howe, and Eve Ensler, among others.
	Melanie Boland (Blanka) last appeared with TBTB as Myra in The Middle Ages. Other NY credits: The Cocktail Hour, Hamlet, Oedipus, When I'm 64, Ten Little Indians, Murder in Baker Street, Misalliance, The Unexpected Guest, Vassa, Arms and the Man, Talley & Son (TBTB); Abe Lincoln in Illinois (Lincoln Center Theater); Ghosts (DJM Productions); Lemon Meringue Façade (New Perspectives Theater Company); 1984 (Nicu's Spoon Theater Company); The Curious Savage (DJM Productions); Undivulged Crimes (Phil Bosakowski Theatre); Bedside Manners (Blue Heron Arts Center); Mimi and Me (Turnip Theater Company); Trifles, Lord Savile’s Crime, Heartbreak House, The Master Builder, The Importance of Being Earnest (Oasis Theatre Company); The Birthday Club (Plays for Living); and Richard II (Riverside Shakespeare). Regional: The Glass Menagerie, The Little Foxes, Count Dracula, Laundry and Bourbon and Getting Out. International: Oedipus, Misalliance (Vidra Theater, Croatia). Film: Peter Weir's The Mosquito Coast (Mrs. Spellgood) and The Dead Poets Society (Mrs. Overstreet). TV: Chappelle's Show, Law and Order and As the World Turns.
	Kimothy Cruse (Production Stage Manager) has been a professional actor, director, producer, and writer on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in film and television. His credits include: Broadway: The Little Foxes with Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton (Assoc. Director), All Over Town directed by Dustin Hoffman. Off-Broadway: The Threepenny Opera with Bea Arthur, Charlotte Rae, George S. Irving, Bob Cuccioli and Donna McKechnie, Weird Romance, Portraits, Fanny, Best Foot Forward, Perfect Crime, Mary Todd…A Woman Apart, A Servant of Two Masters, The Return of the Prodigal, I Knock at the Door, and Pictures in the Hallway (PSM). With TBTB he has been PSM for Romeo and Juliet,The Cocktail Hour and The Middle Ages. Regional: On a Clear Day… with Robert Goulet (Ass’t. Director), Pal Joey with Dixie Carter and Elaine Stritch (Ass’t. Director), SadieThompson with June Havoc (PSM), Colette with Leslie Caron (PSM), Come Back, Little Sheba with Donna McKechnie (PSM), Mary Todd…A Woman Apart, The Tillie Project, Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, The Poetry of Pizza, Footloose, Jekyll & Hyde, 42nd Street, Cabaret, South Pacific, Aida, The Full Monty and How The Other Half Loves (PSM). Mr. Cruse has directed over 60 productions in his career and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.
	Pamela Sabaugh (Eileen) was most recently seen in Christopher Shinn’s Dying City with the Amaryllis Theatre Company, Philadelphia, as well as on the ABC Prime Time special, What Would You Do? Last Fall she completed shooting the feature film, One Angry Man, co-starring with Jackie Mason. Other New York and Regional credits include: ABC’s One Life to Live, “Anne” (recurring); CBS’s Guiding Light, “Irene” (recurring); TBTB (The Cocktail Hour, The Rules Of Charity, Hamlet, Seneca’s Oedipus, Brecht On Brecht, Misalliance); Woodward Avenue Productions (Another Day On Willow Street - 2007 NY Fringe Festival); Shotgun Productions (The Chaos Theories, Joined At The Head, Undivulged Crimes); The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey (Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet), Amaryllis Theatre, Philadelphia (Molly Sweeney); The Court Theatre of Chicago (Chicago); The attic Theatre, Detroit (The Voice of the Prairie). Pamela is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award, and the award for Excellence in Performance from the 2000 New York International Fringe Festival, where she appeared in the premier of her own play, Woman in the Animal Kingdom. She received her MFA in Acting from Rutgers University, where she studied with Bill Esper and Maggie Flannigan. Pamela would like to thank TBTB and the late John Belluso for addressing this delicate and most challenging material.
	Ike Schambelan (Artistic Director/Director) has been a theatrical director, teacher and critic for 44 years. He has a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and a Doctor of Fine Arts from Yale Drama School. He has directed at the Long Wharf Theatre, the Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, The New Dramatists, Equity Library Theatre, the Pittsburgh Public Playhouse and the George Street Playhouse. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and of Actors’ Equity. As founder and Artistic Director of Theater Breaking Through Barriers, he has built it for 30 years into an Off-Broadway company recognized for doing first-class art.
	Marilee Talkington (Nic) is a bi-coastal actor, writer and director, spending her west coast time as Artistic Director of Vanguardian Productions and Resident Artist of Crowded Fire. Her last appearance in NY was with TBTB in A.R. Gurney’s The Middle Ages. Her latest piece, Wormhole, (a 3-D theatrical sound sculpture) is currently running in San Francisco through April. Her other original works include Attrition (nominated for the 2009 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), TRUCE (Solo Show, SF,NYC), Sugarville: A Little Death (Players Theatre, NYC), The Rape Poems (SF, NYC, Edinburgh, Philadelphia) and Daughter of the Floods (SF). She holds an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater, where she was awarded the A.C.T Carol Channing Trouper Award. Her favorite regioinal credits include Mrs. Cratchit (A Christmas Carol, A.C.T.), Elektra (Elektra, A.C.T), Abadonna (The Master and Margarita, A.C.T.), Proust (Gone by Charles L. Mee), The Last Day (by Justin Quinn Pelegano, E.S.T.) and Godspell (Center REP, Critic's Circle Award). You can also see her in the award-winning experimental film Hatching Beauty, which continues to be screened internationally. Thank you to TBTB and muchas gracias to JQP for reminding me to keep fighting the good fight.
	Nicholas Viselli (Brian) A core company member since 1997, Nick has appeared in numerous shows and readings with TBTB. He was seen last season as John in TBTB’s wildly popular production of A.R. Gurney’s The Cocktail Hour. Other notable company credits include: TBTB’s highly-acclaimed production of Romeo and Juliet; the NYC premiere of John Belluso’s The Rules of Charity; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Hamlet; Ted Hughes’ adaptation of Seneca’s Oedipus; Dial ‘M’ for Murder; When I’m 64; Brecht On Brecht; Murder in Baker Street; Misalliance and Gorky’s Vassa. He is also an administrative associate to TBTB, aiding in grant writing and fundraising and has served as the company’s sound designer in numerous productions. In New York, Nick has also worked with the Pearl Theater, Performers Access Studio, the Oasis Theater and The Riverside Shakespeare Co., to name a few. Nick will also be seen co-starring in the upcoming feature film One Angry Man, starring Jackie Mason. Nick would like to dedicate his performance to the memory of John Belluso. He was taken too early but his legacy is profound. Thank you, John, for your amazing words and towering talent.
	Emily Young (Emily’s poem reader) is thrilled to be working with Theater Breaking Through Barriers on this exciting production of A Nervous Smile. Recent credits: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet with TBTB; Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing, Alice in Henry V and Katherine in Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival; Anya in The Cherry Orchard at Trinity Rep.; Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at the Brown University/Trinity Rep Consortium; Tracy in Peter Nachtrieb’s Colorado at SPF; and Emma in Stephen Karam’s Emma at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Festival. As a playwright, she has had her play The Calamity of Kat Kat and Willie mentioned by NYTheatre.com as one of the “Best of 2006.” Acting Training: Brown University/Trinity Rep Consortium.