The Chance Theater - with their eyes: September 11th - The View from a High School at Ground Zero

Annie Thoms (Editor)

Annie Thoms graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1993. After receiving her B.A. from Williams College and her M.A. in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, she returned to Stuyvesant as an English teacher and theater advisor in 2000. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband Jeff. [top]

Christopher Marshall (Director)

Chris is thrilled to be directing his first production here at The Chance, and to be working with such dedicated, talented artists. Chris holds a BA in Theatre from Middlebury College in Vermont and an MFA in Acting from UC Irvine; as an actor he has appeared in numerous regional theatres throughout the country. Favorite roles and theatres include: Romeo, Romeo and Juliet, Colorado Shakespeare Festival; Proteus, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Utah Shakespearean Festival; Caliban, The Tempest, American Players Theatre; George, All My Sons, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre; Ross, Visiting Mr. Green, Riverside Theatre (FL), and Jerry in Betrayal, Aurora Theatre Company (Berkeley). He has also been seen at the Kennedy Center in Scenes From An Execution and has appeared on "Frasier". Chris is a proud member of both Actor's Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild. As a director, favorite productions include: Assassins, The Laramie Project, and The Cherry Orchard. Chris taught acting for three years at Middlebury College, and is now a Theatre Instructor/Director at Sage Hill School in Newport Beach, where he is directing this same play with the Theatre Ensemble in a co-production. Thanks, as always, to my two favorite girls. Thanks to Oanh and to this increble devoted, talented, and patient cast. And thanks also to Annie Thoms and the students of Stuyvesant who shared their stories with us, so that we could share them with you. [top]

Masako Tobaru (Set Designer)

Masako is so honored to be a part of this production and this company. Last year, Masako designed lighting for The Eight: Reindeer Monologues (OC Weekly Theater Award Nominee - Best Production), A Christmas Story, Closer Than Ever (LA Times Critic's Pick), and The Rover, and just closed The Last Five Years. She graduated from Concordia University, Irvine with a major in Theater and Communications. Masako would like to thank her family for their support, her friends for their understanding, and The Chance Theater staff for making her a part of this amazing journey. And a special thanks to Oanh for being an amazing mentor and inspiration. [top]

James Jones III (Lighting Designer)

James is very excited at this opportunity to work with The Chance Theater again. He graduated from UCLA's School of Theater specializing in Lighting Design. A lover of lighting since the age of 13, James' short career ranges from small 99 seat houses, to churches, to large concert halls, with credits including: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Cinderella Stories, and the original stage musical Keep Movin' On. James previously worked at The Chance in last season's The World Goes 'Round and The Laramie Project. James also served as an Assistant Lighting Designer on the award-winning original musical, Ephraim's Song, produced by Cedric the Entertainer and Bruce Willis. James is so grateful to The Chance company for yet another opportunity to improve his craft and hopes to continue with The Chance in the future. [top]

Casey Long (Sound Designer)

Casey has been seen onstage and behind-the-scenes for numerous productions here at The Chance. Previous lighting design credits include Yeomen of the Guard, The Lord of the Screen, The Cherry Orchard, The Illusion and First Chance Fest 2003. Previous sound design credits include First Chance Fest 2003 and Saving The World. He would like to thank his cast for their dedication, Chris for his leadership, and The Chance for following their mission. A special thanks to Alex for all her love and support. [top]

Alia Amaya (Costume Designer)

This is Alia’s third show at The Chance Theater. She works in the Fullerton Civic Light Opera costume shop. Credits include Cabaret, The Music Man, A Trip to Bountifule, The Foreigner, Nanny 911. Grease, Miss Saigon, Annie Get Your Gun, Tin Pan Alley Rag, George M, FIG: R.O. (retro opera), and Never In My Lifetime currently playing at The Chance. [top]

Glenda Morgan Brown (Dialect Coach)

Glenda began her dialect coaching career by assisting actors in shows she was directing, and then shows directed by her husband, David Colwell, and it grew from there. Some of the shows she has coached are Hay Fever, Don't Dress For Dinner, Dangerous Obsession, and Shadowlands (all Standard British); The Sum of Us (Australian); Taking Sides (German); and Dracula, requiring no less than seven different accents! Glenda's previous work with The Chance includes Cabaret, One Flea Spare, and the challenging Porcelain, requiring seven distinct British Isles sounds. Glenda is also a professional actress, seen recently as the Vice President's wife on "Commander in Chief," and co-stars on "Close to Home," "The West Wing" and an upcoming episode of "Boston Legal." She's happy to be back with The Chance Theater "family." [top]

Lisa Kay Cox (Stage Manager)

Lisa just arrived from the East Coast, having been born and raised in Mississippi. She has had the opportunity to play such roles as Katherina - The Taming of the Shrew, Josie Hogan - Moon for the Misbegotten, and Reggie Fluty and Romaine Patterson - The Laramie Project. She is currently a Recreational Therapist at Canyon Acres Children Services and is grateful to The Chance Theater for giving her an opportunity to have a little therapeutic recreation of her own as stage manager of with their eyes. [top]

Matthew Alan (Max Willens, Hudson Williams-Eynon)

Matthew would like to thank The Chance Theater for the "chance" (haha) to be a part of this production. Matthew has recently starred in various television and film productions, including the pilot "Laugh Out Loud" and the feature film, "The Living Dark." Stage roles include Tom in The Corporates, Joe in Waiting for Lefty, Boniface in Hotel Paradiso, and Jax in the premiere of Dream Book by playwright James Waedekin. He has trained with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, The Larry Moss Studio, and The Bobbie Chance Studio. A major thank you to my friends and family, Amy for her constant support, and a special shout-out to Christopher Marshall for his eyes in this amazing and insightful production. Matthew is truly honored to be in his first show at The Chance. [top]

Clarissa Barton (Renee Levine, Owen Cornwall)

Clarissa is a proud Company Member of The Chance Theater. She was most recently seen in The Chance's special engagement presentation of Rodgers & Hammerstein's A Grand Night For Singing at The Curtis Theatre and onstage here in Cabaret (Fraulein Kost - Back Stage West Critic's Pick). Having lived in New York during 9/11, Clarissa is thrilled to be a part of this production. Thanks to Chris, The Chance, and a wonderful cast. Most of all, thank you to Bryan for his love, support and encouragement. [top]

Alex Bueno (Katie Berringer, Juan Carlos Lopez, Jennifer Suri)

Alex is not a member of the Actors Studio and would LIKE to say she has studied abroad, but she'd be lying. Alex is in fact a Company Member at The Chance Theater and has been for three years. Some of her past credits include Hot 'N' Throbbing, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues (OC Weekly Theater Award Winner - Best Ensemble), Big Love, The Laramie Project (OC Register's Noteworthy Ensembles of 2005; SqueezeOC.com - Pick of the Week), One Flea Spare (Back Stage West Critic's Pick and OC Register's Top Ten Productions of 2005) and The Rover (OC Weekly Theater Award Nominee - Best Ensemble), which aired on KOCE last year. Alex would like to thank everyone involved with this piece, including all the Stuy kids, for their words. She would like to thank the Cast and Crew for their hard work and friendship, Casey for his love and support, and finally to Chris for his vision and direction. [top]

Kelly Huddleston (Anonymous Female Dining Hall Worker, Mira Rapp-Hooper, Kerneth Levigion)

This is Kelly's first play at The Chance Theater. She is currently in her junior year at Chapman University working towards a BFA in Theatre Performance witha double major in Political Science. Other theatre credits include Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Celia in As You Like It, and Mary Warren in The Crucible. She would like to thank her parents for all their love and support. [top]

Eric Lieberman (Matt Polazzo, Eddie Kalletta)

After almost two years Eric is happy to be back at The Chance where he was last seen playing the role of Adraste in The Illusion. Some of Eric's previous roles include Jack in the national tour of Babes in Toyland, Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet at the McCarter Theater, as well as performing in multiple comedy sketches on "The Chris Rock Show." Being a native New Yorker who was living there at the time of 9/11, Eric truly appreciates getting the opportunity to be in such a show and also feels lucky to work with such a talented cast. [top]

Casey Long (Ilya Feldsherov, Anonymous Middle-Aged Man in Coffee Shop, Anonymous Male Custodian)

Casey has been a part of The Chance Theater since our third show, and will never ever live down his procrastination. Currently the Production Manager, Casey has appeared in numerous productions at The Chance. Most recently, he was seen in Hot 'N' Throbbing, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues (OC Weekly Theater Award - Best Ensemble), The Laramie Project (OC Register's Noteworth Ensembles of 2005), Cabaret (Back Stage West Critic's Pick), Porcelain (2006 GLAAD Media Award Nominee - Outstanding Los Angeles Theater; Back Stage West Critic's Pick, OC Register Top Ten Productions of 2005, OC Weekly Theater Award Nominee - Best Production) and Tape (OC Weekly Theater Award Nominee - Best Actor). Casey would like to thank his fellow cast members for their hard work and dedication to a very difficult piece, Christopher Marshall for his leadership and vision, The Chance for its desire to produce stimulating theater, and Alex for her love and support. He would like to dedicate his performance to the memory of all that were lost on September 11th. [top]

Sarah Moreau (Katherine Fletcher, Jukay Hsu, Alejandro Torres Hernandez)

As a proud Company and Staff Member at The Chance Theater, Sarah is so happy to be a part of this production. Sarah is a graduate of Stephens College in Columbia, MO. She would like to thank Chris, the cast, and company for this opportunity. [top]

Kristin Norris (Aleiya Gafar, Kevin Zhang, Tony Qian, Mohammad Haque)

Kristin is thrilled to be returning for another show at The Chance Theater. She will be graduating in the middle of this run with her BFA in Theatre Performance from Chapman University. Previous Orange County credits include: A Christmas Story, The Diary of Anne Frank (Back Stage West Critic's Pick and OC Register's Noteworthy Ensembles of 2005), Hang Up, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Crucible. Thanks to all at The Chance Theater for these wonderful experiences and also to her family and friends for their love, support and encouragement. [top]