Show Description
West Coast Premiere!
San Diego favorite Phil Johnson stars as Felix Artifex, a fast-talking B-list producer who gets in over his head when he takes on an epic about the French Revolution. Egotistical movie stars, stubborn writers, his estranged wife and a mess involving sheep are no obstacles for Artie!
Cast
Phil Johnson Felix Artifex
Phil has performed on Broadway in Les Miserables, in the Canadian production of Sunset Boulevard, and toured with Les Miz and the 1st National Company of Miss Saigon. On television he appeared on ‘Notes from the Underbelly’, a sitcom on ABC. An actor, writer and singer, Phil’s stage work includes: The Man Who Came to Dinner at Coronado Playhouse; Hound of the Baskervilles (an original one-man show funded by a grant from The San Diego Foundation) at North Coast Rep; Little Shop of Horrors at Cygnet Theatre; Putnam County Spelling Bee, Don’t Dress for Dinner, Pageant, & Leading Ladies at North Coast Repertory Theatre; How The Grinch Stole Christmas at the Old Globe Theatre; The Mousetrap at Moonlight/Avo Theatre; The New Century at Diversionary Theatre; A Christmas Carol at San Diego Rep; Forever Plaid at the Theatre in Old Town; True West at Sledgehammer Theatre. In Los Angeles, he was a member in the Bravo sketch comedy company at Acme Comedy Theatre. Phil writes, produces and performs an original sketch comedy show ‘Señor Phil’s Casa del Haha’ at Diversionary Theatre, as well as co-writing NCRT’s Christmas revue Mistletoe, Music and Mayhem. He has appeared with his original solo plays in L.A., Chicago, and San Diego: The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Say Cheese (Backstage West Critic’s Pick, LA). Phil Johnson is sponsored by Artist Advocate Robin Lipman.
Jacque Wilke Esther
Jacque is absolutely thrilled to be making her Cygnet Theatre debut! Local theater credits include: Lend Me a Tenor, Mistletoe, Music, and Mayhem, and Don’t Dress for Dinner at North Coast Repertory Theater; Next Fall, Fair Use, The New Century, and Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins at Diversionary Theater; Or at MOXIE Theatre; The Seven Year Itch and The Heidi Chronicles at New Village Arts; Side Man at Bang Productions; The Break-up Breakdown at Circle Circle Dot Dot; He Said, She Said at Laterthanever. She co-writes and performs sketch comedy with Casa del Haha, as well as performs stand-up comedy locally and in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts where she was the recipient of the Academy’s Charles Jelinger Award for Best Actress. Jacque Wilke is sponsored by Artist Advocates Ron & Susan Styn.
The Team
Craig Wright Playwright
Mr. Wright received an Emmy nomination for his Six Feet Under episode “Twilight” and served as writer and producer for Lost, Brothers & Sisters, United States of Tara, and his own series on ABC, Dirty Sexy Money. He has written multiple plays including Grace (currently on Broadway), Blind, The Gray Sisters, The Unseen, Lady. His play Recent Tragic Events was a finalist for the American Theatre Critics New Play Award and the Helen Hayes Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play. Wright is an active member of A Red Orchid Theatre, a Chicago-based theatre company.
Shana Wride Director
Ms. Wride is an actor and director who has worked both locally and regionally. She returned to San Diego and appeared as Amanda (Craig Noel Critics Circle Award) in Noel Coward’s flippant and brilliant comedy Private Lives with Sean Murray at Cygnet Theatre. She was most recently seen as Arlene in Diversionary Theatre’s production of Next Fall. She directed the critically acclaimed productions of Walter Cronkite is Dead for San Diego Repertory Theatre, Or for MOXIE Theatre, Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins for Diversionary Theatre and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for Compass Theatre. While living in Los Angeles, she co-hosted the nationally syndicated radio show “Women Aloud” with actor/comedienne Mo Gaffney. Shana Wride is sponsored by Artist Advocate Dr. Seth Krosner.
Sean Fanning Set Designer
Cygnet Resident Artist. At Cygnet: Man of La Mancha, Dirty Blonde, Parade, Little Shop of Horrors, Cabaret, The Tragedy of the Commons, The Norman Conquests, Sweeney Todd, Noises Off, Mauritius, A Christmas Carol, The Receptionist, A Little Night Music, The Matchmaker. Elsewhere: Plaid Tidings, KINGDOM (The Old Globe); Walter Cronkite is Dead (San Diego Repertory Theatre); A Raisin in the Sun (Moxie Theatre), Pippin, Harmony Kansas (Diversionary Theatre), Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale, Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Old Globe/USD); Zombie Prom (2008 Patte Award), The Grapes of Wrath (San Diego State University). Sean is in his fifth season as the Resident Design Assistant at the Old Globe, where he has assisted designers on over sixty productions. He holds a B.A. in Technical Theatre from Sonoma State University and an M.F.A. in Scene Design from San Diego State University. Check out his work at www.seanfanningdesigns.com.
Shirley Pierson Costume Designer
Cygnet Resident Artist. For Cygnet: Parade, The Glass Menagerie, Little Shop of Horrors, Our Town, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, Private Lives, It’s a Wonderful Life (‘09-‘11), The History Boys, A Christmas Carol. Selected San Diego Theatre: Pippin, Harmony, Kansas, Next Fall, Diversionary Theatre; Into the Woods, New Village Arts; Holiday Memories, Scripps Ranch Theatre; Richard III, Old Globe/University of San Diego. Elsewhere: The Amazing Food Detective, Drumming Up Peace, Zip’s Great Day, Someone Like Me, Jay and E on the Zig Zag Sea, Kaiser Foundation Educational Theatre Program. Awards include a KPBS Patte Award for Theater Excellence, Outstanding Costume Design; The Irving Parker Award for Excellence in Theatre Arts; and The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Region VIII, Costume Design in Production Award. Shirley is a faculty member of the Performing Arts Department at Palomar College. She received her MFA in Theatrical Design from San Diego State University. View her work at shirleypiersondesigns.com.
Ross Glanc Lighting Designer
Ross is excited to make his Cygnet debut. Previous designs include: Walter Cronkite is Dead, Storyville, The Road to Mecca, A Weekend with Pablo Picasso, Rick Najera’s Daddy Diaries, The Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival (2009-2011), and Kuumba Fest (2009-2011) at San Diego REP; Weekend with Pablo Picasso at LATC; Mira Costa Dance; San Diego Ballet; Malashock Dance; ion Theatre; Broadway Bound Youth Theatre; Lasting Glow Productions. He is a past recipient of the Carol Corolla Fellowship for new artists from the San Diego REP.
Omar Ramos Sound Designer
Omar is proud to be making his Cygnet Theatre debut. He is keenly interested in emerging technologies, real-time design for aleatoric stage performances, and works that question perceptions of reality and undermine prevailing ideas about how humanity and the world function. He has recently performed real-time sound manipulation and composition in Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco with PADL West’s BARK [rendition 3]. Other sound design credits include: The Pride (Diversionary Theatre), Walter Cronkite is Dead (San Diego Rep), Untitled; Center of the Universe (2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space). Omar received his MFA in Theatre Design with emphasis in lighting and sound design from UC San Diego. www.omarramosdesign.com.
Angelica Ynfante Properties Designer
Previously at Cygnet: Dirty Blonde, Man of La Mancha. Texas State University graduate with a BFA in theatre. She made her way around the U.S. and Mexico for five years working in Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Vermont, New York, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Cancun until she made it to sunny California where she is currently the props mistress with the San Diego Rep, beginning her fourth season. She has worked with Moxie Theatre for two seasons.
Marie Jahelka Stage Manager
Previous credits: Parade, Cabaret, and Love Song (Cygnet Theatre); Somewhere, The Last Romance, The Whipping Man, Romeo y Julieta, Back Back Back, The American Plan, In This Corner, Oscar and The Pink Lady, How The Grinch Stole Christmas! (’05,‘07), 2006 Shakespeare Festival, and Hayfever (The Old Globe Theatre); miXtape (Lamb’s Players Theatre); Theatre Smash, Marat/Sade, The Crucible, Songs For A New World, Woody Guthrie’s American Song, Sylvia, and Arcadia (University of San Diego). Marie received her bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from the University of San Diego and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. Marie would like to thank her husband, Robert, for his support.
Esther Banks Puppeteer
Esther has worked mostly for Lamb’s Players Theater as a technician. Her work has been seen in Amadeus, 5 Cups of Coffee, Hello Dolly, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, and most recently miXtape. She enjoys photographing empty space, eating good food, and visiting the zoo.
