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The Tragedy of Carmen Biographies
Performers

Paolo Andino (Lillas Pastia) is thrilled to be making his Two River debut and his musical debut! New Jersey gigs include Venecia with Chita Rivera, directed by Arthur Laurents at George Street Playhouse and A View From the Bridge at Montclair Theatrefest. If you saw this season’s premiere of ED, Paolo played the fencing instructor. Other favorites include: Orestes, Agamemnon & His Daughters; Estragon, Waiting for Godot; Valere, Tartuffe; Florizel, Winter’s Tale and Nikos, Big Love. Paolo holds an MFA from University of Missouri, Kansas City.
Morgan James (Micaëla) is thrilled to be performing with Two River Theatre this season. Morgan spent the summer at the Forestburgh Playhouse, where she played the Mistress in Evita, Kate McGowan in Titanic, and Anne in La Cage aux Folles. Other roles: Agnes in Agnes of God, Anne in A Little Night Music, and Evelyn Nesbit in Ragtime. Morgan is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School, where she holds a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance. While at Juilliard, Morgan wrote for the Juilliard Journal, and partcipated in a Master Class held by Barbara Cook. She thanks her family and Colin for their love and support.
Vincent Lamberti (Zuniga/Garcia) FILM: Horror, Desecration, The Funeral, The Blackout, Hot Ice. TELEVISION: One Life to Live, Help!. STAGE: The American Conservatory Theatre; Arkansa Rep.; Capital Rep.; The McCarter Theatre; The New Jersey Shakespeare Festival; The Hawaii Shakespeare Festival; North Shore Music Theatre; Pacific Jewish Theatre; The Drill Hall in London, England; and The National Theatre in Sarlonica, Greece.
Cassandra McConnell (Carmen) is thrilled to be a part of this exciting project with Two River Theatre Company. She has been seen across the United States and Canada in a variety of roles such as Guenevere in Camelot (Va. Musical Theatre & Troika national tour), Nellie in Floyd Collins (Weathervane Repertory Theatre), Julie in Carousel (troika’s national tour), Valencienne in The Merry Widow (Bronx Opera), Aldonza in Man of La Mancha (Lycian Center), Maria in The Sound of Music (Merry-Go-Round Playhouse), Fiona in Brigadoon (Gateway’s Candlewood Playhouse), and Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Utah Festical Opera Company). Her European tours include: Phantom of the Opera (Christine cover), and The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber & More (Mary Magdalene/Christine). Last year, she was a NY regional winner of the MacCallister Competition and in 1999 received a local award at the Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera competition. She holds a B.M. in voice from Indiana University and currently studies in NYC with Bruce Kolb.
Aaron Serotsky (Don Jose) is pleased to return to the Two River Theatre Company, having appeared in Old Wicked Songs last season. A singer and actor, Aaron has spent parts of five seasons at the Denver Center Theatre Company, in plays ranging from Shakespeare to contemporary comedy. Other credits include the First National Tour of Titanic, as well as work at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, the Cincinnati and George Street Playhouses, the Alliance and Delaware Theatre Companies, the Utah Shakespearean Festival, TheatreVirginia, and the Sundance Theatre Lab. Featured briefly on ABC's All My Children, Aaron is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.
Martín Solá (Escamillo) has appeared on Broadway in La Bohème and The King and I. Other credits inlude: The Kennedy Center, New York City Opera, The Spoleto Festival (Italy), and The Bregenz Festival (Austria), Tel Aviv Opera, The Mann Center in Philadelphia, and many other stages in Singapore, China, Mexico, and throughout the United States. Film and Television: Sabado Morning, Live From Lincoln Center Broadcast. Recording: Amor Y Desengano (Love and Betrayal)
For more info: www.martinsola.com.
Production Artists
Georges Bizet (Composer) Born outside Paris in 1838, Bizet was a pianist, accompanist and, most famously, a composer of Opera. His most famous opera, Carmen, premiered in 1875 and caused an immediate scandal. Other operas include: Le Docteur Miracle, Don Procopio, and Ivan IV. Bizet died at the age of 37, sadly before Carmen received its international acclaim.
Jonathan Fox (Director) directed Two River Theatre Company’s productions of: Salome, Old Wicked Songs, A Delicate Balance, La Bete, Light Up The Sky, Blood Wedding, Hedda Gabler, The Illusion, Betrayal, and Machinal. He has directed in San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, and Germany, including the German premiere of Mud at the Horizon theatre in Cologne. He is a recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellowship for research in Germany. Jonathan is Two River Theatre Company’s Artistic Director.
Jana Zielonka (Music Director) Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include: James Joyce's The Dead (piano), Stars in Your Eyes (piano/conductor), Menopause the Musical (piano/conductor), Appelemando's Dreams (Music Director). Other credits include: Music Director: The Fantasticks (NJSF), The Streets of New York (Westport Country Playhouse), City of Angels (CAP 21); Piano: My Fair Lady (Berkshire Theatre Festival), A Saint She Ain't (Westport Country Playhouse), My One and Only (Cape Playhouse). Jana is on the faculty at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. BA in music: Yale University.
Ray Recht (Scenic Designer) previously designed Peer Gynt for the Two River Theatre Co. Broadway designs include The Flowering Peach, Trick, Slab Boys, The Babe, and several national tours. Over 20 Off-Broadway productions, such as Straight Jacket, Collected Stories, Marc Salem’s Mind Games, Mrs. Klein, Marc Salem’s Mind Games Too and the sets for the 1999 and 2000 Drama Desk Awards Shows. He has designed over 200 shows for many regional theaters, several feature films, television specials, numerous TV commercials and many commercial parodies for Saturday Night Live. Internationally he designed for The Wien Staatsoper Ballet, The Stratford Festival – Ontario, The Sayde Bronfman Theater – Montreal, and The Manitoba Theatre Centre. He is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City.
Deborah J. Caney (Costume Designer) is pleased to be working again with director Jonathan Fox, with whom she has designed six previous productions. At The Two River Theatre Company she has designed: Old Wicked Songs, House Of Blue Leaves, The Heiress, La Bete, Arms And The Man, Light Up The Sky, Uncle Vanya, Blood Wedding, Noises Off!, Hedda Gabler and Machinal. Recent credits include in New York: Romeo And Juliet (The Pearl Theatre Co.) Little Man, The Undeads, Bad Skin, (The Ohio Theatre/Soho Think Tank). Regional: Dirty Blonde, A View From The Bridge, As Bees In Honey Drown, (TheatreFest); Richard III, The Merry Wives Of Windsor, Alice In Wonderland and Arms And The Man (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival); A Christmas Carol, Over The Tavern and Sylvia (Capitol Repertory Co.); Blithe Spirit and Swinging On A Star (Arizona Theatre Co.); The Glass Menagerie, Angel Street, Heartbeats and A Thousand Clowns (American Stage Co.).
Brenda M. Veltre (Lighting Designer) has been designing professionally for the past 20 years, lighting dance, regional theatre and opera. She is pleased to join Two River Theatre Co. for this production of The Tragedy of Carmen. Some of her work includes Rigoletto, Don Giovanni (Kentucky Opera), Carmen (Opera Festival of NJ), Shirley Valentine (George Street Playhouse), Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Merrimack Repertory Theatre) To Kill a Mockingbird (Coconut Grove Playhouse) and five seasons at New American Theatre. Ms. Veltre is a member of United Scenic Artists.
J. Allen Suddeth (FIght Director) has worked professionally for the past twenty-nine years out of the New York area. Master Teacher of stage combat at Juilliard, Rutgers University, and The Lee Strasberg Institute, Allen is also a Broadway veteran of eight shows, over 150 Off-Broadway shows, and hundreds of Regional Theater shows from Denver to Baltimore. At home in television as well, daytime dramas have used his talents to stage over 750 episodes, both in network studios and on locations such as Jamaica, and Buenos Aires. Allen is also the author of a book, Fight Directing For The Theatre.
Alexandre Proia (Choreographer) School of Paris Opear Ballet. 1981 Boston Ballet, Rudolph Nureev Tour; 1983 - 1995 New York City Ballet; 1995 Broadway debut. Chronical of a Death Foretold, dir. and choreographer Graciella Danick (Drama Desk and TONY Award nominated); 1996 Martha Graham Company; 1997 Robert Wilson, Oedipus Rex (Chatelet Paris); 1998 - 2001 Martha Clarke, Vers La Flamme international tour. ACT San Francisco: performer/dance captain. Mr. Proia has taught, performed and choreographed worldwide including: School of Paris Opera, School of American Ballet, Paris Opera, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Ballet National of Lisbon. Television and Film credits include: The Cosby Show, Eye on Dance, Mighty Aphrodite (Woody Allen), and The Nutcracker. Mr. Proia has produced, written, directed, and choreographed several workshops and is currently building his company Proia Dance Theatre (Multimedia Performance).
Jason Cohen (Stage Manager) This is Jason’s sixth show with Two River Theatre Company; his previous shows were last season’s Stinkin’ Rich, Salome, Spunk, and Old Wicked Songs, as well as last season’s Peer Gynt. Off Broadway credits include: Hello Muddah!, Hello Fadduh!; Naked Boys Singing; Afer The Rain; Behind the Counter with Mussolini; and Little By Little with the York Theatre. Additional credits include: The Mystery of King Tut with Theatreworks USA; Boom Boom, Boom Boom with the LAByrinth Theatre Co.; Here Comes Everything with Naked Angels Theatre Co.; The Deep Blue Sea with Roundabout Theatre Co.; The TONY Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and Day Time EMMY Awards at Radio City Music Hall; Beauty Queen of Leenane and Master Class at TheatreWorks, Hartford, CT. Jason is a graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Norman Meranus (Casting Director) is casting director for The York Theatre Co. (off-Broadway); The Helen Hayes Theatre Co. in Nyack, NY; Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre on Cape Cod and Wolfgang Bocksch Concerts European Tours. NYC casting includes Harlem Song and Jackie Mason: Laughing Room Only (Broadway this fall). Regional theatres: North Shore Music Theatre, Florida’s Caldwell Theatre Co., and others. Member, Casting Society of America.