Death of a Salesman

Gigi Bermingham (Linda) As an actor, Gigi has received numerous theater awards including two L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards, most recently for “Leading Actress” when she portrayed Maria Callas in Master Class at International City Theatre Long Beach, a­nd in 2004 for “Solo Performance” for her multiple-character comedy Non-Vital Organs (for which she also received an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award). Gigi has appeared on many southern California stages including Pasadena Playhouse, Old Globe, La Mirada, International City Theatre, MainStreet Theatre, Rubicon, and many others. She is a member of classical ensemble Antaeus Company where she has performed in many productions including Picnic, The Liar, Cloud 9, Mother Courage, The Seagull and Native Son, the latter which will be reprised in April 2019 as part of Center Theatre Group’s Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. TV appearances include: “Jane the Virgin,” “Marvel: Agents of Shield,” “Scandal,” “Adam Ruins Everything,” “Mistresses,” “Chasing Life,” “Days of Our Lives,” etc. Film: A Lover Betrayed, Save the Date, Rob Reiner’s Alex and Emma. Web Series: “Kittens in a Cage” and “The Britishes.” Nearly every December, Gigi performs Cabaret Noel with Matthew Goldsby. She is also a stage director, most notably for Antaeus’ production of You Can’t Take it with You. In American Theatre Magazine Gigi has been featured as an actor, and her article Small World was published in October 2018.  

Michael Bernard (Howard/Stanley) Ten years as Associate Artistic Director for The 52^nd Street Project (a nationally recognized company that creates theater with professionals and kids from Hell’s Kitchen, NYC); Stephano in The Tempest (Santa Barbara, Butrint Albania, and Bitola Macedonia), Gayev in The Cherry Orchard (Santa Barbara and Bitola Macedonia), Cassius in Julius Caesar (Santa Barbara, Yerevan Armenia, and Tbilisi Georgia) with the LitMoon Theater Company, King Charles/ William Scott/ Lady Davenant in Or, Richard Nixon in Nixon’s Nixon, Sorn in Stupid F-ing Bird with Elements Theater Collective, and Francis in One Man Two Guvnors with The Theater Group at SBCC. Member of Immediate Theater improv company in LA; teacher in the theater programs at UCSB and SBCC, The Young Playwrights Festival at ETC, and improvisation at the Creative Arts Workshop.

Jenn Chandler (Miss Forsythe/Jenny, Cello) originated the role of the female Bank Manager in the 2nd National Tour of Once. She has acted at numerous regional theaters including the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Paramount Theatre, Mason Street Warehouse, and St. Michael’s Playhouse. Her original music can be found on Amazon Prime in the web-series Adam and Eve, and she plays cello with various groups in NYC. She graduated from London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and Brigham Young University, and holds a master’s degree in Classical Acting, and undergraduate degrees in Cello Performance, and Theater Education. www.jennchandler.com

John P. Connolly (Charley) through fate, accident, or perhaps miracle, became a professional actor in 1971. Straight away from playing Hamlet at LaSalle College, he fell in among bad companions, playing John Little in The Adventures of Robin Hood at Manning St. Actors’ Theater in Philadelphia, his hometown.  For these next 47 years he has roamed the stages and studios of America from Broadway (Pap Finn in Big River) to LA (Winston Churchill in Only a Kingdom, Pasadena Playhouse) and many of the wonderful towns in between. John has performed in 200 plays (My Fair Lady, Ubu Roi, Winter’s Tale, The Golem, Luis Valdez’s Bandido, John Belucco’s Gretty Good Time, Pal Joey, End Game, David Mamet’s Lakeboat, Thulani Davis’ Ruby M); 100 television shows (“Cop Rock,” “NYPD Blue,” HBO’s Sessions, “ER,” “Law & Order,” “West Wing”); 20 films (Disney’s Toothless, Clive Barker’s The Plague, Gil Cates’s Innocent Victims) and 500 commercials. He recently completed a dual workshop production playing King Lear in both Shakespeare’s play and the soon-to-be produced screenplay Cordelia. Last spring he played dazed burglar Selsdon Mowbray in Noises Off at Philadelphia’s Walnut St. Theater; last summer the acerbic Doc Gambler in Fibber McGee & Molly at the Autry Museum’s Wells Fargo Radio Theater, where last Christmas he played Cowpoke-Scrooge Phineas Daniels in the 70^th anniversary production of Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch Christmas Party. He just wrapped the romantic tone-poem film The Sprint of Fate. John is honored to have served as President of the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (now SAG/AFTRA), CEO of Actors’ Equity, and on the National Boards of SAG and the AFL-CIO.  Fed Chair Janet Yellen appointed him to the Council of Economic Advisors of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank. He serves on the Board of Visitors of the Temple University Center for the Performing & Cinematic Arts. John lives in the Hollywood Hills with his sparkling spouse Bronni Stein, veteran Casting Director and Vice-Chair of the UCLA Film & Television Archive; their children James Connolly and Rachelle Escarrivage are intrepid documentary film-makers working worldwide; their finest production is Ms Luna Azeeza Connolly, age 5.

Alex Nee (Happy) is thankful to continue a wonderfully eclectic year of reimagining classic theater: just finishing South Pacific at the Rubicon as Lt. Cable, and Cabaret at the Celebration Theatre as the Emcee. He moved to LA after touring the world starring as Johnny in Green Day’s American Idiot, and in Once as Andrej and understudying Guy. Look for him as a regular on “Liked” on WhoHaha, and in “Dope State,” coming soon from the creators of “Rick and Morty.” Much love and thanks for all the support from KMR Talent, my family, and dear loved ones.

Trevor Peterson (Biff) is thrilled to be making his ETC debut. Theater credits in Los Angeles include Dead End (Ahmanson Theater), Pocatello and A Bright New Boise (Rogue Machine Theater), and The Interlopers and Wildboy ‘74 (Bootleg Theater). Other credits include TV: “The Vampire Diaries,” “CSI:Miami,” and “10 Dates From Hell (TBS)”; Film: Beyond the Night, Sky, Manifesto, Prom, and Grizzly Park. Training: B.F.A. from the University of Southern California and British American Drama Academy in London, England.

Sergi Robles (Bernard, Bass Clarinet) hails from Barcelona, Spain and was raised in Coral Springs, FL, where he discovered a passion for the arts at his public high school’s theater & band programs.  He went on to study at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama, earning a B.F.A. in Acting & Musical Theater, and has worked professionally in regional theaters, commercials, cruise ships, and vocal groups, traveling to over 31 countries along the way. Credit selections: Theater: Schoolhouse Rock Live! (MainStreet Theatre), Mid Century Moderns (The Purple Room), Mickey & The Magical Map (Disneyland), Evita (New London Barn), The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes (Eugene O’Neill Theatre), Forever Plaid (Southern Colorado Rep), The Student Prince (Pittsburgh CLO), and Floyd Collins (Carnegie Mellon); TV: “Matty Paz Is a Noob (Amazon/DreamWorksTV)” and “Erroneous Convictions.”  International: Royal Caribbean (Featured Singer), Del Mundo Vocal Trio. He now resides in Los Angeles, CA where he continues to study acting at Lesly Kahn Institute. He is a proud member of AEA & SAG-AFTRA. www.sergirobles.com; Instagram:@roblerama

Paul Sandberg (Uncle Ben) is happy to be making his debut at ETC. Previous credits: Utah Shakespeare Festival(four seasons), The Cleveland Playhouse, Huntington Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, The Court, Briar Street Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Coronet Theatre, Circle X Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Next Theatre, Pegasus Players, and Shattered Globe. Film: Gods and Monsters, Fever Lake, and Empire City. TV: “Chicago Hope,” “Seventh Heaven,” “Seinfeld,” “NCIS,” “The Untouchables” and many others.

Sarah Saviano (Letta/The Woman, Clarinet, Sax, Flute)’s professional work has spanned of as actor, musician, director, and musical director/composer. She played Harper in the National Tour of Angels In America directed by Michael Mayer. At the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, she performed in Cry, The Beloved Country, and The Good Person of Szechwan, both directed by Frank Galati. Other Chicago credits include world premieres at Victory Gardens Theatre: Rhonda in Rain, River, Ice, Steam and Louise Benedict in Rick Cleveland’s Danny Bouncing, directed by Curt Columbus. She was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago’s Tony Award) for her role as Louise in the long running Midwest premiere of Always…Patsy Cline. Recent California credits include Helen in A Taste of Honey, directed by Kim Rubinstein at the Odyssey Theatre, Frida in Tale of The Allergist’s Wife, Pen in Current Nobody, and “Kitty” Oppenheimer in The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer at California Repertory. Sarah’s film and video credits include work with Directors Ezra Buzzington (“Crossbones”), Pawel Gula, and Darren Lynn Bousman. She was celebrated in Chicago’s Screen Magazine for her work on ABC’s “Missing Persons” opposite actor Erik King (“Dexter”). She is a professional jazz musician (saxophones, clarinet, and flute) and has performed onstage and/or recorded with Little Feat, Shaun LaBelle, The O’Jay’s, Bob Weir, Heat, Jules Day, Kenny Rankin, and Robert Irving III (of the Miles Davis Group and Miles Electric Band). Sarah is on the faculty of California State University Long Beach and Long Beach City College. Special thanks to P. Mauriat saxophones for their beautiful instruments and continued support.

Henry Woronicz (Willy Loman) has been an actor, director, producer and teacher for nearly 40 years.  He has acted or directed at many of the nation’s leading theater companies, including the American Player’s Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Delaware Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, The Shakespeare Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Meadow Brook Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Boston Shakespeare Company, Seattle Shakespeare Company, and the Utah, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals.  In 1996, he directed a Chinese language production of School for Scandal at the Hong Kong Repertory Company. Acting credits include: Broadway: Julius Caesar starring Denzel Washington; Film: Primary Colors and Living Out Loud; TV: “­­Seinfeld,” “Ally McBeal,” “Cheers,” “Pickett Fences,” “Third Watch,” “Star Trek,” and “Law & Order.” Henry spent eleven seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as a resident actor and director, and served as OSF’s Artistic Director from 1991 to 1995. In 2009, he served in a consulting capacity as Executive Producer of the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. From 2009-12, as an associate professor on the School of Theatre faculty, and the head of the M.F.A. Acting Program at Illinois State University. In 2013, he received a Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Solo Performance from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle for his performance as the Poet in An Iliad, by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson, directed by Lisa Peterson. He also served as a visiting professor in the Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance, at Indiana University from 2014-17.

Arthur Miller (Playwright) (1915-2005) is one of the most influential American playwrights. His notable plays include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge, A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After the Fall (1963), Incident at Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972) and The American Clock (1980). He twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and in 1949 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Miller was the recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 2001 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the Prince of Asturias Award for Letters in 2002, and the Jerusalem Prize in 2003.

Joe Hanreddy (Director) served as the Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater for seventeen years where, in addition to producing the work of many of America’s preeminent theater artists, he directed, wrote for and occasionally acted in productions on the company’s three stages. Before coming to the Milwaukee Rep, he led the Madison Repertory Theater for seven years, and before that co-founded and led the Ensemble Theater in Santa Barbara for its first seven years.  At Ensemble, after a couple of seasons performing in the parish hall at Trinity Episcopal Church, Joe, along with many friends, renovated the Alhecama Theater where they worked hard on great plays old and new, had a lot of fun (mostly) survived (barely) and laid the groundwork for the magnificent theater that ETC has become under Jonathan Fox’s leadership. Since retiring from the Milwaukee Rep in 2010, Joe has regularly returned to direct there, as well as directing multiple productions for the Utah, Idaho, Great Lakes and Door Shakespeare Festivals including: King Lear, Richard III, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Private Lives, Wait Until Dark and his adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and The Tavern. Other recent directing includes: Bloomsday for Next Act Theater in Milwaukee, Our Country’s Good for the Resident Ensemble Players at the University of Delaware, O Beautiful for the Connecticut Repertory Theater, The Blonde, The Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead for the Writer’s Theater in Chicago and The Misanthrope in New York. The adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility have received dozens of professional productions across the country, including South Coast Rep, PCPA, Milwaukee Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Round House Theater, Connecticut Rep, Sacramento Rep, Virginia Stage, American Player’s Theater, Lyric Stage and the Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Great Lakes, and Door Shakespeare festivals. In addition to his professional work, Joe has taught in the graduate theater programs at Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin. He and his wife, Jami, make their home, surrounded by trees and water in idyllic Door County, Wisconsin.

Se Hyun Oh (Scenic Designer) is from South Korea and resides and works in the US for theater and various forms of media. Recent theater design credits include Underneath the Lintel (Geffen Playhouse); Cambodian Rock Band, A Doll’s House Pt.2, Yoga Play, Office Hour (South Coast Repertory); The Judas Kiss (Boston Court Theatre); Happiest Song Plays Last (Los Angeles Theatre Company, Latin Theatre Company); Three Days in the Country, The Hothouse, Hedda Gabler (Antaeus Theatre); Building the Wall (Fountain Theatre); Exit Strategy (LGBT Center); Grey Nomad (Australian Theatre Company); Two Kids that Blow Shit Up (Artists At Play/ Lounge Theatre); BED (Echo Theatre company). Associate design credits include Office Hour (Public Theatre); Our Very Own Carlin McCullough, Constellations (Geffen Playhouse); The Imaginary Invalid (The Old Globe). He received M.F.A. in theater design from Northwestern University and B.A. in theater arts from Cal State Long Beach. Visit www.sehyunoh.com for more information. IG @se.hyun.oh

Dianne K. Graebner (Costume Designer) received her M.F.A. in Costume/Set Design from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. She has designed and created costumes nationwide in theater, film and television. Off Broadway: Church & State at New World Stages, and internationally Invisible Hand and Bad Jews for The English Theatre, Frankfurt, Germany. Many shows for ETC, including The Invisible Hand, Miss Bennett, Husbands & Wives, Chapter Two, Macbeth, Fallen Angels, Bad Jews, Venus in Fur, Amadeus, Intimate Apparel, and Red among others. She is a member of Circle X Theatre Co. and designed their productions of Undivided Heart, The Flu Season, Eurydice, The Good Book of Pedantry and Wonder, Chinese Massacre, and was nominated for an Ovation Award for her work on The Brothers Karamazov and a L.A. Weekly Award for Battle Hymn. A few of her recent credits include: Ay, Carmela! at the Hudson working with Frank Gehry and Gustavo Dudamel, Breath and Imagination at Virginia Stage Co, Paradise at Austin Playhouse/Ruskin Theatre, Best of Enemies, Breath & Imagination (NAACP nomination), The Road to Appomattox, and others at the Colony Theatre, Dogeaters and Clay at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, A Delicate Balance at The Odyssey Theatre, The Happiest Song Plays Last, and Bright Light City at LATC, opening and closing weeks of 365 Days/365 Plays at Center Theatre Group, Dying City (Ovation Winner- Production of the Year), Oppenheimer, Mexican Day, The New Electric Ballroom at Rogue Machine Theatre Co., the original Los Angeles production of Philosophy of the World, The Shaggs, and has also originated the costumes for many new works and world premieres.  She is a member of United Scenic Artists Local-829. www.diannegraebner.com

Jean-Yves Tessier (Lighting Designer) is a primate with a single opposable thumb. He hails from the cold reaches of Canada and once had a sexy French accent. He has since lost it. If found please take good care of it. Selected credits include: 3D Theatricals (Fullerton, CA): Ragtime (2015 Ovation Award Nominee), Parade (2013 Ovation Award Nominee), Hairspray. Actors Co-Op (Hollywood, CA): Turn of the Screw (2017 Ovation Award Nominee). McCoy Rigby Entertainment (La Mirada, CA): Boeing Boeing, Ring of Fire (2012 Ovation Award Nominee), Smokey Joe’s Cafe. A Noise Within (Pasadena, CA): Antigone, Arcadia. DOMA (Hollywood, CA) American Idiot, Young Frankenstein (2015 Ovation Award Nominee). Bald Ego Productions (Toronto, Canada): Three Penny Epic Cabaret, To Damasacus. Ensemble Theatre Company (Santa Barbara, CA): The Housewives of Mannheim, Loot, In the Continuum and last season’s The Invisible Hand.

Barry G. Funderburg (Composer/Sound Designer/Music Director) is a Chicagoland-based composer and designer, and is thrilled to be making his ETC debut. Off-Broadway, Barry designed the New York premiere of Wittenberg at The Pearl Theatre Company. Chicago credits include Eric Simonson’s productions of Fake, Carter’s Way, and Mother Courage and Her Children at Steppenwolf, in addition to Writers Theatre, Mercury Theater, Next Theatre, and Lookingglass. Regional theater credits include, seventy-eight productions at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, thirty-four productions at Utah Shakespeare Festival, as well as Alley Theatre, Kansas City Rep, Arizona Theatre Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Clarence Brown Theatre (Knoxville), Baltimore Center Stage, City Theatre (Pittsburgh), Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Great Lakes Theater (Cleveland), Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Resident Ensemble Players (Delaware), Peninsula Players, American Players Theatre, and Indiana Rep. Barry has received two Chicago Equity Jeff Awards, a St. Louis Theater Circle Award, and an M.F.A. in sound design from Purdue University.  He is a proud member of United Scenic Artists, ASCAP, and the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association.

Abigail Strange (Production Stage Manager) is excited to be back for her fourth production with ETC. Select Off-Broadway: What We Wanted (PSM), Philoctetes (PSM), Cagney (York Theatre, Asst. Director/SDC Observer), Clinton the Musical (Asst. Director), Tail! Spin! (Asst. Director), Ethel Sings (PSM), Here Lies Love (Public Theatre, PA), Murder for Two (New World Stages, PA); Select NYC: A Streetcar Named Desire (Carnegie Hall, PA), Lincoln Center Out of Doors & Midsummer Night’s Swing (Stage Manager); Select Regional: The Legend of Georgia McBride (ETC, PSM), Cookin’ at the Cookery (ETC, PSM) The Invisible Hand (ETC, PSM), A Christmas Carol (Hangar Theatre, PSM), Spamilton (Royal George Theater in Chicago, PSM), The Addams Family (Old Creamery Theatre, PSM).

Brian McDonald (Dramaturg) is ETC’s Director of Education and Outreach. He is an award-winning actor, director, and educator. He appeared in the national tours of Miss Saigon and Forever Plaid. Regionally, he appeared on the stages of the Denver Center, Theatre Virginia, The Lyric Stage, La Miranda Performing Arts Center, Ensemble Theatre Company, Pasadena Playhouse, Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center, and the Ahmanson. As an actor, Brian was honored with many awards, including the Ventura Mayors’ Award for Emerging Artist, LA Weekly’s Best Supporting Actor Award and an Independent Award for his most recent performance in the one-man show, Buyer and Cellar. He has also directed for various regional theaters, including Seven Angels Theatre, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and Rubicon Theatre Company. For Rubicon, he directed the critically acclaimed world premiere adaptation, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, A Tuna Christmas, The Sunset Limited, Bus Stop (Five Ovation nominations including Best Play), MASTER HAROLD… and the boys (nominated for three Ovation Awards Including Best Play) and the World Premiere musical Hello! My Baby, written and conceived by Cheri Steinkellner. His work as a director has earned him an Independent Award and StageScene LA Award for Best Director.