Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley

Erin Barnes (Jane) is thrilled to be making her Ensemble Theatre Company debut! Elsewhere in SoCal, Erin has been delighted to perform at Boston Court (The Missing Pages of Lewis Carroll), The Antaeus Company (Diana of Dobson’s) and Theatre Banshee (By the Bog of Cats, The Importance of Being Earnest).  Her TV credits include “Switched at Birth,” “Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life,” “Shameless,” “Scorpion,” and “S.W.A.T.”. Love to her family and John! More at erinbarnesonline.com

Paul Culos (Arthur) is honored to make his debut with the Ensemble Theatre Company. Theater credits include the national tour of Dracula, Act One (LA Theatre Works), Les Liaisons Dangereuses, As You Like It, Macbeth, Peace In Our Time (Antaeus), Come Back Little Sheba (A Noise Within), The Hamlet Project (Loose Canon Collective), Two Gentlemen of Verona (PCPA), Jason & (Medea) (LA New Court), Midsummer & Macbeth (Fugitive Kind). TV/film credits include: “Modern Family,” “Shameless,” “The Middle,” “Superior Donuts,” and “Video Synchronicity” with David Fincher. Paul has an MFA from UC Irvine and a BA from Western Michigan University. More at PaulCulos.com

Samantha Eggers (Anne) is thrilled to be making her Ensemble Theatre Company debut. Recent credits include King Charles III (Pioneer Theater Company), Love’s Labour’s Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Kingsmen Shakespeare Company), Pride and Prejudice (La Mirada Theater), What the Butler Saw (Mark Taper Forum), Hero! (Asolo Repertory Theater), The Fox on the Fairway (St. Michael’s Playhouse) and The Glass Menagerie (American Repertory Theater). She also appeared as Lisa (Sophie cover) in the Broadway, National Tour, and Las Vegas companies of Mamma Mia!  Internationally, Samantha has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (The Druid Tree) and the Moscow Art Theater (The Imaginary Invalid). Film and television credits include: “Get Happy,” “Deadly Sins,” and “Jane the Virgin.” Training: M.F.A., American Repertory Theater / Moscow Art Theater School Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University. Love to Ped. samanthalouiseeggers.com

Donnla Hughes (Mary) Her previous theater credits include: Constellations (Geffen Playhouse Theatre), The Maids (A Noise Within), Romeo and Juliet (A Noise Within), Outside Mullingar (Geffen Playhouse Theatre), The Silver Tassie (National Theatre, UK), The Little Mermaid  (Bristol Old Vic Theatre, UK), The Well of the Saints (Druid Theatre Company, Ireland), Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe, London), Toxic Bankers (Leicester Square Theatre, West End), The Mad Women of England (Soho Theatre, West End), Three Loose Teeth – Shakespeare in Shoreditch (RIFT, London), The Under Room (Cock Tavern, London), Pure O (Kings Head Theatre, London) and Teeth (Theatre 503, London). Originally from Ireland, Donnla trained at LAMDA, The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She is a Carleton Hobbs award winner and was a long standing-member of the BBC Radio Drama rep.

Caroline Innerbichler (Lydia) hails from Minneapolis, and is thrilled to return to her birth state of California with Ensemble Theatre Company! Her credits include: Little House on the Prairie: The Musical (National Tour); White Christmas, The Sound of Music, The Pirates of Penzance, The Prince and the Pauper, and the Broadway Songbook Series (Ordway Center); Grease, The Little Mermaid, Fiddler on the Roof, Bye Bye Birdie (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres); Little House on the Prairie (Guthrie Theater). Hair (7th House Theater); Passage of Dreams, Parade (Theater Latté Da); Ragtime (Park Square Theatre); A Class Act, Disney’s High School Musical, Hansel and Gretel, Alice in Wonderland, Pippi Longstocking (Children’s Theatre Company). Love and gratitude to her family, Nate, and Finna.

Matt Koenig (Bingley) is happy to be making his debut at the Ensemble Theatre Company. Matt is a resident artist at PCPA in Santa Maria, California, where he has played such roles such as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher, Tom in The Glass Menagerie, The Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Caleb in The Whipping Man, Freddy in My Fair Lady, Richmond in Richard III, etc. Other theaters include: Utah Shakespeare Festival, New Swan Shakespeare Festival, Florida Studio Theatre, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, Palace Theatre, Summer Repertory Theatre. MFA:  UC Irvine.

Christian Pedersen (Darcy) is delighted to be making his ETC debut. Most recently he appeared as the Emcee in Once at South Coast Repertory. Regional credits include Clybourne Park (Cleveland Play House and Geva Theatre), The Mousetrap (Rep Theatre of St. Louis), Cloud Nine (Studio Theatre), and The 39 Steps (Maltz Jupiter).  In LA he understudied the role of Kent in Reasons to Be Pretty (Geffen Playhouse) and starred in Flare Path (Theatre 40). In New York he has performed in several Off-Broadway plays, including Vieux Carre directed by Austin Pendleton. Film and TV credits include “Animal Husbandry,” “The Last American Guido,” “The Good Wife,” “Fringe,” “Damages,” “Royal Pains,” and recurring roles on “One Life to Live” and “All My Children.” He is a graduate of the University of Richmond in Virginia and The Conservatory for Dramatic Arts in New York.

Paige Lindsey White (Lizzy) has stage credits including: Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (Pasadena Playhouse); Macon Hill in Abundance (South Coast Rep); Brooke Wyeth in Other Desert Cities (Arizona Theatre Company & Indiana Rep); Ann in At Home at The Zoo (Wallis Annenberg); Titania/Hippolyta in Mendelssohn’s Midsummer (Disney Concert Hall); Julia in Fallen Angels (Ensemble Theatre Company); Catherine in Rapture Blister Burn (San Diego Rep); Heisenberg (u/s) (Mark Taper Forum); Trying, Ghost-Writer, and The Heir Apparent (International City Theatre); The Children, R II  & Love and A Major Organ (Theatre @ Boston Court); Walking the Tightrope (24TH ST Theatre), Ivo Van Hove’s A View From the Bridge (Ahmanson & Kennedy Center, u/s). International Tour: Trial of the Catonsville Nine (The Actors’ Gang). Her TV credits include: “Shameless,” “American Woman,” “Corporate,” “Days of Our Lives,” “TV Funhouse.”  LA Drama Critics’ Circle Award Lead Performance Winner, 3 Ovation Nominations paigelindseywhite.com

Lauren Gunderson (Playwright) is the most produced living playwright in America, the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award and the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and John Gassner Award for Playwriting, and a recipient of the Mellon Foundation’s 3-Year Residency with Marin Theatre Company. She studied Southern Literature and Drama at Emory University, and Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her work has been commissioned, produced and developed at companies across the US including the Denver Center (The Book of Will), South Coast Rep (Emilie, Silent Sky), The Kennedy Center (The Amazing Adventures of Dr. Wonderful and Her Dog!), the O’Neill Theatre Center, Berkeley Rep, Shotgun Players, TheatreWorks, Crowded Fire, San Francisco Playhouse, Marin Theatre, Synchronicity, Olney Theatre, Geva, and more. Her work is published by Dramatists Play Service (Silent Sky, Bauer), Playscripts (I and You, Exit, Pursued By a Bear, and Toil and Trouble), and Samuel French (Emilie). She is a Playwright in Residence at The Playwrights Foundation, and a proud Dramatists Guild member. She is from Atlanta, GA, and lives in San Francisco. LaurenGunderson.com and @LalaTellsAStory.

Margot Melcon (Playwright) is a theater artist, administrator and writer. She was the Director of New Play Development at Marin Theatre Company for seven years, where she dramaturged over 30 productions—including six world premieres—and administered the company’s two annual new play prizes and commissioning program. She has developed plays with TheatreWorks, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Crowded Fire Theater, Shotgun Players, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, the Kennedy Center, the New Harmony Project, and the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. She is currently the Program Executive for Promoting Culture at the Zellerbach Family Foundation. Margot is a graduate of California State University, Chico.

Andrew Barnicle (Director) has now directed four plays for Ensemble Theatre Company, including Chapter Two, Fallen Angels, and Venus in Fur.  Andrew served as artistic director of The Laguna Playhouse from 1991 through 2010, where he produced over 100 Playhouse shows and directed more than 40 of them. Recent directing projects at Laguna include the world premiere of King of the Road: The Roger Miller Story, and Lissa Levin’s Sex and Education, starring Julia Duffy. He has directed at Garry Marshall’s Falcon Theatre, The Odyssey Theatre, Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre, The Colony Theatre, San Diego’s Theatre At Old Town, Michigan’s Meadow Brook Theatre, and The San Jose Repertory Theatre.

Dianne K. Graebner (Costume Designer) received her MFA in Costume/Set Design from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She has designed and created costumes nationwide in theater, film and television. Off Broadway — Church & State at New World Stages. For The English Theatre, Frankfurt, Germany — Bad Jews. For Ensemble Theatre Company, she designed Husbands & Wives, Syncopation, Chapter Two, Macbeth, Fallen Angels, Bad Jews, Women in Jeopardy, Sweeney Todd, Venus in Fur, Amadeus, Intimate Apparel, Red, Best Brothers, Frankie and Johnny, Opus, and Bell, Book and Candle. She is a member of Circle X Theatre Co. and designed their productions of The Flu Season, Eurydice, The Good Book of Pedantry and Wonder, and Chinese Massacre, and was nominated for an Ovation Award for her work on The Brothers Karamazov and an 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, Best of Enemies,The Fabulous Lipitones, What I Learned in Paris, Breath and Imagination (NAACP nomination), The Road to Appomattox, Sex and Education, and Falling for Make Believe and others at the Colony Theatre, Dogeaters and Clay at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, A Delicate Balance at The Odyssey Theatre, 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) and 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

Pablo Santiago (Lighting Designer) is originally from Chiapas, México and designs for theater, opera, dance and gallery work. After 15 years in the film industry he obtained an MFA in Lighting Design from UCLA and transitioned into live stage design.  He is nominated for the Ovation Award 2018. He the winner of the Richard Sherwood Award 2017 and Stage Raw Award in 2015. He was nominated for an Ovation Award in 2014 and the LA Weekly Award 2014. He is honored to return to Ensemble Theatre Company where he has designed several projects and collaborations with this creative team, including Fallen Angels and Chapter 2.  His work has been seen at LATC and the Latino Theater Co., Arena Stage in DC, Paramount Theater in Boston, Skirball Center in NY, Davies Hall with San Francisco Symphony, Soundbox, The Annenberg Space for Photography, Summer Happenings at the Broad Museum, REDCAT, Su Teatro in Denver, Teatro Brava, Getty Museum, ODC, “Distant Vision”- Live Cinema directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and Opera Santa Barbara, among others. Pablo has collaborated with dance companies such as: DornDancers, The Big Show Co., Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Co., and Szalt, to name a few. Recent highlights include: War of the Worlds (Opera) with LA Phil and The Industry at Disney Hall. Dementia at LATC, Pelleas at Cincinnati Symphony, Galileo (Opera) for The Industry, Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum, Breaking the Waves for OperaPhila and Beth Morrison Projects, Destiny of Desire at the Goodman, Flight for Opera Omaha, Good Grief and Citizen at KDT.  Upcoming projects include: Destiny of Desire at OSF, Three Penny Opera at Boston Lyric Opera, Hearne: Place with LA Phil at Disney Hall, BAM and Barbican Theater in London. The world premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Proving Up at Opera Omaha. For film credits check imdb and for a portfolio go to instagram@pablosdesign

Barbara Hirsch (Sound Designer) owns Opus 1 mobile recording, a classical and acoustic music recording business, and is co-owner of the Santa Barbara Yoga Center. Years ago in a previous life, she loved working in various capacities for the theater: box office, playing in the pit, composing music and running sound. In recent years she has enjoyed reviving her sound designing chops at the Theater Group at  SBCC and for Ensemble Theatre Company. Most recent were the very satisfying theater experiences of It’s a Wonderful Life, Rabbit Hole and Amadeus. Barbara is thrilled to work with this incredible cast in a play that Austen lovers (and even others!) will love.

Bruce Goodrich (Scenic Designer) His recent work includes Recorded in Hollywood, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, and at the Chance Theatre: Middletown, directed by Trevor Biship, and Seminar, directed by Elina DeSantos. Also Fallen Angels and Chapter Two at Ensemble Theatre Co., Santa Barbara, directed by Andy Barnicle.  New York and regional venues include Primary Stages Co. (original and Off-Broadway productions of David Ives’ All in the Timing), Ensemble Studio Theatre, American Stage Co. Playwrights Theatre of NJ, Arena Stage, Fords Theatre, The Colony, The Falcon, The Rubicon, The Odyssey (Broadway Bound, directed by Jason Alexander), El Portal, McCoy Rigby Entertainment, Laguna Playhouse, The Human Race (Dayton), Skylight Opera Theatre (Milwaukee) and many others. Stage Raw, LA Drama Critics and Ovation nominations. He has a BFA from University of Wisconsin, an MFA from Carnegie-Mellon School of Drama, and is a Professor of Design at CSU, Fullerton, Department of Theatre and Dance.

Jonathan Fox (Artistic Director) joined ETC in 2006. He adapted and directed ETC’s recent production of Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives. His other ETC productions include Porgy and Bess, Macbeth, Sweeney Todd, Woyzeck, Amadeus, A Little Night Music, The Liar, Crime and Punishment, and a dozen others. He directed Opera Santa Barbara’s 2014 production of The Consul at the Granada Theatre. He has collaborated with the Santa Barbara Symphony on their Shakespeare and Valentine’s Day concerts. In 2016, he directed ETC’s production of Bad Jews, which traveled to Germany for the play’s German premiere. Other European productions include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Streetcar Named Desire, Visiting Mr. Green, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at The English Theatre Frankfurt, and Old Wicked Songs, Crimes of the Heart, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Vienna English Theatre. Before joining ETC, Mr. Fox spent 12 years with Two River Theater Company in New Jersey, which he helped establish in 1994. He served as Managing Director of the company from 1994-99, and subsequently became its Artistic Director. For Two River, he directed their recent world premiere production of Lives of Reason. His production of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was profiled in American Theatre Magazine, as was his festival of work by Samuel Beckett. His directing work has been seen in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Cologne, and has received critical acclaim in The New York Times, Variety, the LA Times, and other publications. He received his MFA from Columbia University, and is a recipient of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship. He has served as an adjunct faculty member in theater departments at UCSB, Columbia University, University of Utah, and Monmouth University.

John M. McElveney (Properties Design). John was an Equity Stage Manager and Lighting Designer for many years before joining ABC Television as a Production Manager. While there he worked on many sitcoms, specials and awards shows. He has served as Production Manager for The Emmys and was Senior Production Manager for many Academy Awards presentations. He and the group called MacAndME  designed properties for over fifty productions at the Colony Theatre in Burbank and other venues in the Los Angeles area. At the Falcon Theatre (now the Garry Marshall Theatre) he has designed over twelve productions. Recently, he designed five at ETC in Santa Barbara. He is President Emeritus of the Pasadena Playhouse Alumni and Associates.

Kristin Weber (Stage Manager) is thrilled to return to ETC. Her previous credits include: Husbands and Wives (ETC), The Crucible, The Liar, Top Girls, The Curse of Oedipus, Wedding Band, Henry IV – Part One, Picnic, Uncle Vanya, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, As You Like It, and various ClassicsFests (Antaeus Theater Company). If All The Sky Were Paper (Kirk Douglas), The Imaginary Invalid (A Noise Within). Driving Miss Daisy, Women in Mind (Sierra Madre Playhouse). Wicked Lit 2012 (Unbound Productions). Kristin graduated at the top of her class from Chapman University, where she majored in Entertainment Theatre Technology with an emphasis in stage management. Forever thanks to her family and friends for their endless love and support. Special thanks to Andy, Sam, Alex, RC, and to my wonderful cast! Enjoy the show!

Sam Lahne (Dramaturg) is thrilled to be working as the resident production dramaturg for Ensemble Theatre Company’s 2017-18 season. He has worked as a dramaturg on the development and production of a number of plays, including the world premieres of Jonathan Fox’s adaptation of Husbands and Wives, Aaron Posner’s Stupid F-ing Bird, and Mia Chung’s You for Me for You. He has served as Literary Assistant at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC, and at New Dramatists in New York. Sam is also a playwright, and his plays have been produced and/or developed by the Playwrights’ Center, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the Kennedy Center/National New Play Network, Barter Theatre Company, and the Jewish Plays Project, among others. Sam received his BA from Vassar College, and his MFA from the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop.

Julia Flores (Casting Director): Regional/Los Angeles theater clients include: McCoy Rigby Entertainment, TheatreWorks, Boston Court Theatre, The Pasadena Playhouse, Denver Center Theatre, ONSTAGE Series, B Street Theatre, A Noise Within, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Portland Center Stage, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Universal Studios, Reprise!, LA Opera, Goodman Theatre, Lincoln Center Theatre,. Arizona Theatre Company and San Francisco Opera.

Ensemble Theatre Company began as the Ensemble Theatre Project in 1978 under the direction of Joseph Hanreddy. For the first three years, plays were performed at Trinity Episcopal Church. In 1981, ETC made the 140-seat Alhecama Theatre its home for more than 25 years. Beginning in 2009, ETC undertook a $12.6 million renovation of the Victoria Hall Theater. It opened its new 300-seat home, the New Vic, in 2013. The New Vic has become a venue for dance, music, film, and lectures. After Joseph Hanreddy left Santa Barbara in 1985, Robert Grande Weiss became Artistic Director, a position he held until his retirement in 2006. Jonathan Fox assumed the position of Executive Artistic Director in September 2006 and saw the company through great expansion. Jill Seltzer joined ETC as its Managing Director in 2016. ETC, which became an Equity theater in 1989, is Santa Barbara’s sole professional theater company. The company, which presents five or six plays per season, has produced several American and West Coast premieres and has garnered numerous awards over the years.

Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) was founded in 1913 as the first of the American actor unions. Equity’s mission is to advance, promote and foster the art of live theater as an essential component of our society. Today, Equity represents more than 45,000 actors, singers, dancers and stage managers working in hundreds of theaters across the United States. Equity members are dedicated to working in the theater as a profession, upholding the highest artistic standards. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions and provides a wide range of benefits including health and pension plans for its members. Through its agreement with Equity, this theatre has committed to the fair treatment of the actors and stage managers employed in this production. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. For more information, visit www.actorsequity.org.