ESSPY

Follow Us:

Cast

Creative Team

NJRep Staff

Gabor Barabas, Executive Producer

SuzAnne Barabas, Artistic Director

Evan Bergman, Associate Artistic Director

Dee Dee Irwin, Managing Director

Joel Stone, Literary Manager

Jessica Parks, Production Manager and Resident Scenic Designer

Patricia Doherty, Resident Costume Designer

Jill Nagle, Resident Lighting Designer

Nick Simone, Resident Sound Designer

Brian Snyder, Technical Director and Facilities Manager

Joe Trentacosta, Public Relations

Kristin Pfeifer*, Production Stage Manager

Rose Riccardi*, Production Stage Manager

James Lockhart, Master Electrician

Janey Huber, Assistant Lighting Designer

Rachael Malloy, Assistant Stage Manager

Ian Duhart, Running Crew

Karen Wharmby, House Manager and Volunteer Coordinator​​​​​​ 

Donna Stiles, Production and Administration Assistant

Taylor Bongarzone, Box Office Associate

David Becerra, Head Custodian

Dee Cantalice, Director of Finance

John Pocalyko, Head of Finance Committee

Mare Akana, Gallery Curator

Andrea Phox, Photography Curator

Gail Winar, Artistic Associate

Blake Robinson, Scenic Artist/Props Assistant

Gisela Nucciarone, Carpenter

Meet the Company

TIM LIU

William Chen

TIM LIU was born and raised in NJ. He most recently performed in Cambodian Rock Band at Arena Stage (DC) and ACT/5th Ave (Seattle). Additional theatre credits include Off-Broadway performances with Audible Theatre (Good Enemy, dir. Chay Yew), Pearl Theatre Company (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, dir. Eric Tucker), Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, HERE Arts Center, and other NYC Theaters. Regionally he has worked with Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, B Street Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, and Centenary Stage Company. Recent TV and Film credits include: Pam and Tommy (HULU), The Endgame (NBC), New Amsterdam (NBC), Girls on the Bus (HBO), A Father’s Son (w/ Ronny Chieng and Tzi Ma), Knock at the Cabin (M Night Shyamalan).

LIPICA SHAH

Anu Shilpa

LIPICA SHAH (she/her) is a Jersey native and NYC-based actor, voice actor, and alto who thrives on collaboration and new play development. As a longtime standardized patient at Bellevue/NYU Langone, she’s thrilled to make her NJ Rep debut in a play so close to her heart! Lipica has originated roles at Manhattan Theatre Club, The New Group, Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Cal Shakes, and American Conservatory Theater, among others. On screen she’s appeared on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, HBO, Showtime, USA, Comedy Central, and Netflix. Hear her in the video game Starfield and English dubs of Pokémon, A Silent Voice, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, and more. As an inclusion advocate, she co-founded the nonprofit 1497 (which recently hosted the second annual South Asian Lodge at the Sundance Film Festival) and is on the Steering Committee of the Asian American Performers Action Coalition, with whom she received Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre. www.LipicaShah.com

CHING VALDES-ARAN

Dr. Mendoza

CHING VALDES-ARAN is an award-winning theater artist who resides in NYC. New Jersey Rep: Debut. This spring she will appear in Dave Malloy’s musical, Three Houses, at the Signature Theatre in NYC directed by Annie Tippe. Selected Roles: Aying (OBIE Award, Flipzoids, Ma-Yi Theatre), Imelda Marcos (Lucille Lortel nomination, Dogeaters, Public Theatre), Lady Macbeth, Lady Capulet, Duke Senior (NYSF “Shakespeare on Broadway”, Belasco Theatre), Mother Courage (Ma-yi Theatre), Medea (Medea, Pan Asian Repertory), Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba, NAATCO), Clytemnestra (Iphigenia in Aulis, Yale Rep), Athena (Iphigenia in Taurus (La Mama E.T.C. & Greek Int’l Festival), Empress Tzushi (Empress of China, Cincinnati Playhouse), Philoktetes (Shatterhand Company, Berliner Fiespiele). Most recently she played Mom in the all Asian cast of Sam Shepard’s True West at People’s Light. Other Awards: 2021 Ruthie Award, Fox Foundation Fellow, Asian Cultural Council Fellowship, New Dramatist’s Charles Bowden Award, Ma-Yi Award for Artistic Excellence, MAP grantee (Foundry), U.S. Congressional Award for Arts & Culture, others. Selected Films & TV: Missing Link (Golden Globe, 6 Oscar nomination), Mula Kung Ano And Noon, What it was Before ( Palm de Oro, Locarno Film Festival ), Across the Universe., Sex & The City 1, Blacklist, Others. Her work has been seen nationally and internationally. Most recently in Geoff Sobelle’s HOME that premiered at BAM in 2017 and continuous to tour through 2024.

NANDITA SHENOY

Playwright

NANDITA SHENOY is a New York-based writer-actor who loves hearing an audience laugh. She is delighted to return to NJ Rep after working here as an actor in Mercy. Her play The Future Is Female… received its world premiere at the Flint Repertory Theater last winter. It was a Finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and her Rage Play was named to the 2020 Kilroys List. Her Washer/Dryer has been produced multiple times nationally after its world premiere at LA’s East West Players and an Off-Broadway production in which she also starred. Her first full-length, Lyme Park: An Austonian Romance of an Indian Nature, was produced by the Hegira in Washington, DC, and Satisfaction had a developmental run at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. One-acts, Marrying Nandini, By Popular Demand, Rules of Engagement, You Are Here, and A More Perfect Date have been produced in New York City and regionally. Nandita has acted in world premiers of new plays by Richard Dresser, Madhuri Shekar, Chelsea Marcantel, Adam Szymkowicz, and Eric Pfeffinger as well as a season at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Nandita won the 2014 Father Hamblin Award in Playwriting, a 2018 Mellon Creative Research Fellowship at the University of Washington School of Drama in partnership with Ma-Yi Theater Company, and 2022 Hermitage Fellowship. She is a proud member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, dtfwaw, and the Dramatists Guild. She sits on the Steering Committee of the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC) which received Tony Honor for Excellence in Theater last year. Nandita holds a BA in English literature from Yale University. www.nanditashenoy.com

PETER J. KUO

Director

PETER J. KUO is a theatre director, producer, writer, and educator focusing on raising the visibility of marginalized communities. Born and raised in Southern California, he currently resides in San Francisco where he is the Director of the Conservatory at American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), where he serves on the Staff EDI Committee. Recently directing Madhuri Shekar’s In Love and Warcraft entirely on Zoom, he is a huge proponent for Live Video Theatre and its ability to be accessible to all. He earned his MFA in Directing at The New School for Drama in New York City. Named as one of TCG’s Rising Leaders of Color in the Round 3 cohort, he is also a co-founder of Artists at Play, an Asian American theatre collective that produces Los Angeles premieres of works for Asian Americans. For Artists at Play, he directed their inaugural production of Lauren Yee’s Ching Chong Chinaman (Backstage Critic’s Pick), and Michael Golamco’s Cowboy Versus Samurai; as well as readings of Boni Alvarez’s Marabella, Beau Willimon’s The Parisian Woman, and Donald Margulies’ Dinner with Friends. He served as the production manager for A. Rey Pamatmat’s Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them (GLAAD and Ovation Nominated). Other favorite directing credits include Christopher Chen’s MUTT: Let’s All Talk About Race!, Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days, Elizabeth Wong’s Letters to a Student Revolutionary, Jackie Sibblies-Drury’s We Are Proud to Present…, and Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World.

JESSICA PARKS

Resident Scenic Designer/Props Designer

JESSICA PARKS has been working for NJ Repertory Company since 2003 and has been the resident scenic designer and prop designer since 2010. Set designs at NJ Rep include: The Promotion, Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, Wolf at the Door, The Jag, Swimming at the Ritz, Happy and Broomstick. NYC credits at 59E59 St. Theaters include: Michael Tucker’s Fern Hill, Butler, The Housewives of Mannheim, Jericho and Poetic License. Other credits include: The End of Hester at Theatre Row NYC, Bretch:Call & Response at Paradise Factory Theatre and Dan Lauria's Dinner with the Boys at Theater Row NYC.

BRIAN SNYDER

Technical Director/Facilities Manager

BRIAN SNYDER has been an artist, carpenter, and prop builder since 2003 for several companies in NY and NJ including The Art Department, PVS, Stone Dog Studios, Two River Theater Company, and NJ Repertory Company. After 4 years of teaching Visual Arts and Stagecraft at Lakewood High School he returned to the world of freelance and made his debut as Technical Director and Master Carpenter here at NJ Rep in 2014.

PATRICIA E. DOHERTY

Resident Costume Designer

As NJ Rep’s resident costume designer since 2000, Doherty’s work includes: The Housewives of Mannheim, The Color of Flesh, Old Clown Wanted, The Good Daughter, Place Settings, Bookends, Engaging Shaw, Puma, Noir, Broomstick, View of the Mountains, Swimming at the Ritz, Dinner with the Boys (with Dan Lauria), Closure (with Wendy Malick, Gary Cole), Nobody’s Girl, Butler, Mad Love and Iago , Fern Hill (with Jill Eikenberry, Dee Hoty and John Glover) to name just a few. New York: Southern Comfort—The Musical (The Public Theater 2016 Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics, Drama Desk Award Nominations with Annette O’Toole, Jeff McCarthy); Dinner with the Boys with Dan Lauria (The Acorn Theatre) Academia Nuts (2014 NYMF Best New Musical); The Devil’s Music (St. Luke’s); The Goldman Project (Abingdon Theatre); Freed, Fall to Earth, Poetic License, The Housewives of Mannheim, Butler, Small World (59E59th St Theatres); Love Therapy (DR2) Regional: Alley Theatre (past resident designer), Barrington Stage, Cleveland Play House, Merrimack Rep, Florida Rep, Penguin Rep, Engeman Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Montreal Jazz Festival , Luna Stage, Playwrights Theatre of NJ, Merrimack Rep (MA), People’s Light and Theatre Festival (PA), Rubicon Theatre of LA, Mosaic Theatre (DC), Cape Cod Playhouse (MA), Weston Playhouse (VT) TV/Video: AT&T, “Unsolved Mysteries,” Pennsylvania Public Television Guest Artist: Monmouth University, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio University, Niagara University, Syracuse University Guest Artist and Instructor: Kent State University, School of Theatre and Dance 1992-95

JILL NAGLE

Resident Lighting Designer

JILL NAGLE is the Resident Lighting Designer at NJ Rep. Partial NJ Rep include: Dinner with the Boys, Closure, Butler, Broomstick, Happy, Puma, Night Train, and Noir. Partial NYC designs include: Butler, A Stool at the End of the Bar, Jericho, Poetic License, Housewives of Mannheim, The Man in Room 306, The Dishwashers (59E59), Love Therapy (Daryl Roth), Dinner with the Boys (The Acorn) The Bully Pulpit (Samuel Beckett), Do Not Go Gentle (Harold Clurman), Count Down (Bank Street), In the Parlance (The Pulse), Carrera (La Mama E.T.C.), South Beach Rapture (Dixon Place). Other venues: John Engeman Theatre, Chester Theatre, Luna Stage, Playwrights of New Jersey, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University. www.jillnagle.net

NICK SIMONE

Resident Sound Design

NICK SIMONE has been a performing arts educator in NYC for the past 18 years. He has worked at various music schools for all ages and has been a teaching artist for Roundabout Theatre Company, Apollo Theater, and Sundog Theatre specializing in sound design and musical disciplines. As a musician, Nick plays multiple instruments and has also performed at the renowned Carnage Hall and at the Metropolitan Opera House. Nick has also worked as sound designer and as an audio engineer for many productions such as: US: A Progressive Love Story, The Norwegians, North To Maine, IYOM, Wild Children, Time Travelers Trip To Niagara, The Diorama, Shakespeare's Hamlet at Bryant Park, Extreme Weather, Don’t Dress For Dinner, Villainous Company, Capone, & Romantic Trapezoid. Nick is also affiliated with MTV's production Artist to Watch series as a sound assistant. He is currently the chief audio engineer for Fenix Studios in Staten Island, NY and has credits on multiple albums, films, broadcasts, streaming, music videos and mobile apps. He has worked with up and coming talent and platinum selling artists in different genres from Lorde to Coldplay.

JAMES LOCKHART

Master Electrician

JAMES LOCKHART has the pleasure of working as the Master Electrician for NJ Repertory Company. He is a young, vibrant freelance lighting designer & master electrician that has worked in the tri-state. He has a comprehensive set of skills.

KRISTIN PFEIFER

Production Stage Manager

KRISTIN PFEIFER - NYC Credits: Hedwig and The Angry Inch Nat'l Tour (Production Asst.) Opera: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Assistant Stage Manager, Yale Opera) Regional: Multiple Family Dwelling (NJ Rep), Love Letters w/ Dan Lauria and Wendie Malick (NJ Rep),The Crucible (Assistant Stage Manager, Cleveland Playhouse) White Guy on a Bus (Production Stage Manager, Passage Theatre) The Fabulous Lipitones (Production Stage Manager, George St. Playhouse) The Cat and the Canary, Oliver! (Production Stage Manager, Berkshire Theatre Festival) And some of her favorite shows from her many years as Assistant Stage Manager at the George St. Playhouse include: It Shoulda Been You Directed by David Hyde Pierce, Calvin Berger Directed by Kathleen Marshall and The Toxic Avenger Directed by John Rando. Kristin is a proud member of Actor's Equity.

RACHAEL MALLOY

Assistant Stage Manager

RACHAEL MALLOY is very excited to be starting their career with NJ Rep. Previous credit highlights include: 7 Deadly Sins NYC with Tectonic Theatre Project (Show Operator) and Northampton Community College’s Summer Theatre (Tech Intern). College theatre: Head Over Heels (Assistant Stage Manager), FAME (Stage Manager), Into The Woods (Assistant Stage Manager), Cabaret (Stage Manager).

IAN DUHART

Running Crew

Ian is very excited to be a part his first show at NJ Rep. He just recently finished a run as Sebastian in The Little Mermaid, and is currently competing in Karaoke Knockout. He's honored to be a part of this crew, and hopes you all enjoy the show!

JOEL STONE

Literary Manager

JOEL STONE was formerly the artistic director of Off-Off Broadway’s The Theatre Asylum. On May 17, 1998, his play Horrors of Doctor Moreau (published by Samuel French, Inc.) became the first script-in-hand reading to debut at New Jersey Repertory Company. The following year, his short play The Age of Miracles premiered at NJ Rep and went on to be a finalist at the Samuel French Short Play Festival. Also in 1999, NJ Rep presented “Written in Stone”, an evening of Joel’s short plays, including The Speck of Dust in Bugsy’s Eye (featuring the late Kim Hunter). In 2001, he co-produced “One Night With You”, a collection of six short plays about Elvis, created exclusively by NJ Rep playwrights. From 2000-2002, he was the Theatre Education Coordinator for the New York City Board/Department of Education. He has written and directed for all four NJ Rep Theatre Brut Festivals, including Prairie Dogs (2004), Abilene (2004), Trouble on the PATH (2005), Seven4Seven (2006), and The Purgatory of Charlie Hustle (2008). In 2012, Joel directed the acclaimed MainStage production of Gino DiIorio’s Release Point. In 2014, Joel was the Director/Mentor of the award-winning NJ Rep Young Playwrights Project, “Shelter From The Storm”, in which local high school students wrote short plays about Hurricane Sandy. For the past three years, he has been an adjunct professor of playwriting at Monmouth University and recently taught the initial playwriting class for New Jersey Repertory Company’s West End Arts Center. Currently, he is the literary manager for NJ Rep. He was recently commissioned by NJPAC to write The Calling, his first full-length play in decades.

JT PUBLIC RELATIONS

PR/Public Relations

Founded by Joe Trentacosta, JT Public Relations is a full-service entertainment public relations firm. For over 20 years, they have handled over 300 projects on Broadway, Off-Broadway, festival productions, industry readings, films in release, film festivals, non-profit organizations, and special events. Current projects include Anthony Rapp’s Without You, Dog Man The Musical, and the international hit Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo. Theater companies include AMT Theater, Houses on the Moon, Royal Family Productions, TheaterWorksUSA, Theater Breaking Through Barriers, and Urban Stages. Joe is currently developing a Broadway-bound musical about the Six Triple Eighth Postal Battalion with Holly Garman and Blair Underwood.

DEE DEE IRWIN

Managing Director

DEE DEE IRWIN joined NJRep in 2022, bringing with her almost 30 years of experience in the performing arts and live events industry. Prior to coming east, Dee Dee spent nine years as the Director of Marketing and Communications/Associate Producer for Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, CA, and 12 years as part of the Broadway in Hollywood team for Nederlander’s beautiful Pantages theatre in Hollywood, CA. Dee Dee can also be found playing with puppets as part of the gang that produces "Brian Henson’s Puppet Up! Uncensored" at the legendary Jim Henson Company Lot. While in Laguna Beach, Dee Dee served as chair for the Laguna Beach Arts Alliance, celebrated the theatre's 100th birthday, and produced much of the virtual programming during the pandemic. Originally from Los Angeles, Dee Dee holds an MA in Humanities, a BA in Theatre, and is a proud member of IATSE 857. Special shout out to the love of her life, her dog Pickle, who you might see roaming the theatre and giving his opinion on, well, pretty much everything.

EVAN BERGMAN

Associate Artistic Director

Over the years Evan has directed over 15 productions for New Jersey Rep, many of them world premieres. He is extremely proud of the body of work and the theaters ability to identify a wide range of talented playwrights deserving to have their plays produced. He has also directed world premieres at many other theater including Ensemble Studio Theater, The Duke, Daryl Roth, Barrington Stage, Jane Street, Playwrights Horizon, Arclight, The Tiffaney and 59E59. His film work includes the recent short film Day Zero which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was called” A cautionary tale, perfectly realized” by Oscar award winning Director James Ivory. Dig A Hole, Find A Finger, Palm Springs and Newport Beach International Film Festivals and his Documentary for Warner Music Group featuring Roger Daltry (The Who), Philip Bailey (Earth Wind and Fire). Currently he is in pre-production for a new Feature film he wrote about the life of Oyster Farmers called Life on the Flats which started principle filming in the fall of 2023.

SUZANNE BARABAS

Artistic Director

SUZANNE BARABAS has been the Artistic Director of NJ Rep for the past 25 years. SuzAnne is a member of Actors Equity Association, the Dramatist Guild, and the Society of Directors & Choreographers.

GABOR BARABAS

Executive Producer

For NJ Rep, he has produced over 80 world premieres including Ends, A World I Never Made, North Fork, Octet, The Girl With the High Rouge, In Search of Red River Dog, Naked by the River, An Unhappy Woman, Immortal Interlude, Getting in Touch With My Inner B*tch, Till Morning Comes, Slave Shack, Panama, Big Boys, Winterizing the Summer House, Piaf in Vienna, The Color of Flesh, Emil, Touch of Rapture, Beyond Gravity, A Child’s Guide to Innocence, The Good Daughter, Apostasy, The Best Man, Tilt Angel, Love and Murder, tempOdyssey, October 1962, Place Setting, And Her Hair Went With Her, Engaging Shaw, Poetic License, The Housewives of Mannheim, Dead Ringer, Exposure Time (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), Character Assassins, The Tangled Skirt (nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America), Puma, Night Train, The Judy Holliday Story, Jericho (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), American Stare, Release Point, Esther’s Moustache, Ants, Noir, Happy, Broomstick, Admit One, A View of the Mountains, Butler (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), Lucky Me, Dinner with the Boys, Angels and Ministers of Grace, and the musicals Immortal Interlude,Bookends, The Little Hours (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), and Date of Lifetime. His book Miklos Radnoti: The Complete Poetry in Hungarian and English was recently published by McFarland.

Special Thanks

Robert Massaro, MD

Robert Graebe, MD

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology

Monmouth Medical Center

Michael Goldfarb, MD

NJRep Thanks the Following for Their Support

The Shubert Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, The Stone Foundation of New Jersey, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, OceanFirst Foundation, Manasquan Bank Philanthropic Fund, Investors Bank Foundation, Community Foundation of New Jersey, Jewish Communal Fund, Darien Family Fund, Citizens Philanthropic Foundation, The Smart Family Foundation, NJEDA, The New Jersey Cultural Trust. 

Broadway News

	Cole Escola Cast as Bon Clay in Season 3 of Netflix's ONE PIECE
	Hot Tickets of the Week: CHESS, SPELLING BEE, and More
	Kristin Chenoweth Clarifies Idina Menzel Feud Rumors
	Broadway Streaming Guide: November 2025- What to Watch
	Complete Cast Set for QUADROPHENIA, A ROCK BALLET
	Norm Lewis & Michael Urie to Reunite for CHICKEN & BISCUITS Reading
	Video: In Rehearsals with the Cast of A CHRISTMAS CAROL
	Oscar-Nominated Actress Diane Ladd Passes Away at 89
	NASHA AMERICA Musical Will Get Industry Presentation
	Video: Watch the Final Trailer for THE ARTIST with Mandy Patinkin & More