JOHN BIGUENET

John Biguenet has published ten books, including Oyster: A Novel, The Torturer’s Apprentice: Stories, and Silence, a nonfiction study on the nature of silence, as well as Foreign Fictions, two volumes on literary translation, and Strange Harbors, an anthology of international literature in translation, and other books. Biguenet’s radio play Wundmale, which premiered on Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Germany’s largest radio network, was rebroadcast by Österreichischer Rundfunk, the Austrian national radio and television network. Two of his stories have been featured in Selected Shorts at Symphony Space on Broadway. The Vulgar Soul won the 2004 Southern New Plays Festival and was a featured production in 2005 at Southern Rep Theatre; he and the play were profiled in American Theatre magazine. Named its first guest columnist by The New York Times, Biguenet chronicled in both columns and videos his return to New Orleans after its catastrophic flooding in 2005 and the efforts to rebuild the city. Rising Water, set in an attic on the first night of the flood, was the winner of the 2006 National New Play Network Commission Award, a 2006 National Showcase of New Plays selection, and a 2007 recipient of an Access to Artistic Excellence development and production grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the 2008 Big Easy Theatre Award for Best Original Play; it has had numerous productions in the U.S. and abroad. Shotgun, the second play in his Rising Water cycle, premiered in 2009 at Southern Rep Theatre; it won a 2009 National New Play Network Continued Life of New Plays Fund Award and was a 2009 recipient of an Access to Artistic Excellence development and production grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. As part of the play’s NNPN Rolling World Premiere, productions were mounted in 2010 at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater and Florida Studio Theatre. He was awarded a Marquette Fellowship for the writing of Night Train, which he then developed on a Studio Attachment at the National Theatre in London and later premiered at New Jersey Rep. Biguenet was named 2008 Theatre Person of the Year at the Big Easy Theatre Awards and received the Louisiana Writer Award, the state’s highest literary honor, in 2012. Mold, the third in his cycle of plays about the flooding of New Orleans and its aftermath, was produced in 2013 by Southern Rep Theatre and was published along with Rising Water and Shotgun in The Rising Water Trilogy in 2015. The trilogy has been called “the finest artistic achievement expressing the personal impact the flood had—and continues to have—on our lives today.” Also in 2013, New Jersey Rep presented the world premiere of Broomstick, the confessions of a witch (in rhymed iambic pentameter), as part of an NNPN Rolling World Premiere with later productions at Montana Rep, Artists Repertory Theatre, and The Fountain Theatre, where the play was selected as a Los Angeles Times Critics’ Pick. In addition, Biguenet’s work has received an O. Henry Award and a Harper’s Magazine Writing Award among other distinctions, and his stories and essays have been reprinted or cited in The Best American Mystery Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, The Best American Short Stories, Best Music Writing, and The Best of the Best. His books and plays have been translated into a dozen languages.

SUZANNE BARABAS

For NJ Rep, SuzAnne directed the world premiere of The Two Hander (with Jill Eikenberry and Ella Dershowitz), Find Me a Voice, North Fork (premiere), Immortal Interlude (premiere), Octet(premiere), Till Morning Comes (premiere), Maggie Rose, Getting in Touch With My Inner B*tch(starring Christine Lavin, premiere), The Adjustment, 10% of Molly Snyder, Romulus Linney’s Klonsky & Schwartz, Apostasy (premiere), Women Who Steal, Apple, The Housewives of Mannheim (premiere), Evie’s Waltz, Dead Ringer (premiere), Steven Dietz’s Yankee Tavern, Puma(premiere), Night Train (premiere), Just In Time: The Judy Holliday Story, Bakersfield Mist, Annapurna, Happy, Broomstick (premiere), Lucky Me (premiere), Swimming at the Ritz (U.S. premiere), and The Realization of Emily Linder (premiere). SuzAnne directed productions of The Housewives of Mannheim at 59E59 Theater (NYC), Ensemble Theater of Santa Barbara (CA), and Phoenix Theater (Indianapolis). In addition, she directed regional productions of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, The Fantasticks, The Roar of the Greasepaint the Smell of the Crowd, Cabaret,Shaw’s Heartbreak House, A.R. Gurney’s The Perfect Party, Marsha Norman’s ‘Night Mother,Philip Barry’s The Philadelphia Story, Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy, Mark Dunn’s Belles, Lee Blessing’s Down the Road among others. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, BMI, the Dramatists Guild, SDC, and LPTW.

JESSICA PARKS

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.

PATRICIA E DOHERTY

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

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

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.

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: With George St. Playhouse as Production Stage Manager: Dear Jack, Dear Louise, The Nerd, A Doll’s House Pt. 2, The Fabulous Lipitones. With the NJ Repertory Company as Production Stage Manager: Multiple Family Dwelling, & Juliet, Halftime w/Don, F-Theory, Mutual Philanthropy, The Calling, Wild Horses, Mercy, Apple Season, The Source, Surfing My DNA, Voyager One, Lily, Bone on Bone, The Promotion, Shrinking, Shrinking World, Welcome to Matteson! Kristin is a proud member of Actor’s Equity.

BRIAN SNYDER

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.

IAN DUHART

IAN DUHART is very excited to be a part of this show at NJ Rep. He just finished a run as Sebastian in The Little Mermaid and Gator in Memphis the Musical. He’s honored to be a part of this team, and hopes you all enjoy the show!

JANEY HUBER

Janey began her relationship at NJ Rep in 2004 as a patron & quickly became a subscriber: “They had me at Whores!” Janey brought close to 30 years of administrative experience to her 5-year role as Managing Director and is thrilled to remain in the NJ Rep family as Artistic Associate. Her previous theater management position was as Operations Director of Algonquin Arts Theatre in Manasquan, NJ. Janey has also been a Quality Assurance Consultant in healthcare since 1988 including 18 years at the Reading Birth & Women’s Center in PA and 10 years at the Frontier School of Midwifery in Kentucky. She served as Chief Financial Officer and then Executive Director of the Institute of Midwifery, Women, & Health, and Clinical Site Coordinator of The Midwifery Institute, both at Philadelphia University. She also served as the Director of Patient Services for a large Planned Parenthood affiliate in Pennsylvania for 2 years and for 11 years prior to that, worked at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, PA as a biology professor; serving as Academic Dean during her last 5 years at the college. Her BA and MS degrees, from East Stroudsburg University, are in aquatic biology.

JORDAN RYDER

Jordan Ryder is a New York-based choreographer, movement director, and dancer known for her innovative blending of storytelling and contemporary movement. A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Jordan serves as the Artistic Director of RyderDance, a contemporary dance collective that has performed across the United States. Committed to making contemporary work more accessible, she strives to bridge the worlds of commercial and concert dance/theater. Recently, she choreographed the Off-Broadway productions "White Rose The Musical" (2024) and "Singfeld! A Musical About Nothing" (2023). This ongoing evolution of her artistic practice keeps her curious, adaptable, and always learning. She is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).

JAMES LOCKHART

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.

JT 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.

JOEL STONE

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.

EVAN BERGMAN

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.

DEE DEE IRWIN

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.

GABOR BARABAS

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.