2018: Seeing Red: A Time-Traveling Musical - Archived Bios
SCRIPT & DIRECTION:
Rotimi Agbabiaka (Writer, SFMT Collective) has performed on the Mime Troupe stage WALLS, Schooled, Oil & Water, and Posibilidad, or Death of The Worker, and Freedomland. He most recently appeared in Father Comes Home From The Wars ... at Yale Rep and American Conservatory Theatre and Black Rider at Shotgun Players, Bootycandy at Brava Theater, Schooled with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Sojourners and runboyrun with Magic Theatre, Hair with Bay Area Musicals, Holiday High Jinx with Word for Word, Choir Boy at Marin Theatre Company, The Amen Corner with Alter Theater, We Are Proud To Present... at Just Theater, and Raisin in The Sun at Cal Shakes. He is a former cast member at Beach Blanket Babylon, and his solo play, Homeless, won Best Solo Performance at the SF Fringe Festival. His latest play, Type/Caste, received the Theatre Bay Area award for Best Solo Production. As a director, Mr. Agbabiaka helmed the world premiere of VS. at TheatreFirst and has also directed plays for SF One Minute Play Festival and the SF Mime Troupe's Youth Theater Project. He studied at Moscow Art Theatre and earned his MFA from Northern Illinois University.
Joan Holden (Script/Story Advisor) was resident playwright for the SF Mime Troupe from 1967 to 2000, the decades when the Troupe won three Obie (Off-Broadway) awards and a Tony. Often with composer/lyricist Bruce Barthol, she wrote or co-wrote more than three dozen shows, including The Independent Female, The Dragon Lady's Revenge, False Promises, the Factwino trilogy, Ripped Van Winkle, Steeltown, Seeing Double, Back to Normal and City For Sale, while moonlighting as translator/adapter of works by Beaumarchais, Dario Fo, and Ben Jonson for the ACT, Berkeley Rep, and the Eureka Theatre. Nickel and Dimed, Holden's stage adaptation of Barbara Ehrenreich's exposé of low-wage work, opened at the Intiman Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum in 2001 and remains in near-constant production at college and community theaters around the country. Her latest (2016) play is bilingual: La Pastorela Sactown, co-written with songwriter Eduardo Robledo and produced by the Latino Center for Arts and Culture, Sacramento.
Ira Marlowe (Composer, Lyricist) recently landed a post teaching songwriting in UC Berkeley's Music Department. He's been called "the love-child of Tom Waits and Tom Lehrer" and writes a wide variety of songs, heard in such far-flung places as KFOG; NPR; the Dr. Demento Show; the Reader Rabbit series of educational CDs; and the Diner Dash video game series. He's written and performed two one-man musicals: 2004's How to Writea Song and the 2013 spook-fest, Mortimus Greely's Haunting School. That show was followed in 2014 by, Tales From Varley Mansion, which also featured SFMT's Lisa Hori-Garcia and Rotimi Agbabiaka. Five years ago Ira opened The Monkey House on Berkeley's University Ave., a combination performance space, Pro Tools recording studio, and music and writing classroom. Ira proudly served as composer/lyricist for the 2014's Ripple Effect, 2015's Freedomland, and 2016's Schooled. He is currently shopping his musical screenplay Brother Time, about two aging musicians who hire a handsome kid from the projects to front for them.
Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe (Director) has directed productions at SF Playhouse, Aurora Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI; Capital Repertory in Albany, NY; Southern Rep in New Orleans; Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles; Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Woolly Mammoth in DC; Curious Theatre in Denver; 42nd Street Theatre, NY; and TheatreWorks, Palo Alto and the SF Mime Troupe. Additional Edris has toured nationally and internationally for six years with the Troupe as an actor appearing in The Mozamgola Caper, I Ain't Yo Uncle, & Rats: A Dream Play. In 2003, her Bay Area production of John Henry Redwood's The Old Settler, received the Dean Goodman Award for Excellence. Her Dallas production of The Old Settler received Best Production and two Best Acting Awards from Dallas' Rabin Awards and in 2006, she received her second Rabin nomination for her direction of Neil LaBute's This Is How It Goes at Water Tower. Other directing credits include the West Coast premiere of Relativity at the Magic Theatre, Stealin' Home at Exit Theatre; Crying Holy at Theatre Rhinoceros, and Urban Zulu Mambo and Blue/Orange at Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. She has taught and directed at Indiana University, Naropa University, Las Positas College and American Conservatory Theatre's MFA program in San Francisco. With the award winning company she founded - Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience, - Edris has directed the Bay Area premieres of In A Daughter's Eyes by A. Zell Williams, Robert O'Hara's Bootycandy, Zakiyyah Alexander's Sweet Maladies, On The Hills Of Black America and Hollis Mugley's Only Wish +2 by Keith Josef Adkins. Chain and Late Bus To Mecca by Pearl Cleage and Will He Bop, Will He Drop? by Robert Alexander. Edris holds an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Iowa and is an alumna of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors. Additional training has included theatre research and performance at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and at Shakespeare & Company in Tanglewood, Massachusetts. She has directed two films, The Green Goddess for Enlightenment Productions and her own independent series of satirical PSAs entitled The Third Side.
Michael Bello (Musical Director, SFMT Collective) graduated with honors from the Jazz department at Sonoma Sate University in '06 with a bachelor's degree in funkology. He has played in clubs, halls and at major festivals touring throughout the US with many projects. Bello is a multi-instrumentalist who has composed and performed with a wide range of groups. Check out some of the current bands Bello is playing with, some require you to bring your dancing shoes and others to bring your dancing ears - Strike Iron! Heavy Afrobeat, Latin Rhythm Boys - Puerto Rican music, Telepathy - boundary pushing original Jazz, Humiors - solid funk and R&B, Ernest Ranglin - reggae, jazz, ska (in the 1950's created ska next to Rico Rodriguez), FogDub - Reggae Dub, Miles Ahead Group - Miles Davis Tribute 70's, Molly Maguire - Singer/songwriter, David Jeffery's Jazz Fourtet, Sean Nelson's OMEN: including some projects he is affiliated with on a semi regular basis - Phil Lesh and friends - Grateful Dead, Midnight North - rock, folk, Cuban Salsa with Rumbache and Fito Reinoso, Go By Ocean - folky, funky, singer/songwriter rock, Modern Dance with Lisa Townsend.
Kimberly Richards (Choreographer) launched her versatile career 45 years ago: actress, aerialist, choreographer, comedienne, dancer, director, and illusionist. She was an original member of the Berkeley Mime Troupe. Her choreography credits include numerous productions in Las Vegas, and at the SF Playhouse including She Loves Me (2016), A Christmas Story - The Musical (2017), and the currently running Sunday in the Park with George. She won 3 BATCC Outstanding Choreographer Awards for My Fair Lady (2012), Company (2015), and La Cage aux Folles (2017), as well as multiple Choreography nominations from BATCC and TBA for Promises, Promises (2014) and Into the Woods (2014). She was co-choreographer for Abe Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party, awarded Best New Play in the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival. Since 2001, Kim has toured the continent starring as "Sister" in all 7 installments of the hit one-woman comedy series Late Nite Catechism.
Marilet Martinez (Fight Choreographer) is a bilingual actor, teaching artist, fight choreographer, improviser, physical theatre deviser, puppeteer, and certified Zumba instructor. Marilet has performed with The San Francisco Mime Troupe, ACT's The Strand, Cal Shakes, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor, Theatreworks' New Works Festival, Word for Word, PCPA Theatrefest, Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire, African-American Shakes, Woman's Will, Teatrovision, Impact Theatre, and Cutting Ball. She is a Master Teaching Artist in consultation with Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre. She currently lives in Chicago where she interns at the Second City and performs at The Annoyance and iO.
Lynne Soffer (Dialect Coach)
CAST:
Andre Amarotico (Actor) is thrilled to be making his SFMT debut. Andre graduated from Stanford University, with a double major in political science and theater. As an undergrad, he had the opportunity to play the title roles in both Hamlet and Macbeth. He has performed all across the Bay Area. Recent roles include the Baker in Into the Woods, and John Jasper in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. He was nominated for a Theater Bay Area Award for best actor in a featured role in Ross Valley Players' production of The 39 Steps. Andre has also appeared in various productions with Word for Word Performing Arts Company, including Andy in Smut, and Arthur Lisch in Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Additionally, he has performed at the Cutting Ball Theater, Stanford Repertory Theater, and New Conservatory Theater Center.
Lisa Hori-Garcia (Actor, SFMT Collective) has been a principal actor and collaborator for the Mime Troupe since 2004. In 2016, she received a TBA Nomination for Best Principal Actress in a Musical for her performance in SFMT's show Freedomland. She is also the program director and lead teacher of both the Mime Troupe's Youth Theater Project (YTP) and summer intensive theater workshop. Lisa works with other Bay Area companies, such as Cal Shakes, A.C.T., Marin Theatre Company, The Magic Theatre, Berkeley Rep, and Word for Word. Lisa is a former Ensemble Member & Production Manager with New WORLD Theater in Amherst, MA and received her BA from Smith College and MFA in Acting from the University of Southern California.
Keiko Shimosato Carreiro (Actor, SFMT Collective) was born in Cambridge Massachusettes. Keiko holds a BFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and an MA in Multimedia from the University of Iowa. She arrived in San Francisco with the Horse Drawn, Caravan Stage Company of Canada. She has been a lead actor, designer and director for the Mime Troupe since 1987. Keiko has designed costumes for many Bay Area Theater companies including, Berkeley Rep, S.F. Shakespeare in the Parks, The Asian American Theater Company, African American Shakespeare Company, Crowded Fire and Custom Made Theater as well as the San Francisco Mime Troupe. She has appeared in many productions at Bay Area Theaters including, Berkeley Rep, The Aurora, The Magic Theater, Center Rep, ACT, Life on the Water, and of course the Mime Troupe. She directed City for Sale and Gotta Getta Life for the Mime Troupe, and Cowboy versus Samurai for the Asian American Theater Company. Most recently she played the role of "Grace" at Center Reps' production of Philip Kan Gotandas' The Sisters Matsumoto, and Eugenie Chans', Madame Ho at the Exit. Keiko is a Teaching Artist with the San Francisco Opera Guild where she loves to turn young people on to performance and music. On the horizon? She is hoping to go to Japan to study Bunraku, and other forms of Japanese puppetry.
Michael Gene Sullivan (Actor, SFMT Collective) has performed in, written, and/or directed over thirty SFMT productions. As an actor Sullivan has also appeared in productions at the American Conservatory Theater, Californian Shakespeare Theatre, Theatreworks, San Francisco Playhouse, Denver Center Theater Company, The Aurora Theatre, The Magic Theatre, The Marin Theatre Company, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theater, and San Jose Repertory Theater. Michael has been a principal actor in Mime Troupe plays since 1988, performing in Freedomland, Ripple Effect, For The Greater Good, 2012: The Musical, Posibilidad, Too Big To Fail, Making a Killing, GodFellas, Doing Good, Showdown at Crawford Gulch, Mister Smith Goes to Obscuristan, Eating it, Damaged Care, Soul Suckers form Outer Space, Revenger Rat, Escape to Cyberia, Offshore, Social Work, I Ain't You uncle, Back to Normal, Rats, Seeing Double, and Ripped Van Winkle. His directing credits at SFMT include Schooled, For The Greater Good, Red State, Veronique of the Mounties, 1600 Transylvania Avenue, Killing Time, and Coast City Confidential, Michael has also directed for the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, African American Shakespeare Company, Mystic Bison Theater, and Circus Finelli. Michael is a Resident Playwright for the Playwrights' Foundation, a 2017 Resident Artist at the Djerassi Arts Center, from 2009 - 2016 he was a blogger for The Huffington Post, and Michael has been SFMT's Resident Playwright since 2000. His scripts for SFMT include Walls (2017 nominee, World Premiere musical, Theatre Bay Area Awards.), Schooled (with Eugenie Chan) Freedomland, Ripple Effect (with Eugenie Chan and Tanya Shaffer), For The Greater Good, Posibilidad, Too Big To Fail (2009 nominee, Best Original Script, San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle), Red State (2008 nominee, Best Original Script, San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle), Making A Killing, GodFellas, Showdown at Crawford Gulch, Veronique of the Mounties, Mr. Smith Goes to Obscruristan, and 1600 Transylvania Avenue. As a contributing writer his SFMT scripts include Eating it, Soul Suckers From Outer Space, Escape to Cyberia, Offshore, and Social Work. His non-SFMT scripts include his all-woman political farce Recipe, (Central Works, winner of the Israel Baran Playwriting Award,) Red Carol (his adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol), the historical drama fugitive/slave/act, and his award-winning one person show, Did Anyone Ever Tell You - You Look Like Huey P. Newton? His critically acclaimed stage adaptation of George Orwell's 1984 opened at the Actors' Gang Theatre under the direction of Tim Robbins in 2006, and has since been performed across Europe, Asia, Australia, Central and South America, and the United States, and in 2018 will premiere in Amsterdam and Kiev, Ukraine. Michael's 1984 has been translated into Spanish, Russian, Catalan, and Dutch. Michael is also resident teacher of SFMT's Young California Writers Project, and in 2018 begins teaching playwriting for the American Conservatory Theatre.
MUSICIANS:
Patrick Byers (Musician) first cut his teeth in San Francisco with the swing and ska revival scenes of the late nineties, and has not slowed since. Between tours, he earned his Jazz Performance degree from Sonoma State University. Out of college, he made the switch to performing Afrobeat and world music, touring nationally and beyond with many of the Bay Area's top Afrobeat bands. As the music industry changed and touring became less profitable, the focus switched to becoming one of the most in-demand baritone saxophonists in Northern California, as well as adding flute, guitar, percussion, and melodica to his arsenal. Specializing in Jazz, West African, Funk, various Caribbean, Rock, Blues, and New Orleans style music, Patrick continues to play with a diverse group of musicians and bands.
Andrew Niven (Musician) is an Oakland based drummer and music teacher. Andrew worked as a drummer in LA, touring with the classic psychedelic rock group The Magic Band and performing with Alexy Yeghikian, Balkan -fusion outfit Zaub Nasty, Ghostlight Orchestra and many others. In 2014 Andrew returned to the Bay Area and has since recorded and performed with Miles Schon, Tony Saunders, Vela Eyes and The Atom Age. In 2015, Andrew performed as the percussionist for the Berkeley Repertory Theater's production of One Man, Two Guvnors. Andrew fronts his own jazz group The Android Trio with fellow members of The Magic Band and teaches drums in Oakland.
Daniel Savio (Musician, SFMT Collective) started his professional theater career playing for the San Francisco Mime Troupe, participating in the tours for GodFellas ('06), Making a Killing ('07), Freedomland ('15), and Schooled ('16) and he is delighted to be back in the pit this summer. He was co-composer/lyricist, with SFMT vet Bruce Barthol, of the play FSM ('14, Stagebridge Senior Theater), written by fellow SFMT vet Joan Holden. Daniel has composed the scores of four musicals for young audiences at Stagebridge, all with book and lyrics by Josiah Polhemus. He also composed original music for an early production of Lauren Yee's A Man, His Wife, and his Hat ('11, AlterTheater). Daniel plays keyboards for The 808 Band, winner of the 2011 North Bay Bohemian Award for Best Hip Hop Band, which has backed many hip hop and reggae performers including KRS-ONE, MC Radioactive, and Robert Herrera. He has performed as an improv pianist with the Antic Witties, the Un-Scripted Theater Company, 6th Street Improv!, and the Midnight Matinee. Daniel has a BA in Music from the University of California at Santa Cruz and studies with Bay Area composer Michael Kaulkin.
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Carlos Aceves (Scenic Designer, Charge scenic artist) works as a scenic designer, painter, and props maker all over the bay area. He is happy to return to SFMT after designing WALLS this past year. Favorite designs include: The North Plan (Renegade Theatre Experiment), The Awakening (Breadbox Theatre), The Emperor Jones (Eugene O'Neill Foundation), The Birthday Party (The Dragon Theatre), Belleville (Custom Made Theatre) and, A Few Good Men (Hillbarn Theatre). When he is not designing, Carlos works as the charge scenic artist for P.A.C.T. He would like to thank his family, friends, mentors, colleagues, and every mix thereof. This accomplishment would not have been possible without you. And a special thanks to the San Francisco Mime Troupe, for their commitment to excellence, and for making him feel so welcome.
Bethanie Baeyen (Stage Manager) is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association. She has piloted into existence more than 200 shows as a Stage Manager for dance, plays operas and classical concerts. Companies she has worked for include: CalPerformances, Philharmonia Baroque, Post:Ballet, Epiphany Productions, California Shakespeare Theater, San Francisco Opera's Merola Program, Marin Theater Co., Shotgun Players, PlayGround Inc., Opera San Jose, Livermore Valley Opera, Sacramento Opera, Encore Theatre Co., California Revels, Music Circus, Opera Boston, and le Theatre Mouffetard in Paris, France. Directing credits include: Noises Off!, The Pied Piper and Amahl and the Night Visitors. She studied at the Dell 'Arte School of Physical Comedy, The San Francisco Mime Troupe, the Universite de Paris Sorbonne Nouvelle and CSU Sacramento where she earned a BA in Theatre Arts.
R. Black (Poster Designer), originally from San Diego, got his start there 18 years ago doing local underground club fliers and rock posters. The underground years gathered the attention of Dark Horse Comics to publish is first art book in 2004. 2011 saw his return to San Diego becoming the first poster illustrator for the San Diego Opera for a three year run. That year also gave him national attention with the posters he did in support of the Occupy movement. Those posters are currently on display in many national and international galleries. R.Black is currently the artist in residency for the Shotgun Players a national critically acclaimed theatre company in Berkeley, Ca. You can see his murals monthly on the Ashby Stage and around the Bay Area.
Marie Cartier (Props Master) has been working with the Mime Troupe since 2012. A native San Franciscan, her theater practices encompass a variety of roles, including performing, lighting design, education and properties. She is also a visual artist working in mediums ranging from painting to jewelry to zinemaking and more! Marie has just completed the Emerging Artist in Residence program at SFMT, by co-writing and performing her original work, Yesterday is Tomorrow.
Marissa Ellison (Tour Manager) is excited to begin her professional theater career with the Mime Troupe! Born and raised in Wisconsin, she has been a theater-lover since her 3rd grade debut as an orphan in Annie. Her relationship with the Troupe began in the summer of 2017, when she spent her summer as a workshop student with the Troupe. Marissa is expected to graduate in May 2018 with her BA in Theatre - Performance from Marquette University, and she is excited to have the opportunity to work with such passionate theater professionals!
Callie Floor (Costume Designer) since coming to the Bay Area in 1987, has designed for many theaters, including ACT, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, California Shakespeare Theatre, Zaccho Dance Theatre, Word for Word and Theater of Yugen. Recent projects include Fidelio for West Bay Opera, Widowers Houses for The Aurora Theatre and Skeleton Crew for Marin Theatre Co. She is happy to once again work for The San Francisco Mime Troupe having last designed Doing Good in 2005. Other Mime Troupe credits include Showdown at Crawford Gulch, Trece Dias, Coast City Confidential and Seeing Double. Ms. Floor earned her BFA from the University of Utah and her Higher Diploma in Theatre Design from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London. She is the Costume Rentals Supervisor for ACT and resident designer for California Revels.
Robert "Bo" Golden (Technical Director) was cast as Berger in the Professional Equity Chicago Company of HAIR, followed by the NY Broadway Co, then the National tour. He performed in other shows on and off Broadway until he co-founded his own production touring company with a partner. There he took on the role of performer, director, and scenic designer and toured with Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease, O' Calcutta, and many more. That's where he got the bug for the tech side of theatre! Using his artistic background, he began learning everything he could about scenic & sound design. He has sung in a couple of jingles, done print work, and even did a commercial for jeans. Since moving to the Bay Area from NYC six years ago, he has designed over 25 shows, and built, painted, or assisted in over 30 builds. His sets have been nominated 3 times for best scenic design. In his spare time he sings and plays guitar of his own music as well as Blues and covers at the various open mics in the Bay Area. Bo is excited to be once again the Troupe's Technical Director this summer!
Taylor Gonzalez (Sound Designer/Operator) first started working with the San Francisco Mime Troupe 12 years ago while in high school. His work began with the Youth Theater Project as a student. Since then he has taught as well as designed lights and sound for the youth program. This will be Taylor's third full summer with the Troupe and first summer as a Collective Member. While not working with the Troupe Taylor spends his time as a studio engineer for local bands, as well as a sound designer for various theaters around the bay area.
Kevin Richmond (Carpenter) has done; Carpentry/ Set Construction, Fly Rail Operation, Light Board Operation, Lighting Technician, Deck Crew and most recently Assistant Stage Management at Solano Community College where he is currently enrolled as Technical Theatre Major. Kevin has been employed by Rhino Staging and Event Solutions and has worked as a stagehand throughout the greater Bay Area. Outside of the immediate Bay Area Kevin has worked with Role Players Ensemble in Danville, CA and with Summer Repertory Theatre in Santa Rosa, CA. Kevin thanks everyone who has supported him and is excited to be working with the Troupe for his first time and looks forward to wherever he may go next.
Karen Runk (Production Stage Manager, Web Programmer) moved to SF with the intention of only staying for a few months. Nearly two decades later she's still here! This is largely due to the talented folks at the Troupe. Runk first experienced the Troupe by stage managing two 97 youth projects, Revenger Rat Meets the Merchant of Death and Inside Out. After which she ran screaming into the arms of the Magic Theatre and there she stayed, contently for two years. The Troupe then wooed her back for their 99 Summer Production City For Sale. Still under the Troupes wooing spell she's stage managed a plethora of their summer shows and has only managed to escape, successfully, one full summer back in 02 when she worked with SFShakes.