Case Western Announces Class of 2016 MFA Acting Students

The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program today announced its Class of 2016. The three women and five men represent eight different undergraduate programs from across the United States.

"It is always an exciting time for the program when a new MFA Acting class arrives to begin their intensive studies," says Ron Wilson, director of the program. "The students in the class of 2016 will have the distinction of being in residence at CPH during the theatre's 100th year anniversary."

CWRU/CPH MFA Program Class of 2016

NICK BARBATO hails from the frozen tundra that is Syracuse, NY, where he attended Le Moyne College, graduating in 2008 with a BA in English with a Theatre Arts Minor and is a founding member of the Central New York Shakespeare Company. After graduating, he interned at The Roundabout Theater Company in NYC, and worked primarily on the Roundabout Underground project. Favorite regional roles include: Edmund in King Lear, Yolland in Translations, and Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles. He also appears in the "Lose My Mind" music video by brit-pop sensation: The Wanted. He is extremely excited and grateful to begin his Acting MFA at CWRU/CPH this fall!

JEREMIAH CLAPP is beyond excited to be a member of the MFA acting program at Case Western Reserve University/CPH. He is a Houston, Texas native with a 2013 Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi where he has appeared as Steven in Farragut North, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Chorus in Henry V, Bartlett in Back of the Throat and Nikolay Ivanov in Ivanov. Jeremiah is an alumi of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting's (NYC) Chekhov Intensive Summer program. He is one of nine siblings and dedicates his success to his late mother, Patricia Kay Wicker.

ALEC HYNES is a 2013 graduating senior from Cornell College with a Bachelor of Specialized Studies in Theatre, Religion Studies, and Performance Studies. He has worked regionally in Iowa with Riverside

Theatre as Babbybobby in The Cripple of Inishmaan; Peter van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank; and

Sir Eglamour in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. He has also worked with Working Group Theatre as Milan Tradnovi? in the premiere of The Toymaker's War. Roles at Cornell include Mercutio inRomeo and Juliet; Clive/Edward in Cloud 9; and Nana in Milkmilklemonade.

MEGAN KING, of central Arkansas will graduate from the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith this June with her Bachelors degree in Theatre Performance. She previously attended Arkansas State University Beebe where she received her Associate of Fine Arts. Her most recent work includes a full length devised physical production, Dromnium, which was recently reviewed by a national panel from the Kennedy Center, and is now competing for awards on the national level. Along with acting Megan enjoys reading, playing piano, aerial silks, trapeze and partnered adagio. She looks forward to continuing her theatrical pursuits and moving to Cleveland to join the CWRU-CPH MFA Program.

JAY Ben MarksON is considerably aflutter at the prospect of attending CWRU this fall. Since graduating Dartmouth College in 2010 with a BA in Theatre and Creative Writing, he has lived and worked in the Boston area. Favorite roles include Fin in Mrs. Whitney (Merrimack Repertory Theatre) and Joe Crowell, Jr. in David Cromer's production of Our Town at the Huntington Theatre. Jay Ben also is ensemble member and Executive Director of MaineStage Shakespeare, a summer ensemble that provides outdoor theatre to the families of Kennebunk, ME, free of charge. Roles include Touchstone in As You Like It, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

RICKIE MCDOWELL is a 2012 graduate from Eastern Michigan University with a BA in Theatre Arts. Favorite roles and great learning experiences are Lorenzo from The Merchant of Venice, Adam from

Someone Who'll Watch Over Me and Cassio from Othello. Rickie has a passion for all aspects of film, ranging from acting to producing. His life outside of acting consists of family, athletics and the outdoors.

KATHRYN METZGER received her Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts and English from Case Western Reserve University in 2012. Most recently in her time at CWRU, she had the honor of performing as Nurse/Amaryllis in the MFA class of 2012's production of The Winter's Tale, as well as appearing in CWRU undergraduate productions of Top Girls and Les Liaisons Dangereuse. In the year since graduating, Kathryn has been working and enjoying family in her hometown of Seattle, WA. She will appear this summer in the San Juan Islands as Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew with Island Stage Left.

KATIE O SOLOMON Katie is very happy to be part of CASE/CPH MFA. She is a Baltimore, MD native. Katie graduated in 2010 Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science from Towson University's theatre program with a concentration in performance. She is a founding member of the Stillpointe Theatre Initiative which focuses on bringing music and movement to text and performing theatre in non-traditional settings. Last Summer she worked at WordBridge Playwrights Laboratory and ARTscape and this Summer she will be playing Dorinda in Everyman Theatre'sThe Beaux' Stratagem.

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