The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program present MACBETH

The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program opens their 2017-18 season with Shakespeare's timely classic: Macbeth.

In a world beset by civil war and invasion, Macbeth and his artful lady are spurred on by three witches' prophecies and plot a series of murders designed to further their own ambitions, only to plunge their lives into madness. In their final MFA show, the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program's Class of 2018 brings Shakespeare's haunting masterpiece of ruthless ambition to life. Directed by Taibi Magar, Macbeth will run from Dec. 6th - 16th in the Helen Theatre at Playhouse Square.

"Macbeth is the story of seething ambition that destroys its country," says director Taibi Magar. "I couldn't think of a more fiercely relevant story to tell at this moment.

LAVOUR ADDISON (Macbeth) is a 2017 member of the Chautauqua Theatre Company, where he played Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. He was recently seen in Shakespeare in Love at CPH. CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program credits include She Stoops to Conquer, Clybourne Park, Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, and a cameo in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. At Cleveland Play House, he has performed in The CPH Centennial Plays, the world premiere of Quiara Alegría Hudes' The Good Peaches in collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra, and the world premiere reading of FEED by Eric Coble. Other credits include serving as the acting captain of the Hawaii Pirate Ship Adventures and working as a full-time member of the Professional Acting Company with the Honolulu Theatre for Youth. He recently played Macbeth with Oberlin Summer Theatre Festival. Favorite credits include The Wild Party, The Genteel Sabai, and Bug. I love you Brittni, Winnie, and Pixie.

TOMMY BILCZO (Fleance) is honored to be returning to the stage at Cleveland Play House with the CWRU/CPH MFA Class of 2018. Past productions at CPH include Shakespeare in Love (John Webster), Disney's Freaky Friday (Fletcher u/s, performed), and A Christmas Story (Ralphie, 2016). Tommy has also performed in numerous Cleveland area productions, most notably as young Josh in BIG: The Musical (Beck Center for the Arts); Gavroche in Les Miserables, School Edition (MAD* Factory); and Randy in A Christmas Story: The Musical (TrueNorth Cultural Arts Center). Tommy is a member of the CPH Theatre Academy's Musical Theatre Ensemble, and has also studied at the Beck Center, Baldwin Wallace University camps, and Broadway Artists Alliance in NYC. Tommy's vocal coach is MAD* Factory instructor Amber Michalak. Proud Equity membership candidate. Visit tommybilczo.com.

PAUL BUGALLO (Rosse/Porter) was raised in Seattle, where he discovered his passion for the performing arts. He attended Central Washington University, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatrical performance. Paul has performed in many of Seattle's professional spaces, including the Seattle Repertory and Center House Theatres, as well as improvisational theatres such as Unexpected Productions and Jet City Improv. Now residing in the proud city of Cleveland, Paul is absolutely ecstatic about finishing up his final year in the Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program. You may have seen him over the last two years in CWRU/CPH's productions of Clybourne Park and She Stoops to Conquer. Paul most recently appeared as Lord Tilney in CPH's 102nd season opening show Shakespeare in Love and as First Man in The Diary of Anne Frank.

Mariah Burks (Banquo Lady Macduff) graduated from Bowling Green State University with a BAC in musical theatre. She is beyond thrilled and blessed to be performing this show with her amazing classmates. Credits include Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde, Book of Days, Urinetown: The Musical, and Toxic Avenger. She received the 2015 National Irene Ryan Scholarship Acting Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Washington, D.C. Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program credits include Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, Clybourne Park, and She Stoops To Conquer; New Ground Theatre Festival at Cleveland Play House in The Nolan Williams Project: A New Musical. Other regional theatre works include Caroline, or Change as The Moon/Radio #1 at Tantrum Theatre. She was last seen as Mistress Quickly in CPH's Shakespeare in Love. She couldn't be more excited and humbled by this opportunity! Shout out to her mother for being a Wonder Woman! Enjoy the show!

KYLE CHERRY (Malcolm/Ensemble) has appeared at Cleveland Play House in Shakespeare in Love, the world premiere of The Good Peaches with the Cleveland Orchestra, the NGTF reading of The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh, The CPH Centennial Plays, and the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program's productions of Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, Clybourne Park, and She Stoops to Conquer. Other credits include The Seagull (Huntington Theatre Company), Gross Indecency (Bad Habit Productions), Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Brown Box Theatre Project), Romeo and Juliet, and To Kill a Mockingbird (New Repertory Theatre), as well as readings and workshops with the Cherry Lane Theatre, Red Bull Theater, and Theatre Now New York. He is a company member at The Middle Voice Theater Company in New York, for whom he has acted, written, and stage-managed. Kyle holds a B.A. in English from Tufts University.

SARAH CUNEO (Lenox/Ensemble) is a New Jersey native. She graduated from Princeton University in 2015 with a major in psychology and certificates in theatre and neuroscience. This year, Sarah appeared at CPH in The Diary of Anne Frank (Margot) and in Shakespeare in Love (Molly). Previously, she appeared in the New Ground Theater Festival in The Good Peaches by Quiara Alegría Hudes and in a staged reading of Little Row Boat or, Conjecture by Kirsten Greenidge. Previous CWRU/CPH credits include She Stoops to Conquer, Clybourne Park, and Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses. Other credits include Macbeth (Oberlin Summer Theater Festival), Red Noses (Lewis Center for the Arts), and The Real Inspector Hound (Princeton Summer Theater). Much love and appreciation to the entire CWRU/CPH family, to her father, and to her Schmev.

PETER HARGRAVE (Duncan/Ensemble) most recently appeared as Lord Wessex in Cleveland Play House's production of Shakespeare in Love and Third Man in The Diary of Anne Frank. Other CPH credits include The Good Peaches (world premiere) and The CPH Centennial Plays. New Ground Play Festival Reading: Titus in FEED by Eric Coble. CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program credits include She Stoops to Conquer, Clybourne Park, Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Peter has also worked regionally at Gateway Playhouse, Musical Theatre West, Texas Shakespeare Festival, and Disney Cruise Line. BFA: Abilene Christian University.

MEGAN MEDLEY (Lady Macbeth) is fired up to take the stage for one last hurrah with her seven buddies. She is so grateful to this class for all that they have shared in this program. Most recently, she had a blast playing in Shakespeare in Love here at CPH. Since joining the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program, she has performed alongside her classmates in She Stoops to Conquer, Clybourne Park, Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, and The Good Peaches. She had the wondrous opportunity to perform in the world premiere of These Mortal Hosts at the New Ground Theatre Festival. Other credits include Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Giselle (NoExit Performance); and Rapture, Blister, Burn (Theatre on the Square). She would like to thank her wonderfully supportive love Aurélien Bayo, her family, and her sweet kitties! Thank you for coming, and enjoy the show!

RANDY MERRILL (Macduff) is pumped to have the opportunity to share the stage one final time with the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program ensemble. Most recent credits include Shakespeare in Love (Robin, Understudy: Will), a regional premier of Really, Really (Jimmy), Clybourne Park (Jim/Tom), and She Stoops to Conquer (Charles Marlow). He has also recently appeared in La Cage Aux Folles (Jean Michele) at The Lake Dillon Theatre Co. and the original cast and International/Asia tour of Barbie Live! The Musical. He would like to thank his family and friends for their enduring love and support as well as the faculty and staff at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Play House! "Anon," my dear friends. "Anon."

Taibi Magar (Director) is an Egyptian-American director based in New York, and a graduate of the Brown/Trinity MFA program. Most recently, she directed the critically acclaimed Master at the Foundry Theatre (NYT Critics Pick). Other recent projects: Underground Railroad Game (Ars Nova, NYT Critics Pick, Obie Award for Best New American Work), Dry Powder (The Alley), We Are Proud to Present (The Guthrie). In New York, Taibi has directed and developed work for The Foundry, New York Theatre Workshop, Ars Nova, TFANA, the Women's Project Theatre, Rising Phoenix Rep, and INTAR Theatre. She is the recipient of a Stephen Sondheim Fellowship, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival Fellowship, a Public Theater Shakespeare Fellowship, the TFANA Actors and Director Project Fellowship, the Kaplan Fellowship, and is an alumni of Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Taibi has directed and taught at many academic institutions, including Juilliard, Fordham University, Brown University, and New York University. She is currently developing Patrick and Daniel Lazour's We Live in Cairo (2016 Richard Rodgers Award) with New York Theatre Workshop. Upcoming projects: Aleshea Harris' Is God Is (Soho Rep), Danai Gurira's Familiar (The Guthrie and Seattle Repertory Theatre), Lauren Yee's The Great Leap (Atlantic Theater Company).

ESERVE UNIVERSITY // CLEVELAND PLAY

The Design Team for Macbeth includes: JILL DAVIS (Scenic Designer), ANGELINA HERIN (Costume Designer), MICHAEL BOLL (Lighting Designer), NICHOLAS DRASHNER (Sound Designer), and DUSTIN WELCH (Fight Director). The Stage Manager for this production is AUSTIN KILPATRICK.

The CWRU/CPH MFA Program is led by Donald Carrier (Interim Director of CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program and Macbeth Production Liaison), and Jerrold Scott (Chair of CWRU Department of Theater).

Macbeth will take place in the Helen Theatre from December 6 - 16, 2017. Tickets are $15 for Wednesday and Thursday performances; Friday and Saturday performances are $20. Tickets are half off for currently enrolled students under age 25 with valid student ID, and Young Professional discounts available with YP-CPH Membership. To order single tickets please call 216-241-6000 or visit clevelandplayhouse.com. Groups of 10+ save at 216-400-7027.

Since 1996, Case Western Reserve University has partnered with Cleveland Play House. Every two years, eight actors are chosen from the hundreds who audition nationwide to join this rigorous three-year conservatory program. The CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program admits committed and bold young artists who possess a love of language, empathy for the human experience, a vivid imagination and the desire to develop the necessary physical and vocal skills for a successful and sustained career in the ever-evolving performing arts scene. All three years are spent in residency at Cleveland Play House, providing students with unique access to its new downtown Cleveland state-of-the-art facilities and the professional expertise of its staff. Program graduates include Rich Sommer (Mad Men, Buried Child), Elizabeth A. Davis (Once - Tony Award Nomination), AJ Cedeno (Z: The Beginning of Everything), Tom Degnan (Limitless), and Stephen Michael Spencer (Oregon Shakespeare Festival).

Recipient of the 2015 Regional Theatre Tony Award and founded in 1915, Cleveland Play House is America's first professional regional theatre. Throughout its rich history, Cleveland Play House has remained dedicated to its mission to inspire, stimulate and entertain diverse audiences in Northeast Ohio by producing plays and theatre education programs of the highest professional standards. It has produced more than 100 world and/or American premieres, and over its long history more than 12 million people have attended over 1,600 CPH productions. Today, Cleveland Play House looks toward its centennial while performing in three state-of-the art venues at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland. www.clevelandplayhouse.com

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Cleveland Play House with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. We also thank the residents of Cuyahoga County for supporting Cleveland Play House through Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

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