Once

Linda Bard (Swing) is ecstatic to be working with Olney Theatre Center for the first time. Previous credits include: Keegan Theatre: As You Like It; 4615 Theatre: Macbeth; Rorschach Theatre: 410[GONE], A Bid to Save the World; Adventure Theatre: Alexander and the Terrible...Day; The Welders: Hello, my name is...; Constellation Theatre Company: The Arabian Nights; Workhouse Arts Center: The 39 Steps; WSC Avant Bard: A Midsummer Night's Dream. Linda is a proud company member with Rorschach Theatre. She graduated from American University with a BA in Musical Theatre.

Carlos Castillo (Svec) is thrilled to return to Olney Theatre Center, where he was last seen as a Starkeeper in Carousel. DC: Adventure Theatre MTC: Fancy Nancy’s Splendiferous Christmas, Tinker Bell; Imagination Stage: Wonderland- Alice’s Rock & Roll Adventure; Kennedy Center TYA: JJ’s Arcade. REGIONAL: Arden Theatre Company: ONCE, Off Broadstreet Theatre: Altar Boyz. Carlos is also a Teaching Artist and Artistic Fellow at Adventure Theatre MTC. Insta: @ccastillomusic Website: ccastilloactor.com BA in Acting, Rider University.

Katie Chambers (Ex-Girlfriend) is so excited to make her acting debut at Olney Theatre. OFF-BROADWAY: The Cave, A Folk Opera. REGIONAL: Woolly Mammoth Theater: An Octoroon; Imagination Stage: Wake Up, Brother Bear!; Keegan Theater: Bridges Of Madison County, Big Fish, Parade, Next To Normal; Red Branch Theatre: Bridges Of Madison County. TV: Whose Wedding Is It Anyways?!, I Want That: Tech Toys. EDUCATION: MM in Cello Performance from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, BM in Cello Performance from University of Maryland, College Park

Nick DePinto (Bank Manager) Previous OTC credits include: Da (Oliver), Trumpery (Huxley), The Millionaress (Sagamore), Democracy (Uli), 13 Rue de L'amour (Jean-Pierre), Is He Dead? (Basil/King). TOURS: Chamber Theatre; National Players: Taming Of The Shrew(Petruchio); Much Ado . . . (Benedick). DC AREA: The Hub Theatre: The Late Wedding (The General) [Helen Hayes Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor]; Ally Theatre Company: Clover (Henry Adams); Shakespeare Theatre Company: All's Well That Ends Well(Dumaine); Washington Stage Guild: It's A Wonderful Life (Clarence). Kennedy Center: Shear Madness (Eddie). MUSIC DIRECTION: Imagination Stage: Robin Hood; We Happy Few: Hamlet Rock'n'Roll Mixtape. FILM: Meant To Be Broken (Luke). A veteran Voice Over Actor, Nick has voiced over 500 Cowboys, Aliens & Superheros with Graphic Audio. Nick is also the host of the Customs & Border Protection video that greeted you when you last entered the USA.

Ian Geers (Swing) is incredibly excited to be making his first appearance at Olney Theatre Center. NATIONAL TOUR: National Players Tour 66 (To Kill a Mockingbird, The Tempest, As You Like It). REGIONAL CREDITS:  Michigan Shakespeare Festival: Measure for Measure (Duke Vincentio, *Broadway World Nominee), The Rover (Freddy, *Broadway World Nominee), The Seagull (Constantine, *Broadway World Nominee), Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival: The Cmplt Wrks of Shkspre: Abridged (Daniel). TV: Chicago PD. EDUCATION: BFA Acting/Theatre Arts from Boston University. Ian is proudly represented by BMG Talent. Iangeers.com

Kyleigh Fuller (Ivanka) is delighted to be making her stage debut at age 5. She thanks her family, G. Gardner Talent Management and the entire Olney team for this wonderful opportunity.

Somaya Litmon (Ivanka), born in Prince William County, Virginia, is an energetic 5 year old that loves singing, dancing, and telling stories.  She was encouraged by her parents to pursue acting and modeling.  Somaya started doing print work at the age of 6 months. Previous Theatre credits include a skit: Beauty and the Beast (Beast) at Walt Disney World and The Christmas Show (Dancer) at the Learning Experience. She is happy to be apart of Olney Theater Center’s production of Once.

Craig MacDonald (Da) is delighted to return to Olney Theater Center. He was seen here last spring as Giles Corey  in The Crucible. Regional theater: Syracuse Stage, Moby Dick (The Carpenter), Count Dracula (Van Helsing); Theatre Squared: Once! (Da), All the Way (Senator Richard Russel); The Ivoryton Playhouse: The Game’s Afoot William Gillette); The Kitchen Theater: Peter and the Starcatcher  (Lord Aster); Centenary Stage: The Nether (Sims); Shadowland Theatre; Woody Guthries American Song (narrator/musician)  New London Playhouse: Little Women (Mr. Lawrence). A lifelong musician, he creates and records original music with his band, Old Scots. They have released four albums.  His thanks to Lisa, who makes this all possible. For more information video reel and production photos: http://www.craigmacdonaldactor.com and http://oldscots.com/

Gregory Maheu (Guy) is thrilled to be performing at Olney Theatre Center for the first time. Credits include: NEW YORK: NYMF: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, a Musical; The Toymaker. Momentum Rep: Assassins. REGIONAL: Studio Tenn: West Side Story, Wizard of Oz, Les Misérables. Hangar Theatre: Hair; Heritage Rep: Sunday in the Park with George; Merry Go Round: Austen’s Pride. D.C.-AREA: Ford’s: Ragtime; 110 in the Shade; Freedom’s Song; Violet; Hello, Dolly!, 1776; A Christmas Carol; Liberty Smith. Signature: Passion, Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd, Chess. Adventure: Big the Musical; Kennedy Center: Ragtime. Education: B.F.A., Elon University.

Emily Mikesell (Baruska) Olney Theatre debut! Off-Broadway: Woody Sez, Lone Star Love, Radio Gals, Cotton Patch Gospel, Swingtime Canteen. Regional: Arden Theatre: Once; Repertory Theatre of St. Louis: Georama; Barter Theatre: Stonewall Country; Capital Repertory Theatre: James Joyce’s the Dead, Striking 12, My Fair Lady, Man of La Mancha; Goodspeed Musicals: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Actors Theatre of Louisville: Pump Boys and Dinettes; Pasadena Playhouse: Oil City Symphony, La Mirada Entertainment: Smoke on the Mountain; Riverside Theatre: A Sanders Family Christmas.

Daven Ralston (Reza) is a DC-based actor, musician, and composer and has performed at various theaters and venues around DC. Select DC area theater credits include: How I Learned to Drive at Round House Theatre; The Winter’s Tale and As You Like It at Folger Theatre; Three Sisters, No Sisters at Studio Theatre; Everything is Illuminated at Theatre J; Top Girls and The Bockety World of Henry and Bucket at Keegan Theatre; Wonderland: Alice’s Rock and Roll Adventure at Imagination Stage; The Magi at Hub Theatre; A Bid to Save the World at Rorschach Theatre; Wild Sky at Solas Nua (company member); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Friendship Betrayed, and The Madwoman of Chaillot at WSC Avant Bard; Space Bop, and Snow Day at Arts on the Horizon; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at PG County Shakespeare Festival. When Daven is not acting onstage, she is working as a musician, songwriter, and teaching artist/music teacher in the DMV area.

Malinda Kathleen Reese (Girl) is thrilled to be making her Olney Theatre debut!  NEW YORK: Lincoln Center: At Home in the World; Powerhouse Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia).  TOUR: At Home In the World. DC: Adventure Theatre - MTC: Ella Enchanted (Ella); Constellation Theater Company: The Skin of Our Teeth; Folger Theater: The Second Shepherds Play; The Kennedy Center: The Night Before Christmas, The Snow Queen; Washington Stage Guild: Back to Methuselah; Arts on the Horizon: Drumming with Dishes.  LONDON: The Oval House Theater: The Unnatural Tragedy (world premiere); Creator of Translator Fails and MALINDA on YouTube. EDUCATION:  BA (honors) from Vassar College and the British American Drama Academy. www.youtube.com/Malinda

Brian Reisman (Eamon) is excited to be making his first appearance at Olney Theatre Center. REGIONAL: Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival: The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest, The Arabian Nights, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Delaware Shakespeare Festival: The Comedy of Errors. DC AREA: Round House Theatre: I’ll Get You Back Again; Shakespeare Theatre Company: Romeo and Juliet (FFA), Othello (+FFA), The Taming of the Shrew; Folger Theatre: King John, As You Like It; Constellation Theatre Company: The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

Dave Stishan (Billy) is feeling most triumphant to come back home and make his Olney Theatre Center debut. REGIONAL: Theatre West Virginia: All Shook Up (Chad); Shenandoah Conservatory: Dancing at Lughnasa (Gerry), Ragtime (Willie Conklin). NEW YORK: MidCity Productions: Riff Raff (Torch); Fifth Floor Theatre: subUrbia (Buff); Theatre for The New City: Lured (Sergei); Hamlet Isn’t Dead: The Taming of the Shrew (Lucentio). DC/MARYLAND AREA: Les Miserables (Grantaire); The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff). FILM: Correlation. TV: The Blacklist, Vinyl. EDUCATION: BFA in Acting from Shenandoah Conservatory.

John Sygar (Andrej) REGIONAL: Signature Theatre: Light Years; Imagination Stage: Robin Hood; Next Stop Theatre Co: East of Eden,Urinetown, Assassins; Constellation Theatre Company: Peter and the Starcatcher (Helen Hayes Award Best Ensemble); 1st Stage: Floyd Collins; Keegan Theatre: Ice Child; Adventure Theatre MTC: Knuffle Bunny, Garfield (Helen Hayes Nomination Best Supporting Actor) Pinkalicious, Artcentric: Jesus Christ Superstar. Education: BM Catholic University, London Dramatic Academy.

Christopher Youstra (Emcee/Music Director/Associate Artistic Director) As the past resident music director, Mr. Youstra has music directed and conducted around 40 musicals at Olney Theatre Center, including In the Heights, My Fair Lady, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Carmen: An Afro-Cuban Jazz Musical, Carousel, Godspell, How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and Avenue Q. He has also music directed at many of the other local theaters including Ford’s Theatre: Ragtime; Studio Theatre 2nd Stage: Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Passing Strange; Studio Theatre: Adding Machine: A Musical; Round House Theatre: Once on This Island, A Murder A Mystery A Marriage, The Summer of ‘42, and The World Goes ‘Round; Toby’s Dinner Theatre: Les Misérables, The Color Purple, Titanic, Beauty and the Beast; Imagination Stage; The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences; Arena Stage; Burn Brae Dinner Theatre; Montgomery College; American University; Musical Theatre Center; Signature Theatre; and Columbia Center for the Theatrical Arts. Mr. Youstra has been nominated for ten Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Music Direction and received the award for Titanic. He is director of music at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Columbia, has worked with both Phoenix Productions and Troika Entertainment national touring company and toured both Europe and Korea with Smokey Joe’s Café. As a composer, Mr. Youstra’s music has been heard throughout the area, including The Dancing Princesses at Imagination Stage, Big Nate: The Musical (with Jason Loewith), the Helen Hayes Awards, the 2014 Summer Hummer, and the opening gala of the ATLAS center.

Enda Walsh is a multi-award-winning Irish playwright. His work has been translated into over twenty languages and has been performed internationally since 1998. His plays include Ballyturk, Room 303, presented at the Galway International Arts Festival (2014), Misterman, presented by Landmark productions and GIAF in Ireland, London and New York (2011-2012); and several plays for Druid Theatre Company, including Penelope, which has been presented in Ireland, America and London, The New Electric Ballroom, which played Ireland, Australia, Edinburgh, London, New York, and Los Angeles, and The Walworth Farce, which played Ireland, Edinburgh, London and New York, as well as an American and Australian tour. He won Tony Award in 2012 for writing the book for the musical Once. His film work includes Disco Pigs (Temple Films/Renaissance) and Hunger (Blast/FILM4).

Glen Hansard is an Irish songwriter, actor, vocalist and guitarist for Irish group The Frames, and one half of folk rock duo The Swell Season. He is also an actor, having appeared in the BAFTA-winning film The Commitments, as well as starring in the film Once, which earned him an Oscar® for Best Song.

Markéta Irglová is a Czech singer-songwriter, musician and actress. She was previously a member of the band, The Swell Season with Glen Hansard. In 2008, she won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly".

John Carney is an Irish film and TV writer/director who specialises in low-budget indie and musical drama films. He is best known for his 2007 movie Once and the film Sing Street. He is also a co-creator of the Irish TV drama series Bachelors Walk.

Marcia Milgrom Dodge (Director & Choreographer) OLNEY THEATRE CENTER debut.  BROADWAY: Ragtime, Tony® Award Nomination for Best Director.  OFF-BROADWAY:   New York City Opera, The Public Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Cherry Lane Theatre, Active Theatre, 92nd Street Y, Merkin Concert Hall.  REGIONAL: Drury Lane Theatre,  Goodman Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Glimmerglass Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Play House, Huntington Theatre, Bay Street Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Music Circus.  DC AREA: Fords Theatre (110 In The Shade), Kennedy Center (My Fair Lady, Camelot, Children of Eden concerts; Tell Me On A Sunday, Sullivan & Gilbert), Arena Stage (On The Town, Merrily We Roll Along, Of Thee I Sing).  ABROAD: Nanta Theatre-Seoul, S. Korea: Cookin’; Fredericia Teater-Denmark: De Tres Musketeres; Royal Opera House-Muskat, Oman: The Music Man; Wintergardens Theatre-Blackpool, England: Goosebumps-Live On Stage. AWARDS: Winner of the Helen Hayes Award for Best Director of a Resident Musical (Ragtime, Kennedy Center), St. Louis Theatre Circle Award (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Best Director of a Play, The Rep), Joseph Jefferson Award (Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Outstanding Musical Revue, Drury Lane), Carbonell (Hello, Dolly! and The King and I,  Best Director of a Musical, Maltz Jupiter Theatre), Los Angeles Drama Critics (Cabaret, Best Revival, Reprise), Backstage Garland (How To Succeed…, Choreography, Reprise), Dora Mavor (Closer Than Ever, Outstanding Production, Young People’s Theatre), New York Outer Critics Circle (Closer Than Ever, Best Off-Broadway Musical, Cherry Lane) and Daytime Emmy Awards (Sesame Street Episode 3608: The Tango Festival, Outstanding Pre-School Series) and nominated for the Tony®, Drama Desk, Astaire & Drama League (Ragtime, Broadway & The Kennedy Center), Barrymore (Ain’t Misbehavin’, Philadelphia Drama Guild) and Edgar Awards (for the play Sherlock Holmes & the West End Horror by Anthony Dodge & MMD). EDUCATION University of Michigan.  ALSO:  A teacher, a wife, a mother, a proud executive board member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society and a published and produced playwright.  FOR: T, N & CJ.

Christopher Youstra (Emcee/Music Director/Associate Artistic Director) As the past resident music director, Mr. Youstra has music directed and conducted around 40 musicals at Olney Theatre Center, including In the Heights, My Fair Lady, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Carmen: An Afro-Cuban Jazz Musical, Carousel, Godspell, How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and Avenue Q. He has also music directed at many of the other local theaters including Ford’s Theatre: Ragtime; Studio Theatre 2nd Stage: Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Passing Strange; Studio Theatre: Adding Machine: A Musical; Round House Theatre: Once on This Island, A Murder A Mystery A Marriage, The Summer of ‘42, and The World Goes ‘Round; Toby’s Dinner Theatre: Les Misérables, The Color Purple, Titanic, Beauty and the Beast; Imagination Stage; The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences; Arena Stage; Burn Brae Dinner Theatre; Montgomery College; American University; Musical Theatre Center; Signature Theatre; and Columbia Center for the Theatrical Arts. Mr. Youstra has been nominated for ten Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Music Direction and received the award for Titanic. He is director of music at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Columbia, has worked with both Phoenix Productions and Troika Entertainment national touring company and toured both Europe and Korea with Smokey Joe’s Café. As a composer, Mr. Youstra’s music has been heard throughout the area, including The Dancing Princesses at Imagination Stage, Big Nate: The Musical (with Jason Loewith), the Helen Hayes Awards, the 2014 Summer Hummer, and the opening gala of the ATLAS center.

Michael Schweikardt (Scenic Designer) Selected Off-Broadway productions include: The Bus and the American Premier of Frank McGuinness’ Gates Of Gold (59 E 59); Bloodsong of Love (Ars Nova); The Black Suits (The Public Theater).  Selected Regional Credits include productions at Portland Center Stage; Theaterworks Hartford; Ford’s Theatre; The Old Globe; Cleveland Playhouse; Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Sarasota Opera; The MUNY; Papermill Playhouse and Goodspeed Musicals.  Tours: James Taylor’s One Man Band; ELLA; Motherhood the Musical.  Michael recently designed productions of Marie Antoinette The Musical and Phantom for EMK International in Seoul, South, Korea.   www.msportfolio.com

Frank Labovitz (Costume Designer). Olney Theatre Center/Round House Theatre: In the Heights. DC AREA: Round House: Caroline, or Change, NSFW, Ordinary Days and The Beauty Queen of Leenane; Studio Theatre: Wig Out!, Cloud 9, The Torch Song Trilogy; Signature Theatre: Jesus Christ Superstar, La Cage aux Folles, The Threepenny Opera, Dreamgirls [Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Costume Design]; Ford’s Theatre: The Glass Menagerie; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: Guards at the Taj, The Totalitarians, You For Me For You; Mosaic Theater Company: Charm; Pointless Theatre Company: Dot: a Rotoplastic Ballet, Doctor Caligari, Sleeping Beauty: a Puppet Ballet.

Colin K. Bills (Lighting Designer) is an Olney Artistic Associate, where he has previously designed Sweeney Todd, Evita, Guys & Dolls, Marjorie Prime and Colossal, among others.  He is a Company Member at Woolly Mammoth where he has designed over fifty productions, including An Octoroon, Gloria, Clybourne Park and The Convert.  As a Conspirator with the devising company dog & pony dc, he has collaborated in the writing, direction and design of A Killing Game and Beertown. His designs have been seen at Arena Stage, The Berkshire Theater Festival, CENTERSTAGE, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Court Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Everyman Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, 59E59, Forum Theatre, Imagination Stage, Intiman Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Marin Theatre Company, Metro Stage, Mosaic Theater, Opera Lafayette, Opéra Royal Versailles, Pasadena Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Round House Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Smithsonian, Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre, Synetic Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Theater J, The Washington Revels, The Wilma Theater, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival.  Colin has won three Helen Hayes Awards and is a recipient of a Princess Grace Fellowship in Theater.  He is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

Matt Rowe (Sound Designer) is proud to be back at Olney. Olney Theatre Center: In The Heights, My Fair Lady, Sweeney Todd, A Chorus Line; Kennedy Center: Orphie, And The Book Of Heroes, First You Dream, Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred!); Nobody’s Perfect. MetroStage: The Last Five Years; Signature Theatre: Miss Saigon, Company, The Last Five Years, Shakespeare’s R&J, Dreamgirls, Dying City, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Xanadu, God of Carnage, Brother Russia, Really Really, Hairspray (Helen Hayes nomination), A Second Chance, Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South, The Boy Detective Fails, The Hollow, Side by Side by Sondheim, Art, And the Curtain Rises, Sunset Boulevard, Walter Cronkite is Dead, A Fox on the Fairway, Chess, Sycamore Trees, [title of show], Sweeney Todd, Show Boat, First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb, Dirty Blonde, Giant, The Little Dog Laughed, Les Miserables, Anyone Can Whistle in concert, The Visit, The Happy Time, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Glory Days, Merrily We Roll Along, The Witches of Eastwick. Norwegian Cruise Lines: Million Dollar Quartet, Rock Of Ages.

Lynn Watson (Dialect Coach) Olney Theatre Center: The Price, The King and I, Neville’s Way, Camelot, 1776. Regional: (West Coast) four seasons at South Coast Repertory; A.C.T. (San Francisco): A Streetcar Named Desire; Mark Taper Forum (LA): Skylight. DC area: Arena Stage: 25+ productions including Pajama Game, Carousel, Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof, Moon for the Misbegotten, The Misanthrope, M. Butterfly, A Time to Kill, The Great White Hope; Kennedy Center: The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Ford’s Theatre; Signature Theatre; Round House. Past president-Voice and Speech Trainers Association and professor of theater at UMBC.

Karen Currie (Production Stage Manager) OLNEY THEATRE CENTER: In the Heights.  NYC: The Last Session; KENNEDY CENTER: Digging Up Dessa, Oliverio, Mockingbird, Orphie and the Book of Heroes; SIGNATURE: Heisenberg, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Fix, Cabaret, Saturday Night, Sycamore Trees, The Happy Time; THEATER J:  Trayf, Roz and Ray, The Christians, The Last Schwartz, Another Way Home, Sons of the Prophet, G-D’s Honest Truth, Yentl, Freud’s Last Session, After the Revolution, The Whipping Man, The Religion Thing, Imagining Madoff, The Odd Couple, The Four of Us, Lost in Yonkers, The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall, Honey Brown Eyes, Speed the Plow; FOLGER THEATER: As You Like It; EDUCATION: M.A. in Arts Management, American University.