Why do theater?

Cherie Corinne Rice

“Human interaction becomes increasingly important in these digital times; to share love, joy, heartbreak, triumph, tears, fears and camaraderie is immediate and unfiltered in the theater. I continue to value the humanity in theater and strive to make lasting memories with my colleagues and audiences alike.”

Cherie is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area but has worked as an actor in NYC since graduating from the Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA acting program. Cherie most recently performed the role of Queen Hermione in The Winter's Tale at Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis. Her television work can be seen on the comedy series Nightcap (Pop TV). Cherie played Amanda in The Light Fantastic's The Glass Menagerie. Other favorite productions include Othello (Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis), Twelfth Night (Trinity Rep), and Sacred Water (Rag & Bone Theater). Cherie is also Head of Voice and Speech at Waterwell/Professional Performing Arts School in NYC.

Jedadiah Schultz

“Quantum entanglement is a physical phenomenon that occurs when pairs or groups of particles are generated or interact in ways such that the quantum state of each particle cannot be described independently—instead, a quantum state may be given for the system as a whole. Theater is a form of quantum entanglement, a way for us as humans to become whole, instead of separate.”

Jedadiah teaches acting at NYU/Playwrights Horizons Theatre School and at the Performing and Creative Arts Department, College of Staten Island, City University of New York. He has performed extensively as an actor in New York as well as regionally, and played Eddie in The Light Fantastic's A View from the Bridge and The Gentleman Caller in The Glass Menagerie.  He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and the University of Wyoming.

Per Janson, Artistic Director

“I sometimes feel a sort of bliss sitting in an audience alongside strangers, watching other strangers make something from nothing, and feeling the very notion of strangerhood slide away, and that, to me, is a little crack in the cement where plants might grow.”  

Per has worked previously with The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit, Ten Thousand Things, Trinity Repertory Company, Opera House Arts, Company of Fools, Guthrie Theater, Cherry Lane Theatre, and The Abbey Theatre (Dublin).  He directed The Light Fantastic's A View from the Bridge and The Glass Menagerie, and he is a graduate of Grinnell College, the Accademia dell’Arte, and Brown University/Trinity Rep (MA & MFA). 

Sylvia Kates

“When I sit in an audience full of strangers and hear their breath change, feel the vibrations of their laughter, or bathe in the silence of their awe, loneliness seems impossible. Good theater is truly communal— a breaking of bread for the spirit. I do theater for those experiences. And for the little girl in me who never outgrew playing pretend.”  

Sylvia played Laura in The Light Fantastic's production of The Glass Menagerie and Catherine in the company's tour of A View from the Bridge. She is a graduate of the Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA acting program. 

Will Shaw

“Theater lights upon the dark corners of our collective unconscious and leaves room for the sacred to breathe. No individual is sacrificed. The dust collected on the forgotten is brushed off. A new, unheard voice reverberates off an old form in the way I’d imagine a galaxy might birth a new star. Somehow, we touch the furthest reaches of the universe using only a morsel of human ingenuity.”

Will is a New York native and a graduate of the Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA acting program. He played Tom in The Light Fantastic's The Glass Menagerie and Marco/Mike in A View from the Bridge.