As a working member of the Los Angeles Intimate theatre community, we wear the collective mantle as artist activists, tasked with telling stories that reflect the world around us. It is an intensely collaborative community. I have had the privilege of working alongside so many of my fellow artists and creators as both a performer and director. The addition of casting was a natural one. I have a twenty-year background in Commercial and VO casting here in LA, so the process is in my DNA.
Having worked alongside so many of our performing artists and seeing anywhere from 70-100 plays and readings throughout the year, I have a unique perspective when suggesting actors to directors and producers seeking my expertise. It also allows me to recommend exciting, trained, seasoned actors to up-and-coming filmmakers to help their stories truly land.
As the current Manager of Casting at the AFI Conservatory, I am doing exactly that. I take great pride in being uniquely situated to assist in the creation of theatrical families, of film tapestries, and of finding the right voices for our stories to sing.
LOST GIRLS by John Pollono
Directed by John Perring Flynn
Rogue Machine Theatre 2013
Cast: Joshua Bitton (Prime's The Diggers), Ann Bronston, Anna Theoni DiGiovanni, Peggy Dunne, Isidora Goreshter, Kirsten Kollender, Jonathan Lipnicki (Jerry Maguire), and Jennifer Pollono
"Pollono’s play is ostensibly a naturalistic drama but he can’t help lacing his dialogue with hilarious lines…Rogue Machine artistic director John Perrin Flynn directs the drama brilliantly, subtly directing our eye to catch every facial expression and reaction."
- Arts Beat LA
"This is one smart, compelling play, with characters you come to care about and a denouement that not only takes it up to a whole new level, it makes Lost Girls the kind of play you want to see a second time with opened eyes."
- StageScene LA
THE JUDAS KISS by David Hare
Directed by Michael Michetti
Boston Court Theatre 2019
Cast: Rob Nagle, Colin Bates, Darius De La Cruz, Will Dixon, Matthew Campbell Dowling, Mara Klein and Kurt Kanazawa
"In a beautifully paced and sensitive staging, director Michael Michetti has assembled a mostly workmanlike cast that deftly handles the permutations of Hare’s challenging text.
The problem of this production — if it can be said to be a problem — is that Nagle gives such a towering performance that he threatens to dwarf all those in his orbit."
- Kathleen Foley, LA TIMES
"The Judas Kiss, which receives a strong, well-acted production at Boston Court Pasadena."
- Terry Morgan, Stage Raw
"Boston Court Pasadena's artistic director Michael Michetti assuredly directs his pitch-perfect cast."
- Gil Kaan, Broadway World
Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Michael Michetti
Boston Court Theatre 2017
Cast: Jaimi Paige, Desean Kevin Terry (The Morning Show), Maya Lynne Robinson (CBS's The Unicorn), Luis Kelly-Duarte, Mariana Marroquin, Joma Saenz, Chris Ramirez, Martica De Cardenas and Paul Outlaw
"Michael Michetti’s revitalizing production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire at the Boston Court Performing Arts Center shakes out the cobwebs of an American classic that hasn’t felt this fresh in a long time.
The casting of Michetti’s production accentuates the modern multicultural milieu. [...] Streetcar lives or dies by the quality of the acting, and this revival is…a potent rendition of the play. Excellent supporting cast!"
- Charles McNulty, LA TIMES, 2/26/18
“That it works as well as it does comes from the straightforward commitment of the actors themselves and the power of Williams’ characterizations. As a result, the story and the people in it simply expand beyond the visually obvious.”
- Frances Baum Nicholson, Pasadena News , 2/28/18
"The casting is multi-ethnic, with Blanche played by a white performer and Stella and Stanley by African-American ones. The choice is not, I suspect, random, and adds a dynamic, almost disturbing tension to the interaction. It allows the play to hint at questions of privilege, and at the changing societal and racial dynamic in America.
It’s not your mama’s Streetcar, but it has all the power and ferocity that the work should possess. The acting crackles."
- Paul Birchall, Stage Raw 2/27/18
Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry
Directed by Gregg Daniel
Rogue Machine Theatre 2017 (NAACP award nominee)
Cast: Amir Abdullah, Bill Brochtrup, Anne Gee Byrd, Aric Floyd, Fiona Hardingham, Jason McBeth, Matt Orduña, Jonathan P. Sims, Joel Swetow, Desean Kevin Terry (The Morning Show) and ensemble cast
"What's stunning about the play, and in particular this production directed brilliantly by Gregg T. Daniel, is the complicated nuance. That's a testament to the caliber of Ms. Hansberry's writing but also to the truly stellar 20 person cast."
- Anthony Byrnes KCRW
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF A DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME by Mark Haddon
Directed by Simon Stephens
Greenway Court Theatre, 2019
Cast: Iain Kohn, Kacie Rogers, Michael Yurchak, Joanna Strapp, Tristan Cunningham, Abe Martell, Robert Paterno, Bill Salyers, Selina Scott-Bennin, Denise Moses with Darius De La Cruz, Josh Golombek, and Alexandra Hellquist
"A star is born in 19-year-old Iain Kohn, whose breakout stage debut as on-the-spectrum amateur detective Christopher Boone is just one reason why Greenway Arts Alliance’s production of Simon Stephens’ The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time ought to top any L.A. theatergoer’s must-see list.…director Jopson and an indefatigable sextet of “Voices” make ingenious use of chairs, poster boards, classroom toys, etc”
A supremely confident Kohn brings his own life experiences as a teenager with Asberger’s (now studying at Cal State Northridge) to one of the year’s most dazzling, commanding, utterly endearing star turns, with Rogers’ deeply caring, warmly nurturing Siobhan, Yurchak’s salt-of-the-earth but patience-tested Ed, and Strapp’s maternal tiger of a Judy providing dynamic support throughout."
- STAGE SCENE LA
FOR THE LOVE OF A GLOVE: AN UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL FABLE ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON’S LIFE AS TOLD BY HIS GLOVE by Julien Nitzberg
Carl Sagan-Ann Druyan Theatre, 2020
Cast: Jerry Minor (The Office), Eric B.Anthony (Broadway's Lion King), Andrew Ableson, Daniel Mills, Daniele Gaither (Mad TV), Pip Lilly, Justin Anthony Long, Terra Strong, Trecey Dory, Ogie Banks, Suzanne Nichols and Mark Jacobson
"Nitzberg tackles everything from masturbation and homosexuality to religion and racism in Glove. Its meaty material is tied up in a pretty bow with an incredible singing and dancing cast of 12 gifted actors led by Jerry Minor (Saturday Night Live, HBO’s Mr. Show) as THRHIL-LHA (aka The Glove) and Eric B. Anthony (Broadway cast of The Lion King, Hairspray and Mary Poppins) as Michael."
- LA Weekly
"...suffice to say casting director Victoria Hoffman is very, very good at her job."
- Medium.com
Boxing Lessons by John Bunzel
Directed by Jack Stehlin
New American Theatre, 2019
Cast: Susan Wilder, Stephen Tyler Howell, Luke McClure, Eve Danzeisen, Eric Curtis Johnson and Bruce Nozick
" ...a wickedly funny black comedy peopled by the quirkiest of characters and performed by a sensational cast."
" ...a wickedly funny black comedy peopled by the quirkiest of characters and performed by a sensational cast."
- Theatre Notes
"...(this) cast turns in spirited performances."
- Stage Raw
Disposable Necessities by Niel McGowen
Directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos
Rogue Machine Theatre 2019
Cast: Claire Blackwelder (Power Rangers Dino Charge), Billy Flynn (Days of Our Lives), Ann Noble, Jefferson Reid and Darrett Sanders
"Director Guillermo Cienfuegos and a lively cast tear into their material with brio. They serve the piece’s comic rhythms and nail down the laughs — or, conversely, the pathos."
- Katleen Foley, LA Times
FINKS by Joe Gilford
Directed by Michael Pressman
Rogue Machine Theatre 2019
Cast: Daniel Dorr, Thomas Fiscella, Matt Gottlieb, Stephen Tyler Howell, Adam Lebowitz-Lockard, Richard Levinson, Bruce Nozick, Vanessa Claire Stewart (Louis & Keely ‘Live’ at the Sahara) and French Stewart (3rd Rock From the Sun)
"That personal flair extends right down to the sweetly combustible onstage chemistry between real-life husband and wife, French and Claire Stewart, who richly render Mickey and Natalie as well-meaning artists trapped in the fast-congealing amber of a terrible time."
- Los Angeles Times
Miss Lilly Gets Boned by Bekah Brunstetter
Directed by Robin Larsen
Rogue Machine Theatre 2019
Cast: Brady Amaya, Tasha Ames, Kavi Ladnier, Larisa Oleynik (The Healing Power of Dude on Netflix, 10 Things I Hate About You), Justice Quinn, and Iman Nazemzadeh with Rachael Caselli and Amir Levi
"This is a true ensemble performance but it is Oleynik who is the life and breath of the show (as well as the title character who gets "boned"). Her character is the glue that holds the production together...that is if this production needed glue to hold it together. Which it does not. All performances are equally as strong."
- Broadway World
OPPENHEIMER by Tom Morton-Smith
Directed by John Perrin Flynn
Rogue Machine Theatre 2019
Cast: Rachel Avery, Delilah Bank, Marwa Bernstein, Daniel Jordan Booth, Ron Bottitta, Ryan Brophy, Jason Chiumento, Brendan Farrell, Rori Flynn, Rick Garrison, Zachary Grant, Mark Jacobson, Kirsten Kollender, James Liebman, Daniel Shawn Miller, Scott Victor Nelson, Brewster Parsons, Sophie Pollono (Disney's Fast Layne), Jennifer Pollono, Michael Redfield, Brady Richards (Broadway's Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Kenney Selvey, Jennifer Sorensen, Rachel Sorsa, Landon Tavernier, Dan Via and Miranda Wynne
"Rogue Machine Theatre’s production of Oppenheimer is simply one of the best plays I’ve ever seen. A dramatic tour-de-force. The cast is all-around great…don’t dare miss this production that epitomizes the stage at its very best. Run – don’t walk.”
- Hollywood Progressive
"Highly entertaining...brutally intense. Incredibly talented cast."
- Broadway World
FALLING
Director: Ewen Wright
Cast: Sarah Hollis, Elijah Reed, David Johnson, Daniel DeYoung, Cole Gleason, George Snarberg, Quinn Blades, Brian Ramian, Jared Santanelli, Peter Trencher, Julia Aks, Alanna Fox & Finley Polynice
Awards:
Best Comedy - USC/UTA First Look Industry Awards
Best Student Film - Hollyshorts
Canal+ Grand Prix (Best Short Film) - L'Etrange Festival
Best New Mexico Short - Santa Fe Independent
Lost Girls
The Judas Kiss
Streetcar Named Desire
Les Blancs
The Curious Incident...
For the Love of a Glove
Boxing Lessons
Disposable Necessities
Finks
Miss Lilly Gets Boned
Oppenheimer
Falling
American Film Institute
FILM CASTING
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