OPUS Cast Biographies
(in order of appearance)
Michael Hollinger(playwright) is the author of Opus, Tooth and Claw, Red Herring, Tiny Island, Incorruptible, and An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf, all of which premiered at Philadelphia's Arden Theatre Company and have together enjoyed numerous productions around the United States, in New York City, and abroad. Michael has written seven touring plays for young audiences as well as the 3D Laser show, Extreme Choices for New Jersey's Liberty Science Center. For PBS, he has written three short films and co-authored the feature-length Philadelphia Diary. Awards and honors include a Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Citation from the American Theatre Critics Association, the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays, two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding New Play, the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theatre Artist, a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award, a commission from The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science and Technology Project, fellowships from the Independence Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and most recently, Michael was awarded a 2010 LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Writing for Opus. Michael is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and Assistant Professor of Theatre at Villanova University.
Brian Shnipper(Original Director of the ETC production of OPUS) is an accomplished writer, director and actor who has worked to much acclaim on both coasts. Former Artistic Director of 12 Miles West Theatre Company in New Jersey, he currently serves as the Artistic Director for the Attic Theatre in Los Angeles. Mr. Shnipper conceived and directed the long-running Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays.
Brian Harwell(Carl) is a Santa Barbara actor who has performed in over 30 productions around the California Central and Southern coast during the past ten years. Venues include The Ensemble Theatre, Rubicon Theatre, Santa Barbara Theatre Company, Ojai Art Center, Elite Theatre Company, Happy Destiny Productions, and the Lobero Theatre. This is his first (thrilling) visit to Aspen. Brian reprises the role of Carl from Ensemble Theatre's production of Opus in Santa Barbara earlier this year.
Thomas Vincent Kelly(Alan) has performed with theatres throughout the country including The Goodman, San Jose Rep., Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Ensemble Theatre, Writers’ Theatre, Seanachai Theatre, American Players, Connecticut Rep., and Shakespearean Festivals in Utah, Florida, Illinois and Idaho. Los Angeles stage credits include: King Lear at Antaeus; Death of a Salesman at Interact; The Wind CriesMary at East/West Players; RFK: The Journey to Justice at LA Theatre Works; Mr.Kolpert at the Odyssey Theatre. Television credits include: Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, Law & Order-LA, Saving Grace, The Closer, 24, Without a Trace, and numerous other guest appearances. Tom reprises the role of Alan from Ensemble Theatre's production of Opus in Santa Barbara
earlier this year.
earlier this year.
Christian Lebano(Elliot) played Elliot in the long-running and multi-award winning Opus at The Fountain Theater in Los Angeles. (LA Weekly Best Actor Nom, LA Drama Critics Best Ensemble, Backstage Garland Best Play.) He recently played the Stage Manager in Our Town at the Sierra Madre Playhouse and Alex in Facing East at the International City Theatre in Long Beach. Regionally, he has performed at the Oregon, Utah, and Montana Shakespeare Festivals; Shakespeare Repertory and Court Theatre in Chicago; PCPA TheatreFest in Santa Maria; and the Madison Repertory and American Players Theatre.
Louis Lotorto(Dorian) happily returns to the Fringe Festival, after appearing as Bean in LoveSong and Stephen in Shining City last year. Based in L.A., Louis works in film, television, voiceovers and has extensive regional theatre credits, including most notably the Royal National Theatre tour of An Enemy of the People with Sir Ian McKellen; the Shakespeare Theatre in D.C.(Helen Hayes Award Nominee for Ariel in TheTempest); the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Rep., San Jose Rep. and Berkeley Rep., among others; in L.A.: the Colony Theatre and A Noise Within, earning an Ovation Award Nomination for his portrayal of Camille in Feydeau’s A Flea in Her Ear. Louis reprises the role of Dorian from ETC's production of Opus in Santa Barbara as well as restages Opus for the Fringe Festival. He also created and designed this website. Visit him at: www.louislotorto.weebly.com
Jiehae Park(Grace) West Coast: Memphis, La Jolla Playhouse; Paradise Street(world premiere), 99 Ways to F@ %K A Swan, title3; Exile of Petie DeLarge, REDCAT; Closer than Ever, Lodestone. DC: Studio Theatre 2ndStage (Songs of the Dragons Flyingto Heaven), Young Playwrights Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Imagination Stage. NY: Gorilla Rep, Bowery Poetry Club, Jean Cocteau Rep. Film: Step Up, Parallology. MFA, UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse and BA, Amherst College.
