Cast and Creative
Alison Crane (Playwright/"Ruby") is an actress, playwright and aspiring knife-thrower (only aspiring because of the surprising lack of knife-throwing instruction in NYC). She grew up in Oklahoma City where she received her B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of Central Oklahoma and was a regular on the local theatre scene including eight seasons with Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park. Alison went on to receive her M.F.A. in Acting from The Actors Studio Drama School at The New School. Of her many New York and regional credits, favorites include Proof, Sylvia, Mud, Whiskey and Murphy, Poor Hearts ,Turkey Day, Richard III, As You Like It, and A Winter’s Tale. Alison’s work in the theatre eventually led her to playwriting. Her first full length play, The Abduction of Becky Morris premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2012. She is a founding member of the play development organization, Route 66 Rodeo. Alison is a member of Actors’ Equity, SAG-AFTRA and The Dramatists Guild.
Matthew Hammond ("Roy") has been seen in The Abduction of Becky Morris, Poor Hearts, Saving Throw Versus Love, The Whistler Tree, The Jesus Side, One for the Road, Wild Honey, The Seagull, Children of a Lesser God, Artist Descending a Staircase, Hell of a Mess, Our Town, and Two Noble Kinsmen including others. He recently won Best Supporting Actor for his role of Martin in Magda ASSDance NYC. His other film credits include Southern Trim, Waiting for the Blackout, 15 Waffles, It’s all relative, and Breaking Apart among others.
William Franke ("Dr. Holbrook") is thrilled to be working on another play of Alison Crane's; in 2012 he portrayed Oklahoma State Trooper Hank Morris in her play The Abduction of Becky Morris as part of Fringe NYC 2012. Other NYC stage: Blizzard '67 (PlaylabNYC/FringNYC '13); The Soldier Dreams, Eye of God, Pirandello’s Right You Are (if you think you are) (reading with Dominic Chianese) all with Theatre East; Washed Up on the Potomac (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Home Land (reading with Jay O. Sanders and David Strathairn at Lark Play Development Center); as well as work with New Georges, the Drama League, and other Fringe Festival performances. Back in his native Minneapolis, he has worked with The Jungle Theater, Park Square, and many others, as well as Out to Lunch Theater in Berlin, Germany. TV: All My Children, As The World Turns, Law & Order: SVU, The Electric Company, Living In Captivity (pilot). Film: Alone, After You're Gone, If the Trees Could Talk, Smokers, and others. Member of AEA & SAG-AFTRA. WilliamFranke.com
Jenny Kirlin ("Katie") has originated the roles of Merriment in Don’t Wait/’Til It’s Too Late (Players Theatre), Ray-Lynn in Basilicata (Tip My Cup), Hecate in I’ve Never Told Anyone This (Green Light Theater), and Alexis in Kat for Short. Other New York City credits include Sondheim: The Birthday Concert (New York Philharmonic/PBS Great Performances), Chumming the Water (Ensemble Studio Theater), and Romeo in Romeo & Juliet (CRY HAVOC). She has also appeared in more than a dozen films, television shows, and national commercials, including featured roles in the films Motherhood (with Uma Thurman) and The Messenger (with Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster). Also a playwright, Jenny's plays have been performed across the United States, as well as in Germany, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Indonesia. Jenny is a proud member of Actors' Equity and SAG-AFTRA and is a Resident Artist and Associate Artistic Director of The CRY HAVOC Company (www.jennykirlin.com).
Bradley Campbell (Director) is a Director, Actor and Producer from New Jersey by way of Texas.During his career, he was chosen twice as Assistant Director for two icons of the American stage. In 2000, he worked with Stuart Vaughn on NJ Repertory Theatre's revival of On Golden Pond with Academy Award winner Kim Hunter and in 2002, he worked closely with Joseph Chaikin on his final show, an untitled original work about 9-11 with music and movement.Bradley has worked primarily on original plays in NYC with the Actors Studio, Ensemble Studio Theatre and Cry Havoc. Favorite productions include: A Bright Room Called Day, Mud, Whiskey and Murphy, Welcome Home Posey Road, Safe and Urashima Taro. Bradley is a graduate of Texas Wesleyan University, Texas Woman's University and the Actors Studio Drama School at New School University. Originally from Texas, he was honored with lifetime membership in The Actors Studio in 2001 where he has had the opportunity to work with Estelle Parsons, Al Pacino Carlin Glynn and Dianne Wiest among others. Most recently, Bradley directed Poor Hearts in American Globe Theatre's 10 Minute Play Festival and produced The Abduction of Becky Morris for the NY International Fringe Festival.
AJ Cermak (Artistic Producer) holds a M.F.A. in Directing from the Actors Studio Drama School and a M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU. She has developed, directed, and produced over 20 new plays as well as directed regionally and in NYC. Past productions include The Night of the Iguana, On Leo’s Eyes, The Lover, SnowAngel, Intro to Trainwreck, Peter Pan, and Hood: The Musical. Ms. Cermak was thrilled to direct The Abduction of Becky Morris by Alison Crane for the 16th Annual New York Fringe Festival where it was named one of the “Top 10 Fringiest” of the festival. This fall she served as the Associate Producer for “Phase II” – a development workshop of new plays at the New School for Drama. AJ is thrilled to rejoin her ASDS colleagues as the journey through Oklahoma continues.
Jessica Walker (Executive Producer) Jessica has worked in the financial industry for more than
15 years, most recently working in portfolio management in the insurance
industry. Jessica began her career in
1998 as an Economist and transitioned to banking in 2005 and later into investment
management. She grew up in Oklahoma
City, but moved to Washington D.C. to attend Georgetown University where she graduated
Cum Laude with a BA in 1997 with a double major in German and Economics. She completed her MS in Math in Finance at
NYU’s Courant Institute in 2007.
Anita M. Esteve (Stage Manager) is thrilled to join the production team for Coyote Katie’s Return. She has stage managed dozens of show regionally most notably: Turkey Day at the Strawberry One-Act Festival,City of Angels, Picasso at Lapine Agile, Run for Your Wife, Anything Goes, Play it Again Sam, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, The Sunshine Boys, Sussical, Honk!, and Grease. Anita is a life member and past Board member of The Bergen County Players.
Charles Harrill (Scenic and Costume Design) most recently designed costumes for The Abduction of Becky Morris at FringeNYC . He has designed or directed over 200 dance, drama, musical theatre and opera productions in both professional and educational settings. He holds the BA degree from Wake Forest University and an MFA degree from University of Oregon, Eugene. Prior to moving to Connecticut in 2000, Charles taught theatre design and production for over 25 years at the university level. He has served as both State and Regional Chair for The Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival, for whom his production of Six Women With Brain Death … or Expiring Minds Want to Know (a wild and wacky musical revue based on tabloid headlines) was a KC/ACTF national winner and showcased with performances at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Having retired from teaching and always looking for new ways to grow as a designer, Charles now holds the position of Showroom Manager and Designer for Christino Kitchens & Remodeling in Glastonbury CT.
Christal Boyd (Lighting Design) is excited to join the team for Coyote Katie's Return this year. She has been designing lights for productions and events for nearly ten years, most recently designing Gianni Schicci and DiCapo Opera and Master Class at Music Theatre of Connecticut. Christal got her start at Wake Forest University, lighting events for the music department where she was and opera major. She went on to pursue an MFA in Lighting Design from the University of Arkansas. Christal is currently a freelance lighting designer and technician in New York City
Farzana "Farzie" Razak (Graphic Design/Marketing) is a graphic designer and art director with over 15 years of experience. Originally from Malaysia, she moved halfway across the globe to Edmond, Oklahoma. She graduated with a B.A. in Journalism/Public Relations, and an MFA in English Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma, where she took on roles of editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, and graduate teaching assistant. In NY, she has designed, art directed and freelanced for publishers including Women's Wear Daily, Triumph Learning, Scholastic, Modern Publishing and the Associated Press. She also lends her skills to help nonprofit organizations such as ASPCA, IndyKids and the League of Women Voters. Farzie currently works in design and production at Bearport Publishing. She is thrilled to be involved with Coyote Katie's Return, her second endeavor with fellow UCO alum and Okie/Astorian, Alison Crane
Jody Formica (Makeup Consultant) A makeup artist since she got her first whiff of greasepaint in high school theater productions, Jody went on to excel in the retail arena, ultimately becoming a Global Trainer for the international beauty company Aveda. It was not until she moved to New York that she launched her career as a freelance makeup artist, specializing in classic beauty makeup with high definition results, including feature films (Chasing Taste) & short films (Agent of Death), music videos (Last Night's Symphony), webisodes (Mother Eve's Secret Garden of Sensual Sisterhood), documentaries (Heaven Stood Still), commercials (New York Knicks), television (Katie Couric Show), industrials (Jarrell Entertainment), weddings and headshots. Jody's work in the entertainment industry runs the full spectrum to include musicals (The Lost Boys), operas (H.M.S. Pinafore) and plays (Gabriel/Gabrielle). Although her signature look is clean, natural beauty, she has expanded on that by fearlessly tackling simple special effects: bloody wounds, bruises, stretch & stipple latex aging, stock prosthetics and even a hairy mole! A beauty industry natural, Jody's work has also been featured at trade shows (Makeup In New York), runway shows (Jenny Packham), and in lookbooks (Pamella Roland). When she is not working in the studio or on set, she is dazzling the clientele at prestigious New York department stores and boutiques for Laura Mercier and private clients. Jody is excited to include Route 66 Rodeo among her clients. www.jodyformica.com
Matty Pritchard and Isam Rum (Sound Design & Original Music) began their musical partnership almost 15 years ago and together they have provided original music and/or sound design for Bianca Leigh’s BUSTED: The Musical, I, Claudius Live and the GLAAD Award nominated productions of Bald Diva! & I Google Myself (all for Theatre Askew), The Abduction of Becky Morris (NY Fringe Festival), Home/Away & The F On My Chest (Theatre Askew Youth Performance Experience), Tim Cusack’s WHAT DID HE SEE? (ForemanFest)and Jason Jacob’s Another Horatio Alger Story (The Cell).
