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Redwood Cast & Creative Team

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Redwood

By Brittany K. Allen
Directed by Chip Miller

Brittany K. Allen*Meg Durbin
Orion Bradshaw*Tatum
Nick Ferrucci*Drew Tatum
Charles GrantInstructor
Tyrone Mitchell Henderson*Stevie (Steve) Wilson
Jennifer Lanier*Mom (Beverly Durbin)
Ashley MellingerHarriet/Hattie
Andrea Vernae*Allie/Alameda

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Darrell Grand MoultrieChoreographer
Brittany VastaScenic Designer
Alison HeryerCostume Designer
Jeanette Oi-Suk YewLighting Designer
Phil JohnsonSound Designer
Benjamin FainsteinDramaturg
Jamie Lynne Simons*Stage Manager
Dana PetersenProduction Assistant

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Meet the Cast

Brittany K. Allen, Playwright, Meg Wilson
Brittany K. Allen, Playwright, Meg Wilson

Brittany K. Allen is thrilled to be making her Portland Center Stage at The Armory debut! A New York-based actor and writer, her plays have been developed at Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theater, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and elsewhere. Brittany holds commissions from Playwrights Horizons and Manhattan Theatre Club/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She's a member of the emerging writers group at The Public Theater, the Obie Award-winning EST/Youngblood, and was a 2017 Van Lier Playwriting Fellow at the Lark. Redwood (Kilroys List, 2017) will be produced in 2020 at The Jungle Theater and Ensemble Studio Theatre. Recent New York performance credits include Gloria: A Life (Off-Broadway), Minor Character (New Saloon; New York Innovative Theatre Award for Best Ensemble), and workshops with Atlantic Theater Company, Clubbed Thumb, and New York Stage and Film. Brittany received her B.F.A. from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center. For the fam!

Orion Bradshaw, Tatum
Orion Bradshaw, Tatum

Orion is an actor/educator and a proud member of both Actors’ Equity and the National Education Association. He recently earned his M.A. in teaching from Southern Oregon University. Orion was an actor for three seasons at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, before going on to co-found Portland’s own Post5 Theatre and perform with many Portland and Seattle area theaters. He’s also been an educator for such companies as the aforementioned OSF, Portland Center Stage at The Armory, Seattle Repertory Theatre, PlayWrite, Inc., and Northwest Children’s Theater and School, among others. Orion wholeheartedly believes that this awesome new show adds a potent point of view to a vital cultural dialogue. He hopes that you find yourself laughing, thinking critically, and participating in the conversation!

Nick Ferrucci, Drew Tatum
Nick Ferrucci, Drew Tatum

Nick is happy to return to Portland Center Stage at The Armory where his previous credits include Astoria: Part One and Two, Crossing Mnisose, and JAW: A Playwrights Festival. Portland theater credits: Teenage Dick at Artists Repertory Theatre, Arlington, John, The Angry Brigade at Third Rail Repertory Theatre, Luna Gale at Coho Productions, Peter and the Starcatcher at Portland Playhouse, True West at Profile Theatre, A Pigeon & A Boy at Jewish Theatre Collaborative. Regional: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Maples Repertory Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Commonweal Theatre Company, Heritage Theatre Festival, and Bright Star Touring Theatre. Film: Warmuffin, The Falls, One Foot in the Gutter. TV: Grimm. He holds an M.F.A. in acting from Northern Illinois University and a B.F.A. in theater from Southern Oregon University. He has studied with the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia and The Second City in Chicago.

Charles Grant, Instructor
Charles Grant, Instructor

Charles is overjoyed to be making his Portland Center Stage at The Armory debut with Redwood! Maybe you’ve seen him around town in: Bootycandy (Fuse Theatre Ensemble), Jump (Confrontation Theatre/Milagro Theatre), Mamma Mia! (Broadway Rose Theatre Company), or A Year with Frog and Toad (Oregon Children’s Theatre), for which he received a Drammy Award for his performance. But maybe you haven’t seen him anywhere, and that’s cool too. B.F.A. in acting from UC Santa Barbara (Go Gauchos!). He would like to express gratitude and love to Chip, Marissa, the folks at The Armory, the entire cast, creative, and crew of Redwood, his friends and family for supporting him, and YOU for being here with us. "I am my ancestors' wildest dreams." thecharlesgrant.com

Tyrone Mitchell Henderson, Steve Durbin
Tyrone Mitchell Henderson, Steve Durbin

Tyrone is the founder of Quick Silver Theater Company. Acting credits include the first national tour of Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk; Off-Broadway, Tyrone played Friar Francis and the Sexton in the 2019 critically acclaimed Public Theater production of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon. Additional Off-Broadway credits include: King Lear opposite Billy Porter, YellowmanRancho Viejo, The Piano Lesson, The America Play, The Tempest, Two Noble Kinsmen. Regional premieres: The Magician’s Daughter, War, and Aubergine. Film: The Upside. Television: recurring role on The Good Fight. Other television credits include: Madam Secretary, The Code, FBI, Search Party, God Friended Me, Sneaky Pete, Orange is the New Black, and he has guest starred on all three branches of theLaw and Order series. Stay connected: @tymhenderson tyronemitchellhenderson.com

Jennifer Lanier, Beverly Wilson
Jennifer Lanier, Beverly Wilson

Jennifer is delighted to bring her work to Portland Center Stage at The Armory. She is currently co-artistic director of Original Practice Shakespeare Festival. Local credits: Well and Let Me Down Easy at Profile Theatre; Men on Boats at Third Rail Repertory Theatre; The Brother/Sister Plays at Portland Playhouse; The Hillsboro Story at Artists Repertory Theatre. Her solo show None of the Above has been seen around the country. Regional: American Stage Theatre Company, Ruth Foreman Theatre, United Stage. Film: The Water Man, Thin Skin, Woodstock or Bust, Last Champion, Scrapper. TV: Leverage, Grimm, Hawaii. She earned a B.F.A. from University of North Carolina School of the Arts and has studied improvisation with Paul Sills, original director of The Second City.

Ashley Mellinger, Harriet, Hattie
Ashley Mellinger, Harriet, Hattie

Ashley is pumped for her debut at Portland Center Stage at The Armory! Local credits include Persephone with Bedrock Theatre, The Most Massive Woman Wins at Deep End Theater, Dream/Logic with Hand2Mouth Theatre, and Sleepwalker at Headwaters Theatre (Fertile Ground Festival). New York credits include Volupté with World Theatre Lab, Spring’s Awakening and Balm in Gilead at The Marilyn Monroe Theatre, and The Darger Projects at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Recent film credits: Magnificent (winner of the LGBTQ category at Oregon Independent Film Festival), Lonesome George, irl, and Love, Cheryl. She has a B.F.A. in acting from New York University and has studied at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute and Stonestreet Studios.

Andrea Vernae, Allie, Alameda
Andrea Vernae, Allie, Alameda

Andrea is so excited and filled with so much gratitude to be making her Portland Center Stage at The Armory debut! Born and raised in Miami, FL, she was last seen in: The Wolves at Portland Playhouse; JUMP, a co-production with Confrontation Theatre and Milagro Theatre; and Everybody at Artists Repertory Theatre, where she is also a resident artist. When not onstage, Andrea enjoys creating short films with Sunflower Creations and being a part of the Confrontation Theatre team.

Meet the Creative Team

Chip Miller, Director
Chip is a director and producer, currently in the role of associate producer at Portland Center Stage at The Armory. They were previously the artistic associate/resident director at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Directing: School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, Welcome to Fear City, Sex with Strangers, A Raisin in the Sun (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); Becoming Martin by Kevin Willmott (world premiere, The Coterie Theatre); dwb: driving while black (Lawrence Arts Center); 4:48 Psychosis (The Buffalo Room). Chip has developed work with playwrights including Kevin Willmott, Kara Lee Corthron, Brittany K. Allen, Catherine Trieschmann, Darren Canady, Andrew Rosendorf, Michelle T. Johnson, and Michael Finke. They have developed work at The William Inge Theater Festival, NYU Steindhard’s New Plays for Young Audiences, Portland Center Stage at The Armory’s JAW: A Playwrights Festival, Midwest Dramatists Center, and Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s OriginKC: New Works Festival. Education: B.F.A., NYU Tisch School of the Arts.  

Darrell Grand Moultrie, Choreographer
A recipient of a Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award, Darrell’s select credits include: Daddy (The New Group), Sugar in Our Wounds (Manhattan Theatre Club), Invisible Thread (Second Stage Theater), Witness Uganda (American Repertory Theater), El Publico (Teatro Real in Madrid), Evita and Pride and Prejudice (Kansas City Repertory Theatre). This past summer, his world premiere was performed by The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater during their engagement at New York’s Lincoln Center. Darrell has created multiple works for Colorado Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, BalletMet, The Sacramento Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Washington Ballet, Smuin Ballet, NBA Ballet in Japan, and has collaborated with Tony Award-winning hoofer Savion Glover. Darrell was selected by Grammy Award-winning artist Beyoncé as a choreographer on her “Mrs. Carter Show” World Tour. Darrell is a graduate of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art & Performing Arts and The Juilliard School. 

Brittany Vasta, Scenic Designer
Brittany is a Brooklyn-based designer for plays, musicals, and operas. Recent work includes: Octet and Rinse, Repeat (Signature Theatre); Life Sucks (Acorn Theater at Theatre Row); Bill Irwin’s Harlequin and Pantalone (New York City Center); Happy Birthday, Wanda June (The Duke on 42nd Street), I thought I would die but I didn’t (The Tank); Sehnsucht (JACK); The Enemy of the People (Gene Frankel Theatre); The Road to Damascus (59E59 Theaters); Lawnpeople (Cherry Lane Theatre); Welcome to Fear City (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); August: Osage County, From the Author of (Resident Ensemble Players, University of Delaware); My Name is Asher Lev (Portland Stage); Richard III (The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey). Recent associate design credits: The Lifespan of a Fact (Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54) and Fairview (Soho Rep). Education: M.F.A., New York University. Proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. brittanyvasta.com  

Alison Heryer, Costume Designer
Alison is a costume designer for live performance, film, and print media. Her design credits include productions at Steppenwolf Theatre, 59E59 Theaters, The New Victory Theater, Gertrude Opera, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage at The Armory, Portland Opera, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, ZACH Theatre, Artists Repertory Theatre, The Hypocrites, Redmoon Theater, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, and the SXSW Film Festival. She has exhibited work at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, the Prague Quadrennial of Design and Space, and World Stage Design Exhibition. Alison is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and the associate professor of costume and textiles in the School of Art + Design at Portland State University.    

Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, Lighting Designer
Jeanette designs for theater, dance, opera, musicals, music performances, and immersive installation. The New York Times described them as “clever” and “inventive.”  Recent: Scotland, PA (Roundabout Theatre Company); KPOP (A.R.T./New York Theatres and the Five Angels Theater at the 52nd Street Project; Hewes Design Award, LIT Design Award; Lortel and Drama Desk nominations); Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone at DCPA Theatre Company (Best Lighting Design nomination); Emily Mann’s Gloria: A Life with Diana Paulus (Daryl Roth Theatre); Carla Ching’s Nomad Motel (Atlantic Theater Company); Aziza Barnes’ BLKS (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company); Lauren Yee’s Song of Summer (Trinity Rep); and Eve Ensler’s Fruit Trilogy (Abington Theatre Company). Upcoming: Choir Boy with Jamil Jude (DCPA Theatre Company). NEA/TCG Career Development Program recipient. jeanetteyew.com 

Phil Johnson, Sound Designer
Phil is a visual and theatrical artist based in Portland and the host of the podcast Radical Listening (Coho Productions). His recent productions include Cop Out and Hands Up (August Wilson Red Door Project); A Doll’s House, Part 2EverybodyThe Humans, and An Octoroon (Artists Repertory Theatre); TwilightElliot: A Soldier’s FugueThe Antigone Project (Profile Theatre); Worse Than Tigers (A Contemporary Theater/Red Stage); and Watsonville, Lydia, Contigo Pan y Cebolla (Milagro Theatre). Phil Has a B.F.A. and M.A. from Ohio University. If you enjoyed the show please comment @philjohnsonlive or visit philjohnsondesignstheworld.com for more content and show playlists. 

Benjamin Fainstein, Dramaturg
Benjamin is the literary manager for Portland Center Stage at The Armory and JAW: A Playwrights Festival. Selected dramaturgy and new play development credits include Howards End (upcoming, The Armory); Mary Kathryn Nagle's Crossing Mnisose (The Armory); Lauren Yee's Young Americans (in development, The Armory); Astoria: Part One and Two (The Armory); Sarah Sander’s Golden (MIDD Summer Play Lab); Meghan Brown's The Tasters and Kevin Artigue’s The Forcings (JAW); Meg Miroshnik’s The Tall Girls (Carlotta Festival of New Plays); and Marcus Gardley’s The House That Will Not Stand (Yale Repertory Theatre). Benjamin was a 2018 Lambda Literary Playwriting Fellow, and his plays have been staged in New York, New Haven, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Previous posts include founding artistic director of Whistler in the Dark Theatre, associate artistic director of Yale Cabaret, and managing editor of Theater magazine. He received his M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama.

Jamie Lynne Simons, Stage Manager
Jamie is delighted to return to Portland Center Stage at The Armory. Previously: Every Brilliant Thing, JAW: A Playwrights Festivaland other works in developmentMost recent credit: In the Penal Colony at Portland Opera. Tour: production stage manager for Hundred Days, presented by La Jolla Playhouse, The Straz Center, and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade CountyOther local credits: Artists Repertory Theatre, Third Rail Repertory Theatre, Portland Playhouse, Profile Theatre, Chamber Music Northwest, and Oregon Health & Sciences University — aiding in the education of medical professionals. Jamie worked for years on cruise ships with Carnival Cruise Lines and was able to visit the birthplace of their great-great-grandfather who immigrated from Denmark. B.F.A., University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Chair of Portland’s Liaison Committee for Actors’ Equity Association. 

Dana Petersen, Production Assistant
Dana is thrilled to be a stage management apprentice at Portland Center Stage at The Armory. Earlier this season, she was a production assistant for In the Heights. Dana earned a B.A in theater from The Ohio State University where she stage managed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-TimeMichael Von Siebenberg Melts Through the FloorboardsFour PeopleExecution of JusticeBeyond All Recognition7 Ways to Say I Love You, and Stupid F**king Bird. Dana was also a stage management intern on Much Ado About Nothing at The Old Globe. Dana sends all of her love to Mom, Dad, Carmen, and Murphy!

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