Cast

Dulcie – Jessica Arinella
Francis – *Peter Russ
Vivianne – *Susan Wands
Henry – Matt Rashid
Butterfield – *Paul de Cordova

*Actors Appearing Courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association

Who's Who

Jessica Arinella (Dulcie): Selected NY Credits: Tape (Naked Angels, dir. Geoffrey Nauffts), The Naked Angels Lab (Premiere), The Democracy Project (Naked Angels, With Mark Margolis), Sin (On the Leesh Productions), Antigone (Pilot House). Harper Lee’s Husband ( Samuel French) Regional Theatre: Rough Crossing ( Northern Stage D. Nancy Robillard) New York Stage & Film: Break (OTLP & Naked Angels, w/ Frank Wood). Film & Television Credits: Rescue Me, Six Degrees, Love Monkey, Law & Order, What are the Odds? (OTLP), The Pink House (Cineblast! and Asset Pictures), Cupidity (D. John Gallagher), For Belly (OTLP), The In-Betweens of Holly Malone (Blip.tv), In the Can (Blip.tv).

Paul de Cordova* (Mr. Butterfield): In New York Paul has appeared in Keen Company’s Drama Desk nominated Outward Bound, The Melting Pot (Metropolitan Playhouse), Flyer (3 Graces) and Harper Lee’s Husband (as Truman Capote). He lived in Minneapolis for 11 years where he appeared at the Guthrie Theater in 10 productions including Midsummer Nights’ Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Ah, Wilderness, and You Can’t Take It With You. Paul also appeared in Angels in America Parts I and II and [sic] at Pillsbury House Theater where he is an Associate Company Member. Other plays include Ping Chong’s Persuasion, Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse (CTC), and his one-man show WANTED at the Minneapolis Fringe Festival.

Matt Rashid (Henry): NY Theatre: Fear Project (Naked Angels, dir. Rob Morrow), Naked Angels Lab (Premiere), Democracy Project (Naked Angels, dir. Pippin Parker), Sin (On the Leesh Productions), Syria, America (Emerging Artists Theatre). New York Stage & Film: Break: Surviving the Recovery (OTLP & Naked Angels, w/ Tony award winner Frank Wood). NY Stand-up Comedy: Caroline’s Comedy Club, Gotham Comedy Club, Don’t Tell Mama’s, Nuyorican Poet’s Café. Film & Television Credits include: Law & Order (NBC), Mad About You (NBC), Table for Three (OTLP), Soap Scum (OTLP). Currently in the Nano-series The In-Betweens of Holly Malone (blip.tv). MFA, Actor’s Studio Drama Program, The New School.

Peter Russo* (Francis): Peter Russo was most recently seen on stage in The Keen Theater Company’s production of Pullman Car Hiawatha and before that in The Mint Theater’s Daughter-In-Law—both of which were nominated for Drama Desk Awards. He was an understudy for Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses on Broadway. Other roles that Peter has enjoyed performing are Septimus Hodge in Arcadia, Claude in Hair, and Max in Hunter for Hunter Green. Peter is a company member of the Striking Viking Story Pirates, a not-for-profit theater company that adapts stories written by kids for the stage. 

Susan Wands* (Vivianne): Susan Wands has acted on Broadway (COASTALDISTURBANCES) and in many Off & Off-Off Broadway shows. In regional theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival number among her credits along with the Old Globe Theatre; Syracuse Stage; Actors Theatre of Louisville, St. Louis Rep and Studio Arena. Favorite roles include: Blanche, Imogen, Camille, Rosalind, Margery, Hermione, Sally Talley, Isabelle, Cressida, Helena, Doll Tearsheet, and Mrs. Cheveley. Television roles include guest lead on LAW & ORDER and roles on several daytime dramas. Thanks to Robert Petkoff, Eisen & Associates, and Margaret Emory.

Nancy Robillard (Director): Nancy Robillard has a number of world premieres to her credit including: HONOR AND THE RIVER by Anton Dudley at Luna Stage, ROSEMARY & I by Leslie Avayzian (co-directed with Olympia Dukakis), at MetroStage, FAST BREAK at Culture Project, and UNSINKABLE WOMEN at The Walnut Street Theatre. Her work has been seen on New York stages at Directors Company, Vital Theatre, Theatre for the New City, Culture Project, HERE, Phoenix Theatre, Queens Theatre in the Park, and First Look Theatre Company. Regional credits include: MetroStage, Kennedy Center, Walnut Street Theatre, Northern Stage, Gateway Playhouse, Keystone Rep, Leatherstocking Theatre and Tri-Arts. Robillard received her MFA in directing from Illinois State University and has taught acting and directing at several universities. Upcoming projects: NOT GOD at Yale and at the Depot Theatre, and a workshop of the new musical, COLD FEET, which will be broadcast on WBAI. Many thanks to Alicia, Tom and our wonderful YFT company.

Alicia Arinella (Producer): Company credits include: Fine Line Features, New Line Cinema, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Noggin, Granada Kids, Little Airplane Productions, Playhouse Disney, and New York Stage and Film. Alicia is the founder of On the Leesh Productions. With OTL, Alicia has produced a number of theater projects including: the Naked Angels Issues Project: Democracy, Help Me Help Myself, Our Time Theatre Company’s 3rd Annual Benefit, SIN: A New Fashioned Spectacle of Legendary Vice, and most recently, Masquerade: Poems of Calypso and Home with terraNOVA Collective. She’s produced seven short films which have screened at over 25 film festivals world wide. She is the lead producer of the widely popular web series The In-Betweens of Holly Malone, and recently produced and directed the feature film, For Belly. Alicia considers it an honor to work with such a distinguished cast and crew. Thank you Tom and Nancy, Scoobies, Jack and Dad. As always for Mom.

Julie Tortorici (Producer): Julie has worked with On the Leesh since 2004. Prior to that, she had collaborated with them as both an actor and writer on her short, Table for Three and her play, Committed. Since then, Julie has appeared in various film and theatrical productions throughout NYC. As a writer, she is currently seeking funding for her feature length romantic comedy, Waltzing Emily (finalist in both the 2006 Script P.I.M.P. competition and the Scriptshark Insider competition) and has recently wrapped her feature, For Belly, which she both acted in and wrote. As an associate producer, Julie has worked on Teen Movie High, the play SIN: A New Fashioned Spectacle of Legendary Vice, the 3rd Annual Our Time Benefit honoring Ken Roberson and most recently, acclaimed slam-poet, Roger Bonair-Agard’s one-man show, Masquerade: Poems of Calypso and Home. She has also produced the short films The Things We Know and Denim with Alicia Arinella. 

Diana Whitten (Set Designer and Prop Master): In addition to the projects she has designed with On the Leesh, Diana’s design credits include work with Manhattan Children’s Theater, the Naked Angels, the Rattlestick Theater, First Night Boston, Our Time Theatre Company, Midtown International Theater Festival, Little Airplane Productions, Disney Children’s Programming, Nickelodeon, the Noggin Channel, Pterodactyl Films, and Mike Myers’s project in production, The Love Guru. Her own sculpture and installation artwork has been exhibited in New York, Boston, Worcester, MA, Portland, OR, across the country in, The Space Between Project, and in Bali, Indonesia, and she is currently making a documentary on international reproductive rights.

Chris Conti (Lighting Designer): Chris is pleased to be working with On the Leesh Productions again! He has worked extensively as a Lighting Crew Chief and Lighting Director. Some of his credits include, Lighting Director and Crew Chief for the 2004 North American Tour of Josh Groban, Lighting Crew Chief for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens Greece and the 2005/06 North American Tours of Coldplay. He can also been seen in Coldplay’s official 2007 Calendar. 

Craig Lenti (Sound Designer): Craig Lenti is pleased to be reuniting with Nancy on her newest venture. The two have collaborated on numerous productions at the NYU First Look Theater Company, where Craig has served as resident sound designer as well as actor for the last 7 years. He has also been a producer at WCBS-FM for 10 years, working with radio legend Cousin Brucie, amongst others. He was most recently seen in the Estrogenius Festival’s production reprising his role of Drew in Decoding Fruit by Molly Smith Metzler. He thanks the entire On The Leesh production crew for welcoming him into their family on this show. 

Jessica Jahn (Costume Designer): Graduating from Rutgers University with degrees in dance and psychology, Jessica Jahn danced professionally in NYC for five years before beginning a career in design. She has had the opportunity to work on various projects with designers Sandy Powell (Far from Heaven, Gangs of New York), Paul Tazewell (The Color Purple), and Constance Hoffman (The Green Bird, Grendel), along with directors Kenny Lonergan, Peter Askin, Todd Haynes and Alan Rudolf. Her work has allowed her to travel throughout the United States, as well as the UK. Some of the recent projects that she has collaborated on in NY include: The Mystery of Irma Vep, at Studio Arena, Esoterica, at the Daryl Roth Theatre, The Fantasticks, at Colby College, and Feeling Electric, at the Barrow Group. Upcoming projects include Die! Mommie! Die!, Off Broadway. 

Melissa Jernigan (Stage Manager): Melissa Jernigan got her degree from CSU Sacramento. At school she was an SM & designed over 15 shows, worked for CMTas head sound assistant & was lucky to PA the Pre-Broadway tour of Lennon. New York credits include PA Positions for MTC’s Beauty of the Father, Broadway Meets Country at Lincoln Jazz, and involvement in both the Fringe and MITF theatre festivals. Recently she was PSM for Incumbo Theatre’s production of Prvt Wars & Hotel Savant’s workshop of Artaud’s The Cenci, held at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center in Southampton. 

Joseph Amon (Associate Producer): Joe Amon is the newest addition to On The Leesh Productions. Belly marks not only his first time assistant directing for the stage, but also working with On The Leesh. In 2005, Joe graduated from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. While attending School, Joe worked professionally as a production assistant for the feature Mama’s Boy, and as an extras coordinator for the feature Johnny Slade’s Greatest Hits. After leaving school, Joe stayed in Boston to work for the Feature film The Departed as a property coordinator, during the film’s exterior shooting. Recently, Joe Spent the first half of 2006, working as a management assistant for the up and coming Sarasota Film Festival. Joe is excited to be working for On the Leesh, and looks forward to working in both theater and film in the near future, starting with the film adaptation of Belly.

Carissa Caruso (Assistant Costumer Designer): Carissa Caruso was born and raised a Jersey Girl. She has recently graduated from Adelphi University and has worked on such shows there as Urinetown the Musical. She has also worked on shows such as Cosi Fan Tutte, Lucie De Lammermoor, and Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at Glimmerglass Opera season’s ’05 and ‘07. She has also assisted Jessica Jahn on the Off-Off Broadway play Candy and Dorothy. 

Maria Pastel (Dialect Coach): Maria Pastel’s US credits include: B.A.M. (Salome), Lyric Chicago (The Trial), Ars Nova (the Yorkshire comedy soap reading series Tittle Tattle). US film: the role of Rosalind in Terrence Malick’s Oscar nominated The New World as well as several Independent movies. Maria has worked extensively in theatre in the UK, with a range of directors from Stephen Daldry to Steven Berkoff. UK credits include Royal National Theatre and West End: Measure for Measure, Greek, The Trial (Olivier award nominated production), Salome, Sanctuary, Travelling Nowhere. Off West End: World premiere of Berkoff’s The Bow of Ulysses, The Josephine Baker Story, The Tooth of Crime, Regional: East (Plays and Players production of the year), Death of a Salesman, Low Level Panic, Stephen Daldrys’ production of Diego Garcia at the Sheffield Crucible. UK film and television credits include Up ‘n Under, The Hole, Dog Eat Dog, and Eastenders. Maria Pastel taught vocal technique in the UK for the Abbingdon agency and from there branched out into dialect coaching in the UK and US.

KEVIN P. McANARNEY / KPM ASSOCIATES (Press Representative) has a varied background in public relations, casting and management. Kevin has handled major concerts on Broadway; international dance attractions and special events at the Metropolitan Opera House, NY State Theater, Carnegie Hall and others including two Katharine Hepburn tributes as well as the first NYC Academy Awards benefit. He did national press for CIRQUE DU SOLEIL for four years and helped to open Mystere, in Las Vegas; tours of the Bolshoi Ballet, Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble to only name a few. For six years, he represented the DRAMA DESK AWARDS. He was honored to be the B’way press rep for Love! Valour! Compassion! (the first show ever to win the 5 top New York Theatre Awards in one season including the Tony, Outer Critics Circle, New York Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Obie Awards). KPM ASSOCIATES was the Broadway press agent for Dame Edna: the royal tour; Some other NYC clients include: A R Gurney’s Sylvia; Children’s Defense League; Ballet Nacional de Cuba (Alisa Alonzo); Theater Hall of Fame, Julio Bocca and Ballet Argentino, National Dance Week; Madrid’s Ballet Ullate; the musical john and jen; Moiseyev Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre, Moisés Kaufman and the award-winning hits Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie Project as well as 10 seasons representing Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College. He handles Career Transitions for Dancers, Les Ballets Grandiva, CTFDGalas, Alchemy Theatre Company and others.