2025 Alley All New Festival Who's Who
Womb 2.0
Marisela Treviño Orta (Playwright)
Marisela Treviño Orta has an MFA in Playwriting from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop and an MFA in Poetry from the University of San Francisco. She is a Playwrights’ Center Affiliated Writer and member of the Latino Theater Company’s Circle of Imaginistas. Marisela’s award-winning work has been produced at theatres across the country, including: American Players Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Nashville Children’s Theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and PCPA Pacific Conservatory Theatre. Marisela’s plays The River Bride and Wolf at the Door are available via the publisher Samuel French. And her Audible commission play Nightfall is available on their platform.
Tatiana Pandiani (Director)
Tatiana Pandiani is a Latin American director & choreographer. Recent Off Broadway: Torera (WP Theatre, NYC), Someone Spectacular (Signature Theatre, NYC), FISH by Melis Aker (Signature Theatre, NYC). Tatiana has worked extensively regionally across the United States as well as internationally. Last season, she directed Dial M for Murder at the Alley, and Torera the season prior. Other regional: La Jolla Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, Miami New Drama, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Westport Country Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Perseverance Theatre amongst others. Her bilingual musical AZUL won the Jonathan Larson Award and many other accolades. She received a Lucille Lortel Alcove commission for her new play, HINGE BABY, a climate change comedy, and her film, HOW TO FIX GRIEF won the Film in Focus and New York Film Academy Awards in 2024. Tatiana has served extensively as an Associate Director on Broadway and National Tours and is currently developing commercials projects in a variety of industries, theatrical and beyond. MFA: Columbia. For more information visit tatianapandiani.com
Elissa Cuellar (Claudia)
Elissa Cuellar is thrilled to be returning to Alley Theatre. Elissa has a great soft spot for the people of Houston and the wonderful, complex art that they create, and she cannot wait to continue producing and making magic with the creative community here.
Shenyse Leanna Harris (Du Pont)
Shenyse LeAnna Harris is an actress, director, producer, and native Houstonian. She holds a master’s degree in acting from Brown University. Some of her credits include CBS Blue Bloods, Verizon, Dallas Theatre Center, Trinity Repertory, and more. Shenyse currently serves as the program Director of a Children’s theatre, RISE Theatre. Shenyse is so excited to be a part of the Alley All New Festival and can’t wait to share this riveting story with you all!
Cameron O'Neil (Kieran)
Cameron O’Neil is a graduate from HSPVA and The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University, has most recently performed at Rec Room Arts as Bernard in Death of A Salesman, Moritz in Spring Awakening, and Billy in a staged Happy Hour Reading of The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?.
Chaney Moore (Stage Directions)
Chaney Moore Strange Bird Immersive company member; Garden Theater: Who’s Holiday; Mildred’s Umbrella: Cry it Out; Stages: Roe; Catastrophic: Tamarie Cooper show; Main Street Theater: Dog Act, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, The Diary of Anne Frank, Ensemble Theatre: Sista’s the Musical; Island ETC: Tommy, First Date; Education: B.F.A., SHSU
Debs Ramser (Stage Manager)
Debs Ramser Previous Alley Theatre productions include Baskerville, December: a love years in the making, The Janeiad, Dial M for Murder, Pictures from Home, The Servant of Two Masters, What-A-Christmas!, and several Alley All New Festival works. Debs has stage managed professional theater, musical theater, opera, dance, and concerts for over 25 years, working with Theatre Under The Stars, Main Street Theater, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Prague Shakespeare Company, and Houston Grand Opera, among many others. She is a graduate of Rice University and a proud member of Equity.
A Loco-Motive for Murder
Mark Bedard (Playwright/Hugo M. Onyatail)
Mark Bedard is a Chicago based actor, writer, singer, and acting coach. As a writer, he co-wrote an original holiday comedy called It’s Christmas, Carol! which premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2021 as well as 2022. His adaptation of The Cocoanuts (a Marx Brothers musical) premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2014 with subsequent runs at The Guthrie and Utah Shakespeare Festival. Other writing projects: the 77th Anniversary Daedalus AIDS Benefit (2014); 75th Anniversary Daedalus AIDS Benefit (2012); BARDbershop Green Show (2009, 2008); six School Visit Programs: While Waiting for Godot (2012); Embrace your Fool (2012); The Superior Inferior (2009, 2008); These Foolish Things (2009); Brothers & Buddies (2007); Bottom’s Tale (2007). As an actor, he has worked on numerous theater productions as well as appearances on TV shows. markbedard.com
John Tufts (Playwright/Bianchi)
John is an internationally recognized actor/writer. For 15 years at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, John has acted in 23 of Shakespeare’s 37 plays including Henry V in Henry V; Prince Hal in Henry IV, Parts One and Two; Philanax in the world premiere of Head Over Heels; Chico in The Cocoanuts; Robin Hood in The Heart of Robin Hood; Sharpe in Equivocation; Romeo in Romeo and Juliet; and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Off-Broadway he has performed with Ensemble Studio Theater, The Mint Theatre, and Primary Stages where he received a Lucille Lortel Nomination for his roles in Kate Hamill’s celebrated adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Regionally John has acted at The Guthrie Theater, The Goodman Theater, Arena Stage, The Old Globe, Pioneer Theater, Syracuse Stage, Seattle Rep, MTC, Actors Theater of Louisville, McCarter Theater, Chicago Shakespeare, and many more. John is also a cook and author. His cookbook, Fat Rascals: Dining at Shakespeare’s Table explores the food of Shakespeare’s England. Television: Bad Teacher, Fashions for Men. Awards: Arthur Kennedy Award; Indy Award: I Am My Own Wife. @johnnymtufts
Rob Melrose (Director)
Rob Melrose is the Artistic Director of Alley Theatre where he has directed productions of The Glass Menagerie, The Janeiad, Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium, Pictures from Home, The Servant of Two Masters, Born with Teeth, Sweat, The Winter’s Tale, 1984, and Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and adapted and directed A Christmas Carol. He was formerly the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Cutting Ball Theater. He has directed at The Public Theater, The Guthrie Theater, Asolo Repertory Theatre, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Magic Theatre, The Old Globe, PlayMakers Rep, Black Box Theatre, as well as Actors’ Collective, The Gamm Theatre, and Crowded Fire, among others. He has taught at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, USF, the University of Rhode Island, and Marin Academy. He has a BA in English and Theater from Princeton University and an MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama. Rob directed Strindberg’s Svarta Handsken (The Black Glove) in Stockholm, Sweden at Strindberg’s Intimate Theater. His translations of Woyzeck, Ubu Roi, and Pelleas & Melisande have been published by EXIT Press. He has written a number of plays including: Helen of Troy, The Flat Earth, Divorsosaurus, When Human Voices Wake Us, Asylum, and Serpentyne and has written a rock musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s Ozma of Oz.
Elizabeth Bunch (Marlene Scheel)
Elizabeth Bunch has appeared in over 100 productions at Alley Theatre including DaVinci Code, The Mirror Crack’d, Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, Seared, Noise.0s Off, Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium, Little Comedies, The Servant of Two Masters, Clue, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Constellations, Grounded, The Humans, Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, Othello, The 39 Steps, Hand to God, Pygmalion, Other Desert Cities, Clybourne Park, Lieutenant of Inishmore, Doubt, Proof, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? NYC and Regional: Playwrights Horizons, Guthrie, Denver Center, Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble, Keen Company, and The Flea. @Its_Elizabeth_Bunch
Dylan Godwin (Tomàs Dobro)
Dylan Godwin is a Resident Acting Company Member and recently appeared in Alley Theatre’s The Da Vinci Code (Rémy), Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d (Chief Inspector Dermot Craddock), Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Actor 2), The Glass Menagerie (Tom). National Tour: Fiddler on the Roof. Regional: Born with Teeth (Guthrie Theatre and Asolo Rep); Miller, Mississippi (Dallas Theatre Center); Beauty and the Beast, 110 in the Shade, Reefer Madness, The Music Man, First Date, Bonnie and Clyde, Oliver, Sweet Potato Queens (Theatre Under the Stars); Life Could Be A Dream, AltarBoyz (Stages).
Brent Hinkley (Speechless)
Brent Hinkley Founding and active member of The Actors Gang in Los Angeles. Spent 13 seasons at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival where he masqueraded as a Harpo Marx charlatan in Animal Crackers, The Cocoanuts and It’s Christmas, Carol! Film/TV: Silence of the Lambs, Seinfeld, Falling Down, Ed Wood, XFiles, etc
Deborah Hope (The Baroness Hildegarde Von Reichendamen)
Deborah Hope is thrilled to be part of the Alley All New Festival! Most recently she performed in The Last Yiddish Speaker (Mildred’s Umbrella), August: Osage…(Dirt Dogs), POTUS:…(Stages) Steel Magnolias (AD Players), Present Laughter (Main Street), et al. She is currently a Teaching Consultant with the Theatre Department at HSPVA and a certified Intimacy Consultant for stage.
Melissa Molano (Pepper Von Reichendamen)
Melissa Molano is a Resident Acting Company Member. Recent Alley shows include The Da Vinci Code, Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d, Noël Coward’s Private Lives, The Glass Menagerie, and Noises Off, and Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Other previous roles include: The River Bride (Belmira), Man of La Mancha (Antonia), I and You (Caroline), The Book of Maggie (Maggie). She’s also a voice and film actor featured on streaming platforms HiDive, Netflix and Prime. Instagram/X: @melissacmolano.
Christopher Salazar (Mr. Nachezny)
Christopher Salazar is a Resident Acting Company Member. Alley Theatre credits include The Da Vinci Code, Seared, Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, Noises Off, and Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium. Select regional credits include: three seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the world premieres of The Copper Children, The Way the Mountain Moved, and Off the Rails; 11 productions at The Old Globe. On TV: Robert Torres on Jane, The Virgin. MFA: Old Globe Theatre/ USD, BA: UNC-Chapel Hill. Love always to Amy.
David Sinaiko (Edmund Blaublüt/Gustave Escoffier)
David Sinaiko played Hercule Poirot at the Alley in 2023’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and 2019’s Murder on the Orient Express. Bay Area credits include: The Antipodes, “Art”, The Tempest, Endgame, Taming of the Shrew, The Bald Soprano, and playing Donald Rumsfeld in Mount Misery. Chicago credits include: Heart of a Dog, The Balcony, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. Film: The Grifters, Bob Roberts, and others. Big love to Annie, Eli, Maia, and Asher.
Helen Rios (Stage Directions)
Helen Rios is honored to be part of the Alley All New Festival again. Select credits include: Alley Theatre: Wolfie (Alley All New 2024- Melinda) Stages: POTUS (Stephanie), Body of Christie (Erin); Ensemble Theatre: Akeelah and the Bee (Izzy); Main Street Theater: Georgiana and Kitty (Lydia), The Wind in the Willows (Mrs. Otter); Shakespeare in the Shade: Twelfth Night (Viola), All’s Well that Ends Well (Helen); @Totallyhelen
Ciara Ayala (Stage Manager)
Ciara Ayala (she/her) is thankful to be back at the Alley, in a different seat, working with some of the best people in the business. Previous Stage Management credits include: Houston Grand Opera, Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Stages, Theatre Under the Stars, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Peterborough Players, The Juilliard School, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Currently: Production Manager at Miller Outdoor Theatre, and alum of the University of Houston’s School of Theatre & Dance.
The Smoker
Lisa D’Amour (Playwright)
Lisa D’Amour is a playwright, educator and interdisciplinary collaborator from New Orleans, Louisiana. She grew up in a world of ritual, activism, group spectacle and care, all of which continue to thrive in her work. Lisa’s plays have produced by theaters across the country, including Manhattan Theater Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theater on Broadway, Playwrights Horizons (NYC), Steppenwolf Theater (Chicago), Children’s Theater Company (Minneapolis), Woolly Mammoth Theater (Washington D.C.), Catastrophic Theater (Houston) and ArtSpot Productions (New Orleans). Lisa’s theater company PearlDamour makes interdisciplinary, often site-specific works which range from intimate to large scale. Recent work includes Ocean Filibuster, a genre-crashing human-ocean showdown (currently touring), MILTON, a performance and community engagement experiment rooted in 5 U.S. towns named Milton, and How to Build a Forest, an 8-hour performance installation created with visual artist Shawn Hall. Her play Detroit was a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and the 2011 Susan Smith Blackburn prize, and she’s been honored with two OBIE Awards for Detroit and Nita and Zita (the latter with PearlDamour and ArtSpot). Lisa has received the Alpert Award for the Arts in theater, the Steinberg Playwright Award and the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. She is currently the Distinguished Professor of Playwriting at the University of Houston. Lisa lives in New Orleans, where she’s on the leadership team for Trinity City Arts.
Shelley Butler (Director)
Shelley Butler has over 50 Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional credits to date working extensively with writers on new plays and musicals at theaters across the country. Notable productions include the world premieres of Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House Part 2 at South Coast Repertory and Kate Hamill’s The Scarlet Letter for Two River Theater. Shelley is the recipient of a Drama League Fall Directing Fellowship, a 2018 Drama League Directing Resident, a 2005 Director’s Guild of America Trainee, and a proud member of SDC. She currently serves as Artistic Director for the newly created South Carolina New Play Festival. Upcoming: Dear Alien by Liz Duffy Adams at Alley Theatre.
Orlando Arriaga ( Roberto)
Orlando Arriaga Noël Coward’s Private Lives, American Mariachi, Sherlock Holmes and The Case of The Jersey Lily, Lend Me A Soprano, 72 miles to go…, Quixote Nuevo (Alley Theatre). Regional: The Lehman Trilogy (Stages); Romeo Y Juliet (Cal Shakes); The River Bride (Pennsylvania Shakespeare). Film: The Long Game. Recipient of the prestigious Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship.
Chris Hutchison (The Smoker)
Chris Hutchison has appeared in 100 productions at the Alley as a member of the Resident Company. He always enjoys the opportunity to work on new plays. At the Alley, he was in the world premiere of Intelligence-Slave by Kenneth Lin and has worked on new plays by Theresa Rebeck, Jennifer Haley, Kemp Powers, Ken Ludwig and others.
Jenn Kidwell (Tonya)
Allison Pistorius (Kim)
Allison Pistorius has worked at Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center Theater Company, TheatreWorks Hartford, Houston Shakespeare Festival, and others. She plays Ariel in the upcoming independent feature Tempest, “Mom” in a handful of national commercials, and was on Jeopardy! twice. MFA in Acting, National Theatre Conservatory, current Head of BFA Acting at the University of Houston.
Brooke Wilson (The Lady Who Walks Sammy/Ruthie/Miranda)
Brooke Wilson Select credits include; Alley: The Carpenter, All The Way, A Christmas Carol, The Miser, …Forum. Tuts: Ugly Xmas Sweater Musical, Million Dollar Quartet, Smokey Joe’s Café, Urban Cowboy, Music Man, …Whorehouse, Beauty and the Beast, Singing in the Rain, Cats, Hands on a Hardbody, Reefer Madness, First Date. 4th Wall: Gloria. Stages: Honky Tonk Laundry, …Trailer Park Musical, Honky Tonk Angels, Bat Boy.
Camryn Nunley (Stage Directions)
Camryn Nunley is thrilled to be back at Alley Theatre. He is a local actor/voice actor in the Houston area. You may have seen him at Stages: Othello: The Remix (Othello), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Mitch), and Panto Snow White (Codey). Alley Theatre: Cowboy Bob (Cop Roy) Rec Room: Spring Awakening (Georg). Always and forever thanks to my Mom and Dad for always having my back. And a “love you forever” to my little family: Gabrielle, Cosmo, and Clover. Merry Christmas!
Debs Ramser (Stage Manager)
Debs Ramser Previous Alley Theatre productions include Baskerville, December: a love years in the making, The Janeiad, Dial M for Murder, Pictures from Home, The Servant of Two Masters, What-A-Christmas!, and several Alley All New Festival works. Debs has stage managed professional theater, musical theater, opera, dance, and concerts for over 25 years, working with Theatre Under The Stars, Main Street Theater, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Prague Shakespeare Company, and Houston Grand Opera, among many others. She is a graduate of Rice University and a proud member of Equity.
Dating Comprehension
Chisa Hutchinson (Playwright)
Chisa Hutchinson (B.A. Vassar; M.F.A. NYU) has presented her plays, which include Amerikin, Redeemed, She Like Girls, Somebody’s Daughter, and Whitelisted among others, at such venues as Alley Theater, the National Black Theatre, Primary Stages, Second Stage Theater and Arch 468 in London. She’s won a GLAAD Award as well as a Lanford Wilson, and been a member of New Dramatists, a NeoFuturist, and a staff writer for the Blue Man Group. Her radio play, Proof of Love, was commissioned and produced by Audible where it enjoys a boss rating, and her first indie feature, The Subject (starring Jason Biggs and Aunjanue Ellis) can be found on most major VOD platforms. Currently, Chisa is developing a screenplay about the guy who invented the silicone dildo. www.chisahutchinson.com
Amber D. Gray (Director)
Amber D. Gray is a theatre Producer, Director, Performer, and Administrator. She received a BFA in Musical Theater at Rockford University. Her first major performances began at a very young age performing around Houston including the Opening of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Superbowl XXXVIII Pre-game show with Josh Groban, for previous Presidents, and much more. Amber previously performed in the Chicago area receiving her Equity Membership Candidacy. Amber then returned to Houston and began directing, choreographing, teaching Musical Theatre, and later becoming a Dance Studio Director. Amber’s career led her to Washington DC where she was the Company Manager at Arena Stage Theater. Following DC, Amber found herself in NYC as the Assistant Line Producer at The Public Theater. She has now returned to Houston Assistant Directing (Alley Theatre’s High School Play, A Nostalgia Fest; Stages Repertory Theatre: upcoming, cullud wattah) and recently performed in Stages Repertory Theatre’s Putnam County Spelling Bee as Marcy. She is currently the Associate Artistic Director for New York’s Reading Series BlackBoard Plays, Artistic Producer for the national Black Motherhood and Parenting New Play Festival, General Manager for Detroit’s Obsidian Theatre Festival, and the Senior Producer for GhostLight Productions, Inc. For more information about Amber, please visit her website at amberdgray.com.
Eva Olivia Catanzariti (Lauryn)
Eva Olivia Catanzariti Companies Eva has worked with include Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Rec Room Arts, and Classical Theater Company. Favorite projects include Lungs (Woman), Servant of Two Masters (Truffaldino), Midsummer (Hermia/Titania/Snout), and Metamorphoses (Myrrha/Hunger). Eva is a professional intimacy/fight director in addition to actor. IG: @forevaolivia
Michelle Elaine (Desiree)
Michelle Elaine is a Resident Acting Company Member. Michelle originated the role of Miss Scarlet in the First National Tour of Clue: A New Comedy. Favorite Alley Theatre credits: Primary Trust, Noises Off, A Christmas Carol, Clue, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Sense and Sensibility, Sweat, and Quack. Michelle was awarded the Houston Press Award Best Supporting Actress for her role as the title character in Clyde’s at The Ensemble Theatre. Stages: POTUS. Follow @michelleelaineofficial on Instagram. Check out Michelle’s web series @castmedammit on YouTube!
Adam Gibbs (Rick)
Adam Gibbs has appeared in five world premieres with Alley Theatre. He’s an avid woodworker, musician, and cook. His greatest blessings are B,M,R, & M. He’s prominently known as a voice actor for countless anime and video game titles. For booking information and more visit iamadamgibbs.com
Kasi Love (Sam)
Kasi Love is a Houston-based theatre artist and photographer, and they are the Production Manager at Stages. They were awarded the Houston Press Award for Best Breakthrough for their portrayal of Diane in Hurricane Diane at Rec Room. Stages: POTUS (Bernadette). For Ash, always. Instagram: @lovetheatreco
Jerry Madison Jr. (Hollis)
Jerry Madison Jr. is an actor, filmmaker, and creative entrepreneur from Houston. A LAMDA MFA graduate and viral star of Bel-Air (1B+ views), he has worked across Los Angeles, London, and Houston. He founded Black Cinema Club HTX to elevate Black storytelling, culture, and community.
Raven Justine Troup (Bliss)
Raven Justine Troup is excited to be participating in another production with the Alley Theatre! Previous Alley credits include: Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium (Laurencia), Seascape (Sarah); Amerikin (Chris); A Christmas Carol (Belle/Mrs. Fred), Sophia (Xerxes), Alley All New Festival 2019; and Skeleton Crew (Assistant Director). Other credits: Sanctuary City (4th Wall Theatre Co); Rent, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, Elf the Musical, Spring Awakening, Seussical the Musical, Mamma Mia, The Wiz (TUTS); Little Shop Of Horrors (Stages); For Colored Girls… (Obsidian); and Funny Girl (Art Factory).
Blake Weir (Spencer)
Blake Weir is a Houston-based actor and director whose work spans stage and screen. Recent theatre credits include King James (Best Actor nomination, Houston Press) and Three Sisters (CTC). A passionate theatre educator, Blake thrives on collaboration, storytelling, and mentoring young artists while continuing to pursue professional film and theatre roles.
Jose Eduardo Moreno (Stage Directions)
Jose Eduardo Moreno (Stage Directions) this is Jose’s first time working with The Alley Theatre and he is excited for his first experience to be in the company’s All New Festival. Recent credits include The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latine Vote (Stages); Dog Act (Main Street Theater); Hamlet, Constellations, The Rocky Horror Show (CC Productions).
Casey Boriskie (Stage Manager)
Casey Boriskie (Stage Manager) Selected previous credits include: ZACH Theatre: Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Head Over Heels, Noises Off, Cinderella, Waitress & ROE; Summer Stock Austin: Guys & Dolls, 20 Season’s Spectacular; Hangar Theatre: Dragons Love Tacos, School Girls or, The African Mean Girls Play, The FutureNow Festival; UT Spring Commencements 2025; The Heller Awards for Young Artists. Training: BFA in Performance & Production with a Concentration in Stage Management from Texas State University. Proud member of AEA.