Meet The Cast & Creative Team of Noises Off
Introducing the cast & creative team of Noises Off!
The cast includes the entire Resident Acting Company: Elizabeth Bunch as Dotty Otley, Michelle Elaine as Belinda Blair, Dylan Godwin as Garry Lejeune, Chris Hutchison as Tim Allgood, Melissa Molano as Poppy Norton-Taylor, David Rainey as Selsdon Mowbray, Christopher Salazar as Frederick Fellowes, and Todd Waite as Lloyd Dallas. The Resident Acting Company will be joined by Nicole Rodenburg as Brooke Ashton.
The creative team includes Playwright Michael Frayn, Director Brandon Weinbrenner, Scenic Designer Tim Mackabee, Costume Designer Jessica Pabst, Lighting Designer Alan C. Edwards, Sound Designer Melanie Chen Cole, Dialect Coach Molly Wetzel, Fight Director & Intimacy Specialist Adam Noble, Stage Manager Krissy Larson, and Assistant Stage Manager Brandon Clark.
Keep reading to learn more about the cast and creative team of Noises Off. Brandon Weinbrenner directs this uproarious comedy, which runs from September 27 to October 27.
THE CAST
Elizabeth Bunch
as Dotty Otley
Elizabeth Bunch is excited to get a chance to perform one of her favorite comedies. As a resident company member she has appeared in over 90 productions. Some favorite comedies have been Little Comedies, The Servant of Two Masters, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Clue, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Hand to God, Fool, As You Like It, You Can’t Take it with You, One Man Two Guvnors, The Foreigner, November, Boeing Boeing, Born Yesterday, Harvey, The 39 Steps, and Steel Magnolias! NYC and Regional credits include: Playwrights Horizons, Guthrie, Denver Center, Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble, Keen Company, and The Flea. Last year she could be found directing at UH and 4th Wall Theater. @Its_Elizabeth_Bunch.
Michelle Elaine
as Belinda Blair
Michelle Elaine is a Resident Acting Company member. Michelle originated the role of Miss Scarlet on the First National Tour of Clue: A New Comedy. Favorite Alley Theatre credits: A Christmas Carol, Clue, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Sense and Sensibility, Sweat, Quack, and All The Way. Michelle was awarded the Houston Press Awards Best Supporting Actress for her role as the title character in Clyde’s at The Ensemble Theatre. Stages: POTUS. Check out Michelle’s web series @castmedammit on YouTube! michelleelaineofficial.com.
Dylan Godwin
as Garry Lejeune
Dylan Godwin is a Resident Acting Company member and recently appeared in the Alley Theatre’s Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (Philip Lombard), Dial M for Murder (Lesgate), Little Comedies (Aplombov), Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Ralph Paton), The Servant of Two Masters (Silvio), Clue (Wadsworth), Born with Teeth (Will), and Fully Committed (Sam). 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).
Chris Hutchison
as Tim Allgood
This past season was one of Chris’s favorites in his 19 years as a member of the Resident Acting Company. He appeared in Chekov’s Little Comedies, The Nerd, and Jane Eyre. Past favorites include: Quack, Constellations, and The Lieutenant of Inishmore. A 30-year career has taken him from Los Angeles to NYC to Houston and many points between. BA Lafayette College, MFA University of Washington. Proud member of Actors’ Equity and SAG-AFTRA.
Melissa Molano
as Poppy Norton-Taylor
Melissa Molano is a Resident Acting Company member. Previous Alley shows include Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Jane Eyre, Little Comedies, Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Servant of Two Masters, A Christmas Carol, Clue, and 72 miles to go… 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.
David Rainey
as Selsdon Mowbray
David Rainey is in his 24th season as a Resident Acting Company member recently appearing in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium, The Nerd, Little Comedies, Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Servant of Two Masters, Clue, Sweat, and as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. He has also performed with The National Actors Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Berkeley Rep, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Hartford Stage, Dallas Theater Center, among others. He trained at Juilliard, receiving its highest honor, the Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Prize. He also coaches acting year-round.
Nicole Rodenburg
as Brooke Ashton
Nicole Rodenburg is thrilled to be back at Alley Theatre where she previously appeared in Venus in Fur and As You Like It. NYC Theatre: Watch Me (Clubbed Thumb), Usual Girls (Roundabout), The Winter’s Tale (TFANA), The Antipodes (Signature), The Flick (Barrow Street). Select Regional: Romeo and Juliet (Westport), The Whale (world premiere, Denver Center), Bus Stop (Huntington), Slasher (Humana), three seasons with the Great River Shakespeare Festival. TV: Fleishman is in Trouble, The Shivering Truth, Amish Witches, The Girls Guide to Depravity, Inside Amy Schumer. FILM: Dream Team (Rotterdam 2024), Twin Snakes (upcoming), The Long Run (upcoming), Glob Lessons (directorial debut, Tribeca 2021), What Children Do, Tenderly, Tic, Good News for Modern Man.
Christopher Salazar
as Frederick Fellowes
Christopher Salazar is a Resident Acting Company member. Alley audiences may remember him from Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium, The Nerd, Little Comedies, Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Servant of Two Masters, Sherlock Holmes and The Case of The Jersey Lily, Clue, 72 miles to go…, and The Humans. Select 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; eleven productions at The Old Globe; and the award-winning Ameryka with Critical Mass Performance Group. TV: Robert Torres on “Jane, The Virgin.” MFA: Old Globe Theatre/ USD, BA: UNC-Chapel Hill.
Todd Waite
as Lloyd Dallas
Todd Waite is in his 24th season as a Resident Acting Company member. Recently seen in Alley Theatre’s Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Dial M for Murder, Jane Eyre, Pictures from Home, Little Comedies, and Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. He has appeared in over 130 Alley productions including five appearances as Sherlock Holmes and eight in the one-man show The Santaland Diaries. He spent six seasons with the Shaw Theatre Festival and was the resident director for Cirque du Soleil’s ‘O’ in Las Vegas. Mr. Waite received the Presidential Young Arts Award for Acting Teachers. Education: BFA (Acting), MFA (Directing).
CREATIVE TEAM
Michael Frayn
Playwright
Michael Frayn was born in London in 1933. He began his career as a reporter for The Guardian and later The Observer. After leaving The Observer he continued to write as a columnist as well as publishing novels and plays for television and stage. His plays for stage include Copenhagen, After Life, The Two of Us, Alphabetical Order, Donkeys’ Years, Clouds, Balmoral (Liberty Hall), Make and Break, Noises Off, Benefactors, Alarms and Excursions, Look Look, Here and Make and Break. Other translations include four full-length Chekhov plays (The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, The Seagull, and Uncle Vanya) and four one-act plays (The Evils of Tobacco, Swan Song, The Bear, and The Proposal). Mr. Frayn is married to the biographer and critic Claire Tomalin.
Brandon Weinbrenner
Director
Brandon Weinbrenner is the Alley’s Associate Artistic Director. At the Alley he has directed Clue, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Sherlock Holmes and The Case of the Jersey Lily, The Nerd, Doris Baizely’s A Christmas Carol, Fully Committed, The Humans, Venus in Fur, and several workshops and readings as part of Alley All New. Around town he has directed The Children and The Royale at Rec Room Arts, Fool for Love at The Landing Theatre Co, Stage Kiss at 4th Wall Theatre Company, Buyer & Cellar and Native Gardens at Main Street Theater, and Big Love, The Learned Ladies, and Picnic at the University of Houston. Brandon is a graduate of the University of Minnesota/ Guthrie Theater BFA Acting Training Program.
Tim Mackabee
Scenic Design
Alley Theatre: The Nerd, Clue, Describe The Night. Broadway: The Elephant Man (starring Bradley Cooper), Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth (dir. Spike Lee). West End: The Elephant Man. Off-Broadway: Poor Yella Rednecks, Vietgone, Important Hats… (MTC), Heathers The Musical, The Last Match (Roundabout), The Penitent, Our New Girl, Guards At The Taj (Atlantic), Luce (Lincoln Center Theatre), Gigantic (Vineyard.) Regional: Oh yes, lots. Music Video: Carly Ray Jepsen’s, “Surrender My Heart” TV: Gotham, Smash, The Today Show. Education: North Carolina School of the Arts, Yale School of Drama.
@timmackabeedesign.
Jessica Pabst
Costume Design
Inherit the Wind, Roe (Goodman Theatre), Little Bear Ridge Road (Steppenwolf Theatre). Broadway: Cost of Living, Marvin’s Room, The Heidi Chronicles. Off Broadway: World premiers with Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Public Theatre, and Lincoln Center. Regional: Premiers with Dallas Theatre Center, Denver Theater Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Humana Festival of New Plays. Lucille Lortel Award for The Whale (Playwrights Horizons). Multiple Henry Hewes Design award and Drama Desk nominations.jessicapabst.com.
Alan C. Edwards
Lighting Design
Off-Broadway: Sally & Tom (Public); The Hot Wing King, Fires In The Mirror [Lortel Nom.], Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 (Signature NYC); Harry Clarke [Lortel Award] (Vineyard); Kill Move Paradise [Drama Desk nom] (National Black Theatre). Regional: Gatsby: An American Myth; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (A.R.T.); Sally & Tom (Guthrie); Lights Out: Nat King Cole, Paradise Blue, (Geffen Playhouse). West End: Harry Clarke. Broadway: The Testament of Mary (Assoc. to Jennifer Tipton). Education/Training: MFA, Yale School of Drama.
Melanie Chen Cole
Sound Design
Melanie Chen Cole (she/her) is a San Diego-based sound designer. Alley Theatre: Jane Eyre, The World is Not Silent, Sherlock Holmes and The Case of The Jersey Lily, High School Play: A Nostalgia Fest. Regional theatre credits: Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alliance Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Geffen Playhouse, Goodman Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Indiana Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, Northern Stage, The Old Globe, PlayMakers Rep, South Coast Rep, Studio Theatre, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Education: MFA in Theatre and Dance from UC San Diego. melaniesound.com, @melaniechencole on Instagram.
Molly Wetzel
Dialect Coach
Molly Wetzel is a professional voice and dialect coach and actor. She’s an Assistant Professor of Voice and Speech at the University of Houston and teaches clients from around the world through her private business, “molly does dialects.” She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Otterbein University and an MFA in Acting from the University of Houston.
Adam Noble
Fight Director & Intimacy Specialist
Adam Noble has over 25 years of professional experience augmenting physical storytelling in the performing arts. Certified by both the Society of American Fight Directors and by Intimacy Directors & Coordinators, Adam teaches acting and movement both nationally and internationally. Serving across artistic disciplines, he’s created nuanced choreography for well over 250 productions. Adam is Head of the newly-created University of Houston + Alley Theatre MFA Professional Actor Training Program.
Kristen Larson
Stage Manager
Kristen Larson is in her 12th season with the Alley Theatre. Favorite Alley credits: Little Comedies; Clue; Sense and Sensibility; Sweat; 1984; The Humans; Twelfth Night; Holmes and Watson; Lover, Beloved (world premiere); Michael Wilson’s A Christmas Carol; The 39 Steps; and Syncing Ink (AANF workshop and world premiere). Locally she has worked with Stages Theatre and TUTS and out of town in Chicago and Juneau, Alaska. Krissy is currently the Alley’s Production Stage Manager.
Brandon Clark
Assistant Stage Manager
Brandon Clark is in his 3rd season with Alley Theatre. Previous credits include: Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium, Cowboy Bob, Torera, and Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Texas Shakespeare Festival (SM): Romeo and Juliet, The Book of Will, (ASM): Othello, Into the Woods. BA, Theatre: University of Northern Iowa. Proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. @brandontclark