In The Blood

Kathleen Worley taught theatre and directed for many years at Reed College.  During that time, she played Anfisa in PETE’s Three Sisters, Mrs. Graves in ART’s Enchanted April, Aunt Julia in James Joyce’s ‘The Dead’ at Reed and acted in and directed several shows and staged readings at Profile Theatre.  More recently she staged Horae, a concert of Medieval music for In Mulieribus, and appeared in Head. Hands. Feet. at Shaking The Tree, where she was also the dramaturg for A Doll’s House.  She toured her one-woman Virginia Woolf performance in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Nevada and California.

Jacob Beaver is more than thrilled to be sharing the stage with this amazingly talented group of actors with this year! Prior theater credits include Songs for a New World at Beaverton Civic Theater, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at HART theater, Into the Woods at Beaverton Civic Theatre. Jacob will be playing David in Hay Fever, Reverend D/Baby in In the Blood, and Tim in This Random World. “The best audience is intelligent, well educated, and a little drunk.” Jacob hopes you are all three of those; enjoy the show!

Kristin Barrett is a Portland native who trained at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and with Scott Rogers of Scott Rogers Studios in Portland. Recent film credits include a lead in Collapse, Jordan in Zompocalypse: Dead End, Anatolya in Last Flight of the Cosmonaut. Favorite past roles include Chick in Crimes of the Heart at Lakewood Theater, Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Cassandra in Trojan Women. Kristin has been privileged to work with Beth Henley (Pulitzer winning author of Crimes of the Heart), and tap dancing instructor Hiroshi Hamanashi (Riverdance). Kristin will be stage managing Hay Fever and playing Amiga Gringa/Beauty in In the Blood and Beth in This Random World.

Melissa Buchta moved from Fairbanks Alaska to pursue her acting education in Portland. She returned to Fairbanks last summer to play Titus Andronicus in the Fairbanks Shakespeare theater’s production of Titus Andronicus. Melissa is a graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks theater department with a bachelor of arts and theater. She is elated to be playing the roles of Jackie in Hay Fever and Bernadette in This Random World.

Tyharra Cozier is very excited to be in this season of plays at Portland Actors Conservatory. From Coral Springs, Florida, Cozier graduated from Florida State Univeristy with a Bachelors of Arts in Theatre. Her recent credits include Aunt Sponge in Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach and Narrator from Eve Engsler’s The Vagina Monologues, both at Florida State University. She is also playing the role of Nikki in the seasonal tour of HANDS UP! (August Wilson’s Red Door Project). She will be playing Judith in Hay Fever, The Welfare Lady/Bully in In the Blood, and Rhonda in This Random World. Many thanks to her family and friends for all their support! www.TyharraCozier.com

Christa Helms was born and raised in Portland Oregon. Christa has a B.A. in psychology from Reed College and a PhD in behavioral neuroscience from Oregon Health and Science University. Her experience in improvisation at the Brody Theater was the bridge to her joining Portland Actors Conservatory. Her most memorable experiences on the stage include Catharina in Taming of the Shrew and Linda and Shanley’s Savage in Limbo, as well as performing stand-up comedy and improv at multiple Portland venues. She will be stage managing In the Blood and playing Sorel in Hay Fever and Claire in This Random World.

John D’Aversa is originally from Chicagoland, Illinois. After graduating with a BA in Theatre Arts and Asian Studies from Augustana College-Rock Island, IL, he drove across the United States to attend Portland Actors Conservatory. Through the conservatory, he has made many friends and gotten work as a techie at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, Echo Theatre, and at the conservatory. Overjoyed to finally perform on the Firehouse stage, this is John’s Portland debut. John will be playing Richard in Hay Fever, Chili/Jabber in In the Blood, and Gary in This Random World.

Creative Team

Victor Mack (Director) has the following Portland theatre credits: How I Learned What I Learned, King Headley II, and Gem of the Ocean at Portland Playhouse, Blue Door at Profile Theatre, Ithaka, Seven Guitars, Top Dog/Underdog, Superior Donuts, Chasing Empires Soul, and Take Me Out at Artists Repertory Theatre, Jitney, Detroit, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Drammy for Actor in Lead Role), Radio Golf (Drammy for Actor in Supporting Role), The Lion in Winter at Northwest Classical Theatre, Hamlet and Frankie and Johnny in the Claire De Lune at CoHo, Throwing Bones and One Day with Sojourn Theatre, and El Grito Del Bronx at Miracle Theatre. In 2012, Victor Mack received a Drammy Award for Achievement in Direction for the Portland Playhouse’s production of The Brother/Sister Plays. 

Jeff Forbes (Lighting Designer) is a ten-time winner of the Willie and Drammy Awards for theatre for such companies as Artist Repertory Theatre, Broadway Rose, Imago Theatre, the Musical Theatre Company, Storefront Theatre, and Tygres Heart Shakespeare Co, as well as the American Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage and many others. He tours nationally and internationally with Theatre, NorthWest Dance Project, and Ate9 Dance Company, among others. He currently is the Technical Manager for White Bird Dance, and has served as a technical director for PICA’s TBA Festival since its beginning in 2001. He is a co-founder, with Linda Austin, of Performance Works NorthWest, for which he also serves as technical director.

Chris Mikolavich (Technical Director) has been with the Conservatory since 1985. He has acted, directed, and stage-managed both locally and nationally. He is a scenic designer, a lighting designer and an award winning sound designer.  Chris is the Conservatory’s Technical Director and Instructor for Theatre Management, Practicum and Technical Theatre. In addition to working for many Portland theatre companies, he has been the Technical Director, Shop Foreman, Instructor and Facilities Manager for Lewis & Clark College Theatre Department. He has been a casting director for feature films, TV movies and national commercials, and has toured internationally as Lighting Director for major recording artists.

Max Ward (Scenic Designer) is a Portland-based scenic designer whose past work has included collaborations with a diverse set of theater makers and companies from London to New York City, including the English Touring Opera and The Ontological-Hysteric Theater. His most recent works include 1776 at Lakewood Theatre; The Udmurts, Blasted, and Cock at Defunkt Theatre; and Parade with Staged! at the Brunish Theater. Max holds an MA in Scenography from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

PORTLAND ACTORS CONSERVATORY ADMINISTRATIVE AND EDUCATIONAL STAFF

Producing Artistic Director Beth Harper, Office Manager/Registrar
 Samson Syharath, Business Manager Loren Johnson, Financial Aid and Compliance Officer Manazza Kayani, Technical Director/Stage Coach Chris Mikolavich, Graphic Designer Matt Livengood, Faculty: Michael Griggs, Chris Harder, Beth Harper, Conner Kerns, Matthew Kerrigan, Val Landrum, Shelly Lipkin, Victor Mack, Chris Mikolavich, Ben Newman, Elizabeth Rothan, and Samson Syharath. 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chair, Bruce Chaser, Milt Dennison, Jeff Gorham, Beth Harper, Scott Moore, Jane Robinson, Scott Oen
Advisory Board:  Bob Conklin, Joe Gillie, Kevin Jones, Jed Petersen, Damaso Rodriguez, George Thorn, Julie Vigeland

PORTLAND ACTORS CONSERVATORY STUDENTS: 2016-2017

1st YEAR:
Alex Albrecht, James Bowen II, Enrique Dominguez, Megan Haynes, Rickey Junior, Jessica Kohl, Trishelle Longhurst, Amethyst Mortimer, Bianca Murillo, Yolanda Porter, Melissa Reeves, Colleen Socha, and Steven Stanford

2nd YEAR:
Kristin Barrett, Jacob Beaver, Melissa Buchta, Tyharra Cozier, John D’Aversa, Monica Fleetwood, Christa Helms, Alonso Law