Developing Fresh Voices and PRODUCING THEATRE for the 21st Century
CAST AND CREATIVEs BIOS
Rachel Agee
Rachel Agee
Rachel Agee
Rachel Agee (Script Editor) is a native Nashvillian whose favorite things are developing new plays and helping women come to voice. So naturally she was excited to be involved with this project. Rachel is also a playwright and director but is most often an actor you may have seen in shows with Nashville Rep, Act I, Circle, 3P's, Broadaxe, and Actors Bridge Ensemble where she is a founding Board member. Big thanks to Molly and TPS for this opportunity!
Renee Brank
Rachel Agee
Rachel Agee
Renee Brank (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be a part of this production! While co-hosting The Leisure Hour podcast a few years ago, she met the cast and crew of Gadabout Theater Company, which led to a serious case of the theater bug. She has been stage manager for multiple Gadabout stage productions since 2016, including Clown Bar, Trevor, and Offices. When she’s not stage managing, Renee loves to scheme for new podcast ideas, cheer on the Tennessee Titans, and plan events, such as 2019’s Gainesfest: A Celebration of the Life of Chris Gaines. She loves working with others to bring a creative idea to life and is honored to be joining this team of amazing women!
Molly Breen
Rachel Agee
Molly Breen
Molly Breen (Producer/Playwright/Mimi Alford) co-founded Tennessee Playwrights Studio (TPS), along with her partner, Kenley Smith, in 2018. As an actor, she has worked with Nashville-area theatre companies in over 40 productions, as well as performing in plays in New York, DC, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Recent (and favorite!) roles include Jenny-Wanda Barkmann in Maidens (by Kenley Smith), Lady Capulet in Violent Delights (by Jim Manning), and Single Woman C in both the play and feature film Singleville (by Mary McCallum). She volunteers as a neurotypical actor with Tandem Troupe, an acting troupe for adults with disabilities at Friends Life Community and loves originating roles in new plays and working on projects that have social impact and/or contain challenging material. She is represented by the McCray Agency for film, tv, and commercial work. As a writer, she has received fellowships to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Mary Anderson for the Arts. She is grateful to Angela Gimlin, the co-producer of That Woman - The Monologue Show, for including her in her vision to explore the stories of these women, and to all the wonderful women actors and writers who have joined us. She is also thrilled to have co-created That Woman- The Dance Show with her favorite dancers and choreographers. Come see it: June 17-19, 22, 24, 25!
Ibby Cizmar
Karla Dansereau
Molly Breen
Ibby Ciznar (Priscilla Wear - Darkhorse) (she/her) is thrilled to join TPS and the creative team of That Woman - The Monologue Show. Her past credits Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway include This is Jeopardy, Whiz Kid, Eight Pieces for Peace, Marisol, The House of Yes, and Pterodactyls. Notable regional theatre credits include Samuel Beckett’s Footfalls (Boston) and Howard Korder’s Boys’ Life (Rahway). She also appeared in a season of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” During the height of the pandemic she participated in Nashville theatre in a host of virtual readings and workshops with TPS and the Actors Bridge Ensemble. Ibby holds an MFA in acting from the Actors Studio Drama School/The New School and a PhD in drama from Tufts University. She is a proud faculty member of Vanderbilt University’s theatre department.
Karla Dansereau
Karla Dansereau
Karla Dansereau
Karla Dansereau (Priscilla Wear - East Room) Karla received her actor training in theatre and film at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, California. Her favorite roles on stage include: Mrs. Molloy in Hello Dolly, Eve in The Diary of Adam and Eve, Jill in All I Ever Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. Eight years ago, Karla married her high school sweetheart and moved to Nashville. She has since garnered numerous credits in film and television. In 2019, she made her first venture into the area of Executive Producing. Under her direction and guidance, her team produced Why She Smiles, a moving documentary about a young woman with a rare, incurable, neurological disease. The film won several awards, including Best of Fest, Best Documentary Short, Best Documentary Feature, Most Inspiring Woman in a Film, and Best Picture, and was picked up for distribution by Bridgestone Multimedia Group. Karla has just completed filming her role as leading lady Angela Carmichael in the independent feature film, The Text, by Dreams Come True Films. In her spare time Karla enjoys painting, writing, kayaking on the cove behind their home, and visiting her grown children as often as possible! Karla is thrilled to be returning to live theatre as it was her first love!
Dianne DeWald
Karla Dansereau
Karla Dansereau
Dianne DeWald (Playwright/Mary Pinchot Meyer) Dianne graduated from Austin Peay State University with a BFA in Acting and Directing, cum laude with honors. Some of her favorite credits include: Maidens (Tennessee Playwrights Studio), Spirit (The Bell Witch Fall Festival), Turandot (Nashville Opera), and The Consequences of Madison Mumbry (Roxy Regional Theatre). Dianne sends all of her love to you, the audience. Thank you.
Bethany Dinkel
Bethany Dinkel
Bethany Dinkel
Bethany Dinkel (Costumer) Bethany brings a unique background to our costumes. Sheltering herself from her parent’s divorce, she spent the free time of her youth sewing with her great aunt. Over time, these skills naturally transitioned into creating costumes for various community performances. Upon the encouragement of a few industry leaders, Bethany founded Dinkel Designs in 2022 and is excited about the challenge of creating within a professional space. With an undergraduate and master’s degree in Resource Management, she thrives when working with large casts, costumes with complexity, and in this case imploring the costumes to provide context in lieu of an elaborate set or character familiarity. Bethany would like to thank Molly Breen and Angela Gimlin for taking a chance on the new kid on the block. Thanks also go to the other half of Bethany’s “duo”, Dr. Kimberly Moulds, for her very wise and always spot-on taste as well as the hours she helped hunt for interesting fabrics. Chris, Ava, and Lee should also be thanked for helping establish Dinkel Designs, enjoying all the food delivery without complaint, walking the puppy so Mom can keep sewing, and not burning the house down.
Angela Gimlin
Bethany Dinkel
Bethany Dinkel
Angela Gimlin (Producer/Playwright/Blaze Starr) Angela has been active on the Nashville theater scene for close to 20 years. She is best known for being the Founder and COO of the Inebriated Shakespeare Theater Company. She is a huge fan of improv and, obviously, Shakespeare. Some of her favorite past roles include Queen Gertrude in Hamlet and Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest. Obviously, she gravitates and embraces strong female roles. When she isn’t treading the boards, you can find her cheering on her two favorite teams – the Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma City Thunder. HUGE thanks to Molly for taking the reins of my vision and bringing it to life during such a tumultuous time.
Madison Gunn
Bethany Dinkel
Madison Gunn
Madison Gunn (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis/East Room) is so honored to be a part of this production and tell such an interesting new story! She is an actor from Mt. Juliet, TN with a BA in Dramatic Arts from Trevecca Nazarene University. Some of her favorite previous credits include Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins), Little Women (Meg March), The Secret Garden (Rose), The Vagina Monologues, Seussical and The Little Mermaid. She would like to thank her amazing family and friends for their constant love and support! @madison.rose.gunn
April Hardcastle-Miles
Sofia Hernández Morales
April Hardcastle-Miles
April Hardcastle-Miles (Playwright/Inga Arvad - Darkhorse) has been involved in her Nashville hometown theater scene since she was 13-years-old. Some of her favorites are moments that happened off stage, directing Peter Pan and Somebody’s Baby. April is a film school dropout, a former Zamboni driver and was once made fun of by John Goodman. She is very excited to be a part of this project that gives a voice to the other side of the story.
Alicia Haymer
Sofia Hernández Morales
April Hardcastle-Miles
Alicia Haymer (Playwright) A Nashville native and Fisk alum, Alicia has been a part of the Nashville arts scene for 20+ years. In the many years that Alicia has been on stage in Nashville, she’s worked with Nashville Children’s Theatre, The Amun Ra Theater, SistaStyle Productions, Tennessee Women’s Theater Project, Destiny Theatre Experience, and the Nashville Repertory Theatre, among other wonderful play houses in Nashville. Alicia began writing in 2016, with her short play, Power to the People, making its debut in New York, New York in the fall of 2017, as part of the “My America” plays workshop. Her first full length play, Heavy was developed in the Nashville Rep's Writing Room, and her latest full-length play, Free and Public Citizen was written in 2019, as part of the Tennessee Playwrights Studio. She's also written commissioned work for the Nashville Children's Theatre, and the University of Maryland’s School of Music. Alicia has had the pleasure of directing with Actor's Bridge Ensemble (Detroit ‘67), as well as Street Theatre (Eclipsed, Sweat), Infinity Center Presents (The Colored Museum) and Nashville Repertory Theatre (Schoolgirls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play). Whether it be acting, directing, or writing, Alicia is always grateful for any opportunity to express herself with creative authenticity.
Sofia Hernández Morales
Sofia Hernández Morales
Sofia Hernández Morales
Sofia Hernández Morales (Jill Cowan) was born in Mexico City and lived three years in Victoria, Canada, before coming to Nashville for school. In Mexico, she was part of the musical Aladdin, playing the character of the female version of Jafar; she also played Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast. She joined "Compañia de Repertorio de Roberto Escobedo", a theatre company in Mexico City. In Canada, she was able to further her education and took voice lessons from the "Victoria Conservatory of Music". She is currently a student at Lipscomb University studying acting, where she has had the opportunity to be part of student films, staged readings, and singing performances.
Kristen DuBois
Stephanie Houghton
Sofia Hernández Morales
Kristen DuBois (Lighting Designer) is delighted to be a part of this show, and to be back at the Darkhorse. She has worked as a Lighting Designer in Austin and Nashville, her most recent work including Lizzie: The Musical and The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical for Street Theatre Company. She has also worked with Circle Players, designing such shows as A Chorus Line and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, as well as Act 1 for The Nightmarium Incident and Jack and the Giant. She loves to work on dance, children's theater and anything with a new, thoughtful perspective. She would like to thank her friends for coming to her shows, and her partner for letting her ramble about lights while offering creative feedback.
Stephanie Houghton
Stephanie Houghton
Stephanie Houghton
Stephanie Houghton (Director) fell in love with theater in high school and acted in numerous high school and college productions in her Missouri hometown. After graduating from college, she moved to New York City and got involved behind the scenes as the company manager for Folding Chair Classical Theatre, which produced classical plays and modern adaptations of classic stories. She moved to Nashville in 2012 and founded Gadabout Theater Company in 2014, where she continues to direct many of the productions. Gadabout brings theater to people who don’t know they like theater — unconventional, often comedic shows performed in nontraditional environments.
Nettie Kraft
Stephanie Houghton
Stephanie Houghton
Nettie Kraft (Playwright) received her MFA from Roosevelt University in Chicago, where she interned at Steppenwolf, working with Tracy Letts and Amy Morton. Prior to that, she studied theater in England, eventually attaining a BFA from The University of Colorado at Boulder, where she worked with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival for four years and began a theater company. While in Tennessee, she has worked in TV, film, and on stage with SistaStyle Productions, Blackbird Theater, Nashville Rep, TWTP, Actors Bridge Ensemble, and Nashville Shakespeare Festival,. She routinely teachers at various local universities, was the dialect coach for four seasons of the TV drama Nashville, acted in the film Novitiate, which premiered at Sundance, coached and acted in the film Above Suspicion with Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Jack Houston (Boardwalk Empire), played Mama Cash on CMT’s Sun Records, and is a proud co-founder of Verge Theatre Company.
Alexis LaVon
Ang Madaline-Johnson
Ang Madaline-Johnson
Alexis LaVon (Sound Designer) Alexis is an arts enthusiast who grew up in Nashville by way of Chicago. She works in Nashville & Atlanta as a Stage Manager and Production Manager for various projects. She also serves as 1st Assistant Director on Feature Films locally and out of state. She is thrilled in her new position as Production Manager with 353 Media Group and stays busy in their partnership with NMAAM. She has numerous productions to her credit and has worked with some of the best theater companies in Nashville: Kennie’s Playhouse Theatre, Sista Style Productions, Tennessee Women's Theatre Project, Circle Players, Street Theatre, Nashville Children's Theatre, Chaffin's Barn, Humanity Theatre Project and Tennessee Playwrights Studio.
Ang Madaline-Johnson
Ang Madaline-Johnson
Ang Madaline-Johnson
Ang Madaline-Johnson (Playwright/Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - Darkhorse) Ang is delighted and honored to be part of That Woman as both a writer and performer! Previous Nashville credits include Nashville Rep, Nashville Shakespeare Festival , Humanity Theatre Project, Pipeline-Collective, Chaffin’s Barn Theater, Street Theatre Company, & Verge/Woven Theatre Co. Ang was also part of the original casts of Golf-The Musical (Off-Broadway) & Wild Dust-The Musical. She is the Artistic Director of Nolensville Performance Collective’s Stoke, a singer-songwriter, & the proud mother of Murphy & Mack. Infinite thanks to Mike for his steadfast love and endless support of her artistic pursuits.
Mary McCallum
Ang Madaline-Johnson
Silva Riganelli
Mary McCallum (Playwright/Ellen Rometsch - Darkhorse) received her B.S. and M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University. She is the founder of SistaStyle Productions (www.sistastyleproductions.com). Her theatre acting credits include The Mountaintop, Fly, Girl!, The Face of Emmett Till, Never Been Home, Waitin’ 2 End Hell, A Raisin in the Sun, The Story, Lysistrata, The Desire, Pretty Fire, Long Time Since Yesterday, Louie and Ophelia, Hunger in Paradise and The Dance on Widow’s Row. She has also appeared in several films & T.V. One’s Fatal Attraction. Writing highlights: Her play SingleVille was a winner of the D.C. Black Theatre Festival One Act Battle and was a mainstage selection for the National Black Theatre Festival. Her play Six Triple Eight took top prize at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival and Tampa Bay Theatre Festival. The movie version of SingleVille (writer, co-director, actress) won several awards in 2018 including Best Feature at the Twin Cities Black Film festival and the International Black Film Festival. Chasing Jeremy was a screenplay winner at the British Urban Film Festival and a finalist at the Urban World Film Festival. In 2019, she was a winner of the “Women Who Rock Nashville” award for the arts. In 2020, she was selected as librettist for Nashville Opera’s first mainstage commission One Vote Won.
Silva Riganelli
Elizabeth Turner
Silva Riganelli
Silva Riganelli (Inga Arvad - East Room) started her acting career in the rose theater lights of Rome’s burgeoning performing arts scene ten years ago. She debuted in a production of The Bald Soprano, a light comedy production directed by Chiara Casarigo, in 2014 and since then has fallen madly in love with acting. After moving to Nashville in 2016, she joined the 4th Wall Acting Studio, as a testament to her love for learning and expanding her repertoire in theater arts. She has since been casted in several commercials, music videos, and amateur and Indie films. Her latest projects include radio plays in Italian by Agatha Christie, Achille Campanile, and some American movies from the s.40s, as well as a series, Mt. Mystic Rangers produced locally in Nashville and won the Golden State Film Festival in 2022 as Best Pilot, among other kudos received from other Film Festivals. Always a student in search of mastery of her craft, this is one dedicated pupil of the arts just rearing for another adventure to prove her skill
Elizabeth Turner
Elizabeth Turner
Elizabeth Turner
Elizabeth Turner (Playwright/Judith Exner) is excited to flex her creative writing muscles and perform alongside so many of Nashville's talented actresses. She’s been fortunate to work with multiple Nashville and Middle Tennessee theatre companies over the years. Past roles include Mrs. Wormwood in Matilda: The Musical, Val in A Chorus Line, and Karen in August: Osage County, among others. She was also one-fifth of the professional U.S. touring company of the comedy Old Jews Telling Jokes. (Fun fact: she’s neither old nor Jewish.) But her favorite roles ever are mommy to Eleanor and wife to Toby. Many thanks to Angela and Molly for spearheading this project. Enjoy!
Audrey Venable
Elizabeth Turner
Elizabeth Turner
Audrey Venable (Ellen Rometsch - East Room) is a senior Musical Theatre Major and Dance Minor at Lipscomb University. Mainstage credits include When She Had Wings, Mamma Mia, Songs for a New World, and As You Like It. She was also a Student Company Member at Yale University’s Cape Cod Theatre Project, and has most recently played Maia in a staged reading of Lauren Ferebee's Star Girls directed by David Ian Lee (The Pipeline Collective) at Lipscomb University. This is her first production with the Tennessee Playwrights Studio. Audrey also works in film, as seen in the short film Audrey Austen (The Chicago Film Festival Nominee). Many thanks to her family, friends, Alex, and the Lipscomb Department of Theatre for their support as she pursues what she loves. Thank you! AudreyVenable.com, @Audrette
Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva
Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva
Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva
Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva (Playwright/Marilyn Monroe) Credits include: Stepmother, Cinderella (Studio Tenn); Mrs. Phelps, Matilda (AtPro) Madame De La Grande Bouche, Beauty And The Beast (Studio Tenn); Mae Tuck, Tuck Everlasting (Nashville Children’s Theatre); John Wesley Powell, Men on Boats (Actors Bridge Ensemble); Callie Carter, The Battle of Franklin; Alice, Big River; Viney, The Miracle Worker; Christmas Present, A Christmas Carol (Studio Tenn) Old Woman, The Difficulty of Crossing a Field; Priest, Tosca; Amazon, Turnadot (Nashville Opera); Mama Morton, Chicago; Francine/Lena, Clybourne Park; Ronette, Little Shop of Horrors; Calpurnia, To Kill a Mockingbird (Nashville Repertory); Roberta, Sistas the Musical (Tennessee Women's Theatre Project); Lady Day, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Wild Card Productions); Ms. H, 7 Ways to Sunday (The Theatre Bug); Mrs. Greer, Annie (Chaffin’s Barn); Motormouth Maybelle, Hairspray; Lula/Landlady, Violet; Aunt Ethel/Mama, The Colored Museum (Street Theatre Company). Tasha, Motherhood: The Musical (Faby Baby Productions). Jennifer received her BA in Theatre Performance and Dance from Austin Peay State University. She is thankful for the love and support from her friends and family.
Lauren Wilson
Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva
Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva
Lauren Wilson (Graphic Designer) is a full-time art director and graphic designer based in Nashville, TN. A native New Yorker, she fell in love with theater and performing at a young age and performed in many New York productions over the years before attending C.W. Post University to study art and design. Lauren moved to Nashville back in 2012 and immediately felt at home in Nashville’s growing theater and art scene. She loves being able to work and collaborate with other Nashville creatives and local organizations, and continues to provide design services and creative direction for theater companies, independent businesses, and artists all over the city. (www.lwilsondesign.com)
Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva
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