MEET THE CAST:
HILLARY WHEELOCK (Atreyu) is a former Actor-Teacher with Great Lakes Theater and graduate of Case Western Reserve University. In college, she studied contemporary and classical acting overseas at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the British-American Drama Academy. Hillary is an alumna of IMPROVment, Case Western Reserve University’s premier short-form improv comedy troupe. She has studied long- and short-form improv with Jet Eveleth (iO Theater – Chicago), Brandon Gardner (Upright Citizen's Brigade – NYC), and Christopher Bohan (Something DaDa – Cleveland). This is Hillary's third Ensemble production having just played Mrs. Michaelis in The Great Gatsby, and Walton/Elizabeth/Ensemble in Frankenstein. She will return to the TheatreCLE season in March and April as Viola in Twelfth Night. Recent acting credits include: The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival – Twelfth Night (Olivia, Sir Andrew), Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Silvia), Measure for Measure, As You Like It (Jaques), Henry VIII, Love’s Labours Lost (Rosaline); CWRU – The Crucible (Abigail Williams), Blood Wedding (La Madre), The Tempest (Ariel), The Seagull, Dancing at Lughnasa, & Top Girls.
PHILLIP PANTALONE (Bastian) Phil got his start on stage in 2013 as Randy in A Christmas Story, the Musical at Near West Theatre. He has since performed in Once On This Island Jr, Move On! and Remember The Pines. He also danced in A Uniquely Cleveland Nutcracker. When Phil isn't attending school at The Academy of St. Adalbert, he spends his time singing, acting, dancing and playing video games. He is very excited to be making his Ensemble Theatre debut.
SAM PANTALONE (The Father/Caretaker/Ensemble) Sam performed in plays and musicals such as Oklahoma!, I Remember Mama, Godspell, and A Balm in Gilead in high school, at Cleveland State University and Euclid Little Theatre. After taking a more than two decade hiatus from the stage to raise a family he was delighted to rediscover his love of theater in 2013 playing Jean Shepherd in A Christmas Story - The Musical. He is having a great time performing with his son and working with The Ensemble Theatre.
ASHELY BOSSARD (Troll/Ygramul The Many/East Wind Giant) is a graduate of Ohio University; she received her BFA in Performance in 2012. She recently finished Don’t Dress for Dinner (Suzette) at Weathervane Playhouse as well as Beck Center’s, She Loves Me and Annie. Some of her favorite shows she has been in are War is ... Awesome (Grace) a new play created by Vampire Cowboy Theatre Company and Servant of Two Masters (Smeraldina). After this you can see her in Lakeland Civic Theatres production of Violet. She is so thankful to work with such a fantastic group of individuals. As always love to her family and boyfriend. Enjoy the show!
JEREMY JENKINS (Falcor) was last seen on Ensemble's stage in The Normal Heart (Tommy Boatwright), The Iceman Cometh (Pat McGloin), All This Intimacy (Seth), Exit the King (Doctor) and in this seasons production of Oakley Hall III's Frankstein (Clerval/Ensemble). Other favorite roles include The Glass Menagerie (Jim) at Coach House Theatre, August: Osage County (Little Charles) at Lakeland Civic Theatre, The Miracle Worker (James Kellar) at True North, The Fox on the Fairway (Justin) at Clague Playhouse, and multiple roles with the Ohio Shakespeare Festival where he is a 5 year company member. High Four! Black heart (cards) 2 Purty & support Ensemble Theatre! Spread the word!
KYLE HUFF (Artax/Maya's Entourage) is an actor and director who just moved into the area. He is a recent graduate from Hiram College, getting his BA in Dramatic Arts, and is excited to be working with such a talented group of people. His past productions include Ensemble Theatre’s The Great Gatsby as Mr. McKee/Chorus, Anna Christie as a Longshoreman, and The Iceman Cometh as Moran; Cleveland Shakespeare Festival’s Proteus in Two Gentlemen of Verona and Lucius in Measure for Measure and the last production he directed was Doubt by John Patrick Shanley at Hiram College. He recently Stage managed Ensemble's production of The Mercy Seat. You can see him again on stage in Bad Jews at Actors Summit this april April.
PAMELA HARWOOD (The Bookseller/Morla/West Wind Giant) Pamela Harwood was introduced to the Ensemble team through the 2014 Colombi New Play Festival where she played Esther in For the Love of a Leica. She appeared with the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival as Titania/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. She has both and BS and an MA in Theatre and is directing at Tri-C East this spring. She loves the fantasy genre, and The Neverending Story is a family favorite, so she could not be happier appearing onstage in this story with her son, Benjamin Ruiz.
KIRK BROWN (Bully #3/Elder of Atreyu's People/Engywook/Ensemble) has been involved in Cleveland theatre since moving here in 1984 from Bakersfield Ca. where he earned a B.A.in theatre from CSUB and where he met his wife Sharon! She and their two sons (all east siders) have been invaluable in helping Kirk get through many productions at Dobama, Ensemble, Chagrin, CPT, and other theatres in the greater Cleveland area. It's been a while since he's been out on the "boards" as they say, but its good to be back. He just recently warmed up playing Judge Frank/Old Man Delacey/Ensemble in Ensemble's production of Frankenstein. He is glad to be back!
VALERIE YOUNG (Urgl/Voice of Uyulala) returns to Ensemble Theatre where her recent credits include Kate Mayo in Beyond The Horizon, Queen Marguerite in Exit The King, Cora in The Iceman Cometh, Bea Ball in The Gospel According to James, and Mary Jo in Dividing The Estate. This past year, Valerie performed in Mamai Theatre Company’s production of Arcadia as Lady Croom and in CPT’s Big Box series as Ruby in Illuminated Lizard. Thanks again, Celeste, Ian and Martin for keeping me part of your family!
TIMOTHY YOUNG (Cairon/Sassafranian Child/Falkor) was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He is excited to be back at Ensemble having recently played various roles in The Great Gatsby and one of the Murderers in Voodoo Macbeth. After graduating high school Timothy attended Cuyahoga Community College, where he studied political science and xray technology, but his passion always was in the theatre. After attending the Broadway musical "Memphis" Timothy decided he would pursue a career in acting . He has had mutiple roles on the television show "Crime Stoppers Case Files" and recently had a guess appearance in the Web series "The Cardinal". He was also featured in the recent Lebron James McDonald's commercial filmed in Cleveland. By age 25 Timothy would like to be a working actor in California.
CASSANDRA MEARS (Purple Buffalo/Sassafranian Child/Ygramul the Many/Maya's Entourage/Ensemble) is happy to be back for her third show with Ensemble Theatre, she recently was Assistant Director for Anna Christie, and she was thrilled to make her acting debut at Ensemble as Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby . Outside of Ensemble, she was last seen in A Chorus Line as Val, and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as Rona. Previously she has performed in Pippin (Player), Grease, The Fantasticks (Luisa), and The Producers. Her favorite hobbies are eating, football, and karaoke. She would like to thank her family and SC friends for being supportive beyond belief as she sprints towards her dreams.
LEAH SMITH(Bully#2/Eribo/Ygramul The Many/Maya/Ensemble) is thrilled to have The Neverending Story as her second Ensemble show having just been part of the Chorus for The Great Gatsby. Recently she was seen as Logainne in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and in The Blithe Spirit at Willoughby Fine Arts Association. While attending Saint Louis University she was seen in The Vagina Monologues and graduated with a BA in Communications. Many thanks to the cast and Ensemble for their talent and spirit, and much love to her family for their support and heart.
BENJAMIN RUIZ (Bully#1/PurpleBuffalo/Sassafranian Adult/South Wind Giant) This is Benjamin's debut at Ensemble Theatre, and he is so thankful to Ian for including him in the cast. Benjamin is very busy onstage this holiday season, as he is also playing Rooster in Annie, Jr. at Harmon Middle School in Aurora. Benjamin has been acting for several years and has played multiples roles in school and church productions. With the rest of his time, he builds and designs Lego structures. His First Technic Challenge robotic team, called TBD, passed through two qualifying rounds and made it to the state competition. They also took first place in a regional competition in Pittsburgh. He plans to become an engineer, an actor, and a musician.
BECCA MOSELEY (Ygramul The ManyArtax/The Childlike Empress/Ensemble) is excited to be back for another season at Ensemble Theatre! Previously, Becca stage managed Ensemble's productions of The Iceman Cometh, Animals Out of Paper, Prelude to a Kiss, The Chairs, Beyond the Horizon and Anna Christie, as well as serving as ASM for Knock Me a Kiss. She appeared on the Ensemble stage as Daisy Buchannan in The Great Gatsby, Effie in Zebediah and Walton/Mary Shelly/Elizabeth in last year's production of Frankenstein. Becca has been lucky enough to have been involved in theatre for most of her life, both behind the table and treading the boards. Some of her favorite credits include Rosalind in As You Like It, Cunningham in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Dorine in Tartuffe, Edward/Betty in Cloud 9, Company in Twelfth Night & Macbeth, Phoebe in HAIR, and Maggie in A Chorus Line. A big thank you to Celeste & Ian for giving her an opportunity to do so much at Ensemble, hugs to her ever supportive and patient family, & as always, love to Kyle for everything.
CHRISTOPHER BIZUB (The Gmork) Chris is honored to be performing at Ensemble Theatre for the third time. A Brooklyn resident, Chris currently works at Caruso’s Coffee as a delivery driver and Dobama Theatre as an Assistant House Manager. He is also currently working to complete his Masters degree in Arts Administration at the University of Akron. His recent Acting credits include John Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest at Rubber City Shakespeare Company, Tito Merelli in Lend me a Tenor at Strongsville Community Theatre, Steve Hubble in A Streetcar Named Desire at Cassidy Theatre, and Uncle Louie in Lost in Yonkers at Clague Playhouse. When he isn’t being called on to act, Chris also works as a director. Some of his recent directing credits include Wait Until Dark at Broadview Heights Spotlights Community Theatre, The Uninvited at The Medina County Showbiz Company, No Sex Please, We’re British at Huntington Playhouse, and Almost, Maine at Workshop Players. Chris’ future plans include finishing his thesis, working for a prominent non-profit theatre, and starting his own acting company
MEET THE CREW:
IAN WOLFGANG HINZ (Director)
SAM LANDGRAF (Stage Manager)
NATE MILLER (Puppets)
BECCA MOSELEY (Falcor and Artax Head Artist)
JACYLN MCCONNEL (Costumes)
