The World Premiere of Surviving the Night by Matt Elliott and Debra Schultz at Cone Man Running Productions

Joy Culbreath has enjoyed working with Cone Man on Surviving The Night. Her recent credits include Ashlee, post-pubescent powerhouse in Dance Nation and Dylan, a quintessential Scorpio with a secret and a mission to accomplish in Holier Than Thou for the HCC Drama Program. Every contentious character is nuanced, a little sinister, and incredibly humorous. Joy currently studies Drama at Houston Community College.

Timothy Eggert was last seen with Cone Man Running as Allen in The Man with the Plan. Favorite acting credits: A Few Good Men (Sam), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lysander), Sylvia (Tom/Phyllis/Leslie), The Producers (Bloom), Clue (Col. Mustard), The Three Musketeers (Aramis), The Mousetrap (Trotter), Driving Miss Daisy (Boolie), and The Lion in Winter (Geoffrey). Tim is a founding member of hilarious local movie-mocking group Sassterpiece Theatre, but probably best known as “the Doctor” for seven seasons at the Texas Renaissance Festival. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Media Production with a Theater minor from the University of Houston and is proud to be married to actress Angelie De Los Santos. www.linktr.ee/timothyeggert

Christopher Krause is thrilled to be playing Charlie in a project as fun as Surviving The Night. Just recently, it played many parts in Theatre Suburbia’s The Laramie Project, Cletis in Theatre Suburbia’s Lone Star, and two parts in Theatre Southwest’s All in the Timing. It’s also a licensed Class A Barber with imposter syndrome, so that’s neat. It would like to thank Deb & Matt, the cast & crew, and its husbands Ken & Scott.

Sam Martinez works both onstage and offstage nearly equally at this point. His recent work includes The Curious Savage (Assistant Director, Cast Theatrical), The Laramie Project (Co-Director) and Lonestar and Laundry and Bourbon (Director, Theatre Suburbia), The Mousetrap (Trotter, Stageworks), and Silent Sky (Director, Theatre Southwest). Some of his favorite roles include Jessep in A Few Good Men, Michael in The Pillowman, Barry in The Boys Next Door, Elwood in Harvey, and Austin in True West. When not working in a theater, Sam can be found creating cosplay costumes and custom props as the Artistic Director and “S” in S&D Custom Props and Costumes @sdcustomprops.

Adina Opalek is delighted to be a part of this production. Adina was last seen on the Cone Man stage in God of Carnage (Veronica). Other recent appearances include Catholic School Girls (Colleen/Sister Mary Lucille) at On the Verge Theatre; The Dead Eye Boy (Shirley-Diane), Talk Radio (Linda), and Shakin’ the Blue Flamingo (Cory) at Dirt Dogs Theatre Co.; Shakespeare in Love (Queen Elizabeth) as a guest artist with University of St. Thomas Drama; Macbeth (Seyton/Lady Macbeth) at Creative Movement Practices; RENT (Maureen) at Island ETC; and A Doll’s House (Nora) at Theatre Southwest. Adina is an IDC-certified Consent-Forward Artist and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. She received her B.A. in Integrative Arts (Theatre & Creative Writing) while at The Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College.

Terrance Simon is thrilled to be returning to Cone Man Running Productions. Some of his credits include. Honeycomb Trilogy Part 1: Advance Man (Bill), Burden of Proof (Lakeith), Hamlet (First Player, Gravedigger, Messenger), Henry V (Dauphin), Sunset Baby (Damon). He has worked with the Ensemble Theatre, Octarine Accord, Fade to Black Festival, Firecracker Productions, The Sankofa Collective, Company on Stage, and Houston Grand Opera since returning home from college. Terrance is a graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University.

Scout Sustala is currently a college student who is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Drama at UHD. She plans on entering the field of education to share her passion of Theatre with others. Previously at Houston Community College, she starred in a modern adaptation of The Misanthrope as Celeste and A Midsummer Night's Dream as Helena. Her love for Theatre does not end on stage however, she has also been working as a theatre educator at Main Street Theater. At Main Street, she has worked as an acting and stagecraft teacher while also stage managing the Theater for the Youth productions; her stage management experience includes Myth Adventures, Sleepy Hollow, and The Seuss Odyssey. She looks forward to sharing her love of the Arts with others and cannot wait to see what life post graduation has in store for her.

Kelly Swinehart Wehrer is thrilled to join Cone Man Running Productions for this adventure in holiday horror. She most recently appeared in Laundry & Bourbon at Theatre Suburbia and Silent Sky at Theatre Southwest. She has performed in Columbus, Ohio as a company member of The Phoenix Theatre for Children and in productions of The Vagina Monologues (Ohio State University), Galileo (Gallery Players), and original works A/The PostModernLoveStory (BlueForms Theatre Group) and Sound + Fury (MadLab). Other favorite credits include On The Verge, Shadowlands, and multiple productions of The Music Man. She thanks Greg, Ellis, and Silvia for all their love and support.

Debra Schultz is happy to be working with Cone Man Running again. She directed and designed God of Carnage in 2021 and has also worked on scenic designs and construction for Witness for the Prosecution, The Greatest Play in the History of the World, The Common Martyr, and Garden (of House/Garden). Some of Debra's favorite projects include The Mousetrap, Mama's Boy, A Few Good Men, and Harvey (directing/design, Stageworks), True West (directing/design, Country Playhouse), Silent Sky (scenic design, Theatre Southwest) and Cabaret, Wait Until Dark, and Crimes of the Heart (scenic design, Stageworks). In 2024, Debra will be directing Ann for The Garden Theatre and ACES! in its Regional Premiere for Gigi Productions both at MATCH. She has written and produced many children's theatre shows and is the Executive Director of and the "D" in S&D Custom Props and Costumes @sdcustomprops.

Matt Elliott is a veteran actor seen in various productions across Houston. His most recent productions were in Haven Arts Theaters productions of Murder On The Orient Express (Hector McQueen), As You Like It (Oliver/Corin) and The Picture Of Dorian Gray (Alan Campbell). He was also seen in The Mousetrap (Christopher Wren) at Stageworks. Matt was recently an extra on the Netflix series Mo and a performer in the Fade To Black readers series. He has published horror film reviews for the publication horrornews.net and short horror stories on his Substack Black Lodge Inc.

Jennifer Portillo is a Design and Production major at University of Houston with a focus in stage lighting. This is her second show with Cone Man Running Productions and her first show as a Lighting Designer. Jennifer is very thankful for the opportunity to continue learning different aspects in the world of theatre and hopes to one day be a jack of all trades. She would like to give a special thanks to her professor Debra Schultz for giving her the opportunity to design and her family and friends for always motivating her to pursue her passion.

Pedro Balcazar is a soon-to-be official Drama major at Houston Community College. His interest in theater started in high school, where he made his stage debut in Guys Named Chuck. During his high school years, he was also involved in The Crucible where he took on the role of Reverend Hale. At HCC, Pedro has been seen in the role of Euripides in The Frogs, Long in The Hairy Ape and most recently as Clotaldo in Life is a Dream/La Vida es Sueno.