Cal Poly Pomona Theater Professor Lands a Role on THE CONNERS

Linda Bisesti, a theater professor and actress at Cal Poly Pomona, has landed a role on the ABC sitcom, The Conners, The Poly Post reports.

Bisesti will be featured in two episodes of the newest season of the series, which is a spinoff of Roseanne, the Roseanne Barr sitcom from the 1990s.

"The show is very timely," said Bisesti. "It deals with diversity and there are many different ethnicities in the family which is very important for the world today. The family on the show is challenged financially, but they're consistently trying to make ends meet in the most compassionate and humorous ways."

Bisesti said that the process of filming the show has been a positive one for her, and that she felt safe with the COVID precautions in place on set.

"While filming the show, I never felt rushed or uncomfortable even though things are so different now in regard to COVID precautions," she said. "Hollywood really has it together with COVID. We rehearsed for two days per episode with masks and face shields on and only took off the masks to film on the third day. It was jarring to not be able to see my co-star's facial expressions while rehearsing, but it was well worth it. I felt more safe than ever."

She also talked a bit about the character that she plays.

"No matter how different the experience was, I really love being on set for a TV show or movie," said Bisesti. "I played the next-door neighbor of the Conners. My kids played with their kids and, in the show, I supposedly had lived next to them for years. Being on set gives me a feeling like no other and these were two of the best scenes I've ever had the pleasure of taking part in."

Read more on The Poly Post.

Professor Linda Bisesti, in the Department of Theatre and New Dance, is head of acting and voice and is the artistic director of the Southern California Shakespeare Festival (SCSF).

"Intimate Apparel," directed by Bisesti in Fall 2017, was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), from which they won two awards.

Southern California Shakespeare Festival, in its 14th season, will be performing Romeo and Juliet this Summer 2018. It will feature current students, alumni, and guest artists.

Bisesti also keeps busy in the professional acting world working most recently on the show "Here and Now" and the reboot of "Cagney and Lacey." Her credits include the award winning Best Comedy of 2017 at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival: "From Hollywood to Rose." Other film credits include: "For The Love of Money," and "Hurt." TV credits include: TV Land's "Teachers," "How to Get Away with Murder," "Married," "Criminal Minds," "Brothers and Sisters," "Monk," "The West Wing," "Days of Our Lives," "Pretty Little Liars," and many others.