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Ella Saldana North

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A versatile performer, in the last few years Ella has gone from playing retired call girl Marla Golden in the popular TV show Criminal Minds, to playing


7-year-old rambunctious Bean in Ivy+Bean: The Musical at South Coast Repertory Theatre, to performing her own stand-up comedy sets at The Comedy Store and the HaHa Cafe Comedy Club, and playing and reprising the role of Victoria in the hilarious play Destiny of Desire at Arena Stage, South Coast Repertory, and the Goodman Theatre.

She received the Best Actress award at the Nosotros American Latino Film Festival for her work in the AFI film Echoes, and went on to be nominated for an Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress for her work as Jilly in the play Family Planning, which won the Ovation for Best Production of a Play in an intimate theatre.

In addition to her stand-up work she has just completed Improv 301 at Upright Citizens Brigade, was part of the sketch comedy troupe Sketch-a-phrenics, and worked on the comedy pilots Manny in Real Life and Pub Quiz. She is perhaps best-known for voicing the character of Cecilia in the FOX animated comedy The Cleveland Show, with Rosie Perez and Sofia Vergara playing her crazy/gorgeous aunts.

She was the lead singer of the rock/pop band Kissing Violet for two years, and some of her songs are available on iTunes.

Last year she also appeared in the feature film Cry Now, which features acting greats Sal Lopez and Lupe Ontiveros, and shot Street Level with Charisma Carpenter, David Labrava, Marilyn Manson, and Danny Trejo, among others.

Ella holds a B.A. in Theatre from the University of California, San Diego, and currently resides in a condo in Los Angeles, where no animals but several plants have been harmed.

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Ella Saldana North News


Announcing The Cast For OLIVERIO MainStreet's First Show Of The 2019/20 Season


MainStreet Theatre Company, the resident professional company at the Lewis Family Playhouse, is excited to open their 19/20 season with the West Coast premiere of OLIVERio: A Brazilian Twist, running October 12 a?" 27, 2019.

Photo Flash: First Look at Latino Theater Company's THE MOTHER OF HENRY


The times they are a changin'. Travel back to the working class melting pot of Boyle Heights of the 1960s with the Latino Theater Company's upcoming production, written by LTC resident playwright Evelina Fernandez and helmed by artistic directorJose Luis Valenzuela. The world premiere of The Mother of Henry runs March 23 through April 14at The Los Angeles Theatre Center. Low-priced previews begin March 15.

SCR Closes Theatre For Young Audiences Season With New Musical Tale, AMOS & BORIS


South Coast Repertory concludes the 2017-18 Theatre for Young Audiences series with Amos & Boris, adapted from the classic children's book by William Steig. This theatrical retelling has been adapted for the stage by Sofia Alvarez with music and additional lyrics by Daniel Roland Tierney. The world premiere will be directed by Jessica Kubzansky on the Julianne Argyros Stage, May 19-June 3. Tickets are available now at www.scr.org.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2018 Season Opens 2/23


The Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival will launch its 83nd year with preview performances beginning on February 16. The 2018 season officially kicks off Friday night, February 23, in the Angus Bowmer Theatre with Shakespeare's Othello (director, Bill Rauch). On Saturday afternoon, Shakespeare's Henry V (director, Rosa Joshi) opens in the Thomas Theatre, and the West Coast premiere of Kate Hamill's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility (director, Hana S. Sharif) opens that evening in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. On Sunday afternoon, Karen Zacarias's Destiny of Desire (director, Jose Luis Valenzuela) will be staged in the Angus Bowmer Theatre.

TV: Watch the Melodrama Unfold in Highlights from DESTINY OF DESIRE at the Goodman


The plot twists, outrageous circumstances and fast-paced narrative style of the telenovela arrive on the Goodman stage this spring in Destiny of Desire by Karen Zacarias. Click below to watch highlights from the show!

Photo Flash: First Look at Goodman Theatre's Chicago Premiere of DESTINY OF DESIRE


The plot twists, outrageous circumstances and fast-paced narrative style of the telenovela arrive on the Goodman stage this spring in Destiny of Desire by Karen Zacarias. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Karen Zacarias' DESTINY OF DESIRE Begins Next Week at the Goodman


The plot twists, outrageous circumstances and fast-paced narrative style of the telenovela arrive on the Goodman stage this spring in Destiny of Desire-Karen Zacarias' "terrifically entertaining theatrical rollercoaster, directed to perfection by Jose Luis Valenzuela" (The Los Angeles Times).

Karen Zacarias' DESTINY OF DESIRE Begins Next Week at the Goodman


The plot twists, outrageous circumstances and fast-paced narrative style of the telenovela arrive on the Goodman stage this spring in Destiny of Desire-Karen Zacarias' "terrifically entertaining theatrical rollercoaster, directed to perfection by Jose Luis Valenzuela" (The Los Angeles Times).

Casting Complete for Goodman's GLORIA, UNCLE VANYA, DESTINY OF DESIRE and KING OF THE YEES


Goodman Theatre announces complete casting and creative teams for four Winter/Spring 2017 productions - one world premiere Goodman commission and three Chicago premieres - continuing the 2016/2017 'Essential Goodman' season.

BWW Review: South Coast Rep Lovingly Skewers Telenovelas in DESTINY OF DESIRE


Lovingly skewering the not-so-subtle art of telenovelas, Karen Zacarías' winning play DESTINY OF DESIRE---now being performed at Orange County's South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through November 13---compresses an entire series' worth of over-the-top melodramatic goodness into a two-act play that, not surprisingly, comes off as an intentionally hilarious comedy.

Telenovela-Inspired Comedy DESTINY OF DESIRE at South Coast Repertory


Destiny of Desire has been called "cheekily charming" (MD Theatre Guide) and "ridiculously funny" (Broadway World) for its fresh take on telenovelas, popular the world over. The latest play by Karen Zacarias, directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela on the Segerstrom Stage, is a co-production with Chicago's Goodman Theatre and is a west coast premiere. Tickets are available now at www.scr.org.

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