What the Rain Forgives at Players Theatre

Emily Clark Gallagher is an actor who’s no stranger to the stage, and a writer who is no stranger to the script. She is thrilled to be joining bkOne’s production as Gregory and the Servant to Lord Capulet. When she’s not performing Shakespeare, Emily is busy acting and writing for the screen with Manderfilm Media, an independent production company founded by her partner and fellow cast member, Brandon Manderville. She would like to thank Joan, Brian, Ed, and Grandpa Gorton for supporting her in her artistic endeavors, rain or shine!

Emily Missud (Balthasar) returns for her second show with the Brooklyn Shakespeare Festival with tons of excitement. She's been performing as a dancer most of her life and joining in on local theatre for the last five years. She performed and choreographed throughout high school, and graduated from Hunter College in 2020 with a Bachelor's of Media Studies and Minor Theatre. Her past shows include Curtains, Much Ado About Nothing, and On The Town, among others; and working as an assistant choreographer for The Little Mermaid. Now, she's pursuing creativity wherever she can squeeze it in while working full-time in television and film (kinda like Mary Tyler Moore or Liz Lemon! but not really because she's actually in distribution) by obsessing over the talent of her peers and continuing to participate in theatre and dance.

Jolee Cohen (Benvolio) is a Brooklyn based actor, very excited to be making her return to brooklynONE after 3 years. brooklynONE credits: Taming of the Shrew (Grumio), Midsummer Night's Dream (Egeus), and Romeo + Juliet (Benvolio). Other recent NY credits include: Medusa, Pandora (Chaos Collective), Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Richard III (Staten Island Shakespearean Theater Company). BFA University of Maryland, Baltimore County. joleecohen.com

Brandon Manderville is a creative & Brooklyn native. He helms the Brooklyn production house Manderfilm, serving the tri-state & beyond for all branded & original content needs. If it’s media you’re looking to make, from Development through Post-Production, Manderfilm’s there for you. Brandon’s multi-hyphenate life started as a writer, actor, & musician in his teen years, gradually expanding into branded content creation as a director & sound designer for the last decade. You can find him storyboarding new ideas in the myriad of parks Bay Ridge has to offer, or at home writing a new song with his cat, Gomez, who’d rather have some dry food than put up with all this racket.

Isaiah Rothstein (Tybalt) hails from Winter Garden, Florida. Most recently, he was seen as Carl in One Small Silver Lining (Splice Film Festival), and Samuel in Eighty-12 (Amazon Prime). July 22nd-31st, he can also be seen onstage at the PIT Loft, amongst the cast of Manhattan Myths. Isaiah earned his degree at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.

Stephanie (Lady Capulet) is thrilled to be back in the director’s chair once again for BrooklynOne! She had her directorial debut in 2019 with “Taming of the Shrew” in Bay Ridge. Her other stage credits include “Waiting For Lefty,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Importance of Being Earnest,” “Measure For Measure,” and “Sunday On The Rocks.” She’s also been in the NYC comedy scene for over 12 years, producing hundreds of shows all over the city as well as acting in and writing sketches (both live and filmed), hosting comedy/variety shows and directing. She’s also performed at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival and the Andy Kaufman Awards in past years.

Eric Parness is a theatre artist who performs, directs, writes, and teaches. He is Artistic Director of Resonance Ensemble, a New York based theatre company, through which he has produced, directed and/or acted in more than a dozen plays. Favorite recent performance credits include Baptista in “Taming of the Shrew” (brooklynONE productions), Carl Scheffield in “The Glory of Living” (Rising Sun Performance Company), and his award-nominated portrayal of Grandhomme in “Éléphant” (Planet Connections Festival). He is a professor of Acting and Directing at Westfield State University. More info at www.EricParness.com

A lifelong Brooklynite and lover of community theater, this is Nicole's first production with BrooklynONE and first time performing Shakespeare! She has previously appeared in various shows with the Strivelli Players and Ridge Chorale, including Fiddler on the Roof (Tzeitel), The Producers, Les Miserables, and Cabaret.

Steven Fazzolari is a recent graduate of SUNY New Paltz with a BA in Theater Arts with a concentration in Performance. Over the past 10 years Steven has worked with Narrow’s Community theater on many summer shows, with his favorite playing Uncle Fester in The Addam’s Family as well as many H.S. and College shows. He’s very happy to be back to his roots with BrooklynOne Productions bringing Paris to life on the Industry City stage. Steven looks forward to pursuing his lifelong dream of performing and sharing his talents across many different mediums. A big shout out to Anthony for the opportunity and the awesome cast for a great summer!

Joanna Connolly (Nurse) is a Queens-based actor, singer, and newly-minted producer with Three Leaf Productions which she runs with her two sisters. Brooklyn Shakespeare Festival: Julius Caesar (Lucius), Measure for Measure (Isabella/Elbow) Regional: Man of La Mancha (Princeton Festival), Sister Act (White Plains PAC) www.joanna-connolly.com

Tyler Ayala-VanTassel (she/her) is a native Brooklynite and NYC based actor and singer. She is a graduate from LaGuardia HighSchool's vocal program and received her Bachelors in Theater Performance from Marymount Manhattan College. Her previous credits include The Theory of Relativity (Mira), Importance of Being Earnest (Cecily), Dracula The Radio Play (Mina Harker), and Godspell (Ensemble). When she isn't performing, she is a teaching artist to elementary school children in the borough of Manhattan.

Brendan is an actor from Portland, OR, that has lived in New York for 5 years. He attended acting school at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, and is currently represented under CPM Management. Brendan has appeared in multiple award-winning shorts, such as Mr. Peterson and Here She Goes. He has also performed many Shakespeare characters, his most recent as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

John Mazurek (SAG/AFTRA) A veteran of at least a few years in NYC and regional theater, John has performed in 48 states (one of them being Alaska) and appeared in many TV shows, movies and more commercials than he can remember. His favorite role was Lenny in “Of Mice and Men” at Kentucky Rep, his least favorite hasn’t happened yet. TV credits include: Law and Order, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, FBI, all the old NYC soaps and a couple of spots on Saturday Night Live to name a few. Currently an Executive Sales Manager, John supports his love of Real Estate by performing in Off-Off Broadway theater. Look for him in the upcoming movie “She Said” with Carrie Mulligan and Zoe Kazan this Fall.

Nicole is an NYC born actor and performer, with a love of Shakespeare that dates back to early high school (however long ago that was.) She is beyond excited to be back on stage with BrooklynOne, and to be working with such a wonderful and talented group of artists. Her past BrooklynOne roles include Katherine in Taming of the Shrew, Miranda/Mistress Overdone in Measure for Measure, Casca in Julius Caesar, and Don John in Much Ado About Nothing.

Since graduating from the Theatre Arts Conservatory at Purchase College in 2015, Jon has dedicated himself to bringing an exciting physical intensity into the world of Shakespeare and performance art. Apart from performing Shakespeare traditionally, he has spent the last few years Professional Wrestling under the name Hamlet Hurtssue "The Renaissance of Wrestling." Hamlet Hurtssue brings different elements of Shakespeare into the ring for crowds of all ages. He has performed internationally, and before the pandemic traveled Canada as an inaugural World Heavyweight champion. His most recent production with BKone was for the 2019 Shakespeare festival, in which he played Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. He has also been seen as Prospero in Loop Troupe's production of The Tempest, as well as Falstaff in the SHC On Tour Production of The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Started working in the arts at a young age, Anthony graduated with his degree in Theatre performance from Wagner College in 2004. He has worked with many Brooklyn theatre companies over the last 30 years. In 2006, Anthony founded brooklynONE productions with friend Tom Kane, and since then has produced countless shows, movies, events and more. With brooklynONE, he has continued to act as well, in their annual ONE/act Festivals, Nunsense A-Men, and original comedy The Heavens of Hell, as well as other countless performances. In 2009 the company expanded into film producing the feature length film The Way it Went Down, which Anthony also starred. Anthony is an original member of the singing group The Rhapsody Players, and organization that performers Hits from the 50’s – 80’s. When not working with bkONE, Anthony is a proud actor & member of the NYC based punk rock theatre collective Dialogue with Three Chords. Anthony also produces and enjoys hosting podcasts with Cultural Compulsive Disorder. Anthony began producing and directing an annual Brooklyn Shakespeare Festival with bkONE starting in 2013 in Brooklyn. Anthony taught theatre in NYC public schools for nearly a decade before moving on to his career in Real Estate. In 2022, Anthony returned to producing educational theatre, and has directed shows in schools across the South Brooklyn area.

Stephanie is thrilled to be back in the director’s chair once again for BrooklynOne! She had her directorial debut in 2019 with “Taming of the Shrew” in Bay Ridge. Her other stage credits include “Waiting For Lefty,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Importance of Being Earnest,” “Measure For Measure,” and “Sunday On The Rocks.” She’s also been in the NYC comedy scene for over 12 years, producing hundreds of shows all over the city as well as acting in and writing sketches (both live and filmed), hosting comedy/variety shows and directing. She’s also performed at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival and the Andy Kaufman Awards in past years.