Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches at Arena Stage

John Austin (Joe Pitt/Prior I/Eskimo) appeared at Arena earlier this season as Ned Seton in Holiday. Previous Arena credits are Derril Lark in Right to Be Forgotten and Valentin in Kleptocracy. Other D.C. area credits include Oslo (Round House), Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes (Signature), and Melancholy Play (Constellation, Helen Award, Outstanding Production). John toured the U.S. with Me, Myself, & Shirley starring the late Cindy Williams of the hit television show Laverne & Shirley. In his hometown of Austin, Texas, John won a B. Iden Payne Award for his portrayal of Young Zeus in Zeus in Therapy. He holds a BFA from Boston University (summa cum laude, Dean’s Award, Bette Davis Prize) as well as a Certificate in Classical Acting from LAMDA. Thank you for everything you have given to American theater, Molly Smith! johnaustinactor.com

Frank Britton (u/s Belize, Roy Cohn) last appeared at Arena Stage nineteen years ago as a performing understudy in Orpheus Descending, directed by Molly Smith. Most recent credits include Our Town (Baltimore Center Stage), Major Barbara (Washington Stage Guild), and P.Nokio: A Hip-Hop Musical (Imagination Stage). Other D.C. area appearances include productions at Studio Theatre, Round House Theatre, Avant Bard Theatre, Adventure Theatre, 1st Stage, Theater Alliance, among many others. Regionally, Mr. Britton has appeared with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and La MaMa ETC. In 2018, he earned the Helen Hayes Award (Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play—Helen). www.frankbrittonactor.com Instagram: @frankbrittonactor

Michael Kevin Darnall (Louis Ironson) is making his Arena Stage debut. Local credits include Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare Theatre Company; Animal, Wig Out!, and The Hot Wing King at Studio Theatre; Jefferson’s Garden and A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theatre; Father Comes Home From the Wars at Round House Theatre; Ulysses on Bottles at Mosaic Theater Company; and Yentl at Theater J. Michael has performed at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Chautauqua Theater Company, and RhinoLeap Productions. He frequently collaborates with MetroStage and Constellation Theatre Company, and is a company member at The Hub Theatre, and Spooky Action Theater. On television, he recurred in HBO’s The Wire. Michael is a seven-time Helen Hayes Award nominee and received his BFA in Acting at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Theatre Arts.

Veronica del Cerro (u/s Hannah Pitt, Harper Pitt, The Angel) D.C. Theater: Ford’s Theatre: Trip to Bounitful (u/s); Shakespeare Theatre: Othello; Constellation Theatre: Arabian Nights; GALA Theatre: El Paso Blue, Ana en el Trópico; Everyman Theatre: August: Osage County; Kennedy Center: Adventures of Homer; MetroStage: Savage in Limbo; Theater J: Andy and the Shadows, The Seagull on 16th Street; Studio Theatre: My Children! My Africa!; Rock ‘n’ Roll; Round House Theatre: How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. Veronica has been working internationally with groups such as Café de las Artes, Movimiento en Red (Spain), Proyecto Bicéfalo, Teatro del Mundo (Mexico). Training: BS from Virginia Tech (Psychology and Theatre Arts), Graduate of Studio Theatre Conservatory, MA in Theatre from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Upcoming Film: See You on Venus (SUR FILMS) (2023) Instagram: @mia.moca

Edward Gero (Roy Cohn/Prior II)’s Arena Stage credits include Thomas Everson, Jr. in Junk, Antonin Scalia in The Originalist, Benjamin Hubbard in The Little Foxes, and Mark Rothko in Red. He is a four-time Helen Hayes Award-winner and 16-time nominee. New York credits include The Originalist (59E59). Regional credits include The Originalist (Asolo Repertory, Pasadena Playhouse, and Court Theatre, Joseph Jefferson Award nomination); Red and Gloucester in King Lear (Goodman); Nixon’s Nixon and Night Alive (Round House); Sweeney Todd (Signature Theatre); Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (Ford’s Theatre); and American Buffalo, Shining City and Skylight (Studio Theatre). In 32 seasons with Shakespeare Theatre Company, his over 70 roles include Helen Hayes turns in Henry IV, Richard II, and Macbeth. Film/TV credits include House of Cards, TURN: Washington’s Spies, Die Hard 2, Striking Distance, and narrations for Discovery Channel and PBS. He is a Ten Chimneys 2015 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow and associate professor of theater at George Mason University.

Brandon Haagenson (u/s Louis Ironson, Prior Walter, Joe Pitt) is ecstatic to be making his Arena Stage debut! Last season, he appeared in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Our Town and The Merchant of Venice. He has performed off-Broadway in Afterglow (original cast) and My Big Gay Italian Wedding. National tours include Beauty and the Beast (Lumière) and A Christmas Carol. Regional credits include Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Stages St. Louis, Riverside Theatre, North Carolina Theatre, and North Shore Music Theatre. Television appearances include The Other Two (HBO Max) and The Food That Built America (History Channel). He earned his M.F.A. in Classical Acting at STC’s Academy at The George Washington University, and has a B.F.A. in Musical Theater from Millikin University. Love to his family and friends for their unending support. www.brandonhaagenson.com. Instagram: @brandonhaagenson

Bille Krishawn (The Angel/Emily/Sister Ella/Homeless Woman)makes her Arena Stage debut. Her most recent D.C. credits include JUMP at Everyman Theatre, The Till Trilogy at Mosaic Theater Company (Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Supporting Performer), Joy That Carries You at Olney Theatre Center, Until the Flood at Studio Theatre, HERstory at The Kennedy Center, Blood at the Root at Theater Alliance (Helen Hayes Award recipient for Outstanding Lead Performer, Outstanding Ensemble, and Outstanding Production), Melancholy Play at Constellation Theatre Company (Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Lead Actress, Helen Hayes Award recipient for Outstanding Production), Airness at 1st Stage and Keegan Theatre. Major film credits include Amazon Prime's Water in a Broken Glass. Education: Drew University and Duke Ellington School of the Arts. www.billiekrishawn.com Instagram: @absolutereality

Susan Rome (Hannah Pitt/Rabbi/Henry/Ethel Rosenberg) Washington/Baltimore: Arena Stage: Indecent (Helen Hayes ensemble nomination), The Great Society, All the Way; Baltimore Center Stage: Our Town, Folks at Home, Indecent, After the Revolution, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Mud Blue Sky, An Enemy of the People; Signature: Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes; Folger: Love’s Labor’s Lost; Studio Theatre: If I Forget (Helen Hayes nominations), Hand to God (Helen Hayes ensemble nomination); Olney Theatre Center: The Diary of Anne Frank, The Joy We Carry (Helen Hayes ensemble nomination); Theater J: Edward Albee’s Occupant, Roz and Ray, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Brighton Beach Memoirs (Helen Hayes Award), After the Revolution (Helen Hayes nomination), and many other plays. Regional: Kansas City Repertory Theatre: Indecent; Mark Taper Forum: The Substance of Fire; many more. Film: Fishbowl, My One and Only, A Dirty Shame. Television: The Wire, We Own This City (HBO); House of Cards (Netflix). www.susanrome.com

Justin Weaks (Belize/Mr. Lies) makes their in-person Arena Stage debut with Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches after collaborating virtually with Arena on The 51st State and The Freewheelin’ Insurgents during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a company member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, where he has appeared in There’s Always the Hudson, BLKS, Gloria, and Describe the Night. D.C. area credits include: Long Way Down (Kennedy Center), Fences (Ford’s Theatre), Gem of the Ocean (Round House Theatre), Pipeline (Studio Theatre), Word Becomes Flesh (Theater Alliance). Off-Broadway: i need space (The New Group). Regional credits include work with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Shakespeare & Company and Barter Theatre. Justin holds two Helen Hayes Awards and five nominations for his work. Education: Greensboro College. #HIVIsNotACrime

Nick Westrate (Prior Walter/Man in Park) On Broadway, he originated roles in Harvey Fierstein’s Casa Valentina, and Theresa Rebeck’s Bernhardt/Hamlet. Other favorites include the National Tour of The King’s Speech as Bertie for director Michael Wilson, Tribes directed by David Cromer, The Little Foxes for Ivo van Hove, Merchant of Venice and Tartuffe with Daniel Fish, The Boys in the Band for Jack Cummings III, and as Berowne in Love’s Labor’s Lost for NYC’s Public Theater. Three seasons as Robert Townsend on AMC’s Turn: Washington’s Spies. On film, he starred in William Sullivan’s American Insurrection, Jonathan Demme’s Ricki and the Flash, and Todd Haynes’ Mildred Pierce. Next, playing Edwin Booth in Apple TV+’s Manhunt. Nick received the Special Drama Desk Award for his versatility Off-Broadway. He’s a Juilliard graduate.

Deborah Ann Woll (Harper Pitt/Martin Heller) will be making her debut at Arena Stage this season. Most recently she appeared as the titular shrew, Katherine, in The Taming of the Shrew (The Old Globe, San Diego), and as Amalia Balash in Parfumerie (Wallis Annenberg, Los Angeles). She is best known for her work on television and film as Jessica Hamby on HBO’s True Blood, Karen Page on Marvel’s Daredevil, and Amanda in Sony’s Escape Room. She is the voice and performance capture for Faye in PlayStation’s God of War franchise. And you can also catch her online, creating and performing in the TTRPG space, most notably as creator and game master for Relics and Rarities and Children of Éarte.

Tony Kushner (Playwright)’s plays include Angels in America; Hydriotaphia, or the Death of Dr. Brown; The Illusion, adapted from the play by Pierre Cornelle; Slavs!; A Bright Room Called Day; Homebody/Kabul; Caroline, or Change, a musical with composer Jeanine Tesori; and The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures. He wrote the screenplays for Mike Nichols’s film of Angels in America and for Steven Spielberg’s Munich, Lincoln, West Side Story, and The Fabelmans. His books include The Art of Maurice Sendak: 1980 to the Present; Brundibar, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak; and Wrestling with Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, co-edited with Alisa Solomon. Among many honors, Kushner is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, three Obie Awards, two Evening Standard Awards, an Olivier Award, an Emmy Award, four Oscar nominations, and the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2012, he was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. He lives in Manhattan with his husband, Mark Harris.

Christopher Akerlind (Lighting Designer) has designed lighting for over 650 productions at theater, opera, and dance companies around the world. He returns to Arena Stage where he designed Imitations for Saxophone and Equivocation. Work with János Szász includes productions of The Seagull, Desire Under the Elms, and Uncle Vanya at the American Repertory Theater. Recent work includes Martha Clarke’s God’s Fool at La MaMa ETC, Lynn Nottage’s new play Clyde’s on Broadway and at the Mark Taper Forum, and the world premiere of Huang Ro and David Henry Hwang’s opera M. Butterfly at the Santa Fe Opera. Mr. Akerlind is the recipient of an Obie, two Tonys, and four Drama Desk Awards, among many others, and is on the faculty of the CalArts School of Theater.

Fabian Obispo (Original Music and Sound Designer) returns to Arena Stage where his credits include Seven Guitars, Agamemnon and His Daughters (Helen Hayes nomination), and Caucasian Chalk Circle, among others. D.C.-area credits include Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Comedy of Errors, Henry V, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Folger Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet. He has designed extensively for off-Broadway and regional theaters. Recent off-Broadway credits include The Chinese Lady (Lucille Lortel nomination), Out of Time, Once Upon a Korean Time, and his musical Felix Starro. He is a recipient of the Berkshires Theatre Critics Award and the Barrymore. His music score for the movie Vancouver won International Motion Picture Award, LA Film Festival’s Indie Short Fest Award, and South Film and Arts Academy Festival Award.

Otis Ramsey-Zöe (Dramaturg) is a care worker, dramaturg, director, theatre arts educator, Literary Manager at Arena Stage, and Lecturer in Dramaturgy at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. He has developed new works at such institutions as Sundance Institute, Kennedy Center, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights Center, and National New Play Network. He has held posts in Theatre at Northeastern University, Dramaturgy at Carnegie Mellon University, Women’s Studies and Honors Humanities at University of Maryland, Performing Arts at American University, and Theatre Arts at Howard University. He was Associate Artistic Director at banished? productions, Future Classics Program Coordinator at The Classical Theatre of Harlem, Literary Manager at Center Stage, and an Allen Lee Hughes Senior Fellow at Arena Stage.

Joseph Pinzon (Casting Director) is the founder and creative producer of the contemporary circus company Short Round Productions and its award-winning show Filament. With over 25 years of performing experience, he has worked internationally with renowned companies such as Cirque Éloize, Compagnia Finzi Pasca, Cirque du Soleil, and The 7 Fingers. He holds an MS in Arts Leadership from USC, a BA in Psychology from UCLA, and graduated from the National Circus School in Montreal with a specialization in aerial techniques. He was the casting and resident director for Chamäleon Productions (Berlin) and Constellation Immersive (CAA’s experiential affiliate). He is also a member of the Creative & Independent Producer Alliance and a founding board member of the American Circus Alliance. You can see him causing chaos on season 6 of Nailed It! on Netflix, where (spoiler alert) he is a part of the series’ first three-way tie.

JZ Casting/Geoff Josselson, C.S.A. and Katja Zarolinski, C.S.A. (New York Casting) are New York-based casting directors, handling productions for theater, film, and television. Recent work includes productions for Arena Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Baltimore Center Stage, Cape Playhouse, Denver Center, The Irish Repertory Theatre, Merrimack Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Round House Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Studio Theatre, TheaterWorks Hartford, and Weston Playhouse. For more information, please visit www.jz-casting.com.

Chris De Camillis (Stage Manager) has been an Equity Stage Manager for over 30 years, working on Broadway, Off-Broadway, internationally, and in numerous regional theaters. He is making his Arena stage debut with Angels in America. Chris and János have been making theater together since 1999, at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) with Janos’ groundbreaking production of Mother Courage and Her Children. Further collaborations included Marat/Sade, Desire Under the Elms, Uncle Vanya, and The Seagull. From 1998-2013, Chris was the Line Producer/Resident Stage Manager at the A.R.T.where he stage-managed over 30 productions and line produced the world premiere of Sleep No More, Porgy and Bess, and Pippin. Chris is the PSM for the touring production of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower with Toshi Reagon.

Dayne Sundman (Assistant Stage Manager) is thrilled to be making his ASM debut at Arena Stage after having served as an Allen Lee Hughes Fellow and Production Assistant for several seasons. Some past shows at Arena include American Prophet: Frederick Douglass in His Own Words, Catch Me If You Can, Mother Road, Newsies, Junk, The Heiress, and Anything Goes. Other shows include Jane Anger, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (STC); The Great Society, Born Yesterday, The Little Foxes (Asolo Repertory Theatre). Baldwin Wallace University 2015.

Leigh Robinette (Assistant Stage Manager)’s Arena Stage credits include Holiday, Change Agent, The Originalist, Dear Evan Hansen, Fiddler on the Roof, and Mother Courage and Her Children. Other D.C. credits include The Second City’s Love, Factually at the Kennedy Center, Love Sick and The Jewish Queen Lear with Theater J, and There’s Always the Hudson, Describe the Night, Gloria, Botticelli in the Fire, Familiar, The Arsonists, and An Octoroon with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. She has worked Off-Broadway at Second Stage, with the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, and the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY. She is a graduate of Boston University.