Holiday at Arena Stage

Regina Aquino

She/her, is a DMV native Filipinx artist and activist who is thrilled to be making her Arena Stage debut. Nominated for multiple Helen Hayes Awards over 19 years, she was the first Filipino to have earned a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Performer for her work in The Events at Theater Alliance. One of Washingtonian magazine’s “10 Biggest Theater Stars DC,” she advocates for equity in the industry and was co-chair of the theatreWashington 2021 Summit on anti-oppression. Selected DC credits include We’re Gonna Die (Round House Theatre), Vietgone, Red Light Winter (Studio Theatre), Describe the Night, The Arsonists (Woolly Mammoth), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Nell Gwynn (Folger Theatre), Tiger Style! (Olney), Birds of North America, Eureka Day (Mosaic Theater). Off-Broadway: Where Words Once Were (Lincoln Center & Kennedy Center TYA). She’s starring as a Filipino mother in the upcoming world premiere of The Mortification of Fovea Munson at the Kennedy Center this winter. For Riana and Mal, always. www.ReginaAquino.com

John Austin

Previously appeared at Arena Stage as Derril Lark in Right to Be Forgotten and various roles in Kleptocracy. Other DC area credits include Oslo (Round House), Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes (Signature), and Melancholy Play (Constellation, Helen Award, Outstanding Production). John recently closed the national tour of Me, Myself, & Shirley starring Cindy Williams of the hit television show Laverne & Shirley. In his hometown of Austin, Texas, John won the 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 Scholarship, Bette Davis Prize) as well as a Certificate in Classical Acting from LAMDA. Thank you for everything you’ve given to American theater, Molly Smith! johnaustinactor.com

Claire Blackwelder

Thrilled to be making her Arena Stage debut. Regional theater credits include The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare Theatre Co.), Disposable Necessities (Rogue Machine, world premiere), IT (Rockwell Table & Stage), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatricum Botanicum), and The Brat Pack (For The Record Live). TV and film credits include Hillhead, Her Worst Nightmare, and two seasons of Power Rangers Dino Charge on Nickelodeon. Claire is a professional vocalist who has performed at the Hollywood Bowl and Soho House. She recently received her MFA from the Academy for Classical Acting at GWU.

Peter Boyer

Has performed on stages across the country and in the DC area, including Ford’s Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, Imagination Stage, Olney Theatre, Rep Stage, Bay Theatre, Alliance for New Music Theatre, and Baltimore Shakespeare Festival. Notable roles include Ebenezer Scrooge in A Broadway Christmas Carol at MetroStage, Groucho Marx in Groucho: A Life in Revue at Wayside Theatre, Captain Hook in Tinkerbell and Captain Braidbeard in How I Became a Pirate at Adventure Theatre, and Charles Dickens in Discord and Mr. Praed in Mrs. Warren's Profession at Washington Stage Guild. His one-person play Captain Hook: My Story, or How I Clawed My Way to the Top was produced in August at Spotlighters Theatre in collaboration with the Baltimore Playwrights Festival. www.petersbrain.art

Baize Buzan

New York-based actress across theater, film, and television. She was most recently seen as Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway. Other select theater includes work with New York Stage and Film, Victory Gardens Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf, and Jackalope Theatre Company. Film and television credits include Being the Ricardos, the 2021 SXSW Narrative Competition selection Our Father, NBC’s Chicago Fire, and the upcoming indie feature Nobody’s Home. She is a graduate of Vassar College and the Yale School of Drama.

Rachel Felstein

Delighted to be back at Arena Stage, where she was previously seen in the world premiere of Right to Be Forgotten. DC credits include Mrs. Warren’s Profession and Summerland (Washington Stage Guild), Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World (Mosaic Theater Company of DC), Antigonick (Taffety Punk), and two self-produced pandemic projects, both DC Metro Theater Arts 2021 Staff Picks — Twelfth Night (Her Majesty & Sons) and Night@Newcastle. New York credits: This American Life - As Seen on Radio (BAM), productions with Ensemble Studio Theatre, and wRETCH - the final concert (Fresh Fruit Festival). Regional credits: Fun Home (Virginia Stage Company), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare Theatre NJ), and Man of La Mancha (National Tour). www.rachelfelstein.com

Bowen Fox

Thrilled to be making his professional DC debut with Arena. He recently understudied with Studio Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre Company this past year while completing his MFA through The Academy at STC and GWU. Bowen is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors and an Equity Membership Candidate. He would like to thank his family for all the love and support they continually give; he cannot imagine where he’d be without them. BFA: Savannah College of Art and Design. www.bowenfox.com

Olivia Hebert

So joyful to be making her Arena Stage debut. Her New York theater credits include The Hard Problem (Lincoln Center Theater) and Boy Gets Violent (Ars Nova). Other recent credits include The Importance of Being Earnest (Cape Playhouse), Rat Jaw (Stomping Ground), and Nothing Can Stop What is Coming (GreenHouse Theatre Project). She obtained her MFA from NYU where she performed roles in Henry V, An American Daughter, Thyestes, An Ideal Husband, The Big Knife, among others. She holds a BS from University of Evansville.

Ahmad Kamal

Thrilled to be making his debut at Arena Stage! Regional credits include Shakespeare Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, Mosaic Theater Company, Olney Theatre Center, ACT Seattle, and Marin Theatre Company, among others. Ahmad is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Emily King Brown

Native of Richmond, Virginia, is thrilled to be making her Arena debut! Highlights include: Original Cast of the re-imagined Footloose for Norwegian Creative, Antony and Cleopatra at NYC’s Classic Stage (with Bard City), West Coast regional premiere of Shrek the Musical at 3-D Theatricals, national tour of Anne of Green Gables, and originating the title character in Kentucky Madam, an immersive theatrical experience. Starring roles in film and TV include The Re-Renaissance, Kaleidoscope, and the long-running hit, A Haunting. EKB is the CCO of the boutique production company Aging Millennial Productions, which first caught traction with the all-female sketch comedy group LibTarts (TikTok: @libtarts), where she also serves as a writer. Training: BFA / Shenandoah Conservatory, Advanced Acting Certificate / MxAT. www.emilykingbrown.com

Andrés F. Roa

Thrilled to make his DC debut with Arena Stage. His most recent theater credits include Sweat (Silver Spring Stage), Much Ado About Nothing (Hope Summer Repertory Theatre), As You Like It and Julius Caesar (Houston Shakespeare Festival), and Coriolanus (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey). Andrés is a queer, Colombian-American artist and educator who teaches Acting Basics at Montgomery College, and has taught actors of varying ages and experiences with Young Artists of America, Moonlit Wings, and the University of Houston. He is a proud graduate of the University of Houston’s Professional Actor Training Program (MFA, 2019). www.andresfroa.com

Todd Scofield

Arena Stage: The City of Conversation and Sovereignty. Also in DC, Todd has done numerous shows at Shakespeare (Our Town, Richard III, others), Folger (Tempest, Hamlet, others), and Round House Theatres (Book of Will, Oslo, others), as well as shows at Studio, Theater J, Ford’s, Olney, Adventure Theatre, and Imagination Stage. Outside of DC, Todd has worked at Everyman Theatre, Arden Theatre, PlayMakers, Charlotte Rep, and four seasons at North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. Television: Recurring role in seasons 3 and 5 of The Wire.

Jamie Smithson

Has appeared at Arena Stage as Teddy Roosevelt/Nunzio in Disney’s Newsies and Avram in Fiddler on the Roof. DC credits include: Sense and Sensibility with Bedlam at Folger Theatre (Helen Hayes nomination - Best Actor), Cake Off (Signature Theatre), The Wanderers (Theater J), Boeing Boeing (No Rules), Twist Your Dickens (The Kennedy Center, The Second City), and Fly By Night (1st Stage, Helen Hayes nomination - Best Actor). He has also performed in DC with Shakespeare Theatre Company, Ford's Theatre, Imagination Stage, and Round House Theatre. Regional theaters include: Everyman Theatre, The Guthrie, ART, Portland Center Stage, and with The Acting Company, among others. Recently he appeared Off-Broadway in Bedlam's world premiere of Persuasion. Jamie received his MFA in acting at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University.

Sean Wiberg

New York City-based artist. He recently graduated from The Juilliard School with his MFA in Acting. He’s appeared in plays and television including HBO’s Search Party and Chicago P.D. Before moving to New York, he cut his teeth in the exciting storefront theater scene of Chicago. Some of those credits include Truth and Reconciliation at Victory Gardens Theater and the Joseph Jefferson Award-winning Posh at Steep Theater.

Philip Barry

Anita Maynard-Losh

Misha Kachman

Ivania Stack

Pablo Santiago

Daniel Erdberg

Daniel Erdberg

Ursula Kwong-Brown

Charles G. LaPointe

Lisa Nathans

Otis Ramsey-Zöe

Joseph Pinzon

Christi B. Spann

Emily Ann Mellon

Leigh Robinette