PLAYeRS
RAIFE BAKER*
Co-founder of The Crook Theater Company, and plays Spencer in their latest production of the world premiere of Goodbody. Previous performances with the Crook have included House of Yes, and Plunge. Raife adapted and directed the Crook's production of Macbeth, which won the NYIT award for best production in 2012. As an actor, he has performed regionally at the American Conservatory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and PICT Classic Theater. Raife is also a faculty member and Voice/Speech instructor at NYU's Tisch School of the arts, Molloy College CAP21, and Maggie Flanigan Studio.
AMANDA SYKES*
New York credits: Drunkle Vanya, Twelfth Night: or Sir Toby Belch's Lonely Hearts Cabaret (ThreeDayHangover); The Faire (Fault Line Theatre Co.); Macbeth (NYIT nomination for best supporting actress, The Crook Theatre Co.); A Dream Play (Billy and Co.); Nobody Suspects a Butterfly (RFP); The Bachelor's Tea Party (Stolen Chair). Regional Credits: the world premiere of Naked Influence (Capital Rep); Circle Mirror Transformation (George Street Playhouse); Tis Pity She's a Whore, The Government Inspector, A Christmas Carol (The American Conservatory Theater); Proof (Skyline). She earned her BFA from the University of Evansville and her M.F.A. in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater.
ALEX MORF*
Broadway: Of Mice and Men National Tours: War Horse (Albert Naracott); Off-Broadway: Women Beware Women, (Red Bull); Incident at Vichy (Signature) Regional: The Rainmaker, Government Inspector, Christmas Carol, (A.C.T.); Cymbeline, The Alchemist, (Shakespeare Theater D.C.); Dracula, (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville); The Walworth Farce, (Studio Theatre, Helen Hayes nom.); Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Pericles, (CalShakes); Servant of Two Masters, (Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey); The Just, The Cherry Orchard, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing (Chautauqua Theater Company) TV: Mindhunter, Daredevil, Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, Elementary, Tin Man, Shades of Blue, Blindspot ; Film: Maggie’s Plan, In Dubious Battle, The Long Home, Hench, Seneca, Crown Vic M.F.A, American Conservatory Theater.
BRIAN KEANE*
Appeared in the North American tour of the National Theatre's War Horse. New York credits include; Timon of Athens (Public/NYSF), Happy Now? (Primary Stages), The Misanthrope (Classic Stage Company), Cyrano de Bergerac and All My Sons (Roundabout) Regionally; A Streetcar Named Desire (Guthrie), Macbeth (Old Globe), The Winters Tale (Yale Rep), Book of Days (Arena Stage), Frost/Nixon (Bay Street Theatre), How I Learned to Drive (Centerstage) TV and Film credits include; House of Cards, Ray Donovan, The Young Pope, Chicago PD, Gypsy, The Blacklist, Elementary, BrainDead, Gotham, The Good Wife, Person of Interest, Lights Out, All three Law & Order series, Queens Supreme, Downsized, Hustling, Urbania, Going Under, Brain Off, Public Property, and the BearCity trilogy.
*Member of Actor's Equity Association
**Equity Approved Showcase
THE TEAM
MELISSA FIRLIT - Director
is a 2018 Alan Schneider Director Award Nominee and a Zelda Finchlander Award Nominee. She recently directed the Ireland National Tour of Misterman by Enda Walsh. Regional Credits: Seeds of Change, Albert Porter:Boy Explorer (Creede Repertory Theatre), Trojan Women: A Love Story (Fort Lewis College), West Side Story, Aida, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Pillowman, The Secret Garden, Red (Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts), Dracula (Mile Square Theatre), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Princeton Festival), Stop Kiss (Wagner College), Under Construction, Machinal, boom, Fabulation, or the Re-education of Undine (Rutgers Theater Company.) Melissa helms a Musical Theatre Bootcamp Program at The College of St. Rose and is a teaching artist with McCarter Theatre Center. Training: MFA Directing Rutgers University, BA Theater The University of Hartford and The O’Neill National Theater Institute. Associate Member SDC.
J.C. ERNST - Playwright
Co-founder of and artistic director of The Crook Theater Company, winner of NYIT Award for Best Play (MacBeth). Directing: Plunge and The House of Yes (The Crook Theater Company). Acting: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Salt Lake Acting Company), Messenger #1 (Hunger & Thirst). The Wendy Play, A Christmas Carol, Candida, The Rainmaker (American Conservatory Theater), BIG, The Musical! (Hale Centre Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (Egyptian Theater), Romeo & Juliet (Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center), The WALL (NYU/Playwright's Horizons). B.F.A. The University of Utah. M.F.A. The American Conservatory Theater (San Francisco). He is a proud member of Actors Equity.