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Taylor Casas (Ensemble/Gravitron). The Light Princess is my first play with SCR, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working on this incredible show! Best of all, I get to perform alongside my best friend and acrobatics partner, Cynthia Price. This spring, I will graduate from California State University, Long Beach, with a BA in Theatre Arts. I’ll always remember my favorite role was when I played Anne in my university’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank. Before entering the theatre world, my passion was dance! I performed in multiple dance shows at Los Alamitos High School, and since then I’ve developed other ideas of dance and movement studying under CSULB’s movement professor, Ezra Lebank. When I’m not acting or dancing, I am flying in the air performing or teaching aerial silks!
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Gina D'Acciaro* (Witch). I’m the girl who plays the mean ol' Witch, right? But, I promise I’m super nice in real life! The Light Princess is my first show at SCR, so chances are we haven’t met yet. My last name is pronounced DUH-CHAIR-OH and I’m originally from Philadelphia, but I love California. And so do my two little dogs! When I’m not playing fetch with my poochies, I play on stage and in recording studios. I sing vocal demos and do voices for cartoons, which is a lot of fun. Sometimes I get to do shows in other states. This past summer, I was in a musical called I Do! I Do! in Virginia Beach, Va., with a dear friend of mine. We got to do a show AND see some cool historic places. Colonial Williamsburg was my favorite. We went there four times! Some of my favorite roles include Maria in Lend Me a Tenor, Grizabella in Cats and a princess in The Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Actors Co-op in Hollywood, and I even was nominated for my second Los Angeles Ovation Award for playing her. I hope you enjoy the show! Much love to my family! ginadacciaro.com
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Emily Eiden* (Wiseman 2). Hello again! You might remember me from SCR’s Anastasia Krupnik, A Year with Frog and Toad, Ivy + Bean and Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells—or your parents may have seen me here in Taking Steps. Acting in great stories like these is my family business. You see, my mom and dad met in a play directed by my grandpa, then my brother and I grew up acting in plays directed by my parents and, eventually, I met my husband in an acting class! Now I spend a lot of time reading and acting out kids books with my darling and hilarious toddler and our dog, Count Timothy the Great. You can hear me tell stories in audiobooks like the Whatever After series, Goosebumps: The Ghost Next Door and the Paranormalcy trilogy. You might also recognize my voice in cartoons like “Clarence,” “Children Make Terrible Pets,” “TripTank,” an upcoming top secret series or in the planetarium shows at Griffith Observatory. Please enjoy our story today!
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Justin Figueroa* (Prince). I’m so happy to be playing the role of the Prince for you! I’ve been quite busy since the last time I appeared at SCR in The Brand New Kid. I have been traveling the world singing and playing guitar, most recently as Johnny Cash in the Tony Award winning musical, Million Dollar Quartet. Before that, I got to play a punk rocker in Home Street Home at the Center Theatre Group and even managed to play a little country music in Sneaky Old Time at the Ruskin Theatre. When I’m not busy playing different roles on stage, I spend a lot of my time playing guitar and writing new songs. Sending lots of love to my family and my fiancée-—thank you so much for your unwavering support!
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Arielle Fishman* (Princess). I’m so happy to be playing the Princess, as her pluck, assertiveness and sense of fun really inspire me. Growing up, my mom taught me how to play Marco Polo and I was really into it. She also was very adamant that I become a skilled swimmer, so she forced me to join a swim team. Let’s just say I was not as talented a swimmer as the Princess! My mom never expected me to be able to fly—thank goodness. I recently graduated from college in Los Angeles, where I did lots of musicals. Outside of school, I played the roles of Amy March in Little Women and Lydia Bennet in Pride and Prejudice—characters who both happen to be sassy little sisters! I love performing because I have the best time learning about my character's personality and point of view.
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Joel Gelman* (Wiseman 1). My brother and I always have loved making each other laugh! Then we figured out we could make other people laugh, too! Usually by doing funny voices and falling on our bums. I got to do a couple of fun voices and crazy dances here at SCR in Pride and Prejudice. I’ve also done some silly roles on your TV, including a terrible medical student on “Henry Danger,” a confused homebuyer on “Modern Family” and an annoyed police officer on “New Girl.” I can’t wait to laugh along with you today!
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Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper* (King). I can’t believe this is my eighth show here at South Coast Repertory! Hmm...let’s see if I can remember them all: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Charlotte's Web, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, The Night Fairy, The Borrowers, Lucky Duck and Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business. Whew! That’s a lot of shows, but boy were they fun! I’ve also performed for some other young audiences just like you—like when I played the lead role in Ferdinand the Bull at the Main Street Theatre. I spend a lot of time going back and forth between California and New York City, where I was born. There I get to do plays by Shakespeare, musicals where I play guitar and a ton of other new plays and musicals. I went to New York University for college and the High School of Performing Arts before that. I’m so lucky to have had so many terrific teachers, plus my mom and dad and everyone here at SCR!
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Ann Noble* (Queen). This is my third show at SCR. Since my last two plays here, Antastia Krupnik and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, I've done many different kinds of plays: Stanley Ann, which is a one-woman show about President Obama's mother; The Crucible, which is about witches; The Liar, which is about liars; Other Desert Cities, which is about family; and The Goat, or Who is Sylvia, which is about a goat named Sylvia (among other things)! My love for theatre started in high school where I was blessed to have some wonderful teachers who fostered my interest in plays, performing and writing. In fact, that’s what I do when I’m not acting, I write plays and I teach other people, even kids, how to write plays about themselves and the world around them. As an actor, I work mostly with my home theatre company, Antaeus (“ann-tee-us” rhymes with “come see us”!), where we do “classic” plays, which are plays that are very old. And while it’s fun to do new plays, it’s wonderful to tell a story from a long time ago…today.
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Cynthia Price (Ensemble/Gravitron). This is my first time on stage at SCR and I love that I get to make my debut with my best friend, Taylor Casas! She and I have spent the last 3 years in college together at California State University, Long Beach, and this year we have traveled all the way around the world studying theatre, performing and doing AcroYoga. I’m from a theatrical family and have grown up dancing, singing and doing shows in Southern California. My first time on a professional stage was as the changeling child in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that my dad was in. I was only in kindergarten at the time. Since then, I have been a child soloist in the Crystal Cathedral’s Glory of Christmas, a parade dancer and performer at Disney’s California Adventure, and lots more. Theatre lets us be anything and everything!
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