Meet the “Galilee, 34” Cast

You’ve seen Amy Brenneman in everything from “The Old Man” (FX) with Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow to her Emmy-nominated TV series “Judging Amy” and her numerous films such as Casper, Fear, Daylight, Heath, Friends and Neighborsand The Jane Austen Book Club, among others.

Starting April 21 on the Julianne Argyros Stage, you can see Brenneman as Miriam of Nazareth in the world premiere of Galilee, 34, running through May 12 is one of the anchors of the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Brenneman makes her SCR debut as part of a stellar cast that includes Eric Berryman, Christopher Cruz, Teresa Avia Lim, Sharon Omi, Ben Pelteson, Jeremy Rabb and Raviv Ullman.

Written by Eleanor Burgess and directed by Davis McCallum, Galilee, 34 highlights one of the most famous stories in history with wit and intelligence. The healer from Nazareth is dead—and his followers are determined to keep sharing his message. The problem is the Roman Empire wants them out of the picture. And they don’t have a leader. And they can’t quite agree on exactly what that message is. Burgess takes us back to the start of a world-changing movement for a deeply personal look at those who made it happen.

Berryman (Yacov of Nazareth) makes his SCR debut after appearing off-Broadway in Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me (Wooster Group). Berryman’s other theatrical credits include The B-Side, “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons,” a record album interpretation (Wooster Group), Primary Trust and Toni Stone(Roundabout Theatre Company), Private (Mosaic Theater), Scene Partners(Vineyard Theatre) and Moby Dick, A Musical Reckoning (American Repertory Theater), among others. Recent film and television credits include “Godfather of Harlem” (Epix/MGM+), “Ramy” (Hulu), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon) and Marriage Story (Netflix).

Brenneman’s theatre credits include The Sound Inside (Pasadena Playhouse) and the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Rapture, Blister, Burn (Playwrights Horizon and Geffen Playhouse), she is a founding member of the award-winning Cornerstone Theater Company. At Cornerstone, she played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Natasha in Three Sisters, Clytemnestra in The Orestia and Solveig in Peer Gynt.

A Navy veteran who served as a Fleet Marine Force Hospital Corpsman, Cruz (Linus/Stranger) makes his SCR debut after productions of El Huracán (Cygnet Theatre), Thinking Shakespeare LOVE! and Twelfth Night (The Old Globe) and So Please You, Measure for Measure and As You Like It (The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival). Cruz was an Iowa Arts Fellow at the University of Iowa, one of two places he earned an MFA—along with the University of San Diego.

Lim (Miri of Magdala) makes her SCR debut after appearing in the Broadway production of Junk at Lincoln Center. Her other theatre credits include Shakespeare in the Park’s all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew, Awake (National Asian American Theatre Company), Sing and Macbeth; Call andResponse (Mobile Shakespeare Unit at The Public Theater), Knight of the Burning Pestle (Fiasco Theater and Red Bull Theater) and Once Upon a Korean Time (Ma-Yi Theater Company), among others. Lim’s television credits include “Bupkis” (Peacock), “Monsterland” (Hulu), “The Code (CBS), “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Limitless” (CBS), “Unforgettable” (CBS) and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (NBC). Lim also appeared in the films The Woods are Real and Moonskin Fever.

Omi (Elishiva) returns to SCR for the first time since she appeared in the 1994 production of A Christmas Carol. She has appeared at Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, East West Players and Playwrights’ Arena, among many others. Omi’s recent theatre credits include My Home on the Moon (San Francisco Playhouse), The Great Wave (Berkeley Rep), Tales of Clamor (USC) and No No Boy and Innocent When You Dream (L.A. Theatre Works). She starred in the Amazon/Peacock/Tubi! film Eat with Me, which earned her a Best Actress award at the Out On Film Festival in Atlanta. Omi’s recent television credits include “Young Sheldon,” “How to Get Away With Murder,” “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders,” ‘General Hospital,” “Maggie,” and “The After Party,” among many others.

Pelteson makes his SCR debut as Shimon of Bethsaida. He has appeared at theatres all over the country, including Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, Ensemble Studio Theatre and Ars Nova in New York City, along with Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Shakespeare Theatre Company, George Street Playhouse, Wilma Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, among others. Pelteson’s television credits include “Law & Order,” “The Blacklist,” “Homeland,” “Unforgettable,” “StartUp” and the ESPN 30 for 30 film Silly Little Game, which chronicled the start of fantasy sports through the first fantasy baseball league.

Jeremy Rabb makes his SCR debut as Mattiyahu/Ezra. A resident artist at A Noise Within, Rabb has appeared there in more than 35 productions including Sweeney Todd, The Book of Will, Noises Off, King Lear, Arcadia, Endgame and Animal Farm, for which he received a LA Drama Critics Circle Award. He was in the original cast of Rock of Ages and the national tour of The King Stag by Julie Taymor, which went to London’s Barbican Theatre. Rabb’s regional theatre credits include productions at Yale Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Maine State Music Theatre, Ritual Theatre Company and Boston Center for the Arts, among others. His film and TV credits include Her, “Night Court,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” three seasons of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “The Odd Couple,” “Hot in Cleveland,” and “Silicon Valley,” among others.

Raviv Ullman (Saul of Tarsus) adds SCR to credits that include productions at Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Theatre Company, Second Stage, Center Theatre Group, Geffen Playhouse, Huntington Theatre Company, Bucks County Playhouse and Merrimack Repertory. Ullman has appeared in more than 100 television episodes, including “Broad City,” “Phil of the Future,” “Law & Order: SVU,” Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Rita Rocks” and “House.” He has directed productions at Boston Lyric Opera, Long Beach Opera, Opera Omaha and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.”