Meet The Voices Of America Cast

Theatregoers to SCR’s unique Voices of America rotating repertory will be treated to one of the most dynamic casts of recent memory. The cast for Lilian Hellman’s The Little Foxes and Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is an artistically accomplished mix of SCR veterans and newcomers—six of whom will appear in both plays.

Jess Andrews makes her SCR debut playing Alexandra Giddens in The Little Foxes and River Rayner in Appropriate. She’s appeared in various productions at Kansas City Repertory, along with roles at the Great River Shakespeare Festival, Unicorn Theatre and Bellingham TheatreWorks. Andrews has an MFA in Acting and Directing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Tessa Auberjonois (Birdie Hubbard in The Little Foxes/Rachael Kramer-Lafayette in Appropriate) is a familiar face to SCR audiences, most recently two weeks ago as Joan Rivers in the NewSCRipts reading of Joan by Daniel Goldstein. Her other SCR credits include The Roommate (which brought her Best Actress recognition from OC Weekly in 2017), Mr. Wolf, Absurd Person Singular, Becky Shaw, Crimes of the Heart, A Wrinkle in Time, Lobby Hero, Hold Please and Everett Beekin, along with numerous PPF readings. She won an Ovation Award for Best Lead Actress for her role in Eight Nights at The Antaeus Company, one of numerous regional theatres she’s appeared at. She is currently a recurring character on “How I Met Your Father” seasons 1 and 2 and has guested on “The Affair,” “Modern Family, “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU,” and “ER,” among others. Auberjonois was a 2017 recipient of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship.

Marco Barricelli (Benjamin Hubbard in The Little Foxes) returns to SCR after playing Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and Antonio Salieri in Amadeus. Barricelli has appeared on Broadway in Tamara and off-Broadway in Agamemnon. Regionally, he has appeared all over the country, including many seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and as an Associate Artist at the American Conservatory Theatre. Other theatre stops include The Old Globe, Mark Taper Forum, Guthrie Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Huntington Theatre Company, Arizona Theatre Company and the Utah and Illinois Shakespeare Festivals, among many others. His screen credits include Pixar’s Luca and Ciao, Alberto, “The Book of Daniel,” and “L.A. Law,” among others.

Shannon Cochran (Regina Giddens in The Little Foxes/Toni Lafayette in Appropriate) last appeared at SCR in the world premiere of A Doll’s House, Part 2. She recently played Professors McGonagall and Umbridge in the San Francisco company of Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. She was in the cast for the national tours of Cabaret (Roundabout Theatre) and August: Osage County. Cochran won Obie and Drama League awards for her role in Bug. Her other regional theatre stops include The Old Globe, the Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse and at London’s Barrow Street Theatre and Barbican and Gate Theatres. Cochran has appeared in numerous television shows, including “NCIS: LA,” “Modern Family,” “The Office,” and Law & Order: SVU.”

Safiya Fredericks (Addie in The Little Foxes) makes her SCR debut after appearing at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Magic Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre. Fredericks won the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award Best Featured Actress for her role as Benevolence in Black Odyssey at CalShakes. Her film credits include Bitter Melon, Sorry to Bother You and the upcoming I’m Charlie Walker. Fredericks studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and earned a BA in Drama at UC Irvine.

Lea Coco (William Marshall in The Little Foxes/Franz Lafayette in Appropriate) returns to SCR three years after his gripping role in Sheepdog. He worked as a Blue Man in Blue Man Group, along with The Public Theater in New York, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Utah and Chicago Shakespeare Festivals and at Steppenwolf Theatre, where he appeared with Shannon Cochran. His guest-star and recurring credits include “Grey’s Anatomy” and the final season of Ava Duverney’s “Queen Sugar.”

Bill Geisslinger (Horace Giddens in The Little Foxes) returns to SCR six years after appearing in A Doll’s House, Part 2. That came 30 years after he appeared in Fool For Love. He was last seen in the American premiere of Andrew Bovell’s Things I Know To Be True at Milwaukee Repertory and Arizona Theatre Company. Geisslinger appeared in more than 70 productions during a 25-year run as a company member at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, including in the world premieres of Continental Divide by David Edgar and Ghost Light by Tony Taccone. He has performed at The Old Globe, Long Wharf Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory and Baltimore Center Stage, among others. His television credits include “St. Elsewhere,” “News Radio,” “Nowhere Man,” and “Grimm,” among others.

Jamison Jones (Oscar Hubbard in The Little Foxes/Beauregard Lafayette in Appropriate) previous appeared at SCR in Elemeno Pea and Doctor Cerberus. His other theatre credits include The Christians (Chautauqua Theater Company), Angels in America, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Othello and the West Coast premiere of Maple and Vine (American Conservatory Theatre), The Three Musketeers (Denver Center for the Performing Arts), Cyrano de Bergerac (A Noise Within) and the European premieres of Tennessee in the Summer and Purple Hearts (Edinburgh Festival, Scotland), among others. Jones’ television credits include HBO’s “True Detective,” “Burn Notice,” “24,” “NCIS,” CSI: NY,” “Will and Grace,” and “Crossing Jordan,” among others. His film credits include Dark Blue, Hollywood Homicide, Born to Ride and He Was a Quiet Man.

Zalen D. King (Cal in The Little Foxes) is excited to working in his first SCR production. He is currently honing his skills at UC Irvine’s MFA acting program. He would like to thank his friends, his family and his girlfriend for their ongoing support in his creative pursuits. Find out more about him at zalendking.com or follow him @zalendking.

Hunter Spangler (Leo Hubbard in The Little Foxes/Rhys Thornton in Appropriate) makes his SCR debut after regional appearances in Junk (La Jolla Playhouse), You Are Here and A Few Good Men (Centre Stage) and A Little Night Music and Laughter on the 23^rd Floor (The Warehouse Theatre). Spangler earned an MFA from UC San Diego and a BA at Clemson University.

Appropriate also features two young actors from the SCR Conservatory. Natalie Bright (Cassidy Kramer-Lafayette) spent eight years in the award-winning Conservatory’s programs, most recently in her third year in A Christmas Carol, where you can see her as Martha Cratchit for the second consecutive year. Bright also appeared in several short films and commercials.

At 11, Isaac Person (Ainsley Kramer-Lafayette) is the youngest member of the Appropriate cast. He played Boy Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Earlier this year, Person played Bruce in the SCR Summer Players production of Matilda The Musical and he played Tootles in the 2021 Summer Players production of Peter Pan.