ShareSatellites BIOGRAPHIES
Diana Son (Playwright) Son’s most recent work for the stage is Satellites, which received its World Premiere at The Public Theater in 2006. She is the author of Stop Kiss, which premiered at The Public Theater in 1998, and went on to win the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New York production and a Berilla Kerr Award for Playwriting. Other plays include Fishes, Boy, R.A.W. (Cause I’m a Woman), Stealing Fire, 2000 Miles, and Happy Birthday Jack. Son is currently a Supervising Producer for the hit NBC drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and was previously a writer for NBC’s The West Wing. She was a playwright-in-residence at the Mark Taper Forum and a visiting lecturer in playwriting at the Yale School of Drama; Son is an alumnus of New Dramatists.
the cast
Michael J. Asberry* (Reggie) is honored to be making his Aurora Theatre debut, which follows performances at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse (Topdog/Underdog); at the Lorraine Hansberry Theater (King Hedley II, Crumbs From the Table of Joy, Seven Guitars; at California Conservatory Theater (I’m Not Rappaport); with Shotgun Players (There Will Be No Trojan War); Feature films: The Crate, The Californians; Television: Nash Bridges; Voiceover: Electronic Arts, Pixar Animation. Love, peace and respect.
Darren Bridgett* (Eric) credits include: Marin Theatre Company (Love Song, Fortune, The Last Schwartz), Marin Shakespeare Festival (King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Merry Wives of Windsor, Hamlet, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare-Abridged), Magic Theatre (Drifting Elegant, Blue Surge), TheatreWorks (Twelfth Night, Far East, Once in a Lifetime, Ah, Wilderness!), Laguna Playhouse (Far East), Orlando Shakespeare Festival (Arms and the Man), ACT, California Shakespeare Theater, San Jose Stage, CenterREP, TheatreFIRST and Central Works.
Lisa Kang (Mrs. Chae) is currently working with One4All Theater Company - an alternative Asian American theater company - assisting in the development of the play Saigon/California. She recently played Precious Auntie in Word for Word’s award winning production of Amy Tan’s Immortal Heart. Lisa has worked as an actor and a playwright in several Bay Area theater companies, including the Asian American Theater Company, Theater Rhinoceros, the Napa Valley Shakespeare Company, City Lights Theater Company of San Jose, the Cutting Ball Theater Company, Calaveras Repertory Theater and the Theater of Yugen. She teaches drama and English at the University Preparatory Academy in San Jose. Moments after seeing Satellites at Aurora, audience members can view Lisa in her ongoing role as “the lady with the watering can” on Shattuck Avenue light-post banners for Downtown Berkeley’s Arts and Commerce Council.
Julie Oda* (Nina) is thrilled to make her Aurora debut! She’s appeared at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for eight seasons, where favorite roles were Sara in Stop Kiss, Sharon in Gibraltar and Shakespeare’s heroines Lavinia, Cordelia and Hermia. She worked on Broadway in Redwood Curtain (understudy – Geri) and Off-Broadway as Perdita in The Winter’s Tale. Regional credits include ACT, TheatreWorks, Huntington Theatre, Pittsburgh Public, Asolo Theatre and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Education: Mills College and ACT.
Michael Gene Sullivan* (Miles) has appeared at the American Conservatory Theater, the Magic, Eureka, and Lorraine Hansberry Theaters, the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Theatreworks, Denver Center Theatre Company, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. He has also performed off-Broadway, at the Kennedy Center, in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and New York, Vancouver, and San Francisco in his award winning one person show, Did Anyone Ever Tell You - You Look Like Huey P. Newton? In addition Michael’s stage adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984, directed by Tim Robbins, has been performed in Europe, Australia, Asia, and is starting its fourth U.S. tour.
Ayla Yarkut* (Kit) is very pleased to be working at Aurora for the first time with this production. Other Bay Area credits include After the Fall with AlterTheater and The Elephant Man and New Works Festival 2006 with TheatreWorks. Ayla received her MFA in Classical Acting from The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. and has enjoyed work in theatres including The Old Globe Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre and Arena Stage.
the artistic team and the crew
Callie Floor^ (Costume Design) earned her BFA from the University of Utah and her Higher Diploma in Theatre Design from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London. Since coming to the Bay Area in 1987, she has designed for many Bay Area theatres including ACT, ACT Master’s program, West Bay Opera, The San Francisco Mime Troupe, Zaccho Dance Theatre, and the Magic Theatre. She is happy to return to Aurora Theatre, having recently designed Hysteria and Salome. Recent projects include Luminescence Dating co-produced with the Magic Theatre and ACT, The Cider House Rules for ACT’s MFA Program. Callie is the resident designer for the California Revels and currently holds the position of Costume Rentals Supervisor for ACT.
Rebecca Helgeson (Properties) Recent credits include SEX, Hysteria, Bosoms and Neglect, Private Jokes, Public Places, The Birthday Party,Ice Glen, Salome, Permanent Collection, Small Tragedy, The Master Builder, The Price, Marius, and Blue/Orange at Aurora; The Hopper Collection, A Reckoning, and HotHouse ‘05 with the Magic Theatre; and Once in a Lifetime with the ACT Conservatory. Rebecca has also spent the last two summers as the Properties Artisan for the California Shakespeare Theater, working on such productions as The Tempest and Nicholas Nickelby,parts I and II.
Chris Houston (Sound Design) is a pianist and composer. He writes and designs for film, video, theatre, and dance. A frequent collaborator at Aurora Theatre and SF Playhouse, recently his music and sound were heard in Hysteria, Bosoms and Neglect, Ice Glen,Permanent Collection, Small Tragedy, Our Lady of 121st St., The Master Builder, Marius, The Price, The Crucible, The Thousandth Night, and Art. He has been twice nominated for the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award.
Melpomene Katakalos (Set Design) is pleased to return to the Aurora where she has most recently designed Small Tragedy. As a Bay Area designer for the last ten years, she has designed scenery for over fifty productions for several theatre companies, educational institutions, and festivals. Ms. Katakalos is also a founding member and resident artist of Crowded Fire, dedicated to producing new and contemporary works. She is twice the recipient of the San Diego Playbill Award for her designs of the West Coast premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, and Marat/Sade. Upcoming productions include Pericles at CalShakes. In addition to her freelance career, Ms. Katakalos teaches scenic design at UC Berkeley. She received her MFA in design from UC San Diego, and her BFA from Ithaca College, NY. Thanks to Timmy.
Kent Nicholson¥ (Director) Off-Broadway directing credits include Wet by Liz Duffy Adams for The Summer Play Festival and Five Flights by Adam Bock for Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre. His San Francisco production of Five Flights was named one of the top ten cultural events of 2002 by the San Francisco Chronicle. He has directed world premiere productions by writers as diverse as Sheila Callaghan, Elaine Romero, and Dave Eggers. Recent credits include the West Coast premieres of Small Tragedy by Craig Lucas at Aurora, The Good German by David Wiltse, and Ambition Facing West by Anthony Clarvoe. He is the Director of New Works at TheatreWorks and Co-Artistic Director of Crowded Fire Theater Company.
Michael Palumbo (Light Design) is making his Aurora debut. He has designed for companies including TheatreWorks (Theophilus North, Brooklyn Boy, Anna in the Tropics, All My Sons, Vincent in Brixton), San Jose Repertory Theatre (The Immigrant), Sacramento Opera (The Barber of Seville), Marin Theatre Company (The Good German, Killer Joe), Opera San Jose (La Boheme), Magic Theatre (Rust, Pleasure & Pain), SCT/ Harbor Theater (The Shadow Box, Bat Boy), San Jose Stage Company (Diary of Anne Frank), Diablo Light Opera Company (The Music Man, My Fair Lady), ACT’s MFA Program (Candida, The Importance of Being Earnest) and Teatro Vision (Santos & Santos, Visitor’s Guide to Arivaca).
Cassandra Phillips (Production Assistant) most recently stage managed ACT’s 3rd year MFA production of Candida at the Zeum Theater, and was production assistant on Triumph of Love at CalShakes. In the 06-07 season, she was a stage management intern at ACT where she stage managed the MFA productions of Company and The Orphan Muses and interned on The Little Foxes, A Christmas Carol, Hedda Gabler, and Blackbird. She received a degree in Human Development from the University of Chicago, where she also worked on the student technical staff, serving as stage manager, production manager, technical director, or master electrician on numerous productions. She is currently the Event Coordinator for Room Full of People, Inc.
Karen Szpaller* (Stage Manager) is pleased to be back at the Aurora after stage managing last season’s Salome. Favorite past shows include Heartbreak House, Eurydice, Fêtes de la Nuit, and Brundibár / Comedy on the Bridge at Berkeley Rep; Blackbird and Imaginary Invalid at ACT; Urinetown: The Musical at San Jose Stage Company; Striking 12 at TheatreWorks; and Ragtime, She Loves Me, and Show Boat at Foothill Music Theatre. She most recently worked on A Christmas Carol at ACT, and is the Production Coordinator at TheatreWorks in Menlo Park.
*Member, Actors' Equity Association
^Member, United Scenic Artists
¥Member, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC)
