Child's Play Creative & Production Team
Kevin D. Ferguson is Playwright-in-Residence at Atlantic Stage in Myrtle Beach, SC, where his plays Child’s Play, Spinning Jenny, and A Thing With Feathers as well as his adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol premiered. Child’s Play is his first New York production. Spinning Jenny is being produced in St. Louis next season at the Tesseract Theatre. Kevin is a Teaching Associate in the Theatre Department at Coastal Carolina University and received an MFA in Playwriting with a Concentration in Dramaturgy from Hollins University’s Playwrights Lab. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.
Millie Wells (Production Stage Manager) is happy to be joining Rising Sun for the first time. She is originally from Boston, and is still unpacking boxes in her first NY apartment. She stage-managed New York Deaf Theatre's production of TITUS in 2016. She has also managed the stages of several Boston-area theatres including Merely Players, Wheelock Family Theatre, Company One and OperaHub.
Anna Maureen Hogan (Assistant Director) is a graduate from West Texas A&M University where she received her BA in Musical Theatre and studied Shakespeare abroad in London and Stratford-upon-Avon. Recent projects include W(restling) (Director, Step1 Theater Project, 24-Hour Pride fest), Blinking in Treetops (Director, Lady Plays), Helvetica (Assistant Director, Rising Sun Performance Company, Planet Connections Theater Festivity), Prayer Never Fails (First Assistant Director, Opportunist Films), Yellow Fever (Second Assistant Director, Wham Bam Productions)
Anna aspires to tell stories that give back to society, reflect a current and changing world, embrace and fight for diversity, and find new ways to captivate our audiences with live theater. Annamaureenhogan.com 
Ian Wehrle (Sound Design) is a composer and collaborator for various music direction and sound design for theater. Recent credits include: Monica Piper's "Not That Jewish" (New World Stages); "A Room Of My Own" and "Hellman V. McCarthy" (Abingdon Theatre Co.); "A Dream of Red Pavilions", "Sayonara" and "No No Boy" (Pan Asian Repertory Theatre Co.); "Gilgamesh - A Musical Epic" (Columbia Stages); "Carousel", "Cabaret" and "Chess" (New York Film Academy); Blogologues: The Internet Performed; Sarah Lawrence College; Mill Mountain Theatre; and is a CUNY professor of sound design. He is credited at the Food Network, MTV, and PBS. For more information please see: www.soundaffectsdesign.com.
Jaz Okura-Youtsey (Assistant Stage Manager) has been working in theater most of her life but is new to the city. She's excited to be working with Rising Sun for the first time!
Zachariah Goin (Lighting Design) is a Texas native recently moved to NYC. Recent lighting design credits include Becoming OCD, Wigs, You Belong To Me, and While Ophelia’s Korean Drum Weeps which were all participants in the 2016 NYC Fringe Festival. He is an ongoing technical director for the Amore Opera with credits including Rigoletto, Hansel and Gretel, and Die Fledermaus. He received a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis on Theatrical Design from West Texas A&M University. While attending he received a Meritorious Achievement recognition for his scenic design for The Tragedy of Macbeth. Zac is thrilled to be working with Rising Sun for the first time! For more information visit: goinzac.wixsite.com/goindesigns
|
Akia is an active member of the flourishing Off-Off/Indie & Off Broadway theatre communities having produced, directed, and performed with numerous NYC companies for over 17 years. She is the Company Manager for the international sensation, Blue Man Group at the Astor Place Theater. She has received critical praise for her direction of RSP long running hits such as “Hellcab”, “Goodnight Lovin’ Trail” and “The Last Supper”, "Crapshoot" and "Bug". She served as an advisory Board Member for The Paul Butterfield Fund & Society , and is Company Manager for The New York Innovative Theatre Awards & Foundation, where she serves on their honorary awards committee as Sub-Committee Chairman and as an At-Large Judge. Past notable credits include working on staff at Horse Trade Theatre Group, serving as General Manager for FRIGID New York’s inaugural year, and returning as Volunteer Coordinator in 2009; she also served as Production Coordinator for nationally acclaimed Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, overseeing the playwrights unit and INSIGHT 13 production series. She is a recipient of the New York Innovative Theatre Awards “Founders Award” for her contributions to the organization and Off Off Broadway Community and Two Time "Congeniality" Award Winner from the Planet Connections Theatre Festival for her community involvement. When not absorbed in theatre, she is an avid traveler and scuba diver. She lives, loves and boogies down in the Bronx.
Tammy Gibbens (Costume Design) is a New York based Costume Supervisor and Designer for stage and film. Originally from Texas, Tammy fell in love with costumes at the age of 9 while tagging along with her Teamster father on the set of the 1940's based movie Raggedy Man. Her favorite credits include the Christmas movie Wishin' and Hopin' based on the novel written by Wally Lamb and Life Now Life Then written by John J Budion, now in post production. She is very excited to have the opportunity to work with Rising Sun while empowering artists alike to rise up and share their voice.
Rachel Langley (Set Design) is very excited to be making her New York City scenic design debut! Previous works include: Enemy of the People, The Barrow Group (Asst. Scenic Designer); The Cradle Will Rock, Connecticut College (Asst. Scenic Designer); Coriolanus, Red Bull Theater (Deck Crew); 2016 Season, Weston Playhouse Theatre Company (Scenic Art Apprentice); Gypsy and A Chorus Line (Asst. Stage Manager), Connecticut Repertory Theatre; The Yellow Boat (Scenic Designer and Charge Artist), The Wild Party (Charge Artist), and The 21st Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Stage Manager), James Madison University. Rachel would like to thank her family and friends for their endless love support!
|
Crystal Edn (Vera) is thrilled to jump into her first full season with Rising Sun Performance Company. She previously collaborated with RSP as a director for their Mash-Up series. She’s thrilled to be a part of the fantastic ensemble for Child’s Play this spring. Around town, you can find Crystal acting and directing with several companies, including Nylon Fusion, Articulate Theatre Company, and T. Schreiber Theatre. www.crystaledn.com. AEA and lover of all people.
|
Raiane Cantisano (Cindy) is really thrilled to be a part of the Rising Sun Performance company with such an amazing group of artists. She has been studying theatre since the age of six in her hometown, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she also learned singing, tap dance and ballet. In her country she has been in several productions such as "A Midsummer Night's Dream", “Hair” and "And then There Were None" by Agatha Christie and worked as a singing waitress. After completing her Bachelors in Drama at CAL College in Brazil, she came to NYC to further her education in this inspiring city at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and fell even more in love with the craft of acting. Recent credits include Sissy in "Unity 1918", directed by Kareem Fahmy, Inez in "Our Lady of 121st Street", directed by Kelly O'Donnell, featured ensemble in musical "The Wild Party", directed by Rob Heller and Bruce Baumer (music), Maria Teresa Mirabal in the short film “Mujeres”, by Varyana Galdamez, Tereza in the short film "Labyrinth Lost", by Zoraida Cordova at the School of Visual Arts and Maria in the short film "La Quinceañera", by David Merino for Brooklyn College.
|
Mercedes Vasquez (Julia) is excited to be a part of the Rising Sun Performance Company. She is a New York native who received her Bachelor of Arts in Acting from LIU/C.W. Post and is thrilled be on stage in this season’s production of “Child’s Play”. She recently filmed a pilot for the series, “No Strings Attached” and can be seen in Season two of Latin Lives web series on Youtube.
Mercedes is also the technical director for the amazing women’s empowerment organization, SWA. When she is not acting or running sound/lights you can find her enjoying dance workshops. 
Andrew Lorenzo Gonzales
Andrew first got into acting in third grade where he played a judge who banged a gavel and said “I like that!” The audience laughed and he was hooked. He studied Acting, Directing, and Playwriting at Southern Methodist University, where he played such diverse roles as Upgobkin in Slavs!, Man with Scar Tissue in Marisol, Nate in A Map of Virtue, and so on and so forth you’re already reading the next bio aren’t you. Anyways, this is his first season with Rising Sun and he’s so fortunate to be acting here in his first New York play! (PS hi mom!) 
Ashleigh Herndon moved to New York to choreograph Cyclops: A Rock Opera for the New York Musical Festival, and subsequently decided to make New York her home. Originally from Myrtle Beach, SC, Ashleigh holds a degree in musical theatre from Catawba College. Performance credits include three national tours with Theatre IV children's theatre (Stone Soup, A Christmas Carol, Thumbelina); Regional: The Lost Colony, Jesus Christ Superstar, Funny Thing Happened...Forum, Cinderella, Where The Wild Things Are, Shakespeare & Love; NYC: Open Rehearsal(Theatre for the New City), NY Jazz Choreography Project. Ashleigh also works as a choreographer with a concentration in historical social dance, credits include: Cyclops (NYMF), Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog (stage premier Las Vegas), Cynthia (workshop), A Christmas Carol, and Drood.
|
Michael Pichardo This is his first season as an ensemble member of the Rising Sun Performance Company. A Lower East Side native, he graduated from Queensborough Community College with an Associate's Degree in Performing Arts. Regional Theatre credits: The Favor (Chicago Fringe). Off-Broadway Credits: Othello (American Theatre of Actors) and The Last Hour (Royal Family). New York Theatre credits: Punk Grandpa (Frigid New York), The Skin of Our Teeth (Articulate Theatre), Memory Show (Dixon Place), Allie's Appendix (PCTF/The Paradise Factory). Film credits: Judgment. Check out his hip hop content on his “Mike Checker” YouTube Channel!
Ronald Truman Kitts is an Actor, Dancer, Choreographer and Set Designer. He specializes in physical theatre and performance with training in clowning, Commedia, Afro-Fusion Dance, Jazz, Contemporary, viewpoints, and improvisation. He has a passion for new play development with most of his work focused around young playwrights. As a recent Graduate of Drew University, he was involved in over twenty productions in multiple capacities including originating the role of Jake in New World Disorder by award-winning playwright Chisa Hutchinson. Most of the time he just wants to wiggle.
Christian Victoria Allen is a New York Actor, originally from PA. She received her MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School. She can also be seen in the webseries #lovemyroomie as Pria on youtube. www.christianvallen.com
Katie Lynn Esswein is thrilled to be making her debut with RSP in Child’s Play. Katie attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and received a BFA in Acting. She recently performed various roles in The Young Playwright’s Festival at City Theatre in Pittsburgh. Favorite credits include reasons to be pretty (Steph), Pericles (Marina), If You Give A Mouse A Cookie (Mouse) and One Flea Spare (Morse).
|
