The Chance Theater

Chay Yew (Playwright)

Chay Yew’s latest play, A Distant Shore, will premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in April this year. His other plays include Porcelain, A Language of Their Own, Red, A Beautiful Country, Wonderland, Question 27 Question 28, A Winter People and an adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba. His work has been produced at numerous venues, including the Joseph Papp Public Theatre, Royal Court Theatre (London), Mark Taper Forum, Manhattan Theatre Club, Wilma Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Intiman Theatre, Portland Center Stage, East West Players, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Dad’s Garage, Singapore Repertory Theatre and TheatreWorks (Singapore). In recognition of his work, Chay Yew has received the London Fringe Award, the George and Elisabeth Marton Playwriting Award, GLAAD Media Award, APGF’s Community Visibility Award, a Made-in-America Award from East West Players, an AEA/SAG/AFTRA 2004 Diversity Award and the Robert Chesley Award. He is also a recipient of grants from the McKnight Foundation and the TCG/Pew National Residency Program. Seven of his plays have been published by Grove Press. His new musical, The Long Season, will be produced at Perseverance Theatre. A member of the New Dramatists and the Dramatists Guild, he is the director of the Mark Taper’s Asian Theatre Workshop. [top]

Oanh Nguyen (Director)

In 1999, Oanh co-founded The Chance Theater, where he is currently Artistic Director. His most cherished projects as a director are Undeclared..., Is Pepperoni a Vegetable? and other mysteries of love, The Stroop Report, But I Don’t Feel Grown up, Three Days of Rain, Bash, Lee Miller: The Angel and The Fiend at the Getty Museum, The Fantasticks, Lord of the Screen..., Goodnight Children Everywhere, Tape and Closer Than Ever. Among a number of national commercials, Oanh’s television and film credits include "American Dreams", “Saved by the Bell”, “Hang Time”, “Kenan and Kel”, “Party of Five”, “The Beast”, “Andy Richter Controls the Universe”, “Clockstoppers”, and Jean Jacques Annaud’s latest film “Two Brothers”. He would like to thank his cast and crew for their tremendous talent and hard work. [top]

Katherine Futterer (Set Designer)

Katherine is delighted to be designing at The Chance Theater. She is delighted with the challenge of designing for two shows in repertory. She is a graduate from the Johnston Program at the University of Redlands where she emphasized in Theater Arts. She looks forward to more collaboration at The Chance. She sends her most profound thanks to her family for their support, Amy Barth for her wisdom, and Dain for his gravitas. [top]

Jon Langrell (Lighting Designer)

Jon has a B.F.A. in lighting design from Boston University and began his career as the house sound and lighting designer at the well known “Ballroom” cabaret in New York in the late 80's. There he designed for Peggy Lee, Jack Jones, Eartha Kitt, Helen Schneider, Patti Page, Jimmy Webb, Little Anthony, Yma Sumac, Barbra Cook and many more. Jon then landed in Seattle in 1991 and designed productions for Microsoft, Boeing, Major League Baseball, Billionaires and also served as a theater and technical manager of a theater & convention center. In 1997 Jon joined ITEC entertainment in Orlando Florida to serve as the LD for the private imagineering firm. At ITEC Jon worked on ten attractions at Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, 5 attractions at Disney’s Epcot, designed lighting for “The Holy Land Experience” theme park and several major retail installations. Jon returned back to Seattle to serve as production manager of the largest arts festival in the country, “Bumbershoot”, for two years. Jon now serves as Operations Superintendent at the classic Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and now designs for the love of art, taking on select productions and projects. Jon is a member of the United Scenic Artists local 829 and his work and contact information can be seen at JLLD.com. [top]

Glenda Morgan Brown (Dialect Coach)

Glenda began her dialect coaching career by assisting actors in shows she was directing, and then shows directed by her husband, David Colwell, and it grew from there. Some of the shows she has coached are Hay Fever, Don't Dress for Dinner, A Man for All Seasons, Dangerous Obsession, Shadowlands (all Standard British); The Sum of Us (Australian); Taking Sides (German); and, Dracula, requiring no less than seven different accents! Previously for Chance, she coached the cast of Molly Sweeney in an Irish dialect and the cast of Lee Miller: The Angel and the Fiend in both British and New York dialects. Glenda is also a professional actress, seen most recently on "According to Jim", "Strong Medicine", and a recurring role on "The Young and the Restless". She’s happy to be back at The Chance Theater working with a brave cast on the challenging regional British dialects in Porcelain. [top]

Erika C. Miller (Costume Designer/Rehearsal Stage Manager)

As a founding and staff member I’ve costumed numerous shows at The Chance throughout the years. Some of my favorite projects include: Goodnight Children Everywhere (‘04), The Cherry Orchard (‘04), The Fantasticks (‘03), Lee Miller: The Angel and the Fiend (‘03), The Mikado (‘03), As You Like It (‘02), Little Women (‘01) and HMS Pinafore (‘00). I look forward to every production as an educational experience and it is always a pleasure to work with such talented theater artists. Thank you for coming and enjoy the show! [top]

Henry Ong (Dramaturge)

Ong is the author of Madame Mao’s Memories, a play which has been produced internationally as well as at the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego. His other works include Sweet Karma, Fabric, People Like Me, Odd Birds and Dream of the Red Chamber, a six-hour adaptation of the Chinese classic. A seven-time recipient of the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department grants, Ong is a member of the Dramatist Guild and the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, and an Artistic Associate of Playwrights’ Arena. His play, Lady White Snake, will be performed this May by deaf students at Marlton School. His Web site is www.henryong.freeola.com [top]

Sal Ponce (Production Stage Manager)

Sal Ponce comes to The Chance after a stint in New Mexico where he earned his BA in Theatre Arts from New Mexico State University. He's spent some time working for other theatres since coming back to Southern California. This is his first production with The Chance and has enjoyed working with everyone. [top]

Nghia Luu (John Lee)

Nghia is delighted to be in his first production at The Chance and would like to thank Oanh for this unique and challenging opportunity. Thanks also to the cast and crew for their professionalism and commitment. Past stage credits include Crossings(Cornerstone Theatre), Monster(East West Players), All in the Timing(Two Roads Theatre) and Grease(CalArts). He has a BFA in theatre from CalArts. [top]

Beach Vickers (Voice One)

Beach is a West Virginia native, transplanted here via Houston, Texas, where he performed at the Tony Award-winning Alley and at Stages Rep. This is his second Chance Theater role, having appeared as another British doctor in last season's Goodnight Children Everywhere. Local credits include "Bottom" in A Midsummer Night's Dream for Golden State Children's Theatre in La Mirada and Old Black Magic for Seal Beach's Olio Productions. [top]

Dimas Diaz (Voice Two)

Dimas is a proud Company Member of The Chance Theater. Some roles of note include Yasha in The Cherry Orchard, Touchstone in As You Like It, Dr. Degot in Saving The World, Abdul in A History of the American Film, Cupid in The Eight: Reindeer Monologues and Jon Saltzman in the critically acclaimed Orange County premiere of Tape. Dimas would like to thank Oanh, all of the cast and crew, God and U. [top]

Ricky Culbertson (Voice Three)

Chance Theater: Closer Than Ever (Soloist). National Tours: Wizard of Oz (Scarecrow); Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Icabod Crane). Off-Off Broadway: Sweeny Todd (Tobias U/S); Black Comedy (Brindsley); A Sondheim Celebration (Soloist); Black Sox (world premiere – Abe Attell). Regional: Louisiana Purchase (Jim Taylor); Guys & Dolls (Nathan Detroit); Oklahoma! (Curly); Noises Off (Gary Lejeune); Forever Plaid (Sparky); World Goes Round (Soloist); J.C. Superstar (Annas); Sister Mary… You (Gary Sullavan); Snoopy!!! The Musical (Snoopy). [top]

Casey Long (Voice Four)

Casey is the Managing Director for The Chance Theater Repertory Company and is very proud to be a part of this important piece of theater. This would be the umpteenth time working at The Chance, having most recently appeared in The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, the Orange County Premiere of Tape, and The Chance's sketch/improv comedy show, Cup of Ha-Ha. Casey would like to thank Oanh for his vision, his fellow actors for their commitment, his parents for their neverending support, and Alex for loving him as much as she can. [top]