Actors Day in LA – Treat Yourself Like Cary Grant
Kim Estes stars of Treat Yourself Like Cary Grant, speaks with the writer and directer Rick Pagano and fellow actors Randolph Adams, Wilfred Biggs, Eric Carufel, Jan Munroe, Christine Syron.
“If I give the impression of being a man without a care in the world it is because people with problems always try to give that impression. We are all the opposite of what we appear to be.” Cary Grant
A man on Death Row deludes himself into thinking he’s a world famous actor – not just any actor, but Cary Grant, a man who epitomized elegance, charm, and, especially, an optimism about life and live. Not that Cary Grant had an easy time of it: he was born into poverty, his mother suffered serious mental illness, and Cary was a man with his own private demons
Treat Yourself Like Cary Grant is not to be missed. It is a play about fictional Thomas Kitay (Kim Estes), who has lost the love of his life, the “fiction that keeps him going.”
CAST
RANDOLPH ADAMS (Luke Sandifer) Randolph Adams most recently can be seen playing Doc Stern on the FX series Justified. Other TV Credits include Criminal Minds, 24, CSI: Las Vegas, Outlaw. Theatre credits: Williamstown Theatre Festival: I have Loved Strangers, Spring Awakening. Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse: The Blowin of Baile Gaul, Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew.The Shakespeare Theatre: MacBeth, Pericles, Lorenzaccio, Tempest. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Foreign Affairs and resides in Los Angeles. He loves surfing(badly), tacos, and worships Winston Churchill and Clint Eastwood. Oh, and check out his photography, it’s pretty awesome: www.randolphadams.com
WILFRED BIGGS (Ray Pickering) Wilfred Biggs is from a small town outside of Lake Tahoe. The love of story telling spurred Wilfred to come to Los Angeles in 2001. This is the second play Wilfred has worked on with Rick Pagano. The first being Hanging Alice a play with a condemned elephant. “With all my heart and soul I dedicate each performance of this play to my fiancee Lindsay Noel who passed away May 31 2011. For My Greatest Love. Wilfred.”
ERIN CARUFEL (Roberta Farraday) Erin Carufel grew up in Beaverton, Oregon. She graduated with honors from the University of Southern California, School of Theatre. She also earned a degree from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England where she studied classical theatre. Since finishing her university training, Erin has been studying at The Beverly Hills Playhouse. Some of Erin’s television credits include: C.S.I.: Miami, Without A Trace and the CBS Movie of the Week Return To the Batcave where she played the superhero, Batgirl. Her recent studio film credits include: The Lincoln Lawyer, Untraceable and Gone, a thriller starring Amanda Seyfried which opens in theatres in February 2012. This is Erin’s first collaboration with director, Rick Pagano and her debut at The Lillian Theatre. Erin would like to thank her family and friends for their love and support!
KIM ESTES (Thomas Kitay) Kim Estes has appeared on House, The Closer, Hawthorne, Dexter, Cold Case, Law and Order-Los Angeles, The Riches, Criminal Minds, Numb3rs, Saints and Sinners, Shark, General Hospital, The Bold and The Beautiful, Commander-In-Chief, and other TV shows. He has just wrapped filming the indy feature Crossroad and appeared in the films Breathing Room (directed by John Suits), Save Me (directed by Jennifer Getzinger), Choke, Kick, Girl (directed by Danny Parker) and The Birthday Gift (directed by Marie Tang). He is ecstatic to be part of this “Cary Grant” team and in the company of such hardworking and talented professionals. Website is www.sagtalent.com
SIMONE MOORE (Hallie Moore) Professional experience includes:
Stage: Beauty (dir. Tina Landau) La Jolla Playhouse, Classical Theatre of Harlem’s Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death and Macbeth. Helena in Shakespeare Center Los Angeles A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Sylvia in Two Gentlemen of Verona. UCSD Queen Anne in Edward II and Fanchette in The Marriage of Figaro (dir. Loretta Greco). Pattie Mae in Home (dir. Woody King Jr.), Michelle in the award winning production of Huck and Holden at the Black Dahlia Theatre Los Angeles.
Television: Guest leading roles in Boston Legal, Without a Trace, sitcoms Canned and All of Us, recurring role: Cold Case.
Indie films: Arc w/ Peter Facinelli and Ken Howard.
The award winning The Prospects. Film: Belly 2, Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith, Notorious. National commercials: McDonald’s, American Airlines and Twix Java. Thanks to UCSD, Tony Greco and Diane Venora. Excess amounts of gratitude to: my family and friends, to Rick and a superb cast and crew and to you the audience!
JAN MUNROE (Samuel Farraday) Jan Munroe has been involved with the creation of new work since early studies with Marcel Marceau and Etienne Decroux. A founding member of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo-Boingo (L.A.) and The Theatah of the Apres-Garde (Bay Area), he is a recipient of two NEA Theatre fellowships, a C.A.C. New Genre fellowship, a Rockefeller Playwrights fellowship, and 11 L.A. Weekly and Drama-Logue Awards. Other than his own work, he has originated roles in plays by Thomas Babe (Demon Wine at LATC with Bill Pullman, Tom Waits, Bud Cort, Carol Kane & Philip Baker Hall), The Modern Artists Company’s Platoʼs Symposium, Austin Pendletonʼs Booth with Frank Langella, Bart DeLorenzoʼs Hard Times at the Evidence Room and most recently Michael Sargentʼs Black Leather at the Unknown Theatre. He has also “just acted” in many projects, including roles in Catch Me If You Can, A Few Good Men, Vanilla Sky, Poseidon, The Forbidden Zone, The Grifters, The Practice, Judging Amy, Monk and Criminal Minds, as well as numerous equity waiver productions in L.A. He is married to actress Frances Conroy.
CHRISTINE SYRON (Claire) Christine Syron has spent a lifetime in the arts. First as a dancer with the Joffrey Ballet and then transitioning into acting. Ms. Syron performed in several off-Broadway shows and numerous print and television advertisements while in New York. Upon moving to Los Angeles she moved into television episodics and continued her work in stage productions. Christine is excited to be working with Rick,Russell and everybody in the cast!
PRODUCTION STAFF
Executive Producer: Dave Fofi
RICK PAGANO (Writer and Director) This is Rick’s 10th play to be produced in Los Angeles and his 8th collaboration with Elephant Stageworks. He is a partner at Pagano/Manwiller Casting in Los Angeles. He received a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.A. and M. Phil from Columbia University.
RUSSELL BOAST (Producer) Russell was born and raised in South Africa and relocated to Los Angeles in early 2004. In the 7 years that Russell has been in LA, he has swiftly found himself in demand by the Hollywood Theatre/Film and Television industry as a Casting Director and Producer. He has been involved in the staging of over 30 theatre productions and is highly sought after as a teacher and an “ally to artists and entertainers”. This is Russell’s fifth production with Rick Pagano, with whom he co-founded Rocket Propelled Ltd. He currently works as a Casting Director alongside Rick (X-Men/ Alien/ Hotel Rwanda), Debi Manwiller (24- The Series) and Aimee Musil for Pagano/ Manwiller Casting.
www.rocketpropelledltd.com
BOB CORFF (Dialect Coach) For decades Bob Corff has been the authority on voice technique in Los Angeles. Corff mastered his voice coaching techniques during a long-lived acting career. The actor/singer played lead roles in many acclaimed stage productions including: Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Claude in Hair, and Danny in Grease. Bob first started singing in a garage band named The Purple Gang, which eventually recorded with MGM records. Soon thereafter, he began singing on Broadway and eventually started acting. He appeared in over 100 episodes of network television. He was 12 years into his acting career when the actors strike hit in the 1980s. At that time he ventured into coaching and became one of the most sought-after teachers in Hollywood. Bob has since taught hundreds of A-list celebs. (see “official site” for complete list)
NATALYA ZERNITSKAYA (Stage Manager) Natalya Zernitskaya has been in love with theatre since she can remember. She was born in Belarus and grew up in the Bay Area. After graduating from U.C. Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Economics, she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in theatre. While at Santa Cruz, Natalya spent time stage managing productions and served as a production manager of the annual student-run theatre festival for two years. Most recently, she served as the substitute stage manager for 100 Saints You Should Know and worked on Hollywood Food Chain’s production of The Violet Hour.
ADAM HUNTER (Set Designer) Adam Haas Hunter: Adam received his BFA from California Institute of the Arts. Upon graduating he co-founded Poor Dog Group, an L.A. based arts collective. A few P.D.G. credits: Brewsie and Willie, The Internationalists, and The Midnight Sun. The company has had the ability to travel and perform in Scotland, Croatia, Serbia, and Poland. Adam has appeared in Medea (UCLA Live), Romeo j Julia 1968 (Mali Brijun, Croatia), Dark Play or Stories for Boys (Theater @ Boston Court), Sandstorm and Hamlet to name a few. Adam has designed sets for the Elephant Theater Company, Spy Ants, and numerous independent productions. He received the LA Weekly and LADCC award for featured performance in 2007 and 2010 LA Weekly award for lighting design.
MIMI KARSH (Dance instructor) Mimi Karsh has been teaching ballroom and latin dancing for 12 years. She has competed professionally all over the country, and performed all over the world. Mimi has showcased her dancing talents on shows such as Dancing With The Stars and The Emmy’s. She has taught dance to the actors on various movies and television shows including The Office, Mad Men, and Two and a Half Men. Mimi has her B.A. in Theater Arts from UCLA, and continues to work professionally as an actress and dancer.
Treat Yourself Life Cary Grant runs through September 18th at the Lilian Theatre in Hollywood California. For reservations and information, please call 323-960-7745
Actors Day in LA is a show on Actors Reporter, a channel on the Actors Podcast Network, a Pepper Jay Production.