Team

SAMUEL WARREN JOSEPH
Playwright

Sam grew up in Morristown, New Jersey. After transferring from Oberlin College, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Film. He has two Masters Degrees, one in Creative Writing and one in English. He teaches college English, screenwriting and creative writing. His credits include two produced feature films, Off Your Rocker and Window of Opportunity, which was produced by John Densmore of The Doors. Sam has written animation episodes for such shows as Duck Tales, Dennis the Menace, Batman, and Beast Wars. His credits as a playwright include productions of two musicals, Campaign and Psychosexual: A Love Story as well as the plays, Two Times Two, Moral Imperative, and God Help Us!, which he co-wrote with Phil Proctor (of Firesign Theatre). It toured the United States starring the late Ed Asner. Also with Phil, Sam has co-authored, The Magic Maze Trilogy… fantasy adventure books for kids. Sam also co-wrote Ed’s autobiography, Son of a Junkman. Sam has been a member of the Actors’ Studio Playwrights’ Unit for 20 years.

MITCH LEVINE
Director

Mitch Levine (Director) is a film and stage director and actor and has worked in theatres throughout Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. He led the Directors Unit of the renowned Actors Studio, was a Juilliard Fellow and the first James Cameron Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute. He collaborated with Peter Gabriel and Moses Pendleton on the creation of PASSION in London, served as Artistic Supervisor for the world tour of the Robert Wilson/Philip Glass opera, EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH, designed the world premiere of PAURA DI VOLARE at La Scala in Milan, collaborated on the worldwide broadcasts of Festa a Corte in Montova, with the Bolshoi Ballet at Delphi’s ancient Olympic Stadium and worked with Tony Kushner, Naomi Goldberg and the Klezmatics on THE GOLLUM in Los Angeles. Recently, he directed the acclaimed runs of Cindy Marinangel’s DIETRICH and Lisa Robins’ COMMITTED? at Rogue Machine and the Beverly Hills Playhouse, as well as the multi-year tour of the Samuel Warren Joseph and Phil Proctor’s political comedy, GOD HELP US!, starring the late, great Ed Asner. Off Broadway, he directed SORRY! at Circle Rep, AMORPHOUS GEORGE at MCC, TERROR AMERICA and A PUBLIC SERVICE at the Ohio Theatre, and the revival of Lyle Kessler’s ORPHANS. Mitch directed A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM for Pacific Resident Theatre, Jean Anouilh’s ANTIGONE for the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Donald Marguiles’ ZIMMER at Theatre 40 and Arthur Kopit’s WINGS, which was much-honored in Los Angeles. His film, SHADOWS, a story of love and loss during the Holocaust, won awards around the globe. Other films include the drama IN CONFIDENCE (Cannes 2015) as well as the documentaries HUNGRY IS THE TIGER and MORPHING GRAVITY. He wrote and directed the University of Virginia’s epic Bicentennial Celebration for an audience of 23,000 and for many years was Production Director of MOMIX Dance Theatre. Mitch was the producer and host of AFI’s GREAT FILMMAKERS series, is the founder of The Film Festival Group and once served as a Special Representative to the United Nations.
 
 

RAY ABRUZZO
Jean-Paul Sartre

Ray Abruzzo starred in The Mystery of Love & Sex at Seattle’s ACT Theatre, Dinner with the Boys at the Acorn Theatre on Theatre Row, The Guys at the Malibu Playhouse, and played the title role of Lombardi at Florida’s Mosaic Theatre. Additional theater credits include Mauritius at Pasadena Playhouse, Louis LaRusso II’s Vespers Eve and Stooplife, the world premiere of John Patrick Shanley’s Italian American Reconciliation, Robert Dubac’s one-man show The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron in Chicago and Boston, and 10 years with L.A.’s Playwrights’ Kitchen Ensemble as a director/actor. Television guest star: NYPD Blue, various Law & Orders, NCIS, House, Criminal Minds, Ray Donovan, and dozens more. He was a series regular or recurring on L.A. Law, Dynasty, Night Court, Doogie Howser M.D., The Practice, Boston Legal, Mad Men, most notably as Little Carmine on The Sopranos and as “trans-amorous” Sal on Transparent. Ray was Allison Janney’s husband in the film Bad Education. In 2023, Ray was nominated for LA Drama Critics Circle Award for lead  performance as Eddie in A View from The Bridge at Ruskin Group Theatre.

SÍLE BERMINGHAM
Simone de Beauvoir

An actress known for her ability to disappear into her roles. Síle starred opposite screen legend Charlotte Rampling and American icon Willie Nelson in indie film Waiting for the Miracle to Come produced by Wim Wenders and Bono. Other films include A Kiss and a Promise, 2:22  with Val Kilmer & Gabriel Byrne and the Lionsgate award winning hit Played. Síle has performed on stages from Dublin to NY & LA in a variety of productions including If I Forget, The Ruffian on the Stair. Good Bobby (NY & LA) Doubt, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Loot, The Trial,  The Hostage, Dracula, A Touch of the Poet, Remembrance, Hitler’s Head, etc.. A lover of stories and the spoken word, Síle has narrated several audio books for authors – Maeve Binchy, Mark Tomkins, Siobhan Dowd, Andrea Cremer, Joanne Harris, Marian Keyes, Cecelia Ahern and many others. Síle recently wrapped on the The Big Fix – an audio drama podcast series starring Jon Hamm, Omar Epps and Ana De La Reguera. Síle resides in Los Angeles and is repped by Sovereign Talent Group. 

MAYA ESHET
Rachel

Maya Eshet is an Israeli actress known for playing Meredith Walker (the banshee) in MTV’s Teen Wolf, as well as roles in Nightflyers, To the Bone, and Fear the Walking Dead, with a career starting in voice acting and Israeli films before moving to American productions, training at the Stella Adler Studio, and marrying fellow actor Konstantin Melikhov. 

BILL RATNER
Colonel Badeau and Narrator

Bill Ratner is best known as the voice of Flint in Hasbro’s syndicated TV cartoon G.I. Joe. His voice was used in numerous movie trailers, including Inside Out, Will Ferrell’s Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory, Kung Fu Panda, Mike Myers’s The Love Guru, Monsters vs. Aliens, and many more. He narrates documentaries on Discovery Channel, A&E, The Weather Channel, History, and others. His voice is on Kings Quest, Grand Theft Auto IV, Mass Effect, and others, and he is the narrator in episodes of Ben 10 for the Cartoon Network. Ratner is also a voice-over announcer for television stations across the US. His book, Parenting for the Digital Age: The Truth behind Media’s Effect on Children and What To Do About It, winner of the National Indie Excellence Award and a Next Generation Indie Book Award. Ratner’s performances of his personal essays are featured on KCRW’s Strangers and National Public Radio’s The Business and Good Food. He tours nationally for storytelling conferences and festivals and is a regular competitor in The Moth Story Slams in Los Angeles, is a nine-time Moth StorySLAM Winner, a National Storytelling Festival Story Slam teller-Jonesborough TN, a National Storytelling Network storyteller.

MATTHEW HERRMANN
Producer

Matthew Herrmann is a proud member of Actors Equity Association, SAG/AFTRA and has been actively involved in the entertainment world for the majority of his life. He hails from southern Indiana, which explains his height. He recently produced Joe Keane’s hit Lady GAGA/Grey Gardens parody GAGA GARDENS in Los Angeles and San Francisco as well as the highly successful Little House on the Prairie musical spoof Prairie-oke! Before that, he was one half of the conjoined twin punk group Tom and Barry; which was inspired by the Brian Aldiss book and Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe film Brothers of the Head. Other producing credits include the JFK musical JACK with the York Theatre Company, NINE and Sweeney Todd with Princeton University. Matthew has also directed over 35 productions for the beloved French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts as well as directing locally with the youth theater program Acting Up. On stage he has appeared in over 100 productions including original casts of the underground hits Are You There God? It’s Me, Karen Carpenter and I Totally Know What You Did Last Donna Summer. A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, his work has been seen in 5 museums and several galleries. Matthew is also the founder of the concert series Soda Pop Revisited which strives to provide a platform for local artists to share the stage with nationally and internationally known acts while building community pride. Matthew currently resides in the heart of Hollywood with his rescued french bulldog, Reggie and is represented by RSA entertainment.

BETH HOGAN
Producer

Beth is the associate artistic director of the Odyssey, and also functions as a producer on many Odyssey shows, including In Circles, Hir, Kiss, The Hairy Ape, Passion Play, Annapurna, Margo Veil, Awake and Sing!, Anna Christie and Irish actor Pat Kinevane’s solo work. Together with Barbara Mueller-Wittmann, she produces the Odyssey’s dance festival now in its fifth year. Beth is a founding member of the Odyssey’s in-house process-oriented resident acting ensemble, KOAN, developing original work over a four-to-eight-month process, and was last seen in Old Clown Wanted.