Twelfth Night – Bios
Listings in alphabetical order by categoryCAST
Matthew Aughenbaugh (Malvolio) attended The Baltimore School for the Arts and studied theater at Boston University, The Boston Conservatory of Music and received his BFA from Emerson College where he studied with Kristin Linklater for two years. He has recently completed developing a solo piece celebrating the writings of Walt Whitman called Song of Myself. The play uses only original text to show how Leaves of Grass is a tribute not only to the immortality our greatest American poet achieved through his work but also how language can transcend time and how the human voice is irreplaceable in our search for human connection. Other roles include The M.C. in Cabaret, Robert Conklin in the Rimers of Eldritch, The Senator in Lysistrata, Russell Paxton in Lady in the Dark and Captain Hook in Peter Pan. He has also traveled to Tanzania where he helped build Peace House Academy, a school for children orphaned due to the AIDS pandemic in the region, and taught English in Bangkok for two years.
Craig Bacon (Executive Director, Artistic Director, President) is a director, actor, and voice teacher designated by Kristin Linklater in 1998 to teach her technique “Freeing the Natural Voice”. He has taught at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University since 2011 and other faculty appointments include SUNY Purchase, Columbia University, Fordham University, NYU (Atlantic Theater Company), National Theater Institute (US and UK), The Actors Centre (London), The Linklater Center, and Shakespeare & Co. (Lenox, MA). Some of Craig’s directing work includes The Mercury Theatre in England (Macbeth, The Tempest, The Crucible); SUNY Purchase (The Winter’s Tale, By the Bog of Cats, and LAByrinth Theater Company’s One-Acts co-directed with Richard Crawford). He is founder and artistic director of New Place Players where he directed Twelfth Night and co-directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream with James Ortiz. Some of Craig’s extensive acting work includes Prospero in The Tempest (New Place Players); Henry IV, Pt. 1; Much Ado About Nothing; Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare & Co.); Cymbeline; The Rover; Twelfth Night (Lincoln Center Inst.); One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf; A Christmas Carol (American Drama Group, Europe); Kenneth Lonergan’s Borderlines; Off-Shore Wind w/William Hickey, and Sunday’s Child w/Celeste Holm (HB Playwrights). Craig trained extensively with Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof, Tina Packer, and of course his mentor, the master teacher Kristin Linklater.
Heather Boaz (Olivia/Costume Design) moved to New York from the Midwest at the age of 18 to study opera for six years. She has trained at the Manhattan School of Music and the Stella Adler Studios. Heather has performed and studied in Italy, France, and Austria. Favorite opera credits include Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, and Summer and Smoke. Most recently, she has been seen in the New York premiere of the stage-noir Whodunnit, On the Rocks, and the summer-parody film, Wildlife (projected release Summer 2014). Currently she is pursuing a career in film and on the stage. Heather is thrilled to be a member of the New Place Players.
Matthew Cohn (Orsino) graduated from Dartmouth College in 2008, with a degree in Philosophy and Theater. Upon graduation, he returned to his native New York to pursue a career in acting. Recent New York credits include:The Reluctant Lesbian (New York International Fringe Festival); The Country Wife (Chernuchin theater); Henry V (Kill Mike, Use…); King Lear (National Black Theater of Harlem); Ms. Bovary (Augmented Seventh Theater Program); The Weird (Wake Up Marconi! Productions); Aliens Exist (Manhattan Repertory Theater). Regional: The Importance of Being Earnest (Northern Stage); Measure for Measure (Elm Shakespeare Company); Rhinoceros (The Mighty Theater); Picasso at the Lapin Agile, I Hate Hamlet, Almost, Maine, and the world premier of A Legendary Romance, among many others (New London Barn Playhouse). He is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Vox Theater.
Flavio Gaete (Peter, Mercutio, Friar Lawrence, Balthazar; Music Director) has worked as a musician, sound designer, actor, arts administrator and teacher for the last 20+ years. He has collaborated with a wide variety of ensembles in music, theater, film, and dance. Some of his latest collaborations have been with film composer Renaud Barbier for his latest film soundtrack, Petit Pays, filmmaker Rodrigo Monterrey, and the Orquesta de Cámara de Chile. Flavio has taught at the Rudolf Steiner School, the Institute of Audio Research, and has been a guest lecturer at Sciences Po Paris-Reims, NY University and Dubspot in NYC. Flavio has also played with various orchestras and ensembles, including the Orquesta de Cámara de Chile, Distinguished Concerts International NY, The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the Manhattan Camerata, Nikolett Pankovits and various others, having performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, among others.
Charlotte Mundy (Musician) is a vocalist with exceptional stylistic range, known to produce “strikingly clear tones” (Oberon’s Grove) and “tart and gangly lines, well sung” (New York Times). Most recently she appeared in the Salt Bay Chamberfest performing a work for two sopranos and percussion by Swedish composer Karin Rehnqvist, and with New Chamber Ballet singing Morton Feldman’s Voice, Violin and Piano while simultaneously dancing a duet with ballerina Amber Neff. Other recent projects included singing in Cynthia Hopkins’ This Clement World at St. Ann’s Warehouse, in Howard Fishman’s The Mysterious Case of Connie Converse at Joe’s Pub, in the Qubit Nonference, and with ensembles such as The Yehudim, Roomful of Teeth, Ensemble sans maître, Contemporaneous, and TAK. She is one half of an electro-pop band called The Euphemisms with Rich Woodson. Mundy holds a Masters degree in Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Lucy Shelton.
Olivia Osol (Maria) I have loved the theatre ever since I was a little kid playing dress up and pretend sword fighting with my brother in the woods. My passions led me to SUNY Purchase where I received my BFA in acting. After college I continued to study acting, voice, movement, and improv while living in New York and becoming an Equity actor. My interests in Shakespeare and voice work led me to the FSU Asolo Conservatory where I received my MFA in acting . I currently reside in Minneapolis where I am enjoying being part of the diverse and talented artistic community.
Nikolett Pankovits (Musician) New York based Hungarian jazz vocalist Nikolett Pankovits has forged a singular body of world music with her band, melding the traditional Hungarian songs and standards of her youth with a luscious array of Latin American rhythmic styles into a cohesive and compelling group sound.
With emphasis on communicating the universal themes of her musical roots, she created ‘Sad But True’ which has struck a balance between music and spoken word. The performance culminates with the ensemble in harmony with actor Adam Boncz's recitation of a collection of Hungarian poems in English. They have toured in Europe and performed to sold-out audiences in New York at iconic venues such as the Blue Note, Joe’s Pub and Lincoln Center.
Working closely with longtime collaborator Juancho Herrera, a string wizard and arranger from Colombia, she performed at Carnegie Hall with a barrier-breaking 18-piece ensemble showcasing Hungarian folk music with South American rhythms and jazz arrangements.
Her record 'River' produced by Herrera infuses the haunting traditional songs of Hungary with the improvisational imperative of jazz and buoyant grooves of Latin America. The album features a female octet, The River Voices that Pankovits assembled inviting some of the East Coast’s finest Hungarian singers.
Pankovits has initiated a new project called ‘Colors’ that is planned to eventually grow into an album that showcases the beauty of diversity in her life.
In the latest single 'White Night', Pankovits weaves together the timeless words of legendary Russian poet Anna Akhmatova with her own lyrics. The music video, inspired by Akhmatova's life and poetry, offers a unique glimpse into the poet's world.
Adam Patterson (Sir Andrew Aguecheek) Hailing from North Carolina, Adam fell into theater at an early age. He began studying at performing arts magnet schools, and later pursued his theatrical interests in the many community and professional theaters of the culturally rich Raleigh-Durham area. At the age of eighteen, he followed a childhood friend to Boston, MA to continue his studies at Emerson College, where he obtained a BFA in Acting. Since graduating, Adam has had many opportunities to work regionally and continue his studies at such institutions as Massachusetts’ Shakespeare & Company and New York City’s Linklater Center. He currently resides in Manhattan with his husband and a tiny cat named Rock Hudson. Favorite credits include Island (New York Shakespeare Exchange), To Kill a Mockingbird (Burning Coal theater), Elephants and Gold (Berkshire Fringe), Titus Andronicus (Bare theater), Hamlet, and As You Like It (Plimoth Players).
Lauren Shannon (Viola) Lauren wears many hats, and tonight, a hairpiece! Past performances with The New Place Players include Viola in Twelfth Night. She is honored to portray a spirit of the fairy realm and grateful for the chance to play once again with the New Place crew. Next you can find Lauren participating with Fixed Agency in Private(i) as part of the 2014 Brooklyn Beat Festival. Many thanks to James and Molly for the bitchin' costumes, and to Craig for the tools to speak and be heard.
Emilio Tirado (Sir Toby Belch) Emilio Paul Tirado stumbled his way through a BFA from SUNY Purchase for Acting. His meteoric, wunderkin-like rise in a mere two years out of the program to fame, fortune, fast cars, and loose women was followed by a subsequent train wreck over the last two years pock marked by a failed career in bath salt sales and a brief stint playing Chuck Norris’ beard. And now he’a ready to black out and take over your living room!
John Wall (Captain/Priest/Officer) John Wahl is an Eagle Scout and a graduate of the University of Maryland where he has appeared in Everything in the Garden; The Coronation of the Walrus King; The Seagull; Am I Black Enough, Yet?; and American, African. Outside of the University, John has appeared at the Kennedy Center’s theater Lab in a Broadway cabaret for The Millennium Stage Presents series, as well as performing in a master class with Barbara Cook for the Kennedy Center’s donors. He also appeared as Mark Twain in the devised theatrical work The Measure of our Lives at the National Portrait Gallery, worked with the Pallas theater Collective on the Criss-Cross Cabaret and The Comedy of Mirrors at the Capital Fringe Festival, reprised his role in American, African at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and made his New York debut at the Gene Frankel theater in I Do Wonder. He is humbled to be working with such peerless performers and artists.
CREATIVE TEAM
Craig Bacon (Executive Director, Artistic Director, President) is a director, actor, and voice teacher designated by Kristin Linklater in 1998 to teach her technique “Freeing the Natural Voice”. He has taught at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University since 2011 and other faculty appointments include SUNY Purchase, Columbia University, Fordham University, NYU (Atlantic Theater Company), National Theater Institute (US and UK), The Actors Centre (London), The Linklater Center, and Shakespeare & Co. (Lenox, MA). Some of Craig’s directing work includes The Mercury Theatre in England (Macbeth, The Tempest, The Crucible); SUNY Purchase (The Winter’s Tale, By the Bog of Cats, and LAByrinth Theater Company’s One-Acts co-directed with Richard Crawford). He is founder and artistic director of New Place Players where he directed Twelfth Night and co-directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream with James Ortiz. Some of Craig’s extensive acting work includes Prospero in The Tempest (New Place Players); Henry IV, Pt. 1; Much Ado About Nothing; Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare & Co.); Cymbeline; The Rover; Twelfth Night (Lincoln Center Inst.); One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf; A Christmas Carol (American Drama Group, Europe); Kenneth Lonergan’s Borderlines; Off-Shore Wind w/William Hickey, and Sunday’s Child w/Celeste Holm (HB Playwrights). Craig trained extensively with Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof, Tina Packer, and of course his mentor, the master teacher Kristin Linklater.
Heather Boaz (Olivia/Costume Design) moved to New York from the Midwest at the age of 18 to study opera for six years. She has trained at the Manhattan School of Music and the Stella Adler Studios. Heather has performed and studied in Italy, France, and Austria. Favorite opera credits include Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, and Summer and Smoke. Most recently, she has been seen in the New York premiere of the stage-noir Whodunnit, On the Rocks, and the summer-parody film, Wildlife (projected release Summer 2014). Currently she is pursuing a career in film and on the stage. Heather is thrilled to be a member of the New Place Players.
Flavio Gaete (Music Director, Managing Director) has worked as a musician, sound designer, actor, arts administrator and teacher for the last 20+ years. He has collaborated with a wide variety of ensembles in music, theater, film, and dance. Some of his latest collaborations have been with film composer Renaud Barbier for his latest film soundtrack, Petit Pays, filmmaker Rodrigo Monterrey, and the Orquesta de Cámara de Chile. Flavio has taught at the Rudolf Steiner School, the Institute of Audio Research, and has been a guest lecturer at Sciences Po Paris-Reims, NY University and Dubspot in NYC. Flavio has also played with various orchestras and ensembles, including the Orquesta de Cámara de Chile, Distinguished Concerts International NY, The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the Manhattan Camerata, Nikolett Pankovits and various others, having performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, among others.
Julian Gastelo (Filmmaker) Public affairs, social research, and communication. his company Etnografic produces: research, analysis and content, dealing with social, economic, cultural and political issues, at a local or global level, with the purpose of informing, advocating and creating. Since 2003: Paris > New York > Santiago > Brussels.
His film work includes documentary film, ethnographic film, photography, photo-voice, visual anthropology, visual sociology, visual ethnography, digital ethnography, visual research, video installation, photo & video exhibition, participatory video action research, audio-visual public opinion & market research.
Clients: Unesco, Ministère de l’Education Nationale, Ministerio de las Culturas y las Artes, Ministère de l'Agriculture, Amnesty International, Public Agenda Foundation, Fundación América Solidaria, Fondation SNCF, Fondation l'Arc, L’Adapt, Agence de la Biomédecine, La Mutualité Française, Lilly, AbbVie, Virbac, Reckitt Nenckiser, Microsoft, Yahoo, Ubisoft, Orange, SFR, Canal+, Fnac, Fiat, Valéo, Keolis, SNCF, Aéroports de Paris, Accor, JCDecaux, L’Oréal, Franck Provost, Richemont Group, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chanel, BIC, Française des Jeux, Leclerc, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Monoprix, Leclerc, Ipsos, Harris Interactive, Sipa Press, Kunsthalle Basel, Corporacion Cultural Las Condes, Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, etc.
Aaron McDaniel (Fight Director, Actor) Previous shows with New Place Players: Othello, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest. Other credits include: The Woodsman (New World Stages). Enchanted April, The Bungler, Tartuffe, Charlie’s Aunt, & Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare Theater of NJ). Macbeth, Cyrano De Bergerac, & Taming of the Shrew (Aquila Theater). TV: A Crime to Remember, The Food That Built America. Fight Direction: The Woodsman (New World Stages), Family (Signature). Asst Fight Direction: Newsies! (Paper Mill Playhouse), Aladdin (New Amsterdam).
Abigail E. Strange (Production Stage Manager) Select Off-Broadway: Cagney (York Theatre, Assistant Director/SDC Observer), Clinton The Musical (New World Stages, Assistant Director), Tail! Spin! (Assistant Director/Sub-ASM), Ethel Sings (Theatre Row, PSM), Here Lies Love (Public Theatre, PA), Murder for Two(New World Stages, PA), A Streetcar Named Desire(Carnegie Hall, PA) Select NYC: The Calico Buffalo(NYMF’15, PSM), Somewhere in Time (Lab, Assistant Director), Twelfth Night (New Place Players, PSM/Assistant Director), The Last Goodbye (Lab, PA), Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Review: The Brontes (NYMF’13, PSM), Requiem for a Lost Girl(NYMF '12, PSM/AD), Blanche: The Bittersweet Life of a Wild Prairie Dame (NYMF’11, Capital Fringe'12, FringeNYC'12, PSM/AD). Proud member of AEA & SDC Associate.