Romeo & Juliet

Featuring:

Sophie Balaban (Juliet)

Sophie Balaban (they/her) is an actor, screenwriter, and novelist. They hold a BFA in Acting from  Syracuse University and received the Josephine Abady Award for Directing in 2016. She has been a participating writer in multiple studio film and television projects, and has her debut novel upcoming from DAW Books in 2024. While Sophie is based out of Providence, RI, they’re more likely to be found somewhere on the road with their copilot/pitbull.

Graham Silbert (Nurse)

Graham (he/they), a theatrical jack-of-all trades, spent nearly 2 decades with Santa Monica Playhouse where he played everything from The Queen of Hearts to The Beast (of Beauty and the Beast fame). He was even lauded by BroadwayWorld.com for his "Impressive pantomime skills" for his performance in "Love in Bloom." As a performer, educator, and costumer, Graham’s work has been highlighted in numerous theatres on three Continents. He has worked  with Playbox Theatre in Warwick and participated in a three city tour of Japan with The Model Language Studio where he helped teach English through the art of theatre. Everything in extremity, Thusly, it ends.

Adargiza De Los Santos (Lady Capulet)

Adargiza De Los Santos is an Afro-Latina of Dominican descent, from Brooklyn, NY. Artist, Activist, Entrepreneur, Actor, Filmmaker, Director, Advocate. While she hones her skills as a filmmaker, you can catch her recurring on this season of The Horror of Dolores Roach and Abbott Elementary. Also catch her on Grey's Anatomy, I Love That For You, This Is Us, Better Things, Shameless, Bosch, Castle, Criminal Minds, Animal Kingdom, Phil Spector, and many more. She serves on the board of Open Door Shakespeare Company. She feels honored to be asked back to reprise her role as Lady Capulet in this re-imagining of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.

Ari Agbabian (Lord Capulet)

Ari is thrilled to be back with The Combined Forces and playing in Romeo and Juliet.  An ardent performer of Shakespeare all over Los Angeles County, Ari is also a researcher of trivia questions on game shows, which Mary Ann finds endlessly fascinating.

Jess Woodworth (Tybalt)

A thespian through and through, Jess Woodworth (she/her) has been attached to the stage for her entire life. From East Coast to West, she has returned to theatre like it’s home and nowhere has this been more true than in this reprisal of Romeo & Juliet.

This production means a great deal to her and she thanks you immensely for being here to experience the magic of queer Shakespeare.

When she’s not prowling around on stage you can find her at home in the company of her dogs, usually writing, with a cup of coffee in hand. If you’re interested in keeping up with her future endeavors (or seeing pictures of said dogs) you can follow her @CheshireTheory on Instagram.

Ammy Ontiveros (Sampson/Servant/1st Watch)

Ammy Ontiveros is a multi-hyphanate artist (performer, writer, visual artist, and storyteller). You may have seen her on iCarly (the 2022 revival, Paramount), The Neighborhood (CBS), or a couple of silly commercials. In her free time she likes to walk her dog and encourage people to move their body through spin, or group fitness classes. She is excited to be part of the second year of this timeless piece with awesome people. If you don't like fries, don't sit in the splash zone. @ammyavocado // basicavocado.xyz

Mary Ann Pianka (Romeo)

A lifelong fangirl of the Bard, Mary Ann Pianka (she/her) hails from Lancaster, Pennsylvania with a BFA in Acting from Syracuse University. 

An eventful decade in LA has brought her full circle back home to theatre. Her production company The Combined Forces, Llc specializes in telling stories by women, about women, for everyone. She’s honored by your presence at tonight’s show.

Her unsuccessful slew of self tapes having been righteously interrupted by the strikes, it’s unclear where you can see her next. Probably doing more guerilla theater to thwart capitalism’s effort to steal our joy.

In her spare time she endeavors to keep her house plants alive. They’re not about it.

thecombinedforces.com #SAGSTRONG

Abby A-O (Benvolio)

Abby A-O studied Shakespeare at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama because it seemed posh and that. Also: the fairies!!!

Originally from Baltimore, she now lives in Ocean Park with her two rescue doggies and serves you coffee every morning at Starby’s. You know, the barista girl who’s always wearing glitter at 5am? And PS, yes, I put it on at 4:30 this morning, thank you, Brenda.

Abby loves character and physical comedy, stand up, house, liquid dnb, janky-beach style and Disney-cessories. You may have seen her in a commercial, a true crime series, or out the back of Gold’s Gym dancing on the pavement.

Karan Lyons (Mercutio)

Karan was supposed to foster two kittens and now has two cats. He also has a theatre degree from USC, where he took every Shakespeare class he could find and developed strong opinions on the Sonnets. He has won and lost LA cliche bingo (Meisner, Second City, writing, standup, saying "for me, it's really about the work" unironically), and is thrilled to be slinging some iambs once again.

Nicko Libowitz (Abram/Friar John)

Nicko Libowitz is, it would appear, also in this play. No one is more surprised than him.

Joseph Perez (Lord Montague)

Though he didn't get his start in theatre, you can't keep Joseph off the stage. After spending several seasons with Santa Monica Playhouse as a member of their Actors Repertory Theatre, Joseph is excited to breathe new life into this beloved Shakespearean classic. Past credits include Author! Author! An evening with Sholom Aleichem, Prince Asgood in Cinderella, and every character in Alice and the Wonderful Tea Party (except for the titular role—but there’s still time…)  In addition to his love of theatre, Joseph is also a linguist, art history buff, and religious studies major. Exeunt stage right.

Reed Kneski (Lady Montague/2nd Watch)

Reed Kneski (he/him) enjoyed making prop weaponry for the production so much he was thrilled to join the cast to see them used up close and personal. He is always happy to support endeavors of creativity that his IT day job doesn’t provide enough of. He loves dancing, his dogs, and making people smile.

Sam Miyamoto (Balthazar)

Sam Miyamoto (she/her) is a Southern California native and Shakespeare enthusiast who believes theater is a core endeavor of the human experience. She is stoked to be back at Idle Hour with this talented cast and with you for a journey into a timeless story of love. Thank you for coming *hearteyes emojis forever* <3
Aside from acting, Sam works on the clean energy and climate transition. www.smiyamoto.com

Lisa Coombs (Friar Lawrence)

Lisa Coombs (she/her) is thrilled to be reprising her role as Friar Lawrence in our modern presentation of this time-tested tearjerker. 

A life-long thespian, Lisa was born, raised, and BFA'd in her hometown of Syracuse NY, then immediately moved to Los Angeles and escaped the snow forever.

Lisa is also an avid standup comic, though she mostly finds herself telling dad jokes on demand whenever she's "in loco parentis." (That's Latin for something.)

Y'all can catch Lisa in full Twi'lek mode on the upcoming web series Designing Empires, a very nerdy parody of some well-known franchise. www.designingempires.com

Mak Manson (Paris/ Gregory)

Classically trained, Mak (he/him) has played parts in everything from Shakespeare to short films and TV. His love of Shakespeare is lifelong, and outside of playing his dream role of Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing in college, he has seen all of the Bard's plays at least once. He is thrilled to be a part of this incredible production, and looks forward to many more opportunities to bring new portrayals to Shakespeare's well-known characters.

Alice Dranger (Prologue/ Prince/ Apothecary)

Alice Dranger (they/them) is an actor, writer, and director, here in Los Angeles, California.  Having moved here after graduating from NYU:TISCH, they found themselves writing and acting on the internet. They’ve been a series regular in several web series (check out their imdb).

They have acted in several Shakespearian plays in New York City, including Measure for Measure. They are also the Artistic Director of Open Door Shakespeare, a theater company dedicated to producing Classic Works with a modern sensibility and as Queer as possible. You can find them on instagram @OpenDoorShakespeare and Alice @6impossiblethingsb4breakfast  The End, *bows*