Love Kills

JOHN HICKOK (Merle Karnopp) has starred in the Broadway productions of Little Women, Aida, Parade, and Our Country's Good, as well as in productions at the Irish Repertory Theatre, York Theatre, and more.

Deirdre O'Connell's close to fifty theatre credits include the New
York Shakespeare Festival's production of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (directed by JoAnne Akalaitis); numerous productions at the Los Angeles Theatre Center including Stars in the Morning Sky (Dramalogue Award and Los Angeles Critics Award), Three Ways Home, The Geography of Luck, Etta Jenks (Dramalogue Award); Agnes of God (with Sandy Dennis and Geraldine Page) at Westport and Cape Playhouse; The Tempest (directed by Robert Woodruff) at La Jolla Playhouse, Fool for Love at Trinity Repertory Company (directed by David Wheeler); A Lie of the Mind at Promenade Theatre (directed by Sam Shepard); Mud at the Signature Theatre; In the Blood at the New York Shakespeare Festival; and The Front Page at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center (directed by Jerry Zaks). She has appeared on television in the series “The Practice,” "Second Noah," “L.A. Doctors,” “Law and
Order,” “Chicago Hope,” “Sirens,” “Kate and Allie,” “Kansas,” and the HBO film From the Earth to the Moon, among others. Her film credits include Hearts in Atlantis, City of Angels, Smoke, Fearless, Leaving Normal, State of Grace, Tin Men, and Anna.

Marisa Rhodes was one of the top 13 females on American Idol in 2006. In addition, she performed as a singer opening for Taylor Swift and Kat McPhee and has acted in numerous regional productions in Pennsylvania and California. This is her NYC stage debut. She hails from Bethlehem, PA.

New York debut. His regional credits include: Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Ritchie Valens) with the Worcester Foothills Theatre Company, and Where has Tommy Flowers Gone? with the Berkshire Theatre Festival where he was also featured as a singer in a gala honoring Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson. Before this production, Eli was also involved in the workshop of Love Kills in the same role with Boston Theatre Works. He graduated with a B.A. in Theater Arts with departmental honors from Brandeis University.

Kyle Jarrow is a Brooklyn-based writer and musician. He won an OBIE Award at age 24 for his Off-Broadway hit "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant", which also had a successful run in Los Angeles in fall 2004 and returned to NYC (as well as productions in Boston, and Atlanta) in winter 2006. Kyle's follow-up play "Armless" won the Overall Excellence Award at the New York International Fringe Festival, and productions of his plays "President Harding is a Rock Star" and "Gorilla Man" (now available from Samuel French) played in NYC to critical acclaim. Kyle's playwriting work has been presented at Performance Space 122, The John Houseman Theatre, NYTW, Boston Theatre Works, New Dramatists, The Flea, The Hangar Theatre, and Dad's Garage in Atlanta among others.

Kyle was a 2005-2006 Dramatists Guild Fellow. He was nominated for a 2004 Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Award and a 2004 Backstage West Garland Award for "…Scientology Pageant," and was runner-up for the 2002 Princess Grace Playwriting Award for his play "Hypochondria." Kyle has guest-lectured at Juilliard and Pratt and he produced the cast album of "…Scientology Pageant," which was released on Sh-K-Boom Records.

Kyle also plays in the glam rock band The Fabulous Entourage, which has appeared as part of the 2006 Whitney Biennial, on the Knitting Factory Mainstage, at Joe’s Pub, Viper Room, Bowery Ballroom, and with bands such as Hot Chip and We Are Scientists. Kyle also writes for film and television, having developed shows for ABC, Touchstone Studios, and Deline Pictures among others.

For more information about Kyle, log on to his website at http://www.landoftrust.com

Jason Southerland is the Artistic Director of Boston Theatre Works (BTW), where he has produced nine seasons and has directed a dozen shows including the New England premieres of …Scientology Pageant, Pulp, Homebody/Kabul, Not About Nightingales (Elliot Norton Award winner) and The Laramie Project (Elliot Norton Award winner). He also directed the regional premiere of the 2004 Tony Award winner I Am My Own Wife with American Repertory Theatre Company Actor Thomas Derrah. Under his leadership, BTW has produced five world premiere productions (including Meshugah by Emily Mann) and over a dozen regional premieres, many prior to their New York engagements (including the 2002 production of Bug by Tracey Letts and the 2006 production of The Sweetest Swing in Baseball by Rebecca Gilman). He has commissioned four new plays at BTW including Love Kills, which he and BTW dramaturg Bridget Frey have been working with Kyle Jarrow on for over a year. Other Boston area directing credits include the American premiere of Midnight Sun (Gloucester Stage Company) the New England premieres of Party (ICA) and Anyone Can Whistle (The Boston Conservatory), Hedda Gabler and Six Degrees of Separation (A.R.T.), Proof (Gloucester Stage), Buddy and A Streetcar Named Desire (Foothills Theatre) and Guys on Ice (Stoneham Theatre).

Mr. Southerland studied directing at the American Repertory Theatre, working with Ron Daniels, Bob Scanlan, and Robert Brustein. Prior to that, he directed around New York City, including BACA Downtown, Circle Rep Laboratory, Alice's Fourth Floor, and the Sanford Meisner Theatre. Notable productions include Woman in the Second Floor Window, Have You Tried the Dip, Cute Boys in Their Underpants, Under the Skin and Conversation Pieces.

As assistant director, Mr. Southerland has worked at the Mark Taper Forum, the Old Globe Theatre, and Playwrights Horizons and the Women's Project in New York. He served as assistant to Julianne Boyd on a number of projects, including working with her for a year as she developed A... My Name is Still Alice. He worked with Jerry Zaks on the world premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins and as apprentice to Hal Prince on the Toronto and Broadway revival of Show Boat. He has a BA with honors in Political Science from UC Berkeley. Mr. Southerland was chosen by Boston Magazine as one of the "40 Bostonians to Watch."

Bridget Frey (Dramaturg/Associate Producer) has been the Literary Manager and Resident Dramaturg of Boston Theatre Works since 2002. With BTW, she was production dramaturg on nine shows including Our Town, Antony and Cleopatra, Homebody/Kabul, Pulp and A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant. Additional dramaturgy credits include The Maids, directed by Kathryn Walsh, and The Cherry Orchard at the Boston Conservatory, directed by Jason Slavick. For the past four years, she has co-produced BTW Unbound, the annual new play festival. In that time she helped discover and present new works from notable writers including Masha Obolensky, Steven Drukman, Steven Bogart, Kathryn Walat and Kyle Jarrow. She also produced the Boston premiere of Kyle Jarrow’s Gorilla Man at BTW, and was Associate Producer on Othello, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball and …Scientology Pageant. Her work in new play development includes tenures at Trinity Repertory Company, American Stage Festival and the American Repertory Theatre. She is a member is the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, and was the recipient of the LMDA Residency Grant for her work on Homebody/Kabul.

Is thrilled to be working with Jason Southerland and Kyle Jarrow again. At Boston Theatre Works his previous designs include A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, I Am My Own Wife, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball and Gorilla Man. A graduate of The University Of Connecticut, Nathan has designed sound and composed scores for countless productions across the Northeast including Mother Courage and Julius Caesar at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre; Talking to Terrorists and Women on the Verge of HRT for Sugan Theatre; The Snow Hen for The Debate Society in NYC; The Full Monty for Foothills Theatre Company; Johnny Got His Gun, Red Light Winter, and On An Average Day for WHAT; and the recent Amadeus for The Berkshire Theatre Festival. In 2005, Nathan was the first sound designer and composer to be invited to the USITT Young Designer's Forum.

Jaimie Mayer is a director/producer currently pursuing her MFA in Theatre- Producing from Columbia University's School of The Arts. Theatre producing credits include: New Voices Playwrights Showcase (DR2), Broadway Idol (New World Stages/NYMF), It's a Hit! (Village Theatre/fringeNYC), Indio (Tamarind Gallery), Women's Work (The Women's Project). She is an Associate Producer on the feature film REDHOOK, shooting this August. Jaimie has served as Associate Producer at The New York Musical Theater Festival and Women's Expressive Theater, and as the Artistic Associate at The Women's Project. She has worked at The Public, Classic Stage Company, and The Long Wharf, among others. Commercially, she has worked for Mandy Patinkin In Concert and The Araca Group.

NYC directing credits include: I Have Never Told Anyone This (Theatre54/GLO), The First Line of Defense (ATA), Rich Daddy (Theater Row Studio Theater), Triptych for a Blustery Day (LaMaMa), Closed Open (LaMaMa). Asst. Director: Motherload (dir. Julie Kramer, The Sage), The Screams of Kitty Genovese (dir. David Edwards, NYMF), Hardball (dir. Lou Jacob, SPF). Jaimie holds a BA in Theatre- Directing from Connecticut College and certificates from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Atlantic Theater School, and Trinity/LaMaMa. She is an SSDC Associate.

Ciara Pressler is a marketing professional and event producer in New York City. With a background in the performing arts, she is the Director of Markeing for Capes Coaching, Inc., and regularly consults arts and entertainment businesses on building effective marketing, publicity, and branding. She was executive producer for the sold-out productions of V-Day Brooklyn in both 2006 and 2007, raising money and awareness for local women's charities through innovative showcase productions of The Vagina Monologues. In 2004, Ms. Pressler founded 26.2 Productions, which launched with the sold-out world premiere run of her autobiographical play, Marathon: A Comedy in 26.2 Scenes.

Brian Olsen has stage managed for Theatreworks/USA, National Theatre of the Performing Arts, Houses on the Moon Theater Company and the New School for Drama. He assistant directed the world premiere of Sam Shepard’s The God of Hell, directed by Lou Jacob and starring Tim Roth and Randy Quaid, as well as a production of Jason Milligan’s Lullaby, directed by Louise Lasser. He has an MFA in Directing from the Actors Studio Drama School, where he studied under Tony Walton, Don Holder and Lloyd Richards.

Sarah Michele Penland’s Broadway credits include The Man Who Had All
the Luck, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and the first
national tour of Thoroughly Modern Millie. Off Broadway work includes
Walmartopia: the Musical and MCC’s Fresh Play Festival as well as the
2001 workshop of Spring Awakening. Sarah has assisted Alison Franck on
her casting of Guys and Dolls for the Papermill Playhouse and High
School Musical for North Shore Music Theatre. Sarah is from Neptune
Beach, Florida and is a graduate of Douglas Anderson School of the Arts
and SUNY Purchase.