Tartuffe - Cast Biographies

Paul Baron (Damis) graduated high school from the North Carolina School of the Arts and holds a BFA in Acting from the Goodman School of Drama at Depaul University (Chicago). Now a New York based actor Paul is thrilled to be returning to the Maryland region after appearing in Aria da Capo last year at the Performance Workshop Theatre Company in Baltimore. Previous stage appearances include Louis in Angels in America (Parts 1 & 2), Noah in The Grapes of Wrath, Angelo in Measure for Measure, Cole in Keely and Du, and the title role in Titus Andronicus. He has been seen on television as Kevin McDonald on Law and Order: SVU, and is very proud of his work in Isabella, an independent film which won the 2004 Long Island International Film Festival.

Rena Cherry Brown (Mme. Pernelle) has performed in Washington/Maryland/Virginia area theatre for over thirty years. In April 2006, Rena performed The Gin Game as a benefit for The Bay Theatre, reprising her portrayal of Fonsia Dorsey at the Avalon Theatre in Easton, Maryland last July. Earlier in 2005, she played Catherine in Bay Theatre’s Arms and the Man. She won a Helen Hayes Award for her portrayal of Claire in A Delicate Balance with American Century Theatre in Washington, D.C. Rena is an associate member of The Washington Shakespeare Company, where she played Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Mother in Metamorphosis, Mother in Blood Wedding, Maria in Twelfth Night, Elizabeth in Richard III, and Meg in The Birthday Party. She has also appeared at Arena Stage in Orpheus Descending, at Olney Theatre in Blithe Spirit, and at Rep Stage, Wooly Mammoth Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre, Keegan Theatre, SCENA Theatre, Horizons Theatre and The Actor’s Theatre of Washington. Rena has done radio commercials and was the regular radio voice of Stella in an American Academy of Arts and Sciences radio broadcast for children. She was in Pride and Prejudice on The Learning Channel and holds a degree in theatre from the University of Maryland. She coaches theatre for local theatre groups on the Eastern Shore where she works and lives.

Jim Chance (Tartuffe) was accepted to study theology at universities in the U.S. and Scotland but opted to study theatre instead. He received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Acting in 1990 and has worked professionally ever since. Theatre credits include Malvolio in Twelfth Night with Tony Award winner Frank Wood (as Orsino), and world premieres of An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf with Tony nominee Kurt Knudsen, The Red Rose with the RSC’s John Barton, and Metamorphosis with Tony nominee Evelyn Barrow. Jim has appeared in New York at the Hudson Guild, Mint, and Blue Heron Theatres, and in regional theatres including Arena Stage (Washington), Center Stage (Baltimore), Magic Theatre (San Francisco), Walnut Street Theatre (Philadelphia), Cleveland Play House and others. Jim worked on new plays with Juilliard’s Obie winning playwright, Christopher Durang, and auditioned in 1995 for a Broadway production of Durang’s Sex and Longing (with Oscar winner Sigourney Weaver). Television credits include Guiding Light (CBS), All My Children (ABC), Another World (NBC), and others. Jim appeared in three films by his friend, writer/director Doug Sadler: 2000 USA Film Festival finalist, Horses; 2001 L.A. Film Festival Selection, Riders; and a 2005 Sundance Film Festival Humanitas Prize finalist, Swimmers. Jim is a member of Actors’ Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. By day he is a mild-mannered Assistant County Attorney, husband and dad.

Genna Davidson (Mariane) is a sophomore at the University of Maryland, College Park. This is her first time performing with the Bay Theatre Company. She has been acting in theatre around Annapolis since she was 11. You may have seen her several years ago as Thomasina in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia at Colonial Players. She would like to thank her parents for all their love and “home cookin,” the cast and crew for their dedication, and Tom Howard for keeping the jokes simple.

Tom Howard (M. Loyal) is pleased to début at the Bay Theatre in Tartuffe. Among Tom’s recent roles are Ernest Stanley in Rockville Little Theatre’s The Man Who Came to Dinner, Gilbert Folliott, Bishop of London in St Mark’s Players’ Becket and André Bouville in Potomac Theatre Company’s Dinner Party. A baritone, Tom has sung with the Michigan Opera Theatre as the Imperial Commissar in Madame Butterfly, and performed as Pish Tush in the Washington Savoyard’s The Mikado. Tom does voiceover and emcee work and will host the Army Birthday Ball at the Washington Hilton Hotel in June. A New England native, he works in the Pentagon and lives in Springfield, Virginia with his family.

Janet Luby (Dorine) is the Associate Artistic Director and co-founder of The Bay Theatre Company. A graduate of the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, Janet performed in ACT’s A Tale of Two Cities (directed by Sabin Epstein). She also played the part of Ida in Die Fledermaus at the San Francisco Opera (directed by Lotfi Monsouri). Janet lived in New York for 10 years where she appeared off-Broadway as Marianne in Tartuffe and Livia in The Tamer Tames at the RAPP Arts Center (directed by Jeffrey Cohen). She played Corie in the European tour of Barefoot in the Park for three months with the American Drama Group and was a company member of The New Rose Theatre where she performed as Melody in Found a Peanut and as Luca in The Sneeze. Some television credits include One Life to Live, All My Children, Search for Tomorrow, an MTV music video, and Target and IBM commercials. When not acting, Janet worked as a dancer in the 50’s cabaret Shout which ran for three years. This is Janet’s third appearance on The Bay Theatre stage: last season, she portrayed Emma in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal and, in 2004, Popova in The Bear and Murashkina in The Drama as part of The Sneeze. Previously, she played Muriel in Apocalyptic Butterflies at the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring. Janet is a member of Actors’ Equity.

Timothy Andrés Pabon (Cléante) received an MFA in acting from The Catholic University of America. At Catholic University, favorite roles include the title role in Tartuffe, Pa Ubu in Ubu Roi, McCann in The Birthday Party, and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He worked at Arena Stage as Lacey in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and at the Shakespeare Theater in King Lear, The Country Wife, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coriolanus, and The Merchant of Venice. Favorite regional roles include Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He played the title role in Mister Roberts, Tom in The Time of Your Life, and most recently, he was Juan Julian in The Hippodrome Theater’s Anna in the Tropics. Screen credits include HBO’s The Wire, The FBI Files, and the John Waters film A Dirty Shame. He will be seen this fall at Rep Stage in the role of Weasel in T-Bone and Weasel and then the role of Dennis McCreary in The Violet Hour. He is an Actors’ Equity Association member.

Nigel Reed (Orgon) is a member of Actors’ Equity Association who makes his Bay Theatre debut with Tartuffe. Recent appearances include Claudius in Hamlet at Rep Stage in Columbia and Mr. Samsa in Metamorphosis at Catalyst Theater (D.C.). Last summer, he was seen in productions of The American Dream and One For The Road for the Potomac Theatre Project at the Olney Theatre Center. Other area appearances include numerous roles at Rep Stage, Everyman Theatre, Signature Theatre, The Olney Theatre Center and The Washington Stage Guild. In 2002, Mr. Reed received the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Oscar Wilde in The Judas Kiss at Rep Stage, and was named Best Actor for 2001 by the Baltimore City Paper for that role. Off Broadway, he appeared in Shaw’s Misalliance starring Philip Bosco. National Tours include Deathtrap starring George Grizzard and Robert Reed. On daytime television, Mr. Reed appeared as Wally McFadden on All My Children (ABC) and as Tim Werner on Guiding Light (CBS). Mr. Reed will next appear in No End Of Blame for The Potomac Theatre Project at the Olney Theatre Center in July.

Ben Russo (Valere) This is Ben’s third appearance on The Bay Theatre stage this season, after playing Paul in Barefoot in the Park and Eddie in Fool For Love. Last year he was also seen as Cinesias in Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s Lysistrata. Ben grew up around Frederick, Maryland, and holds his theatre degree from Frostburg State University. A former Williamstown Theatre Festival acting apprentice and American Stage Festival directing intern, favorite roles include the Doctor in Croupy of Companions, King Ferdinand in Loves Labours Lost, Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, and Vince in Buried Child. Ben also writes for the stage and currently directs for the Theatre Lab in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Webster Duke (Elmire) is delighted to be working with the Bay Theatre Company for the first time. She is new to both Washington DC and the Bay area, having spent the past ten years working as an actress in the Philadelphia area. She is a member of the resident acting company at The People’s Light and Theatre Company, where she has performed in over thirty productions. Favorite People’s Light roles include Catherine in A View from the Bridge (for which she received a Best Actress Nomination from The Philadelphia Inquirer), Gladys in The Skin of Our Teeth, Ellie in Heartbreak House and Sally in Sally’s Gone She Left Her Name. Regionally, she has also performed with The Wilma Theatre (Indian Ink), The Walnut Street Theatre (Biloxi Blues), InterAct Theatre Company (Mayhem and Essanay), The Eureka Theatre Company (The Blue Room and Desdemona: A Play about a Handkerchief) and The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival (Private Lives). She is a three-time finalist for the F. Otto Haas Philadelphia Emerging Theatre Artist Award. She received her MFA at The Academy for Classical Acting at The Shakespeare Theatre and GWU in 2005, and is a member of Actors’ Equity.