Mitera: Cast and Crew Bios

Cast

Olga Sheridan:             Allison McCorkle+
Nitsa Sheridan:            Holly Robison^
Dimitra Sheridan:         Lilly Apostolou
Sharon Kaskalis:          Patricia Tinsley+
Dimitris Kokkinakis:      Michael Wagman^

Production Team

Playwright:                   Maria Burnham^
Director:                       Letitia Guillaud^
Production Manager:   Keith Gatchel^
Stage Manager:           Lisa Uhlig^
Production Designer:   Brad Gunter^
Dialect Coach:             Kate Jordan*
Costume Design:         Molly Mason
Marketing:                   Jean Burr+, Maria Burnham^
Graphic Design:           Mike Wozniak
Photographs:               Austin D. Oie

^Denotes a Strangeloop Company Member
+Denotes a Strangeloop Associate Company Member 
*Member of Actors Equity Association.

Mitera Bio: Michael Wagman

Michael Wagman (Dimitris Kokkinakis) is thrilled to once more act with Strangeloop where he has been a company member since 2010. Previous Strangeloop acting credits include The Millionaire Farmer, The Maid of Orleans, As You Like It and his personal favorite, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other favorite acting credits include Cash on Delivery (Saint Sebastian Players), Some Air (Nothing Without a Company) and The Contract (Janus Theatre Company). Michael would like to thank Lisa, Ticha, this wonderful cast, his amazing teachers at Second City, iO and Acting Studio Chicago, and Maria for her brilliant script and for helping him get in touch with his inner Greek.

For Wagman, acting is personal

Michael Wagman always tries to find the personal in the characters he portrays.


But for his latest role as the conniving Dimitris Kokkinakis in Strangeloop Theatre’s Mitera, the Wicker Park actor has struggled to make that connection.

“One of my biggest challenges has been playing someone who thinks so little of the people around him that he literally gives them and their views no credence,” Wagman said. “I’ve always tried to keep an open mind, so playing someone who is so resolutely closed-minded has forced me to find those areas of myself – those few relationships where I became closed-minded – and exploit them to understand this character.” 

Read more about Michael, including how he brought his character to life, in the Bucktown-Wicker Park Patch. 

French With Me 6: Cat Man Don't

This week, leading up to French With Me 6: Le Salon on Saturday, February 13, we'll be spotlighting the original performance pieces that have been created for this event.

 

In Cat Man Don't, Jean and Daryl have been dating for a few months now and they are finally at that point where things are about to get serious. They have a beautiful night out and Jean takes Daryl back to her place for some post-date recreation. It is here that Daryl meets Jean's beloved cat, Deirdre, for the first time. Unbeknownst to Jean and Daryl, Deirdre is not as cute and cuddly as she seems.

Written by Company Member Michael Wagman, Cat Man Don't stars Megan Donahue as Jean, Ben Page as Daryl and Erin Colleen Gordon as Dierdre.

 

French With Me 6: Le Salon takes place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 13, at Vagabond School of the Arts (4001 N Ravenswood Ave #504, Chicago, IL 60613). Tickets are $25 in advance or at the door, and are available now through Brown Paper Tickets.  

Krampus! Bio: Michael Wagman

Michael Wagman (Chase/Younger Priest) is very excited to once more act with Strangeloop where he has been a company member since 2010. Previous Strangeloop acting credits include The Millionaire Farmer, The Maid of Orleans, As You Like It and his personal favorite, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other favorite acting credits include Cash on Delivery (Saint Sebastian Players), Some Air (Nothing Without a Company) and The Contract (Janus Theatre Company). In addition to Michael’s acting credits, he has also written Santa Claus vs. the Easter Bunny for both Strangeloop and Donny’s Skybox Theatre (also director), Shadows and Lust for Strangeloop at the 2012 Chicago Fringe Festival, and Crisco vs. Olive Oil for Loopshop3. Big thanks to Maria, Lisa, and all my wonderful Strangeloop peeps.

Strangeloop returns to Fight Night!

Strangeloop is excited to once again be part of Nothing Special Production's Fight Night!

This time we bring you Fight of The Bumblebee, conceived and directed by Strangeloop Company Member Holly Robison and starring company members Maria Burnham, Carrie Campana and Michael Houghton Wagman. Violence is once again designed by Justin Martin Fill.

Fight Night is a one-night, (now in prime-time!) violent cabaret celebrating the art of stage combat through original storytelling and violence design...and this time, it’s MUSICAL!

Fight Night: A Little Fight Music challenges eight Chicago theater companies to each create a 10-minute play combining violence design with musical elements.

The event takes place at 8 p.m. Friday, March 20 at the Mayne Stage in Rogers Park.

In addition to Strangeloop, other companies are: Live Action Theatre, To The Point, Walkabout Theater Company, Wayward Productions, Robert Frosty and Bare Knuckle Productions.

The evening also includes the opening act and house band Realife Dinosaurs.

Tickets are $15 online, and $18 at the door.

Thinking Caps Recap

We had a great reception for Thinking Caps at the Greenhouse Theater Center on Tuesday evening. Thank you to everyone who came out and gave their feedback. We're looking forward to the next step in the development process for this script by Company Member Keith Gatchel.

Thinking Caps explores the upsides and downsides of virtual reality technology in the near future as seen through the lives of Charles and Maggie Cusick. The play is set in the near future in places both real and imaginary, in a time when the internet is all but dead and people communicate via telepathy and interact socially in a type of virtual reality known as the Headnet.

The staged reading was directed by Co-Artistic Director Letitia Guillaud. The cast was as follows:

• Charles                   Michael Houghton Wagman
• Maggie                    Maria Burnham
• Kim Ayers               Holly Robison
• David Scrab            Justin Cornwell
• Actor                       Nick Vidal
• Actress                    Patricia Tinsley
• Headnet Voice        Letitia Guillaud

The staged reading was produced as part of the Trellis reading series, Greenhouse's artist development program that showcases plays from playwrights who aren’t otherwise able to find a space for their work to be seen.