JESSE LEVY
(Writer, Director, Producer) hails from New York City where he was a
writer and member of the sketch comedy group Wetdog. He also directed
the brilliant dark comedy Rise Above All as part of the Village Gate
One-Act Festival. In Phoenix he was a writer and performer on the
cable comedy show, Station Breaks. He directed Strinberg’s Playing
With Fire for radio theater and, on stage, the world premier screwball
comedy Screwball Comedy written by Michael Burkett and Joe Axton.
Since moving to L.A., aside from his acting work, he has written and
directed for the sketch comedy show Absolute Sketch and produced the
critically acclaimed Dirty Work, both at the Alliance Repertory
Theatre. He worked both seasons as the drama coach and the on-set
voice of Eddie the talking dog on the Nickelodeon show 100 Deeds for
Eddie McDowd. StigmatZa marks his digital video directing debut.
BILL ANDO
(Co-Writer) makes his living as a freelance magazine writer. He has
co-written a television pilot that is being passed around, and a
feature length screenplay. He has performed stand-up comedy and
produced comedy shows in New York and Florida. He is now working on a
science fiction feature to be shot on digital video in South Florida
later this year. His is the gentile voice in StigmatZa.
DAVID KEATS
(Jeff Gottlieb) is also from New York City. He appeared in dozens of
plays off and off-off Broadway including Shakespeare, Chekov, Shaw,
Ibsen and Wilde. He worked extensively with the Westside Rep., the
Meat & Potatoes Co., ATA and a number of other theater companies. In
1999, he moved to L.A. and joined the Alliance Repertory Company.
There he was cast in Absolute Sketch. He followed this with the role
of Herb Stemple in the Alliance’s production of Night and Her Stars, a
production which garnered stellar reviews and took the 2001 Ovation
Award for Best Ensemble as well as the ADA awards for Best Drama and
Best Director. His work was noticed by the writing/directing/
producing team of Glen Morgan and James Wong, who cast David as an MRI
Tech in the Jet Li film, The One. His most recent project was playing
Sam Fried in the Alliance’s Coyote on a Fence. David is single and
lives with his dog, Ally who he actually found in an alley.
ROBIN MIDDLETON
(Rita) was 8 years old when she saw her first play presented by the
local junior high school in Lawton, Oklahoma. She received her
Master’s in Acting and Directing from Oklahoma State University. She
moved to Dallas where she appeared in TV movies, commercials,
industrials, stage and print work. She also taught creative dramatics
and improvisation at the Dallas Theater Center. She returned
periodically to Oklahoma to produce and direct a traveling, children’s
theater program for the State Arts Council of Oklahoma. Moving to New
York, she studied at the prestigious Circle in the Square. She
appeared briefly on All My Children and for three and a half years on
The Guiding Light. During this time, she also appeared in several
lead roles in off-Broadway shows. After moving to L.A. she appeared
in the newsroom spoof “This Just In.” This led to other TV roles
including The Drew Carey Show and Grace Under Fire. She has also
created roles in three world premier plays. Robin produces as well
and currently has three films in development with her production
company, Blue Egg Productions.
MICHAEL IMMEL
(Producer, Roger) has been a professional actor since 1978 when Dick
Sherman of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins fame gave him his
first union contract. He has performed in theatre, commercials (such
as the Danka Man series), TV programs and films around the world from
Tokyo to Berlin to Vancouver. Along the way he has worked alongside
such notables as: Rene Russo, Robbie Coltrane, Fran Drescher, Adam
Sandler, and Elmo the Muppet. His longest association, and the most
rewarding, was working as the second banana to Bozo the Clown on WGN-TV’s
longest running locally produced children’s show. As Spifford Q.
Fahrquarrr (yes, that’s three r’s) he accrued not only many pastries
to the visage and much seltzer down the pants, but also two Emmys as
on-camera talent. StigmatZa marks his first venture into producing.
STEPHEN LISKA
(Hugo) studied with The American Conservatory Theater at their first
residency at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Moving to New York, he
appeared in plays ranging from Shakespeare to experimental new works
in venues such as Off-Broadway, repertory, regional theater and summer
stock. His film work includes Star Trek III; The Search For Spock,
Beverly Hills Cop II, Diabolique, Maverick, Conspiracy Theory, Lethal
Weapon 3 and most recently Timeline due out in 2003. His television
credits include co-starring with Susan Lucci in the MOW: The Bride
Wore Black, a series regular on Dangerous Women, and a recurring role
on Young and The Restless. His work as guest star on an episode of
Chicago Hope was submitted for an Emmy nomination and last season he
appeared as Sergei Ivankov, Head of the K Directorate on the series,
Alias. Stephen is also a member of the Alliance Repertory Company.
His recent appearances there were in Night and Her Stars and Seduced.
GENE JOHN WILLIAMS
(Dr. Phillips) As a promising young talent, Gene realized, wisely,
that he’d need to take time off from his burgeoning career if he were
ever to accomplish his dream of making a spectacular comeback. Before
his generation-long hiatus, Gene – who trained extensively with Lee
Strasberg, Al Morgenstern, and George Morrison – had appeared on
Broadway for producer David Merrick in The Natural Look. He was also
in such Broadway hits as Long Day’s Journey Into Night and Any
Wednesday, which was directed by George Morrison. Gene teamed up
again with director Morrison on The Unexpected Education of Horse
Johnson. Off-Broadway, he worked with top-level directors like Mike
Nichols (in The World of Jules Feiffer) and Ulu Grosbard (in A View
From The Bridge). Among his Hollywood credits, he is particularly
proud of having worked for the legendary George Cukor in I Never Sang
For My Father. He is also featured in Light Fantastic, a film by Ulu
Grosbard. You can hear the youthful Gene playing the role of Happy on
the Caedmon recording of Death of a Salesman, with Lee J. Cobb,
Mildred Dunnock, and a young Dustin Hoffman. This version of the
play, recently released on CD, was also directed by Ulu Grosbard.
Gene has recently re-emerged as a member of the notorious City Garage
Theater in Santa Monica, California. He has appeared there in Mariage
Blanc and Top Dogs. His film comebacks include the
soon-to-be-released independent feature The Cloning of Christ and
Murder in Boystown which begins shooting soon (both by Stephen
Shypitka). And of course, StigmatZa. “The best thing about starting
over,” says Gene, “is getting another crack at that mid-life crisis.”
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