THE COMPANY
Rosalind…Julia Manis
Celia…Dana DeRuyck
Orlando…Riley Shanahan*
Oliver…Tiago Santos
Touchstone…Gus Krieger
Duke Frederick/Duke Senior…Ted Barton*
Second Lord/Silvius…Edwin Zha
Le Beau/First Lord/Phoebe…Cindy Nguyen
Jacques…Will Block*
Audrey…Nicole Ledoux
Charles/Corin/Jacques de Boys…Kyle T. Hester*
Adam/William…Thomas Bigley
Director…Will Block
Stage Manager…Mackenzie Simon
Music Director/Compositions…Mina Bloom
Composer: Under the Greenwood Tree…Rivers Cuomo
Fight Choreography…Dane Oliver
Lighting Design…Thomas Bigley
Scenic Design…Thomas Bigley
Sound Design…Nick Neidorf
Property Master…Thomas Bigley
*Member of Actor’s Equity Association
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
“There is no clock in the forest…”
It’s funny being in our 20th Anniversary Season. Anniversaries inevitably make us contemplate the passage of time. Combine that with the fact that this anniversary season will also see the completion of our mission to finish the canon, and this Artistic Director has become a singularly contemplative sod indeed.
It feels very appropriate that we should be doing As You Like It—a play preoccupied with the filling of time—in this seminal year. As You Like It very directly asks of us what it means to live well and to be happy in your time. The characters in the play all flee to the Forest of Arden, and under its boughs they fall in love, they fight, they endure the elements, they form community, and they come to a deeper understanding of what will make them happy.
I have nothing to say about the play that the play itself won’t express, and more profoundly. Anyone who thinks they can better Shakespeare in expression is clearly and criminally kidding themselves. However, I will offer three insights into our production:
To allow for the passage of time. Our As You Like It takes place over the course of an entire calendar year.
To allow for the role of nature. I don’t believe that it’s an accident that Shakespeare specifically set this play in the forest of Arden. His mother’s name was Mary Arden, and it is in the embrace of Mother Nature that our heroes find their enlightenment. As Duke Senior says so beautifully “Here feel we but the penalty of Adam.” When living in the wild, you only have three goals: make camp, stay alive, and appreciate the beauty around you. The clarifying effect that this distillation of life can have is startling.
There are three parental figures in this play, and only one act of parenting. Keep your eye out for it.
I’m so proud of this company. Our cast is astounding, and the collaborative spirit they brought every day into the rehearsal room was nothing less than invigorating. My Associate Artistic Director Thomas Bigley has transformed the Whitmore-Lindley into the Forest of Arden in ways I didn’t think possible. Our composer, Mina Bloom, has created a something really special, and I’m proud to say that we’re doing Shakespeare’s most musical comedy justice. I’m proud and thrilled that friend of the company Rivers Cuomo agreed to pitch in with an original composition of Under the Greenwood Tree. This production is a cross section of the company’s best and brightest giving their all.
Thank you for spending your time with us at the theatre. Open your ears, and enjoy William Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
-Will Block, Artistic Director
WITH THE PORTERS: Black Will in Arden of Faversham, Lorraine in Edward III.
Julia is delighted to be working with the Porters again! Recent credits include anthropology (Rogue Machine Theatre), Here Comes the Night (Moving Arts Theatre), Jane Eyre (A Noise Within), and Natural Selection (Zephyr Theatre). Other credits: According to the Chorus (The Road), Unt. Baby Play (U/S IAMA), Cowboy Mouth (Hollywood Fringe 2018), and At The Table (The Road). Training: Nancy Banks Studios, Antaeus, USC BFA program. She thanks Will Block, the Porters team, this extraordinary cast, and her lovely family and community for their endless support.
Julia Manis-ROSALIND
LA Theater: Shannon in The Night of the Iguana at Boston Court (LA Times Best Play of 2025), Resident Artist at A Noise Within; Selected Theater: Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Utah Shakespeare, Theater of War, PCPA, Intiman; Film: Second Nature, 20 Pounds to Happiness, Parallel Lines, Breakdown, Nice Guy, Heathens; Music Videos: The National’s I Am Easy to Find, Bon Iver’s Day One; TV: Titans, Legends of Tomorrow, Chicago PD, series regular on Doom Patrol.
Riley Shanahan-ORLANDO
WITH THE PORTERS: Debut
Dana DeRuyck-CELIA
WITH THE PORTERS: Shakebag in Arden of Faversham, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Marie/Jane/Lydia in Breaking Bard, Fluellen (u/s) in Henry V, Clown in The Winter’s Tale, Josephine in Sherlock Through the Looking Glass, Caphis in Timon of Athens, Regan in King Lear, Mistress Overdone in Measure for Measure, Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Andromache in Troilus and Cressida, 2nd Merchant in The Comedy of Errors, Mekkhala in Deity Clutch.
Dana returns for her 14th show with PHG. Other LA theatre: The Taming (Little Fish Theatre), A Gulag Mouse (Sacred Fools Theater Co.), Sisters Three (Inkwell Theatre), Bigfoot! The Musical (Unknown Artists), Richard III (Shakespeare by the Sea). TV/Film: “Sugar” (Apple TV), “St. Denis Medical” (NBC), “V/H/S/85” (Shudder). Dana is also a writer and voiceover artist heard in the English dub for 10+ international titles. @dana_what
Tiago Santos is a Los Angeles–based actor and a graduate of the Pacific Conservatory Theatre. His work includes Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s School Visit Program, Actors Co-op, and Red String Co. He has appeared on screen in “Stronghold” (Amazon Prime), “Awakening,” “ Across the Aisle,” and “Glamping.” Tiago is thrilled to return to the stage with Porters of Hellsgate. Recent credits include Henry in Next to Normal and Antipholus in The Comedy of Errors. When he’s not acting, Tiago enjoys nature, good food, and making his friends play unnecessarily complicated games of Magic: The Gathering
Tiago Santos-OLIVER
WITH THE PORTERS: Second Lord Dumaine in All’s Well that Ends Well.
Gus Krieger-TOUCHSTONE
ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
WITH THE PORTERS: Richard in Richard III, Henry VI trilogy, The Porter in Macbeth, Benedick in Much Ado About the Nothing, Guildenstern in Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Shylock inThe Merchant of Venice (Scenie Award – Best Performance by a Lead Actor), Edgar in King Lear, Sir Walter of Albuquerque in Breaking Bard (also wrote – “Spirit of the Fringe” Award for Best Writing, Valley Theatre Award for Best Play), King John in King John, Theseus in The Two Noble Kinsmen, Lafeu in All’s Well that Ends Well.
As Director: Macbeth, Deity Clutch, Romeo and Juliet, Edward III, Arden of Faversham
Regional: Mr. Marmalade with Theatricians, Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, and A Christmas Carol: the One Man Play at Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theatre.
As Playwright: Night of the Living Dead, The Armadillo Necktie at The Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre (Scenie Awards for Best World Premiere Play and Outstanding Production).
BFA, Actors Training, The Hartt School.
Nicole Ledoux (she/her) is thrilled to be back on stage with The Porters after seven years (oh my god!) since her last play with the company. She holds a BFA in Acting from Emerson College. Recent acting credits include Feste in Twelfth Night, or What You Will with Humble Shakespeare Company, Kwee in Come Get Maggie with Rogue Machine Theatre, and Joanne in RENT with Coeurage Ensemble. Nicole is an ensemble member with Coeurage Ensemble and also the Artistic Director of Red Ink Ensemble, a queer-led theater company dedicated to reclaiming the classics through an LGBTQ+ lens. Her recent directing credits with Red Ink include Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Romeo and Juliet.
Nicole Ledoux-AUDREY
WITH THE PORTERS: Queen and Ensemble in The Two Noble Kinsmen
Cindy Nguyen-LE BEAU/FIRST LORD/PHOEBE
WITH THE PORTERS: Helen in All’s Well that Ends Well, Guiderius in Cymbeline, Blanche in King John, Lychorida, Diana, and Ensemble in Pericles.
Cindy is grateful to be part of this production and to share this story with such a wonderful group of artists. Thank you to everyone who helped bring this play to life.
Theatre: Unrivaled, A Going Away Party Play (Boston Court Pasadena); The $5 Shakespeare Company, Hamlet (The 6th Act); Diana of Dobson’s (Antaeus); That Pretty Pretty or the Rape Play, Love & Information, If You Can Get to Buffalo (Son of Semele Ensemble). TV: “Shrinking “(AppleTV), “911” (Fox), “For the People” (ABC), “Dear White People” (Netflix). BFA Theatre, Chapman University.
Edwin Zha is ecstatic to be a part of As You Like It with The Porters of Hellsgate. He is a recent graduate of the UCLA Ray Bolger Musical Theater Program and has serendipitously begun his career with Shakespeare, having just finished a run as Lysander in Theatricum Botanicum’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Screen credits include supporting roles in “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence” and the upcoming feature “Better Life.” He would like to thank his professors, friends, and family for their unwavering support throughout the years. For Kayla, always. SAG-AFTRA. Instagram: @edwinzha_
Edwin Zha-SECOND LORD/SILVIUS
WITH THE PORTERS: Debut
Kyle T. Hester-CHARLES/CORIN/JACQUES DE BOYS
WITH THE PORTERS: King Edward in Edward III
Regional theatre credits include Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet (Santa Cruz Shakespeare), The Canadians (South Coast Repertory), Arms and the Man (Jewel Theatre Company), The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley and The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged (Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara), Wild Goose Dreams (La Jolla Playhouse), and Measure STILL for Measure (Boston Court). Kyle also recently directed Twelfth Night, the inaugural production for Humble Shakespeare Company. He is on faculty teaching Shakespeare at the Art of Acting Studio in Los Angeles. MFA - UC San Diego, BFA - NYU Tisch. www.kylethester.com
OFF-BROADWAY: 59E59.
REGIONAL: Mark Taper Forum, Coeurage Ensemble, Boston Court Pasadena, Berkeley Playhouse, TheatreWorks, La Mirada Center for the Performing Arts, Musical Theatre West, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Foothill Theatre Company, Ensemble Theatre Company, Sacramento Theatre Company, MainStreet Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Phoenix; California, Colorado, Lake Tahoe, Kingsmen, Shakespeare Festivals; Southwest Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Sedona, Shakespeare Santa Cruz.
EQUITY GUEST ARTIST: The University of Alabama.
NATIONAL TOUR: On Golden Pond.
FILM: "Yale", "On Swift Horses".
TV: "Terrors of Jordan Mendoza" (Adult Swim), "Elsbeth" (CBS), "Paradise" (Hulu), "Our Flag Means Death" (HBO Max), "Good Girls" (NBC).
Ted Barton-DUKE FREDERICK/DUKE SENIOR
WITH THE PORTERS: Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Exeter in Henry V
Will Block-JACQUES
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR.
WITH THE PORTERS: Prince Hal in Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Posthumus in Cymbeline, Ferdinand in The Tempest, Lysimachus and ensemble in Pericles.
REGIONAL CREDITS: Dreyfuss in the West Coast Premiere of The Shark is Broken (ETC Santa Barbara/Laguna Playhouse), Hamlet in Hamlet, The Thanksgiving Play, The Wickhams (ETC Santa Barbara), Algy in The Importance of Being Earnest, Tom in The Glass Menagerie, Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Hamlet (Santa Cruz Shakespeare), Of Mice and Men, A Christmas Carol (Sierra Repertory Theatre), Twelfth Night, Cymbeline, The Two Noble Kinsmen (Kingsmen Shakespeare), Murder on the Orient Express (La Mirada), All’s Well that Ends Well (A Noise Within), Master Harold…and the Boys, Treasure Island (Sacramento Theatre Company). UPCOMING: Misalliance (North Coast Rep)
TV: “Monsters: the Lyle and Eric Menendez Story”, “This is Us.”
Thomas Bigley-ADAM/WILLIAM
ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR. FOR THE PORTERS: Menenius in Coriolanus, Sir John Falstaff in Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Lavatch in All’s Well that Ends Well, Wolsey in All is True or Henry VIII, Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar, Sir Andrew in Twelfth Night, Clarence/Richmond in Richard III, Proteus in Two Gents, Don John in Much Ado, Macduff in Macbeth, Boyet in Loves Labour’s Lost, title role in Richard II, Rosencrantz in Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Raamah in Deity Clutch, Angelo in Comedy of Errors, Creon in Oedipus, Ulysses in Troilus and Cressida, the Duke in Measure for Measure, title role in Timon of Athens, Pistol in Henry V, Leontes in The Winter’s Tale, Hank in Breaking Bard (Valley Theatre Award nomination – Best Ensemble), ensemble in the Henry VI trilogy and Pericles, Chatillon in King John, Stephano in The Tempest, the Queen in Cymbeline.
As a director with the Porters: Hamlet, Oedipus the Tyrant, The Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, King Lear (starring Larry Cedar), Orwellian (starring Larry Cedar), Othello (Valley Theatre Award nomination), the Henry VI trilogy (Valley Theatre Award), King John, and Double Falsehood (co-directed with Alex Parker).
Regional Credits include roles with Santa Cruz Shakespeare and Sierra Repertory Theatre.
Will Block-DIRECTOR
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR.
WITH THE PORTERS: All’s Well that Ends Well, All is True or Henry VIII (StageRaw Award, Best Direction and Ensemble), The Two Noble Kinsmen.
OTHER CREDITS: Macbeth, Pericles (NorCal School of the Arts), Macbeth, Henry IV (Method and Madness), Undiscovered Shakespeare: Henry VIII (Santa Cruz Shakespeare).
Kaite Brandt-ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
WITH THE PORTERS: Readings of Sir Thomas More, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing.
Kaite is a director, actor, dramaturg, and text coach. Other productions and readings include Twelfth Night, Winter's Tale, Tempest, Love and Information, Everybody, Hamlet, Measure for Measure (Antaeus); Othello, Hamlet (USMH); Julius Caesar (Warriors for Peace); A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost (Sierra Shakes); Love's Labour's Lost (Chase What Flies); Much Ado About Nothing (Unlikely Shakespeare Company); As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing (6th Act); and Troilus and Cressida (Ad Astra).
Dane Oliver-FIGHT DIRECTOR
WITH THE PORTERS: Stunt performer in Coriolanus, Launcelot Gobbo in Radically Miscast: Merchant of Venice.
Dane Oliver is an LA-based actor and fight choreographer. Before coming to theatrical stuntwork, his foundation was in competitive fencing, Shotokan karate, gymnastics, and parkour. He has previously choreographed for the Woodward Shakespeare Festival, Theatricum Botanicum, and Sierra Repertory Theatre.
Nick Neidorf officially joined the Porters in the fall of 2010, after a long informal association with the company. Since then, he has worked primarily behind the scenes as the Porters’ resident composer & sound designer. He has been responsible for the sound design of nearly every Porters production since 2010. Original scores include Troilus and Cressida, King Lear, The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline, Henry VIII, and, hopefully, many more to come.
Nick Neidorf-SOUND DESIGNER
BOARD PRESIDENT. CO-TECHNICAL DIRECTOR.
Mina Bloom-COMPOSER/MUSIC DIRECTOR
WITH THE PORTERS: Original score for The Two Noble Kinsmen
Pianist, composer, and certified pun master Mina Bloom splits her time between shaping the next generation of artists and rocking live stages. Based in East LA, Mina teaches with Tiny Spotlight and The Miracle Project by day, while spending her nights writing, performing, and music directing. Her theatre credits include score composition for the Shakespeare Co at UCLA (Twelfth Night, Richard III) and music direction for Conundrum’s Godspell. On the rock side, her band Germs and Conditions recently released their new album, Revolutionize the Babies! (available on Spotify). She is thrilled to collaborate with Will Block and Porters of Hellsgate once again on this incredible production!
CANON PROGRESS
