CREATIVE TEAM

ROSE CULLIS  – Playwright / Co-Producer - Rose Cullis is a queer playwright/writer/educator who celebrates all forms of writing and performance in their work. They’ve had short stories, plays and monologues published in a number of theme-based anthologies, and other writing in This Magazine, Event Magazine, Brick and Vallum and in Prairie Fire. For years they performed in queer-themed cabarets like Hysteria and Cheap Queers and have presented new work in Summerworks, The Fringe Festival and at Rhubarb. Their play, The Happy Woman, was produced by Nightwood Theatre and short-listed for a Tom Hendry Award. Cullis completed an MFA in Creative Writing at Guelph University. rosecullis.com

ASTRID VAN WIEREN  - Song Writer / Performer / Co-Producer - Astrid was part of the original COME FROM AWAY from its first production in La Jolla to its final performance on Broadway. She was nominated for a Helen Hayes (Washington) and a Dora (Toronto) for her work as Beulah & others. Other premiere credits include BELLES SOEURS: The Musical (Segal Centre & the NAC); BAAL- A ROCK 'N ROLL PLAY (Mercury, Toronto), MYTH OF THE OSTRICH (T.O. Fringe); THE WAY BACK TO THURSDAY (Passe Muraille) and THE COLONY OF UNREQUITED DREAMS (Artistic Fraud). Her stellar work in the drama THIS WIDE NIGHT landed her a Dora award. Astrid was honoured to host the Doras in 2018. In 2024 Astrid played Mattie Fae in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (St. Louis Rep); Harriet in POTUS (Segal); Diane in COME FROM AWAY (Gander) and Margo in DRIVE (ACC St. John’s). in 2025, she starred in a workshop of the musical CURVY WIDOW at the Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor, New York. astridvanwieren.com

JON MICHAELSON - Director, Dramaturge, Co-Producer -  For Mercury Theatre Jon produced and directed Canadian or Toronto premieres of plays by Edward Albee, Athol Fugard, Brian Friel, Michael Hastings, Tony Kushner, Stephen Poliakoff, Martin Sherman, and Nicky Silver. He's also staged new work by Cindy Lou Johnson, Wendy Kesselman, and Ellen McLaughlin, and revivals of plays by Beckett, Buchner (Shaw Festival Directors Academy), and Pinter. For Mermaid Parade, he directed a Dora award winning Canadian premiere of Chloe Moss's 'women out of prison' play This Wide Night at Theatre Passe Muraille, revived at the Red Sandcastle Theatre. Music theatre shows include Rose Cullis’ rock & roll BAAL (which he also commissioned), Brecht/Weill’s The Three Penny Opera, Sam Shepard’s rock & roll The Tooth of Crime, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and the Billie Holiday revue Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar & Grill. Jon directed workshops of After/BAAL for a 2022 Banff Centre residency, a 2023 workshop at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, and a 2025 workshop at Tarragon’s Extra Space. jonmichaelson.net  

DENYSE KARN – Set, Projections and Costume Designer - Denyse Karn has been designing sets, projections and costumes in Canadian theatre for the past 35 years. Denyse is a graduate of the Toronto Metropolitan University and NSCAD University. She has received many Dora Mavor Moore nominations and awards, a Chalmers Award and Merritt Awards (Nova Scotia Theatre Award) for Outstanding Design. Denyse is a full member of ADC659. Select Theatre Credits: Othello, To Kill a Mockingbird (Stratford Festival); Art, The Mountaintop (Grand Theatre, London); Onegin (Musical Stage Company); King Charles III, You Will Remember Me, NSFW (Studio 180); The Watershed (Crow’s Theatre/Porte Parole); Her2, The Carousel, Penelopiad, Happy Woman, The List (Nightwood); Twisted, Stop Heart (Factory); The Winter’s Tale (Canadian Stage); Top Girls (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre). denysekarn.com 

MICHELLE RAMSAY – Lighting Designer - Michelle is an award-winning lighting designer for dance, theatre and opera. Previous designs include: Snow in Midsummer (Shaw Festival); Come Home: The Legend of Daddy Hall (Tarragon Theatre); Million Dollar Quartet (Grand Theatre - London); The Tempest (Theatre Rusticle); Women of the Fur Trade (Stratford Festival); Little Shop of Horrors (Capitol Theatre); Beautiful (Arts Club); Prison Dancer the Musical (Citadel Theatre); Redbone Coonhound (Tarragon Theatre/Imago Theatre); Martyr (ARC); The First Stone (New Harlem). Michelle has received eight Dora Awards, a SATAward, the 2008 Pauline McGibbon Award, and was a finalist for the 2021 Siminovitch Prize. She is the Chair of the Board for the Associated Designers of Canada. 

MICHAEL SCHOLAR JR.– Artistic Producer (November Theatre) / Performer Michael is a theatre maker creating both in Canada and the USA. With November Theatre, Michael worked on The Black Rider (World English Premiere/North American Tour) ; Hard Core Logo: LIVE (PuSh Festival); Ana at Hive 3 (2010 Vancouver Cultural Olympiad); ILSA Queen of the Nazi Love Camp (Medicine Show Theatre. NY); Baby Fat (La MaMa, NY) and Anywhere But Here (Vancouver Playhouse). As Artistic Associate at the Globe Theatre (Canada), he directed David Greig’s Midsummer and programmed a season of new work in their Sandbox Series. Favourite acting credits include: Frankenstein (Kidoons and WYRD Productions/U.S. Tour/upcoming) El Terremoto (Tarragon Theatre), A Good Place (Factory Theatre Podcast), Refugee Hotel (Alameda Theatre); Th’owxiya (Axis Theatre); Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Theatre Network / Sterling Award Winner); The Blue Orphan (Catalyst Theatre); Alice Munro Stories (Belfry Theatre); Little Mercy’s First Murder (Touchstone Theatre); Tideline (Neworld Theatre/Jessie Award Nomination); Taming of the Shrew (Jessie Award Nomination), Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet (Bard on the Beach); and Cloud Tectonics (Vancouver Playhouse / Pi Theatre). novembertheatre.com

J D NICHOLSEN - Performer - J.D. Nicholsen is an accomplished actor with almost 40 years of professional experience. He has performed in major and regional theatres across Canada and has toured to the UK and Africa. He has over 100 professional theatre, film and TV credits to his name. J.D. is also a talented musician, songwriter and sound designer. After co-founding and extensively touring with the Juno Award winning band The Leslie Spit Treeo he spent a decade composing music for dance and theatre in Toronto. He currently fronts The Cameron Family Singers and Regal Road, two bands that regularly play gigs in southern Ontario. His music and acting careers frequently converge into roles that require a high level of proficiency in both fields. Most notably his portrayal of Stompin' Tom in David Scott's "The Ballad of Stompin' Tom" took him on a 2 month tour of Southwestern Ontario and a two month run at The Charlottetown Festival on PEI. His portrayal of Johnny in Ken Cameron's "Dear Johnny Deere'' at Theatre Calgary earned him a Calgary Theatre Critics Award for best performance by a male in a musical. J.D. also performed in two productions for the Blyth Festival’s 50th anniversary season. 

SARAH RICHARDSON (she/they) - Performer - Sarah is an award-winning musical director, multi-instrumentalist, singer, actor, dancer, and educator based out of Halifax. Recently, Sarah was the Associate Music Director of Mirvish Productions’ “SIX: the Musical”. She won a Merritt Award for Outstanding Musical Direction for Chester Playhouse’s production of “Ruthless: The Stage Mother of All Musicals”, and a nomination for HEIST’s production of “New Waterford Boy” and Neptune Theatre’s “Alice in Pantoland”. She also received a nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role for her portrayal of Lucille Renaud in Neptune Theatre and b current’s co-production of “Controlled Damage”. Sarah is a founding member of Whale Song Theatre. Past Theatre credits as musical director include: Elf, Rocky Horror Show, Rumour Has It: the Songbook of Adele, Alice in Pantoland, Assassins, Heathers, Peter & the Starcatcher, 9 to 5, Company, Ruthless: the Stage Mother of All Musicals, New Waterford Boy, Nunsense. 

PARMIDA VAND - Performer - Parmida Vand (she/ they - pronoun indifferent) is an Iranian-Canadian actor and artist based in Toronto. Since graduating from George Brown Theatre School, Parmida has focused her work on developing new plays. She has accumulated credits in acting, directing, development and co-creation. In 2018, Parmida originated the role of Fatima Al-Sayed in Mark Crawford's hit play, The New Canadian Curling Club, and she has gone on to reprise the role in productions across the country. In 2019, Parmida made her directorial debut with Let Me In Theatre's The Stone Woman. Most recently, Parmida played the lead in the first English production of famed Iranian play Winter of '88 for which she also served as a translation editor. Parmida's role in Maryam Keshavarz's The Persian Version has taken her to the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

The other side of Parmida's storytelling is music. As a songwriter and musician, Parmida has toured solo nationally and in Europe, as well as provincially with her band. She has independently released 2 EPs and her debut album 4-7 Company, and has had over 2 million combined streams on various platforms.  parmidavand.com

MIKE TAE LEE - Percussionist - Mike Tae is a Toronto born & based artist, primarily focused on drumming. Trained in classical music, multidisciplinary arts, and improv comedy, he's had the opportunity to work with many great artists in a variety of roles and projects. Notables: Drums (studio): “Moonchild” LP- James King & the Midnight Hours, “Artefix” - ArtMom, and “Grids” EP - Grids. Drums (live): Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, Tame Impala's Currents, Bloc Party's Silent Alarm. Theatre (musician/actor): Unbridled Futurism; Tweed & Company Theatre: Hastings the Musical, Aleck Bell, Times they are a Changin', and Stalkyard Hurts. Second City: Bob Curry Fellowship.

PERFORMING ARTS CREATION LAB - SPRING 2022 WORKSHOP at the BANFF CENTRE (left to right: Parmida Vand, Astrid Van Wieren, JD Nicholsen)