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WHO WE ARE
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The Kidnappers
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Chris Critelli (Steve):
A newcomer to the Biggest of Apples, Chris rode on in from Buffalo, NY, the home of hot wings,
blizzards, and crushing athletic disappointment, and he’s crazy excited to be part of the KLL team
and here with YOU on this website!! Chris has been very lucky to be part of some great regional
theatre: Othello (Cassio), A Man of No Importance (Robbie Fay), Urinetown
(Bobby Strong), Angels in America (Joe Pitt), Casey: Play Ball! (Casey), Smokey Joe’s Café,
The Full Monty, And the World Goes ‘Round - The Songs of Kander and Ebb. He recently
received his Music Theatre BFA from the University at Buffalo (Magna Cum Laude). Much love for
the people, past, present & future that put thoughts in my head and love in my heart. Mom, Dad,
Ali - for you. And you, the one staring at your monitor, COME ON AND SEE OUR AWESOME SHOW!
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Raisa Ellingson* (Trisha):
Raisa Ellingson is thrilled to be a part of this hilarious show! She just finished up
The Full Monty at Northern Stage in Vermont. Before that she toured the country
with the 1st National Tour of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Whistle Down the Wind,
and before that she toured Asia with SpongeBob Squarepants Live! Raisa holds a
BFA in Music Theatre from Viterbo University. Thanks to all!
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Philip Mutz* (Josh, Author, Producer):
Kidnapping Laura Linney is the first of Philip’s full length plays to be
produced. Producer credits include: This is Our Youth and A Devil
Inside at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. In addition to being a playwright
and producer, he is an actor, having most recently spent three seasons with the
Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Other recent acting credits include: A
Midsummer Night’s Dream and Accidental Death of an Anarchist with
Burning Coal Theatre Company, Taming of the Shrew and Lysistrata
with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and Arcadia and Burn This with Stella
Adler Studios. Philip holds a B.F.A. in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts,
where he studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and the Experimental Theater
Wing.
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Alley Scott (Carla):
A graduate of Franklin and Marshall College in PA, Alley is not only cute, talented,
fluent in Swedish, cute, and an avid horseback rider, but she is also TOTALLY cute.
Recent NYC credits include Mourning Becomes Eliza (Merchant's House), Jon Katzberg and
The Garden Party (Oracle Theatre). Alley is also pretty sure she knows who Laura Linney is.
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*denotes membership in Actors' Equity Association
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Brains Behind the Kidnapping
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Nadia Wahhab (Director):
Nadia is a graduate of Viterbo University with a BFA in Musical Theatre. She has
directed both at Viterbo and in New York City. She is best known for her original
one-woman comedy show, Summer and Eve, in which she and her guitar perform
inappropriate folk music. She has been quoted as calling herself “very funny”.
Nadia is a member of AEA.
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Ashley Kosier (Stage Manager):
New York: PROVIDENCE (Roy Arias Studios), CUTMAN: A BOXING MUSICAL (BannerNY at
NYMF ’07), ON THE VERGE (20% Theatre Company), CLINICALLY NEGATIVE: A VIRAL
COMEDY (Manhattan Theatre Source), the workshop of KIDNAPPING LAURA LINNEY
(Stella Adler Studios), INVISIBLE MESSAGES (Proto-Type Theatre at PS 122), THE
ADVENTURES OF MARGARET THE BRAVE (Lady Cavalier Theatre Company). National Tour:
ENCORE!! (Chamber Theatre Productions). Regional: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, STEEL
MAGNOLIAS, JOSEPH…DREAMCOAT (Weathervane Playhouse, OH), LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS,
PRIVATE LIVES, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, MY FAIR LADY (Northern Stage, VT).
Connecticut College, BA in Theatre and Zoology.
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Ken Urso (Producer):
While we are all deeply saddened that Ken is no longer with us, we certainly remember
him in spirit. His generosity, creativity, and fake tan will not soon be forgotten.
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Ben Horner (Sound Designer):
Ben has created sound designs for many of his directorial ventures such as Much
Ado About Nothing and Pounding Nails… as well as Closer, The
Country Club, and The Macbeth Dinner Scene. Ben has most recently
worked with Adam Rapp at the Flea Theater and Richard Foreman at the Ontological.
He has a BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
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Scott Needham (Lighting Designer):
Scott Needham’s most recent lighting designs include the Rodney Graham Band at Henry
Street Settlement, Mid-Summer’s Night Dream and Children’s Hour at
The Chapin School, Voice 4 Vision’s 2007 Puppet Festival, Five Women Wearing the
Same Dress at Shetler Studios, Boycott at The Arclight Theater, Help
Yourself at Williamstown Theater Festival, Tea House with H.T. Chen and
Dancers, and the International WOW Company’s production of You Belong to Me.
Scott has assisted lighting designers such as Howell Binkley, Marcus Doshi, Frances
Aronson, and Ed McCarthy. Last summer he was an Associate Lighting Supervisor at
the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
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Eva Blank (Costume Designer):
Eva hails from Santa Cruz, California where she was costume designer on more than
a dozen shows at UCSC and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. She has also been assistant
costume designer for the Atlantic Theatre Company, the Keen Company, and the
Barrow Street Theatre here in New York.
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Brian Cheng (Web Design):
Brian studied a little bit of web design at NYU where he also received a BFA in
Drama from the Tisch School of the Arts. He served as Webmaster to Tisch’s only long-form
performing improv troupe Vorp’m Improv for 3 years. He can currently be seen on the web
series, "The All For Nots," at www.theallfornots.com.
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Laura Linney (Celebrity/Conversation Piece/Subject Matter of this Play):
NOTE: Ms. Linney has no connection to this piece whatsoever, but she will certainly
be invited. Laura Linney was born in New York City on February 5, 1964, into a
theatre family. Her father is the prominent playwright Romulus Linney. She graduated
from Brown University in 1986 and studied acting at Julliard and the Arts Theatre
School in Moscow and, thereafter, embarked on a career on the Broadway stage
receiving favorable notices for her work in such plays as "Hedda Gabler" and
"Six Degrees of Separation".
Linney's film career began in the early 1990s with small roles in Lorenzo's Oil
(1992) and Dave (1993). Always a strong performer, Linney truly came into her own
after 2000, starting the decade auspiciously with her widely-praised, arguably
flawless performance in You Can Count on Me (2000). She found herself nominated for
an Academy Award for this, her first lead role, for which her salary had been
$10,000. Linney won numerous critics' awards for her role as Sammy, a single mother
whose life is complicated by a new boss and the arrival in town of her aimless
brother. Since then, Linney has frequently been offered challenging dramatic roles,
and always rises to the occasion, such as in Mystic River (2003), in which she worked
again with Clint Eastwood, and Kinsey (2004), for which she received another Academy
Award nomination. Linney is divorced and lives in Connecticut. Although her career
now focuses on movies, she continues to appear on the Broadway stage on occasion.
(courtesy of www.imdb.com)
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Actors' Equity Association (AEA):
founded in 1913, represents more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the United States.
Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component
of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of
benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated
with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark
of excellence. http://www.actorsequity.org
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