Paradise Blue Bios
Creative Team
Dominique Morisseau
Playwright
Dominique Morisseau is the author of The Detroit Project (A 3-Play Cycle), which includes the following plays: Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company), Paradise Blue (Signature Theatre), and Detroit ’67 (Public Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem and NBT). Additional plays include: Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theatre), Sunset Baby (LAByrinth Theatre); Blood at the Root (National Black Theatre) and Follow Me To Nellie’s (Premiere Stages). She is also the Tony-nominated book writer on the new Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations (Imperial Theatre).
Dominique is alumna of The Public Theater Emerging Writer’s Group, Women’s Project Lab and Lark Playwrights Workshop, and has developed work at Sundance Lab, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference. She most recently served as Co-Producer on the Showtime series Shameless (3 seasons).
Additional awards include: Spirit of Detroit Award, PoNY Fellowship, Sky-Cooper Prize, TEER Trailblazer Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Audelco Awards, NBFT August Wilson Playwriting Award, Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, Obie Award (2), Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, Variety’s Women of Impact for 2017-18, and a recent MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow.
Lou Bellamy†
He/Him
Director
Maruti Evans⦿
He/Him
Scenic Designer
Maruti Evans (Set Designer) – Fat Ham (Broadway + Public Theater), Good Bones (Public Theater), Angels in America (Arena Stage), Real Enemies (BAM), Else Where (BAM), At the Wedding (Lincoln Center Theatre), Daphne (Lincoln Center Theater), Kill Move Paradise (National Black Theater), Amani (National Black Theater), and The Ring Cycle (Opera Australia). Awards and nominations: Drama Desk Sam Norkin Award for Tiny Dynamite and The Pilo Family Circus, Fat Ham (Ensemble and Creative Team Obie Award). Nominations: Peculiar Patriot (Drama Desk), Kill Move Paradise (Drama Desk + Henry Hewes Design Awards), Deliverance (Drama Desk), In the Heat of the Night (Drama Desk), Slaughterhouse 5 (Drama Desk), Blindness (Drama Desk), and Amani (Henry Hewes Design Award).
Wanda Walden
She/Her
Costume Designer
Wanda is an award winning Costume Designer for over 35 years. In 1981 Wanda created a new concept “Retro-Spect Productions ” A Theatrical Modeling Company. Stepping back into the past and reminiscing yesteryear through A Potpourri of Fashion, music and Dance. In 1985 Wanda launched an exciting career in Acting and Costuming. The rest is “LA History” Portland Playhouse: Pipeline, Crowns, How I Learned What I Learned; Profile Theatre: The Oldest Profession, Mother Courage, Ruined, Fires in the Mirror, The Secretaries; ART: Skeleton Crew, We Are Proud to Present, It’s a Wonderful Life, An Octaroon; OCT: The Journal of Ben Uchida; In This Corner, Cassius Clay. Media Rites/Coho: Brothers Paranormal. Vanport Mosaic: Soul’d, Martha Bakes, Left Hook, Cottonwood in the Flood; Passin Art Theatre: Black Nativity, Two Trains Running, The Gospel of Loving Kindness.
Maia Denzler^
She/They
Costume Assistant/Wardrobe Run Crew
Maia Denzler is a costume and textile artist based in the Portland Metro area. They began working with the Playhouse as a member of the Apprentice Company and recently returned to Portland after completing their MA studies in Costume Making at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in Liverpool, England. Recent credits include [BLANK] (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts), Matilda, Passing Strange, A Christmas Carol (Portland Playhouse), Moving Stories, and Secret Stories (NW Dance Project). Their performance and textile art installation work includes The Born Project, and the Bumbershoot Festival Fashion Show and Dance Performance under designer Fuchsia Lin. They also do commissions for gender affirming garments. Website: maiadenzler.com.
Miranda Hardy
She/Her
Lighting Designer
Miranda k Hardy is a designer with a passion for space & time. Previously for Portland Playhouse: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, What I Learned in Paris, No Candy, The Piano Lesson; and AT the Playhouse: A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff with Boom Arts and Fronteriza with PETE. A career in NYC and on tour led to settling in Portland with her family where she has made work with PETE, Portland Center Stage, ART, the August Wilson Red Door Project, Alicia Jo Rabins, OCT, Profile Theater, and Theatre Diaspora. She looks forward to new artistic collaborations and treasures ongoing relationships. Miranda is a PETE (Portland Experimental Theater Ensemble) company member and currently teaches design at Lewis & Clark College. Her work has been seen nationally and internationally focusing on the New and Experimental while staying grounded in the generally possible impossible. CalArts/NYC/PDX. Gratitude.
Gregory Robinson
He/Him
Soudnd Designer
Gregory Robinson’s (AKA GregRobinsong’s) creative works have been featured in local, regional, and national radio and television advertising; short film; documentaries; and theatre. Featured also in an Emmy Award winning documentary, an HBO Special, and has been recognized by the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle, with the ‘Excellence in Theatre Award’ for Water By The Spoonful, and nominations for Proof, Two Trains Running, and King James… This is Gregory’s Portland Playhouse Debut. He’s recently Designed Sound & Composed Music for: Paradise Blue (Penumbra Theatre); Two Trains Running (Hartford Stage); King James (TheatreWorks); Wine In The Wilderness (Penumbra Theatre); Every Brilliant Thing (Center Stage Rep); Re-Memori (Penumbra Theatre); Two Trains Running (Marin Theatre Company); Designed Sound for: Salt/City/Blues (Syracuse Stage); Fannie, The Music And Life Of Fannie Lou Hamer (TheatreWorks); Composed Music for: Paradise Blue (Aurora Theatre).
David Levine*
He/Him
Stage Manager
David Levine is a lifelong Portlander and former teacher who comes from a long line of educators-turned-actors, dating back to 1950’s summer camp in the Catskills. Recent stage manager credits include: Thurgood at Cleveland Play House; Evolve with The Red Door Project; Samsara at Profile Theatre; and Amélie and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at Portland Playhouse.
Kristen Mun
She/Her
Fight & Intimacy Coordinator
Kristen Mun-Van Noy (she/her) was born and raised on the island of Oahu. Since 2012 she has been working as a fight choreographer and teacher in the city of Portland, OR. She owes her training to Dueling Arts International and her time as assistant fight choreographer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (09-10) with resident Fight Director U. Jonathan Toppo. She has received her intimacy training from Theatrical Intimacy Educators and IDC Professionals. Recent intimacy and fight work include 12th Night with PCS, POTUS with Anonymous Theatre, and Witch with Profile Theatre.
Dylan Nebeker^
They/Them
Properties Coordinator & Assistant Carpenter
Kencess Polidor
She/Her
Assistant Stage Manager
Kencess Polidor is an emerging artist based in Portland, OR. A graduate of The City College of New York with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in Theater, Kencess is currently gaining hands on experience as an Assistant Stage Manager with Paradise Blue at Portland Playhouse. Kencess is deeply passionate about storytelling and creative collaboration, and looks forward to contributing to Portland’s vibrant theatre community.
John Armour
He/Him
Armorer/Weapons
Noah Simpson
He/Him
Trumpet/Music Consultant
Pancho Savery
He/Him
Dramaturg
Keela Johnson
She/Her
Dramaturg
Keela Johnson (she/her) is a cultural consultant who has dedicated over eight years to working with Portland Playhouse and impacting the community. Her work on numerous productions has created spaces of confidence, accountability, cultural understanding, and connectivity. Inspired by her work with PPH, Keela established a Capstone Course at Portland State University, where she is an instructor. The course is titled Community Healing and Theater. Keela also develops activities to foster connection and resolve conflict, facilitating TalkBacks with the audience and artists. She aims to provide spaces of connectivity and community, encouraging everyone to strive for loving-kindness and empathy. She believes that the arts are a platform for illuminating the human experience and fostering connections of the human spirit. According to Keela, we own our stories, which enable us to connect, and we have the right to share them without apology.
Thyra Hartshorn
She/Her
Director of Production
Brent Hall
He/Him
Head Carpenter
Joshua Yoon
He/Him
Head Electrician
Saibi Khalsa
She/Her
Sound & Video Engineer
Cast
Netty McKenzie^
She/Her
Pumpkin
Netty McKenzie is thrilled to bring the role of Pumpkin to life with this amazing cast and crew! A Portland native, Netty is a singer and actor whose recent stage credits include At The Root (Portland Revels), Matilda the Musical (Portland Playhouse), and PUSH… (CoHo Theatre). She is a graduate of Portland State University, where she earned her B.S. in Theater Arts. Beyond the stage, Netty embraces her most cherished role as mama to two energetic toddlers, ages 2 and 4. She is endlessly grateful to her family for their encouragement and to the incredible community of Black women whose wisdom, guidance, and love continue to shape her journey. Netty lovingly dedicates this performance to her grandmother, Annette Steele, a survivor of domestic violence, whose resilience and strength inspire her daily. She hopes you all lean in and enjoy the show!
Mikell Sapp*
He/Him
Blue
Mikell Sapp is from Phenix City, AL, and a proud graduate of Alabama State University. He is making his acting debut in Oregon and at Portland Playhouse. Selected theatre credits include: Pussy Valley (Mixed Blood), The Snowy Day (Children’s Theatre Company), Charlie Black (Pillsbury), Skeleton Crew (Guthrie), Broke-Ology (Pillsbury), The Ballad of Emmett Till (Penumbra), The Agitators (Park Square), Hot Asian Doctor Husband (Theater Mu), and Paradise Blue (Penumbra). He is blessed and grateful for the opportunity to be here and share his talents with the audience at Portland Playhouse.
Lester Purry*
He/Him
Corn (AKA Cornelius)
Lester Purry is a highly acclaimed figure in the theatre world, celebrated for his commanding presence and versatile performances. With a career spanning four decades, he has appeared at renowned theatres including Penumbra Theatre, Geva Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, and South Coast Repertory. Known for his natural gravitas, Purry has taken on a wide range of roles, including Othello in the Guthrie Theatre’s national tour, Troy in Fences, Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Marvel Thunder in Thunder Knocking on the Door, Cutler in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.
He has also brought depth to August Wilson’s work, performing in eight of the ten plays in Wilson’s Century Cycle. His portrayals include Lymon in The Piano Lesson, Hambone in Two Trains Running, Cory in Fences, King Hedley in King Hedley II, Floyd in Seven Guitars, and Bynum in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
Purry’s solo work includes Thurgood and How I Learned What I Learned at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He consistently leaves audiences fully immersed in his characters, compelling them to carry the theatre experience with them long after the curtain falls.
La'Tevin Alexander*^
He/Him
P-Sam (AKA Percussion Sam) u/s Blue
Greetings all, I bid thee welcome near,
To revel in this time of mirth and play.
Another tale unfolds with voices clear,
A Playhouse gem to charm thy cares away.
As Herald Loomis in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,
I bore the scars of time and soul’s unrest.
Then as Rashad in The Light, I sought anon,
To right the wrongs that dwelt within my chest.
In cinema, I soon shall grace the screen,
Outdoor School—a tale both fresh and true.
Anon I don the cloak of Scrooge the Mean,
In A Christmas Carol, known and loved by you.
Now under Lou’s fine helm for show the fifth,
We dance through ghosts and jazz in Paradise Blue—come drift.
Cycerli Ash*
She/Her
Silver
Tyharra Cozier
He/Him
u/s Pumpkin & Silver
Trent L. Berry
He/Him
u/s Corn
Trent L. Berry is a Portland native who grew up in north/northeast Portland in the 80’s & 90’s. The first time he performed on stage was at the age of 13 years old when he landed a role in what was considered then the performing arts school of Portland, Jefferson High School. From there he worked with Project Action as an actor on a PSA & a facilitator of AIDS/HIV resources & safe sex resources to high school students.
In the 2000’s, Trent started a career with Union Pacific Railroad where he worked for 24 years. A father of two kids, is now taking the next step in life & hopefully acting will play a major part in it. Trent is also a writer & sings. If you’d like to connect you can reach him on Facebook.
Marcus Lattimore
He/Him
u/s P-Sam
Marcus Lattimore is a former Collegiate Football All-American and NFL running back for the San Francisco 49ers. After being inducted into the Southeastern Conference Legends class of 2023, Marcus transitioned from the gridiron to the stage, where he found a new voice as a Grand Slam Champion Poet, narrator, and voice actor.
Now based in Portland, Oregon, Marcus is a celebrated spoken word artist and creative writing teacher. In 2024, he earned the title of Grand Slam Poetry Champion, going on to represent Oregon at the national level. Offstage, Marcus finds inspiration in the great outdoors and enjoys exploring the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Miranda.
* appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association
^ former Portland Playhouse Apprentice Company Member
† member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society
⦿ member of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE
