Adrian (he/him/his) is originally from the Bronx, New York and moved to Cincinnati for ETC’s Professional Acting Apprenticeship. He is beyond grateful for this opportunity to shine, to grow and to collaborate with such dope artists! Some favorite credits include Laertes in Hamlet and Chino in West Side Story. Catch his professional debut this summer as Malvolio and Antonio in Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s production of Twelfth Night, bringing the classic to a park near you! Keep up with him on Instagram @adriandevaughn.

Christian is a recent music and theatre graduate from Xavier University and a current member of Ensemble Theatre’s Professional Acting Apprentice Program. His favorite credits include acting in Company, directed by Pamela Myers, and Romeo and Juliet, directed by Craig Wesley Divino, and composing for ANTIGONE (born against.), directed by the late Ed Stern. In his spare time, he enjoys writing music, making his friends laugh, and learning to cook.

Rachel was last seen as Aristotle the Crow in Cinderella at Ensemble Theatre, where she has also understudied Letter Writer #2 in Tiny Beautiful Things, Ariel in Queen, Cinderella in Cinderella, and Laurie in Pipeline as part of this season’s Professional Acting Apprentice Program. Other credits include Silent Scream (Rachel Lockwood), The Carnegie; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Maggie), The Virtual Theatre; The Days of ’98 Show with Soapy Smith (Alice/Belle) in Skagway, Alaska; and Young Frankenstein (Elizabeth Benning), The Covedale Center. A Cincinnati native, Rachel earned her BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Evansville.

Malyssa Quinn (she/her) received a BA in Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas in Austin. A year ago, Quinn migrated to Cincinnati to join ETC’s Professional Acting Apprentice Program, where she was seen as Nina in Stupid F**king Bird. Other credits include Kayla in Letters from Camp Shrewd with Shrewd Productions and Gila in La Pastorela with Teatro Vivo. Most recently you can find Quinn at Kings Island as Kid Clever, along with the rest of the Costume Council, searching for the best dressed in the park.

Breauna (she/her/hers) is a current Professional Acting Apprentice at ETC, and studied Theatre at Central Connecticut State University, where she received a BFA. Some of her previous credits include Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest, and Mrs. Bumbrake in Peter and the Starcatcher. Keep up with Breauna on Instagram: @breavna.

Randolph recently graduated from NKU with a BFA Degree in Acting. He is so excited to work with ETC after having witnessed the 2019 production of Fun Home. The production blew him away and filled him with excited electricity. He was humbled by the sheer talent portrayed on the stage. His mission as an actor is to inspire and encourage fellow artists/artists with potential to pursue their dream, to find their own electricity, and to feel the power of their own imagination flow through them. 

Aiden is excited to return to Ensemble Theatre having been a member of the Professional Acting Apprentice Program during the 2019-2020 season! He would like to thank everyone at Ensemble Theatre, Darnell for being such an open and loving director, and especially the apprentices for welcoming him into their cast! He would also like to thank his family and his wonderful boyfriend, Noah.

Darnell Pierre Benjamin (he/him)i s a creative, educator, and community builder from Southern Louisiana. He earned his MFA from the University of Houston’s Professional Actor Training Program. Darnell’s work lives at the intersection of art and activism, which is apparent in his  film 13^th & Republic, found at 13thandrepublic.com. He was last seen at Ensemble Theatre in The Dancing Princesses and Cinderella. Some of his other recent credits include Wrecking Ball and The Importance of Being Earnest with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Darnell is also a professor in the arts programs at Northern Kentucky University, Xavier University, and the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. He is a certified educator and performer in the Michael Chekhov Technique and is also a recipient of Cincinnati’s ArtsWave 2020 and 2021 “Truth & Reconciliation” grants.

Rae Kuhn is in their fifth season at Ensemble Theatre. Rae graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Multidisciplinary degree focusing on fine arts, creative writing, and neuropsychology; however, technical theatre has been a hobby since high school. Rae is a former scenic artist for 3DX, and has worked in stage management, sound engineering, and special effects makeup for organizations including New Edgecliff Theatre, Falcon Theatre, and Cincinnati Landmark Productions. Rae began painting backdrops for ETC’s Education Department, which led to their current position at ETC, where their favorite credits are Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Bloomsday, and When We Were Young and Unafraid.

Brian c. Mehring (he/him) has designed more than 100 productions at Ensemble Theatre. His favorite productions include Thom Pain (based on nothing), Next to Normal, 33 Variations, Freud’s Last Session, and I Am My Own Wife. Mr. Mehring’s regional favorites for set design include The Last 5 Years and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Henry IV, Part 1, The Georgia Shakespeare Festival; and I Am My Own Wife, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Peterborough Players, and Florida Studio Theatre.

Brooke Arthur (she/her) is Ensemble Theatre’s Costume Supervisor. Her past design credits include Stupid F**king Bird, Ensemble Theatre; Fidelio, Queen City Opera; and Twelfth Night, Every Brilliant Thing, and Bulletproof Backpack, Florida Repertory Theatre. She has worked in varying costume roles with Florida Repertory Theatre, Arizona Opera, Tuacahn Center for the Arts, Shakespeare & Co., and Illinois Shakespeare Festival. She is a graduate from the University of Cincinnati- College Conservatory of Music.

Steve Goers is thrilled to return as music director at Ensemble Theatre, where some of his credits include Fun Home, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, and Grey Gardens as conductor and keyboardist. He is a member of the musical theatre faculty at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and has worked locally with theatres throughout the region, including Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, The Carnegie, Cincinnati Landmark Productions, and NKU. Steve has composed numerous works for a variety of media, including ten feature film scores and twenty internationally produced musicals for young audiences. He has toured the U.S. and Africa with productions of Barnum, Jersey Boys, and Bubbling Brown Sugar and was featured as pianist and session producer on the album Ella Jenkins and a Union of Friends Pulling Together, which received a Grammy nomination for best children’s album. When not doing shows, Steve is a keyboardist and vocalist in several local bands including the Clyde Brown Band, the Ultrasonics, Aja: A Tribute to Steely Dan, and Just Strange Brothers. He is a graduate of the DePaul University School of Music and UC-CCM.

Shannon Rae Lutz  (she/her) earned her Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music in 1996 and became Properties Master at Ensemble Theatre. Trained as a performer, she first appeared on ETC’s stage during the 1988-1989 New Works Festival. In 1991, she was granted an ETC internship. Now the Director of Apprentice Programming, she is honored to guide ETC’s essential ensemble: The Professional Acting Apprentice Company. Shannon would like to thank D. Lynn Meyers, Ruth Sawyer, and the Cincinnati theatre community and patrons for their generous, supportive, and tenacious spirit.

Erin Carr is currently working as a professional actor, physical theatre creator & movement coach out of Cincinnati, OH. She has studied physical theatre at NYU-Tisch’s Experimental Theatre Wing, ArtsOasis – International Residency for Performers in Italy, Acrobatics of the Heart in MA, among other programs throughout the states.

She works as a teaching artist, director of educational theatre, and advanced physical theatre practitioner with multiple theatre companies in the tri-state area, along with working as a Body Language Consultant focusing on kinesthetics and non-verbal communication.

Jack Murphy (he/him) grew up in the Cincinnati area and studied technical theatre at Hanover College. While there, he spent his summers at several different summer stock theatres including Georgia Shakespeare Company and the Brevard Music Center’s Janiec Opera Company as a carpenter. After graduation, he moved to Bellport, NY to work for The Gateway Playhouse as a carpenter and rigger, and he went on to work for Norwegian Cruise Line. After another summer at the Janiec Opera Company, he came full circle and returned home to Cincinnati. Jack is eager to continue to do the cutting edge work ETC is known for and has enjoyed working on such productions as An Iliad, Grounded, and The Humans.

Char (they/them) makes their Ensemble Theatre debut as the stage manager for Stupid F**ing Bird. Previous credits include The Twunny Fo’, Know Theatre of Cincinnati; Li’l Abner, Kincaid Regional Theatre; and several productions as a student, producer, stage manager, and sound/light operator for Northern Kentucky University’s Henry Konstantinow Studio Series. Originally based in Versailles, Kentucky, they were trained through Woodford Theatre’s Young Artists Program and the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts prior to receiving a BFA from NKU in 2021. Char is excited to be facilitating this production and seeing that these great stories keep getting told.