Birthday Candles will take audiences on a magical journey with Ernestine Ashworth, from birthday to birthday, as she bakes a life. This world premiere by internationally acclaimed playwright Noah Haidle was commissioned by Detroit Public Theatre.
Birthday Candles
Birthday Candles will take audiences on a magical journey with Ernestine Ashworth, from birthday to birthday, as she bakes a life.
Birthday Candles will take audiences on a magical journey with Ernestine Ashworth, from birthday to birthday, as she bakes a life. This world premiere by internationally acclaimed playwright Noah Haidle was commissioned by Detroit Public Theatre.
Meet The Cast
Claire Karpen
Ernestine Ashworth
Broadway: Sylvia. Off-Broadway: Into the Woods (Roundabout/Fiasco); The Heir Apparent (Classic Stage Company); Jack (59E59); At the Table (HERE Arts/Fault Line). Regional: Into the Woods (Old Globe, McCarter); Bedroom Farce (Westport Country Playhouse); Richard III, Much Ado, Tempest, Comedy of Errors (Trinity Rep); The 60’s Project (Goodspeed); The Last Five Years (Stamford Center for the Arts). Directing: The Woodsman (New World Stages, 59E59); A Soldier’s Tale (Chautauqua); Henry IV, Part I, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, A Little Night Music, Trelawney of the Wells, Actor Presentations (Juilliard). Training: Juilliard. www.clairekarpen.com
Hallie Bee Bard
Alice, Madeline, Sarah, Ernie
Most recently, Hallie was seen at Detroit Public Theatre in the world premiere of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle. Other recent credits: Gretchen (Boeing Boeing), Hallie Jackson (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) here at Tipping Point Theatre, and Olivia (Sex With Strangers) at Detroit Public. Hallie earned her BA from Alma College, was a Purple Rose Theatre apprentice, and is grateful to be able to quilt together an artistic life in her home state of Michigan. Hallie is a Reiki Master and mama to 3 of the most marvelous firecrackers on the planet.
Dani Cochrane
Donna, Joan, Alex, Beth
Dani is thrilled to be returning to the DPT stage! She was last seen in the world premiere of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle. Other recent credits include: Kayleen in Gruesome Playground Injuries with Kickshaw Theatre, Gloria in Boeing Boeing at Tipping Point Theatre and Kat in Mom’s Gift at Meadow Brook Theatre for which she received an Andes Award. She holds an MFA in Acting from the Hilberry Repertory Program at Wayne State University, has studied abroad at the Moscow Art Theatre School, and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity. When not on stage, Dani works in film, commercial, and voice over. This season she also made her directorial debut with The Miss Firecracker Contest at Tipping Point Theatre. She wants to thank her husband and daughter for always helping her keep a sense of play in everything she does, all the wonderful folks at DPT for this amazing opportunity, and you, for enjoying local theatre!
Chris Corporandy
Billy, John
Chris was most recently seen in DPT’s productions of Birthday Candles as well as Dot. A graduate of the Hilberry Repertory Theater at Wayne State Univeristy (Translations, Side Man, The Master Builder), Chris has worked regionally in Buffalo; Atlanta, at Actors’ Express (recipient of the Suzi Bass Award for Supporting Actor, The Judas Kiss); Minneapolis; San Francisco; in New York (Cherry Lane, The Public, ARS Nova); and Chautauqua Theater Company . Chris also works extensively as a voice, speech, and dialect coach (DPT, Tipping Point Theatre, Hilberry Theatre, Alliance Theater, Chautauqua Theater Co) and is on faculty at Wayne State University and College for Creative Studies. BFA Acting -NYU/Tisch, MFA Acting – WSU/Hilberry, Moscow Art Theatre School, Trinity College Dublin. Certified Teacher/Coach of Knight-Thompson Speech Work. Member of Actors’ Equity, SAG-AFTRA, and VASTA
Michael Brian Ogden
Matt
Michael is super excited to be returning to the DPT stage, especially with such an incredible cast! Many thanks to the ladies of DPT for putting together an unparalleled group of collaborators, and many more thanks to the ladies of his life—Lily and Steph—without whom he would be an absolute garbage person
Daniel Pearce
Kenneth
Broadway: Machinal, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Off-Broadway: Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Ping Pong, Henry V (twice), Henry VI, Measure for Measure, Loves’ Fire (Public), The Most Deserving (Women’s Project), Falling (Minetta Lane), Passion Play (Epic), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Irish Rep), among others. Regional: Blood and Gifts (La Jolla Playhouse), Ctrl+Alt+Delete (George St), Underneath the Lintel (Geva), among others. International: Loves’ Fire (Barbican Centre, London). Film/TV: Murder of a President, Salt, Clowns, Godzilla, “Law & Order (all varieties),” “Chapelle’s Show,” “Damages,” “Queens Supreme.” MFA from NYU. 2017 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow.
Meet The Creative Team
Noah Haidle
Playwright
Noah Haidle is a playwright and screenwriter whose work has been produced off- Broadway, regionally, and around the world. His most recent play, Everything Beautiful, premiered last October at Munich’s Residenz Theater, and he is currently the playwright in residence of the National Theater of Mannheim, a position first held by Friedrich Schiller.
His plays are published by Methuen in London, Suhrkamp in Berlin, Nordiska in Copenhagen, and in New York by Dramatists Play Service and Overlook Press. He was a proud resident of Detroit for four years before moving to Los Angeles with his wife and pet bunnies to write on Showtime’s upcoming series ‘Kidding,’ starring Jim Carrey and directed by Michel Gondry, and to develop a series set in Detroit for HBO. Haidle is a graduate of Princeton University and The Juilliard School, where he was a three-time winner of Lincoln Center’s Le Compte du Nuoy award.
Vivienne Benesch
Director
Vivienne is in her second season as a company member and Producing Artistic Director at PlayMakers Repertory Company. For 12 seasons, she served as Artistic Director of the renowned Chautauqua Theater Company and Conservatory, presiding over the company’s transformation into one of the best summer theatres and most competitive summer training programs in the country. She directed over fifteen productions at CTC, including an acclaimed re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet featuring the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Theatre, Opera, and Dance companies. She brought CTC’s production of Amadeus, performed with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and Buffalo Philharmonic, to the Virginia Arts Festival, featuring PlayMakers company member Ray Dooley. She has helmed productions of Leaving Eden, Mr. Joy, The May Queen, Three Sisters, Love Alone, RED, and In The Next Room for PlayMakers, directed extensively for The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and directed The Heidi Chronicles for Trinity Repertory Company. As an actress, Vivienne has worked on and off Broadway, in film and television, and at many of the country’s most celebrated theatres. She has appeared with Gene Wilder, Al Pacino and Blythe Danner, performed with Maggie Smith in the London revival of Edward Albee’s The Lady from Dubuque, and received an OBIE Award for her performance in Lee Blessing’s Going to St. Ives. Vivienne is a graduate of Brown University and NYU’s Graduate Acting Program. As an educator, she has directed for and served on the faculty of some of the nation’s foremost actor training programs, including The Juilliard School, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Professional Actor Training Program, Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Program and at her alma mater, NYU’s Graduate Acting Program. Vivienne also holds a BA from Brown University.
Michael Carnahan
Scenic Designer
Detroit Public Theatre—Detroit ‘67. Off-Broadway—Atlantic Theater Company: Skeleton Crew ; 59E59: I and You; Second Stage: The Happiest Song Plays Last; Signature Theatre: The Piano Lesson, The First Breeze of Summer, Life Could Be A Dream, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Three Mo’ Tenors, Pygmalion, Howie the Rookie, Brando. Tours—Cheers, Live On Stage; A Christmas Story The Musical. Regional—credits include Kennedy Center, Apollo Theater, Arena Stage, American Conservatory Theater, The Kennedy Center, McCarter Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Pasadena Playhouse, Two River Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Cape Playhouse, Cape Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Northlight Theatre, Signature Theatre, Bucks County Playhouse, Ogunquit Playhouse, Arsht Center, Musical Theatre West, San Jose Repertory, Center Rep. michaelcarnahandesign.com Instagram: carnypics Twitter: @mike_carnahan
Shelby Newport
Costume Designer
Shelby is Resident Costume Designer, department chair, and an associate professor at the University of Michigan-Flint. She received her M.F.A. from Purdue University and completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell College. Shelby recently designed costumes for the world premiere of Birthday Candles at Detroit Public Theatre. She regularly designs regionally at Tipping Point Theatre, Kickshaw Theatre, and Flint Youth Theatre, and is a Resident Artist at Purple Rose Theatre Company. Her designs have been seen internationally in London and Margate, England. Last summer, Shelby worked on a collaborative production with Detroit Public Theatre and the University of Michigan-Flint of Public Enemy: Flint. You can see more of Shelby’s work at www.shelbynewport.com.
Michaela Tanskley
Costume Design
Michaela Tanksley is a University of Michigan graduate. This is her first season with Detroit Public Theatre. U-M: Passing Strange (CD), Blood at the Root (Assoc. CD), Insurrection: Holding History (CD), Ah, Wilderness! (CD), and Henry IV Part I (ACD). Other: Water Works Theatre Company, Much Ado About Nothing (ACD),and Redhouse, I Do! I Do! (ACD).
Cecilia Durbin
Lighting Designer
At DPT: Marie and Rosetta, Murder Ballad, Sex with Strangers; Other Designs: Sense & Sensibility, Love Alone (Playmakers Rep); South Pacific (Triad Stage); Disgraced (Portland Stage Co & Hangar Theatre); The Taming of the Shrew (Chautauqua Theatre); Sex & Other Disturbances (Portland Stage Co), The Little Red Fish (NYC Children’s Theatre), All Shook Up, On Golden Pond (New London Barn Playhouse); Hyena (La MaMa, Edinburgh Fringe, United Solo [Best Lighting]); In the Blood (Theatre Horizon [Barrymore nomination]); Martyrs, Don’t Feed the Indians, Amy Surratt’s First & Last (Show) (La Mama); Stranger from Paradise (Opera Omaha); The Life Model (On the Boards); Numb (Goat in the Road Productions, JACK); Lust (HERE Arts Center); Measure for Measure (Epic Theatre Ensemble); We Are Proud to Present a Presentation…(InterAct Theatre), A Soldier’s Tale (The Bushwick Starr/The Puppet Kitchen). MFA from NYU; member USA 829. www.durbinlighting.com
Kate Hopgood
Sound Designer
Kate is a Michigan-based composer and sound designer. Her recent work has been heard at the Michigan Shakespeare Festival (garnering multiple Wilde Award nominations) and at Chicago’s Rivendell Theatre Ensemble (for the Equity, Jeff-nominated production, Wrens and The Electric Baby). In addition, Kate’s sound designs are featured in QLab 3 Show Control: Projects for Live Performances and Installations published by Focal Pres.
Pegi Marshall
Props Designer
Mother of twins, Union Scenic Designer, props artisan, set builder, scenic painter, and advocate for green and sustainable theatre practices. Once upon a time, Pegi professed to students at such places as Baltimore School for the Arts, Morgan State University, Wayne State University, University of North Carolina and California Polytechnic State University. Nowadays, she is happy to get a full night of sleep and overjoyed that her children are growing up witness to her making art for the stage with her beloved Mike James!
Skyler Tarnas
Production Assistant Stage Manager
Skyler is proud to be assisting on his fifth Detroit Public Theatre show! A playwright and Ann Arbor resident, Skyler graduated from the University of Michigan in 2017 and has been trying to make himself a useful member of the theatre community ever since. His work most recently received a staged reading at Theatre Nova’s 2019 Michigan Playwrights Festival, and you can usually catch him performing in Ann Arbor’s Shakespeare in the Arb summer shows. He will be attending Northwestern University in the fall to obtain an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage. Thanks to DPT for all the support!
