Cast & Creative Team
The Cast
Charissa Memrick (The Recruiter) is a crossover coloratura soprano whose ease between genres has landed her opportunities from playing leads in contemporary opera to belting the blues in a dive bar. A few roles she has played include The Governess in Turn of the Screw, Adele in, and Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors. Ms. Memrick holds a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance and a Masters degree in Vocal Performance & Pedagogy. Charissa’s expertise is solidified in over a decade of classical and musical theatre training. Her flexibility has led her to work in voice over, songwriting, and any theatrical role that requires some spunk! Charissa currently performs in Austin, Texas, and does a livestream of popular covers every week. Come join the fun by following Charissa on Instagram, Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok: @crossovercrrissa
Megan Rabuse (Emily Silverberg) is an award-winning actress and singer from Austin, TX. Previous theatrical work includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing with Shit-Faced Shakespeare, Now, Then, Again with Penfold Theater, Nevermore with Doctuh Mistuh Productions, Three Little Pigs and Winnie the Pooh with Zach Scott Theater, and Salome with Gale Theater Company. Ms. Rabuse holds a Bachelors of Arts in Theatre and Dance and a Bachelors of Arts in Plan II Honors from the University of Texas at Austin. By day, she moonlights as a software engineer. Thanks to Charlotte, my loud cat, for only being a little mad at me for occasionally rehearsing instead of petting her.
Nathan Clemenson (Max Silverberg) is a person of many interests. Will he ever find a set career path? Probably not. He went to school for Musical Theatre, devised many shows in Philadelphia including a trippy show with rock band Dr. Dog and Pig Iron Theatre Company called Swamp Is On, and he totally geeks out when you talk about music theory. In this chapter of his life, Nathan has been dividing his time between campy theatre, music dissection video bingeing, and training on the track and running every morning. In true ENFP fashion, Nathan will try to do it all, and you should too!!!
Robin Rothman Taylor (Isabelle Hood) is an actor/improviser from NYC by way of Philadelphia who has been sheltering with her family in Las Vegas since May. In the before times, Robin studied long-form and musical improv at UCB and Magnet Theater in NYC and now she performs weekly virtual musical improv shows with her Magnet House Team, Nightshade, on Twitch. In 2009, Robin began hosting The Magnet Musical Mixer as her brassy alter-ego, Trudy Carmichael, paving the way for her solo show, Trudy Carmichael Presents The Improvised One-Woman Show! which has received critical acclaim at dozens of comedy and cabaret venues including The Duplex, Sid Gold's, and The Kraine in NYC, and Majestic Repertory Theater in Las Vegas, and is an official selection of numerous comedy and Fringe Festivals worldwide such as The NY International Fringe Festival, Impro En Seine, Out of Bounds, Chicago Musical Improv Festival, WICF, Impro Amsterdam, The 20th Annual DCM, MN Fringe Virtual Festival, and was slated to appear in The Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2020. When she's not walking the boards as Trudy, Robin has been known to perform in scripted works, such as Aunt May in Peter, Who? (NYMF) and on TV (and Instagram) as "Christmas Carol" for WEtv's 2019 & 2020 holiday campaigns. Other than that, her husband, Sean, family, and little gray cat, Maryloo, rank way up there on the list of loves of her life!
Danielle Molly (Margot Quinn) is thrilled to be a part of this new musical. Broadway National Tour: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Madison Square Garden). Off-Broadway: Unbroken Circle with Eve Plumb, The Awesome 80s Prom, Chautauqua!. NYMF: Christmas in Hell. Select Regional: Elemeno Pea (Simone), Happy Days the Musical (Joanie), Seussical (Gertrude), High School Musical 2 (Kelsi). Danielle has completed Upright Citizens Brigade’s improv program and recently co-produced a pilot to be released in the upcoming months. Love to Zack, who opened her prop packages without questions or fear. Instagram: daniellemolly4.
Margaret Hunsicker (Danielle Michaels/ensemble) is an interactive performance specialist, improviser, actor, and all around performer, baby! Orlando, her birthplace, retains her soul. Austin, where all her friends live, commands her heart. Chicago, where she lives with her partner, two cats, and 27 indoor plants, gets the rest of the stinking carcass for now. In another life, you may have seen Margaret live on stage or experienced her frenetic and explosive teaching at the Hideout Theatre. She currently studies and occasionally performs online at The Second City in Chicago. For now, Margaret is going to be the first Zoom-prov superstar, or die trying.
Alan Blake (Marcus/Matt Jordan/Doo Wop Friend/coder/ensemble) is an improviser and comedy writer living in Chicago. He is a frequent contributor to two sketch groups, Half-Day Kindergarten and Yum Yum Sketch.
Leon Clinton (Coder/ensemble) Excited to be back in musical theater, Leon is an Austin, Texas-based, writer, comedian, actor, and singer. He has studied acting at Texas State University, standup at The Institution, improv at The New Movement, and sketch writing at Coldtowne. He currently performs weekly Zoom shows with his improv troupe, Cut To Prom.
Susannah Crowell (Jenny/Doo Wop Friend/ensemble) is a multi-hyphenate performing artist based in New York City from Austin, TX. She is currently producing musical & comedy content for digital cabaret shows, YouTube, and Patreon. She has performed with regional and local theaters like the ZACH, TexArts, Fox Den Theatre, Agni Arts, Hyde Park Theatre, City Theatre Austin, and Austin Theatre Project as well as represented characters from Amazon Prime Video’s Good Omens (Crowley) and Hulu’s A Handmaid’s Tale (Handmaid) in live activations across the country. Susannah holds an BA in Theatre and Dance from The University of Texas at Austin.
Lexi Luna (Brooke Carlson/ensemble) is so excited to be apart of “something bigger” in this new original production. She has recently perfeormed at the Sam Bass Theatre in Night Watch (Elaine Wheeler) and is a regular VJ on the 24hr KpopTV station in the Bay Area of California. She is a theatre major and is super grateful to Mallory and Alex for this opportunity.
Richard C. Jones (Jason Michaels/coder/ensemble) is ecstatic to be acting and singing in his first ever musical production. He has previous experience in film and improv as an actor. He lives in Austin and also enjoys torturing his children with musical versions of “Pass the Pepper, Please.”
Emily McDonald (ensemble) is a singer, actor, speech therapist, and mom. She’s appeared in several commercials and indie films, most recently in the experimental comedy short film, Brunch!. She can be seen performing in various comedy improv troupes in Austin, TX including My Secret Friend, M & Em, and Echo Formal Gecko. She loves to dance, travel, play piano and ukelele, and write original songs in easy-to-play chord progressions.
Johanna Paszalek (Dr. Remsen/ensemble) lives in Pflugerville, TX with her husband and three children. She studied Musical Theater at Belhaven College, and is very excited to be coming back to the (virtual) stage in this production.
Graham Snow (Anthony/Brad/coder/ensemble) is an improviser and architect living in Austin, TX. Graham has studied and performed improv for about 8 years both in Austin and NYC. He has been involved in several improv shows at the Hideout Theater, including the musical shows Hallmark Holiday Musical and Silly Love Songs. Graham also enjoys other creative endeavors like drawing and playing the violin as well as petting his two cats.
Chael Rose (HR Rep/ensemble) Chael (she/they) is pronounced "shale." She knows you weren't totally sure, wanted to clear that up right away, and doesn't hold it against you if you initially guessed one of the other seven or so possible pronunciations, but will absolutely correct you if you get it or her pronouns wrong. She has too many areas of interest for her own good and for the good of concise marketing copy, from neurobiology and astrophysics to yoga therapy and game design. In this context, though, she can be best described as an Austin-based improvisational actor/musician/comedian who occasionally ventures into the excitement and terror of actually learning and repeating lines, and is utterly delighted to be doing so now in Human Resources as the HR Rep and a member of the ensemble.
Leyla Rodriguez (Ruth/ensemble) is an actor, writer, singer, and amateur cosplayer who was born and raised in El Paso and graduated from Texas State University. She has been in a couple of student films and has appeared as an extra in TV shows and movies. When she's not playing DnD and making TikToks, she works as a dog walker and grocery shopper for the city of Austin.
Bianka Torres (Julia/Doo Wop Friend/ensemble) is thrilled to be a part of this virtual, original show that has given the opportunity to keep the arts alive with fun new music! She has performed across Texas including shows such West Side Story (Anita), Shout! The Mod Musical (Yellow Girl), Les Miserables (ensemble), In the Heights (Camila, and most recently at the Georgetown Palace Theatre in A Christmas Story (ensemble) and Sweet Charity (Frug Dancer), just to name a few. She is a performer with the adult show choir River City Pops and also serves on the board as a Fundraising Coordinator. To maintain her obsession with tacos and spoiling her cat, she is a career nanny while pursuing a degree in Social Work.
The Creative Team & Crew
Mallory Schlossberg (Book, music, lyrics, director) Mallory originated the role of four-year-old mouse Polly in Vital Theater’s Angelina Ballerina: The Very Merry Holiday Musical in 2011, and promptly started creating her own work after (no offense to the mice). Book, music, lyrics: Molly Marjorie Rosenblatt Needs a Man (And Other Stuff) (NY Fringe Festival ‘13, performances at Magnet Theater NYC ‘12-13). Music and lyrics: The Quarterlife Crisis Cabaret (The PIT NYC, 2015). Playwright: Hiding in the Girls’ Bathroom (Manhattan Repertory Theater, 2011, co-written with Andrea Niederman); Darcy Cohen’s Bat Mitzvah (staged reading at SUNY Binghamton, 2009). Storytelling/producing: REAL GIRLS (The PIT NYC, 2013-2014). Recent directing: Grand Misery (Hideout Theatre, Austin, co-directed with Margaret Hunsicker, 2019), That! Big! 80s! Musical! (Hideout Theatre, Austin, co-directed with Shay Millheiser, 2019), Big Day All Alone (Hideout Theatre, on the internet, 2020). As an improviser, she was a member of the Magnet Theater’s musical house team, The Jezebelles, from 2013-2015, has performed in many productions at The Hideout Theatre, and is one-half of the B. Iden Payne Award-nominated raunchy duo, Nice Jewish Girls. She is also a musical improv teacher at the Hideout Theatre. Her writing work has appeared on many websites, including The Cut, Glamour, and Elle, and she has created content for brands. She currently works in marketing as an editorial/voice lead, and she has a specialty in copywriting. Enormous thanks to Alex for being the ultimate creative partner. Lots of love to Sam, who has patiently listened to every revision (amongst all the other things you do). And of course, endless gratitude to the cast and crew for bringing a dream to life. I’d Give You the Galaxy.
Alexandra Smith (Music, arrangements, scoring, musical director) is beyond honored make her full-length musical debut as a musical director and composer. Smith holds a B.A. in music with a focus in voice and arts administration. She studied recording arts and song-writing with Grammy-Award nominated composer and producer Gary Powell. Smith, who has a background in piano, was an improvising pianist playing for Austin theaters such as Merlin Works Theater, The Hideout, and The Institution. She has written several award-winning original songs, including "Gravity", "Chicago,” and "Where'd You Go?,” and the lyrics and production value of "Gravity" received praise from Ben Folds. Smith wants to thank Mallory Schlossberg for such an incredible creative journey and collaboration. While Smith may have written instrumental and vocal arrangements and music, Schlossberg's melodic foundations, musical hooks, and lyrics are what made the inspiration come alive. It was such a joyous and creative process from beginning to end. Her parents, James and Kimber Smith, have all the thanks for listening to the singing, clunking, and random outbursts during the creation of this musical. Special Thanks to Heather Hawk, Greg & Betsy Ball, Jeanne Sasaki, Gary Powell, Vicky Johnson, Kimberly Jones, and Cynthia Morrow for all the musical blessings you have bestowed upon me growing up and moving forward. And of course, to her family who have been at every dance, piano, voice, improv, musical, and choral production she has ever been a part of. Your support makes everything worth it.
Kelly Hasandras (Choreographer) is a freelance choreographer and performer in Austin, TX. Since moving back to Austin 10 years ago, she has consulted and choreographed for many theater companies, dance productions, schools, and comedy clubs. She won Best Actress 2017 at the 48 Hour Film Fest and was nominated Best Dancer and Choreographer by the Austin Chronicle the same year. She is a certified DanceAbility International instructor, the co-coordinator of Totally Cool Totally Art, and stage manager for Texas Performing Arts. Kelly’s current work bridges improv comedy and improvisational dance through experiments in each form’s movement language and philosophy. www.kellyhasandras.com
Elana Schlossberg (Production stage manager) has been stage managing for 10 years. Her theatre experience includes positions at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Clubbed Thumb, SHIFT Create Dance, Menagerie d’Arte, and the NYC Fringe Festival. In her day-to-day life, Elana works in nonprofit fundraising, most recently at the 92nd Street Y.
Bean Bell (ASM/Zinn Master) is an artist from the Midwest who is happy to now call Austin, TX home. She spends her time embroidering, cross-stitching, painting and making creepy cute stuffed animals. Recently she has been performing in and directing improv shows with the Hideout Theatre and Hideout Kids.
Tosin Awofeso (Mixing and mastering engineer) has been mastering what he calls "the captive and collaborative arts" since he was 12 years old, drawn to any technical skill set or instrument that allowed him to make art and save and showcase it to others He has been a piano player for 20 years, has 16 years of digital audio production experience, 10 years of live sound experience, 5 years of musical direction, over 6 years of improv and theatre performance (on piano), and a couple of acting credits as well. In addition to that he has had careers as a photographer, software engineer, filmmaker.
Kenzie Slottow (Assistant musical director/music engraving and editing/recording production coordinator) has never gotten to bring together so many of her random skills into a single artistic project, and it is giving her life! She is a classically-trained musician with experience in product management, 12 years as a private flute instructor, and a strange love for spreadsheets and making written and video learning materials. She composes and conducts occasionally too, often combining electronics and technology with her music. It all came in handy for producing this full-length original 24-piece soundtrack remotely in less than two months! She currently takes virtual improv classes at the Hideout Theatre in Austin and Impro Theatre in Los Angeles, does tech for virtual shows and dreams of sitting in a forest grove improvising Irish flute and ocarina songs for woodland creatures. www.kenzieslottow.com
Hailey J. Strader (scenic design) is a set designer, animator, and graphic designer (among other things) living in Houston, Texas. She is currently working as a character animator for Richard Linklater’s next rotoscope film, Apollo 10 1/2. She has previously worked as a set designer and scenic painter at places like Mary Moody Northen Theater, the Alley Theatre, TexARTS, and Zilker Hillside Theater. More of her work can be found at haileyjstrader.com.
Braden Baumbach (Stream designer) is a performance technology specialist and immersive theater enthusiast who is so, SO excited to be exploring what it means to perform a live musical in the digital world! He's got years of theatrical experience both on stage and off, has done design and tech for everything from Escape Rooms to Broadway Touring Companies, and sincerely hopes you enjoy the show!
Charlotte Brown (sound) is excited to be working on Human Resources: The Musical as it is her first scripted show since high school. She is a multi-potential-ite that enjoys many creative endeavors such as improv, filmmaking, and photography. As an introvert, she has been thriving during this pandemic because of all the unique opportunities it has given her such as the ability to do improv from her apartment in Florida. Through these classes, she has found a second home at The Hideout Theatre where she has had the opportunity to do tech for online improvisational shows such as Holly Jolly Journey, #Found, Zario Party, Middle Schoolers, and The Love Circle.
Kaci Beeler (logo design) is a visual artist, improviser, playwright, and stage and film actor based out of Austin, Texas. Called a "Jill of All Trades" and a "Hextuple-Threat Artist" by The Austin Chronicle, Kaci specializes in creating custom paintings, graphics, websites, scripts, screenplays, and events throughout central Texas and worldwide. She pulls on her background, a fine arts degree (summa cum laude) and 17 years creating award-winning and boundary-pushing theatre, to help her large variety of clients see their visions come to life. Visit KaciBeeler.com to see her portfolio.