Artist Profiles

Tom Burmester

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 23:59:38 -0800

Artistic Director  
Tom Burmester is the founder and Artistic Director of The Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble. Over the past decade he has directed over 30 productions for the stage. Tom's recent productions include Kindred by Daniel Keleher, Wounded (writing and directing), Metamorphosis by Mary Zimmer, A Heavenly Blast by Rose Martula, Les Parents Terribles by Jean Cocteau, La Bete by David Hirson, and Oleanna by David Mamet. As an actor, Tom has appeared on stage in a number of roles including Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, Antipholus of Syracuse in A Comedy of Errors, The Baron in Jean Giradoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot, and the Adjutant in Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Tom earned his Master of Fine Arts in Directing from UCLA Shool of Theatre Film and Television.

Albert Meijer

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 23:55:15 -0800

Actor / Publicist 
Albert Meijer co-founded the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble and holds a theatre degree from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television. At UCLA, he performed alongside Edward James Olmos in “All About Gordon” at the Ahmanson Theater. He worked with the National Theatre of Greece in the world premiere of “Swallow Song,” by Lydia Koniordou. Recently, he has found a second home, doing three shows in three years at the Getty Villa: first, the world premiere of Anne Carson’s “Hippolytos,” next, he created the role of Bigbuxo in the hilarious musical romp “Tug of War;” and last year, he performed with illustrious British actor Henry Goodman in a retelling of Sophocle’s “Philoktetes.” Albert was seen at the Powerhouse with LA Theatre Ensemble in David Bridel’s “I Gelosi,” Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” and “The War Cycle Plays.” He was also seen at the Powerhouse in “The Contest,” which started here in PRT’s Co-op. He was last seen on stage as Sonny Boy in “The Wasps”. His TV credits include a role on everyone’s favorite show, “Hannah Montana.” Albert also co-hosts a weekly industry-focused podcast called Inside Acting. Learn more at www.insideacting.com or www.albertmeijer.com.

François-Pierre Couture

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 23:45:27 -0800

Designer/Director 
François-Pierre Couture graduated in 2002 in theatre from Concordia University of Montreal, his home town. He has now completed his graduate studies at UCLA in set and lighting design. As both lighting and set designer at UCLA, he had had the opportunity to work on several plays. His lighting design work at UCLA includes The Balcony by Jean Jeunet and Tartuffe by Molière. His scenic work at UCLA includes Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim, Tartuffe by Molière and the Hot Mikado by David H. Bell and Rob Bowman based on W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s operetta. In an effort to combine his student life with his professional carrier, François-Pierre worked with several companies including the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble, for whom he previously designed the scenery for the west coast premiere of Neil Labute’s Distance from Here. He also was the lighting designer for Melancholia, presented by the Latino Theatre Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center Edge Fest and of the world premiere of Tape 39, presented by the Three Chairs company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center Edge Fest.

Trevor Algatt

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 23:31:45 -0800

Actor

Trevor Algatt hails from Philadelphia, where he performed on stages and in found spaces throughout Philadelphia and New York. Memorable roles include PEPPY in the world-premiere play FINAL BREATH, RICHARD II in RICHARD II, OBERON and THESEUS in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, ORPHEUS in the New York-premiere of EURYDICE, BEN in the world-premiere musical BEAUTY’S ONLY SKIN DEEP, JEFF in THE SUM OF US, and LORD BYRON in Romulus Linney’s CHILDE BYRON, the latter two roles for which Trevor was nominated for the Irene Ryan Scholarship Award. Also active in voiceovers and music, Trevor holds a B.A. in Theater from the West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and couldn’t be more excited to be part of such a progressive group of talented artists.

Paige White

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 23:17:12 -0800

Actor

Paige White is thrilled to be a part of the talented Los Angeles Theater Ensemble. During her undergraduate career at the University of Alabama, she won twelve National Championships for monologues in Speech and Debate. Since moving to Los Angeles, she has graduated with her Masters in Acting from UCLA, has studied with Second City LA, Improv Olympic West and Upright Citizens Brigade, has performed at the Theatricum Botanicum, The Los Angeles Theater Center and the Met, and has had four appearances on Days of Our Lives. Her favorite roles she has had the honor to play include Mrs. Forrest from “Two Shakespearean Actors” and Maria in “Wintertime.” She would like to give a shout out to her improv team Pangaea. Her dream is to be an actor who gets paid to act. She also longs to play Hamlet one day.

Kit Steinkellner

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 23:09:14 -0800

Writer

Steinkellner is a playwright, screenwriter, and a director/producer of both theater and new media. As a playwright, Steinkellner has been produced nationally; credits include Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C, and the Hudson, Egyptian, and Powerhouse Theaters in Los Angeles. Recent playwriting awards include 2007 Tim Robbins Award for Playwriting, Kennedy Center's 2008 National Student Playwriting Award, and a 2008 Sundance Theater Lab Playwriting Fellowship. As a screenwriter, recent awards include the 2008 Jack Nicholson Distinguished Prize in Screenwriting and the 2008 UCLA Screenwriter’s Showcase (Feature Winner). Steinkellner also co-created the web series "Odyssey Years", "http://www.odyssey-years.com" www.odyssey-years.com. She and her new media partner Sarah Masson are currently developing new web series “21st Century Horror Show” with Attention Span Media Productions. Steinkellner is currently completing her MFA in Screenwriting/Television Showrunning at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television. She works in the literary departments of Reliant Pictures and Boston Court Theater.

Isaac Wade

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:59:14 -0800

Actor

Isaac Wade performed with the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble in “I Gelosi” as ‘Guilio” and in “Spring’s Awakening”. Isaac studied theater at MSSU in Missouri where he appeared as Dan in “Down the Road” and as Peter in “The Zoo Story”. Other stage credits include LeRoy in “The Bad Seed”, Albert Peterson in “Bye, Bye Birdie”, Linus in “Snoopy: The Musical”, Father Dewis in “Buried Child”, and Wally in “1940s Radio Hour”. Most recently he originated the role of Arnold in the Los Angeles premier of Nicole Hoelle’s “The Magic String”. He can currently be heard in several radio theater productions with the Tsunami Radio Theater and the Radio Free Playhouse where some of his credits include Gaius in “Pax Romana”, Blake in “The Minotaur Pact” and he also created several voices for the radio productions of “Vacant Trailers” and “Art for Sale”.

Michael Pappas

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:57:05 -0800

Actor

Michael Pappas, a native of Houston, received his MFA in Acting from UCLA, and his BFA in Theatre from Southwestern University. He is a founding member of The Austiner Ensemble, recognized by the Austin Critic’s Circle of Theatres. Most recently Michael appeared as Romeo in Romeo & Juliet at The Ricardo Montalban Theatre. He has also performed at The Geffen, Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum, and The Lewis Family Playhouse. He is an active member of Will & Co., where he tours Northern and Southern California with 7 different shows. Favorite roles include James (Summertime), Trofimov (The Cherry Orchard), Einstein (Picasso at the Lapin Agile), John (The Lion in Winter), and Hamlet (Hamlet).

Jon Redding

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:55:00 -0800

Actor / Writer / Director

Jon Redding is excited to be a part of the Los Angees Theatre Ensemble. Jon is a recent graduate of West Virginia University’s Studio Acting program, where his body of work included such roles as Gloucester in Richard III, Hamm in Endgame, and Captain James Hook in Peter Pan. Other favorite roles include Iago (Othello), Tim Mitchum (subUrbia), and Leon Czolgosz (Assassins). Jon has performed for many companies, including the Maryland Ensemble Theatre; and was a founding member of /guerrilla Theatre. Jon has also worked extensively as a playwright and director: produced plays include The American Way, Elegy, and The Second Day; produced films include Welcome to the Party, or The Morning After Pill. Other directing credits include Danny and the Deep Blue Sea for Theatre Without a Net, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for /guerrilla Theatre.

Danika Sudik

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:51:22 -0800

Actor

Danika Sudik earned her B.A. from the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television. As a teaching artist she has worked for Script to Screen with the Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival and Fresh-I-Films. She has appeared in Return to the Forbidden Planet, Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens, Salome, Treason, and A Clockwork Orange (nominated for Best Revival by LAWEEKLY) at Ark Theatre Company in Los Angeles. Other favorite roles include Sylvia in Sylvia (Best Actress at the SC East Repertory Playhouse) and Tammy in Survivor: The Musical. She’s worked in independent film in New York and Los Angeles, and The Hiding, for which she did production design and co-produced, is currently in post-production. She is thrilled to be working on her first production with the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble.

Jen Bailey

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:45:36 -0800

Actor

Jen moved from Victoria, BC to Los Angeles and graduated magna cum laude in both theatre arts and dance at Loyola Marymount University. Theatre credits include Bleed Rail with The Theatre @ Boston Court; The Runner Stumbles with The Stillspeaking Theatre; Publicityville with Calypso Productions; The Real Door with South Bay Theatre Co; Helen Keller in Miracle Worker; Hermia in A Midsummer Nights Dream; JB; The Children’s Hour; Oliver! and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Some other credits include the lead in a number of short films, lead roles in two new pilots, featured roles in Walk Hard, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and the lead in the webseries Strangler. This is Jen’s first opportunity to work with The Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble and she’s very excited!

Ariel Goldberg

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:40:40 -0800

Actor

Ariel Goldberg worked with the Ensemble as Sam in Kit Steinkellner’s Quixotic and Ross in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Previous roles include The Inspector General (the Mayor), Pantegleize (Pantagleize), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bottom) and Twelfth Night (Malvolio). Ariel is very proud to be a member of such a fine ensemble. He is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.

Melissa Collins

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:35:48 -0800

Actor

Melissa Collins graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she studied with the Atlantic Theatre Company. Some of her credits include: The Confession (Madeleine) with Atlantic’s New Works Productions, The Winter’s Tale (Hermione), and David Mamet’s Joseph Dintenfass (Claire) as well as Chimera Pictures’ The Eyes of the Panther which screened at the Hermosa Beach Shorts Festival. She was recently seen in LATE’s production of Macbeth and is thrilled to be working once again with the supremely talented cast and crew of the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble.

James W. Sudik

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:30:04 -0800

Actor / Director

James W. Sudik enjoys tinkering in all aspects (performance and production) of theatre and film, especially with his family. One proud memory was performing with his entire family in “Romeo and Juliet” on the Opera House Stage at the Kennedy Center. He has performed on television and stage across the country in musical comedies, dramas, Kabuki Theatre and Commedia d’el Arte. Over his career, he has garnered numerous nominations including the Helen Hayes Award and received two of Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson awards.

Dee Amerio Sudik

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:25:35 -0800

Actor

Dee Amerio Sudik has appeared in such prestigious theatres as The Kennedy Center and Ford’s Theatre in D.C., The Lamb’s Club Theatre in NYC, The Berkshire Theatre in Massachusetts and the Drury Lane Theatres in Chicago. As a member of The Ark Theatre Company in LA she’s had the opportunity to play a variety of roles from classics to new works. Among her favorites are Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Sister Mary in Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All for You and Madame Arcati in Blythe Spirit. But she is really in her element when playing multiple roles in such shows as Little Me, Mere Mortals and Scrambled Eggs. Hailing from a military family, with members represented in all branches of the Armed Forces, she lovingly dedicates her performance to her son Pvt. 1st Class Josef Sudik.

Corwin Evans

Sat, 1 Jan 2000 22:20:23 -0800

Sound Designer / Composer / Prop Master

Corwin Evans enjoys working in every aspect of live theatre. Originally from a series of tiny mountain towns in Colorado, his work at Western State College (B.A. '06) and surrounding environs included acting, directing (stage and video), producing (live and radio theatre), writing and design utilizing sound, show graphics and lighting. His production work in radio imaging earned two awards from the Colorado Broadcasters Association in 2004. Since moving out to LA in 2006, Corwin has had many adventures, not least of which an MFA in Sound Design from UCLA ('09). Corwin has happily worked with Cabrillo Music Theatre, Ark Theatre Company, Theatre Unleashed and a variety of small projects. His work has been heard at the Geffen Playhouse, the Los Angeles Theatre Center and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. His shows for the Ensemble include sound design for "The Heretic Mysteries" and "Survived," as well as original music for "Macbeth" (with Osma Dossani) and "Quixotic." His life goals are to create one beautiful work in every medium and to leave this world with more curiosities, magic and fun than when he entered.