Setting: Miami, Florida. 2008.
September - December.
The first Tuesday of each month.
A treehouse, almost too big to be believable.
CAST
(In order of appearance)
Lilian Rebelo
Pipe
Ashley Brooke
Zoom
Samantha Miller
Squeeze
Coral Peña
Kit
Aliyah Bella Camacho
Pipe's Little Sister
Juan Francisco Villa
Pablo F*cking Escobar
Lydia Runge, Brandon Cheng
Assistant Stage Managers
This production contains sexually suggestive language, references to suicide, and depictions of drug use, extreme physical violence, and self-harm.
WHO’S WHO
ASHLEY BROOKE (Zoom, she/her) is thrilled to be a part of Our Dear Dead Drug Lord! Ashley has enjoyed performing in the entertainment industry since a young age. Selected credits include Theatre: Doctor Zhivago Original Broadway Cast; The Sound Of Music National Tour (Louisa); and Lies My Father Told Me National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene; Television: Emmy-Nominated series A Small Light as Margot Frank (Nat Geo, Disney+, Hulu), White House Plumbers as Alexandra Liddy (HBO), New Amsterdam and The Blacklist (NBC), Bull (CBS), Bizaardvark (Disney), and The Other Two (Comedy Central); Film: Troop Zero as Piper Keller (Amazon Prime). Ashley loves to sing and majored in classical voice at Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege Program. She is currently studying film at the University of Southern California. Ashley would like to thank the casting and production team for this opportunity, as well as her amazing representatives at Moxie Artists Management (Sherry Kayne) and CESD Talent Agency (David Doan, Mallory Tucker), and her wonderful family for their ongoing love and support. Instagram: @ThatAshleyBrooke.
SAMANTHA MILLER (Squeeze, she/her) Samantha is thrilled to be making her Center Theatre Group and Kirk Douglas Theatre debut! Samantha is an actor and writer based in Los Angeles. You may have seen Samantha recently as Lil’ Mama in Stew at the Pasadena Playhouse, or previously as Margaret Dashwood and Lucy Steele in Sense & Sensibility (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Zoey in stand. Up. HIT! for the Young Playwrights Festival (The Blank Theatre), Candace in MEISNER (Playhouse West), or Glo in the regional and national tours of The Password (Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre). As an awarded playwright, Samantha’s latest work DragonSoul Offline will be published and available for licensing in late 2023. Samantha holds a BFA in Acting from Southern Oregon University. samanthawmiller.com
CORAL PEÑA (Kit, she/they) Coral Peña is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with conservatory training at Stella Adler and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She currently stars as Aleida Rosales on the Apple TV+ series For All Mankind, having recently performed at MCC Theater in BLKS, directed by Robert O’Hara. Other credits include SXSW 2023 feature premiere Story Ave, Amazon Studios’ Chemical Hearts, and Steven Spielberg’s The Post.
LILIAN REBELO (Pipe, she/her) is so excited to make her West Coast debut! Lilian is a NYC-based Latina actor, model, and theatre artist. She received her B.A. in Theatre Performance from Fordham University. Select Credits Include: The Seagull (Nina); Barricade Workshop (Beatriz); Karla, Sam, and Mel are Going Straight to Hell (Karla); We are Not the Guerilla Girls (Writer/Ensemble); and To the Bone (Lupe). She is a 2023 graduating member of INTAR’s Unit 52, where she also participated in their recent 24-Hour Play Festival. It has been a dream to bring this character and story to life through the brilliant words of Alexis Scheer. Endless thanks to my beyond-supportive family, Jesse and Yoni, Lindsay, and the entire cast and creative team for making that dream possible. lilianrebelo.com
LINDSAY ALLBAUGH(Director, she/her) Associate Artistic Director for Center Theatre Group and award-winning Los Angeles based director and producer. Recent productions: Cry It Out by Molly Smith Metzler (Best Production: Ovation Award, LADCC Award, Stage Raw Award) at the Echo Theatre Company as well as Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties by Jen Silverman at the Boston Court Theatre. Lindsay was Co-Artistic Director of the Elephant Theatre Company from 2004 – 2014, where she directed and produced many productions including 100 Saints You Should Know” by Kate Fodor, Revelation by Samuel Brett Williams, and Never Tell by James Christy. Selected CTG producing credits include — Mark Taper Forum: Slave Play, Archduke, Bent, Waiting for Godot; Kirk Douglas Theatre: Creative Producer behind Block Party, Tambo & Bones, Good Grief, Throw Me On the Burnpile and Light Me Up, Endgame, Women Laughing Alone With Salad, Chavez Ravine, different words for the same thing, The Nether.
ALEXIS SCHEER(Playwright, she/her) Alexis Scheer’s breakout play was the Off-Broadway hit Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theater/Second Stage: NYT Critics Pick, John Gassner Award; LTC Carnaval of New Latinx Work; Kilroy’s List), and she recently made her Broadway debut adapting the book for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bad Cinderella. Her other plays include Laughs In Spanish (Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, Kennedy Center’s Harold & Mimi Steinberg Award) and Christina (Roe Green Award; O’Neill Finalist). Her work has been developed at the Kennedy Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre Center, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and more. Alexis is currently under commission by Second Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, Miami New Drama, and Seaview. Television: Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (HBO Max), and projects developed for HBO Max and Salma Hayek’s Ventanarosa. Alexis is a proud alum of New World School of the Arts and holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory and MFA in Playwriting from Boston University. IG: @scheer_madness
FRANÇOIS-PIERRE COUTURE(Scenic Designer, he/him) Originally from Montréal, Canada, François-Pierre Couture has been working in Los Angeles, his adoptive home, and the United States as a scenic, lighting, and projection designer since 2006. His multifaceted and dynamic approach to his craft has given him the opportunity to work across multiple environments and venues. As a visual artist, he focusses on street pen-&-pencil sketches and mix media paintings, aiming at capturing the vibrancy and complexity of the rich, and often disjointed, layers of Los Angeles. His theatre designs include: Romeo & Juliette (Paris) L.A. Dance Project; Metamorphoses, Frankenstein, A Noise Within; The Present, The Future, Invisible Tango, Geffen Playhouse; Everything that Never Happened, With Love and Major Organ, Boston Court Theatre; Destiny of Desire, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage Theatre, South Coast Repertory and Goodman Theatre; Jackie Unveiled, Wallis Theatre; The Mexican Trilogy, an American History, Los Angeles Theatre Center; Carmen Jones, Metamorphoses, Everything is Illuminated, Ensemble Theatre Company. fpcouture.com @fpcouturedesign
ELENA FLORES(Costume Designer, she/her) Ois a Los Angeles-based costume designer & maker for theatre, TV, and film. She is a proud union member of Costume Designer’s Guild 892 and Motion Picture Costumers 705, as well as an ensemble member of Echo Theatre Company and Rogue Artists Ensemble. Recent designs include The Bottoming Process (IAMA Theatre), Righteous Thieves (feature film), 1660 Vine (feature film), and Babe (Echo Theatre Company), and she recently completed five months working as a specialty costumer on the upcoming feature RED ONE featuring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and JK Simmons. Social Media @elenafloresdesign
AZRA KING-ABADI(Lighting Designer, she/her) Recently designed the premiere production of Crabs in a Bucket with Echo Theatre and new play American Fast with Constellation Theatre. She recently designed an exciting new production of RENT with Coeurage Ensemble. Other designs include the premiere the Revenge Porn with Ammunition Theatre; Ayano with Black Bough Production; Under Milk Wood and Vendetta Chrome with Coeurage Theatre; Poor Clare and Gloria with Echo Theatre; Tea with Hero Theatre; Three Tables with Padua Playwrights; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Wet, and The Color Purple with Greenway Court Theatre; Apartment Living at the Skylight Theatre; Women Beyond Borders with Rubicon Theatre; The Ridiculous Darkness with Son of Semele; Lunatics and Actors with Four Clowns; The new opera Tres Mujeres de Jerusalén with LA Opera; La Traviata and Madama Butterfly with Opera Santa Barbara; The Barber of Seville with Opera Neo, Israel in Egypt, and Alexander’s Feast with the Los Angeles Master Chorale; Angels in America (opera) with the LA Philharmonic; Into the Woods, A Little Night Music, and Le enfant et les Sortiledges with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival; A Soldiers Tale with Hazard Productions. azrakingabadi.com
VERONIKA VOREL(Sound Designer, she/her) Veronika Vorel’s sound design credits include The Inheritance and A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill at the Geffen Playhouse, Little Shop of Horrors at Pasadena Playhouse, A Nice Indian Boy at East West Players, Zoey’s Perfect Wedding at Denver Center for the Performing Arts, as well as plays and musicals at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Ford’s Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Signature Theatre (VA), and Starlight Theatre Kansas City. Associate Sound Design: Manhattan Theatre Club, The Kennedy Center, Baltimore Center Stage, Arena Stage, and Geffen Playhouse. Outside of the theatre, she has worked with Walt Disney Imagineering as a sound designer, audio mixer, and AV engineer around the world. Training: Prague Conservatory of Music, California Institute of the Arts, Yale School of Drama.
VERONICA SOFIA BURT(Movement/Intimacy Coordinator, she/her) is an Angelena, proud to make her hometown theatrical debut with Center Theatre Group! Veronica has done intimacy work for productions at The Muny, Northern Stage, The Tank, NYMF, Williams College, Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, and USC School of Cinematic Arts. Direction and choreography credits include work with New York Theatre Workshop, Joe’s Pub, NYNW Theatre Festival, and The Bridge Production Group. As a dancer, her favorite performances include work with the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Washington National Opera, and Hammer Museum. Veronica is also a certified full spectrum doula through Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings. Proud alum of Dartmouth College and Hamilton High School. veronicaburt.com
MARCEDÉS L. CLANTON (Production Stage Manager, she/her) National tour: Into The Woods, And Peggy, Eliza Tour: Hamilton the Musical. Folgers: Merry Wives of Windsor. La Mirada: Matilda the Musical. Kirk Douglas Theatre: Rotterdam; Mutt House; Die, Mommie Die!, Tambo and Bones. CV Repertory Theatre: Good People. Garry Marshall Theatre: Laughter on the 23rd Floor, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. A Noise Within: The Madwoman of Chaillot, Ah, Wilderness!, The Maids. Selected L.A. Premieres: Sons of the Prophet, The Temperamentals, Bootycandy, Wolves, The Color Purple (musical), Leslie Jordan’s Fruit Fly, Take Me Out, [title of show].
LYDIA RUNGE(Assistant Stage Manager, she/her) Lydia Runge is thrilled to join CTG for the first time! Select credits include: Sanctuary City, Head Over Heels, The Great Leap (Pasadena Playhouse); Honky Tonk Angels (Riverside Theatre); An American in Paris, Cinderella, Grease, Ragtime (Musical Theatre West); The Little Foxes, Our Town (South Coast Repertory); Assassins, Mamma Mia, Man of God, As We Babble On, Allegiance:L.A. Premiere (East West Players); Two Mile Hollow (Artists at Play). She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse with a B.S. in Stage Management.
BRANDON CHENG(Assistant Stage Manager, he/him) Brandon is excited to help bring Our Dear Dead Drug Lord to the Kirk Douglas Theatre. He’s a San Francisco native and a graduate of CSU Long Beach, with a BA in Technical Theatre. Premiere Credits Include: The Great Leap-Pasadena Playhouse/East West Players; The Chinese Lady and 99 Histories-Artists at Play; and Interstate, Man of God, and As We Babble On-EWP. Other Credits Include: Fetch Clay, Make Man-Center Theatre Group; Tales of Clamor-PULLproject Ensemble; Into the Woods and Sanctuary City-PPST; The Brothers Paranormal, Assassins, The Sitayana, Mamma Mia!, Next to Normal, Free Outgoing, Kentucky, and La Cage Aux Folles-EWP; Allegiance-Japanese American Cultural & Community Center/EWP; Yohen-Robey Theatre Company/EWP; Grease-Musical Theatre West; The Root Beer Bandits-Garry Marshall Theatre; The Biggest Show-Young Storytellers, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom-Door Ajar Theatre; 2012-The Musical-San Francisco Mime Troupe; and Smells Like A Rat, Out of the Blue, and Conf(USED)-Youth for Asian Theater. Thanks to his family and friends for all their love and support! Enjoy the show!
JORDAN BASS(Casting Direcor, he/him) Jordan Bass is a partner in bass/casting, a bi-coastal casting company that specializes in curating strong ensemble casts across film, television, theatre, and new media. Feature credits include: Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen; Amazon’s Chemical Hearts starring Lili Reinhart and Austin Abrams; Wayfarer Studios’ Love You Anyway; Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town starring Mackenzie Davis, Carrie Coon, LaKeith Stanfield & Alia Shawkat; and A Violent Separation starring Brenton Thwaites, Gerald McRainey, Ted Levine, and Claire Holt. Other Film Credits Include: New Line’s Annabelle; Blumhouse’s Martyrs; HBO/Project Greenlight’s The Leisure Class; and Louder Than Bombs directed by Joachim Trier. TV credits include: Ghosts of Beirut (Showtime); Spartacus: Blood & Sand (Starz); Big Time Rush (Nickelodeon); Beerfest (CW Seed); Hyperlinked (YouTube/Disney); The 5th Quarter (Go90); and Vin Diesel’s The Ropes (Crackle). Recent Theatre Credits Include: Canyon (IAMA Theatre Company, KDT); The Bottoming Process (LA LGBT Center); and The Untitled Baby Play (IAMA Theatre Company/Atwater Village Theatre). Proud Union Member. basscasting.com
IAMA Theatre Company, founded in 2007, is a Los Angeles-based ensemble of artists committed to the creation and cultivation of new voices and artists that challenge boundaries and take risks, while fostering an inclusive community that inspires theater-makers of future generations. Los Angeles is one of the most diverse metropolitan areas in the world and IAMA’s work reflects the new voices and changing attitudes that continue to shape this city, state, country and world. Designated by Playbill as “one of 20 regional houses every theater lover must know,” the award-winning company has seen many plays generated at IAMA travel to off-Broadway, including to Second Stage and Playwrights Horizons, then go on to be performed regionally and internationally. IAMA members have been featured in numerous critically acclaimed TV shows and films as well as in a vast array of theater and live performances on and off-Broadway and across the country. IAMA has been dedicated to developing new plays and musicals by emerging and established playwrights, culminating in over 25 world, West Coast, and Los Angeles premieres.
CENTER THEATRE GROUP
NEEL KELLER(Associate Director, he/him) Neel has worked on the artistic staff at Center Theatre Group for twenty years. During his time here, he has directed many shows and collaborated with creative teams on the development and production of dozens of plays and musicals. He has been deeply committed to CTG’s important role as an incubator and producer of new work, helping to shepherd projects from initial conception to fully staged productions. Many of the shows he has worked on at CTG have gone on to stages throughout the country and across the world. A few of his personal highlights include Jennifer Haley’s The Nether, Dael Orlandersmith’s Until The Flood, Second City’s Twist Your Dickens, and Jessica Goldberg’s Good Thing. The memories of the shows and the people he has worked with over two decades at CTG will keep him smiling for years to come.
SNEHAL DESAI(Artistic Director, he/him) Prior to being named Center Theatre Group’s new Artistic Director, Snehal Desai was the Producing Artistic Director of East West Players, designated an American Cultural Treasure by the Ford Foundation and the nation’s largest and oldest Asian American theatre company. A Soros Fellow and the recipient of a Tanne Award, Desai was in the Inaugural Class of Theatre Communications Group’s (TCG) “Spark” Leadership Program and the Inaugural Recipient of the Drama League’s Classical Directing Fellowship. While at East West Players, Desai produced and directed the three highest grossing and most attended shows in EWP’s fifty-seven-year history including the post-Broadway premiere of Allegiance starring George Takei. During his tenure at East West Players, Desai led co-productions with Center Theatre Group, Pasadena Playhouse, Rogue Artists Ensemble, the LA LGBT Center, Robey Theater Company, The Fountain Theatre, API Rise, the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) and TAIKOPROJECT, to name a few. East West Players’ collaboration with singer/songwriter Daniel Ho was nominated for a 2022 Grammy Award. As an artistic leader, Snehal has sought to raise awareness on social issues that affect Angelenos through impactful and empowering storytelling. Desai has served on the boards of the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (Caata), Theatre Communications Group (TCG), and Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts (LFCSA). He currently serves on the board of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT); is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab; and was a literary fellow with London’s Royal Shakespeare Company. Most recently, Snehal was on the faculty of USC’s graduate program in Arts Leadership where he taught Executive Arts Leadership. He is a graduate of Emory University and the Yale School of Drama.
MEGHAN PRESSMAN (Managing Director/CEO, she/her/hers) joined Center Theatre Group in 2019. Previously, she served as Managing Director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (D.C.), Director of Development for Signature Theatre (N.Y.), and Associate Managing Director of Berkeley Rep. She is a graduate of Yale School of Drama/Yale School of Management and serves as a mentor in the Theater Management program. Meghan has served as the Vice-Chair for the Theatre Communications Group Board of Directors and is a member of the Broadway League.
NAUSICA STERGIOU (General Manager) has worked supporting artists in theatres of all shapes, sizes, and locales including Center Theatre Group as General Manager and, previously, as Audience Development Director. She oversees productions at the Taper and Douglas, as well as new play commissions and developmental productions. Nausica has taught Marketing and Management at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts and works with local nonprofits including Hollywood Orchard. B.A. Cornell University. M.F.A. Yale School of Drama.
DOUGLAS C. BAKER (Producing Director, he/him/his) is now in his 30th season at Center Theatre Group. He is an active member of the Broadway League, the Independent Presenters Network, and is a proud member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers. In May 2013, Doug received the Broadway League’s prestigious Outstanding Achievement in Presenter Management Award.
GORDON DAVIDSON (Founding Artistic Director) led the Taper throughout its first 38 seasons, guiding over 300 productions to its stage and winning countless awards for himself and the theatre—including the Tony Award for theatrical excellence, Margo Jones Award, The Governor’s Award for the Arts, and a Guggenheim fellowship. The Kentucky Cycle and Angels in America (Part One) won the Pulitzer in consecutive years and, in 1994, three of the four plays nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play were from the Taper (Angels in America won). In 1989, Gordon took over the Ahmanson and, in 2004, he produced the inaugural season in the Kirk Douglas Theatre.
ALIYAH BELLA CAMACHO(Pipe's Little Sister, she/her) Aliyah Camacho, is an actress from San Diego, California, who is best known for playing “Young America Chavez” in Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She has also appeared in several national commercials and will next appear as “Emma Burdon” in the upcoming film Forty-Seven Days. When she is not acting, Aliyah enjoys traveling, cheerleading, snowboarding, and hanging out with her friends and family. She is repped by Amstel, Eisenstadt, Frazier & Hinojosa Talent Agency and ESI Network. and, in 2004, he produced the inaugural season in the Kirk Douglas Theatre.
JUAN FRANCISCO VILLA(PABLO F*CKING ESCOBAR, he/el/his) kicked off the Kirk Douglas season by participating in the L.A. Writers’ Workshop run by the esteemed Luis Alfaro. He also had a run of his solo play Empanada For A Dream for The Hollywood Fringe Festival, which chronicles his life growing up, unbeknownst to him, as part of a family of Drug Kingpins in The Lower East Side of NYC. He has graced the top stages across the country such as The Public Theater (NYC), Steppenwolf (Chicago), Goodman (Chicago) and Geffen (L.A.). He’s worked with Luis Alfaro, Lucas Hnath, Jo Bonney, Stephen Adley Guirgis, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Chay Yew, Migdalia Cruz, and Bob Falls. He had recurring roles on Blue Bloods (CBS), General Hospital (ABC), and The Set Up with Hannah Stocking. You can catch him on Chicago P.D. (NBC), Madame Secretary (CBS), and Betrayal (ABC). He’s used his voice acting talents to work with Ethan Hawke, Judy Reyes, Vivica Fox, Dania Ramirez, and Minnie Driver. Most recently, he’s worked with Danny Devito and Aubrey Plaza on the new hit animated series Little Demon (FX/Hulu). He is a graduate of the esteemed Maggie Flanigan Studio (NYC) and Improv Olympic (Chicago iO). juanfranciscovilla.com @juanempanadavilla