The COTE Ensemble
What would Co-Op Theatre East be without a company of amazing artists work collaboratively? We'd have to change our name.
About the COTE Ensemble
The COTE Ensemble are the resident artists of Co-Op Theatre East. The company membership is by invitation only and exists to develop and expand both the performance technique and social consciousness of the individual artist, provide a supportive and safe atmosphere to create new work and present new theatre that challenges the stories being told in dominant culture. The COTE Ensemble members meet regularly for workshops, rehearsals and performances. Company members are also invited to request time during meetings to develop and experiment with personal pieces and rehearse/present new work in front of an audience.
Hannah Rose Barfoot is a native of Kansas City, MO, a graduate of the MFA Acting program at The University of Iowa, and a current struggling actor in NYC. She is a proud member of Co-Op Theatre East where she originated the role of Farrah White in Decadent Acts written/directed by Ashley Marinaccio and is currently working on the role of Cassandra in Casey Cleverly's adaptation of The Trojan Women. Other New York credits include the episodic theatre piece Blatant, the "mocumentary" film on the life of fictitious artist Marcus Garlard, and the original comedy piece Line One performing at The PIT. She is a strong supporter of new plays having originated roles in over 15 new productions and readings and is looking forward to adding to that collection with COTE!
Kerrie Bond is honored and excited to be a part of the COTE company. Native to the entire east coast (just about!), she found her way to New York City and graduated in 2009 from Pace University with a BFA in Musical Theatre. Though she has a long history working with Ashley Marinaccio, she first worked with COTE in 2009 in the one-act festival Questionable Content, performing the role of Elaine in the play Smooth Criminal. Favorite credits include a workshop of the new musical Crossing Brooklyn (Des), Medea (Medea), Falsettos (Dr. Charlotte), Luck! (Ensemble), Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens (Judith), Proof (Catherine), and Carousel (Ensemble). She is also a performer with the NYC based sketch comedy group Think Pound. kerriebond.com
Mike Callahan, a native New Yorker since 1939, has recently reinvented himself once again by appearing as the "bigoted but lovable" Roger White in COTE's production of Decadent Acts. He began his "career" as a voice actor upon retirement from a thirty-year job selling ad space for Time Magazine. He considers himself primarily a voiceover guy but is now hooked by the challenge of walking and talking at the same time. He would have made this transition earlier, had he and his families not become addicted to food, clothing, and shelter. He also is in awe of being surrounded by the talented young people of Co-Op Theatre East who apparently are in need of an old person. Everybody has to be something.
Amy Chang is honored to be joining the talented and inspiring COTE team! She was made in Taiwan, but grew up mostly in Georgia. She graduated from Brown University with a major in Art Semiotics (really) and is now an actress based in New York City. Amy Chang played the role of Susan in the feature film Children of Invention, which screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and several other festivals. She also starred in the short film Red opposite Gbenga Akinnagbe of HBO’s hit TV series The Wire. Amy Chang won Best Actress in a Comedy for her role as an 11-year-old in the one-act play The Party (which, incidentally, was directed by none other than COTE’s own Miss Ashley Marinaccio, and assistant directed by Mr. Robert Gonyo!) Other onstage credits include: Resignations (Joy), Yellow Lens (Nai Nai/ Madeline), Love, Life & Redemption (Amy). Please visit her website for future updates, AmyChangActress.com.
Theresa Christine is thrilled to be a part of the COTE Company! A South Carolina native, she graduated in Spring '09 from Pace University with her BFA in Acting. It was at Pace that she first worked with Ashley, including productions of Decadent Acts, Dead Man Walking, and Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens. In 2009, Theresa joined COTE to produce and perform the title role in My Name is Rachel Corrie at the Kraine Theater. Other favorite roles include Summer and Smoke, Proof, and Out in the Open: Stories of Queer Oppression and Empowerment. Theresa is also an alum of SpringboardNYC 2009 with the American Theatre Wing, and she attended the Summer Training Congress '09 at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. theresachristine.com
Alexandra Cohen-Spiegler Co-op Theatre East: Documentary. Other NYC highlights: Shakespeare's 3 Marys (Dark Lady Players); Baba Yaga and the Pumpkin Fairy (One Time Productions); Switchblade (Milk Can Theatre Company); Cleopatra and The Writer (Afrikan Women's Repertory Theatre); Kafka Parables (Columbia MFA Director's Program); A Christmas Carol and Peter Pan (Once Upon a Time, Inc). Film: The Day He Finished the Book (NYFA).
Tyrus Holden A graduate of NYU's Tisch Film program, Tyrus first appeared with Co-Op Theatre East in Documentary: A Suicide Narrative. Tyrus's other acting endeavors include the titular role of Arthur in the short film series The Boy King, Will Trap the Rat Catcher during the 2009 season of the New York Renaissance Fair, and playing Corey Feldman in an episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories. (Really? I don't see it.) Tyrus is looking forward to the awesome projects ahead in COTE's new season!
Cannon Rose Kearns is a student at Columbia University and a graduate of Michael Howard Studios Acting Conservatory. Rose got her start with Co-Op Theatre East in the summer of 2009, when she was cast as Eve Shaw in the company's workshop of Decadent Acts by Ashley Marinaccio; she went on to play the same character in the April 2010 production of the play, and again in the Planet Connections Festivity that summer. Favorite past roles include Eve in Decadent Acts, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Rosemary in Picnic, and Ellida in Ibsen's Lady from the Sea. She lives in Bushwick, Brooklyn. cannonrosekearns.com
Alionka Polanco is super excited to be a part of the COTE company! Raised in New Jersey, Alionka currently lives in New York City. She is entering her senior year at Pace University where she is a BFA Acting major and a Womens' and Gender Studies minor. Alionka was last seen in COTE's production of Decadent Acts as Yetta Sobol and various ensemble roles. NYC credits include Lady from the Sea (Hilde), All God's Saints Go To Heaven-Not! (Rhoda), Cafe Playa Moon (Olivia) and Undress Me (Hannah). Previous Pace University credits include: Summer and Smoke (Mrs. Bassett), Ragtime (Ensemble), and Out in the Open (Apaga El Fuego). alionkapolanco.com
Anna Savant originated the role of Dr. Jolene Shatila in COTE's production of Decadent Acts (April and June 2010) for which she received critical acclaim and was nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Play at the 2010 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Most of Anna's theater credits are with the Tokyo International Players where she played M'Lynn in Steel Magnolias, Mme de Volanges in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Fruma-Sarah in Fiddler On the Roof, Ruth in Blithe Spirit and Hannah in California Suite. In New York she has performed in Edward II, A Midsummer Night's Dream and several short play festivals. She studied classical theater at ACT in San Francisco and is a graduate of the New Actors Workshop in New York.
Michelle Sims wormed her way back into acting after a long hiatus, and is proud to be part of Co-Op Theater East and their commitment to shaking up the status quo. Theater: Decadent Acts with COTE, Jew of Malta and Quick Change Room with York Shakespeare, Mourning with Columbia Rep, The Redheaded Man (Extended at NYFringe). Independent Film: Spooky Warms the Heart, Cigarette Candy (Cannes '10), Distance Between the Apple and the Tree (New Filmmakers Series at Anthology Films), Ankur, The Mother, Insidious (NY Int'l Film Festival), No Such Place, Sick Day. Television: Celebrity Ghost Stories! for the Biography Channel.
