Maeda King

Maeada King is a recent 2020 graduate with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Theatre from the University of Kentucky. She has performed in two short new plays — False Face by Silas House and Happy House by Kara Lee Korthron — and in a new staged reading of Killing of a Gentleman Defender by Carlos Murilla. She loves the Lord. She can make a mean mac and cheese, is always willing to help out others and is ready to work as hard as she can to succeed as an intern with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

Gianna Porfano

Gianna is thrilled to be joining the Playhouse this season as part of the Bruce E. Coyle Acting and Education Intern Company. Born and raised in New Jersey, Gianna is an actor, singer and teaching artist working in regional theatre and voiceover. Most recent credits include Into the Woods, Ragtime and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Scranton Shakespeare Festival). Gianna is also an avid songwriter and musician. She is a proud graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London, UK), earning her BFA in Theatre. Thank you Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park for this opportunity!

Paulina De La Parra

Paulina de la Parra is a Mexican actress, singer and writer now based in New York City. She started her acting career in her beloved Mexico City, participating in the original cast of Vive un Nuevo Musical! as well as Elphaba in Wicked, Eponine in Les Misérables and Belle in Beauty and the Beast, among others. Since moving to New York, some of her most recent work includes Tonya Pinkin’s Truth and Reconciliation: Women working it out! at the #HealMeToo Festival, and Vocal Ease (Feinstein’s/54 Below) as a lead vocalist, and she was part of the Manhattan Film Festival’s winning movie musical Plus One. Paulina is also heavily involved and passionate about charity work, traveling and making the world a more human and empathic one through art. Her goal is to portray Mexico (and Latinas!) in a positive light. Website: paulinadelaparra.com IG: @paulina.de.la.parra

Matthew McGinn

Matthew McGinn is an actor originally from Summit, New Jersey. He is a graduate of the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory and has had the pleasure of working with theatre companies such as the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Premiere Stages and the Pixie Dust Players, among others. When he’s not on a stage or on a film set, you can find him on a basketball court, in his room writing or with a guitar in his hands. Matthew looks forward to working with such an amazing theater as Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and hopes everyone will come out to see their shows this season!

Daunielle Rasmussen

Daunielle is a passionate arts educator, community artist and director of theatre for young audiences. During her tenure as director of education with Marin Theatre Company, she revitalized and restructured the department to increase service to Marin County youth, expanding the reach from 3,000 children and families per year to more than 8,000. She oversaw the expansion of Theatre for Young Audiences programming from one production per year to five by brokering long-term partnerships with nine local schools for subsidized in-school residencies. Additionally, she has served as the community engagement manager and artistic administrator at California Shakespeare Theater; the associate artistic director and resident choreographer at Custom Made Theater Company; and a performer/educator and booking coordinator for Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Programs. As a director, Daunielle has most recently directed Around the World in 80 Days, Rapunzel and Disney’s Aladdin, Jr. for Marin Theatre Company. She won an award from the San Francisco Bay Area Critic’s Circle for Movement in Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, produced by Custom Made Theater Company. Daunielle holds a BA in theatre arts, emphasis in acting, from California State University, Stanislaus, and an MFA in creative inquiry, interdisciplinary arts, from California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

Ariana Moses

Ariana is an accomplished theatre-maker, director and teaching artist who has spent much of her career exploring the interplay between art and education. She has been privileged to work professionally in schools and theatre companies around the country including Metro Theater Company in St. Louis, Jean's Playhouse in New Hampshire, and most recently the White Plains Performing Arts Center, where she was Director of Education. In this position, she increased education offerings in the classroom and on the stage, including creating and producing the Stage 2 program (a pre-professional program for college students and community members) and spearheading the company's Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) productions. During her six-year tenure, she produced over 30 productions and taught hundreds of classes. MFA in TYA: UNC-Greensboro; MAT in Elementary Education: Chatham University; BA in Performing Arts: Sarah Lawrence College. Select Directing credits: Go, Dog. Go!, Junie B. In Jingle Bells Batman Smells, columbinus, Little Shop of Horrors. Ariana is currently the Associate Director of Education and Community Engagement at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

Piper N. Davis

Piper is passionate about creating and supporting art wherever she can. She is an Emmy Award-winning actress, director, cultural consultant and singer who has performed and toured productions throughout the United States. She has had several stage and screen roles and loves doing voice-over work. Some of her directorial and performance credits include Richie and Blanche; Kill. Move. Paradise.; Family Healing; Cincinnati King; Harry and the Thief; Bare; Caroline, or Change; and Open the Sky. Piper is a Board member of Falcon Theater (Newport, KY), a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Multicultural Awareness Council (MAC), and she serves as the Sales and Events Manager at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

She's very proud to be a native resident of Cincinnati, where she can both work and play in the city's vibrant arts scene, surrounded by artists, storytellers and makers of all kinds. Piper is grateful to God for her talents, and she sends much love and joy to Lydia J. Davis (Mommie), her family, friends, and her doggy, Izzy (Grizabella).

Kenton Brett

Kenton is a Cincinnati-based scenic artist, illustrator, designer and animator. Heavily influenced by collectibles, children’s toys and puppetry, his art embodies qualities shared by all: multi-functional, poseable, humorous and easily repurposed to create new expressions. The spirit of play is further reinforced through public venues where the audience can directly interact and experience the work; this translates particularly well in theatrical performances and art installations. Stylistically, the work emphasizes a sophistication of line quality with psychedelic motifs that echo graphic designs from the 1960s creating a distinct visual buzz through repeated lines, shapes and patterns. In some ways Kenton will never stop being a big kid and enjoys playing board games, bike riding and long walks with his wife and two dogs.

Melanie Mortimore

Melanie is the assistant professor of costume design for Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Previous costume designs for the Playhouse include Dragons Love Tacos, The Snowy Day, The Wind in the Willows, The Last Firefly, Bird Brain, Noonie's Masterpiece in Purple, What's Buggin’ Greg and Fires in the Mirror. She received her MFA from the University of Tennessee and has worked as a professional designer, educator and craft artisan at several different theatres and universities across the country. Favorite past designs include Into the Woods, Little Shop of Horrors, The 39 Steps, A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker and Intimate Apparel.

Trey Tatum

Trey is a playwright/composer from Cincinnati, Ohio. Recent credits include ZOINKS!, a Nancy Drew send-up about the opioid epidemic; Alabama Monster, his solo show about mental illness, family ties and creatures that lie just out of sight; and JALZ, a remake of the blockbuster movie JAWS that examines Alzheimer's disease, end-of-life care and family legacy. For the past five seasons, Trey has been composer for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s Off the Hill education touring series. Current projects include Have Monster, Will Travel — a new audio-fiction podcast about road trips, monsters and the meaning of family. Trey makes theatre and mischief with his wife, director Bridget Leak. Visit treytatum.com. 

Rebecca Armstrong

Rebecca is excited to be making art during these interesting times! Originally, from Covington, Georgia, she has found her home in Northern Kentucky. Becca began her career as an intern at the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. Within a few seasons, she had worked her way up to the position of Associate Production Manager where she managed over 80 concerts, 4 full-length operas, and over 60 special events over the course of 8 weeks each summer. She has also worked on New York Fashion week for several seasons with IMCD Lighting as their Logistics Manager. Her career in Cincinnati has included working as a Production Manager for the Know and CSC, working as a freelance technician for ETC and the Carnegie, and film work on several commercials and Katy Perry's World Tour videos. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her dog Jasper and kitten Molly Moonpie, and being active in striving for justice and equity for all. She believes the most important thing we can do as artists is to make art accessible to all, which is why she is thrilled to call Playhouse's Education and Engagement department her theatre home.