Vietgone

Sami Ma

Sami is stoked to be back in the Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theatre exactly a year later! Sami is a queer, first-gen kid enjoying the messy terrain between her traditional Chinese culture and their American upbringing. Off-Broadway credits include Once Upon A (Korean) Time (Ma-Yi Theatre Company, world premiere). Regional credits include Hello Kitty Must Die (Edinburgh Fringe, world premiere); Rent (Paper Mill Playhouse); The Chinese Lady (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park); Nativity Variations (Milwaukee Repertory Theater, world premiere); The Chinese Lady (Adirondack Theatre Festival); The Great Leap (Portland Center Stage); Vietgone (American Stage Theatre); Gloria (Hatch Arts Collective); F.O.B. (The Drama League); The Taming of the Shrew and South Pacific (Utah Shakespeare Festival); and 4,000 Miles (Gloucester Stage Company). Television and film credits include Tender Ears, Death Saved My Life, Where the Light Enters and All Hail Beth. Thank you to everyone involved in bringing this show to life, the good folks who keep bringing her back to Cincinnati, her family, Maxwell and her team at Lohne/Graham Management. For her guardian angel, Jason K. Ma. You can follow her on social media @samanthemum.

Olivia Oguma

Broadway credits include Mamma Mia!, A Christmas Carol, Les Misérables and Disney’s High School Musical (1st National Tour). Off-Broadway credits include Letters of Suresh (Second Stage); Addressless (Rattlestick Theater); Hello, From the Children of Planet Earth (Playwrights Realm); Luce (LCT3); Emotional Creature (Signature Theatre); BFE (Playwrights Horizons); and The Dispute (NAATCO). Regional credits include Brightest Thing in the World (Yale Rep), Miss You Like Hell (La Jolla Playhouse), Emotional Creature (Berkeley Rep), Snow Falling on Cedars (Portland Center Stage), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Philadelphia Theater Company and Paper Mill Playhouse), The Vagina Monologues (Bucks County Playhouse) and Hair (Two River Theater). Film credits include This is Where I Leave You, Strangers with Candy: The Movie, Like Father and Hallmark Hall of Fame’s The Flamingo Rising. Television credits include Instinct, FBI, Odd Mom Out, Younger, Law & Order, The Good Wife, The Big C, Great News and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Olivia is the co-creator, writer and host of DisOrientalism, an Asian American variety show which has a residency at Joe’s Pub. She has solo backpacked through 30 countries and is extremely passionate about Cirque Du Soleil. Thank You to EJZ, Molly, Mom and Oliver. In loving memory of my father, Chef Toshio. You can follow Olivia on Instagram @olioguma.

Julian Remulla

Julian is thrilled to be returning to Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, after his most recent debut in the world premiere of Dracula. In New York City, he has performed off-Broadway in Julius Caesar at Theatre for a New Audience. Regionally, Julian has been a part of several seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and has had the pleasure of performing at the Denver Center, Idaho Shakespeare Festi- val, Great Lakes Theater and the Contemporary American Theater Festival. On television, he has appeared in Law & Order: Organized Crime and Bull. Visit www.julianremulla.com.

Hyunmin Rhee

Hyunmin is pleased to be making his Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut. His off-Broadway credits include Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2 (Manhattan Theatre Club). Regionally, Hyunmin has played the role of Quang in both the Guthrie Theater’s production of Vietgone and the American Conservatory Theater’s production of Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2. Other regional credits include Kim’s Convenience (Westport Country Playhouse), Tiger Style! (Theatresquared), Oklahoma!, Snow in Midsummer and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Television credits include Helpsters (Apple TV+) and FBI (CBS). He recently filmed an upcoming independent film, The Dutchman. Every performance here is dedicated to all those who resonate with this incredible story. Especially to the Asian American community whom this is for. Love to my beautiful wife, Jules and our amazing daughter, RyRy. You can follow him on Instagram @hyunminrhee.

Viet Vo

Viet is proud to be making his Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut! Off-Broad- way credits include Romeo and Bernadette and Fishing for Wives. National tours include Miss Saigon (Limited). Regional credits include Vietgone (Alley Theatre and Guthrie Theater), Gold Mountain (Utah Shakespeare Festival), Miss Saigon (Casa Mañana) and A Christmas Story (The Engeman Theater). Television and film credits include Law & Order: SVU, Cupids (Tribeca Film Festival), The Blacklist (NBC), Tales of the City and Manifest (Netflix) and Lost (ABC). A huge Mahalo nui loa to the cast and crew. Mahalo Nui Loa for their continued work and drive. Cảm ơn to Joanie for your guidance and direction! Cảm ơn, Qui; your world is beautiful, and your words write the dreams. Special shout out to my family for believing in me. And to my Bingsu, I love you. You can follow him on Instagram @vopix.

Qui Nguyen

Qui Nguyen is an Emmy-Award winning TV writer, filmmaker, playwright, and co-founder of the pioneering geek theatre company, Vampire Cowboys. Notable plays include Vietgone, Poor Yella Rednecks, Bike Wreck, and the acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of She Kills Monsters (recently awarded a 2024 Kennedy Center College Theatre Festival Gold Medallion Award), Revenge Song, Soul Samurai, The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G, Alice in Slasherland, Fight Girl Battle World, and Living Dead in Denmark. For TV/Film, he’s written for Marvel Studios, Netflix, AMC, SYFY, and PBS. He most recently penned Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon (nominated for a 2022 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature) and co-directed and wrote Disney’s Strange World. Qui is a proud member of the WGA and a board member of New Dramatists.

Joanie Schultz

Joanie serves as Associate Artistic Director for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Prior to coming to Cincinnati, she was a freelance director based in Chicago. Previously at the Playhouse, Joanie directed Dracula, Origin Story and Frida…A Self Portrait. Joanie has directed at theatres across the country, including Everyman Theatre, GEVA Theatre Center, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Studio Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Cleveland Play House, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Philadelphia Theatre Company. Joanie previously served as Artistic Director of WaterTower Theatre in Texas and before that, as Associate Artistic Producer at Victory Gardens Theater, as part of the Leadership U One-on-One Fellowship funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation administered through the Theatre Communications Group. She was also a Drama League Fellow, a Goodman Theatre Michael Maggio Director Fellow, an SDSF Denham Fellow and a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. Joanie holds a MFA from Northwestern University and a BA from Columbia College Chicago in directing. Visit joanieschultz.com.

Chelsea M. Warren

Chelsea is a multimedia artist with a focus on scenic and puppet design, as well as large scale photography and art installations. Scenic design credits include Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Steep Theatre, Penumbra Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Victory Gardens Theatre, Studio Theatre, Cleveland Play House, City Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Philadelphia Theatre Company. Puppet design credits include Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Jungle Theater, Studio Theatre, Links Hall, Chicago International Puppet Festival and New York State Puppet Festival. She is an ensemble member with Steep Theatre. Chelsea received her MFA from North- western University and is an Associate Professor of Scenic Design at Carnegie Mellon University. Visit chelseamwarren.com.

Jessica Wegener Shay

Jessica is pleased to be making her Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut. She has enjoyed a longtime collaboration with Qui Nguyen and Abby Marcus as the resident costume designer for the Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company. Her other Broadway and New York projects have included The Performers (Broadway); Lewiston/Clarkston (Rattlestick Theater); A Kid Like Jake and All-American (LCT3); Outside People (Vineyard Theatre); Suicide, Incorporated and The Dream of the Burning Boy (Roundabout Underground); Oohrah! (Atlantic Theater); Measure for Measure (The Acting Company); and Next Fall and Armed and Naked in America (Naked Angels). Some of Jessica’s favorite regional projects have been the Vampire Cowboys’ production of Revenge Song (Geffen Playhouse); Love’s Labor’s Lost, Cyrano and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival); and Bad Dates, Underneath the Lintel, and Shipwrecked! (Long Wharf Theatre). Jessica enjoys living in New York’s Hudson Valley and is also a Farmer, a Mom and the Costume Supervisor for Fordham University’s Theatre program.

Jennifer Fok

Jennifer is pleased to be making her Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park debut. Select credits include Dream Hou$e, Aubergine, Witch and Lumberjacks In Love (Theatre- Works Colorado Springs); Somewhere Over the Border (Geva Theatre); Unholy Wars (Opera Philadelphia and the Spoleto Festival); Disgraced (American Stage); The World is Not Silent (Alley Theatre); I Am My Own Wife and Pride and Prejudice (Long Wharf Theatre); Queen (Penobscot Theatre Company); What We Ask Of Flesh (Inspirit Dance Company); and The Wolves (Flint Repertory Theatre). She is a frequent collaborator with Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and Theatre At Monmouth. Jennifer has a BFA in Theatre Production and Design from Ithaca College. Visit www.jenniferfok.com and follow her on Instagram @photonfok.

Shane Rettig

Shane is a composer, sound designer and music producer. His work has been heard live in theatres, concert halls, dance productions and on internet connected earbuds for over two decades. Recent projects include Revenge Song (Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Geffen Playhouse), Poor Yella Rednecks (Manhattan Theatre Club), In the Cards (Next Chapter Podcasts), Days Go By (Monica Bill Barnes & Co) and Mothers (Playwrights Realm). Other favorites include Vietgone (Manhattan Theatre Club), Rafta, Rafta… (New Group), She Kills Monsters (Flea Theater) and pretty much every Vampire Cowboys production ever. New York credits include The Public, Signature Theatre, Roundabout Theater, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Ma-Yi Theater, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, New Victory, La MaMa, Soho Rep, Rattlestick Theater and HERE Arts Center. Regional credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, Children’s Theatre Company, Dallas Theatre Center, La Jolla, South Coast Rep, Williamstown Theatre, Yale Rep and Prague Quadrennial. Music/co-lyricist for War is F**king Awesome with Qui Nguyen and William Jackson Harper (2013- 2014 Sundance Lab and 2015 Frederick Loewe Grant); and music for The Unknown (2005 New York Musical Theater Festival). Awards and Nominations include Liberace Scholarship, Frederick Loewe Grant, Jonathan Larsen Grant, Drama Desk and Lortel Nominations.

Rod Kinter

Rod is thrilled to be making his debut at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Broad- way credits include The Lightning Thief. Other New York credits include Live from Lincoln Center: Porgy and Bess (New York City Opera). Most recent off-Broadway credits include Between Two Knees (Perelman Performing Arts Center), fight director for nine seasons at The Pearl Theatre Company, The Lucille Lortel Theatre, Lynn Redgrave Theater, Mint Theater, Minetta Lane Theatre, The Acorn, Signature Theatre, and the East 13th Street Theatre. Resident Fight Director for New York City Opera at Lincoln Center from 1995 to 2010. Regional credits include American Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, The Cleveland Play House, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Rep, McCarter Theatre Center, Dorset Theatre Festival, Gulfshore Playhouse, Barter Theatre, The Cape Playhouse, Shakespeare On the Sound, Glimmerglass Opera, Chautauqua Opera and the Opera Festival of New Jersey. Rod is a member of the SDC and on faculty at AMDA College of the Performing Arts teaching Stage Combat. Visit Rodkinter.com.

cara hinh

cara is a queer, fat, Việt theatre maker and a Hoosier who is excited to be back at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park! Select credits include transfer direction of Sanctuary City (Arena Stage and Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Little Women (Per- severance Theatre), Buried Ruins (The Sống Collective), love you long time (already) at Atlantic MixFest. cara has been a Drama League Fellow, member of the ‘20-22 Roundabout Theater Directors Group, a Directing Apprentice at Actors Theatre of Louisville, SDC Observer on Hadestown and a Fellow at Baltimore Center Stage. Visit carahinh.com.

Stephanie Klapper, CSA

Stephanie is overjoyed to continue her 12th season of collaboration with Blake Robison and the fantastic team that comprises Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Recent shows she has cast for the Playhouse include Stew, Clyde’s; Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash; Shane; Origin Story; A Chorus Line; Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help; Rooted; Steel Magnolias; School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play; Need Your Love; The West End; Destiny of Desire; Once on This Island; Alias Grace; and many others. Her award-winning work is frequently seen on Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally, on concert stages, film, television and streaming media. She is dedicated to continuing to expand and champion diversity, equity and inclusion in the business. Connecting creative, caring people to each other to make extraordinary things happen is amongst Stephanie’s greatest joys. She is a member of the Board of Casting Society Cares and a mentor with Fordham High School for the Arts and NYU Tisch School of the Arts Women’s Mentorship.

Andrea L. Shell

Andrea is excited to be celebrating her 23rd season with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, having worked on more than 100 productions, including 24 world premieres. Favorite Playhouse credits include A Christmas Carol (2006-2021); Dracula, A Chorus Line; Murder on the Orient Express; School Girls Or, The African Mean Girls Play; Rooted; Alias Grace; The Last Wide Open; Treasure Island; Mr. Joy; Jane Eyre; Bad Dates; The Revolutionists; I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti; Merrily We Roll Along; As You Like It; The Understudy; Blackbird; Durango; Around the World in 80 Days; Altar Boyz; Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming; Reckless; Ace; The Clean House; A Picasso; One; Abracadabra; The Bible … (abridged); and Dark Paradise. She has also stage managed at Dallas Theater Center, The Old Globe, Cincinnati Ballet, Alliance Theatre, The Second City and Ingenuity Festival of Cleveland. Additionally, Andrea heads Playhouse’s stage management department as the Production Stage Manager, serves as a member of Xavier University’s Theatre Program’s adjunct faculty, and is a contributor for Dramatics.org, writing backstage articles for their online content. Andrea is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. She would like to thank her family, friends, Dylan and Scott for their unending support.

Shelby Scaffidi

Shelby is so excited to be back on the Stage Management team at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park this season. Shelby’s professional career began in 2021, when she joined the Playhouse as a Stage Management Intern and returned the following season as a Production Assistant. In between shows at the Playhouse, Shelby has worked at The Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Some of her favorite Playhouse credits include Frida... A Self Portrait, Rooted and Origin Story. Shelby received her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and credits much of her early career success to her professors and the connections she made while earning her degree.