Season End Review: New Faces Part I

There are many times when people will say to me that Rorschach and many small theaters hire the same folks over and over again. It is hard to get your foot in the door because the company is like a closed shop.

I will be the first to admit that Rorschach does use a lot of great actors in their shows as often as they can. There is a joke in the company about the 5 Timers Club and getting a smoking jacket and a secret hand shake. (Just to remind you all this is a joke and there are no smoking jackets, so stop asking.)

Despite the fact that we use some of the same people over and over again we also are one of the only companies that makes it a point to bring in new talent on a regular basis. Today and tomorrow I will show you the number of new faces that have graced the Rorschach stage over the course of last season.

For instance the picture above from Monster none of those folks had ever been in a Rorschach show before. Out of a cast of 9 only 2 had ever been in a Rorschach show before. So Lily Balsen, Nicky Daval, Jeremy Goren, Tiernan Madorno, Ryan Nealy, Robert Rector, and Jon Reynolds all walked into Rorschach history last fall.

Then there was Rough Magic, where Jenny brought together a group of Rorschach regulars but she also found the right people for the right roles outside of the usual suspects.

New actors to Rorschach included Diana Cherkas, Danny Gavigan, Lee Liebeskind, Dustin Loomis, and Vasanth Santosham.

I think more than any other company in town Rorschach has found the right balance of Company vets and new talent to grace our stages. While other companies of our size (and I mean no disrespect when I say this) pad out their shows with Equity actors and force their regulars into roles that may not be the best fit for them, Rorschach is constantly bringing new faces to our audiences. We are lucky enough to have worked with folks who have found success on the larger DC stages after working with us and hopefully we can intice them back every now and then, but as with so many people I know Rorschach is one of, if not their first professional credit in DC. I hope that continues forever.

I will finish off the new actors tomorrow and then look at the new designers and directors who graced our lives on Friday.