Yellow Face Bios

DHH
Ben Wong

For Hart House: Debut
Credits include: Ben in pppeeeaaaccceee (Downstage Theatre - Calgary), Skelly in The Rimers Of Eldritch and Mike in The Bar Off Melrose (Rogues Theatre - Calgary).  Ben has appeared in numerous TV and film productions in Alberta including CBC's Heartland and a pile of corporate video and commercials.
Ben has recently moved to Toronto and loves the city so much, he's open to embracing the Leafs. Born and raised in Alberta, Ben studied acting in Calgary where he completed masterclass programs in the Uta Hagen and Meisner Techniques. He's also studied Improvisation at the Loose Moose Theatre. Ben was a television producer in Calgary and was accepted into the National Screen Institute's Totally Television program last fall.  He'll soon be hawking a new TV episodic to a broadcaster near you. 
Ben graduated from the University of Alberta. The degree he earned would make a typical first-generation Asian-immigrant parent proud.  He can also develop software for a living - another shout out to that parent. Love to his kids: Sebastien, Dominic and Naomi for their love and understanding.  And to his wife, Leslie: for her endless support, her unwavering love and this insane belief in him.

Announcer
Carl Swanson

For Hart House:  Horse, Equus; Dick, High Fidelity; Snug, A Midsummer Night's Dream; Chucky/Jesus, Jerry Springer-The Opera (Remount).
Selected Credits:  The Three, Fairy Tale Ending (Toronto Fringe/RYOT);  Valentine, Twelfth Night (Canopy Theatre);  Officer Barrel, Urinetown (UC Follies); Rocky, Murder & Mayhem (2003 Edmonton Fringe)
Carl continues to kick ass in his web series Annex'd, at www.annexd.com.  Carl is a graduate of the Universityof Toronto, in a lame field like Art History or Statistics or something.

Leah
Charmaine Lau

Charmaine is making her Hart House Theatre debut in Yellow Face. Selected theatre credits: featured actor in Love and Relasianships (Fu-Gen Theatre Company, Erin in Writing Your Life (Toronto Fringe), Katherine/Boy inHenry V (Vivid Theatre Ensemble), Jungyun in Story of a Comfort Girl (Alumnae Theatre), Heidi in Look No Hans! (Theatre Aurora), various roles in The Griffin and the Minor Canon (The Village Players), J in The Last Kiss (Cabbagetown Theatre Company),  Mary Snow in Saltwater Moon (Circle of Friends Theatre), and Agnes in Agnes of God (Circle of Friends Theatre). Selected TV/film credits: 72 Hours: True Crime, Mayday, Talk, Talk, Talk, Kojak, Queer as Folk, 1-800 Missing, Street Time, Torchbearer, Doc, A Gift for Katherine, Singles Court, Shut-up You Separatist!, Wish, Forever Knight, and The Immigrants.

Stuart
Daniel Krolik

For Hart House Theatre: Debut.
Daniel most recently appeared in[sic] at the Toronto Fringe and Best of Fringe Festivals, Direct Flight Theatre’s Twelfth Night at the Gladstone Hotel, and co-adapted and performed in Ten Green Bottles for Te-Amim Music Theatre. Past credits includeMuch Ado About Nothing (Dream North), Hello Again (Equity co-op/Tarragon Extra Space), Point of Departure, The Book of Liz, In Trousers, Nana, and Romeo/Juliet Remixed (Toronto Fringe), Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Perimeter Institute), Where the Boys Are (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre), You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (ACT), Romeo and Juliet and A Comedy of Errors (Repercussion Theatre – North American Tour), and the feature film "Sidekick".

HYH
David Fujino*

David Fujino proudly returns to the Hart House stage to play HYH (and others) in “Yellow Face”; the first time, he played triangle and drum from the Hart House stage in a live radio broadcast of “Kindergarten On the Air”. He’s also a poet and has been a jazz reviewer for www.thelivemusicreport.com and www.showtimemagazine.ca and periodically he writes dance and theatre reviews for the bilingual Japanese Canadian newspaper, Nikkei Voice.
David’s theatre credits include “The Plum Tree” (The Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver, and Concrete Theatre, Edmonton), “The Waiting Room” (Rasikarts, Toronto), and “The Gull” (Pangaea Arts, Vancouver). His selected film credits include the short, “Day You Miss Your Mother the Most” (York University), the feature, “Repo the Genetic Opera” (Repo Opera Productions), and the short, “Shanti Baba Ram and the Dancers of Hope” (Canadian Film Centre). His selected TV credits include several TV commercials, roles in the series “Street Time”, “The Famous Jett Jackson” and “Wild Card”, and appearances in “The Bob Room” and “Manchester Prep”.
David feels triply blessed to be playing HYH (and others) in “Yellow Face” --- blessed to be acting with such a fine cast and crew, director and stage manager, and Hart House Theatre staff ---blessed, indeed, to have an audience.

*David appears with the special permission of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.

Jane
Emily Opal Smith

This is Emily's debut on the Hart House stage. Selected Credits: The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Momma in Wreckage, The Actress in La Ronde, The Fair Witch in Dark of the Moon (Phoenix Theatre), Boyet in Love's Labour's Lost (Somnambulist Productions), The Flood in the Vagina Monologues (Phoenix Theatre Studio), Tilly in the Radio Play of It's a Wonderful Life (Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre) and Mama in Z-Day (Bring Back Pluto Productions). Emily holds a BFA in acting from the Universityof Victoria.

Marcus
Kristoffer Pedlar

For Hart House Theatre: Debut
Kristoffer's Selected credits include: Utah's Crying, Al Green Theatre; All or None, 2010 Toronto Fringe Festival;  Squashamole, IF Theatre; Frida and Herself, Anandam; Fine Dining, Hooligans in the
Kitchen Theatre and The Magic Paintbrush, Theatre Direct.
Kristoffer is an actor, writer and director and currently can be seen playing the part of a teacher five days a week at BellmereJunior Public School.  He would like to thank his family, friends and Katrina for all of their love and support.

Director
Esther Jun

Originally trained as an actor in NYC, Esther completed her directing degree at Drama Centre London in 2006. Overseas, she trained with such companies as Sphinx, The RSC, The Guildhall School and The Library Theatre. She also directed 2 shows for the Edinburgh Fringe: Durang B4 Dinner (About Turn) & Red Bird Day with Picasso (Ladies from London), and completed her first short film Calamity which appeared at International Festivals. Since returning to Toronto she has worked with The Shaw Festival, Humber River Shakespeare, Factory, Nightwood, Te-Amim, Obsidian, and Cahoots Theatre companies. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab 2010, and is a founding member of Directors Lab North, the first international offshoot of the LCT lab.
Most recently Esther directed productions of Trout Stanley (Heart in Hand) Fear & Misery of the Third Reich (DeusXM), First Hand Woman (Fire Up Productions), workshops of The Commune (Heart in Hand Theatre) & Sex Tape Project  (Fu-Gen), worked on The Penelopiad with Nightwood Theatre, and was associate director on Richard III at Ryerson.  She also continues to act in film, TV, and alot of commercials.

Dramaturg
Andrew Cheng

Andrew is a Toronto based dramaturg currently serving as associate dramaturg for fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company and as resident dramaturg for the Cabaret Company.  For fu-GEN:  lady in the red dress  and sex tape project. For The Cabaret Company: The Kitchen Party Nervous Breakdown Reality T.V. Show, Why We Tortured Him and Reconciliation.  Andrew has also directed readings of new worksforSummerWorks,fu-GEN’s Potluck Festival and TheatreKairos’ HOTscrawlsFestival. In 2010 he completed an internship at Factory Theatre as a co-curator of the CrossCurrents Festival.  He is a graduate of YorkUniversity’s MFA program in Theatre.

Set Design
Akiva Romer-Segal

Akiva’s set and costume designs include Tough! (Factory Theatre - Dora Nomination Outstanding Production), Variations on a Nervous Breakdown (Talk is Free Theatre, Barrie - Dir: Richard Ouzounian), Hungry (Public Energy - Peterborough), Marla's Party (Dir: Kate Lushington), Crush (Dir: Mark Cassidy), Into the Woods, Annie Jr. (Toronto Youth Theatre), Trout Stanley (Heart in Hand)The Lover, Finer Noble Gases, The Unseen Hand (Bleeker Theatre Company), Fear and Misery of the Third Reich (Deus XM), HONK if you can hear me! (Converse-Station Productions), Collected Stories (Mea Culpa Productions), Trout Stanley (Heart in Hand Theatre), Muhammad of Yorkville (Holy Fuss), Ali Baba (Solar Stage), between the tree and the sweetest pea (Alumni Theatre), The Chosen (Teatron) and Guys & Dolls (Summerstock Conservatory - Calgary). His sets for fashion shows include 25th Annual Mass Exodus 2005: Metro, and the TorontoWildlife Fashion Show, as well as designing book launch events for the Azrielli Foundation. He is also a songwriter, and his musical The Subway Songs was produced last June. More info can be found at http://www.thecollabos.com

Lighting Design
Paphavee Limkul

Originally from Bangkok, Thailand, She came to Canada to pursue her dream as a theatre designer, starting from training as a lighting technician work-study at The Banff Centre from March 2007 to April 2008. She finished her Master degree on Set and Lighting design from University of Victoria, BC. in March 2010 and moved to Toronto. She is very excited to join the amazing production at Hart House theatre.
Recent designs include: Set design for A Hamburger In A Pita (Teatron Toronto Jewish Theatre), Lighting design for The Shadow Of A Boy (Royal Porcupine Production)
Set and lighting design for WRECKAGE (Dan George Theatre, BC), LA RONDE (The Bishop Theatre, BC), GEEZ! (The Metro Studio, BC.)

Costume Design
Ming Wong

Sound Design
Kevin Centero

Kevin Centeno is absolutely honoured to be a part of the "Yellow Face" team!  Past credits include fu-GEN's "lady in the red dress" (Assistant Sound Design), eastBOUNDtheatre's "The Making of St. Jerome" (Assistant Sound Design), LKTYP's "The Monster Under the Bed" (Assistant Sound Design), Sound/Technical Designer for fu-GEN's "Sex Tape Project", and Union Eight's "The Bird" (Sound Design).
 

Stage Manager
Emily Grindrod

Yellow Face is Emily’s first production with Hart House theatre. Previous credits include: VoiceBox, (urbanvessel); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare in Action); Table Talk (Theatre@york); The Fire Raisers (Theatre@york), and Metamorphoses (Theatre@york). Upcoming: Saved (TorontoFringe, Eos Theatre); The Diary of Anne Frank, (Shakespeare in Action). Emily is a graduate of YorkUniversity’s Theatre Production and Design program. Previous to York University Emily was involved in the theatre scene in Trinidadas a performer and children’s drama teacher.