Resident Acting Company

Viveka Chandrasekaran who was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia (yes she’s a Braves fan!) comes from a very musical family. Her older sister is an opera singer and composer, her brother-in-law is a percussionist and her mother recently published a book on how to play the veena, an instrument from southern India that is similar to a lute. Her father is a chemist at Georgia State University. Viveka recently graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Music in Music Theatre. She last appeared at the Barbican Centre in London, England as a featured soloist in the opera Ainadamar. Previous roles include Maria (West Side Story: Concert Version) with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Liat (South Pacific) at Seaside Music Theatre in Daytona Beach, FL, Philia (Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern, Johanna (Sweeney Todd) at FSU. In addition to being a Braves Fan, Viveka is an avid runner.

Sonny Kong grew up in Charlotte. His parents escaped the communist regime in Cambodia during the late 1970's and he says that “growing up in a world of broken English proved to be a rather humorous ongoing struggle.” After acquiring a solid grasp on the English language, Sonny attended Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte studying both graphic arts and musical theatre. He received his BA in Theatre from Catawba College last May. Previous roles include Jesus in Godspell (Stageworks Theatre), Wolf/Ensemble in Beauty and the Beast (Charlotte Summer Theatre), Jackie in of The Wild Party (Catawba College), Third Witch/Young Macduff in Macbeth, and Neville Landless in The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Michael Lasris grew up in Seaford, Virginia, in a family of three boys where he was “Michael in the middle”. In high school he choreographed annual cabarets for his local synagogue and toured nationally as a Dance Caravan Kid. Michael is a recent Musical Theatre graduate from Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina where in addition to acting he learned to knit and to do a mean sizzling bacon in-the-frying pan imitation. Previous roles include Major General (Pirates of Penzance) ,Finch (How to Succeed...), Yepikhodov (The Cherry Orchard), Ganster in 42nd Street (Papermill Theatre),Bernie Buscbaum in Little Me (Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre), and Cosmo in Singin’ in the Rain (Peach State).

Andy McCain was born and raised in Mequon, Wisconsin. With a mother as a high school drama teacher he was naturally drawn to the theater. His brother is a set builder for Albuquerque Movie Studios. Andy began acting at Homestead High School and made extra money performing as “Mystical McCain", a magician for children’s parties. In the summer of 2003, Andy traveled to London, England, where he studied Shakespeare from a Resident Globe Theatre actor. Andy received BA in Theatre from Catawba College in 2008. Previous roles include Narrator (Rocky Horror), Tonton (Once on this Island), Pirelli (Sweeney Todd), Cornelius Hackl (Hello Dolly). Orgon (Tartuffe), Tupolski (The Pillowman), Renfield (Dracula) and Cyrano (Cyrano De Bergerac). Recently, Andy just wrapped Better the Devil, a small independent feature length film scheduled to be released in the fall.

Sarah Claire Smith grew up in Winter Haven, Florida the fifth generation of her family to grow up there. She worked all through high school at Cypress Gardens as a Southern Belle and in the winter as a Caroling Belle. She also was a nanny and looks forward to working with our TheatreSchool students. A recent graduate of Florida State University with a BFA in Musical Theatre, Sarah Claire and her graduating class recently performed showcases in New York and Los Angeles. She also appeared with Viveka at the Barbican Centre in London in the opera Ainadamar . Other roles include Baker’s Wife (Into The Woods), Lucy (You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown), and Polly (Crazy For You).

Brian Zane grew up in Pleasantville, New York, a small town just outside of the Big Apple. He is a recent graduate of The College of William and Mary where he received a BA in Theatre and English. An accomplished piano player, as well as an actor, Brian has worked as a church organist, a piano bar vituroso and even as a Hannah Montana After-school Workshop instructor. Brian placed First Place in the Mid-Atlantic Regional National Association of Teachers of Singing competition in 2006. Previous roles include: Joey (Pal Joey), Cladwell (Urinetown), and Tevye (Fiddler on the Roof). Brian has performed with Virginia Shakespeare Festival, New Jersey’s Broadway ala Carte , Broadhollow Theatre Companyon Long Island, as well as, the New York City International Fringe Festival.

Jerrad Akers
Cathy Ardrey
David Ardrey
Helena Ball
Felicia Brown
Sarah Callahan
Calla Chuy
Victor Clark
Betsy Cribb
Kendall Cosey
Ralph Prentice Daniel
Mark Davis
Cara Dolan
NeYama Duncan
Steve Fordham
Bianca Gardner
Jan Gilbert
Sheila Goodfriend
Jacob Graudin
David Hallatt
Susie Hallatt
Michael Hamburg
Rachel Hedrick
Alissa Holmes
Alex James
Nat Jones
Austin Jur
Micky Kerwick
Jackie Kirchoff
Allie Larkin
Rob Maniscalio
Elyse McAvoy
Andrea McGinn
Ross Magoulas
Salynthia Mason
Anthony Massarotto
Margarat Mevers
Barb Nicolai
Kurt Nugent
Nicholas Piccola
Quinnesh Randolph
Rachel Reed
Nicholas Reigle
Randy Risher
Angela Rogers
Greg Saxton
Terry Schildcrout
Teresa Smith
Jamie Stake
Lawrence Taylor
Robbie Thomas
William Terranova
Rebecca Turner
Kimberly Varadi
Ramsey Yanney
Chelsea Young