The Illusion

Mirabelle Ordinaire is a French director, librettist and translator. She has been collaborating with the Red Bull Theatre for over a decade on the Revelation Reading Series’ French plays, and served as translator and dramaturg for the company’s production of The Maids in 2012. In 2018 she joined the Stage Directors team of the Metropolitan Opera, where she has been remounting Zeffirelli’s iconic Boheme. Directing credits in Europe include, among others, Pearl Fishers (Opéra de Dijon), Don Pasquale (ORW, Liege, Belgium), Dialogue of the Carmelites (Septembre musical de l’Orne), Sondheim’s Marry Me A Little (Studio Marigny), and Kurt Weill Story (Académie de l’Opéra de Paris).

Keith Hamilton Cobb is an Artist-in-Residence at Sacred Heart University (CT), and is the director of Project Untitled, a company evolving socially just processes of analysis and inquiry at the intersection of humanities education and theater-making. The company’s seminal work is The Untitled Othello Project, evolved in collaboration with Sacred Heart University and Blessed Unrest Theatre Company, which operates as an extended “interrogation and rehearsal with artists and educators” of Shakespeare’s play, Othello, disrupting antiquated ideas of its purpose and value. Keith is the author of American Moor (published by Methuen Drama), which ran off-Broadway at Cherry Lane Theatre in the fall of 2019, produced in collaboration with Red Bull Theater, and of the play, Nine Moons, which grows from the work of The Untitled Othello Project and its collaborators.

AmericanMoor.com UntitledOthello.com KeithHamiltonCobb.com

Sharlene Cruz: Theater credits include Sanctuary City (New York Theater Workshop), Queens (Manhattan Theater Club), The Good John Proctor (The Connelly), Mac Beth (Red Bull Theater, Hunter Theater Project). Film/Television credits include In the Summers, “Flatbush Misdemeanors”, “Chicago P.D”.

Russell Daniels: Broadway: Gutenberg. Off-Broadway: Titanique, Ginger Twinsies, The Imaginary Invalid at Red Bull Theater. Other credits: Othello, As You Like It, King John. Co-host of The Downside podcast w/ Gianmarco Soresi. IG: @russelljdaniels.

Christian DeMarais is a New York based Actor, Producer, Director, Writer and Musician. Acting Credits include Off-Broadway: Lights Out (NYTW), Hamlet (The Public), School for Scandal (Red Bull Theater) and workshops at MTC, Roundabout, Signature Theatre Company, Tectonic Theater Project. Regional: The Guthrie, Huntington Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Chautauqua Theatre Company. TV: Elsbeth (CBS), FBI: Most Wanted (CBS), The Equalizer (CBS), Mr. Robot (USA), Maniac (Netflix), Elementary (CBS). As Producer: In Between (2026), The Long Distance (2026). Music: Christian will be releasing his first Hip-Hop / Rap album in 2026. Education: MFA, NYU Graduate Acting. @christiandemarais | www.christiandemarais.com

Allen Gilmore was recently in the company of PRINCE FAGGOT at Studio Seaview, covering KTodd Freeman and David Greenspan. He was seen regionally last spring in LEGACY OF LIGHT (Karen Zacarías) at McCarter Theater and has played Ebenezer Scrooge for many years at Goodman Theater and then at Hartford Stage. He played Malvolio in TWELFTH NIGHT and the following summer played the title role of MALVOLIO by Betty Shamieh, both at Classical Theater of Harlem. Allen is a Lunt-Fontanne Fellow, a 3Arts Prize recipient, and a US Army Infantry veteran originally from Houston.

Michael Rishawn is an award-winning, classically trained actor whose work spans theatre, television, film, and voiceover. He is the recipient of a Lucille Lortel Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and Drama Desk recognition. He has appeared on Broadway in Ain’t No Mo’ and originated roles in Table 17 (MCC Theater) and Handjob (Echo Theater Company). His stage work also includes performances at Carnegie Hall. Screen credits include And Just Like That…, FBI: Most Wanted, Raising Dion, Survival of the Thickest, and Crutch, as well as audiobook narration for Audible. He holds an M.F.A. from UC San Diego.

Jay O. Sanders appeared most recently in Any Minute Now (H.E.R.E Arts), This World of Tomorrow (The Shed), as Falstaff in Henry IV, parts 1&2 (TFANA), the Broadway revival of Purlie Victorious, Roundabout’s Pulitzer-winning Primary Trust, the Broadway premiere of Girl From The North Country, and the title roles in Cyrano deBergerac (Guthrie) and Uncle Vanya (Hunter). He and wife Maryann Plunkett originated all 12 plays comprising Richard Nelson’s Rhinebeck Panorama and received a special joint NY Critics Circle Lifetime Achievement Award. Recent screen credits include Azazel Jacob’s His Three Daughters and M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming Remain.

Japanese-born musician and improviser Satoshi Takeishi explores connection beyond genre, integrating contrasting elements in pursuit of musical essence. Working with drum set, hybrid percussion, and electronics, he draws from over 40 years of global performance and recording experience across jazz, contemporary classical, experimental, and world music. Rather than specializing in a single style, he continually integrates his broad musical experiences, allowing intuition, texture, and rhythmic form to guide his artistic choices. After studying at Berklee College of Music, Takeishi lived in Colombia and Miami before settling in New York City, where he has been based since 1991. In NYC, he remains deeply engaged in new projects by composers and performers across genres, as well as in his own solo work. From fully notated compositions to open improvisation, his evolving toolkit reflects a lifelong exploration of sound, pattern, and the expressive possibilities of rhythm.

Nik Walker is a Boston native, ADHDer and unqualified NYU professor, who’s survived this industry for 20 years and counting. B’way/B’way adjacent roles include Sir Galahad in the 2023 revival of Spamalot, Aaron Burr in Hamilton, and one of the 6 original Phantoms in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Masquerade. On screen, he’s been seen on Blue Bloods, Law and Order SVU and most recently in the AppleTV+ film The Instigators, alongside his hometown hero, Matt Damon. As a writer, Nik’s cartoon, CLEANERS, is in development with Warner Bros Animation and Amazon Studios. Nik can be found with his amazing wife Sarah, or on vacation at one of Disney or Universal Studios’ many incredible theme parks.

Mia Wurgaft is an NYC based actor, voiceover artist and coach. NYC Theater: Twelfth Night (The Public/Shakespeare in the Park) and The Mall^3 (The Tank). Regional Theater: Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello (American Shakespeare Center). Juilliard MFA. @miawurgaft