GOOD BONES by James Ijames | The Public Theater

Cast

Aaron J. Anderson

Understudy

Aaron J. Anderson

Understudy

AARON J. ANDERSON (Understudy). NY: MUD: or when things get messy and how we live with it (Connelly Theater); The Brother’s Size; Fucking A (Columbia University). Regional: Passover (Echo Theatre). Television/Film: “All-American” (The CW); War Paint (Sundance); Cap (HBO short). He is a graduate of the Columbia MFA Acting Program ’24. He’d like to thank God, his mother, grandmother and family for their love and support, and to honor his late father and uncle in this performance.

Mamoudou Athie

Travis

Mamoudou Athie

Travis

MAMOUDOU ATHIE (Travis) is an Emmy-nominated actor based in LA. Athie was last seen in Kinds of Kindness (Searchlight). He also recently wrapped Wardriver for writer-director Becca Thomas. Last year, Athie was seen in Maggie Betts’ The Burial (Amazon Prime Video). Athie also led Pixar’s Elemental (Golden Globe nomination) and recorded a supporting role for Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, which was also nominated for a Golden Globe. He has starred in Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World: Dominion and the James Wan-produced Netflix series “Archive 81.” Additional credits include Prentice Penny’s feature “Uncorked” (Netflix), Black Box (Amazon and Blumhouse), Jason Reitman’s The Front Runner, James Ponsoldt’s Facebook series “Sorry For Your Loss,” Netflix’s Unicorn Store, the breakout Sundance hit Patti Cake$, and Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series “The Get Down.” Athie was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in A Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for his role in “Oh Jerome, No” (FX). He is a graduate from Yale School of Drama’s MFA program and was given the Rising Star honor at TIFF in 2017.

Khris Davis

Earl

Khris Davis

Earl

KHRIS DAVIS (Earl) played the title role in Sony’s biopic Big George Foreman opposite Forest Whitaker, who played his mentor/boxing trainer Doc Broadus. Davis played the heartbreaking role of “Biff Loman” in the acclaimed Broadway production of Death of a Salesman with Wendell Pierce and Sharon D. Clarke. He made his New York stage debut in Marco Ramirez’s The Royale at Lincoln Center Theater. Loosely based on the life of Jack Johnson, his performance garnered him a Clive Barnes Award, an Obie Award and a Theatre World Award for Best Actor. He also starred in the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of the Tony-nominated Pulitzer Prize-winning Lynn Nottage play Sweat and Atlantic Theater Company’s production of Fireflies with DeWanda Wise. Davis recurred on FX’s award-winning “Atlanta” opposite Donald Glover and for which he received a SAG Award nomination as part of the ensemble. His feature credits include Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit, Space Jam: A New Legacy with LeBron James, and the Oscar-nominated Judas and The Black Messiah.

Teá Guarino

Carmen

Teá Guarino

Carmen

TÉA GUARINO (Carmen) is so grateful to be making her Public debut! Guarino is a recent graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, where she holds her BFA in Acting (’23). Favorite credits: A Hundred Words for Snow (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre). TV: “Law and Order: SVU.” Guarino wants to give thanks to everyone at HCKR, Matthew Lesher and her amazing parents who have always believed in her. @teaguarino_

Nedra Marie Taylor

Aisha

Nedra Marie Taylor

Aisha

NEDRA MARIE TAYLOR (Aisha starting 10/26) holds an MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School. Broadway: The Book of Mormon (Eugene O’Neill); Marvin's Room (Roundabout). Off-Broadway: The House that Will Not Stand (NYTW); The Underlying Chris (2nd Stage); Mr. Burns, and A Life (Playwrights Horizons); Lost Lake (MTC). TV: “Rose Callaway on Invasion” (Apple TV+), “Brilliant Minds,” “Elsbeth,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” “Orange is The New Black,” “Random Acts of Flyness,” “Jessica Jones,” and more. @nedramarietaylor

Sabrina K. Victor

Understudy

Sabrina K. Victor

Understudy

SABRINA K. VICTOR (Understudy) is a proud Haitian-American making her Public debut. New York Theater: Sean’s Story (54 Below). A.R.T.’s 1776 and The Donkey Show. Other regional credits include School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play (SpeakEasyStage) and Miss You Like Hell (Company One). Victor is recent graduate of Columbia University’s MFA Acting Program. sabrinakvictor.com

Susan Kelechi Watson

Aisha

Susan Kelechi Watson

Aisha

SUSAN KELECHI WATSON (Aisha) is best known for her much lauded role as ‘Beth Pearson’ on the smash hit series “This is Us.” Her acclaimed performance garnered her back-to-back SAG Outstanding Ensemble Awards as well as yearly NAACP nominations and several Critics Choice nominations. On stage, Watson starred in the London production of Eureka Day opposite Helen Hunt at The Old Vic and The Public's Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Merry Wives adapted by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Saheem Ali. On TV, Watson can next be seen in the Shondaland limited series “The Residence” for Netflix. She most recently guest starred on ABC’s “Will Trent” and memorably recurred in a major role on FX’s critically acclaimed comedy series "Louie". In film, Watson starred in Marielle Heller’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood opposite Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys. She is the exec producer and one of the stars of the groundbreaking HBO adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Between the World and Me,” as well as the executive producer of Premature on Hulu.

Creative

James Ijames

Playwright

James Ijames

Playwright

JAMES IJAMES (Playwright) is a playwright and educator. Ijames is the recipient of the 2022 Pulitzer in Drama for Fat Ham, a Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the Terrance McNally New Play Award for White, the Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize for ...Miz Martha, a Whiting Award, a Kesselring Prize for Kill Move Paradise, and a 2020 and 2022 Steinberg Prize. The 2023 Broadway production of Fat Ham received 5 Tony nominations including Best Play. Ijames an Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University.

Saheem Ali

Director

Saheem Ali

Director

SAHEEM ALI (Director) is a proud immigrant from Kenya, currently serving as the Associate Artistic Director/ Resident Director of The Public. He received Tony, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations, as well as the Joe A. Callaway award for his direction of Fat Ham. He most recently developed Buena Vista Social Club at Atlantic Theater Company (Drama Desk nom). His production of Merry Wives (Free Shakespeare in the Park) was the subject of the HBO documentary Reopening Night. Other productions include Goddess (Berkeley Rep), Nollywood Dreams (MCC), Romeo y Julieta, Shipwreck and Richard II (radio plays), Fires in The Mirror (Signature), The Rolling Stone (LCT), Passage (Soho Rep), Sugar in Our Wounds (MTC), Tartuffe (Playmakers Rep), Where Storms Are Born (Williamstown) and Kill Move Paradise (NBT). He is a Usual Suspect at New York Theater Workshop, a Sir John Gielgud SDCF Fellow, a Shubert Fellow and the recipient of an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Directing.

Maruti Evans

Scenic Design

Maruti Evans

Scenic Design

MARUTI EVANS (Set Design). Credits: Fat Ham (Broadway; The Public), Angles in America (Arena Stage), Real Enemies (BAM), At the Wedding (Lincoln Center Theatre), Kill Move Paradise (National Black Theater), and The Ring Cycle (Opera Australia). Awards: Fat Ham (Ensemble and Creative Team Obie Award), Tiny Dynamite (Drama Desk), Pilo Family Circus (Drama Desk). Drama Desk nominations: Peculiar Patriot, Kill Move Paradise, Deliverance, In the Heat of the Night, Slaughterhouse 5, and Blindness.

Oona Botez

Costume Design

Oona Botez

Costume Design

OANA BOTEZ (Costume Designer). LCT3: In the Green, Bull in a China Shop, Luck of the Irish. Off-Broadway: An Oresteia (CSC); Love's Labour's Lost (The Public); Master and Margarita (Bard Summerscape); A House in Bali, texts&beheadings/ElizabethR, Alan Smithee Directed This Play, Supernatural Wife (BAM). Regional: Macbeth (Old Globe); Angels in America (Wilma); Man in a Case (Hartford). International: Bucharest National; Old Vic; Théâtre National de Chaillot, Maison des Arts Creteil (Paris); Les Subsistances (Lyon); Budapest National; International Festival of Contemporary Theater (Turkey); Le Quartz (Brest); La Filature (Mulhousse); Tanz im August Festival (Berlin); Centro Cultural Universidad del Pacífico (Lima); Edinburgh International Festival; Singapore Arts Festival. Botez teaches in the Design Department at Yale’s David Geffen School of Drama.

Barbara Samuels

Lighting Design

Barbara Samuels

Lighting Design

BARBARA SAMUELS (Lighting Design) she/her. The Public: Debut. Off-Broadway: Soho Rep, NAATCO, Ma-Yi, MCC, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, NYTW, TFANA, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theater, Second Stage, WP Theater. Other New York: Target Margin, The Bushwick Starr, Beth Morrison Projects, New Georges, Clubbed Thumb. Regional: Pig Iron, Bard Summerscape, The Alley, Long Wharf, ACT, Woolly Mammoth, Playmakers, KC Rep, and Trinity Rep. 2023 Obie and Henry Hewes Awards. Professional Affiliations: New Georges, Target Margin, Wingspace, USA829. www.barbarasamuels.com

Fan Zhang

Sound Design

Fan Zhang

Sound Design

FAN ZHANG she/her (Original Music and Sound Design). The Public: Jordans. Off-Broadway: The Far Country; What Became of Us; Paris (Atlantic); At the Wedding (Lincoln Center); This Land Was Made (Vineyard); Snow in Midsummer (Classic Stage), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Second Stage & WP), Pumpgirl (Irish Rep), Suicide Forest (Ma-Yi), Behind the Sheet (Ensemble Studio). Regional: Berkeley Rep, Arena Stage, Old Globe, Shakespeare DC, Huntington, Capital Rep, American Repertory Theater, Long Wharf, Geffen Playhouse, Steppenwolf, Professor at Purdue University. Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama. www.fanzhangsound.com

Krystal Balleza

Hair and Wig Design

Krystal Balleza

Hair and Wig Design

KRYSTAL BALLEZA (Hair and Wig Designer): Opera: Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Off-Broadway: Orlando (Signature), The Connector (MCC), Public Works’ The Tempest (Free Shakespeare in the Park), At The Wedding (LCT), Americano! (New World Stages), King of The Jews (Here). Regional: the ripple, the wave that carried me home, Mojada (Yale Rep); Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Barrington); Angels in America, Part One (Arena); Real Women Have Curves (A.R.T.). Balleza is the Hair and Makeup Department Head at Broadway’s Six. She holds a BFA in Wig and Makeup Design from Webster Conservatory and is co-owner of The Wig Associates with her design partner, Will Vicari. www.thewigassociates.com.

Claire M. Kavanah

Prop Management

Claire M. Kavanah

Prop Management

CLAIRE M. KAVANAH (Prop Manager). The Public: Comedy of Errors (Mobile Unit), Jordans, The Ally, Hell’s Kitchen, The Harder They Come, A Raisin in the Sun, Fat Ham, Girl from the North Country, The Michaels, Mojada, Eve’s Song, Miss You Like Hell, Fire in Dreamland, Illyria, Hamlet, Gently Down the Stream, Privacy, The Gabriels, Eclipsed. Working Theater: The Block, Cherry Smoke, La Ruta. Select artisan work: SpongeBob SquarePants, Little Miss Sunshine, Hand to God. Broadway Production Props Supervisor: Girl from the North Country, Fat Ham.

Darrell Grand Moultrie

Movement Consultant

Darrell Grand Moultrie

Movement Consultant

DARRELL GRAND MOULTRIE (Movement Consultant). A recipient of the Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award and a graduate of The Juilliard School, Moultrie’s credits include Fat Ham (Broadway & The Public) Merry Wives (Free Shakespeare in the Park), Goddess (Berkeley Rep) Disney’s new revival of Aida (The Netherlands) Invisible Thread (Second Stage), Daddy (The New Group/Vineyard Theatre), Sugar in Our Wounds (MTC). Moultrie has choreographed premieres for dance companies including ABT, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Jack Phillips Moore

Dramaturgy

Norman Anthony Small

Production Stage Manager

Norman Anthony Small

Production Stage Manager

NORMAN ANTHONY SMALL he/him (Production Stage Manager) The Public: Sally & Tom. Broadway: The Shark Is Broken, Leopoldstadt, American Buffalo. Off-Broadway: Where We Stand (WP Theater); Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven (Atlantic Theater Company). Regional: Crossroads Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage. Education: MBA, Metropolitan College of New York; BM, University of Miami. Adjunct professor of stage management at Fordham University. Award: Charlie Blackwell Symposium Scholarship for Stage Managers of Color.

Giselle Andrea Raphaela

Stage Manager

Giselle Andrea Raphaela

Stage Manager

GISELLE ANDREA RAPHAELA (Stage Manager) is a Colombian-born and St. Maarten-raised stage manager who recently made her Broadway debut on Purlie Victorious. Other Broadway credits include Topdog/Underdog and Skeleton Crew (MTC). Off-Broadway credits: Gun & Powder (Paper Mill Playhouse), Hamlet (The Public Theater), Endgame (Irish Rep), SAFE (BAM/NYCLU), Golden Shield and Morning Sun (MTC), Stew (Page 73), and one in two (The New Group). Much love and gratitude to my Mom & Mayra!

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