The Hoffmann Circus (Spring 2004)

Ruth Juliet Wikler [Director/Producer] is Cirque Boom’s Founder and Artistic Director. For Cirque Boom, she has conceived, produced and directed three previous productions, creating each production in collaboration with designers, choreographers, musicians and performers: The Circus of Vices & Virtues 2003 and The Circus of Vices & Virtues 2002 (both at The Brooklyn Lyceum) and The Bruegel Triptych (Fall 2001, in partnership with Claudia Orenstein at Hunter College). Ms. Wikler studied and trained at Barnard College, at the Circomedia school of Circus and Physical Theater in Bristol, England, and at the Instalacción aerial improvisation center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Leah James Abel [Creator & Performer, Circus Antonia/Doll/Courtesan] has been drooling, hanging in the air, and frolicking with devils large and small with Cirque Boom since its founding. She is proud to be putting her magna cum laude in Political Science hard to work for the company. Leah would like to thank her support system: her friends, family and partner.

Annie Brown [costume coordinator] is a recent graduate of Bennington College. She sandwiched coordinating costumes for The Hoffmann Circus between stage managing at The Culture Project and creating costumes for Anne Roth’s upcoming Maine rendition of Little Women.

Jeff Caldwell [Music Director/Pianist] is pleased to inaugurate his residence in New York with a Tales of Hoffmann, as he did the same upon arriving in Seattle 15 years ago. In Seattle, Jeff taught musical theater and audition technique at the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts; served as music director for West Side Story and Forever Plaid, among other productions; and sang roles such as Jack Point (Yeoman of the Guard) and Don Alfonso (Cosi Fan Tutte).

Amy Cheifetz [Opera Antonia] Amy Cheifetz performs regularly with the Metropolitan Opera Guild's Outreach Program. Her operatic roles include Lauretta in Gianni Schicci, Despina in Così fan tutte, and Musetta in La Boheme. She also teaches voice at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.

Jimmy Garver [Creator & Performer, Circus Coppelius/Dr. Miracle/Dapertutto] Mr. Garver's last foray into circus arts was with Cirque du Soleil, playing a character in their show Saltimbanco. This is his first experience with Cirque Boom.

David Gordon [Creator & Performer, Hoffmann] David Gordon's operatic roles include Rodolfo (La Boheme), Don Jose (Carmen), Alfredo (La Traviata), The Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), and the Governor (Candide). He has performed with the Opera Company of Brooklyn, Bronx Opera, Lake George Opera Festival, Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, Central City Opera, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Kalistos Orchestra, the Mozart Soceity of Harvard College, Camerata New York, the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Michigan.

Jen Emma Hertel [Light Board Operator] has been working in New York theater for the past three years in a multitude of capacities, from design work to Light/Sound to Playwright/director. She has studied at University of Wisconsin and NYU and is proud to be part of this Cirque Boom Production.

Anne Hill [seamstress] graduated from Bennington College in 2002. She loves making things from knitting to sewing to printmaking, upholstery and interior design. Above all, she loves colors and textures.

Jeannie Im [Opera Olympia] Jeannie Im's recent operatic highlights include Gloria in the Italian premiere of Ernst Krenek's What Price Confidence at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier for the Altenburger Musikfestival (Germany), and Pamina for Lyric Opera of New York, in addition to performances of Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Zerlina and Elisabetta (Roberto Devereux), among others. Her many concert performances include Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras with the Yale Symphony Orchestra; numerous concerts and tours in New York and Europe with Elysium-Between Two Continents; several performances at the Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall which included the soprano solos for Poulenc Gloria, Rutter Magnificat and Requiem and the NY premiere of David Brunner's Ode to Present and Future Days; and numerous concerts of 17th and 18th century music with the New York Center for Early Music. This summer she will be performing the role of Morgana in Alcina and the Schumann Requiem, both at the California Music Festival.

Silvie Jensen [Opera Giulietta] trained at San Francisco Conservatory and Mannes College of Music, and has sung the roles of Giulietta, Fiordiligi, Agathe, and Freia. In addition to opera, she has performed in musical theater, experimental jazz with Ornette Coleman, medieval chant opera, avant-garde fashion shows, and religious ritual, but never before in circus! She is delighted to be part of this new form of madness.

Elise Knudson [collaborating choreographer with L. J. Abel, Antonia net piece] has been dancing, choreographing and studying in New York for eight years, and has danced with Wendy Perron, Chemecki/Lerner, J. Mandle Performance, Risa Jaroslow and others. After dancing with Philadelphia based Trapezius in 2000, she became interested in aerial dance and, with Bianca Falco, co-founded NuVoLe Dance Theatre, which performed at the d.u.m.b.o. Arts Center, Brooklyn Information and Culture, Present Company Theatoreum, The Brooklyn Arts eXchange, Galapagos, and Joyce Soho. Elise continues to choreograph and perform aerial dance at various festivals under the name 'Airelise'.

Teresa Kochis [Creator & Performer, Circus Olympia/Courtesan] is a visual artist and performance artist specializing in aerial dance. This is her second year performing with Cirque Boom. She has also appeared recently with Earsay and NuVoLe Dance Theatre.

Olivia Lehrman [Creator & Performer, Circus Giulietta/Doll] Olivia, a company member since 2002, has flipped around with other NY organizations such as Trapeze School NY, Elizabeth Streb's dance company, LAVA, NY Goofs, and the Gross Girls Gala--a duo with fellow company member Leah J. Abel. She holds a B.A. in Asian Studies from Vassar College and is currently studying clowning. She thanks mommy & daddy, pammy & pauly, sparky & cody.

Sophie Nimmannit [props/puppet creator] is a graduate of the theater studies program at Yale College. She studied mask-making during a summer at the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre and has created masks for various productions in CT and NY. Masks led to puppets for the Upheaval Dome Project (Moab, Utah) and puppet building crew for Animal Farm (Synapse Productions, NY).

Rie Ono [lighting designer] is thrilled to work with Cirque Boom again. She has designed lighting for various productions both in Tokyo and the United States. Recent credits include: Hanjo(directed by Isabel Ramos), A Midsummer Night’s Dream(directed by Craig Evans), Another Gay Play(directed by Jon Tolins), The Waiting Room(directed by Julia Gibson), Opera Nightingale(by Evan Hause), and Cirque Boom’s Circus of Vices and Virtues 2003 (directed by Ruth Wikler). She also collaborated with fashion lines Charlotte Corday and 30 Vandam. Rie holds an MFA in Theater Design from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Romina Polnoroff [Creator & Performer, Circus Ensemble] is a busy Argentine actress who is making her NYC debut with this show. She is very happy to be joining Cirque Boom in this production and looks forward to learning more from this talented company.

Melissa Riker [collaborating choreographer with O. Lehrman, Giulietta fabric & floor dances] is a freelance modern dancer, aerialist and choreographer. This is her third season with Cirque Boom! In addition to exploring ways to make aerial dances for Ruth, Melissa is artistic director of the Kinesis Project, a dance/theatre company based out of Manhattan Theatre Source. In July, her choreography will be in Kate Crackernuts, by Sheila Callaghan. She is presently a member of Torque Dance, Murray Spalding Movement Arts, Kirkos & of course, Cirque Boom.

Anne Sorce [Creator & Performer, Spalanzani, Krespel, Schlémil] Anne, originally from Boston Massachusetts, studied at the Marymount Conservatory in London and worked as a company apprentice with Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis St Paul. She is a recent graduate of Ecole Jacques Lecoq.

Ben Weaver [assistant director/rigger/stage manager] graduated from Dartmouth College in 2003 with some experience in theater. He now lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn and complements his work for Cirque Boom as a staff climber at the Chelsea Piers rock wall. Ben is joined by John Witsell [Running Crew] behind the scenes.

Mark Womack [Bartender/ Opera Coppelius, Dr. Miracle, Dapertutto] most recently sang with the Broadway company and National Tour of Baz Luhrmann's La Boheme where he won critical success for his performances of Marcello and Schaunard. Mark has also been a leading baritone with opera companies and symphonies throughout the United States and Canada, including Connecticut Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera North, The Toronto Symphony and the Indianapolis Symphony.

Helda a.k.a. Anna Zastrow [Creator & Performer, Nicklausse] was featured in Cirque Boom’s The Circus of Vices & Virtues 2003 and has appeared at various venues in the city; Anna's theater work includes plays such as Mother Courage and Her Children, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, as well as falling off a roof as Holly Daze, the Innkeeper at the PA Renaissance Faire and staving off berzerking bears as the ringmaster of Cirque de Laponie. Anna is a graduate of The Amer. Academy of Dramatic Arts as well as Ecole Jacques Lecoq.