"DC's hottest theater company . . . a pilgrimage to the H Street Playhouse is a must for lovers of great theater." - DC Examiner

Theater Alliance was founded in 1993 with the distinct goal of producing work that would illuminate the experiences, philosophies and interests of D.C.'s diverse populations. That goal was furthered when Theater Alliance moved from its home at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop to become the sole theater-in-residence at the H Street Playhouse. The company’s mission has evolved into presenting new or rarely produced work geared towards attracting diverse and alternative audiences to our Northeast community.

Each season, we produce four to five plays including World, American and Washington, D.C. premieres. Our productions highlight the eclectic work of renowned playwrights such as Salmon Rushdie, Daniel MacIvor, Toni Morrison, Rebecca Gilman and Seamus Heaney, among others. Theater Alliance has been recognized for its artistry with 21 Helen Hayes nominations.

Theater Alliance is a Constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre. Theater Alliance is also a member of the League of Washington Theaters, The Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, Cultural Tourism DC and THE EDGE, an alternative arts partnership that along with Theater Alliance includes Rorschach Theatre and Catalyst Theater Company. Theater Alliance is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Staff

• Paul Douglas Michnewicz, Interim Artistic Director
• Nick John, Production Manager
• Katie Wanschura, House Manager

Consultants

• Ginger Martin, Accountant
• Adele Robey, Graphic Designer
• Colin Hovde , Photographer
• Brigitte Tran, Webmaster

Artistic Director

Paul Douglas Michnewicz is the former Artistic Director of the Theater Alliance for which he has directed critically-acclaimed productions of ¾ of a Mass for St. Vivian, Spitfire Grill, Gospel at Colonus, A Gorey Gallery and Poodle Beach Trilogy. He continues his long relationship with the Kennedy Center's VSA arts by directing the Playwright Discovery Program (over 20 world premiers), Young Soloists Evening and the Start With The Arts Festival. He has Assisted Directed productions at the Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera and Wolf Trap Opera. In addition to directing, he has also Stage Managed productions starring Placedo Domingo, Vanessa Williams, Patricia Clarkson, Dael Orlandersmith, just to name a few. He teaches Acting at the Maryland Opera Studio located at the University of Maryland, College Park and has an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

Artistic Associates

Mark K. Anduss has made a home at Theater Alliance designing Mary's Wedding, Painted Alice, and Haroun and the Sea of Stories ¾ of a Mass for St. Vivian, In On It and Blue/Orange. Mark's designs and original music been heard at The Kennedy Center, Folger Shakespeare Library, Woolly Mammoth, Theater J, Catalyst Theater Company, Theater of the First Amendment, Signature Theatre, Studio Theater, African Continuum Theatre Company, Young Playwrights Theater Company, Imagination Stage, Everyman Theatre and Rorschach Theatre Company, among others. He received the 2003 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Sound Design for Tiny Alice at Washington Shakespeare Company. For more information, visit www.markanduss.com.

Tony Cisek has contributed the designs for Theater Alliance's productions of The Bluest Eye, Insurrection, You Are Here, Headsman's Holiday, Mary's Wedding, Painted Alice, The Gospel at Colonus and Slaughter City. Beyond Glory at the Goodman Theatre; Fences with Arden Theatre Company and Actors Theatre of Louisville; Hannah & Martin at Theatre J; the premiere of The Nightingale with the Children's Chorus of Washington; The Clandestine Marriage and Romeo & Juliet at Folger Theatre; Columbinus with Round House Theatre and Perseverance Theatre; Anna In the Tropics at Portland Center Stage; and Yerma at GALA Theatre's new home at the Tivoli. Tony's designs have also been seen at Arena Stage, Guthrie Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Berkshire Theatre Festival, City Theatre, Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Portland Center Stage, Round House, Perseverance Theatre, Arden Theatre, Theater J, Olney Theatre Center, Rep Stage, Theatre of the First Amendment, and Signature Theatre, among others. Tony is a four-time recipient of the Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Set Design and holds an MFA in Design from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Dan Covey is a Helen Hayes Award-winning lighting designer working locally and nationally. Previous lighting designs for Theater Alliance include Insurrection, ¾ of a Mass for St. Vivian, Two Rooms, The Monument, Headman's Holiday, Mary's Wedding, Painted Alice and Slaughter City. Recent work elsewhere: Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Melissa Arctic and Othello at Folger Theatre; Merlin and the Cave of Dreams at Imagination Stage; Dancing in the Wings at The Kennedy Center; Columbinus for Round House; Hannah & Martin and Passing the Love of Women at Theater J; The Nightingale for The Children's Chorus of Washington; Two Trains Running and A Lesson Before Dying for ACTCo; The Odyssey of Telemaca at Theater of the First Amendment; The Seagull for Rep Stage; Beyond Glory for Tribute Productions and many others. For more details, please visit www.dancovey.com for upcoming projects, portfolio photographs and contact information.

Adele Robey is an award-winning professional graphic artist with a serious second life in theater. Together with her husband Bruce, she created the Voice of the Hill, a highly popular monthly newspaper for the Capitol Hill Community. She and her husband are also owners of the H Street Playhouse, which serves as the home to the Theater Alliance and hosts other local professional theater companies throughout the year. The opening of the H Street Playhouse has served as a catalyst for the long-awaited rebirth of the riot-torn H Street, NE, corridor. The building has received landmark designation and recently received the Robert Herrema Award from the Capitol Hill Community Foundation. Ms. Robey also works as an actor, designer and stage manager in Washington. Her most recent roles were in Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Boy Gets Girl for Theater Alliance. She recently designed props for the VSAarts Playwright Discovery production at the Kennedy Center. Adele is recipient of the Capitol Hill Community Achievement Award and has served on the board of directors of the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop.

Jeremy Skidmore has directed Theater Alliance’s productions of Blue/Orange, Gross Indecency, Mary’s Wedding (Helen Hayes Nominations for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Production), Tales from Ovid, Slaughter City, The Dispute and the world premiere of Painted Alice. Elsewhere in the DC area, he has directed for Signature Theatre, Catalyst Theatre, African Continuum Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, Keegan Theater, University of Maryland, Catholic University and The National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. Outside of Washington, Jeremy has directed or produced in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, London, Tokyo, Macau and Tai Pei. Jeremy is an Associate Member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Kate Turner-Walker has designed nine productions for the Theater Alliance including: Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Headman's Holiday, The Spitfire Grill, Boy Gets Girl, [sic], Painted Alice, Thief River, Slaughter City and Tales from Ovid. Other recent projects include Fat Pig (Studio Theatre), Lift (Theater of the First Amendment), Hannah & Martin (Theater J), Perfectly Persephone (Imagination Stage), Starving and Our Lady of 121st Street (Woolly Mammoth), Clandestine Marriage and Two Gentlemen of Verona (Folger Theatre, Helen Hayes Nomination). She is a member of United Scenic Artists and holds a MFA in Costume Design.

Board of Directors

Vice-President
Patrick H. Martin has been in the proprietary school business for thirty years, both as a teacher and an administrator. For the past ten years, he has served as the School Director at the Montgomery Beauty Schools in Silver Spring, MD and Hagerstown, MD.

Co-Treasurer
Mark A. Cline is currently the controller for Browns Arlington Honda and Browns Arlington Nissan. He has over 20 years experience the Automotive Industry working for multiple franchise automobile dealerships and EDS-General Motors. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. He moved to the DC metro area in 2000 from his hometown of Pomeroy, Ohio and currently resides in Silver Spring Maryland.

Co-Treasurer
Chris Swanson is the co-owner of Evolve, LLC, a property development and managing organization. Chris has lived in the Capitol Hill community since 1995 and has been in business on Capitol Hill since 1997. Evolve supports the local art scene with Evolve Urban Arts Project, a philanthropic endeavor that promotes the works of local artists through participation in the Second Saturday program. Chris has served on the Board for Theater Alliance since 2004.

Co-Founder
Paul Douglas Michnewicz
See bio under Artistic Director.

Co-Founder
Adele Robey
See bio under Artistic Associates.

Bruce Brennan, a recently retired D.C. Government attorney, has been involved with theater on Capitol Hill since his 1978 appearance in Our Town with the Capitol Hill Art Workshop. He and his wife Louise have lived in Capitol Hill for over 30 years, raising their three children there. Both he and Louise attended Middlebury College in Vermont, where he remains active in alumni affairs. As A DC Government attorney, he was involved in such diverse areas as litigation, personnel, environmental, historic preservation, and economic development issues. In addition to his longtime work with the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, including several terms as President, he has been active in numerous community organizations, as recognized in his 2000 Capitol Hill Community Achievement award.

Mark A. Cline is currently the controller for Browns Arlington Honda and Browns Arlington Nissan. He has over 20 years experience the Automotive Industry working for multiple franchise automobile dealerships and EDS-General Motors. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. He moved to the DC metro area in 2000 from his hometown of Pomeroy, Ohio and currently resides in Silver Spring Maryland.

Jocelyne DeHaas Finnegan joined the Board of Directors of the Theater Alliance in 2006 after being involved in with the theater for years as a friend and donor. For the last eight years, she has worked with a local restaurant group which includes Tryst, The Diner and Open City. Jocelyne started as a server and worked her way up to oversee many aspects of all three very successful restaurants. She is the GLUE: the General Logistical Ubiquitous Executive. She holds it all together! Jocelyne served as the Executive Vice President of the Adams Morgan Business and Professional Association for two terms, during which time the groundwork for the BID in Adams Morgan was put in place. Jocelyne is excited to use her experience concerning customer service and event planning to help the Theater Alliance continue on its exciting journey within the D.C. theater community.

Paul Gamble came to Washington D.C. in 1985 as an intern at Arena Stage and to complete his MA in Arts Administration from Indiana University. Later that year he became the Associate Director of The Helen Hayes Awards. A major project he managed there was the creation, research and development of "What's Past is Prologue," a 200-year visual history of the theater in the nation's capital. This program is now the core of the Awards' education outreach program. In 1995 he became the first full-time employee of Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA as its Managing Director. Since 2000, he has done limited arts management consulting and has been a HR consultant, focusing primarily on congressional liaison and human resources issues for the Transportation Security Administration. Paul served on the board of directors of Catalyst Theater Company in Washington from 2001 - 2006 as Treasurer. He is a native of Greenville, MS.

Paul Douglas Michnewicz
Jocelyne Finnegan
Chris Swanson
Adele Robey