TICKETS
October 7–18, 2026 · Theatre Row, NYC
DREAMS
BY ZHU & NERO
THE OFFICIAL THEME SONG OF
CAST & CREATIVE
CAST
CHRISTA B. ALLEN
Karen Andre
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Christa B. Allen (Karen Andre) is an actress and content creator whose career spans over two decades in film and television. Best known for her role as young Jenna Rink in the beloved romantic comedy 13 Going on 30, Christa has built a body of work that reflects both range and longevity, from her recurring role on ABC's hit drama “Revenge” to a growing slate of film and television projects. Beyond the screen, Christa has cultivated one of the most authentic and engaged creator communities in the digital space, with 2.2 million followers across platforms. Her audience is predominantly women by design. Of all the things 13 Going on 30 gave the world, the word Christa holds closest is the one that has become the heartbeat of everything she creates: THRIVING. Thirty, flirty, and thriving was never just a movie line to her, it was a mandate. Through wellness, spirituality, and self-reclamation content, Christa has made it her mission to share with her audience not just how to survive, but how to genuinely thrive, and to remind them that they are worthy of a life that feels that way.
NELSON DEPASQUALE
John Hutchins
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Nelson DePasquale is grateful to be in his second Ruth Stage production this year. He played D.A. Flint in the New Jersey run of The Night of January 16th this past April at the Jersey Shore Arts Center. He is currently appearing in Hocus Pocus Murder Mystery Musical with Movie Magic Productions, which has October performances at Paper Mill Playhouse and other venues throughout New Jersey. You can also see Nelson on the big screen playing the titular character in the award-winning film DEATH KNIGHT, Film Valor’s sixth feature-length film. Nelson is grateful for the opportunity to work with his friend and mentor, director Theo Devaney, and with such a talented cast. He is thrilled to be back with Matt De Rogatis and the incredible group of artists and collaborators he brings together, making Ruth Stage such a special company to be part of
MILTON ELLIOT
Elmer Sweeney
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This is Milton’s 4th show with Ruth Stage. Previous roles include The Ghost in Hamlet, Reverend Tooker in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The Second Murderer in War of the Roses. He is a graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has performed in regional theatre, commercials, film and television.
JIM KEMPNER
John Graham Whitfield
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Theatre:
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Doc Baugh -Theater at St. ClemensHamlet - Polonius - Engine Productions
Flowers for Algernon - Nemur - The Garage
RED - Rothko - Jersey Shore Arts Center - Dir. Dov Tiefenbach
Harold Pinter: One Acts - Several - Gallery Productions
ART - Serge - Jersey Shore Arts Center - Dir. Dov Tiefenbach
Death of a Salesman - Uncle Charlie - Gallery Productions
Film:
Hopeful - Bill - Stonestreet Studios - Dir. Alyssa Bennett
The Girlfriend Experience - Art Dealer - Magnolia Pictures - Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Shoot Me Nicely (Pilot) - Jim - Dir. Elias Plagianos
Web Series:
The Madness of Art - Jim Kempner Creator/Writer - 60 Episodes
Training:
The Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop - Los Angeles, CA
HB Studios - Austin Pendleton - Mercedes Ruehl
The Freeman Studio - Reed Birney
JOE PANDOSH
Homer Van Fleet
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Joe Pandosh is ecstatic to be performing his Off-Broadway debut in this Ruth Stage production! Joe is a BFA graduate from Montclair State University, and is excited to be putting his skills to the test for New York. Joe is overjoyed to be able to help tell such an interesting and important story from our past, and hopes that you all enjoy the performance! Cheers!
EMILY SLASS
Nancy Lee Faulkner
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Emily Slass is excited to make her off-Broadway debut at Theater Row. Emily returned to acting after graduating from Vanderbilt Law School. Her previous credits include various lead and supporting roles in feature films, most recently Jesus Land, a biopic currently screening in NYC at Soho International Film Festival and Chelsea Film Festival. A big shoutout to her family and friends in Nashville and NJ for all their love and support. @emilyslass
GARY STEVENS
Defense Attorney Stevens
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Gary is very pleased to once again work with Ruth Stage. Besides playing the role of Steven’s in the Asbury Park production, he most recently appeared as Joe Martin in “And in This Corner, Cassius Clay” for The Theater Project. He has appeared in too many productions to name, but would like to dedicate this performance to Christine.
CREW
THEO DEVANEY
Director
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Theo Devaney (Director) is a British-Italian actor, acting coach, director and filmmaker. Born in London and raised near Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, he completed the Oxford School of Drama’s three-year professional acting course in 2005. He spent the next eight years in British theatre, working in classical, regional and contemporary productions and running his own company, before developing an international screen and voice career across London, Vancouver, Los Angeles and New York. He is best known as Count Simon Duxbury in Netflix’s A Christmas Prince trilogy, a role he reprised in The Princess Switch 3, and as Gavin MacLeod in Supernatural. His credits also include Psych, Emmerdale, Once Upon a Time in London, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, American Sports Story, Black Rabbit and The Better Sister, while his voice work includes Sherlock Holmes in Moriarty the Patriot and roles in major video games. Devaney is founder and creative director of Theo Devaney Acting Studio in New Jersey, where he coaches emerging and professional actors in craft, career and mindset. His directing work includes Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story and At Home at the Zoo for Ruth Stage. He has also written and produced short films, including the Leo Award-nominated Run.
YICHUN LI
Stage Manager
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Yichun Li (PSM) is so excited for her debut with Ruth Stage! In addition to stage management, she also loves working as an electrician, carpenter, and production manager. Past productions include Die ägyptische Helena (Bard SummerScape), Julius Caesar (Juilliard), Xanadu (UCLA), and Beauty and the Beast (HOOLIGAN Theatre Company). Yichun is an alumni of the Juilliard Apprentice Program and is so grateful for everyone who has supported her on this crazy journey.
CHRISTIAN SPECHT
Lighting Designer
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Christian Specht (Lighting Designer) is originally from Leesburg, GA, and works across theatre and live performance. Off-Broadway credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Theatre St. Clements) and Lone Star (Theatre Row) with Ruth Stage. Regional credits include Mystery of Edwin Drood, Carnival, (J2 Spotlight Productions) Ragtime, 9 to 5, and Gypsy (SSTI), and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, SpongeBob the Musical, and Spamalot at Peach State Summer Theatre. Additional work includes Ain’t Too Proud at the Kennedy Center, Titanic at Signature Theatre in Washington, DC, and Penn State University, with assisting credits at Alley Theatre. He is also an Assistant Clinical Professor of Lighting at Penn State University. @spechtc5792
AYN RAND
Author
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Ayn Rand (Author) was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher renowned for developing Objectivism, a philosophy championing rational individualism, ethical egoism, and laissez-faire capitalism. Born Alisa Rosenbaum in St. Petersburg, she witnessed the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, which fueled her lifelong opposition to collectivism. After studying philosophy and history at the University of Petrograd, she emigrated to the United States in 1926, settling in Hollywood to pursue screenwriting. Rand achieved fame with her novels, most notably The Fountainhead (1943) and her magnum opus Atlas Shrugged (1957). Her fiction, featuring heroic, self-made protagonists, served as a vehicle for her philosophy that "man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress". She argued that individuals should live for their own sake, pursuing their own happiness as their highest moral purpose. Despite critical backlash from intellectuals, her work gained immense popularity, particularly among libertarians and conservatives. She spent her later years lecturing and writing non-fiction to further define Objectivism before her death in New York City in 1982.
RUTH STAGE
Producer
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Ruth Stage (Producer) Founded in 2017 by Bob Lamb, Ruth Stage is a bold nonprofit professional theater company dedicated to reimagining classic works through a modern psychological lens. Under the visionary leadership of chairman and creative director Matt de Rogatis, the company specializes in emotionally raw, high-impact productions that excavate the mental health, trauma, identity, and human behavior embedded within iconic literary texts.
Ruth Stage is best known for its groundbreaking Off-Broadway premiere of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which drew national attention for its visceral reinvention of Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece. The company continues to redefine the theatrical canon by fusing rigorous dramatic craft with contemporary themes of loneliness, addiction, repression, and the search for meaning, making old stories newly dangerous, urgent, and relevant. Beyond the stage, Ruth Stage champions social impact through partnerships with veteran and cancer support organizations, leveraging the power of theatrical storytelling to build community, foster empathy, and inspire healing. Ruth Stage’s productions are designed not just to entertain, but to provoke, confront, and start conversations, cementing the company as one of the most fearless and innovative voices in American independent theater.
ABOUT
On the night of January 16th, financier Bjorn Faulkner falls from the penthouse of his own skyscraper and Karen Andre, his former secretary, lover, and closest confidante, is accused of murder. But the real question is not only whether Karen killed him. It is whether the depth of her love, loyalty, and understanding makes her guilty or the only person capable of telling the truth about who Bjorn really was.
To Karen, Bjorn was not simply a corrupt tycoon or reckless seducer, but a man of terrifying vitality: brilliant, dangerous, wounded, and larger than the world that sought to condemn him. As witnesses attempt to reduce him to scandal, fraud, or victim, Karen’s memory of Bjorn becomes both her defence and her undoing.
Ruth Stage's production reimagines Ayn Rand’s courtroom thriller as a bold, heightened descent into a dark, purgatorial parallel reality. Karen is placed not only on legal trial, but on spiritual and psychological trial, pursued by desire, guilt, memory, and threatening forces beyond the visible world. And in the play’s most thrilling device, the audience itself becomes the jury; drawn into the trial, implicated in the verdict, and forced to decide what kind of truth they believe.
PRESS
