Edmonton Cast 2013

Frederick Zbryski as Mike Sokolowski

Frederick is truly excited to be a part of the “Strike!” team. For Workshop West, Frederick was most recently seen in the new Brad Fraser Kill Me Now for Springboards and previously he has been in The Mighty Carlin’s, 17 Dogs and Respectable (Sterling nomination for best actor). A veteran of Edmonton's incredible theatre community, Fred has had the privilege of working with many of Edmonton's companies including Catalyst Theatre, Theatre Network, Northern Light Theatre, Onion Theatre, Theatre Prospero, Chinook Theatre, Fringe Theatre Adventures, FreeWill Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Yes and the Citadel Theatre. Most recently Fred was in Edmonton Actors Theatre’s fringe hit Fatboy. Frederick's work has aired nationally on CBC TV and CBC Radio. Internationally, Fred has had the good fortune of voicing several small roles in Bioware's Mass Effectand Dragon Age video games. This year, Frederick will be re-creating the character of Dr. O Hanrahan in the 4th installment of Sure Shot Dumbrowski, one of Edmonton's most prolific film franchises.

Scott Shpeley as Stefan Dudar

Scott is an actor, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and sound designer with a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta.  He originated the role of Edgar in Catalyst Theatre’s production of Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, which has played across Canada, the Barbican in London, England, and The New Victory Theatre in New York City.  Other credits include Snoopy in You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown (Alberta Theatre Projects), Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Vertigo Theatre), and Tony/P’tit Richard in Peril in Paris (Lunchbox Theatre).  A strong advocate for new work, Scott has been in many world premieres of Canadian work and is grateful to be part of this Edmonton premiere of Strike! - his debut with Workshop West Theatre.

Ellie Heath as Rebecca Almazoff

Ellie Heath was born and raised in Edmonton and graduated from MacEwan's Theatre Arts Program in '07. Since then, she has been traveling across the country, acting, singing and playwriting her way through various theatre adventures, while currently based in Vancouver. She recently completed the Banff Citadel Professional Theatre Training Program in 2012, where she went on to play Peasblossom in a Midsummer Night's Dream. Other favorite roles include Little Sally in Urinetown (MacEwan), Ylali Alala in the Shark Tumor Collection (Nextfest), and everything from singing nuns to crazy bridesmaids in I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Canadiana). 

Ryan Parker as Moishe Almazoff

Ryan is an actor, writer, director, musician and photographer with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from the University of Alberta and a Theatre Arts Diploma from MacEwan University. He is a co-creator of the ukulele band, The Be Arthurs, who are regular guest performers on CBC’s The Irrelevant Show. He is a Canadian Screen Award/Gemini-nominated writer for the sketch comedy television series, Caution: May Contain Nuts, airing on APTN and BiteTV. Later this season, Ryan will be joining Teatro La Quindicina in their reprisal of Eros and the Itchy Ant. He’s elated to be a part of the Edmonton cast of the musicalStrike! as he has also been working with the Alberta Workers’ Health Centre for the past year, acting in and booking tours for their Work Plays Schools Program; teaching the youth of Alberta about young worker’s safety and rights. 

Chris W. Cook as O'Reilly

Chris is an Edmonton-based actor/singer/writer and producer with his company Watch Me Productions. Select acting credits include: Suburbia (Against the Wall), Little Dog Laughed (Media Room, U of A), The Black Rider: The Casting of The Magic Bullets,Workshop Presentation (Augustana Theatre, U of A), Savage/Love (Watch Me Productions), Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (Ignition Theatre), Dead Lover’s Day (Against the Wall), An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein (Watch Me). Chris wrote and starred in Eyes of the Enemy (Watch Me) at the 2012 Edmonton International Fringe Festival. 

Stephen Sparks as Senator Robertson

In addition to his many film and television roles, Stephen has worked in theatres throughout Canada in his twenty plus years of professional acting. Credits include: The Sound of Music (Persephone), The 39 Steps, Moonlight and Magnolias, I Had a Job I Liked Once (Sudbury Theatre), Colours in the Storm (Festival Players), Bella Donna (Burning Passions Theatre), Enchanted April (Theatre Calgary), Bach in Leipzig (Theatre Athena), Noises Off (The Atlantic Theatre Festival), Real Estate, Looking (Theatre Aquarius), Mick Unplugged (Alberta Theatre Projects), Speak (Nakai Theatre), Private Lives (Showboat Theatre). Stephen was nominated for a Dora award for his role in Tequila Vampire Matinee at Theatre Passe Murielle. He holds a B.F.A. from the University of Alberta.

Kendra Connor as Emma

Kendra is very pleased to be making her debut with Workshop West. Over the past few years, she’s had the privilege of working with many wonderful theatre companies in Edmonton, including Citadel Theatre (The Sound of Music), Shadow Theatre (Bless You, Billy Wilder), Teatro La Quindicina (The Infinite Shiver, Revenge of the South Sea Bubble, What Gives?, It’s a Wonderful Life), Edmonton Opera (The Pirates of Penzance), Alberta Opera (The Frog Prince), Theatre Prospero (Medea, Spokesong, Maggie Now), ACME Theatre (The Minor Keys), Plain Jane Theatre (Fiorello!), and Leave it to Jane Theatre (She Loves Me, Johnny Guitar, The Porterettes In: Find Me A Primative Man, The Innocents). Kendra is a graduate of the Theatre Arts Program at MacEwan University. 

Troy O'Donnell as Captain McDougall

An Artistic Associate with the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, Troy has appeared in many of their productions. Favourite roles include Trinculo in The Tempest, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, and Chorus in Henry V. He has also worked at Concrete Theatre (Smokescreen), Shadow Theatre (Bless You, Billy Wilder), The Mayfield Theatre (The 39 Steps), Citadel Theatre (Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet), Northern Light Theatre (Knives in Hens), Leave It To Jane (Bouncers, Teechers and In Perpetuity Throughout The Universe), Theatre North West (A Christmas Carol, Other People's Money, and Ten Lost Years) and The Pleiades Theatre (The Mousetrap). He has also appeared in many independent productions including Shoot. Get Treasure. Repeat., Anime and Ecstasy. Also a director, Troy has recently helmed The Minor Keys; Forsooth, My Lovely; and Exit... Pursued by Bard.

Annette Loiselle as Susan Ashdown

Previous productions with Workshop West Theatre include Java Life, Homesick and My One and Only. Annette had her first play, The Passion of Mary (in which she also performed), premiere this season at the Roxy Theatre. She is an Artistic Associate and founding member of the Free Will Shakespeare Festival with some of her favorite roles being, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (Sterling nomination), Rosalind in As You Like It, Hermione in A Winters Tale, Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, Elizabeth in Richard III, and Portia in The Merchant of Venice. Other favorite productions include, Rabbit Hole for ATP Calgary, A Christmas Carol for The Citadel, Bloody Poetry (Sterling nomination) for Northern Light Theatre and The Last Train for Shadow Theatre. Annette is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA acting program.

Paul Morgan Donald as James Ashdown

Paul is delighted to be joining the Edmonton company of Strike!. Recent acting credits include Hank Jeeter in David Belke's The Minor Keys,  Hipockets in Buddy at the Mayfield and Amiens in As You Like It at the Free Will Shakespeare Festival. Paul is a jazz guitar player, sound designer, the composer/lyricist of many stage musicals and the Musical Director for Die-Nasty, Edmonton's long-running improvised soap-opera.

Cole Humeny as Carmichael

Cole is an Edmonton-based performer whose recent theatre credits include One with Ghost River Theatre in Victoria and Burnaby BC, Ride with Northern Light Theatre, and A Few Good Men with Citadel Theatre/RMTC.  Other favourite credits include Shatter with The Maggie Tree, The Fourth Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide and Victoria Martin; Math Team Queen with Northern Light Theatre, Peter Pan with the Globe Theatre and ManDance, a co-created physical theatre piece performed at theatre festivals across Alberta.  Cole is a graduate of MacEwan’s Theatre Arts Program and the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting Program.  Next up, Cole is the Assistant Technical Director for Rhythms of the World, an interactive cultural exposition highlighting countries around the world, featured at Edmonton’s K-Days.

Praise

"One wonders if Evita will impress as much..."

- Saskatoon Star Phoenix

"An improbably compelling piece of musical theatre"

- The Globe & Mail

"There's nothing small in mind, body or heart about Strike!"

- Edmonton Journal

"Strike! Has Important Message for Humanity"

- Winnipeg Free Press

"Strike! makes haters of musicals and history see the error of their ways"

- University of Saskatchewan Sheaf

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