Another Reason Not to Go
Jessica Marie Fisher (She/They) is an Silver Lake actor, playwright, voice actor, and kids podcast host (yes, that’s a thing) originally from New Jersey. They attended Playwrights Horizons Theatre School and New Studio at Tisch School of the Arts NYU. Their one-act Rules for Coming Out…was published by Original Works in 2019, and their full-length Scrambled Eggs had its workshop presentation at the Broadwater Black Box November 2021 before heading over to B3 Theatre in Phoenix, AZ where it won best new script at the AriZoni Theatre Awards. Firefly Theatre Group is producing it at The Sherry in October so check it out then! Jess is a proud member of Dramatists Guild and you can find their other plays on New Play Exchange, at her website JessicaMarieFisher.com, and unfortunately, on TikTok @Jess.Fisher5. There’s not much room left here for their acting things, but they’re represented by The Polygon Group and you can ask her all about that at The Red Lion after the show if you’re curious - but you’ll have to buy Jess a beer first because she’s scared shitless right now and she’ll still be coming down from the adrenaline of it all later. This play is dedicated to the boys formerly known as her step brothers.
Anja Shanti is an LA based actress who’s excited to return to theatre in her first ever Jess Fisher play. Her past TV/Film credits include FATAL ATTRACTION, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, and ONE NIGHT STAND MURDER. Anja studied at USC where she received a B.A in the Dramatic Arts. She is represented by Smith & Hervey Grimes Talent Agency and McGowan-Rodriguez Management.
Andrew Kelly Brown In the world of theater, Andrew has taken on classic roles such as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (Prospect Theater Project), Damis in Tartuffe (Gallo Center for the Arts), Kinesias in Lysistrata (Michael Lynch), Bernard in Death of a Salesman (Prospect Theater Project), and many more. Recently, Andrew played the lead in the award-winning short "FIXATION" as well as in the feature "Slashlorette Party" (Available to stream on Amazon Prime). He also stars in two hilarious web series, "Forever-A-Clone" and "Tiny House", from Matte Black Productions available on YouTube. You can also see him on TV in "Dave", "Hacks" and "The Last Gasp" as well as in various commercials (Google Pixel, Lets Disco, Lullyboo). Next up, see Andrew as John Mink in East West Players newest production, "Patsy Mink."
Molly Kirschembaum (they/them) is an actor, writer, and musician from beautiful Burbank, California. Most recently, they have appeared in Tim Robbins’ new play, Topsy Turvy, at the Actor’s Gang. Other recent theater credits include: Somebody To Love (Rubicon Theatre, dir. Sean Daniels), Transparent The Musical (Development reading, dir. Tina Landau), and Straight Play: A Gay Musical (LA Performance Practice, Sorority Theater, dir. Gina Davis), as well as their musical-comedy solo show, Hot! :(, which won an Encore Award at the Hollywood and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. They received their BFA from NYU Tisch School of Drama, where they met Jess. They are very excited to be performing in this wonderful reading of Another Reason Not To Go!
Kirby McDermott is thrilled to be a part of this world-premier reading with so many amazing, talented people! After moving to Los Angeles last year he has been seen in a number of films and two national commercials. He also has an upcoming series with his twin brother premiering soon on Galatea TV. Kirby is a graduate of the William Esper Studio in NYC. Love to Mom, Dad, and Patrick.
Sara Ruth Brown Originally from Houston, TX, Sara Ruth Brown received her BFA in acting from Brooklyn College and most recently performed the new play The Cycles at Yale University and Woe is Me at the Public theater. Her short film, Untidy won her the Best Actress and Best short film award at the Los Angeles Women's Film Awards and New York Independent Cinema Awards. She can also be seen performing stand up in both Los Angeles and New York City. She loves her mom.
Dean Kelldorf is an Actor out of Phoenix Arizona who is still squeaky new to LA. In Arizona Dean worked with the Phoenix Theatre as Isaac Jaggard in their production of “The Book of Will” as well as Hale Centre Theatre’s “Footloose the Musical” as Chuck Cranston. While in AZ Dean won two Arizoni awards for “Best actor in a youth play” aswell as “Best Actor in a youth musical”(Midsummer Nights Dream) (Dogfight the musical). Dean is still in the hunt for representation out in LA, so if you know someone say something. Lastly Dean is thrilled to be apart of Another Reason Not To Go, and has loved working with these incredibly talented people.
Matthew Iannantuoni is very excited to be a part of another one of Jess’ development processes. He is endlessly proud of the work that Jess has done in the past year and can’t wait to witness the rest of this play’s journey. Select acting credits include Merchant in Comedy of Errors (Elm Shakespeare Company), Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (Opera Theater of CT), Male track in Encore!! National Tour (Chamber Theatre Productions).
Jackie Bonsignore is a New York trained, California raised actor and vocalist, and a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/The Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Select stage credits include Cathy in Sierra Madre Playhouses’ critically acclaimed production of The Last Five Years, Eleven in Stranger Things: The Experience (Netflix/Fever/Mycotoo), and Rizzo in Grease (The SKyPAC, *upcoming). Select screen credits include Great White Lies (Exec Prod. Doug Ellin, Teri Weinberg), Seeking Sugar (Dir. Sam Coppolla), and A Ghost in the Walls (RAYNES Official Music Video Series/Mind Our Music). This is Jackie's fourth time being involved in a Jess Fisher project (Scrambled Eggs '21 and '22, Imagined Dialogues '23), and she couldn’t be more thrilled about it!
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Jackie is represented across the board by Aqua Talent Agency. www.jackiebonsignore.com
Trevor Jonathan Lown is an Echo Park based actor, collaborator, and all around good hang. He’s an alum of NYU Tisch Drama, and can be seen in short films ‘Sammy’, ‘Jeanine Candy’, ‘A Nice Jew’, and upcoming feature ‘pop pop’. He is represented by Jennifer Buchanan at Free Flight Talent Management.