Larry Phillips - (Beau) and Playwright
Larry has written and appeared in: The Weekend Will End, Koalas are Dicks, Arbuckle Syndrome, Talent is Sexy, The Rise of Mediocrity, Plan G, Secondary Pitch, The Ladies of Glen Ross, The Other Harvey, Learning to Skip, Last Chance for Mama, Fistful of Cake, Pocketful of Miracles, This is Mark/c and The Art of Acting: A Master Class with Fozzie Bear. www.larryphillipsnyc.com
Ben Liebert - Director and Scenic Designer
This is Ben’s 5th collaboration with Larry Phillips after directing Last Chance for Mama and Koalas Are Dicks for Randomly Specific Theatre (premiere and remount) and The Art of Acting: A Masterclass with Fozzie Bear. Previous shows include Into the Woods, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged), Ordinary Days, and The Bomb-itty of Errors as well as new works at Theatre Aspen, the Samuel French OOB Festival (festival winner),
MST&DA, the Metropolitan Room, and Studio Players. Ben served as assistant director on the national tour of The Producers, is the co - creator and director of Viper plays the Top Gun Soundtrack Live, and created and staged winning presentations for Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish for BC/EFA. This summer, Ben will be directing Next to Normal at the Greenbrier Valley Theatre. Much gratitude to this company for their dedication and great work. www.benliebert.com
@glorious_idiot
Alesandra Nahodil- (Caroline)
For more information about Alesandra, please visit www.AlesandraNahodil.com
Kamran Taherpour- (Ed)
Having spent 10 years in Houston, Kamran is thrilled to be back in New York and performing at the Chain Theatre for the first time. When not acting on stage or screen he enjoys improv and lifting weights. Despite not liking cheese, people always try to sneak it into his diet, resulting in keeping an eye over his shoulder and sleeping with one eye open. His favorite pizza is Joe's Pizza.
Michael Ernesto Navarro- (Bobby)
Michael is thrilled to be part of this wonderful cast and crew! He started 2023 off with his musical debut as Swiss in Kelly Road: The Musical, an original show. Other projects include Max, the lead in 'Season of Change', a short film, the lead character Lost Soul in a short entitled ''The Path,' and part of the cast of a Sketch Comedy series known as 'A Sketch of New York'. Michael can also be found performing occasionally in Cabaret shows around NYC. He is grateful to Larry & Ben, his mentor, J Marshall Evans, and his friends/family. Contact: michael.ernesto11@gmail.com | Instagram: @mikey_ernesto
Carson Lee Cosper- (Nicole)
Carson is thrilled to join the cast of Must Win! She has studied Shakespeare Performance at The Globe Theatre in London, Acting at HB Studios, and Theatre at Saint Louis University. Her favorite credits include Joan of Arc in Saint Joan of Arc, Abigail in The Crucible and Natalie in Distracted. You can also catch her in the upcoming short films "Purpose", "The Keys", and "Clean My Room". She hopes you enjoy the show! carsonleecosper.com @carsonleecosper
Deshja Driggs- Hall - (Diane)
Deshja is thrilled to be joining the cast and crew of “Must Win” and the chance to work with the Randomly Specific Theatre Company. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t feel gratitude for being a working actress of over 20 years. Some her favorite roles have been Mrs. Van Buren in the stage production of Intimate Apparel, Brooke in the feature film, “The Dissection of Thanksgiving” and Toni Lafayette in the stage production of Appropriate- for which she won Broadway Worlds 2019
Best Actress award in theatre. Her voice can be heard on countless commercials; including PNC Bank, Airwick, Opdualag and Friskies to name a few. As fortunate as she feels in her work life, her true accomplishment lies with her two daughters, Mareau and Thaura- to whom give her life true meaning and fill it with love.
Hayley Garcia Parnell- Lighting Designer
Hayley (she/they) is a Latina lighting designer from Colorado. They are currently the Allen Lee Hughes Lighting Fellow at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, and are moving to New York following its completion in May. They received their BA in Theatre with a concentration in Lighting Design and a Minor in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. They are especially interested in applied
theatre, new works, and theatre in nontraditional spaces, but there has yet to be a style of performance they have not fallen hopelessly in love with. They believe there is nothing more intimately human we can do than sit in the dark, telling each other stories.
Benjamin Burton- Costume Designer
Benjamin (he/him+) is a costume designer based in New York City with a wide range of drama, dance, opera, and film experience. Benjamin has enjoyed collaborations with innovative directors and choreographers including Justin Peck, Amy Seiwert, Paul Mason Barnes, Amy Hall Garner, and Norbert De La Cruz III. His recent credits include designing new works for BalletX, assistant designing the Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd, and working as Costume Coordinator for Season 2 of The Gilded Age on HBOMax. Benjamin is an alumnus of costume training programs at The Juilliard School, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and the University of Oklahoma, where he also studied dramaturgy.
He is a proud union member of USA Local 829.
Jenna Arkontaky- Stage Manager
Jenna is so excited to be at the Chain Theatre for “Must Win”, after previously working on “This is Mark/c”. Other Theatre Credits include: The Black That I am (BRAATA), This is Mark/c (Randomly Specific Theatre), I Wanna F*** Like Romeo and Juliet (59E59), StoopKids LIVE! (Summer Theatre of New Canaan), Pippin (Summer Theatre of New Canaan), Treasure Island (Summer Theatre of New Canaan) and Sondheim on Stage (Arc Stages). Jenna would like to thank her mom and dad, Justine, Dillon, Jordan Owen, and Dean for their endless love and support.
CAST & CREW
MUST WIN
By Larry Phillips
Directed By Ben Liebert
With Alesandra Nahodil, Kamran Taherpour, Michael Ernesto Navarro, Carson Lee Cosper, Deshja Driggs- Hall and Larry Phillips
Lighting Design By Hayley Garcia Parnell
Costume Designer By Benjamin Burton
Stage Manager Jenna Arkontaky
THE CHAIN THEATRE
312 W 36th St
APRIL 27th - MAY 7th
After the untimely death of his wife, Beau is ready to return as Head Coach of his State Championship-winning High School football team. He’s shocked to learn that neither the school or town is confident that he can lead them to another victory. With no margin for error, he must win.