GENIA STARTSEVA General Manager  

Genia Startseva was born in Russia and got exposed to the world of art since she was little. Starting at the age of 5 she was regularly performing on stage as a singer and pianist. Later her interests turned to acting, stand up comedy and improv. It was during her University years, when she first directed a short horror movie parody. Genia realized that directing was her true passion, so when she moved to the US in 2001, she started collaborating with New York filmmakers and study directing in HB Studio. Her directorial works include off-Broadway shows and independent films.

SAMMANTHA JANE WILLIAMS, Company Manager

Sammy was born in the Bronx and raised in Westchester. After earning degrees in Performing Arts and Business at Westchester Community College, it was evident that performing arts was it. Her acting credits include Sugar Your Tear Drops, Urinetown, Aspects of Life Monologue Show, Lystrata, Laughing Out Loud Comedy Improv Show, Orientation, The Sammy and Michael Show, and The Sammy and Charly Show. Sammy studied at the Acting Studio in New York City. 

DANIELLA CAGGIANO, Literary and Production Manager

Daniella is a native New Yorker, director and graduate of the Sarah Lawrence College Theatre Program. She has held various positions at Fringe NYC, The Flea, and NYMF as well as Classic Stage Company and Signature Theatre Company. Some recent directing endeavors include The Delirium of Edgar Allan Poe (Bedlam Ensemble), The Secret Life of Girls (Asst. Director, Roy Arias), The Tell Tale Text (Players Theatre), In A Relationship(Emerging Artists Theatre, Dixon Place, United Solo), Augustine's Confessions: The Opening (Roy Arias), If My Heart Were Enough (The Melancholy Players), and Crave (The Melancholy Players). Daniella also works part-time at The Public Theater and is a proud member of Bedlam Ensemble.  

LUCIA COUSINS, MEMBER

Lucia Cousins hails from Dublin, Ireland. She is an actor, singer and voice over artist. Most recently, she performed in 24HourPlayFUN! at The Kraine Theatre http://www.awecreativegroup.com/plays.html. Previously, she acted, sang and danced in Arrow In at Dixon Place http://ninamorrison.com/section/287087_Arrow_In_Excerpt.html.  She also performed with James Franco in Three Performances In Search Of Tennessee at Abrons Arts Center for Performa 11 http://11.performa-arts.org/event/laurel-nakadate-and-james-franco. Lucia has performed in several Bedlam Ensemble productions.  

AIMIENDE NEGBENEBOR, MEMBER

Amiende Negbenebor is an actress, singer and a model.

Originally from Nigeria, she currently resides in the Bronx, NY. Recent credits include Slant of Light Theatre’s Cairo Stories – Veils; The 13^thWiseacre Farm, and Phillip Weiss’s Captain Dingleman’s Great Adventure. She appeared in The Historic Hudson Valley’s production of Sleepy Hollow; in the ‘10 NYC Fringe Festival Play Flesh Light Stories – The Boulevard of Brazzaville; in From Cancer to Broadway, a benefit performance at The Cherry Lane Theatre, NY; in The Ritual, a Zeno Obi Constance play, at The New Perspectives Theatre, NY; and the three installments of Stages on the Street Repertory Theatre’s Sound’s Crossings, performed as a part of the ‘09 NYC Fringe Festival; in Poznan, Poland, as a part of the ‘09 'Festival Excluded' titled Close Strangers; and the premiere in 2008. Aimiende also appeared as The Rwandan Refugee in Anna Deavere Smith's None of Us Are Monologists (aka Chill,) a Co-Op Theatre East's ensemble production of 'A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer,' in Lenis Guess' musical Girl Fun, and in Retro Production's Mill Fire. She continues to hone her craft at Donna Marrazzo Acting Studio in New York City, NY; holds a B.E. in Computer Engineering and a B.A. in Literature from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ; and is a proud member of Bedlam Ensemble Theatre Company.

 www.aimiendenegbenebor.com

DAMIEN GAUTIER, MEMBER 

Damien is originally from France where he has been passionate about theater and acting since a very young age. He studied acting in High School and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English from the university in Toulouse in 2009. He has been performing since 2008, first as an extra in a horror movie and subsequently acting in several student films in the United States. He has been a full-time student at HB Studio since 2010 where he is focused on scene study, technique, stage fencing and speech. Prior to joining Bedlam Ensemble, his most recent work was a TV student project at NYU, named 'I Was Getting Lonely', directed by Lauren Young.

KAREN MACFARLANE, MEMBER

STEPHANIE ALVAREZ, MEMBER

Stephanie is originally from San Francisco, California. While pursuing acting and modeling classes at age sixteen, she received an opportunity to fly to New York City for acting competition. She fell in love with the city and eventually moved there in 2008 to attend Marymount Manhattan college in a degree in Communication Arts.

Stephanie currently studies at the T. Schreiber studio with Bob Verlaque and at HB studios. Her recent credits include "The Delirium of Edgar Allan Poe" and "Grandpa was a Bachelor."
She is a proud member of The Actor's Project NYC and Bedlam Ensemble.

CASSANDRA T. SEALE, MEMBER

Cassandra was born in Baltimore, grew up in East Tennessee, then flew north where she attended Boston University before settling down in New York City. Her love of acting began in childhood, when she acted in plays both at school and beyond. In high school she became an orchestra geek instead of a drama geek. Her acting passion was reactivated in college when friends majoring in film decided to put her onscreen. After graduating and moving to the city, she dabbled in acting professionally and as a hobby, but got caught up in the corporate world for a year or two. Now she is back on the right track and pursuing her dream. She studies at HB Studio, is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and is thrilled to be a part of Bedlam Ensemble. 

RUSSELL ANTHONY BOYLE, MEMBER 

A graduate from AMDA and Wayne State University in Detroit,  Russell has directed and appeared in several productions including an original Off Broadway duo piece entitled The Emotion Project. Most recently, Russell taught acting at the Deena Levy Studio in NYC and will appear in the upcoming feature film Tim & Eric's Awesome Show! Great Job! and Discovery Channel's Dirty Money. Returning to the stage after a hiatus from the art to proudly co-launch the BK boutique, RePOP, Russell is thrilled to be making his debut with Bedlam Ensemble in this tribute to Edgar Allan Poe. 

Samanthe Lee Manas- Member

Samantha Lee Manas has directed several plays in New York City including:, Sweet rince, Bromance, Strangers in the Night, Orion, Invasion of the Parasites: An Inadvertant Allegory, Rodwarts World, Scenes from Hamlet, Scenes from Sylvia, and many more. She is the winner of best director at the Underground Theater Festival and a two time nominee for best director at the Strawberry One Act Festival. She has also assistant directed with the Kaos Theater in England, where she worked on Richard III.  She is the Co Artistic Director and Co-founder of Between Us Productions. She received her BFA in stage management from SUNY Purchase College’s Conservatory of Theater Arts and Film. 

Zachary Tomlinson- Member

Zachary is a New York-based actor and director from San Francisco, California. He recently directed Janet's Cookie by Mila Golubov at Altruistic Theater Company's Bare Knuckle Theater Festival and is very excited to be performing in Bedlam Ensemble's Measure for Measure this summer. He is currently developing Julie, an adaptation of August Strindberg's Miss Julie, with playwright Kim Davies. He is a founding member of Naked Shakespeare Ensemble and a former Board Member and Technical Director of The Body Electric. His directing credits include The Elephant Man (Body Electric), Fool For Love, Stargazers, and the original staged reading of Andy Clarke's Outside Providence. He has performed in Titus Andronicus (Naked Shakespeare), Henry IV, Macbeth, Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Naked Shakespeare), Swing '39 by Alessandro King, Hamlet (Naked Shakespeare), Much Ado About Nothing, and The Cherry Orchard, among others. He studied theater and literature at Sarah Lawrence College and classics at Oxford University and trained in Shakespeare and performance at the California Shakespeare Theater Conservatory.  

John E Sims- Member

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri. John E studied theater at Missouri State University. He has performed as Snout in the Queens Shakespeare production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream which played several venues throughout Manhattan and Queens in addition to the Spa Little Theater in Saratoga Springs, NY. He also appeared as Longaville in the Snorks and Pins production of Love’s Labour’s Lost. Other NYC area credits include Stickytongue in Spring’s Awakening for Adam Roebuck productions and the Servant in The Libation Bearers directed by James Jennings at American Theatre of Actors. He has also performed with The  Metropolitan Opera as a soldier in War and Peace and Aida. Regionally he has been seen as Andrew in Beyond Therapy with Porch Light Productions in Glen Rock, NJ; Ensemble in The Laramie Project, Ensemble in Kiss of the Spider Woman, an  Usherette in Rocky Horror Show, and a Protean in A Funny Thing Happened…Forum all directed by Rick Dines at The Vandivort Center Theatre; the Pushcart Boy in George M!, a Pirate and a Policeman in The Pirates of Penzance, and Angelo in The Comedy of Errors for Tent Theatre. John E would like to thank his amazing family for all of their support! 

Jeremy Rafal -  Member

Born in the Philippines and raised in Hawaii, Jeremy is now a NYC
based actor and musician.  He is a trained classical pianist, but
caught the acting bug after taking an introductory course in the
Meisner Technique at The Acting Studio, Inc.  He has since then
continued his studies several acting classes and workshops around New
York. Professionally, he has made several appearances on TV, film,
commercials, and in Off Broadway productions.  Most recently, his
sketch comedy troupe “Pink Slime” was named one of the top 6 finalists
at 2012 The Actor’s Project NYC Scene and Sketch Comedy Challenge,
judged by industry professionals.  In addition to
acting and music, Jeremy is a competitive jump roper.  He is the
silver medalist at the 2012 Region 10 USA Jump Rope for 1 & 3 minute
speed rope competitions, and is preparing for the 2012 National
Competition in June.

Jeremy is a proud member of Bedlam Ensemble, and is very excited to be
part of Bedlam’s upcoming productions including Alice, Naturally
Delicious, The House of Bernarda Alba, and Measure for Measure.