THE CAST

ANDREW ABLESON (William Harrison) began his acting career on the London stage at the Globe Theatre in A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as hit productions of The Ecstacy, Bent, and Legend. His award winning performance as Mark in the West Coast premiere of Shopping and Fucking relocated him to LA two years ago. Recently, he created the role of critic Kenneth Tynan in the critically acclaimed play Orson's Shadow. Other credits include The Geena Davis Show, Kristin, Charmed, as well as leads in the films, New Suit, Nightfall, The Orange Field, and Yerba City.

EMILY CLINE (Ellen Hurley) has performed on stage in New York in Almost Asleep by Julie Herbert, Four Dogs and a Bone, Crimes of the Heart, Women of Manhattan, MacBeth, and Death of a Salesman. Film and TV: In the Company of Men (dir. Neil Labute), Dead Dog, The Caprice, and Sex in the City. She studied with Bill Esper and Wynn Handman in New York. Thank you to David Lee for giving me this awesome opportunity. Thank you Scott for the leap of faith.

SHELLEE RAE CRANE (Sarah Fordy) hates bios because she feels like the weight of the world is in these next few sentences. She hails from Cave Creek, Arizona. Yes, it's small. Yes, she likes California. Yes, she loves what she does. Yes, she loves this show and she hopes you love it too. Have a good night.

CHRISTOPHER HELTAI (Production Understudy/Scott Blume) ,originally from NYC, came to Los Angeles for a month a few years ago. His life has been one of film, love, fatherhood (yay!), teaching, theatre, and Buddhism. Then along came Torn. Special thanks to David and the JHK crew for the sheer audacity of it all and allowing him to join in on the fun. He extends his eternal gratitude to his soulmate who ventured deep within and supported this theatrical gesture he had to do. Credits include: Diet Coke (currently running)
Some films: Aurora, The Trailer, Masterplan, Hang Fire, Danny Pelvic & The Thrusters. Some theatre: Tchaikovsky (NYC), Portait of Eve, Closet Madness, and Equus (London). Thanks for coming.

JUSTIN IPOCK (Flynt Fordy), a recent immigrant from Nashville, TN is extremely pleased to be working on this interesting and unorthodox show as his first project in sunny Los Angeles. He earned his B.A. in Theatre from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and he is happy to get out in dreadful "real" world. Thanks David, cast, and crew.

TRACY KEIM (Madison Blake) makes her Hollywood stage debut playing Madison Blake in Torn. Since her arrival to Los Angeles from New York City, Tracy has been studying at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, and has previously trained at Northwestern University. On stage, some of Tracy's favorite roles have been Betty in Ives' The Sure Thing, Lisa in Margulies's Collected Stories and Emily in Wilder's Our Town. Tracy recently appeared on the WB's Jamie Kennedy Experiment and New York Blues. Special thanks to David and Leora for this amazing opportunity, Chick Vennera for 'breaking through' and Kay Keim, for being the best mother in the world.

LEORA KLEIN (Johannah Canby-Kane) is making her LA stage debut with Torn. She recently appeared in CBS' Yes, Dear and in Henry Russell's Game of Love. A native New Yorker, Leora is thrilled to be working with David Lee for the third time and looks forward to the next. After completing her BA in theatre from the University of Pennsylvania, Leora studied with Ron Van Lieu and Bruce Katzman in New York. As always, she dedicates this performance to her SAFTA, AMVE.

MARK LEWIS (James Kheills) has appeared extensively in Theatre, Television, and Film in both NYC and LA. Credits run from the sublime (Salomé on Broadway with Al Pacino) to the ridiculous (a few years in "Daytime Drama"). He is beyond thrilled to be a part of Torn. Thanks to David and Blake for the opportunity, and Supreme Thanks and Love to my beautiful little family for understanding why I need to do Volunteer Theatre.

DAVIS RUSHING (Production Understudy/Bob Neuman) is ecstatic to be making his LA stage debut with this amazing piece and wonderful cast. He secretly hopes everyone gets sick at least once during the run of the show. Davis's credits include several NY and regional stage productions, along with numerous independent and short films. Special thanks go out to the cast for their acceptance, David for the amazing experience, and Margee, just because.

ELYSE SEIDEN (Raleigh Burke) just moved to LA from her hometown of NYC where she won a Spotlight Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Twilight Ladies. Elyse is very excited to be making her LA debut with the amazing cast of Torn. Most of all she would like to thank her family and friends for their unbelievable love and support.

DAMON SHALIT (Jack Kane) was born in South Africa, raised in Texas, makes LA his home. Theater credits include: After Crystal Night (Directed by Robert Walden), the 20th Anniversary production of Tracers (Directed by John DiFusco), (both at the Odyssey Theater), Trust, Moony's Kid Don't Cry, Welcome to the Moon, Obsessions & Confessions, Rebeck Revisited (directed by Theresa Rebeck), Grantwritings, Donut Shop, Pillow Talk, Midsummer Nights Dream, Antigone, et al. His film and TV credits include: Posers, My Life as a Troll, Stung, Bold and Beautiful, Reluctant Justice, and Night Man. Damon just completed his directorial debut with a short called Playtime, coming to a festival near you. Thanks to David Lee and the rest of the gang for this exciting ride.

D.W. SWEET (Scott Blume) was last seen on stage as Scott Blume in the original production of Torn. Other notable NY stage credits include: King Meneleus in The Trojan Women, Yuranosuke in The 47 Ronin Samurai, and Major Rice in Les Blancs. Recent film credits include: Windtalkers directed by John Woo (D.W. got blown up) and the short Frankie and Johnnie were Lovers directed by Neil Matsumoto for Alpha 60 (D.W. died of an allergic reaction). He'd like to thank the amazing cast, Ducky, Johnny, Eve, you, and thematic consistency.

THE CREW

JIRO WADA (Assistant Stage Manager) was originally born in Japan. After graduating from high school, he came to the United States to pursue his film career. He received a BA from CSU Long Beach in filmmaking and went on to work for a Japanese production company. Currently, he is finishing up his scripts for possible future production.

BRUCE CHENG (Stage Manager) has lived his whole life trying to do the right thing. He falls down everyday. Sometimes it is hard to pick himself back up. Sometimes he wonders why he's here and doing all this.

RAMEN CROMWELL (Co-Story) is pleased to have "collaborated" with David again on this project. While he continues to write for free, he pays the bills by editing Good Morning America TV spots.

BLAKE GODDARD (Co-Story, Adaptation) still writes on a vintage cherry red Royal typewriter. His short stories have been published in various literary rags back East. Blake hopes you didn't read that Marie Claire article where he was grossly misrepresented and betrayed by…*gasp* the writer…

DARREN CHAN (Producer) is an entrepreneur at heart fueled by ambition and determination. He has applied his corporate experiences attained from Home Box Office (an AOL Time Warner Company), The Walt Disney Company, and Lockheed Martin to his controversial entrepreneurial adventures of melding the world of technology with entertainment. He most recently held the position of Vice President of Business Development for Illumis, Inc., an Internet start-up located in Santa Monica that focuses on interoperable instant messaging for the Generation Y market. Prior to joining Illumis, Darren was co-founder and Vice President of Soundcrawler, Inc, an Internet start-up that utilized a hybrid push and peer-to-peer technology to distribute digital media and MP3s. He holds dual B.S. degrees in Finance and Accounting from Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. This is Darren's first foray into producing theater and intends to enter the world of film production in the near future.

THOMAS YANG (Producer) grew up in Houston, Texas in very hot and humid weather. He attended the University of Texas at Austin for college and majored in Finance. After working for two years in investment banking, he attended law school at Harvard Law School, graduating in the Spring of 2001. Upon graduation, he decided to move to the more temperate environs of southern California. He is currently a management-consulting associate at the consulting firm of McKinsey & Company.

DAVID LEE (Process and Direction) misspent his youth learning about film, drama, and art. At the tender age of 21, he realized that he had no "employable" skills so, he turned to his pony keg of loose charm. The pony keg is now running on empty. Notable stage credits include: The Skin of Our Teeth, Rouge Atomique, Graceland, The Normal Heart, Bad for You, Suicide in B flat, Glengarry Glen Ross, and the original productions of Torn. Film credits include: ff=44, Despair (winner of the Audience Award for Artistic Excellence at the 1997 HIGH BROW/low budget film festival), Storybook Endings (Official Selection, 2001 New York Independent Film Festival), and Misery Day Parade: a grand love story (trailer available).