Ithaca Fever

Sliding Scale Ticket Sponsor

A Romanian journalism professor broke up with her home country and has been traveling the world. In 2020, she arrives in Ithaca only to be quarantined with COVID. Housebound in the old Treman mansion, she fever-dreams back to 1903 to witness the Treman family’s role in Ithaca’s fatal Typhoid epidemic. Can she right the wrongs of the past? This world premiere uncovers a fascinating story of Ithaca’s history, and poses enduring questions about the ethics of epidemic, private enterprise, and the dreams of the immigrants that make our country what it is.

Show Schedule:

Fri Apr 11, 7:30pm | Sat Apr 12, 7:30pm | Sun Apr 13, 2pm

Thu Apr 17, 7:30pm | Fri Apr 18, 7:30pm | Sat Apr 19, 2 & 7:30pm | Sun Apr 20, 2pm

Ithaca Fever Artist Bios

Mike Chen (huy/eben) recently played the Hare in the Cherry’s Rosa and Blanca. Other roles in Ithaca include John in House of Ithaqua’s Marjorie Prime and Launce in Ithaca Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona. He is a member of one of Third Place Theater’s improv teams, performing regularly at Liquid State Brewery. He teaches Study Skills at Cornell and lives in Lansing.

Riley Marie Fortin (maria) is a soon-to-be BFA Acting graduate of Ithaca College. Favorite credits include The Liar (Ithaca College), Blunted Daggers (Ithaca College), and Much Ado About Nothing (Glass Horse Project). Upon graduation, Riley will continue acting, teaching, and developing original performances in cities across the world. Besides theatre, Riley is a lover of knit items, used book stores, and bold fashion statements. She is honored to bring this new work to life, and she dedicates this show to all of the exceptional young women whose stories history has forgotten.

Jennifer Ann Galvez (eliza/tala) Roles include Blanche Dubois in Streetcar Named Desire, Kate in Taming of the Shrew, Cecily Pigeon in The Odd Couple, Melissa Gardner in Love Letters, which she also produced at the Rochester Fringe Festival, and the world premiere of the Off-Broadway production of Pearl of the Orient with MA-YI Theater at the Laurie Beechman Theater in NYC. She has also worked with the National Asian American Theater Company, Manhattan Writers Group, The Company Theatre, CenterStage (JCC), and Siren Song Shakespeare Company. Thank you to her husband, Kevin, for his love and support. @jenniferanngalvezactor www.jenniferanngalvez.com

Barb Geary (clara) Recently: Stepmother/Bear/Ensemble in the Cherry’s Baba Yaga, Dr. Diana Greene-Foster in The Turnaway Play and MacBeth in Macbeth. Barb has had a lively theatrical and film career spanning over 40 years. A graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, she has been performing and directing as well as teaching movement, mask, and devised ensemble theatre around the US and Canada since 1982.

Natasha Keller (jeannie/ithaca daily journal) is an artist and mother living in Ithaca, NY and is thrilled to be making her Cherry debut. Her eclectic past has included work as a designer, comedienne, seamstress, writer, stylist, model, and photographer, among other things. She entered the world of performance art through stand-up comedy and is happy for the opportunity to perform someone else’s words tonight.

Max Lorn-Krause (pavel / william t. morris & dialect coach) is an actor, teacher, and dialect/voice coach. Previous performance credits include Hamlet (The Seeing Place Theater & Ithaca Shakespeare Co.), The Arctic Circle (Ithaca College), and Charlotte’s Web (Theatreworks USA). Dialect coaching credits include Let the Right One In (Ithaca College), Billy Elliot: The Musical (Hangar Theatre), and Catch as Catch Can (Kitchen Theatre Co.). Max is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and holds a BFA in Acting from Ithaca College. He will be moving to San Diego this summer to pursue an MFA in Acting at the USD/Old Globe.

Craig MacDonald (duncan campbell lee) has been working in the theater for half a century. Local credits include the Cherry’s Rule of Thumb (2019), Once and Jeffrey at the Hangar; Fully Committed(Director) and Stop Kiss at the Kitchen; …Virginia Woolf and Dancing atLugnasa with the Cornell RPTA company. Others: The Crucible and Once at Olney Theater in Maryland, Untitled at City Theater in Pittsburgh, and All the Way  at Theatre Squared in Arkansas. He also performs locally with two bands, The Pargh’s and Old Scots. AEA.

Darcy Rose (anna louisa treman) graduated from UCLA’s department of Theater, Film and Television with a B.A. in Acting and lived in Los Angeles for many years working steadily in commercials, television, and theater. Her television credits include Grey’s Anatomy, Dinotopia, and Without a Trace, as well as several national commercials, independent films, and stage productions across Los Angeles. Favorite Ithaca theater credits include The Snow Queen (Robber Girl), White Rabbit Red Rabbit, and Rule of Thumb (Ana), and Rosa and Blanca (Blanca), all at the Cherry Arts. She owns an on-camera acting studio in downtown Ithaca called Acting Out New York (www.ActingOutNewYork.com). Proud member of AFTRA/SAG. This, like everything else, is for Juniper. 

Juniper Rose (louisa “lulu” treman) is a homeschooler in the 4th grade. Her first on stage acting experience was last year playing Hortensia in the Lake Country Player’s production of Matilda. Before and after that, she’s honed her chops in several student films and almost every single one of her mom’s AONY Movie Camps. She loves to read and play basketball, and she would like to thank the cast and crew of Ithaca Fever for treating her like one of the family.

Saviana Stanescu (playwright) is a Romanian-born award-winning playwright, one of the most exciting voices to emerge in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain.  Her work has been widely presented in the US and internationally. She left Romania for the US in August 2001, when she came to New York University as a Fulbright fellow. 9/11 changed her life and work forever. In Europe, she had previously published books of poetry and drama, winning the ‘Best Play of the Year 2000’ Romanian Theatre Guild Award for The Inflatable Apocalypse. She worked as a journalist and a TV talk-show host, analyzing Eastern European (cultural) issues, in mid-late 90s. US productions include Aliens with extraordinary skills and Ants at Women’s Project, Ego Actus, B Street Theatre, NJ Rep, etc.; Useless at IRT Theatre; For a Barbarian Woman, a co-production of Fordham/EST;  Polanski Polanski at HERE Arts Center; Toys at Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles; Waxing West (2007 New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Full-length Script) at La MaMa Theatre;, “The E-Dating Project” at Strasberg Institute for Theatre & Film, the site-specific I want what you have at the World Financial Center; and YokastaS Redux (co-authored with Richard Schechner) at La MaMa Theatre. Recent international productions of Saviana’s plays include Organic at the National Theatre in Bucharest, Romania and Viza de Clown at Odeon Theatre. At Ithaca College, she is a tenured Associate Professor of Playwriting and Contemporary Theatre and the Chair of the BA in Theatre Studies in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. www.saviana.com

Sarah Plotkin (director) is a director, educator and community-engaged artist who specializes in new play development and devising. She recently returned to her hometown of Ithaca after almost 15 years in NYC and Boston. Recent credits include: Hadestown (Lehman Alternative Community School), The Sisters Fitz&Starts Cook with Kids (Walking on Water Productions / Fitz&Starts Productions), Pete the Cat (Hangar Theatre) and Play of Delights (Story House Ithaca / Civic Ensemble). Sarah is an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and a proud member of the Civic Artistic Ensemble. www.sarahplotkin.com

Tyler M. Perry (lighting design) is a lighting designer for theater, television, and live events and currently serves as Director of Production at Kitchen Theatre Company. His work has appeared locally at the Kitchen and regionally at theaters including Florida Rep, Northern Stage, Axelrod Performing Arts, and Hope Summer Repertory. Television credits include BravoTV, NBC, Amazon Sports Network, and AOPA Live, earning Telly Awards and an Emmy nomination. Broadway and tour credits include Miss Saigon (2017 revival), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. tylermperrydesign.com

Iris Estelle (costume design) is originally from Louisiana and grew up around a community theater that started her passion for theater and the arts. During the time that she was working towards a Fine Arts degree, Iris re-discovered costuming and fashion and started forging a new path in her undergrad work. Iris graduated from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA with a degree in Fine & Graphic Arts with a concentration in Fiber & Textiles. She also had a scholarship with the costume shop where she built and designed costumes for performances throughout the year. Iris wants to constantly share her creative spirit in all aspects of her work, including fashion, art, and theater. Iris worked as a touring wardrobe assistant for three years, and after the pandemic started, she re-entered into the theater world. Eventually, she made her way to Ithaca and seeks to continue her work in costume design.

Mustafaa Ali (co-projection design) currently works as the Outreach Coordinator for the Cherry’s weekly Open Art Hive drop-in makerspace, a free community art studio where all are welcome to connect, make art, and be creative together. Mustafaa has academic degrees (BA, MA) in sociocultural anthropology from UNC-Chapel Hill and Binghamton University, respectively. Currently, Mustafaa trains as a psychoanalyst at the Freudian School of Quebec, while working locally as an ethno-analyst (an anthropologist trained in psychoanalysis) operating a private consulting practice. Mustafaa’s artistic background is in documentary and experimental film and photography with particular interests in mise-en-scene, production design, and live performance.

Rosa Maassen (sound design & production electrician) is a Wells College alum, who is super grateful to continue to be working on Cherry Arts productions. Recent works include Baba Yaga, Rosa and Blanca, and La Cerise Noire. Rosa can also be found at The Hangar just up the street!

Greg Levins (livestream design) graduated NYU with an emphasis in film directing, screenplay writing and video editing. Greg worked for a number of casting houses in NYC, auditioning actors in commercials, industrials, music videos and films. He’s directed two indie features, wrote a handful of screenplays and dabbled in music video and commercial production. Since moving to Ithaca he’s made a few promotional videos for Ecovillage, filmed a weekly Gayogohó:nǫ’ language class taught by one of the few remaining native speakers, along with working for the Cherry Arts in numerous productions over the past three seasons. He’s thrilled to be a part of Ithaca Fever, helping to expand the audience to include viewers at home with a livestream feed.

Emily Pugh (production stage manager) is an actor, director, and stage manager, hailing from Atlanta, Georgia. She recently graduated from Cornell University with a BA in Performing & Media Arts and Literatures in English. She has trained with the Juilliard School, the Prague Shakespeare Company, and the British American Drama Academy. Some of her recent stage credits include acting in Orlando’s Gift by David Feldshuh, directing Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, and stage managing and assistant directing Baba Yaga at the Cherry. 

Priscilla Hummel (Intimacy Director) is delighted to be working with the Cherry for the first time! In addition to her work as an intimacy professional, Priscilla is a director/choreographer, an Assistant Professor of Acting at Ithaca College, and the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of WoW Productions, a Tompkins County nonprofit musical theatre company. Priscilla holds an MFA in Acting with a directing concentration from Regent University and a BA in Theatre with a Dance minor from Brenau University. She is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with Saviana, Sarah, and the Ithaca Fever cast.