References Program

Frank Ramirez (Benito) is in his third year at Cal State LA, and is a candidate in the Master of Fine Arts, Television, Film and Theatre (acting option) program.  This is Frank's fifth production with Cal State LA. He was most recently seen as Mephisto in Los Faustinos.  Frank will be back on The State Playhouse stage this Halloween, playing Johnny in Ruben Hernandez’s modern adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, called Old Blood.  Frank would like to thank Dr. Alma Martinez for helming this show and sharing her lifetime of experience and artistry with him.  Last, Frank would like to thank our service men and women, first responders, medical professionals and their spouses who have sacrificed so much, so that we can remain safe and healthy.

Irma Gill (Gabriela) is an actress originally from Lakeport, California who was raised in Patterson, California. She is in her final year of grad school in the Master of Fine Arts, Television, Film and Theatre (acting option) program at Cal State LA. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts and Dance Studies from Humboldt State University (now known as Cal Poly Humboldt) in May 2019. Favorite roles on stage include Rosali in Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopez and Vanessa in Adoration of the Old Woman by Jose Rivera. After completing her undergraduate degree, Irma moved to the rainy city of Portland, Oregon where she did freelance, worked as an extra, and as a stand-in for Netflix’s Trinkets and TBS’ Chad. But she gave up her work as a stand-in to pursue her MFA degree. Irma is very excited and honored to be portraying the role of Gabriela in References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot as her culminating project, this is a piece that truly means a lot to her and will always hold a special place in her heart. She would like to give a special thanks to Alma Martinez, the cast, crew, and everyone involved in making this production happen as well as everyone who has supported her during her time in the graduate program. She plans to pursue a career in television and film after completing her MFA.

Jaycob Wahinehookae (Coyote) is an Honors College senior, earning his B.A. in Television, Film and Media Studies with a minor in Theater. Despite having experience acting for the camera, References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot is his theatrical debut. He hopes to use this production as an overall learning experience, an inspiration to further participate in other theater spaces, and to cross off "be in a play" from his bucket-list. He wants to make a special thank-you to everyone in the References ensemble (directors, stage management, cast-mates, tech team, etc.) for making this leap of faith a comforting and welcoming process for him. Another big thank-you too all of his friends and family for supporting his journey as an actor.

Sunny Hill (Cat) is a freshman Theater major at Cal State LA. This is her first play at this school and she’s extremely excited. Prior to being here she went to an arts high school where her focus was theater. She hopes to continue acting professionally and this show is just one step up the ladder for her. 

Yvonne Rubio (Martin) is a Senior at Cal State LA, majoring in Theatre with a performance option. This is her second show at Cal State LA. She was most recently seen as Laurel in Los Faustinos in Spring 2022. In addition to acting, Yvonne has a dance background which includes 16 years of Folklorico, 1 year of contemporary dance, and 1 year of ballet. Yvonne would like to thank her family and friends for their love and support. She would also like to thank the cast and stage managers for the wonderful opportunity of sharing the stage and working with them.

Thomas Sackett (Moon) is a senior at Cal State LA, dual majoring in Theatre/Performance, and English – General option, after transferring from Riverside City College and Fresno State University. This will be his fourth performance with the school, as being previously seen as Yuri in War of the Worlds, Ensemble in Urinetown, and Jimmy/Waiter in Invisible Women. He would like to thank the department, cast, and crew for this opportunity, as well as thanking those closest for supporting him while time is little.

Dr. Alma Martinez (Director) is a first-time Guest Director at Cal State LA-TAD.  She is a Member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers, SAG-AFTRA, AEA, ANDA and the Academies of Motion Picture and Television Arts and Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. in Directing and Dramatic Criticism from Stanford University, an M.F.A. in Acting from U.S.C., and a B.A. in Drama from Whittier College. She is a Fulbright Scholar and Dartmouth College Cesar Chavez Dissertation Fellow alum. A longtime actor and artistic associate of Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino, she began her passion for directing social justice theatre as an actor, performing in Valdez’s iconic works, Zoot Suit (stage & film), Corridos: Tales of Passion and Revolution- Peabody Award (stage & TV), I Don’t Have to Show You Any Stinking Badges, Ballad of a Soldier, Mummified Deer, and El Fin Del Mundo that toured Europe and the United States.

Dr. Martinez’s directing credits include; Quinta Temporada (Stanford University); La Gran Carpa de los Rasquachi (El Teatro Campesino, BRAVA! Theatre, United Farmworkers Headquarters in Watsonville); Heroes and Saints (Teatro Vision); Stand and Deliver, Zoot Suit (Pomona College); Between Pancho Villa and a Naked Woman (UC Santa Cruz); Dog’s Will, Electricidad, Los Militants, Vietnam Campesino, Los Vendidos and; Working! A Musical (University of La Verne). She has directed numerous stage readings at venues that include TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Dartmouth College, Pasadena Playhouse, Stanford University, among others.

Her acting career spans over 4 decades of work in film, television, and theatre. She has appeared on Broadway, Off Broadway, in regional theaters across the country and on Mexican and European stages. Her films include Clemency, winner of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award. Favorite film projects include Ms. Purple, Cake, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zoot Suit, Born in East LA, Barbarosa, Under Fire, among others.

On TV, credits include recurring guest-star roles on; Gentefied (Netflix); Undone (Amazon); Bosch: Legacy (Amazon); The Terror Infamy (AMC) and the Peabody Award winning premier season of The Bridge (F/X). Other shows include Queen Sugar, I Love Dick, MacGyver, Gray’s Anatomy, American Crime: People v OJ Simpson, Good Behavior, MacGyver, The Unit, Nash Bridges, General Hospital, among others.

On stage, favorite productions include; In the Summer House (Broadway); Green Card (world-premiere)  (Off-Broadway);  world-premieres of Zoot Suit, Electricidad, Bocón (Mark Taper Forum);  MacBeth, Skin of Our Teeth (Oregon Shakes); The Seagull (Santa Cruz Shakes); Fuente Ovejuna, Savages (Berkeley Repertory); Twelfth Night (San Jose Repertory); world-premieres of Mummified Deer, Sons of Don Juan, Sweet 15 Quinceañera (San Diego Repertory); Shadow of a Man (world-premiere) (Eureka Theatre); One Fine Day (Arizona Theatre Company), Just Like Us (world-premiere) (Denver Theatre Center); A Christmas Carol (South Coast Repertory); Latina (world-premiere) (Hollywood Pilot Theatre); The Miser (Odyssey Theatre); Sons of Don Juan (world-premiere) (Asolo Theatre); House of Blue Leaves (Pasadena Playhouse); Hello Dolly! (Long Beach Civic Light Opera); Wait Until Dark, Pennsylvania Stage and;  most recently, Luis Alfaro’s play Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles at St. Louis Repertory for which she was nominated as “Best Actress” by St. Louis theatre critics.

A perennial student, she has studied with master teachers Lee Strasberg, Jerzi Grotowski, Ariane Mnouchkine (Paris), Augusto Boal, Anna Deveare Smith, Patsy Rodenberg and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London).  In Mexico, she studied with Hector Mendoza and Luis De Tavira at the Centro Universitario de Teatro (C.U.T.) at the National University of Mexico and the University of Guadalajara.

A published author, her work focuses on Chicanx and Latin American popular-political theatre. Recent articles include; “Pancho Villa’s Head: The Mexican Revolution in the Chicano Theatrical Imagination”, Open Borders to a Revolution: Culture, Politics, and Migration, published by Smithsonian Scholarly Press;  “Zoot Suit in Mexico City: Mapping a New American Theatre” in Theatre and Cartographies of Power: Positioning the Latina/o Americas for Southern Illinois University Press and the forthcoming article; Dr. Alma Martinez: A Narrative Towards Becoming a Chicanx Actor in Latinx Actor Training for Routledge Press.

Dr. Martinez is Emerita Faculty of UC Santa Cruz Theatre and Dance Dept. and is currently an Associate Professor in the Theatre Department at the University of La Verne. She is a proud first-generation Mexican immigrant and Chicana and resides in Los Angeles and La Quinta, CA.  www.imdb.me/almamartinez

Cristian Amigo (Sound Designer) is a Latinx composer-improviser, sound designer, and audio producer for theater, immersive environments, bands, and music ensembles, dance, opera, and film/video. His interests include the aurality of theater, immersive experiences, 3D audio, AR and VR, electric and acoustic guitars, and sound and music that links itself to social justice, ecological, and humanistic issues. Amigo is a sound faculty member at CalArts in the Department of Experience Design and Production in the CalArts School of Theater. 

Kennith (Kenny) Green Jr. (Assistant Lighting Designer) is a transfer student from Pasadena, California. He was introduced to theater at Pasadena City College as a props manager for the production of Fight Night. After that, he took interest in the lighting department under the teachings of Wesley Charles Chew, the lighting design professor. He is hoping to learn more about lighting from the teachings of Professor Karyn Lawrence. After shadowing Professor Chew for about a year, Kenny designed two productions for Pasadena City College, Dog Sees God and We Look to the Stars where he was also the video projectionist. Kenny is currently working at East West Players as a Light Board Operator. He plans to go after his MFA at UC Irvine after his time Cal State LA. Kenny would like to thank Eric J Larson and Wesley Charles Chew for being his first professors in the world of theater tech.

Lily Cabrera (Assistant Stage Manager) is a senior here Cal State LA and References To Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot is her first show as a stage manager. She really enjoyed the experience and would like to thank Jonathon Jones and Morgan Zupanski for showing her the ropes and encouraging her throughout this whole new process.

Roxanne Westerlin (Fight Choreographer) is an Advanced Actor/Combatant with the SAFD, certified in all eight weapons and is part of the first students to complete the stage combat tract at Fullerton College, where she today serves on the certificate board for future students and assistant teaches. Her work as a fight director could be previously seen in Fullerton College's production of Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood and Los Faustinos at Cal State LA. She was also seen as Lilith and was the fight captain for She Kills Monsters at STAGEStheatre! She is finishing her BA in Theater Performance at Cal State LA and previously trained at the Pasadena Playhouse with LAMDA and Fullerton College. She spends most of her free time practicing stage combat, being a dog mom, and planning her Star Wars wedding. She would like to thank her family and Nick for always being supportive of her dreams!

Mx. Chels Morgan, CSE (Intimacy Director & Cultural Competency Specialist) - pronouns: they / xe - is an Afro-Latinx, neuroexpansive, and queer sexuality and social justice educator, cultural competency specialist, and intimacy director & coordinator. Chels is an AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator (CSE) as well as a Certified Holistic Sexuality Educator (CHSE) via the Institute for Sexuality Education and Enlightenment (ISEE) and has additional training by the ANTE UP! Virtual Freedom Professional Development School for Justice Workers in the history, implementation, and troubleshooting of various justice frameworks related to the sexuality field.

Chels has an extensive background in film, television, theater, dance and circus and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television Production from Loyola Marymount University with a specialization in Directing Fiction (as of 2022). Currently, Chels is working as the Digital Organizer for the National Queer & Trans Therapist of Color Network (NQTTCN) and is the Director of Curriculum for the upcoming Global Majority Intimacy Theatre Conference in New Orleans, LA. Overall, Chels' career focus is to spread narratives of radical humanity and radical self-compassion, and to curate justice-centered and emboldening spaces on screen, on stage and in their communities through media.

Duncan Martinez (Assistant Director) is a first year MFA in TVFT/Writing Option student.  He feels incredibly blessed to be in this program at Cal State LA, a school he loves deeply.  New to Theatre, he is excited to keep learning... He also enjoys long walks on the beach, fluffy bunnies, and unicorns.  He is also thankful for all the people around him, from his cohort to his family and girlfriend.

Katherine Ozawa (Prop Coordinator) is a Senior aiming for her B.A. degree in Theatre with an option in Performance. This is Katherine's first time working with production and the Cal State LA Theatre Department, having transferred from Pasadena Community College. Her latest work includes Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, Macbeth and has starred in Micro Mania!, an Original Play by PCC Speech & Theatre Director Joshua Fleming. Katherine thanks her parents and her grandfather Mario for supporting her on her journey thus far. 

Emily Moreno (Dramaturg) is a senior earning her B.A. degree in Theater with an emphasis in playwriting. Emily plans to make a career in playwriting, scriptwriting, screenwriting, dramaturgy, acting and storytelling. Her goal is to bring light to any elephant in the room by creating plays that speak about BIPOC traumas and stories. She hopes to create a comfort space with storytelling in her plays allowing the audience to react and relate to these traumas and stories. Her upcoming project is a play called “Justice behind the walls”, a play that talks about the Prison system and the minorities in that system. She is one of the Dramaturgs working on all three shows this semester, including Keely and Du, References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, and Loop Group. To check out her past Dramaturg work on Soledad, you can visit the Cal State LA Theater department’s past production for more information. Emily is here to represent her Latino community through her work and hopes to bring justice to their voices and stories. Emily would like to thank her professor, Dr. Carolyn Dunn, for mentoring her and for helping her find her calling. As well as her family who invested a lot in her and special thanks to her dramaturg team: Andreanna Canales and Maximiliano Rojas who made everything easy and possible.