Announcing The Cast of the San Diego Premiere
of Bull In A China Shop

About the Cast

Andréa Agosto (Pearl) is an award-winning filmmaker (Kansas City Film Fest) and actress (International Model & Talent Association).  She is excited to return to Diversionary in Bull in a China Shop. Her favorite credits include: The Magic in This Soul (Grant/John), Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley: From Slavery to Modiste (Elizabeth Keckley), Cardboard Piano  (Adiel/Ruth), Homos, or Everyone in America (Laila), Avenue Q (Gary Coleman), The Best Goodbye (Sabina), Cell (Gwen), You Can’t Take it With You (Rheba), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Nina), Bare (Tanya), Flyin’ West (Minnie), Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters  (Manyara), Working (Maggie Holmes), Big River (Alice), High School Musical (Taylor), and Grease (Rizzo). For more information, please visit: www.andreaagosto.com

Maybelle Covington (Felicity) is excited to make her Diversionary Theatre debut this fall. Favorite acting credits: As Bees in Honey Drown (Onstage Playhouse), 25th Annual Spelling Bee (USD), Tartuffe (USD MFA), Fault of Falling (SD Fringe 2017). Maybelle earned her BA in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies and psychology and is represented by Shamon-Frietas Talent.

Jo Anne Glover (Woolley) is so excited to be working at Diversionary.  Co-Founder of San Diego’s MOXIE Theatre, she has worked On- and Off-Broadway, in Los Angeles, and regionally.  In San Diego, she has worked with MOXIE, Cygnet Theatre (resident artist), San Diego Rep, New Village Arts, Intrepid. Some credits include The Revolutionists, The Kid Thing (SDCC Best Actress Nominee), Emilie, Maple & Vine, Hickorydickory, Zoot Suit, Our Town, Or, The Norman Conquests, The Receptionist (SDCC Best Supp. Actress), Summer and Smoke, Expecting Isabel, Drink Me, Rabbit Hole, Bleeding Kansas, Off The Ground, The Listener, Bluebonnet Court, Devil Dog Six, WET, Miss Witherspoon, Dog Act, Limonades Tous les Jours (Patte award, Best Actress), Pulp, Kimberly Akimbo, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hamlet, Stop Kiss, and Othello. In addition to her work as an actress, she has worked as a producer in New York and Los Angeles.

Tamara McMillian (Jeannette Marks) is absolutely jubilant about her debut at Diversionary! She recently has appeared as Seneca in New Village Arts production of Men On Boats. Other credits include: The Award-Winning Production of The Ballad of Emmett Till (Ion Theatre) Father Comes Home From The Wars (Intrepid Theatre) as well as other favorite credits: A Song For Coretta, Da Kink In My Hair, and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Wasn’t Enough. Originally from Monroeville A.L., Tamara received her B.A. in Theatre from Alabama State University and has recently trained in the Ivanna Chubbuck Technique with renown actress (Tasha Smith.) Tamara believes in the transformative power of theatre as a social, political, emotional, mental, spiritual, and humanistic force vital to the health of any society, and selflessly understands her duty as a voice for the voiceless.   Instagram:Tamaramcmill

Milena (Sellers) Phillips (Dean Welsh) – is very excited to make her debut with Diversionary Theatre.  She was most recently seen as Old Shady in Men on Boats (New Village Arts) and Sadie Delany in Having Our Say (New Village Arts), for which she was a nominee for Outstanding Lead Performance in a play by the San Diego Critics Circle.  Milena was recognized by the San Diego Critics Circle with the prestigious Craig Noel Award for “Outstanding Ensemble,” in Cygnet Theatre’s  August Wilson Repertory Company of Seven Guitars and King Hedley II.  Her credits also include Jaclyn in Rasheeda Speaking (Vantage Theatre), Ruth in the U.S. Premiere of Calendar Girls (Sullivan Players), Two seasons as Dinah in Dixie Swim Club (Different Stages) and she was a nominee for an Aubrey Award from ACT and the Patio Playhouse Award for Major Supporting Actress for her role as Marrell in This (Patio Playhouse). Milena has performed on film and television in numerous roles and is a member of SAG-AFTRA.  Her love for acting is equaled only to her love of children.  She co-founded the Jonathan Sellers & Charlie Keever Foundation established in memory of her son to promote the safety of children through education.  Milena also co-authored and published a book titled, “Always Fly Away, A Children’s Safety Book.”

About the Creative Team

Bryna Turner is a Brooklyn-based playwright originally from Northern California. Bull in a China Shop premiered at LCT3 in 2017. Her work has also been developed with Abingdon Theatre Company, Clubbed Thumb, Colt Coeur, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Mendocino Theatre Company, Mount Holyoke College, Rainbow Theatre Project, and Rutgers University. Other plays include: Carlo at the Wedding; Lights Over Philo; The Stand-In; and How to Separate Your Soul from Your Body (in ten easy steps!). She is an alum of Clubbed Thumb’s Early Career Writer’s Group, a MacDowell fellow, and holds an MFA in Playwriting from Rutgers University. She is currently working on a commission for Lincoln Center Theater and was awarded their Emerging Artist Award of 2018.

Kim Strassburger (Director) is thrilled to be returning to Diversionary Theatre having previously directed A Civil War Christmas and A New Brain. Other directing credits include Romeo, Romeo and Juliet (Roustabouts Theatre Company); 8 Songs For A Mad King (2017 Craig Noel Award-Outstanding Special Event & Best of Festival-San Diego International Fringe Festival/Bodhi Tree Productions); Sunday In The Park With George with Glenn Paris (2017 Craig Noel Award-Outstanding Direction of a Musical), Master Class, Passion (Nomination-2014 Craig Noel Award-Outstanding Direction of a Musical), Grey Gardens, Gypsy with Claudio Raygoza (Nomination-2011 Craig Noel Award-Outstanding Direction of a Musical) and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Ion Theatre); Gutenberg! The Musical! (Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company); and Seascape (New Village Arts Theatre). Recent acting credits include The Moors (Diversionary Theatre) and The Normal Heart (2017 Craig Noel Award-Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play/Ion Theatre) and The Woman In Black with Jason Heil (CSU San Marcos). Kim is a graduate of the Catholic University of America, studied at LAMDA, and is a 2014 member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. She also teaches Acting at the Coronado School of the Arts.

Ron Logan (Scenic Design) is designing his fourth show at Diversionary Theatre. Previous Scenic Design: A New Brain, Amazons and Their Men, Lizard Boy, Ballast – Craig Noel Award for Outstanding New Play (Diversionary Theatre); Akeelah and the Bee (San Diego Junior Theatre); Art, Little Women: The Musical, Into the Woods (Point Loma Nazarene University); Abundance (Backyard Renaissance), The Elephant Man (Backyard Renaissance & Oceanside Theatre Company); Sea of Souls, Ryes, Six, Grove (ion theatre – workshopped original works); Geeks! The Musical (ion’s BlkBox). Co-scenic Design: Bug (ion). Associate Projection Design (with Joe Huppert): Lizard Boy (Diversionary); The Elephant Man (Backyard Renaissance & Oceanside Theatre Company); The Dybbuk of Hannah and Sam’s Wedding, The Oldest Boy – Craig Noel Co-Award for Best Projection Design (SD Rep). Charge Artist: A Jewish Joke (Roustabouts), Now or Later (Diversionary), Lettice and Lovage (SRT). Creative Director for the San Diego International Fringe Festival since 2014. Graphic Designer for Scripps Ranch Theatre’s 2014-15, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 seasons; for Oceanside Theatre Company’s 2017 season; for Grossmont College’s 2018-19 season, and for The Wizard of Oz, and On Broadway starring The Drifters (Algonquin Arts Theatre – New Jersey). Professional graphic designer for 28 years. Primary designer for U.S. Soccer Federation for 17 years. Co-producer with Hannah Logan – Logan2 (Logan Squared) Productions – which just produced their fifth annual That 24 Hour Thingfor SD Fringe, and their fifth quarterly reading of Theatre: Undone at the San Diego Public Library’s Neil Morgan Auditorium.

Beth Connelly (Costume Designer) is delighted to return to Diversionary Theatre with Bull in a China Shop.  Her previous Diversionary productions include A Civil War Christmas and A New Brain. Beth has the privilege to be the Designer in Residence at Coronado School of the Arts.  Her work in and around San Diego includes productions with San Diego Musical Theater; The Coronado Island Film Festival; ACT-San Diego; CYC Theatre; J*Company; and Leading Light Theatre.  When Beth isn’t designing, she is a full-time real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California.

Curtis Mueller (Lighting Designer) returns to Diversionary having designed The Happiest Place on Earth, Cardboard Piano, Homos, Well, 2.5 Minute Ride, Lizard Boy, Manhandled, Now or Later, A Civil War Christmas, Amazons and Their Men, Man Clan, and A New Brain. Select local credits include: Withering Heights, Margin of Error (Roustabouts Theatre Company); End of The Rainbow, Quality of Life, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, I Hate Hamlet, All My Sons, Macbeth (Intrepid Theatre Company); Big River, The 1940s Radio Hour, Seascape (New Village Arts); Chess in concert, Next to Normal, Spring Awakening (Cabaret at the Merc Summer Series). Curtis has also worked extensively with Coronado School of The Arts. Curtis holds a BFA in Lighting Design from California Institute of The Arts.

Bonnie Durben (Properties Designer) Diversionary Theatre: The Loneliest Girl in the World, The Happiest Place on Earth, Cardboard Piano, The Moors, 2.5 Minute Ride, Well, Ballast, Mystery of Love and Sex, The Boy who danced on Air, Now or Later, She-Rantulas, Baby With The Bathwater, A New Brain and Amazons and Their Men. Moonlight Theatre Productions: Aida, Little Mermaid, Sunset Blvd, In The Heights, Sister Act, Peter Pan, Titanic, Addams Family, Music Man, Shrek, All Shook Up and Big Fish. Scripps Ranch: Skin Deep, Good People. Mira Costa Theatre: Waiting For Lefty, Oklahoma, These Shining Lights, Romeo and Juliet, Seven, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Urinetown. Cygnet Theatre: Animal Crackers, On The Twentieth Century and 57 other productions. Bonnie is a member of the Society of Property Artisans and Managers.

Taylor Todd (Stage Manager) is so excited to be back at Diversionary! Some selected technical credits include stage manager for Bachelorette (Backyard Renaissance), Tarrytown (Backyard Renaissance), Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 2, & 3 (Intrepid), Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Intrepid & New Village Arts), Perfect Arrangement (Intrepid), Mystery of Love and Sex (Diversionary), ART (Intrepid), Gutenberg! The Musical! (Backyard Renaissance), Woody Guthrie’s American Song (Intrepid), The Seagull (Old Globe/USD MFA), End of the Rainbow (Intrepid), Anton’s Shorts; Three Brief Comedies by Chekhov (USD), and assistant stage manager for Cardboard Piano (Diversionary), Parlour Song (Backyard Renaissance), Oliver! (Cabrillo Stage, Santa Cruz), and Anatomy of Gray (USD). Taylor graduated from the University of San Diego with a degree in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies.