Theater: The Fears (prod. Steven Soderbergh, Off Broadway), Pygmalion (Roundabout, Broadway), An American Daughter (Williamstown), Barefoot in the Park (Old Globe), My Name Is Rachel Corrie (Minetta Lane), The Hairy Ape (Irish Rep). Select TV: Super Pumped, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Amazing Stories, The Romanoffs, Halt and Catch Fire (Women’s Image Award nominee), Narcos, Scrubs. Select film: Very Best People (upcoming), Madame Web, Happily, The Evening Hour, How It Ends, Rupture, The Ticket, Max Rose, Grand Piano, Blue Highway, Goodbye World, The FitzGerald Family Christmas, Argo (SAG Award winner), Newlyweds, Red State, Nice Guy Johnny. As a science communicator and host of the podcast HyperThetical, Kerry Bishé works to bridge the cultural divide between the arts and sciences.

Tom Hanks is an award-winning actor, producer, and director. One of only two actors in history to win back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Actor in Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia and the following year in Robert Zemeckis’s Forrest Gump. His film credits include Big, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Captain Phillips, Sully, You’ve Got Mail, A League of Their Own, the Da Vinci Code series, Elvis, Greyhound, and The Phoenician Scheme.

In 2013, Hanks made his Broadway debut in the Nora Ephron-penned play Lucky Guy. His performance earned him Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle, and Tony Award nominations.

Kelli O'Hara has established herself as one of Broadway’s greatest leading ladies. She has been nominated for eight Tony Awards, winning for The King and I. She is also an Emmy, SAG, Olivier, and two-time Grammy-nominated artist who made history as the first to crossover from Broadway to opera with her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2015.

O’Hara can currently be seen on HBO’s The Gilded Age. Additional TV and film credits include The Accidental Wolf, Masters of Sex, 13 Reasons Why, Blue Bloods, All My Children, All the Bright Places, Peter Pan Live!, Sex & The City 2, Martin Scorsese’s The Key to Reserva, The Good Fight, N3mbers, and Car Talk.

O’Hara recently completed a critically acclaimed limited Broadway engagement of the new musical Days of Wine and Roses, which also garnered rave reviews during its Off-Broadway run at Atlantic Theatre Company. She won the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical in addition to receiving Tony and Drama League nominations for her role. Next spring, she will return to Broadway in the play Fallen Angels. O’Hara continues to perform with orchestras and symphonies throughout the country.

Kayli Carter is a New York-based actor and writer whose previous notable credits include Emmy-nominated shows Mrs. America (FX), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), Godless (Netflix), and the Focus Features film Let Him Go. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the Best Supporting Female category for her work in Tamara Jenkins’s Netflix feature Private Life.

Her previous stage work includes Tracy Letts’s Mary Page Marlowe, directed by Lila Neugebauer, Off Broadway, and On The Evolutionary Function of Shame (2ST). She originated the role of Flo in Mark Rylance’s Olivier Award-nominated comedy Nice Fish (West End, St. Ann’s Warehouse, American Repertory Theater). She will be seen in the upcoming series Vladimir (20th Television, Netflix) opposite Rachel Weisz.

Dedicated to Claire Van Kampen and Mark Rylance, who taught her how to change the weather.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson received a Tony Award as featured actor for his performance in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars. Other Broadway credits include Jelly’s Last Jam, Stick Fly, Gem of the Ocean, and his autobiographical play Lackawanna Blues. With Lackawanna Blues Santiago-Hudson became the first person in history to write, direct, and star in a Broadway play. Lackawanna Blues was awarded The Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards as well as a Tony Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor.

Theatre credits include The Winter’s Tale, How I Learned What I Learned, Measure for Measure, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, A Soldier’s Play, Henry VIII, East Texas Hot Links, and A Raisin in the Sun among many others.

Film and television credits include East New York, American Gangster, Selma, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Shaft, Devil’s Advocate, Forgotten Genius, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Billions, Solomon and Sheba, Rear Window, The Quad, Public Morals, Low Winter Sun, David Makes Man, The West Wing, Law & Order, and many more. Santiago-Hudson starred on the hit ABC series Castle for three seasons as Capt. Roy Montgomery.

His honors include The Humanitas Prize, National Board of Reviews, The Christopher Award, Clarence Derwent Award, Lucille Lortel Awards, Obie Awards, Audelco Awards, Helen Hayes Award, NAACP Image Award, The SDC Joseph Calloway Directing Award, The Lloyd Richards Directing Award, The Nederlander Apple Award, and honorary doctorate degrees from Wayne State University and Buffalo State University.

Broadway: A Soldier’s Play (also directed by Kenny Leon), Angels in America, The Big Knife, The Normal Heart. Broadway national tour: Cabaret. Off Broadway: Indian Ink, Gabriel, The Lady from Dubuque. Regionally, Rosen has appeared at the Old Globe, the Westport Country Playhouse, the Huntington Theatre, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, the Barrington Stage Company, the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Ford’s Theatre, and the Bucks County Playhouse. TV: FBI: International, Law & Order: SVU, Harlan Coben’s Shelter, The Equalizer, American Horror Story, FBI, Blue Bloods, Emily in Paris, The Blacklist, The Enemy Within, Elementary, Limitless, The Good Wife, The Big C, Nurse Jackie, Damages, Person of Interest, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Film: A Kid Like Jake, Sidewalk Traffic, Company K, and, in his first professional acting gig, Saving Private Ryan. As a producer and archival consultant, Rosen has worked on several documentaries including Netflix’s A Secret Love, HBO’s Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known, and Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle for PBS. He has also proudly volunteered with New York’s 52nd Street Project for more than two decades. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting. leeaaronrosen.com

Broadway: Appeared in the 2025 hit revival of Glengarry Glen Ross as John Williamson. Other recent credits include the Tony-nominated revival of Our Town as Simon Stimson, Purlie Victorious, Hamilton, Motown: the Musical (OBC), and Holler If Ya Hear Me (OBC). TV/Film: Severance (two seasons on AppleTV+ as Patton), The Punisher (Netflix), The WIZ: Live! (NBC), Da Bronx U.S.A. (Music in Media nomination and Academy Award Best Song shortlist), Killing Me Softly with His Song (Music in Media nomination). Other stage credits: The Preacher’s Wife (Alliance Theatre), Children of Eden (Lincoln Center; Manhattan Concert Productions), the national tour of Hamilton (Aaron Burr), Jersey Boys, Born for This, Renascence, Whorl Inside a Loop, Bella: An American Tall Tale. University of Southern California, BFA acting.

Broadway: The Cottage. Broadway first national tour: The Play That Goes Wrong; Off Broadway: Hold On To Me Darling (Lucille Lortel); N/A (Mitzi E. Newhouse, LTC); Dracula (Classic Stage Company);  Mary Page Marlowe (Second Stage Theater). Select regional:  Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Paper Mill Playhouse); The Winter’s Tale (Hartford Stage);  A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Old Globe); The Legend of Georgia McBride (Denver Center Theatre Company); Emma (Playmakers Rep); Shakespeare in Love (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). International: Noises Off (Maxim Gorky Theatre of Vladivostok, Russia.)  Television: The Punisher, New Amsterdam, House of Cards.  Film: Viper Club, Sunday 1287. @annjamie. Romero is managed by Michal Zecher at MZ.MGMT.NY.

Michelle Wilson is a Tony-nominated actress (Sweat) who recently closed on Broadway’s Tony-nominated Our Town and, prior to that, completed her critically acclaimed run in The Fires at SoHo Rep. She performed in The Lincoln Center Theater’s production of The Coast of Starlight, following a run of Dominique Morisseau’s play Confederates at the Signature Theatre. She was a guest lead in an episode of Steven Spielberg’s anthology series Amazing Stories as well as the final season of Bull. In film, Wilson stars in Premature, which premiered at Sundance to rave reviews and streamed on Hulu. She has supporting roles in the independent films The True Adventures of Wolfboy, opposite Chris Messina, and Clean, opposite Adrien Brody. Wilson can also be seen in HBO’s original special Between the World and Me.

Paul Murphy is pleased to continue his relation to this play, starting with the production of the first version, Safe Home, at Shadowland Stages. Favorite roles—New York: President Hoover in The Bonus Army; Finnegan in Finnegan’s Wake; Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor; Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale; The Prince in Cole Porter’s Jubilee; Pseudolus in …Forum; Sweetpea in Popeye Amongst the Polar Bears; Tobias in Smiling the Boy Fell Dead; Conrad in the Obie-winning Horatio Alger musical Bound to Rise; 42 parts (including the Duke of Wellington’s Nose) in Kenneth Koch’s 1000 Avant-Garde Plays. New Jersey and regional: The Black Monk, and others, in Shostakovich and the Black Monk: A Russian Fantasy, a piece performed with the Emerson String Quartet at music venues worldwide; Inspector Bridois in John Cleese’s Bang, Bang; Karl in The Good German; The Chancellor in Sedition; 94-year-old Mammy in The Cripple of Inishman; Niels Bohr in Copenhagen; First Man in the Raymond Chandler adaptation Trouble is My Business; Reverend Sam in Mrs. Warren’s Profession; The Dragon in Sheldon Harnick’s Dragons; Mack Now in Jim Lehrer’s Kick the Can; Henry Carr in Travesties; and Estragon in Waiting for Godot. He is one half of Two Big Guys from Jersey and a founding member of Lunatic Fringe, a New Jersey-based improv comedy troupe. For Helen.

Jay O. Sanders was Falstaff (Drama Desk nom.) in TFANA’s Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 last season, appeared on Broadway in Purlie Victorious and Girl from the North Country (both filmed for Great Performances), and received the Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in the Roundabout Theater’s world premiere of 2024 Pulitzer Prize winner Primary Trust. He and his wife, actress Maryann Plunkett, were presented a 2024 Joint Lifetime Achievement Award from the NY Critics Circle. Together, they originated roles in Richard Nelson’s Rhinebeck Panorama, 12 new plays in 12 years at the Public Theater, including two international tours, and three groundbreaking Zoom plays at the advent of the Covid break. Sanders played the title roles in both Cyrano De Bergerac at the Guthrie Theater and Uncle Vanya (2018 Drama Desk Award, Best Actor) at New York’s Hunter Theater Project. Throughout his career, Sanders has been a regular presence at the Public Theater and Shakespeare in the Park. His own play, Unexplored Interior, was the inaugural production of Washington, DC’s Mosaic Theater Company. His extensive film and television work includes JFK, Day After Tomorrow, Angels in the Outfield, Tumbleweeds, Revolutionary Road, Edge Of Darkness, True Detective, Roseanne, Sneaky Pete, and most recently His Three Daughters and M. Night Shyamalan’s Remain (due for a 2026 release). Sanders is also a prolific narrator of PBS documentaries including NOVA, Nature, Wide Angle, and Secrets of the Dead.

Jamie Brandel is a New York-based actor and filmmaker. She is thrilled to be making her Off-Broadway debut as an understudy in This World of Tomorrow with this wonderful cast and crew. Her horror short film, Make Whole, in which she stars alongside Denis O’Hare, will premiere next year. Previous stage work includes Sam Did Something (Patch Works) and The Last Hurricane (The Tank). Special thanks to her family, friends, and Zuri Agency. Dedicated to her grandparents Dina and Eli Brandel and Vittorio and Ruth Orvieto, who survived the Nazis and created a better life in the Great Borough of Queens.

Broadway: Floyd Collins, Our Town, Moulin Rouge, The Color Purple (revival), Bandstand, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Dream, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, A Chorus Line (1990), Dreamgirls (revival), Leader of the Pack. West End: Ragtime (Olivier Best Actor Nominee), 125th St. Off Broadway: Hadestown - Hades/1st National (Elliot Norton Best Actor Winner), Cornelia Street, A Man for All Seasons, Blue, Boys in the Band. Regional: The Lion in Winter, First Wives Club (NAACP Best Actor Nominee), Driving Miss Daisy, Radio Golf, Tambourine to Glory (Helen Hayes Best Actor Nominee). Film: The Accompanist, Fair Market Value, The Trade, Stayin’ Alive. Television: Colin in Black and White, When They See Us. Recurring: Law & Order, East New York, FBI: Most Wanted, The Path, Elementary, 911, SVU. Guest: Blue Bloods, Instinct, Person of Interest, The Good Wife, Hostages, Murphy Brown. V/O: Red Dead Redemption II, Grand Theft Auto.

Jessica Rush was most recently seen Off-Broadway in Shit.Meet.Fan at MCC. On Broadway she originated the role of Rhonda Graam in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical and appeared in Dear Evan Hansen (Cynthia/Heidi standby), Summer (Joyce Bogart), Gypsy with Patti LuPone (Louise standby), Guys & Dolls, and was the longest running Lorraine in Jersey Boys. As a triple threat and Jefferson Award-winning performer, she has appeared on television in Billions, White Collar, Then We Got Help (Indie Series winner), three Tony Awards telecasts, and can be seen shortly co-starring in the film Skin Deep. A multihyphenate, passionate advocate for artist mothers, Ms. Rush is the founder of the support group Broadway Baby Mamas, co-host of the top rated podcast Mamas Talkin’ Loud (available everywhere), and creator of the bespoke bracelet business Ivy & Clarke. @jessisarush

Sarah Thorn is a New York/London–based actor, singer, and musician. She recently made her Broadway debut in Kenny Leon’s Othello (ensemble; u/s Desdemona). Select credits include Richard III (Lady Anne), The Merchant of Venice (Portia), Cabaret (Sally Bowles; BroadwayWorld Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Julia), A Little Night Music (Petra), Something Rotten! (Portia), This is Our Youth (Jessica), and Sweeney Todd (Beggar Woman). Training: LAMDA MA Classical Acting), Manhattan School of Music (Bachelor of Music), RADA (Acting Shakespeare Certificate). www.sarahthorn.com

Broadway: Purlie Victorious, A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch and Our Town (both directed by Kenny Leon), Network, and All the Way. Off Broadway: The Irish Curse (Soho Playhouse). Regional theater: American Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse-in-the-Park, Penobscot Theatre Company, Arkansas Rep, Mill Mountain Theatre, Cape May Stage, NJ Rep. Film: Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, Bryan Cranston’s Last Chance, Nadir Saribacak’s Gazelle. TV: Billions, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, 12 Monkeys, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, Person of Interest, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, FBI, Malcolm in the Middle, Hunters, The Good Cop, Mr. Robot, Orange Is the New Black, and All My Children.

Alex Poots is a widely acclaimed arts and cultural leader who has built major new organizations from the ground up, and who has inspired established organizations to reshape their familiar approaches into more innovative, popular and culturally democratic programs.

Poots was appointed in 2015 as the founding artistic director and CEO of The Shed in NYC, following a decade creating, launching and leading Manchester International Festival (MIF) in the UK. At these organizations, as well at Park Avenue Armory in NYC, the Barbican Centre and Tate Galleries in London, Poots has conceived and developed new ways for arts organizations to realize their missions and visions—commissioning and presenting established and early-career artists and creatives across disciplines and regions, often in new collaborations, and welcoming a range of audiences of all backgrounds to discover their work. In 2023 Poots continued his role as The Shed’s founding artistic director and set up a new kind of production house called North Star Studio.

Poots has forged enduring and fruitful relationships with the artists and creatives with whom he works—from composers to pop artists, theater directors to filmmakers, writers to visual artists, technologists to academics. In the process, he has supported them to evolve artistic formats and realize ambitious projects, drawing large audiences in the process. By questioning established artistic structures and societal constructs, Poots works to bring together creative practices and audiences in new combinations—facilitating, originating, and promoting artistic invention, interdisciplinary practice, and transformative programs through the organizations he leads.