Amanda Renee Baker is proud to be counted among Hudson Warehouse’s Artists in Residence.  After moving to New York in the fall of 2009, Amanda had the excellent fortune of spending the following summer with the Warehouse performing the roles of Valerie in Trojan Women and Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet.  Other NYC credits include Winifred Burbage in the staged reading of Joe Leo’s original play Willy’s Boys and Cobweb/Robin Starveling in the Shakespeare Saturdays reading of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Originally from Indiana, Amanda began acting as a child and performed lead roles in many musicals including Anything Goes, The Fantasticks, The Sound of Music, Narnia, and Babes in Arms.  She attended college at Indiana University in Bloomington, where she performed the roles of Archidamus/Mopsa in A Winter’s Tale, directed by Howard Jensen.  She graduated with Highest Distinction with a BA in French and Art History, and earned her MA in Art History from IU in 2004.

In Bloomington, Amanda worked extensively as an actor, director, and designer.  Classical roles include Titania/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Curtis/Widow in The Taming of the Shrew with the Indiana Shakespeare Company, as well as Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, Ariel in The Tempest, Katherine in Henry V, and Gertrude in Hamlet.  Other favorite roles include Lady Croom in Arcadia, Rebecca in Ashes to Ashes, Claire in A Delicate Balance, Cleopatra in Caesar and Cleopatra, Columbine in Aria da Capo, and Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac. Directorial credits include Measure for Measure; Betrayal; Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Flies; Trista Baldwin’s Patty Red Pants at the Bloomington Playwright’s Project, a nationally known theatre dedicated to local and emerging playwrights; and a collaborative multi-media production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.  Amanda also designed and built costumes for productions of Arcadia and Machinal.

Before moving to New York, Amanda lived and worked in Atlanta, where she performed the roles of Norma Baxter in the world premier of Topher Payne’s Perfect Arrangement with the Process Theatre Company, Sylvia in Broken Glass and Mrs. Venable in Suddenly Last Summer with the Theatre Arts Guild at Georgia Perimeter College, Myra Bruhl in Deathtrap at Onstage Atlanta, and in the 365 Days/365 Plays Festival with Theatre du Reve, an Atlanta-based francophone theatre company.  Amanda understudied the roles of Annie in the regional premier of Mat Smart’s The 13th of Paris and Miss Clavel in Madeline’s Christmas at the Horizon Theatre Company, where she also apprenticed during 2008-2009.

Amanda had the honor of studying with the Moscow Art Theatre School in the summer of 2009, where she performed Charlotta Ivanovna in selections from The Cherry Orchard, directed by Mikhail Lobanov.

Tom Demenkoff has appeared twice with Hudson Warehouse, as Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Nights Dream and in the title role of Macbeth.  Mr. Demenkoff has also worked as the Assistant Director and Musical Director for Hudson Warehouse’s 2010 production of Cyrano.

A graduate of Ithaca College, Mr. Demenkoff debuted in NYC with the original Broadway productions of both Godspell and Grease and has worked as an actor in over 100 productions regionally as well as in New York and Los Angeles.  Television and film credits include: “General Hospital,” “Law & Order,” “Fantasy Island,” “Eight is Enough,” “Ed,” “100 Centre Street,” and, of course, the Troma cult classic “Surf Nazis Must Die.”  He directed Romeo and Juliet for Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, won regional honors for A Few Good Men, 1776 and Equus; and received three international film festival awards for his documentary “The Children of Izieu,” which aired on PBS. 

Mr. Demenkoff is the Artistic Director of PossibleArts Theatre Project, creating interdisciplinary playwriting and performance workshops for schools, correctional facilities and therapeutic communities.  He also teaches at The Apollo Theater, LaGuardia High School and serves as the Artistic Director for arts programming at Harlem's A. Philip Randolph Campus School.  Mr. Demenkoff helps spearhead the Education and Outreach program of Hudson Warehouse.

Joseph Hamel was born and raised in Detroit and received his BA in English Literature there at Wayne State University.

He first realized his interest in theater after arriving in NYC in August 1999, and began his training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has studied Shakespeare with John Basil of the American Globe Theater, and with Liz Shipman, Alex Roe, Ray Virta and Vicki Hirsch, at the Kings County Shakespeare Company, as an intern, understudy and performer. He has also worked and trained with Fight Director Jared Kirby, who heads The Art of Combat for Stage and Screen.

For the Hudson Warehouse Mr. Hamel has served in many official capacities, and was the Assistant Artistic Director from 2007-2010. He began the Shakespeare in the Bar reading series in 2010, for which he has directed King Lear, and has adapted text for productions of As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Cyrano de Bergerac. Also, for Hudson Warehouse, he has performed the roles of Lenox/Witch in Macbeth, Touchstone in As You Like It, Don Armado in Love's Labour's Lost, Claudius in Hamlet, Alonso in The Tempest, and the title role of Cyrano.

Mr. Hamel has also appeared with several other companies such as Gorilla Rep, for which he played the role of a homeless preacher in FOOL, by Victor Kaufold; Owen Glendower in 1Henry 4 for ShakespeareNYC; and for the York Shakespeare Company he has played the roles of Porter in Macbeth, Northumberland in Richard II, the Duke in Merchant of Venice, and Friar Jacomo in The Jew of Malta. He has also understudied roles for the Pearl Theater Company , in production of Ibsen's The Master Builder and Machiavelli's The Mandrake.

Mr. Hamel recently completed the films "Like Chalk For Cheese," directed by Danae Delbos; "American Sisyphus," directed by Frieda Luk; "The Jew of Malta," directed by Doug Morse; and the role of James Joyce in the film "Left Bank Bookseller," directed by Matt Pourviseh.

Jared Kirby is usually busy as a Fight Director, but also finds time to act, direct, and teach Historical/Classical fencing. Most recently, he was seen on stage as Banquo in Macbeth with the York Shakespeare Company on Theatre Row.  He was directed by Alan Cohen as Hamlet in Hamlet, and Jonathan Harker in Dracula with the New Vic Theatre of London.  Other favorite roles include Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet, MacDuff in MacBeth, George in Same Time, Next Year and Richard in The Lion in Winter.  As a director, memorable work includes a “historically accurate” production of Antigone and an eerie, unique production of the Woman in Black.  As a Fight Director, Mr. Kirby has choreographed numerous shows with Hudson Warehouse over the past several years.  Some of his other work includes Company at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, Macbeth at Theatre Row, A Dating Story for The Learning Channel, and Hamlet with the New Vic Theatre of London. For a full list of Fight Director credits click here.

Mr. Kirby has been involved in Western Martial Arts and Combat for Stage & Screen for over fifteen years.  He has taught a variety of workshops across the US and around the world including Canada, England, Scotland, Finland, and Italy.  He has taught at the Paddy Crean International Art of the Sword Workshop, the International Swordfighting and Martial Arts Convention (ISMAC), Rapier Camp and the Western Washington WMA Workshop.  He is the co-coordinator of the International Swordfighting and Martial Arts Convention in Detroit, MI.  This workshop, created in 2000, brings together the finest instructors from around the world for one of the largest annual Western Martial Arts workshops.  Mr. Kirby coordinates the annual AOC Fight Directing Workshop in New York City. For one intensive week, this workshop brings together participants from all over the US and abroad to train in the skills needed to create extraordinary fights for stage and screen.  Mr. Kirby is now planning Combat Con in Las Vegas June 24-26th, 2011.  This event will bring together the traditional WMA classes with a FanCon to serve as a national platform for Western Martial Arts.  Mr. Kirby is an Instructor of Spanish and Italian Rapier as well as French foil and is currently the fencing instructor at SUNY Purchase and also teaches in New York City.

Mr. Kirby handles Rare Fencing Books as a dealer and collector.  He is the Director of the Historical Fencing Translation Project for the Association for Historical Fencing.  Mr. Kirby is the editor and one of the translators of “Italian Rapier Combat,” the first complete, professional translation of Capo Ferro.  He is also the editor and wrote the introduction for “The School of Fencing,” by Domenico Angelo, annotated by Maestro Jeannette Acosta-Martínez.  For more information, see Martinez Academy of Arms or Amazon.com.  His third book “A Gentleman’s Guide to Dueling: a 16^th century manual for 21st century living” will be available November 2011.

Jesse Michael Mothershed’s debut with the Hudson Warehouse was in the August 2010 production of Romeo & Juliet, where he gave an unforgettable performance as The Prince.  Other recent New York credits include Antonio in The Merchant of Venice and Pilia-Borza in The Jew of Malta, both with York Shakespeare Company.  He also directed Lost Wisdom with the Short Play Lab and operates his own private acting studio offering acting classes and private coaching. 

Prior to his recent theatrical work in New York, Mr. Mothershed split his time between his home in Harlem and Madison, Wisconsin where he was working on his MFA in Acting at UW-Madison, completing his formal training in 2009.  While training in Madison, Mr. Mothershed appeared in the following roles:  Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Steve in A Streetcar Named Desire, Zangler in On the Razzle, Andrei in Three Sisters, and Jafar/Jester in Arabian Nights.  Also while in Madison, he was cast as Talthibius/Priam in The Greeks and as Mr. Kraler in The Diary of Anne Frank with the, sadly now defunct, Madison Repertory Theatre.

A bit of a gypsy, Mr. Mothershed has lived and acted in Arizona, Hawaii and Northern and Southern California.  Among his favorite roles were Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Joe Pitt in Angels in America – Perestroika; Clifford Anderson in Deathtrap; Bud Frump in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying; Doc in Crimes of the Heart; and Hiram Spane/Dr. Toynbee in Bad Habits.

In addition to his MFA, Mr. Mothershed also earned his BFA in Theatre Arts Education from the University of Arizona in 2004.  It was during his time at the U of A, that he also realized his love for teaching and directing theatre.  While in school he co-chaired the Theatre in Our Schools campaign in 2004; served as the co-coordinator for the Southern Arizona Actor Festival in 2004; was a workshop leader for the English Speaking Union’s annual high school Shakespeare Competition for 2003 and 2004; and was a workshop presenter and adjudicator for the Arizona State Thespian Conference in 2003.  He also was the lead teacher for Camp Wildcat in 2004, a two-week long theatre summer camp for middle-school aged children.  During the U of A’s 2004 One Act Play Festival, Mr. Mothershed won an “Alphie” award for Best Director and Best Play for his production of Safe Sex by Harvey Fierstein.

Mr. Mothershed is an actor, director, and educator and helps spearhead the Education and Outreach program of Hudson Warehouse.

Ruth Nightengale is a Midwesterner at heart, despite having lived in NYC since early 1992.  Ms. Nightengale attended Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and received her Masters Degree in Arts Administration in 1994.  During the two-year program, Ms. Nightengale interned at a variety of New York arts organizations including The League of Resident Theatres (LORT), Liz Dunn Production Management, and Manhattan Theatre Club.  She also managed the 75-year-old Goldman Memorial Band in a series of free concerts through the city June-August.

In 1994, Ms. Nightengale joined her husband, director Eric Nightengale, at the 78th Street Theatre Lab and for twelve years produced plays, readings, musicals, showcases, comedy nights, classes, workshops. They labored to make the Lab a creative workspace for a close group of actors, directors, designers, and playwrights, including Hudson Warehouse Producing Artistic Director Nicholas Martin-Smith.  Listing all of the work developed and performed over that time is impossible.  At the Lab, Ruth originated the role of Mrs. Brummett for Arlene Hutton’s See Rock City and Gulf View Drive which were both workshopped at the Lab and presented as part of the 78th Street Theatre Lab’s The Nibroc Trilogy in 2007.  Ms. Nightengale also appeared in other Lab productions including The Packwood Papers, The Frog Prince, Lynette at 3 A.M., as well as creating the role of Betsy in Hutton’s As It Is In Heaven.  She also performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in As It Is In Heaven and The Water Engine.

Recently, Ms. Nightengale has collaborated again with Mr. Martin-Smith and made her debut with the Hudson Warehouse, appearing as Hecuba in their June 2010 production of Trojan Women. 

Besides her tremendous work at the 78th Street Theatre Lab, she has had extensive experience with many New York theaters, including teaching and directing at Stagedoor Manor in upstate New York in 1990 and 1991.  She also worked with Actors Repertory Theatre with whom she performed in A.R. Gurney’s The Perfect Party and helped develop or produce several other shows over a period of three years. 

As Managing Director of the American Jewish Theatre (94-95), Ms. Nightengale helped produce Have You Spoken to Any Jews Lately? by Bruce Jay Friedman (featuring Larry Pine), Hey Buddy by Brian Goluboff, and Shabbatai by Michael Schubert. Upon leaving AJT Ms. Nightengale become the Managing Director of the Saratoga International Theatre Institute (SITI) and had the pleasure of partnering with Artistic Director Anne Bogart and an ensemble of incredibly talented and dedicated theatre artists.  During her tenure with the company, she managed tours to Japan, Dublin, Los Angeles, Louisville, Minneapolis, the Olympic Arts Festival in Atlanta in 1996 and assisted in the development of Going, Going, Gone and Small Lives, Big Dreams.

Ms. Nightengale’s career began in Chicago where she received her BFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University.  While studying for her BFA, Ms. Nightengale got to play one of her favorite roles in literature: Ruth in Blithe Spirit.   Between years at DePaul, she also played such musical theatre gems as Hattie in Kiss Me Kate at Timberlake Playhouse in Illinois and Sally in Cabaret at the New London Barn Playhouse in New Hampshire. Upon graduation, Ms. Nightengale worked with many of the developmental theatre companies in Chicago and performed in Godspell at the Ivanhoe Theatre.  She joined the Children’s Classical Theatre and Trinity Square Theatre where she performed a rotating repertory of shows for kids K-8 and worked as an artist in the Chicago Public School system. It was during this time that she started to expand to grant writing and producing and became the Director of Development for Trinity Square in 1987.

In addition to her successful career in theater, Ms. Nightengale also works in the field of internet marketing.  After six years at Time, Inc., she is presently working at a search engine marketing company as Senior Vice President, Account Services at Reprise Media, an IPG agency.

However, her greatest role is as the proud mom of James and Thomas.

Vince Phillip is a native Texan, born in Brownwood.  As an Army Brat he travelled extensively through his youth and became heavily involved in theatre through the Creative & Performing Arts Branch of the Morale Support Activities Division of the military in Ft Carson, Colorado and the Berlin Brigade in Berlin, Germany.  Upon his graduation from high school in Berlin, he attended The University of Texas at Austin where received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre.

Mr. Phillip then relocated to Dallas, Texas where, along with working freelance in theatre and film, accepted the position of company member and business manager for The Gryphon Players, a classical theatre company.  Mr. Phillip later joined Actors Equity Association doing summer Shakespeare in Fort Worth and then packed up his ’92 Harley-Davidson and moved to New York City. 

Once in New York he accepted the position of company member and business manager for the theatre group TheatreRats, Inc. and held that position for four years.  Mr. Phillip has since done numerous projects in theatre and independent film.  For the Warehouse, Mr. Phillip has appeared as Le Bret in Cyrano and Montague in Romeo and Juliet in their summer 2010 productions.

Roger Dale Stude is a small-town Missouri native who moved to New York City to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.  After graduation, he supported himself by working at the Drama Book Shop and continued his interest in classical theater at the Kings County Shakespeare Company, appearing over the years in their productions of The Beaux Stratagem, As You Like It, The Tempest, The Rover, The Rivals, and Romeo and Juliet.  Roger also worked for the Pearl Theatre as an understudy in their productions of Mirandolina, The Phantom Lady, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.  

He is a founding member of True North Ensemble, and appeared for them as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream and as Scrooge in A Bronx Christmas Carol. Also with True North he served as Assistant Director for their production of The Taming of the Shrew, and directed productions of Chekhov's The Proposal and David Ives' Arabian Nights.  

Mr. Stude’s professional relationship with Nicholas Martin-Smith began at the Objectivist Theatre Company's Production of The Night of January 16th, and he was pleased to continue working with Mr. Martin-Smith as an actor with Hudson Warehouse, having appeared as Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, Marcellus and Voltemand in Hamlet, and Carbon in Cyrano.

Other New York credits include Caesar in Julius Caesar and Bushy in Richard II for A Crew of Patches, Chater in Arcadia, Gaston in Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and Sturman in The Clearing for Phoenix Players; Sorin in The Seagull for STEPS Theatre Company; and Claudius in Hamlet at LaMama.  He also played Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels for an entire summer at the Swedish Marionette Theatre in Central Park, with puppets, but that’s redundant.  Mr. Stude is also a writer and has written short plays, sketches, and poetry.OBERTO DEFELICE

John Yarbrough joins the Hudson Warehouse and Ms. Lee in spearheading the "Writers-a-Go-Go" the contemporary play and screen play reading series. He is an award-winning screenwriter, playwright and journalist. His screenplay Not My Beautiful Wife was a winner of the Writers Guild of America Staged Screenplay Reading Series, and was a Second Round Finalist at the 2010 Austin Film Festival. His work has appeared in the “New York Times,” “Washington Post,” “Los Angeles Times,” and elsewhere, and film critic Roger Ebert has featured his videos on his “Chicago Sun-Times” blog.  He is a member of the Writers Guild of America East.  As a producer at CNN, he was part of news teams that won Peabody and DuPont awards for coverage of Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami disaster in South Asia and the 2008 presidential primaries.  At ABC News, he was a writer for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. He has also worked in Washington as a press secretary to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. A native of Texas, he received his masters from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and a B.A. in English literature from Tulane University