Jack Heller (Director) most recently directed A Streetcar Named Desire at the Odyssey in a production Cultural weekly called “exceptional.”. He was artistic director of the Laurelgrove Theatre Company, which received four Ovation nominations in its first three seasons. He has directed over 60 productions in the U.S. and Canada. As an actor, he appeared on Broadway in One by One and LUV, as well as in the national company of LUV. He appeared in Henry Jaglom’s Queen of the Lot and also in Jaglom’s long-running play, Just 45 Minutes from Broadway, and starred in two long-running shows in Los Angeles: Nuts and Tamara, touring Italy with the latter. He has directed and acted in numerous “Critic’s Choice” and “Critic’s Pick” theater productions as well as in in numerous television episodes. Jack studied at NYU and with Harold Clurman and Robert Lewis of the Group Theatre. He has taught at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and is a lifetime member of the Actors Studio in the directing and acting units.
Shelly Kurtz (The Match Seller) is happy to reunite with Henry and Susan following previous productions of The Great Sebastians, Caesar and Cleopatra, and Twentieth Century. Shelly began his acting career in New York and, after working there for ten years, came to California. He has acted in over 150 stage plays some of which include Walking th Tightrope, written by Mike Kenny and directed by Debbie Divine for the 24th Street Theater; Don’t Forget to Remember, written by Patricia Parker and directed by Kiff Scholl; The Exercise, written by Lou Carlino and directed by Alex Bruhanski; and Broadway Bound, written by Neil Simon and directed by Howard Teichman for the West Coast Jewish Theater. Some of Shelly’s 40 or so films are The Impossible Joy (short),I Look Out for Ed Wole (short), Bartime (short), The Darkling (TV feature), A Dark Foe (feature), Adopted in Danger (feature), Dating Daisy (feature), Miriam (feature), Batteries Not Included (feature), and Top Dogs (short). He has co-starred and guest starred on television in Hill Street Blues, Hunter, American Family, Dallas, Knots Landing, The Oldest Rookie, The Goldbergs and Better Things. His festival film winning films are The Last Day (Buffalo Film Festival), Jumping for Joy (Newport Beach Film Festival), The Lepidoctor (Hamptons International Film Festival), Hedgehog (Best Actor, Lady Filmmakers Festival 2023) and Forgive Me, Father (Best actor Phoenix Film Festival 2023). Shelly will soon be seen in Disco Inferno, a Netflix short film; High Desert, a new series on Apple TV; and How To Be A Bookie, a new series on MAX.
Susan Priver (Flora) previously starred at the Odyssey as Blanche DuBois in Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire and as down-on-her-luck showgirl, Myrtle, in Williams’ Kingdom of Earth. More recent forays in the theater include Neil Simon’s London Suite, The Man who Came to Dinner and The Games Afoot, all at Group Rep. Other theater credits: Terrance Rattigan’s Separate Tables, directed by Jules Aaron, and Engaging Shaw, directed by Melanie McQueen, at Theatre 40; Ferenc Molnar’s The Guardsman, directed by Lillian Groag; Diary of Anne Frank; Harold Pinter’s The Lover (LA Weekly Best One-Act); and Pinter’s A Slight Ache, directed by Carol Reis. At the Lillian Theatre: The Great Sebastians, directed by Anthony Caldarella, George Bernard Shaw’s Ceasar and Cleopatra, Idiot’s Delight, and Twentieth Century, directed by Rick Sparks. Also, John Patrick Shanley’s Four Dogs and a Bone, & Savage In Limbo, Edward Albee’s American Dream, David Mamet’s two-character, Reunion (Drama Logue award, performance), Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love, William Inge’s People in the Wind, & Incident at the Standish Arms, Sidney Kingsely’s Detective Story (Drama Logue Award, Best Revival, Best Ensemble), God of Vengence, and Bertolt Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, amongst others. TV and Film: Guest starred on HBO’s Lucky Louie, and Fox’s Space: Above and Beyond. Susan starred in the psychological thriller, Serving Up Richard AKA, The Guest Room, with Jude Ciccolella of 24 and Ross McCall of White Collar, written and directed by Henry Olek. She wrote and starred in the LGBT festival favorite, What’s Up, Scarlet? with Sally Kirkland, Jere Burns and Musetta Vander. Other indies include leads in, My Brother Jack and Mafioso, and the shorts, Good, and Miss Dixie High. Susan recently played the lead in Sisterhood of Secrets for Lifetime, and starred in indie films Dead Mail (with theater favorite John Fleck), Dog Fugitive and Scalper (with Jake Busey and Bai Ling); Scalper is the follow up to the indie hit thriller Night Caller, which has won numerous festival awards, including a best actress award for Susan, and is available on most platforms. Susan began her career as a ballet dancer and trained under George Balanchine at School of American Ballet in New York City. Her professional career in dance included Eglevsky Ballet in New York City, the Hannover Ballet in Germany and, finally, the Cleveland Ballet, all of which she toured with extensively. Her book “Dancer Interrupted” is available on Amazon. www.susanpriver.com.
Henry Olek (Edward)’s early acting highlights were playing opposite Paul Winfield in Othello and in the lead role in Rhinoceros at UCLA professional series with Eugene Ionesco participating in residence. More recent theater leads: John Patrick Shanley’s Four Dogs and A Bone; the LA Weekly award-winning The Lover and the Collection by Harold Pinter; Idiot’s Delight; GW Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra; Twentieth Century; The Great Sabastians; and the unanimously acclaimed A Slight Ache by Pinter. Henry has guest starred in over 30 classic TV series “McCloud”, “S.W.A.T”, “Gunsmoke”, etc. and numerous major films like Neil Simon’s “Only When I Laugh”, Jack Lemon’s directed “Kotch”, with Walter Matthau, “Rollercoaster” with George Segal, and “Meteor” with Sean Connery. Henry’s writing career began with his first feature “A Different Story” with Perry King, followed by the comedy “Tulips” with Bernadette Peters and Gabe Kaplan; “All of Me” starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, and Dana Carvey’s starrer “Opportunity Knocks” As writer-producer at Warner Bros and Universal, Henry developed “Scene of the Crime”, a primetime NBC mystery series starring Orson Welles; “Spraggue,” an ABC TV movie/pilot with James Cromwell; “Ladies on Sweet Street” starring Doris Roberts and“Devil’s Food,” a Lifetime film with Dabney Coleman. In 2012 Henry made his film directorial debut with “Serving Up Richard”, a cannibal tale being distributed worldwide by Screen Media. Visit the website: ServingUpRichard.com.