Katori Hall is a playwright and performer hailing from Memphis, Tennessee. Her award-winning play HOODOO LOVE premiered at the Cherry Lane Theatre in 2007. It was developed under Lynn Nottage as part of the theatre’s 2006 Mentor Project. HOODOO LOVE received three AUDELCO nominations (Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, August Wilson Playwright Award). Her other plays include: REMEMBRANCE, HURT VILLAGE, SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY MORNING, THE MOUNTAINTOP, ON THE CHITLIN’ CIRCUIT, and FREEDOM TRAIN (KCACTF ten minute play national finalist). Her work has been developed and presented at the following venues: the American Repertory Theatre, Kennedy Center, Cherry Lane Theatre, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Schomburg Center, BRICLab, Women’s Project, World Financial Center, Lark Play Development Center, New Professional Theatre, The O’Neill, the Juilliard School, Stanford University, and Columbia University. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lecompte du Nouy Prize, North Manhattan Arts Alliance Fellowship, New York State Council on the Arts Commission Grant, New Professional Theatre’s Writers’ Festival award, Fellowship of Southern Writers Bryan Family Award in Drama, New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship in Playwriting and Screenwriting, Royal Court Theatre Residency, and the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award. She has also been a Kennedy Center Playwriting Fellow. As an actor, her credits include “Law & Order: SVU,” THE PRESIDENT’S PUPPETS (The Public), GROWING UP A SLAVE (American Place Theatre), INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL (American Place Theatre), the world premiere of AMERIKA (Theatre de la Jeune Lune/American Repertory Theatre), SPRING AWAKENING (Moscow Art Theatre School), AIN’T SUPPOSED TO DIE A NATURAL DEATH (Classical Theatre of Harlem), SCHOOLED (WOW Café Theatre), and BLACK GIRL (Sande Shurin Theatre). As a journalist, her work has been published in "The Boston Globe," "Essence," "Newsweek," and "The Commercial Appeal." She graduated from Columbia University in 2003 with a major in African-American Studies and Creative Writing. She was awarded top departmental honors from the university’s Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS). In 2005, she graduated from the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University, receiving a Master of Fine Arts in Acting. She is now a student in the Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program. She is a proud member of the Women’s Project Playwrights’ Lab, the Lark Playwrights’ Workshop, and the Dramatists Guild. katorihall.com

Tinashe Kajese-Bolden is an award-winning Director, Actor, and Producer. She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Directing.  Recent directing credits include Toni Stone (co-production between Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Alliance Theatre), The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd and Nick’s Flamingo Grill (World Premieres at the Alliance Theatre), School Girls, Or the African Mean Girls Play (Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre), Ghost (Alliance Theatre), Native Gardens (Virginia Stage Company), Pipeline (Horizon Theater), and Eclipsed (Synchronicity Theatre, Best Director Suzi Bass Award). She has also worked as a director and actor regionally and on and off Broadway.  As the BOLD Associate Artistic Director at Alliance Theatre, Kajese-Bolden stewarded the Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab, cultivating new works for Atlanta-based artists, and oversaw the Spelman Leadership Fellowship, the first mentorship program of its kind partnering a regional theatre with an historically Black college and university to offer paid career opportunities for students interested in arts leadership positions.

Rob Demery is excited to join the cast of The Mountaintop at the Alliance Theatre! He was a cast member of the Tony Award Winning revivals, A Soldier’s Play (2020) and Topdog/Underdog (2023) on Broadway. Rob played Dr. King in the Emmy nominated movie, MAHALIA!. Demery is also one of the faces for the 2024 Ford F-150 truck. Regional Theater: Good Faith (World Premiere, Yale Rep), Too Heavy For Your Pocket (World Premiere, Alliance), Fetch Clay, Make Man, Holler If Ya Hear Me, Cardboard Piano, SARAFINA, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Lombardi, To Kill A Mockingbird, A Christmas Carol, Othello. Film/TV: Law & Order: Organized Crime, 4400, Devil's Knot, Get On Up, Underground, The Gifted, The Resident, Lovecraft Country. Rob is the Founder/Artistic Director of Red Light Arts. Mr. Demery has several upcoming projects. Rob would love to thank his family, Amber, Leah and Kobe for their unwavering support. Find out more at robdemery.com. @robdemery 

Jade Payton is delighted to make her Alliance Theatre debut in The Mountaintop! Previous work: Covenant at Roundabout Theatre Company and Glamorous on Netflix. A Las Vegas suburbanite with a flare for the dramatic currently living the dream. Thank you all for your support! 

Jadé Davis [she/her] is thrilled to join the cast of The Mountaintop at the Alliance Theatre! She moved to Atlanta last year and made her debut as Luanne in Rooted at The Horizon Theater. Her favorite tv and theatre credits include: Destiny on SVU: Law & Order, Marissa on Dr. Death, and Assata Shakur in Black Panther Women at the Dorothy Streslin Theatre. She is super grateful for the unwavering support of friends and family.   

Myles Wright is thrilled to be returning to the Alliance Theatre! An actor, poet, and teaching artist from Atlanta, GA by way of Georgetown, SC who obtained a degree in Film & Television Performance/Production from The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts in 2018. Recent understudy credits: Hands Up (Alliance Theatre) and Ghost (Alliance Theatre). Other recent theatre credits: Detroit ‘67 (Marietta Theatre in the Square), Freedom Flight (Mad River TheatreWorks), Black Bullet Dichotomy (BlackLight Community), Preacherman (Trailblazers Collective), Titus Andronicus (Rogue Ensemble), Macbeth (Adirondack Arts), The S*** Show (No Peeking Theatre), and We Have Standards (No Peeking Theatre). Myles also self-published two poetry books in 2020 and 2023 and is grateful for this beautiful opportunity to share meaningful work, and for the continued support from his family & friends! He dedicates this and all other appearances to his grandma, Bessie Lee. @whereismyleswright

Melanie Chen Cole (she/her) is a San Diego based sound designer. She is thrilled to return to the Alliance Theatre after designing Everybody. Other regional theatre credits include work at Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Geffen Playhouse, Goodman Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Indiana Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, Northern Stage, The Old Globe, PlayMakers Rep, South Coast Rep, Studio Theatre, and Utah Shakespeare Festival. She holds a MFA in Theatre and Dance from UC San Diego. For more, check out melaniesound.com and @melaniechencole. 

Tony Cisek has designed the Alliance productions of Toni Stone, Hospice/Pointing at the Moon, Disgraced, and the premiere of Edward Foote. Other recent designs include the premieres of Rubicon (Denver Center Theatre Company), Tempestuous Elements (Arena Stage), and Show Way (The Kennedy Center), Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (Signature Theatre), Blue (New Orleans Opera), Ink (Round House Theatre), The Color Purple (Denver Center and Signature Theatre), Thurgood (People’s Light), Choir Boy (Denver Center and ACT Seattle), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Folger Theatre at the National Building Museum). Tony’s work has also been seen at Roundabout Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, Goodman Theatre, South Coast Rep, Portland Center Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, Ford’s Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Baltimore Center Stage, Indiana Rep, Syracuse Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, Cleveland Play House, Pioneer Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and Studio Theatre. He has received numerous awards and citations for outstanding design, taught or mentored young designers at multiple universities, is a member of United Scenic Artists, and holds an MFA in Design from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. tonycisek.com 

Jody Feldman began her theater career as an actress in Atlanta before moving into administration as the Assistant General Manager at Frank Wittow’s Academy Theatre. It was at the Academy that Jody realized the importance of theatre to a city’s cultural values and personality. Feldman started her career at the Alliance as Casting Director in 1991, and added Producer to her title and responsibilities in 2001. She has cast and produced more than 200 productions at the Alliance, encompassing a range of world premieres that includes The Last Night of Ballyhoo by Alfred Uhry, What I Learned in Paris by Pearl Cleage, Broke and Troubadour by Janece Shaffer, In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney and more than 10 years of Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition-winning plays plus such world and regional premiere musicals as Tuck Everlasting; Aida; The Color Purple; Sister Act: The Musical; Bring It On: The Musical; Ghost Brothers of Darkland County; Harmony, A New Musical and The Prom. Jody is most proud of the thriving Alliance engagement activities and partnerships that recognize theatrical work as a catalyst for community conversation and connection.

Skylar Fox is an Obie Award-winning director, writer, and designer based in Brooklyn, NY. He is the co-artistic director of Nightdrive, where he has directed, designed, and co-written The Grown-Ups (Time Out New York's Top 10 NYC Theatre Productions of the Year), Alien Nation, Providence, RI, Thank You Sorry, and Apathy Boy. Other directing includes the world premiere of Pussy Sludge (Here Arts Center), and the Boston premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play (IRNE Award Nomination). In his other life, he designs and stages magic for theatre. Broadway: Once Upon A Mattress, Fat Ham; associate designer for Harry Potter & the Cursed Child, Back to the Future, and A Beautiful Noise. Off-Broadway/International: The Preacher's Wife (Alliance), Cats: The Jellicle Ball (PAC), Boop! (Broadway in Chicago), The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre, Almeida), You Will Get Sick (Roundabout Theatre Company), Wicked, Matilda (Atelier de Cultura, São Paulo) Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (London Grand, Ontario) and Damn Yankees (Shaw Festival). skylarfox.com & nightdrive.org 

Kara Harmon is delighted to return to the Alliance. Previous Alliance credits include: Darlin’ Cory, Angry, Raucous & Shamelessly Gorgeous, Toni Stone, Ethel! and God of Carnage. Off-Broadway: Watch Night, Perelman PAC; Cullud Wattah, Public Theater; The Niceties, Manhattan Theatre Club; Dot, Vineyard Theatre. Select Regional credits include: The Penelopiad, Goodman Theater; The Three Musketeers, OSF; 42nd Street, Goodspeed Musicals (CT Critics Circle Outstanding Costume Design Award); Choir Boy, Steppenwolf; Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Children’s Theatre Company; Cosi Fan Tutte, Arizona Opera; Hometown to the World, Santa Fe Opera; Shutter Sisters, Old Globe;  Guys & Dolls, Guthrie Theater; Toni Stone, Milwaukee Rep; The Color Purple, Portland Center Stage; The Wiz!, Ford’s Theatre (Helen Hayes Award); Nina Simone: Four Women, Arena Stage;  The Purists, Huntington Theatre; Barbecue, Geffen Playhouse (NAACP Award).  Assistant Costume Design TV: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” Season 2, Amazon; “Daredevil,” Season 2, Netflix; “Boardwalk Empire,” Season 5, HBO. KaraHarmonDesign.com 

Ben Rawson is an Atlanta-based Lighting Designer for Theatre, Opera, and Dance, member USA 829. Regional Theatrical/Opera design work can be seen at The Alliance Theatre, Utah Opera, Florida Studio Theatre, Glimmerglass Opera, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Detroit Opera, Atlanta Opera, Center Repertory Company, Theatrical Outfit, Aurora Theatre, Actors Express, and others. Dance design work includes collaborations with choreographers Johan Kabborg, Ana Maria Lucaciu, Troy Schumacher, Claudia Schreier, Jennifer Archibald, Garrett Smith, Remi Wörtmeyer, Bruce Wells, Kiyon Ross, Danielle Agami, Omar Roman De Jesus, Tara Lee, and Heath Gill as well as with Atlanta Ballet, BalletCollective, Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre, 92NY, BocaTuya, Riverside Dance Festival, Fly On A Wall, and others. benrawsondesign.com  

Miko Simmons // Blurring the lines between art and technology, theater and cinema, music and visuals, media and medium, Miko is an international award-winning Multimedia Artist & Projection Designer who has been innovating in the convergence of Film/Animation and Theatrical Production for more than 20 years. Theater Productions include: The Boy Who Kissed The Sky (Alliance Theatre), The Jonah People (Nashville Symphony Opera), Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein (Indiana Rep Theater), Fannie Lou Hamer (Theatre Works Palo Alto), The Boy Who Kissed The Sky, The Watsons go to Birmingham 1963 (Seattle Children’s Theater), Murder on the Orient Express, Valor, Macondo, Caviar on Credit, Postcards from Earth, Confluence, Bring Love to my Doorstep (Guthrie Theater), Blended Harmony’s, Kung Fu Zombies Saga, Fast Company (Theatre Mu), Wine in the Wilderness, Sugar in Our Wounds, Ashe Lab (Penumbra Theatre), Gloria, Dirty Business (The Mn History Theatre), Crowns (New Dawn Theatre), Ghost Musical, Jack & Beanstalk (Old Log Theatre), Snow Queen (Park Square Theater), House of the Spirits (Mixed Blood Theater), Art is a Verb, Salome, MotherKing Opera (Minnesota Opera), TU Dance, Threads Dance; Uncertain Realties. Earth, Wind, and Fire International tour. MLK Sculpture Inauguration Ceremony on National Mall in D.C. EMK Korea; Rock Opera Musicals: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Mn Ordway Theater). In Korea; Count of Monte Cristo, Wizard of Oz, Elisabeth Musical, Rudolf Musical. 

R. Lamar Williams is an Atlanta native who studied theatre at Florida A&M University’s Essential Theatre. His 23-year tenure at the Alliance has included stage managing The Boy Who Kissed the Sky, Hands Up; Hospice/ Pointing at the Moon, The Temple Bombing, Choir Boy, In Love and Warcraft, Bike America, The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, 22 years of The Palefsky Collision Project and assistant stage managing a slew of great shows. Rodney is opening a new frontier in his career with new Dramaturgy and Directing opportunities.