Duotang Chesterfield's Mystery Theatre LIVE! Cast & Creative Team
Tickets on sale now!
Josef Beeby
Writer, segments "Handsome Jack," "Going Once, Going Twice, Murder!" and "Momma's Boy"
Performer (Handsome Jack in "Handsome Jack", Wesley Wellington in "Going Once, Going Twice, Murder!", various)
Producer & Co-Founder of Duotang Chesterfield's Mystery Theatre
Josef attended Ryerson University's Film Program and received the Universal Studios Canada Scholarship in filmmaking. He has been working in documentary since graduating, on shows such as 'Museum Secrets' for History television and movies like 'Tales From The Organ Trade' which premiered on HBO . 'I Thought I Told You To Shut Up', a short documentary he co-wrote and co-edited, had its Canadian premiere in the 2015 HotDocs film festival. Most recently he has co-founded the production company Squid Pro Quo and is producing/directing its flagship documentary on the Regent Park School of Music in Toronto.
Josef is one of the founding members of Duotang Chesterfield's Mystery Theatre. When sunk too deep into the world of documentary it becomes a lifeline to the world of fiction. Writing mysteries is therapeutic - questions tend to have answers.
Nicole Byblow
Accompanist & Performer
Nicole is a graduate of the Berklee affiliate Selkirk College Contemporary Music and Technology program in Nelson, British Columbia and is a recipient of the prestigious Fred Sherratt Award (MusiCounts/CARAS). She works in Toronto as a commercial singer and pianist. Among her career highlights Nicole counts performing at the Juno Awards Industry Gala, recording and performing with Juno award winner Buck 65, and making her debut as musical director for Emerald City at last year's Toronto Fringe Festival.
Zara Jestadt
Performer (Elsa in "Handsome Jack", Countess in "Murder at Massacre Pines", various)
Zara is extremely excited to be working with the team of Duotang Chesterfield’s Mystery Theatre LIVE! Born and raised in Toronto, she holds a BA from McGill University. She recently finished her 2nd year at George Brown Theatre School, where she had the opportunity to play some of her favourite roles, including: Theresa in Crackwalker, Ursuala in Bartholomew Fair, and Lady in Orpheus Descending. Other credits include: The Referee in Never Swim Alone (2014 Toronto Fringe), Joanne in Company (Players’ Theatre), and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (McGill Arts Undergraduate Theatre Society).
Marika Lapointe
Performer (Myrna Sinclair in "Handsome Jack" and "The Missing Martyr", Celia in "Post Hoc, Ergo Murder Hoc", various)
Marika is a francophone. Despite this, her English is very good and she can sight read any script, any day, in all meteorological conditions (though that skill is rarely put to the test). She is a proud member of the Duotang Chesterfield Mystery Theatre team and is happy everyone will get to see the silly faces she makes when recording the podcast. Marika is a classically trained actor, a veteran improviser and one half of the epic musical duo Whisky Trash. She also loves the Fast and Furious franchise.
Justin Miller
Performer (Max Mileaminute in "Going Once, Going Twice, Murder!", Tom in "Momma's Boy", various)
Justin is an award-winning playwright, actor, voice-over artist and drag-performer. His solo tragicomedies as Pearle Harbour – all American world wartime gal and superstar stewardess of the airforce – have played to packed audiences at Videofag. Pearle can next be seen starring in Pearlescent!, part of Theatre Passe Muraille’s 2015-16 After-Hours programme. As a longtime listener to The Goon Show, he is thrilled to be making his debut with fine folks at Duotang Chesterfield, and is dressed to impress.
Selected stage: David in BIRTH (Campbell House), Jon in The Misunderstanding (Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse), Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Drama Centre), Eisenring in FIREraisers (red light district theatre).
Polly Phokeev
Writer, segment "The Missing Martyr"
Polly graduated from the University of Toronto Honours Bachelor of Arts with high distinction, specializing in drama, and works primarily as an actor, writer, dramaturg, and devisor. She has studied clowning with John Turner at the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance, and is a certified Intermediate Actor Combatant with Fight Directors Canada. This August, you can see her new play Seams on-stage at Summerworks.
Rebecca Russell
Performer (Laurie O'Leary in "Handsome Jack", Carol Sullivan in "Momma's Boy", various)
Rebecca is a performer and arts administrator based in Toronto. Originally from Newfoundland, Rebecca’s multifaceted work in the performing arts has taken her around the world. Selected performing credits include La belle Hélène (Glenn Gould School); The Threepenny Opera (Essential Opera); The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia); Fear of Flight (Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland) and Helen in The Cripple of Inishmann (Theatre Newfoundland Labrador). Through her work with the Actors’ Fund of Canada, Rebecca recently produced the benefit Don’t Stop Believin’. Rebecca holds a BA combined Honours Music and Theatre from Dalhousie University and a post-graduate certificate Communications from Centennial College. Rebecca is excited to perform in Duotang Chesterfield's Mystery Theatre LIVE! Love to her family, friends and Keith.
Grace Smith
Writer, segments "The Case of the Plundered Prize-Winning Paper", "Mystery Through the Upstairs Window", and Intros/Outros
Performer (Sue and Sally Oregon in "The Case of the Plundered Prize-Winning Paper" and "Mystery Through the Upstairs Window", Anna in "Murder at Massacre Pines, various)
Producer & Co-Founder of Duotang Chesterfield's Mystery Theatre
Grace is a Halifax-born, Toronto-based playwright, director and dramaturg. She is currently working on her PhD at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, and is the Artistic Director of Theatre Double Take. Grace is super into writing inquisitive adaptations of literary classics, including: Madeleine Robin Known As Roxane (sort-of sequel to Cyrano de Bergerac), My Last – (an interactive one-woman show based on Browning’s “My Last Duchess”), and Troilus & Criseyde/Cressida (winner of the 2012 Hart House Players play contest ).
Selected Credits: Director for The Land of Promise (Theatre Double Take), Il segreto di Susanna (Opera Five); Assistant Director for This is For You, Anna, Twelfth Night and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Hart House Theatre).
Leete Stetson
Writer, segments "Murder at Massacre Pines", "Post Hoc, Ergo Murder Hoc", all songs
Performer (The Narrator, C.H. Arles in "Murder at Massacre Pines"and "Post Hoc, Ergo Murder Hoc", various)
Producer & Co-Founder of Duotang Chesterfield's Mystery Theatre
Leete is an alum of the Victoria Conservatory of Music and Dalhousie University. Between his work as the enigmatic Narrator of Duotang Chesterfield’s Mystery Theatre and his recent lauded turns as charming murders (Brandon Wyndham in Rope, Tony Wendice in Dial M For Murder), Stetson is making a name for himself as a thoroughly “sinister” performer (Mooney on Theatre). Leete is also the General Manager of Theatre Double Take. In his spare time, he sells you coffee. Selected Acting Credits: The Land of Promise (Theatre Double Take); Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Hart House Theatre); Hay Fever (Alumnae Theatre); and Songs for a New World (Charcoal Sketch Productions).
Aria Umezawa
Director
Aria is the Artistic Director of Toronto-based independent opera company, Opera 5, and the creator, director, and writer of the increasingly popular webseries Opera Cheats. Her staging of Poulenc’s La voix humaine took home the Capital City Critics Circle Critic’s Choice Award at the 2013 Ottawa Fringe Festival. She recently directed Tenors, Trumpets, and La Traviata – an educational outreach co-production with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Opera 5, Pygmalion for Opera McGill (Montreal, QC), as well as The Barber of Cowtown with Cowtown Opera (Calgary, AB). As a lover of new and obscure operas, Aria has directed the Canadian premier of several works including Milton Granger’s Talk Opera, Darren Russo’s Storybook (Opera 5), and the North American premier of Cavalli’s Artemisia (Helios Opera, Boston). She has been praised for her irreverent, post-modern, wondrous and quirky visual style by online and print publications such as The Boston Globe, The Boston Pheonix, and Toronto’s Barcza Blog; her work has been featured in Metro News, Jezebel, and The Huffington Post, as well as on the social media pages of opera companies across North America.