2021 Cohort
Rebecca Bailey
About Rebecca
Rebecca (all in the right time; Perpetual) is a public relations and musical theatre double major, and is so happy to be part of this year’s Capstone! Although she is not graduating just yet due to spending a year working for Disney Parks Live Entertainment, being able to create theatre with her class has been a large light in an otherwise dim time. At AU, Rebecca has performed in Pippin (dancer) and How to Succeed… (dance captain), stage managed Overture 200222020, and is currently stage managing Too Much Unhappy. She would like to thank the entire DPA faculty and her friends and family for setting her up for a happy and fulfilled future.
Caleigh Davis
About Caleigh
Caleigh is a Musical Theatre major and Business Administration minor. Previous roles include Officer/ASM in Miss You Like Hell, Mary Warren in The Crucible, Ensemble in Blood Wedding, Ensemble in Overture 2017 (AU DPA) Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (Rude Mechanicals), April in Company, Stylist in Capes: A Musical Cabaret (AU Players), and Ophelia in Hamlet (BADA). For my fellow seniors, to quote Oscar Wilde, “To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”
For the Capstone, Caleigh Davis conceived and produced Can You Hear Their Voices and appeared in The Dinner Party Murder.
Edmée Marie Faal
About Edmée
Edmée Marie Faal (A Living Newspaper Project; The Dinner Party Murder) is a theatre performance major and a literature and religious studies minor. Her previous roles at AU include Mary (The Women), Vanessa (Significant Other), #00 (The Wolves), Tituba (The Crucible), Alan (God of Carnage), and Hamlet (Hamlet). She’ll also be playing Kay in the upcoming production of The Pliant Girls. To my DPA family, there’ll never be enough words to express what these past four years have meant to me. And to the company of Capstone, though this isn’t the ending we anticipated I’m proud of what we’ve created. In my language, wolof Jarama means well done, Jarama!
Julia Mann
About Julia
Julia Mann (Theatre and Music as Protest in the 20th Century; The Magic Wonk Bus; The Dinner Party Murder; all in the right time; A Living Newspaper Project) is a musical theatre major from Collegeville, PA. Previous credits include: The Women (Jane), The Birds (Bird Chorus), The Government Inspector (Assistant Director, Swing), and Overture (Ensemble) at AU, as well as Peer Gynt (Narrator) at the British American Drama Academy. She would like to thank her peers and professors for a wonderful four years at AU.
Molly Moore
About Molly
Molly Moore (Perpetual; all in the right time; A Living Newspaper Project) was born and raised in the NEK of the 802, soon-to-be graduate with a double major in musical theatre and PR. Credits include The Wolves (#46), The Women (Sylvia), and Too Much Unhappy (Ella). Special thanks to Cat, Daniel, Edmeé, Julia, Rebecca, Sophia, and Sultana, who invited an awkward, backwoods human into their lives and gave me a place to call home away from home. Grateful always for mom, dad, Eli, Macy, Willoughby, and Zane. “The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat fruit.”
Sultana Qureshi
About Sultana
Sultana Qureshi (A Living Newspaper Project; Perpetual; all in the right time) is a senior theatre performance and communication studies double major. Their previous roles at AU include Vic (Shared Space), Therapist (The Boy Detective Fails), Judge Hathorne (The Crucible), Mother-in-Law (Blood Wedding), Harry (Company), and Guildenstern (Hamlet). Love always and forever to Mom, Bianca, Edmée, Ben, Cat, Jorge, Patrick, Katey, and Daniel. What a four years it’s been.
Trevor Roberts
About Trevor
Trevor Roberts (Inside the Monolith) is a theater arts major with a marketing minor. He is graduating in Fall 2020 after way too many years in school. While this is technically his first production at American University, Trevor has been a member of the comedy community in the DMV for the past couple of years, performing multiple shows a week (pre-pandemic). Trevor has also appeared in many local short films, some of which have done well in festivals. He also produces his own content through his co-owned production company, Falling Squares. After recently partnering with a studio, Trevor is excited for what is to come after graduation.
Nikki Scamuffo
About Nikki
Nikki Scamuffo (all in the right time; The Magic Wonk Bus) is a musical theatre major with minors in business & entertainment and entrepreneurship at American University. At AU, she’s played Lucy in The Women, Grusha in The Government Inspector, and Emma Goldman in Assassins. Outside of AU, her favorite roles have been Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Velma Kelly in Chicago, and Rosemary Pilkington in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. She hopes to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, primarily in performance, production, and administration. Nikki thanks all of her friends, family, and teachers that have inspired her and brought her so much joy and strength.
Emily Brolin
About Emily
Emily Brolin (Can You Hear Their Voices; The Magic Wonk Bus) is a Musical Theatre major with a Business and Entertainment minor, and can’t explain how happy she is to be a part of this Capstone with her classmates. As a senior graduating in the spring, she is excited to be closing her last fall semester with the peers she started with. AU has been such a joyous and amazing experience. At AU, Emily has been in Government Inspector and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, has also participated in student theatre, and is beyond excited to be Assistant Directing Too Much Unhappy this spring. She is beyond thankful for the faculty and students at AU, she wouldn’t be as confident and happy without them.
Haleigh Diaz
About Haleigh
Haleigh Diaz (A Living Newspaper Project: When a Crisis Hits Home; The Magic Wonk Bus) is a psychology major and criminal justice and theatre double minor from Los Angeles, CA. Her previous credits at AU include: Carrie: the Musical (Assistant Stage Manager), AU Players’ Steel Magnolias (Stage Manager), AU Rude Mechanicals’ God of Carnage (Veronica), AU Players’ Raining Season (Stage Manager), Overture 2017 (Ensemble), and is excited to be seen this spring in The Pliant Girls (Courtney). Special thanks to all of the DPA faculty, to my best friend Ryann and the production that brought us into each others’ lives, and my family for their support throughout my time at AU.
Daniella Ignacio
About Daniella
Daniella Ignacio(Living Newspaper: Director/Writer; Cradle Will Rock: Music Director/Soloist; Magic Wonk Bus: Arnie/Mr. Starnes/Mr. Dempsey) is a senior musical theatre and journalism major from Roseland, NJ. DPA: Miss You Like Hell (Assistant Music Director), The Boy Detective Fails (Ensemble), Shared Space (Khe Sanh Katie), The Government Inspector (Stage Manager), Othello (Ensemble), Overture 2017 (Ensemble). Regional: Jingle In July Play Festival at Adventure Theatre MTC, Soul Redeemer at Capital Fringe, Airquote “Ladylike” Vol. 2 at Kennedy Center Page to Stage Festival. When not performing, Daniella is also a freelance journalist. Special thanks to the DMV. Visit Daniella's personal website.
Val McFatter
About Val
Valarie McFatter (A Flair for Murder, Dinner Party Murder, Gus and Sadie Love Song, Nickle Under Your Foot, Magic Wonk Bus) is a senior business & entertainment and theater arts dual degree major from Houston, Texas. Previous credits include To Be or Not To Be (Stage Manager), A Doll’s House (Director), How to Succeed… (Stage Manager), Knights of Salisbury (Stage Manager), and Hamletmachine (Opera Ophelia). You can see Valarie in Spring 2021 as Stage Manager for Pliant Girls. She wants to thank the Rude Mechanicals, the Cage, and the Katzen Chairs for all the memories.
Layla Nabavi
About Layla
Layla Nabavi (The Magic Wonk Bus; The Dinner Party Murder; all in the right time) is a senior musical theatre major and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies minor from Lahaina, Hawaii. Her credits at American University include Carrie: The Musical (Ensemble) and Overture: 2017. She will be cast as Dev in Aaron Posner’s upcoming original work Too Much Unhappy. She hopes to pursue her performing career in DC and see what kind of adventures follow. Layla would like to thank her parents for supporting her artistic endeavors, the DPA faculty, and the people who made Capstone possible during this challenging time.
Deanna Reimertz
About Deanna
Wow, senior year. Who would have thought it would have ended this way, online in my childhood bedroom. Nevertheless, here we are and we are thriving. I have been in a few mainstage shows here at AU, including How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and The Women, but this show was much different (Perpetual; The Dinner Party Murder; all in the right time). Working with all of these amazing artists has been a highlight of my theater career at American University, and I wouldn’t ask for another group to share this experience with. Thank you to Nathan and Jess for an amazing semester!
Maggie Rocha
About Maggie
Maggie Rocha (A Flair For Murder, The Dinner Party Murder, Arts and Pandemic, The Magic Wonk Bus, Nickel Under Your Foot) is a senior communication studies and theatre arts double major from Dedham, MA. Previous credits include The Women (Ensemble), The Birds (Stage Manager), A Doll’s House (Nora Helmer), and Shared Space (Lisa Singer). Dedicated to The AU Rude Mechanicals, The Katzen Chairs, and The Grid.
Ayla Taffel
About Ayla
Ayla (Can You Hear Their Voices; all in the right time) has tentatively embraced the opportunity to explore costume design for film in this Capstone process. HUGE hugs of gratitude to collaborators, friends, and loves who have carried Ayla through this year.