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| Theater Arts Faculty Directory
Design and Technology
Office: Walters 234 | Phone:
Edward Coco Photoshop Edward Coco holds an MFA in Scenography (Scenic and Lighting emphasis) from Arizona State University. He has worked across the country in numerous major regional theatres over the last 15 years, including Hartford Stage, the Guthrie Theatre, Yale Rep, Seattle Rep, and the American Repertory Theatre. Edward has contributed to a number of Broadway and Off Broadway productions; for companies such as Signature Theatre, Playwrights Horizons and New York Theatre Workshop, and including the Broadway productions of Assassins and Laugh Whore. He was the Associate Scenic Designer for the Tony Award winning Spring Awakening, and is presently preparing for national and international tours. Currently Edward is a Senior Designer for MTV Networks in New York where he has designed productions for channels such as Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2, CMT, Nickelodeon, VH1, and others. He has taught at Arizona State University, Stephens College, and Princeton University and he is a member of United Scenic Artists local 829.
Allen CutlerProperties supervisor Allen Cutler has been Prop Master and Prop Designer at The Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge, MA, George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ, San Diego Repertory Theatre and Hartford Stage Company, Hartford, CT. He is Artist in Residence at MadShag Performance Group, in NY, where he has designed Fall of the House of Usher at the Independent Theatre, Bertoldt Brech’s Edward II at the Bank Street Theatre in New York and Angels in America – Millenium Approaches in Baltimore. Allen also designed and built props and puppets for Varla Jean Merman’s Girl With a Pearl Necklace, I’m Not Paying For This, Varla Jean Is Anatomically Incorrect, Varla Jean Loves A Foreign Tongue, and Varla’s Victory Lapdance as well as the scenery for Varla Jean and the Mushroom Heads. He designed the setting for Shut Up, Sweet Charlotte, directed by Jeffrey Roberson at Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans. This design was nominated for a Big Easy Award in 2007. Most recently, he designed the premier of Charles Borkhuis’ Present Tense for the Tiny Theatre Festival at the Brick, N.Y. directed by Gabriel Shanks and Not Her and Other Exiles at the new Dixon Place, N.Y. also directed by Gabriel Shanks. He is currently working with Gabriel in the development of an as yet unnamed re-telling of the Gilgamesh tale for sometime in the near future. His artwork is in many private collections throughout the United States.
F. Mitchell DanaLighting design F. Mitchell Dana has lit over 500 professional productions in his career in addition to working as technical director, head prop man on Broadway and on tour, stage manager on and off-Broadway, and production manager. He received his M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama. His many Broadway credits include: The Suicide, Freedom of the City, Mass Appeal, Monday After the Miracle, Once in a Lifetime, Man and Superman, The Inspector General, and Oh Coward. Mr. Dana's opera credits include La Rondine for the New York City Opera; Turandot for the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, and The Magic Flute and The Merry Widow for the Cleveland Symphony; seven operas for The Los Angeles Opera Company and ten seasons with the Opera Festival of New Jersey. He is on the Executive Board of United Scenic Artists, Local 829; a member of the stagehands union I.A.T.S.E.; and is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the Theater, Who's Who in the East, Who's Who in Entertainment, Men of Distinction, and the American Biographical Institute.
Vickie EspositoAssociate Head Of Design Program/ Costume Design Philadelphia credits include: Romeo & Juliet (2000), The Taming of the Shrew (2000), Hamlet (1999), Much Ado About Nothing (1999) and The Merchant of Venice (1998) for Philadelphia Shakespeare. Other credits are: Tin Pan Alley (1999), Indiscretions & The Ruling Class for the Wilma Theater, Major Barbara and Henry V for the Arden Theater and Inspecting Carol for the Philadelphia Drama Guild. She was the primary costume designer for the Philadelphia Festival Theater for 13 seasons and premiered over 50 productions including seven of Bruce Grahm's plays. Regional work includes: Belmont Avenue Social Club for Capitol Rep., Albany; Petticoat Lane, Candida, Streetcar Named Desire and Slow Dance on the Killing Grounds for George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick; and the touring production of Banjo Reb and the Blue Ghost. She has designed costumes in New York for: People Who Could Fly (Town Hall); Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been A Member Of The Communist Party? (Century and Promenade Theaters); Deer Season (St. Clement's Theater); Mo Tea Miss Ann (Amas Theater); Charlie Pops (Cubiculo Theater); Rosmersholm (Spectrum Theater Co.); The Lover (The Direct Theater); Meat/Love (Back East Theater).
David P. GordonSet Design David Gordon has designed the scenery for over 250 productions and has worked extensively on and Off-Broadway and for regional theatres and opera companies both in this country and abroad. A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, he has received 3 Barrymore Awards and 10 nominations for Outstanding Set Design for his work in the Philadelphia area, as well as nominations for IRNE and Connecticut Critics Circle Awards, and was the recipient of the 2003 Elliot Norton Award for his designs for The Blue Demon at Boston’s Huntington Theatre Co.
Office: Walters 236 | Phone: 
Louise GraftonProperties Louise has been making props for more years than she cares to admit. She has worked for regional theatres, the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Old Vic in London, the Oxford Playhouse, a number of Broadway shows, and the Big Apple and the Hanneford Circuses. She has built historical reconstructions for the New York Public Library, the Princeton History Department and PBS. She worked on the Academy-Award winning film A Beautiful Mind. She has been the prop artisan for the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival for four years and the Westminster Opera Company for eight. She taught prop construction for Mason Gross in the eighties and returned to teach again in 1998.
Karin GraybashSound Supervisor Karin Graybash is a freelance sound designer and engineer. She has designed productions at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, McCarter Theatre, Alliance Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Folger Shakespeare, Arden Theatre Company, Olney Theatre Center, and The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Karin was the 2004 recipient of the Bay Area Theatre Critics Award for the sound design of Polk County at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Karin is the original live sound consultant for the multi-media production Freedom Rising at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. She previously worked as a sound engineer for McCarter Theatre and Arena Stage.
Catherine Homa-RocchioCostume shop supervisor Catherine Homa-Rocchio has worked with costumes for 20 years. Before joining Rutgers, she was costume shop supervisor and draper at the McCarter Theatre. At McCarter, she designed Emily Mann’s Greensboro: A Requiem and several new play festivals. She was a draper at The Juilliard School and has worked at other regional theaters across the country.
Virginia JohnsonCostume technology Virginia Johnson spent eight years at The Juilliard School, with three years as costume shop supervisor. She has assisted costume designers on many productions on and Off-Broadway, including Tintypes, Mass Appeal, The 1940’s Radio Hour, and Driving Miss Daisy. Her free-lance costume construction credits include Nine, Other People’s Money, The Good Times Are Killing Me, and Mixed Emotions. Johnson has constructed costumes for Playwright’s Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Philadelphia Drama Guild, and Second Stage. She taught previously at Simpson College in Iowa and Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio. Johnson holds a B.S. degree from Moorhead State and an M.A. degree from Bowling Green State.
Jerilyn JurinekLife Drawing Jerilyn is a painter's painter of figurative art built on an architectural use of color. Eschewing commercial exhibitions in favor of human development and of meaning in artistic language, she has a following and is represented in private and public collections. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago (B.F.A.), The University of Chicago and Columbia University (M.F.A.). She has worked extensively using Hans Hofmann School drawing methods and Albers and other color theories. She has also worked directly with Esteban Vicente, Meyer Shapiro and Margaret Mead.
Mathew Kaplan Carpenter/Scenery Painter Mathew Kaplan is bringing an extensive professional background to the Theater Arts Department at Mason Gross. He has worked in scene shops for the Paper Mill Playhouse, George Street Playhouse and the Shakespeare Festival of New Jersey. He has served as the Technical Director for Theater Under the Stars and is currently a member of the union I.A.T.S.E. the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. He received his bachelors degree from Syracuse University.
Peter MillerScene Painting For many seasons, Mr. Miller was the Resident Scenic Artist of The Wolftrap Opera Company and the Juilliard School. Since joining local 829 of United Scenic Artists he has worked on the paint crews of numerous Broadway shows. Recent jobs include Seascape, Souvenir, Third, Three Penny Opera, The Constant Wife, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?, Dance Of The Vampires, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Dessa Rose. Films include: Changing Lanes, Unfaithful, The Stepford Wives, The Interpreter and War of The Worlds. Two recent projects, Music and Lyrics By.... and August Rush are to be released in 2007. Mr. Miller studied scenic painting with Lester Polakov, has an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and is a member of U.S.I.T.T. He is proud to work in an industry that allows him to put three productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni and The World Wresting Federation's Grand Slam Highway To Hell! on the same resume.
R. Michael MillerHead of Design And Production/Set Design R. Michael Miller has designed for theaters across the country, including Circle in the Square on Broadway, the Guthrie Theater, American Conservatory Theater, George Street Playhouse, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Philadelphia Drama Guild, Hartman Theater Company, Virginia Stage Company, Syracuse Stage, Intiman Theater Company, the Asolo Theater Company, Arizona Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and others. For Circle in the Square on Broadway, he designed Eminent Domain and The Boys in Autumn. He designed The Miracle Worker for Shochiku Company in Tokyo, Japan, directed by Terry Schreiber. Mr. Miller has assisted on several productions for the American Ballet Theater and the Metropolitan Opera House. He was the scenic supervisor for the American Ballet Theatre’s productions of Sleeping Beauty, choreographed by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and designed by Nicholas Georgiadis. He was the American associate set designer for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway musical Aspects of Love, designed by Maria Bjornson. He has worked as assistant art director on the feature films Falling in Love, Shadows and Fog, and Bullets over Broadway. For his design for the George Street Playhouse production of "Proof", directed by Michael Morris, The New York Times said: "R. Michael Miller's set, evocatively lit by Christopher J. Bailey, is flawless." For the George Street Playhouse production of "Lips Together, Teeth Apart", also directed by Michael Morris, The New York Times said: "The sun is brilliantly awash on the stunning Fire Island beach house, deck and shimmering pool that R. Michael Miller designed..." For the same production, the Princeton Packet said, "The set... is so stunning that the opening night audience actually gasped." Miller has an M.F.A. degree from the University of Washington, and is a member of United Scenic Artists local 829.
Office: Walters 234 | Phone: 
David MurinCostume design David Murin has designed more than 200 productions for Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theater, and television. His Broadway credits include Mixed Emotions, A Change in the Heir, Ned and Jack, Blues in the Night, Devour the Snow, A Talent for Murder, and The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, and he served as supervisor for Edward Gorey’s designs for Gory Stories. Off-Broadway, he designed The Holy Terror, The Middle Ages, The Common Pursuit, Ladyhouse Blues, Birds of Paradise, The Baby Dance, and Down the Garden Paths. His regional theater credits include the Long Wharf Theater, Hartford Stage, the Huntington Theater, the Seattle Repertory Theater, the Pittsburgh Public Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Actor’s Theater of Louisville, Ford’s Theater, the Berkshire Theater Festival, the Kennedy Center, the Williamstown Theater Festival, the McCarter Theater, the Papermill Playhouse, the George Street Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Virginia Opera, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Television credits include many commercials and made-for- television movies. He also served as designer for the long-running ABC soap opera Ryan’s Hope, for which he received an Emmy Award in 1981. Murin has served on the faculties of Rutgers, Temple, and Boston universities. He is a graduate of New York University with a bachelor of fine arts degree. Large Photo
Tim PickensTechnical director Tim Pickens has been associated with the theater arts department for the past ten years. He spent his professional career in regional theater, including stints as technical director at GEVA Theatre and the Portland Stage Company. He also served as assistant technical director at The Juilliard School, Hartford Stage Company, and Minnesota Opera Company. He received his M.F.A. degree from Temple.
Office: Levin Scene Shop | Phone: 732-932-8922 X81, 732-932-9891 
Shane RettigSound Design and Technology Shane Rettig is a sound designer, composer and musician. New York: The Public Theatre, The New Group, Soho Rep, The Summer Play Festival, The NY Musical Theatre Festival, Clubbed Thumb, Mabou Mines, NYU, Juilliard, and in many off-off Broadway productions. Regional: Center Stage, Actor’s Theater of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, Dallas Theatre Center, Yale Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Triad Stage, Capital Rep, and others. He is an associate artist with the Obie award winning company, The Civilians. He performs around New York in several bands and is a composer, music director and performer in The Atomic Grind Show. His music and design for Rinne Groff’s Orange Lemon Egg Canary will be presented at the 2007 Prague Quadrennial. He received his M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama.
James L. SargentLighting Supervisor Served as the master electrician for the National Tour of Grease and assistant carpenter/automation operator for the National Tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He has worked as electrician and technician for the McCarter Theater and the Opera Festival of New Jersey. In addition, he has served as Assistant Production Manager for the Opera Festival of New Jersey.
Robin VestSet Design 
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