QED Productions -- who_we

Who We Are

MICAH FREEDMAN (Founder, Executive & Co-Artistic Director) is an actor, singer, and now, producer. Recent NYC credits include Valentine in last year’s Arcadia, Joe Pitt in Angels in America, Demetrius in Midsummer Night’s Dream, Malcolm in Macbeth, Antipholus of Ephesus in Comedy of Errors, Manders in Ghosts. Regional credits include principal and featured roles in Fiddler and Almost Like Being in Love (Barter), Showboat and Phantom (Gateway), Music Man (Mill Mountain). Micah graduated from Stanford University where he studied Music, Acting and Computer Science. In addition to acting, he has an active practice as a computer-graphic artist, with numerous clients in a number of fields, including Estee Lauder, FAO Schwartz, Adobe Systems, Hitachi, and of course, QED Productions.

ZANDER TELLER (Founder, Co-Artistic & Producing Director, Resident Director) returns to the siren call of the theatre after several years’ absence. He has extensive experience and training as an actor and holds an M.F.A. in acting from the University of California, San Diego. He also has a B.S. in physics from Stanford University. Over the years, Zander has worked as a lab technician, teacher, webmaster, web developer, and financial analyst.

ASHLEY HERRON (Founder, Managing Director) Ashley Herron has been a jack of all trades in dance and theatre all over the country for nearly 20 years. Her credits include Annie, Anything Goes, Joseph…Dreamcoat, Once on This Island, Music Man, Jekyll and Hyde, and many more both on stage and behind the scenes.

JULIA O’BRIEN (Associate Artist, Resident Director) Julia is an actor, director and instructor currently serving as Theatre Arts Manager for Theatre 315 on West 47th St. Saltworks Theatre Company in Pittsburgh was her previous artistic base where she was the Director of Education for 6 years. While there, she developed new scripts and directed over 20 productions. As an actor, favorite roles include Irina in Three Sisters, Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, Marianne in Tartuffe and the title character in The Book of Ruth. Julia has also appeared in various commercials, usually as “young mom.” She is a proud member of Visible Theatre's LAB, a community of writers and actors commited to process and social change. BA in theater from Messiah College/Temple University.

MICHAEL O’BRIEN (Associate Artist, Resident Sound Designer, Marketing Director) In addition to his work as an actor (seen most recently in the one-man-show The Christmas Suicides at the Brick, as Richard Noakes in QED’s Arcadia, and in Gemini Collisionwork’s World Gone Wrong), Michael brings real-world advertising and marketing experience to the company, having designed and managed campaigns for clients like Sam Ash Music, Pitney-Bowes, and AC Nielsen. Michael has also accumulated 10 years of experience working with sound; he’s produced albums by Joe Cook, Superfastrunners, and the Lash Brothers, designed sound for plays including Arcadia, The Crow: Gentleman Killer at the Brick, and Stand Clear in the Fall Collection, and for films like Bryan Enk’s John’s Island and Ken Sipillary: Faith, Hope and Love.

ALICIA BARRON (Associate Artist, Resident Choreographer, Development) joins QED after a recent move to NYC. She is a classically trained singer/dancer who is addicted to supporting the arts and fundraising/dabbling in technical work. Credits include Oliver, A Little Night Music, Anything Goes, Bye, Bye Birdie, The Sound of Music, and many more spanning from LA to Austin, TX to Little Rock, AR.

JOHN McWHORTER (Founder) writes for the Manhattan Institute think tank and is a former Associate Professor of Linguistics at UC Berkeley. He is the author of several books including The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language; Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why You Should, Like, Care; and Authentically Black: Essays for the Black Silent Majority. As a performer, he was a part of various productions in the San Francisco Bay Area, in roles such as Charley Johnson in Lady in the Dark, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, and John Sorel in The Consul. It’s said that he has also done a couple of cabaret shows in Manhattan.

MARTHA SPARKS (Founder) is a Ph.D. student in clinical psychology. After receiving her B.A. in English literature from Columbia University, she taught 8th grade at Roberto Clemente Junior High School in Harlem for 2 years. Realizing that she preferred the company of adults, Martha joined the staff of the Dana Foundation, where she edited the book Performing Arts Partnerships. She can almost foresee the day when she finishes her graduate program...

		Who We Are MICAH FREEDMAN (Founder, Executive & Co-Artistic Director) is an actor, singer, and now, producer. Recent NYC credits include Valentine in last year’s Arcadia, Joe Pitt in Angels in America, Demetrius in Midsummer Night’s Dream, Malcolm in Macbeth, Antipholus of Ephesus in Comedy of Errors, Manders in Ghosts. Regional credits include principal and featured roles in Fiddler and Almost Like Being in Love (Barter), Showboat and Phantom (Gateway), Music Man (Mill Mountain). Micah graduated from Stanford University where he studied Music, Acting and Computer Science. In addition to acting, he has an active practice as a computer-graphic artist, with numerous clients in a number of fields, including Estee Lauder, FAO Schwartz, Adobe Systems, Hitachi, and of course, QED Productions. ZANDER TELLER (Founder, Co-Artistic & Producing Director, Resident Director) returns to the siren call of the theatre after several years’ absence. He has extensive experience and training as an actor and holds an M.F.A. in acting from the University of California, San Diego. He also has a B.S. in physics from Stanford University. Over the years, Zander has worked as a lab technician, teacher, webmaster, web developer, and financial analyst. ASHLEY HERRON (Founder, Managing Director) Ashley Herron has been a jack of all trades in dance and theatre all over the country for nearly 20 years. Her credits include Annie, Anything Goes, Joseph…Dreamcoat, Once on This Island, Music Man, Jekyll and Hyde, and many more both on stage and behind the scenes. JULIA O’BRIEN (Associate Artist, Resident Director) Julia is an actor, director and instructor currently serving as Theatre Arts Manager for Theatre 315 on West 47th St. Saltworks Theatre Company in Pittsburgh was her previous artistic base where she was the Director of Education for 6 years. While there, she developed new scripts and directed over 20 productions. As an actor, favorite roles include Irina in Three Sisters, Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, Marianne in Tartuffe and the title character in The Book of Ruth. Julia has also appeared in various commercials, usually as “young mom.” She is a proud member of Visible Theatre's LAB, a community of writers and actors commited to process and social change. BA in theater from Messiah College/Temple University. MICHAEL O’BRIEN (Associate Artist, Resident Sound Designer, Marketing Director) In addition to his work as an actor (seen most recently in the one-man-show The Christmas Suicides at the Brick, as Richard Noakes in QED’s Arcadia, and in Gemini Collisionwork’s World Gone Wrong), Michael brings real-world advertising and marketing experience to the company, having designed and managed campaigns for clients like Sam Ash Music, Pitney-Bowes, and AC Nielsen. Michael has also accumulated 10 years of experience working with sound; he’s produced albums by Joe Cook, Superfastrunners, and the Lash Brothers, designed sound for plays including Arcadia, The Crow: Gentleman Killer at the Brick, and Stand Clear in the Fall Collection, and for films like Bryan Enk’s John’s Island and Ken Sipillary: Faith, Hope and Love. ALICIA BARRON (Associate Artist, Resident Choreographer, Development) joins QED after a recent move to NYC. She is a classically trained singer/dancer who is addicted to supporting the arts and fundraising/dabbling in technical work. Credits include Oliver, A Little Night Music, Anything Goes, Bye, Bye Birdie, The Sound of Music, and many more spanning from LA to Austin, TX to Little Rock, AR. JOHN McWHORTER (Founder) writes for the Manhattan Institute think tank and is a former Associate Professor of Linguistics at UC Berkeley. He is the author of several books including The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language; Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why You Should, Like, Care; and Authentically Black: Essays for the Black Silent Majority. As a performer, he was a part of various productions in the San Francisco Bay Area, in roles such as Charley Johnson in Lady in the Dark, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, and John Sorel in The Consul. It’s said that he has also done a couple of cabaret shows in Manhattan. MARTHA SPARKS (Founder) is a Ph.D. student in clinical psychology. After receiving her B.A. in English literature from Columbia University, she taught 8th grade at Roberto Clemente Junior High School in Harlem for 2 years. Realizing that she preferred the company of adults, Martha joined the staff of the Dana Foundation, where she edited the book Performing Arts Partnerships. She can almost foresee the day when she finishes her graduate program...