Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?

Edward L. Simon is thrilled to be back at Arena Stage and returning home to the DC area! Born and raised in the land of Old Bay, he is also a graduate of The Boston Conservatory’s Musical Theatre BFA program. Recent credits include the world premiere of A Wrinkle in Time (Arena Stage), Ragtime (Signature Theatre), Into the Woods (American Stage), Hair (New Rep Theatre), Cinderella (Virginia Rep), and the world premiere of Vatican Falls off-Broadway. You can follow his blog writing on arts and politics on Substack: @edwardsimon23. All his gratitude to his agents at ATB, the whole creative team, Sally, Ben, and the CKs. Instagram: @edwardsimon23. Go Ravens!  

Greg Stuhr previously worked in D.C. at the Studio Theatre in Three Sisters. His Broadway credits include Good Night, And Good Luck with George Clooney directed by David Cromer, Tracy Letts’ The Minutes, and Larry David’s Fish in the Dark, both directed by Anna Shapiro, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other notable theater includes world premieres by Ethan Coen, Rolin Jones, Keith Reddin, and Bruce Norris for the Atlantic Theater Company, Yale Rep, South Coast Rep, and Steppenwolf, respectively. He frequently collaborates with co-writer/director Jenna Ricker on projects like the acclaimed indie film The American Side, and the award-winning ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, Qualified, which premiered at SXSW. Greg also co-created and wrote the pilot for the comedy series Luba’s Lot for Fox Television.  

Stephen Cefalu Jr. is thrilled to be returning to Arena after originating the role of Jonah in the World Premiere of Data. Broadway Tour: Aaron Sorkin’s To Kill a Mockingbird; Selected Regional: The Cherry Orchard (Goodman Theatre), Death of a Salesman (Hartford Stage), World Premiere of Mary Page Marlowe (Steppenwolf), World Premiere of The Gradient (St. Louis Rep.) TV: Cupertino, Evil, Shameless, Law and Order: SVU. MFA Acting: Yale Drama. Instagram: Stephencefalujr

Jason Babinsky is happy to return to "AYNOHYEB" after performing it Off-Broadway under the tutelage of Anna Shapiro. Broadway: Network, Billy Elliot (also first national tour), and Ghost. Off Broadway: Anatomy of a Suicide (Atlantic Theater), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Classic Stage Company), and A Man’s a Man (Classic Stage Company). Regional: Williamstown Theatre Festival, McCarter Theatre, Contemporary American Theater Festival, George Street Playhouse, Pittsburgh Civic Light and Opera, Huntington Theatre, Alley Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, City Theatre Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival and others. Film: Contagion, You Were Never Really Here, Sweethearts (HBO), She Said, A Cure for Wellness, The Wizard of Lies (HBO), You Don’t Know Jack (HBO), and Law Abiding Citizen. TV: “Your Friends and Neighbors,” “Elsbeth,” “The Good Wife,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Billions,” “Succession,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Equalizer,” “The Blacklist,” “FBI,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Bull,” “Run the World,” “New Amsterdam,” “Elementary,” “Law and Order,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Madam Secretary,” “Blue Bloods,” “House of Cards,” and others.  

John Leslie Wolfe last appeared at Arena Stage in Mother Courage starring Kathleen Turner, and in 2005’s Damn Yankees. Also in DC, he appeared at Signature Theater (Titanic, Passion, Threepenny Opera, Diner, Sweeney Todd), Ford’s Theater (Ragtime, 1776, and others), and in pre-Broadway companies of Martin Guerre and Golden Child at Kennedy Center. On Broadway, John was in the original company of Hal Prince’s Evita, and toured nationally/internationally with the show as Juan Peron, playing DC several times. Other Broadway shows include Sarava, Passion, and Parade. For six years, John played Andre in The Phantom of the Opera, in Las Vegas. TV/film includes House of Cards, The West Wing, The Wire, Homicide, The Invasion, Step Up, Invincible, and HBO’s Something the Lord Made. His photography is at: www.jlwfaces.com.  

Philip Earl Johnson was last seen in DC, and around the country, in the National Tour of Angels in America as Joe Pitt at The Kennedy Center. At The Laguna Playhouse in California, he was seen as Jamie in A Moon For The Misbegotten. Chicago area credits include: The Goodman Theater as Stockton in Robert Falls’ An Enemy of the People and Autolycus in The Winters Tale, Kurt in Conor MacPherson’s American premiere of The Dance of Death at Writers Theater, Tartuffe in Tartuffe at The Court Theater, Rafe in The Herbal Bed at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and Doc in Come Back, Little Sheba at American Blues Theater (Company Member). TV credits include Chicago Fire, Empire, and Will and Grace.

Aaron Bliden is returning to Arena after appearing as Danny in Crazy Sexy Cool –The TLC Musical.  Other recent regional highlights include The American Five at Ford's Theatre, An Enemy of the People and Tiny Lights at Theater J, and The Waverly Gallery at 1st Stage. Aaron has worked for The Second City in several different productions, which played at Woolly Mammoth and The Kennedy Center. Additionally, he has appeared on stage at Center Stage Baltimore, Folger, Signature, Imagination Stage, Arts on the Horizon, Olney, and Forum. Aaron is a founding company member of Pointless Theatre along with some other graduates of his alma mater, University of Maryland College Park. He is one-third of the DC-based band The French Champagne. He is currently writing a rock opera.

Peter Jacobson recently played Willy Loman in Death Of A Salesman at Hartford Stage. Off-Broadway credits include Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Four Dogs and a Bone, Waiting For Lefty, June Moon, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), Comedy of Errors, and Taming of the Shrew (Delacorte Theatre). TV work includes Dr. Taub on House, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, The Americans, Colony, Ray Donovan, Fear the Walking Dead, NCIS: Los Angeles, High Potential, Ahsoka, WeCrashed, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FBI, Girls on the Bus, The Good Wife, Billions, The Good Doctor, Will and Grace, and Oz. Movies include Smile 2, Good Night and Good Luck, Fly Me to the Moon, White House Down, Cars 2, Transformers, 61*, Paterno, Path to War, A Civil Action, As Good As It Gets, Deconstructing Harry, and Private Parts.

Rivka Borek is honored to be at Arena Stage for the first time and working alongside the entire team! Her credit highlights include plays at American Conservatory Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Ars Nova, Hudson Valley Shakespeare (tour), SF Playhouse, Detroit Public Theatre, and the Edinburgh Fringe. She has also participated in workshops and readings with The O’Neill, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, Theatre for a New Audience, and New Georges. She received her M.F.A. in Acting from A.C.T. 

Broadway: Dog Day Afternoon, The Minutes, Oslo, To Kill a Mockingbird, August: Osage County, Fish in the Dark, Therese Raquin, Lombardi, Bronx Bombers, Job. National Tour: Mockingbird, August. Off-Broadway: Tribes, Our Town, Orson’s Shadow, Adding Machine. Regional: Harry in Born Yesterday (Guthrie), Rothko in Red (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), Salieri in Amadeus (Cardinal), Dr. Sweet in Tracy Letts’ Bug (Gate Theatre, London), Howard in The Mystery of Love & Sex (Signature). Chicago: Victor in The Price (Writers Theatre), Queeg in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Red Orchid), Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross (Pointe), 13 shows with Steppenwolf Theatre and, back in 1990, Lionel Stander in Big Game Theatre’s Are You Now or Have You Ever Been directed, like this production, by Anna Shapiro.  

Kevin Mambo Broadway, Off-Broadway, and tour credits include Fela!, The Color Purple, and The Book of Mormon National Tour (Helen Hayes nomination); The History of Empires at La MaMa; Fortress of Solitude at Dallas Theater Center and The Public Theater (Lortel nomination); Mlima's Tale at The Public Theater; Ruined at Goodman Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club; The Convert at Kirk Douglas Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and McCarter Theatre Center; Venus and Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek at Signature Theatre; Seven Guitars and Pericles at Two River Theater; The Last Detail at Lucille Lortel Theatre; Once Around the Sun at Zipper Factory Theater; The Tempest (Helen Hayes nomination) and Radio Golf (Helen Hayes win) at Roundhouse Theatre; and We Are Gathered at Arena Stage. Film credits include Rustin, Nina, Cadillac Records, Rebel in the Rye, Payback, One of Us Tripped, Firing Squad, Selah and the Spades, The Southside, Henchman of Notre Dame (Best Actor), Trooper, and Man in the Mirror. Television credits include Guiding Light (two Emmys, three nominations), Hit & Run, Luke Cage, Saint X, High Maintenance, The Good Doctor, Blacklist, Happyish, Soul Food, One Life to Live, Law & Order (Original/Deadline/SVU/Trial by Jury/Criminal Intent/Reboot), Spin City, Elementary, Any Day Now, Mistresses, Family Matters, Freshman Dorm, and Great Performances. Insta: @iammambo

Coleman Pedigo marks his first collaboration with Arena Stage. Previously on stage: Jonah (U/S) at Studio Theatre, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (U/S) with Synetic Theatre, Barbecue Apocalypse with Charlotte’s Off-Broadway. Film: Christy (Toronto International Film Festival, 2025).

Joey Collins is thrilled to be working with Arena Stage for the first time on Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?, as he is a new resident of SW DC. Locally, he has had the privilege to work at Studio Theatre, Theatre J, Shakespeare Theatre, CATF, and Folger. He was in the Broadway companies of The Glass Menagerie (with Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson), Rock ‘n’ Roll, and The Lonesome West. He was Richard Thomas’ foil in the National Tour of To Kill A Mockingbird. Favorite Off-Broadway shows are Bug (Barrow Street), Vieux Carré (Pearl), Galileo, and 1599 (Irondale Ensemble). He has enjoyed audiences at PlayMakers Rep, Yale Rep, A.C.T., Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Old Globe, Barrington Stage, Berkshire Theatre Festival (BTCA Award), and others. Favorite film and TV work include There Is A Monster, Chest Candy, Bittersweet, Kidnapped, Law & Order. joeycollins.net. Instagram: @mrjoeycollins 

David Bryan Jackson has acted at the Shakespeare, Folger, Mosaic, Woolly Mammoth, Studio, Scena, Spooky Action, and Signature theaters, as well as Washington Stage Guild, Washington Shakespeare Company, The Kennedy Center, and Olney Theatre Center (where he was literary manager for several years). He received a Theatre Lobby award for his performances in Intimate Exchanges at Source Theatre and Via Dolorosa at Theater J (the latter of which he reprised in Los Angeles and Boston). He recently appeared in Breaking the Code at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA, where he has also designed sound and composed music for several productions.) On-screen credits include the independent films Dinner with the Alchemist and Her Tango, and AMC’s Turn: Washington’s Spies.  

Eli El is returning to Arena Stage after performing in The Motion (2026), Fremont Ave. (2025) The Great Society (2018). Other theater performances include The Piano Lesson (1st Stage), Testosterone and Migraaaaants (ExPats Theatre), AJAX (Scena Theatre), Radio Golf (Roundhouse Theatre), FAT HAM (Studio Theatre), A Thirst for Freedom (Live Garra), and many more. He has completed and is currently involved with several independent film projects (Once Upon a Time in The District, Unarmed Man, Harriet, The Meek, Last Night, THICK, etc. Eli has directed (The Healing Floor) award winner DCBTF. He also directed a feature film and two shorts (The Cracked Mask and Lay Me Down). His motto is “you can learn from anyone, if only you allow yourself to.”