playbill vip

Jarrod Smith*

as KENNETH

is an actor born and raised in the New Orleans area. He studied acting in American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program in San Francisco. He’s appeared in shows at South Coast Rep in Costa Mesa, Pasadena Playhouse, The Magic Theater in San Francisco, Arena Stage in Washington DC and at the American Conservatory Theater, and most recently, Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson Apt 2B and Bard at the Batture with Crescent City Stage.

Doug Spearman*

as BERT

is very happy and honored to be returning to Crescent City Stage for another production after appearing in A Doll’s House and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.  Last year, Doug made his debut at the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival as Argan in The Imaginary Invalid.  He made his New Orleans directorial debut with Sweet Bird of Youth for The Tennessee Williams Theater Company. Some of his other favorite roles are John The Baptist in Salome, Lance Corporal Dawson in A Few Good Men, and the god Dionysus in The Bacchae at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Doug also spent thirty years writing and directing hundreds of tv spots for NBC, CBS, ABC, and E! as well as two feature films under his own banner Hot Guys with Guns and From Zero to I Love You.  He currently teaches scene study class in the Marigny and an on-camera class at Loyola. Doug is also the current Board Chair of the New Orleans Film Society.

Nicole Collins

as CORINNA/WALLY'S WAITER/BANK CUSTOMERS

is an award-winning filmmaker, actor, and storyteller. She is a 2025 Top 10 winner of the Tyler Perry Studios Dream Collective for Emerging Directors and a 2025 New Orleans Theatre & Culture Fund grantee. A 2024 SIPP Cultural Artist-in-Residence, FFL honoree, and 2023 National Performance Network Take Notice Fund recipient, her work explores justice, community, and mental health.

Her acting credits include Criminal Minds, Treme, 12 Years a Slave, The Burial, and Carry On. She's created several film projects including the webseries ‘Maternally Yours’ ( KweliTV). She recently completed the short film Pullover, co-written with her daughter, actress Aadyn Encalarde.