In the theatre, we love a large cast of characters. Four new award-winning faculty members are joining the Department of Theatre this fall, and their expertise includes theatre, films, concerts, gaming, and television. You may have seen them in a Wes Anderson film or the Tanglewood stage or on TV alongside Michael J. Fox.

One of New England’s most acclaimed actresses, Marianna Bassham recently appeared in the world premiere of Craig Lucas’ I Was Most Alive with You at the Huntington Theatre Company. Previously, she has appeared at the Huntington in Becoming Cuba, Our Town, and Luck of the Irish. Upcoming projects include Hamlet and the Boston premiere of Hand to God. Her recent stage credits include Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire (Gamm Theatre), Lady Macbeth (Elm Shakespeare, CT), and Leonora in God’s Ear (Actors’ Shakespeare Project) for which she received a 2016 IRNE Award. Marianna received the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Actress for Blackbird and IRNE Awards for Best Actress for Reckless, Little Black Dress, and Blackbird.  Film and TV credits include Rubberneck and Moonrise Kingdom and the Emmy Award-winning HBO miniseries “Olive Kitteridge.”

José Delgado is a music director, performer, composer, and arranger who has worked and/or performed with Jason Robert Brown, the Boston Pops and Symphony Orchestras, and numerous schools throughout the greater Boston area including Emerson College and Boston Conservatory. Theatre credits include his award winning work with SpeakEasy Stage (The Light in the Piazza, Parade, Caroline, or Change, Elegies, Floyd Collins, others); Company One (Assassins), Stoneham Theatre (Pal Joey). Most recently he was Music Director for SpeakEasy Stage’s production of Pasek and Paul’s Dogfight. José is also the Artistic Director for Força, a multi-dimensional choral group that can be heard in the video game industry.

You may recognize Dennis Staroselsky from his appearances on Madame Secretary, Nurse Jackie, All My Children, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Jericho, The Michael J. Fox Show, Ghostwriter, Law & Order, White Collar, and Rubberneck. He has been acting professionally since the age of 13. A playwright and actor, his credits include the Off-Broadway run of An Early History of Fire, the world premiere of David Rabe’s latest play, as well as appearances at regional theatres such as the A.R.T., the Huntington Theatre Co., Geva Theatre Center, Dallas Theater Center, and Paper Mill Playhouse. As a playwright his first full length play Just About Cured was produced by the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City.

Voice instructor Christi Barb specializes in accent modification through the combination of her research in Speech-Language Pathology with the teaching of English as a second language. She integrates aspects of cognitive psychology, intercultural communication, and teaching English to speakers of other languages into the specifics of speech production and analysis. After a decade of teaching speaking skills in universities, she started her own private practice in Boston, Adastra Speech. Her clients range from university students to young professionals, to executives. What they all have in common is the desire to improve the quality of their lives through better communication.