Jesse Merz

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Jesse Merz (born November 15, 1973 in Hood River, Oregon) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and educator. As an actor, he has appeared off-Broadway, in regional theatre, summer stock, feature films, in radio and in 120 cities in 34 states nationwide. He has directed more than 50 theatrical productions, which have included directing Tony winner Daisy Eagan in the new musical Suburban Dreams. He is the artistic director of the Columbia Gorge School of Theatre and former artistic director of Longview Stageworks. He is a member of the Actors' Equity Association, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Dramatists Guild, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where he studied at the Atlantic Theater Company and the Meisner Extension. He later received a Master of Arts degree in teaching with a drama endorsement from George Fox University. Merz is a theatre teacher at David Douglas High School in Portland. Currently he is serving as the Assistant Artistic Director of the THIRDeYE Theatre Festival and teaching Introduction to Acting at the University of California, Davis, where he's also pursuing his MFA in Acting.

Merz has been married to Laurel Merz (formerly Laurel Schuepbach) since September 2, 2000 and is the father of Alana Fay (December 2, 2003) and Josephine Alice (December 29, 2005).

Merz is currently in pre-production on his first feature film with the working title Embraceable Me, which is he writing and producing.

Contents 1 Stage Acting Credits 1.1 Off-Broadway 1.2 Off-Off-Broadway 1.3 National Tours 1.4 Regional Theatre 2 Stage Directing Credits 2.1 New York City 2.2 Regional Theatre 3 Film Acting Credits 4 Film Producing Credits 5 Colleagues, Teachers and Students of Jesse Merz 6 External links

[edit] Stage Acting Credits

[edit] Off-Broadway

• "The Phantom of the Opera" (David Spencer Version) Promenade Theatre (1997)
• "Machinal" Atlantic Theater Company (1994)
• "Good Evening" Atlantic Theater Company (1994)
• "The Frog and Peach" Atlantic Theater Company (1994)
• "Two Gentlemen of Verona" Atlantic Theater Company (1993)

[edit] Off-Off-Broadway

• "Suburban Dreams" Producers Club Theatre II (1999)
• "Waiting in Oblivion" Intar Theatre (1999)
• "Fitting in on Saturn" Raw Space Theatre (1997)
• "Anton Chekhov's Vaudevilles" Abe Burrows Theatre (1996)
• "SF" Theatre 22 & Todo con Nada (1996 - 1997)
• "Arcadia" The Present Company (1996)
• "1920s Tribute" Frederick Loewe Theatre (1995)
• "Betrayal" Playwrights Horizon at NYU's Studio Theatre (1993)

[edit] National Tours

• "Matyred: The Chet Bitterman Story" Wycliffe Theatre Productions 35 City Tour (2000)
• "The Phantom of the Opera" (David Spencer Version) Theatreworks/USA50 City Tour (1997)
• "From the Magic Pen: Aesop's Fables" Young People's Theatre Project 25 City Tour(1995)
• "Going Up" CenterStage USA Touring Company 11 City International Tour (1991)

[edit] Regional Theatre

• "Urinetown" UC Davis Main Theatre (2007)
• "Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America" Mondavi Center Studio Theatre (2006)
• "Ophelia in Garland" (reading) Portland Center Stage (2006)
• "Footloose" Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre (2005)
• "Crazy for You" Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre (2003)
• "The Summer Project" Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre (2003)
• "Forever Plaid" Longview Stageworks (2003)
• "Bye Bye Birdie" Longview Stageworks (2002)
• "The Merry Wives of Windsor" Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre (2002)
• "Troilus and Cressida" Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre (2001)
• "The Glass Menagerie" Longview Stageworks (2001)
• "See How They Run" Longview Stageworks (1999)
• "Into the Woods" Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre (1999)
• "Once on This Island" Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre (1998)
• "The Dancers" Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre (1998)
• "Six Degrees of Separation" Portland Repertory Theatre (1995)
• "Baby" Lakewood Theatre Company (1994)
• "Grease" Broadway Rose Theatre Company (1991)
• "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Broadway Rose Theatre Company (1991)
• "Leader of the Pack" Sylvia's Dinner Theatre (1991)
• "Godspell" Lakewood Theatre Company (1990)

[edit] Stage Directing Credits

[edit] New York City

• "Suburban Dreams" Musical Theatre Works & Producers Club Theatre II (1998 - 1999)
• "The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton" Producers Club Theatre II & the Sanford Meisner Theatre (1999)
• "Tennis Anyone" Intar Theatre & The Theatre-Studio, Inc. (1999)
• "The Dialogue Between Men & Women" Intar Theatre (1999)

[edit] Regional Theatre

• "The Best of Intentions" (also co-writer) Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre (2005)
• "A Few Days Earlier" (also writer) Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre (2004)
• "Les Miserables School Edition" Longview Stageworks (2003)
• "The Foreigner" Longview Stageworks (2002)
• "Jake's Women" Longview Stageworks (2002)
• "A Christmas Carol" Longview Stageworks (2002)
• "On Golden Pond" Longview Stageworks (2001)
• "Sylvia" Longview Stageworks (2000)
• "The Gin Game" Longview Stageworks (2000)
• many more

[edit] Film Acting Credits

• "The Legend of the Tree of Life" (2006)
• "Party of the Year" (2005)
• "A Day at the Beach" (1998)
• "Forest of Dreams" (1996)
• "City of Roses" (1996)
• "Running" (1995)
• "Raw MacBeth" (1994)
• "If At First You Don't Succeed" (1994)
• "Count Dracula" (1993)
• "Sonnet LXI" (1993)
• "Another Manhattan Sunset" (1993)
• "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey" (1993)
• "My Life's in Turnaround" (1993)
• "Frozen Assets" (1992)
• "My Own Private Idaho" (1991)
• "Deadly Game" (1991)
• "The Clock Ticks: It's a Matter of Time" (1990)

[edit] Film Producing Credits

• Embraceable Me (pre-production)

[edit] Colleagues, Teachers and Students of Jesse Merz

• Angel Carter
• Josh Hartnett
• Felicity Huffman
• William H. Macy
• David Mamet
• Constantine Maroulis
• Lauri Peters
• River Phoenix
• Keanu Reeves

[edit] External links

• Jesse Merz at the Internet Movie Database
• Jesse Merz's Official Website
• Jesse Merz's resume