FINAL AUDITION
Last Chance for the Role of a Lifetime
THE CAST
KATELIN CHESNA (Sally Cochrane): Katelin is our leading lady, a Chicago native who has done a great deal of work in television, film and theater. She is best known for her appearances in The Resident, How I Met Your Mother, True Blood, Sistas, The Oval and Love at First Lie. A smart student at Mother McAuley High School on the southwest side of Chicago, she was destined to become a doctor and while studying pre-med at the University of Illinois, she was inspired to pursue acting. Off to New York she went to study acting for three years, appearing in many plays at The Acting Studio Inc, as well as being cast as the lead role in several New York University Grad Films. She moved to Los Angeles where she booked guest roles on Showtime's Going to California, ABC’s October Road and the movie, A Perfect Getaway. Katelin has done stand-up comedy, improv and voiceover work. In addition to being a very talented actress, Katelin manages & teaches acting at AMAW Atlanta & loves spinning on the Pelaton, lifting weights, hot yoga, running long distance & loving on her 2 bunnies and 2 pepper dogs. She is beyond honored and thrilled to b ring the role of SALLY COCHRANE to life. On the personal side, her partner in life, Darrell Snedeger, is a very talented photographer & actor himself who was nice enough to shoot the Final Audition cover photo and promo scenes.
JUSTIN DILLEY (Elliott Pruett III) Justin joins the cast of Final Audition after an incredible portrayal of the character Henry Saunders in the classic comedy, Lend Me A Tenor. Justin has a wide variety of dramatic experience, having performed and directed with regional theaters in Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York City. In Atlanta, he has worked with companies like Essential Theatre, Working Title Playwrights, and Outfront Theatre Company. His favorite roles include Emcee in Cabaret, and Greg in A Kid Like Jake. Justin also teaches voice and directs around the metro area. "Love to M & K."
CARRIE ANNE HUNT (Colleen McNule): Carrie Anne first realized that she wanted to pursue a professional career as an actress while performing at the acclaimed Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. She began her artistic journey on stage and has gone on to work regularly in television and film.
Favorite Stage roles include Olivia in Twelfth Night, Miranda in The Tempest, and Beth in Sam Shepherd’s A Lie of the Mind. She is best known for her work on camera in Manhunt (Apple+), Magic Mike XXL (Warner Bros.), and Sleepy Hollow (FOX).
When she is not acting, Carrie Anne also works as a writer, producer, and editor. Through her work as both an actress and a filmmaker, she hopes to be a force for positive change in the world.
CHE BROADWAY (Jim Brotstein): Che rejoins John Ruane, whom he worked with on the Kristine Leferne Robert’s film, A Toxic Relationship. Some of his other filmwork includes The Gifted, Homicide Hunter, Walking with Gods and Shift Drinks. Che is a proud New Yorker, having grown up in Brooklyn. He brings improv and acting skills to the theater where he initially began his career, training at Rider University before going on to perform in And Then There Were None and then And Ya Don’t Stop a Hip Hop Play.
NICOLETTE ACOSTA (Bonnie Love): Nicolette graduated from high school in Fort Worth, Texas. She then went on to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a double-major in Theatre and Journalism and a minor in Creative Writing. Among her credits, she is best known for her work with The Handmaid’s Tale, All Souls, and Bar Fight. Nicolette lives and works bicostally as an actress and game developer between Atlanta and Los Angeles.
RYAN SIEGEL (Tom Simon): Ryan is thrilled to be a part of the premiere of Final Audition. His recent Film/TV credits include: The Ms. Pat Show (BET+), Wolf Pack (Paramount+), Tyler Perry’s WWII drama, Six Triple Eight (Netflix), and the independently produced feature film, The Lemonade Files. His recent Theatre credits include: Dr. Alexandre Manette (u/s) in A Tale of Two Cities (Alliance Theatre) and Jason in Sweat (University of Florida). Ryan trained at the University of Florida School of Theatre & Dance and has most recently been training with Peter Frechette. When offstage, Ryan spends his time writing music, playing guitar, and learning new yo-yo tricks to impress his roommates. He played a solo set at the Virginia-Highland Porchfest in 2022 and has recently started playing at local open mic nights. Ryan would like to thank his family and friends for their constant support and the wonderful John Ruane for this opportunity. To keep up with Ryan, follow him on Instagram: @itsryansiegel
NOEL OLKEN (Nick Michaels) is so pleased to be a part of Final Audition, and working again with John Ruane. Noel played the lead, a street musician, in Ruane’s original rock musical, Southbound, in Chicago, in 1991. Reconnecting and working together again is a great joy.
Born and raised in Chicago, Noel has been performing and studying theatre and acting since he was 7. He has lived in, and performed on stages in Chicago, New York, Portland, Los Angeles, and Paris, France, where he studied mime and classical theatre for three years. While Film and Television currently play a bigger part of his career, he is always happy to return to live theatre.
“Final Audition” marks his Atlanta theatre debut, since moving here in 2022, if you don’t count a few improv shows last year. He looks forward to many more nights treading the boards. He thanks his wife of 31 years, Kris Cahill, for her love and support.
He would like to dedicate his performance to theatre people everywhere; the craziest, kookiest, most wonderful people in the world!
Break a leg, y’all!
JOSEPH BENNETT McNABB (Michael Cochrane), born in Lexington, KY, is an Atlanta-based TV/Film actor. Joseph began acting at age 7 in local theatre productions. Performing arts and athletics have always played a role in his life, and in some cases overlapped. Joseph became an elite competitive jump roper, performing for half-time shows at college sporting events and competing in national meets. After a successful sales career that was lacking the creativity he desired, he chose to return to acting full time.
BOB SIROTT (Radio DJ Voice): Bob is a legendary American broadcaster, who is best known for his television and radio work in Chicago. He started out in radio at WBBM-FM in 1971 before moving to WLS Radio, where he became a household name from 1973-79, introducing the hits of the day with his now legendary voice, personality and great sense of humor. In 1980, he transitioned into television news joining WBBM-TV (CBS) as an anchor in 1980. He caught the eye of the network executives and was offered a national opportunity to work on the CBS news magazine, West 57th. In 1989, when he returned home to Chicago, he became the noon news anchor at WFLD-TV (NBC) for four years before moving on to host the morning show, FOX Thing in the Morning, on WFLD-TV (FOX). Working with his co-host, Marianne Murciano, proved to be a life-changing experience with their great chemistry resulting in an exchange of the wedding ceremony “I do’s” in June of 1999. From 2002-2005, Bob hosted the high profile Chicago Tonight on WTTW-TV (PBS) before returning to WMAQ-TV as weekend anchor and then WFLD-TV to co-anchor the 9 p.m. news. In 2019, the highly coveted WGN Radio morning news anchor position was offered to him and he returned to his roots joining a short but star-studded group of great radio broadcasters who have occupied that seat over the past years, beginning with Wally Phillips in 1965. With this play, Final Audition, taking place in Chicago in 1993, Bob was generous enough to lend his wonderful voice to the production adding more authenticity to the story, for which we are VERY grateful to him.
PLAYWRIGHT/DIRECTOR
JOHN RUANE is an author, journalist, playwright and actor. He has written for the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, and has been published in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. John trained at The Second City Theater in the mid-1980s and went on to write and perform in four sketch comedy revues, before writing and directing a critically-acclaimed rock musical, Southbound in 1991. In film, he wrote and starred in a short film, Comedy On Rye and sitcom pilot, Deckinger’s Place, each of which won the Illinois FilmCam Award for creativity. Most recently, John appeared with legendary actress, Karen Carlson, in James Faucett's beautiful film, In A Quiet Room and Kristine Leferne Roberts dramatic feature film, A Toxic Relationship. In addition, John is a critically-acclaimed author of six books, including best-sellers, Parish the Thought and Parish the Thought Too. On the personal side, in 1982, John married his high school sweetheart, Charlotte, and they have four wonderful children and four beautiful grandchildren.