The Cast of Hatboxes
Hatboxes Crew

 

 

 

 

Robyn Okrant plays the role of Miriam, the 30-something Orthodox Jewish milliner whose husband has recently abandoned her.

You may have seen Robyn before. Like in an Onion short, or a Luna Carpet commercial on television. She confesses to being more than an actress. She’s also an author, a freelance writer, a story-teller, a director, and a yoga teacher.

Her blog, www.livingoprah.com was all about following Oprah's advice for one year. It was read by an international audience and has been visited by over a half a million people. Her book, LIVING OPRAH: My One Year Experiment to Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk, was published by Center Street in 2010. 

She appeared on the Today Show, CNBC’s The Oprah Effect (which, to her mother's delight was seen internationally . . . even on American Airlines' in-flight entertainment), The Bonnie Hunt Show, Fox and Friends, The Joy Behar Show, and NPR’s All Things Considered. She’s also been featured in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago SunTimes and has been seen in Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, USAToday.com, Salon.com, and The Huffington Post.

She calls Chicago home, along with her husband and two cats.  She has an MFA in performance art from the Art Institute of Chicago, which followed her undergraduate degree from Bennington College.

Kat O’Connor plays Nadine, a secular Jewish lesbian lawyer, who runs into Miriam in a grocery store.In real life, Kat divides her time between theatre and film, and working as a marketing and social media professional.  

She has been featured in a number of independent films, including The Dog (Featurepoint Cinema), Schizo Cool (Schizcago Pictures), and 16th Street (Studio 22).

She’s a company member of Terra Mysterium, a Chicago-based collective of musicians, actors, dancers, poets, magicians, and fire performers; creating, producing, and performing experiential works of music, theatre, and performance art that are rooted in the Earth mysteries. Kat has performed with them both musically and theatrically at the Chicago Fringe Festival, LaCosta Theatre, and a variety of community festivals. She'll be appearing at Terra Mysterium this September.

But, truth be told, she doesn’t always have her feet on the ground. In her spare time, she practices aerial circus arts at the Actors Gymnasium. A graduate of Drew University, she is a natural storyteller, with words or, just as often, without. Her personal mission is to tell the story, and thus change the world, one heart at a time.

Tom Hickey plays Aaron, the orthodox Jewish lawyer, who might someday be a rabbi, who suddenly leaves his strict faith and his wife and children.

Tom is a long-time Chicago native.  He has most recently appeared on camera in the pilot episode of “Underemployed” and online ads for Uni-Ball and Hornito’s restaurants.

He has also been a member of Strawdog Theatre Company since 2000 where he has appeared most recently in Conquest of the South Pole as well as The Master and Margarita, Uncle Vanya, St. Crispin’s Day, Cherry Orchard, Aristocrats, Marathon ‘33, and Julius Caesar.

He has also appeared in The North Plan (Steppenwolf First Look), The Pillowman (RedTwist), Thieves Like Us  and Valentine Victorious (The House), The Mark of Zorro (Lifeline), Scenes from the Big Picture (Seanachai), The Great God Pan (Wildclaw), Book of Days (Steep) as well as three seasons performing in Michigan with Lakeside Shakespeare.

Although in Hatboxes, he left his family, in real life Tom has recently embraced family with the birthday of a son, his first child.

Fawzia Mirza plays Lena, the lesbian friend (former lover?) of Nadine. You may have seen her around on stage or on screen.  She appeared recently at the Goodman Theater in Happiest Song. Her film work includes roles in features Jamie and Jessie Are Not Together and Promise Land, The Queen of My Dreams, and Silhouettes.

She’s produced documentaries(Fish out of Water, A Message from the East), and has done stand-up comedy.

She also admits to a past as a lawyer. But now you can see her regularly in web series like Easy Abby. She’s writer and producer as well as star of a satirical web series that follows Kameron, the fictional long-lost lesbian Kardashian sister who was cut off, kicked out, and left to fend for herself.

Maya Boudreau plays Hannah, Miriam and Aaron’s oldest daughter in Hatboxes. She is a tireless and inventive performer. She graduated with a BFA in Theatre with honors from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts in just three years. 

Maya grew up in a small town in Illinois. It was here that Maya developed a strong sense of who she was. From a young age, Maya was involved in community and school theatrical productions.  At age fourteen, Maya and her parents moved to Chicago where she went to Walter Payton College Prep High School. While living in Chicago, Maya took advantage of every cultural experience that she could. Chicago became her home. Maya had the honor of studying and performing with such prestigious and innovative companies as Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Lookingglass Theatre, The Second City, American Theatre Company and Piven Theatre Workshop, among others.

Rebecca Dowe is a student in in Port Washington, WI. She is a dancer (ballet, pointe and jazz) and is very active in 4-H, as an Ambassador and Junior Leader. Rebecca also participates in natural pageants, and was proud to be the National American Miss Wisconsin Pre-Teen Cover Girl in 2011.

Michael Ryan has seven years of experience on stage, in  film, and modeling. He enjoys acting. He did a National Television Commercial for the American Lung Association; has appeared in “Dhoom 3,” a Bollywood film; and has modeled for Kohl’s, Sears, and DeSanti Talent.

Flavia Gama and Reena Calm

Karen Muriella and Dean Gordon

Sarah Militello

Sue Achwat