Press Room:
Deathtrap

Stephen Klum (Sidney Bruhl) began his career in theater in 1971 when a friend asked him to perform two roles in a community theater production of A Christmas Carol.  Up until that time, he had been unsure – quite unsure – of what to do for a living.

 On opening night in November 1971, at the age of 20, the curtain rose and Stephen felt the awe and rush of performing live.  From that moment on, he was sure that professional acting was for him.  After performing in three or four more productions, he went back to Ohio University (then one of 10 Professional League of Acting Training programs), where he earned his bachelor of Fine Arts degree under the tutelage of Dr. Robert L. Hobbs, a nationally known acting training coach. 

In his program, Stephen studied dance and voice with guest artists Jerome Robbins, William Burdick of the Metropolitan Opera Company, and James Earl Jones; Shakespeare with Kathleen Stafford of the Old Vic School of Acting; as well as three years’ training in the Arthur Lessac Voice Method.  The curriculum also included training in fencing (foil and saber) under renowned fight choreographer Paddy Crean of the Stratford, Ontario Shakespeare Festival (most famed as Errol Flynn’s sword-fighting double in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1939)); commedia dell ‘arte under Bari Rolff; and Le Coq Mask Technique under Craig Turner.

In Hobbs’ program, actors trained for three years in modern dance, ballet, jazz, and tap; stage combat (hand-to-hand and sword and knives); singing and dialect work; as well as eight weeks of circus training.  All in all, a 12-hour-a-day, six-day-a-week, exhausting and enlightening training program.  Dr. Hobbs is currently retired and living in Maine. 

After following Dr. Hobbs from Ohio University to the University of Washington in Seattle (Master of Fine Arts program), Stephen ventured out into the world of theatrical employment; earning his first job in Henry V at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre.  From there, he worked in regional theater from Seattle to Miami in productions of Sherlock Holmes (title role), Tartuffe (title role), Night of the Iguana (Shannon), Cloud Nine (Clive/Edward), The Mystery of Irma Vep (Lady Enid/Nicodemus), Tuna Christmas (the thin characters)’ and Duchess of Mafi (Ferdinand), to name a few.  Willows Theatre patrons will remember Stephen as Daddy Warbucks in last year’s production of Annie.  His musical credits include Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Reverend Crisparkle in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Henry in The Fantasticks to, again, name a few. 

In New York City, where Stephen lived for 10 years, he worked Off Off Broadway in numerous shows and made regular appearances on the TV soap operas Guiding Light and One Life to Live. 

Since moving to the Bay Area in late 1997, Stephen has worked mostly as a Shakespearean actor with such companies as California Shakespeare Theater, where he played Kent in King Lear, Antonio in Merchant of Venice, and Alonzo in The Tempest, and  the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, where he has taken on the roles of Boyet in Love’s Labors’ Lost, Feste in Twelfth Night, and presently Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, which closes Sunday, September 18^th, the day before the first Preview performance of Deathtrap. 

Other contemporary Bay Area credits include Robert in Proof, Phil in Inspecting Carol, and the world premiere musical Hans Christian Andersen at ACT in San Francisco, where Stephen understudied Tony award winner John Glover in the title role. 

Stephen is excited to return to the Willows, playing Sidney in Deathtrap, excited to work with director Rich Elliott again, but also excited to share the stage with Cassidy Brown, who plays Clifford, of whom he has heard such great praise.  He will also reunite with Amy L. Washburn (who plays Helga) who appeared as Miss Hannigan in Annie. 

Stephen resides in Mill Valley and Santa Rosa, where he shares a home with his beautiful partner, Susan, two cats, two dogs, and two birds.

 Cassidy Brown (Clifford Anderson) is happy to be performing in his eighth show at the Willows, where he has also been seen in Treasure Island; You Can’t Take It With You; Teahouse of the August Moon; Jackie; Look Homeward, Angel; To Kill a Mockingbird; and My Sister Eileen.  He holds an M.F.A. in Acting/Directing from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Sonoma State University. 

Cassidy is the casting director for the Willows Theatre and director of youth programs for the Willows Theatre Conservatory, where he recently directed the East Bay premiere of Urinetown: The Musical. 

Other acting credits include appearances with Shotgun Players (Meyerhold in The Death of Meyerhold (Dean Goodman Choice Award) and Boris Annenkhov in The Just); Porchlight Theatre (A Month in the Country); The Missouri Rep (Julius Caesar, A Christmas Carol); and the S.F. Fringe Festival, as well as locally, nationally and internationally with The Traveling Lantern Theater Company.

Cassidy is also a founding member of the improvisational comedy troupe The Original Action Pack and a current member of the Improv Revolution Allstars.  He is a member of the San Francisco Improv Cooperative, a member of the Theater Services Committee for Theatre Bay Area, and a company member with Shotgun Players, where he will soon be playing another Clifford, in their upcoming production of Cabaret.

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1776
Noises OFF
Cabaret
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Deathtrap
2005 John Muir Summer Festival
Over the Tavern
Judgment at Nuremberg
AIDA