CAST AND CREDITS

Cast

Estragon – Tony Freeman
Pozzo – Dion Graham
Lucky – Eric Hissom
Vladimir – Paul Kassel

Stage Manager

Cornelia Reed

Projection Art Designer

Isaac Luangnikone

Playwright

Samuel Beckett

BACKGROUND

More than 40 years ago, all these actors were involved in a college production of the play at Miami University of Ohio. All are professional actors, with credits in film, television, on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theatre.

“We’re all finally the right ages to play the roles,” Tony Freeman said, “So, we thought we’d get it back together.”

In addition to the March 19 performance at NIU, on April 21, the cast will return to Miami for a staged reading of the play in the new XR Stage—an immersive technology space.

Dean Paul Kassel initiated the project. “As I look past my time as dean (June 2026), I’m returning to my roots as an actor and theatre artist. This reading seemed like a wonderful way to not only re-create one of the best roles of my life, but a way to reconnect to my friends and the profession.”

BIOGRAPHIES

Tony Freeman (Estragon)

Tony Freeman has appeared in over 250 plays and movies, but particularly enjoyed his 24 years in the Broadway, national, and international tour casts of The Lion King, where he played Scar, Zazu, and BOTH of the comic roles of Timon and Pumbaa. He did Tony Kushner’s musical Caroline, or Change (directed by George C. Wolfe) in Los Angeles and San Francisco with most of the original Broadway cast (including Tony Award winners Chuck Cooper, Tonya Pinkins, Anika Noni Rose, and Ben Platt).

He’s performed guest roles on both Law and Order (twice) and Law and Order, SVU. He worked on a new musical by Kander and Ebb (of Chicago and Cabaret fame) and Joseph Stein (who wrote Fiddler on the Roof) called All About Us. It starred Tony Award winners Shuler Hensley and Cady Huffman, as well as the amazing Eartha Kitt. Tony won a Barrymore Award for his performance in Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along at the Arden Theatre and was nominated for three other Barrymore Awards, including one for The Goodbye Girl, in which he starred opposite Donna McKechnie (Tony Award winning original Cassie in A Chorus Line). Tony appeared in Applause at Encores in NYC, directed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall and starring two-time Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole. He’s done workshops with both Barry Manilow and Neil Simon on shows each was developing. Tony spent two years as an acting teacher and guest professional actor at Cornell University.

Eric Hissom (Lucky)

Eric Hissom is a Washington DC-based actor, director and playwright, with an M.F.A. from Florida State University’s Asolo Conservatory, and B.A. from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. His New York-based credits include the national tour of The 39 Steps, and the off-broadway production of China: the Whole Enchilada. His DC-area credits include productions at Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, Shakespeare Theater Company, Round House Theater, Theater J, Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre and Folger Shakespeare, where he won a Helen Hayes award for his performance in Arcadia. His regional credits include productions at Seattle Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, Asolo Rep, Milwaukee Rep, Geva Theatre, Asolo Rep, Syracuse Stage, and many others. He was a company member at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre for several years, where he acted, directed, taught, and served as Director of PlayFest, OST’s new play development program. He recently directed the world premier of his play Rude Mechanics at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, New York to critical acclaim. He has a smattering of film and TV credits, including a turn as the hotel clerk who Denzel Washington knocks out in the feature film Out of Time.

Dion Graham (Pozzo)

Dion Graham from HBO’s The Wire is thrilled to be here for this trip back to the future with these rude mechanicals (beautiful humans)! Broadway: Machinal (w/Rebecca Hall), Not About Nightingales (also London’s Royal National Theatre, dir. Trevor Nunn); Kennedy Center: The Movement Revisited (w/Christian McBride); International: The Gospel At Colonus (Edinburgh Int’l Festival, dir. Lee Breur), Pillars (Ibsen Conference, Norway); Off-Broadway: On The Levee, Lobby Hero (Lortel Award nom.), 10 Things To Do Before I Die, A Hard Heart, Washington Square Moves, 2, A View Of The Dome, Watbanaland, Elliot Loves among others. Premieres and classics in NYC and at numerous leading regional theatres. Film/TV: Madam Secretary (Fred Cole), The Blacklist, Elementary, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, Malcom X, Mercy, The Good Wife, Gossip Girl, NYPD Blue, Homicide, Hoop Life, Hack, Law and Order and more.  He has worked with a diverse group of directors ranging from Trevor Nunn to Spike Lee, from Avery Brooks to Mike Nichols. In addition, he’s an award winning and highly esteemed audiobook narrator.  He’s also the series narrator for A&E’s The First 48. Critically acclaimed, his performances have been praised as thoughtful and compelling, vivid and full of life. 

Paul Kassel (Vladimir)

Paul Kassel (he/him) is the Dean for the College of Visual and Performing Arts and a full professor in the School of Theatre and Dance at Northern Illinois University. He manages the operation of the Schools of Art and Design, Music, and Theatre and Dance. Paul also oversees the operations of the NIU Art Museum and the Community School of the Arts (CSA).  Paul’s book, Acting: An Introduction to the Art and Craft of Playing, was published by Pearson in 2006. He recently created a Substack– Playing: Notes on the art and craft of acting. He was the editor of The Players’ Journal,  an e-journal by and for actors and teachers of acting from 2004-2016. In New York City for eleven years as a professional actor, director, and writer, Paul worked off, and off-off Broadway, in regional theaters, and in several films and television shows. Paul has maintained his professional career since entering academia, most recently performing the role of “Stage Manager” in Our Town (2019) and directing Romeo and Juliet (2020) with Kane Repertory Theatre in St. Charles, Illinois. Paul is currently developing a cabaret act of musical theatre songs that surveys love from inception to maturity. Paul received his M.F.A. in Performance from the Florida State/Asolo Conservatory of Professional Actor Training. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association  and the Screen Actors’ Guild/American Federation of Radio and Television Artists. 

Cornelia Reed, stage manager

Cornelia Reed is a third year M.F.A. acting candidate. You may have seen her on the NIU stage as Elizabeth in Mary Stuart, Elizabeth in Witch, Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, or as Fiona in In a Word. She graduated with a B.A. from Northwestern College in 2020, double majoring in theatre and marketing. She also holds a Diploma in Classic Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Cornelia has worked professionally across the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and London. Before coming to NIU, she toured with Taproot Theatre Company, a regional theatre in Seattle. Stage credits include: The Last Five Years (Cathy), Next to Normal (Diana), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Rosaline), The Changeling (Beatrice), Shrek: The Musical (Fiona), Noises Off (Belinda), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Siobhan). Film/commercial credits include: The Alternative, Washington State Department of Health commercial, Real Northwestern. Thanks to my family and my husband Harry for all the continual love and support. Instagram: @iamunicornelia 

Isaac Luangnikone, projection art designer

Isaac Luangnikone is a 3D artist and motion graphics designer specializing in digital visuals and animation. With a background in fine arts and graphic design, blending technology and creativity to make visual experiences. Isaac earned his bachelor of fine arts in time arts from the Northern Illinois University School of Art and Design and continues to explore innovative ways to push the boundaries of motion design

Waiting For Godot is produced by permission of Dramatist Play Service. All performers are members of Artist Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television Artists.