Berkeley Rep’s OVATION 2022

Rodrick Covington is honored to support Berkeley Rep, and is thrilled for the upcoming world premiere of Goddess where he will make his Berkeley Rep debut with the portrayal of Ahmed. He appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning, Grammy-nominated revival of Once On This Island and The Lion King where he portrayed Banzai. His favorite off-Broadway credits include Invisible Thread at Second Stage, Joan of Arc at The Public, Central Avenue at Signature Theatre where he won Best Performance and Best Show in the NTMF. His favorite regional theatre credits include the world premiere of Witness Uganda at ART, Pippin at the Mark Taper, Miss Saigon (Best Actor nomination) at North Shore, Pal Joey at Boston Court, The Brothers Size at Syracuse Stage, Venice at Kirk Douglas Theatre, In the Red and Brown Water (Best Actor nomination) at Alliance Theatre, The Brother/Sister Trilogy (Best Actor nomination) at Steppenwolf, and Jelly’s Last Jam (Best Actor nomination) at Alliance. He has a BFA from SUNY Purchase and is also a proud business owner of a wellness studio in NYC for performers, producers, agents, managers, and directors on Broadway/TV/film called Core Rhythm Fitness.

Adrian Blake Enscoe is an actor and musician from Brooklyn, NY. Originally growing up in the rustic outlands of upstate New York, he went on to complete a BFA in Theater at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, before landing in NYC and founded the critically acclaimed, internationally touring acoustic indie folk band Bandits on the Run. In addition to songwriting, singing, and playing guitar with the Bandits — whose last year has included recording their EP Now Is The Time with producer Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile), producing songs for the Netflix show Storybots, writing and starring in a filmed musical (The Band at the End of the World), and developing an immersive music theatre experience with NYC’s newest park, Little Island NYC — Adrian stars opposite Hailee Steinfeld as Austin Dickinson in the Apple TV+ breakout hit Dickinson, a half hour comedy revisioning the life of Emily Dickinson, which just aired its third and final season. Adrian was honored to join the cast and team in Swept Away to make his Berkeley Rep debut! @adrian.blake.enscoe @banditsontherun

Photo by Stephanie Diani

Broadway: The Last Ship, The Lyons, American Idiot, A Man for All Seasons. NY: Catch as Catch Can (Page 73), Lazarus (NYTW), Tales From Red Vienna (MTC), Assistance (Playwrights Horizons), The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide… (The Public). Regional: Seared (Williamstown), The Glass Menagerie (London’s West End). Film: Ben Is Back, Runner Runner, Frances Ha, All Good Things, A Beautiful Mind. TV: Ray Donovan, Nurse Jackie (Showtime); The Outsider (HBO); Trust (FX); The Family (ABC); Shades of Blue (NBC).

Rebecca Naomi Jones is thrilled to be supporting Berkeley Rep, where she has previously appeared in American Idiot and Passing Strange. For her portrayal of Laurey in Daniel Fish’s acclaimed Broadway revival of Oklahoma!, Rebecca was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Other Broadway performances include Significant Other, Hedwig and The Angry Inch, American Idiot, and Passing Strange. Select off-Broadway performances include Big Love (Drama League nomination), Murder Ballad (Lilly award and Lucille Lortel nomination), Describe the Night (Obie Award for Best Play), and Rosalind in Public Works’ production of As You Like It, a role she will reprise this summer at the Delacorte Theater. Select film and TV credits include Someone Great, The Outside Story, The Big Sick, Passing Strange, Strangers, High Maintenance, Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, Inside Amy Schumer, Limitless, and the series regular role of Carolyn Franklin in Nat Geo’s third installment of Genius: Aretha.

Photo by Susan Rosenberg Jones

Rita Moreno has won all four of the most prestigious awards in show business: an Oscar, a Tony, two Emmys, and a Grammy. Her countless credits span more than seven decades, beginning with her Broadway debut at age 13. Over her career, she has appeared in more than 40 feature films, and in 2021, she played Valentina in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, a role written specifically for her by Tony Kushner. At Berkeley Rep, she starred in Master Class and The Glass Menagerie, and premiered her one woman show, Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup, directed by Tony Taccone.

Ephraim Sykes was last seen at Berkeley Rep playing David Ruffin in Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations, which later transferred to Broadway and earned Ephraim Tony, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle nominations for his performance. He made his Broadway debut in The Little Mermaid and was in the original casts of Hamilton: An American Musical, Memphis, Newsies, and Motown The Musical. He was last seen in Kathryn Bigelow’s new feature film Detroit, and as Seaweed J. Stubbs on NBC’s Hairspray Live! Ephraim graduated from the Alvin Ailey/Fordham University BFA program with departmental honors and toured with the Ailey II company for two years. His TV/film credits include Marvin in HBO’s Vinyl, Woody Allen’s Crisis in Six Scenes, Marvel’s Netflix series Luke Cage, Leave It on the Floor, Dance Flick, NBC’s Smash, and 30 Rock.