Dr. Gary Stickel  (Creator, Producer, Writer, Director)
     Dr. Stickel received his Ph.D. in Archaeology from UCLA based on Swiss Neolithic underwater sites. The Greek Government gave him the honor to conduct an excavation at the legendary birthplace of Achilles (the main hero of  the Trojan War) at a site called Achilleon. Since childhood, Dr. Stickel has loved Homer's great epic poems the ILIAD and the ODYSSEY, which lead him to create The Homeric Project. Other major projects that Dr. Stickel has conducted  have included his excavation at the legendary "Lost City of the Inca" , Machu Picchu in Peru and his recent discovery of the Farpoint Site in Malibu, CA which has evidence of the first Clovis Culture site ever found directly on the West Coast of the Americas. The discovery of this site was announced to the world by the London Times who called Dr. Stickel "The Real Life Indiana Jones" (the latter is due to the fact that Dr. Stickel was the only actual Archaeologist who served as a consultant to Lucas Films for the development of the Indiana Jones character). Dr. Stickel is committed to the education of children of all ages around the world.


Teresa Armacost - Costuming
     Period costuming is Teresa's passion!  After receiving her degree in Fashion Design she honed her skills: (sketching, patternmaking, french draping, fitting and production) in the Los Angeles Garment industry. Then turning her energies to Costume Design she worked at a Los Angeles live entertainment studio, setting up their new costume department and creating new costumes. After this phase Teresa was a freelance Costume Designer and also worked on over 100 Touring Broadway performances as both non-union and IATSE member at large theaters in the Los Angeles area and in Georgia.

     Her Costume Design credits include: Dr. Stickel's Ilios Ballet (Pepperdine Univ.) and The Odyssey (Mark Taper Auditorium, Los Angeles Central Library, The Bowers Museum, Santa Ana Calif.)  Her community theatre costuming include: Cabrillo Music Theatre, at Thousand Oaks Civic Center, CA, and Athens Community Theatre, Athens Ballet Theatre and Savannah Community Theatre, Georgia.  Her favorite projects include: A Little Night Music, Camelot, A Norman Rockwell Christmas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Nutcracker.  her favorite Broadway Touring shows are: Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Disney's Beauty and The Best.


Leeland Lee - Artistic Director
     Leeland has had a distinguished career as an architectural and interior design photographer among his many talents. We are so fortunate to have his help and support on the project. He is a man with a big heart and an unerring eye.







The Cast:

Pavo Bloomquist (Homer)
     As 2009 unfolds, Pavo's thoughts rush ahead to new performances of The ODYSSEY. He thanks Gary for believing in him for the role of Homer. This is the second original role that Pavo has had in the past year - the other being as Father Francis Tiparary in Kitty's Wake. With over 125 plays to his credit as an actor and director, Pavo looks forward to any new theatrical challenges. Pavo loves this ODYSSEY cast and what they bring to the play.






Elizabeth Del Sol  (Athena)
     Elizabeth Del Sol has been trained in acting at Texas A&M University, at the American Conservatory Theater and at the New York Film Academy. Her film roles have included "Chronicles of Fear" and "Snow White." Her TV roles have included "PSA-Bandit" with Elliot Gould and "The Breaks." Stage roles "Louder I Can't Hear You" and "Noah and the Great Auk."  In addition to The ODYSSEY, she recently starred in the play "The House of Bernardo Alba" by Lorca.



Marshall Fox  (Cyclops, Eumaeus)
    Marshall Fox moved to Los Angeles from Boston, Massachusetts in 2001. He first landed a role in the film "The Haunted Boat" playing the villain "Simon." While "Haunted Boat" toured the film festival circuit Marshall landed parts playing the goofy office assistant in the film short "The Write Stuff" to a prison guard in "The Best Defense." Marshall also landed another villain role in the independent film, "Tristan." Marshall has recently worked on the Emmy award winning drama "ER,".  Playing  a medical student who worked under Dr. Weaver. Marshall is a big fan of improv! He performs at the Upright Citizens Brigade as well as with his own improv troop the NoHo Haha's. You can check out Marshall's website at www.marshallfox.com.



Matt Kelly  (Odysseus)
     Matt Kelly received his B.A. and M.A. at the University of Massachusetts. His film credits include "Pulp Fiction Two" and "No Happy Medium". He has also performed in the theater productions of "The Best Little Whore House in Texas" and "Chicago".








Joseph Kamal  (Zeus, Eurylochus)
     Joseph Kamal is the newest member of our cast.








           Karen Pellant (Penelope)
      Karen Pellant got her B.A. from the U.C. L.A. School of Theater, Film & Television. She was also trained in Shakespeare at King's College in London where she performed as Ophelia in Hamlet and as Lady MacBeth in MacBeth. Her roles for television have included "The Bold and the Beautiful" and the "Tracy Ullman Exposed Show". Her lead film roles have included "Murdered Sleep", "Sordid Lives", "Dark Focus" and "The Last Supper". She has also performed in the ancient Greek plays "Medea" and "The Trojan Women". as well as most recently Gwendolyn Pigeon in Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple”.
     Karen recently wrote, produced, and starred in the short film “Lora Rox” which received a bronze medal award from the 2009 Park City Film/Music Festival.

Mike Pfaff (Poseidon, Antinous)
     Mike Pfaff recently played a Civil War General from the North in a bloody sword battle in the action packed “Civil War” which aired on the History Channel.  Recent principal film credits include a detective in DSDC and a psychotic killer in The Debaser. Recent theatre credits include the upcoming production of "And the Winner is" at the Stillspeaking Theatre from April 18 - May 24, The Boys Next Door (Arnold), Waiting for Lefty (Joe), and Gary’s Gold (Richard).  He was an NCAA division one scholarship athlete in track and continues to be an adrenalin junkie.  Mike is a proud member of SAG and AFTRA.





Joey Puerto (Telemachus, Hermes)

        Joey Puerto is twenty years old and therefore the youngest in the cast. He is the same approximate age as Telemachus in the original poem. He was recommended to the Homeric Project by the Hollywood Actors Studio. This is the first play in which Joey is performing. He is excited that it is based on the classic epic story and he relishes the both the roles of the exuberant son of Odysseus and the messenger of the gods Hermes.  





Brook Heatly




Betsey Stevens (Eurycleia)







Dr. Gary Stickel  (Creator, Producer, Writer, Director)
     Dr. Stickel received his Ph.D. in Archaeology from UCLA based on Swiss Neolithic underwater sites. The Greek Government gave him the honor to conduct an excavation at the legendary birthplace of Achilles (the main hero of  the Trojan War) at a site called Achilleon. Since childhood, Dr. Stickel has loved Homer's great epic poems the ILIAD and the ODYSSEY, which lead him to create The Homeric Project. Other major projects that Dr. Stickel has conducted  have included his excavation at the legendary "Lost City of the Inca" , Machu Picchu in Peru and his recent discovery of the Farpoint Site in Malibu, CA which has evidence of the first Clovis Culture site ever found directly on the West Coast of the Americas. The discovery of this site was announced to the world by the London Times who called Dr. Stickel "The Real Life Indiana Jones" (the latter is due to the fact that Dr. Stickel was the only actual Archaeologist who served as a consultant to Lucas Films for the development of the Indiana Jones character). Dr. Stickel is committed to the education of children of all ages around the world.


Teresa Armacost - Costuming
     Period costuming is Teresa's passion!  After receiving her degree in Fashion Design she honed her skills: (sketching, patternmaking, french draping, fitting and production) in the Los Angeles Garment industry. Then turning her energies to Costume Design she worked at a Los Angeles live entertainment studio, setting up their new costume department and creating new costumes. After this phase Teresa was a freelance Costume Designer and also worked on over 100 Touring Broadway performances as both non-union and IATSE member at large theaters in the Los Angeles area and in Georgia.

     Her Costume Design credits include: Dr. Stickel's Ilios Ballet (Pepperdine Univ.) and The Odyssey (Mark Taper Auditorium, Los Angeles Central Library, The Bowers Museum, Santa Ana Calif.)  Her community theatre costuming include: Cabrillo Music Theatre, at Thousand Oaks Civic Center, CA, and Athens Community Theatre, Athens Ballet Theatre and Savannah Community Theatre, Georgia.  Her favorite projects include: A Little Night Music, Camelot, A Norman Rockwell Christmas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Nutcracker.  her favorite Broadway Touring shows are: Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Disney's Beauty and The Best.


Leeland Lee - Artistic Director
     Leeland has had a distinguished career as an architectural and interior design photographer among his many talents. We are so fortunate to have his help and support on the project. He is a man with a big heart and an unerring eye.







The Cast:

Pavo Bloomquist (Homer)
     As 2009 unfolds, Pavo's thoughts rush ahead to new performances of The ODYSSEY. He thanks Gary for believing in him for the role of Homer. This is the second original role that Pavo has had in the past year - the other being as Father Francis Tiparary in Kitty's Wake. With over 125 plays to his credit as an actor and director, Pavo looks forward to any new theatrical challenges. Pavo loves this ODYSSEY cast and what they bring to the play.






Elizabeth Del Sol  (Athena)
     Elizabeth Del Sol has been trained in acting at Texas A&M University, at the American Conservatory Theater and at the New York Film Academy. Her film roles have included "Chronicles of Fear" and "Snow White." Her TV roles have included "PSA-Bandit" with Elliot Gould and "The Breaks." Stage roles "Louder I Can't Hear You" and "Noah and the Great Auk."  In addition to The ODYSSEY, she recently starred in the play "The House of Bernardo Alba" by Lorca.



Marshall Fox  (Cyclops, Eumaeus)
    Marshall Fox moved to Los Angeles from Boston, Massachusetts in 2001. He first landed a role in the film "The Haunted Boat" playing the villain "Simon." While "Haunted Boat" toured the film festival circuit Marshall landed parts playing the goofy office assistant in the film short "The Write Stuff" to a prison guard in "The Best Defense." Marshall also landed another villain role in the independent film, "Tristan." Marshall has recently worked on the Emmy award winning drama "ER,".  Playing  a medical student who worked under Dr. Weaver. Marshall is a big fan of improv! He performs at the Upright Citizens Brigade as well as with his own improv troop the NoHo Haha's. You can check out Marshall's website at www.marshallfox.com.



Matt Kelly  (Odysseus)
     Matt Kelly received his B.A. and M.A. at the University of Massachusetts. His film credits include "Pulp Fiction Two" and "No Happy Medium". He has also performed in the theater productions of "The Best Little Whore House in Texas" and "Chicago".








Joseph Kamal  (Zeus, Eurylochus)
     Joseph Kamal is the newest member of our cast.








           Karen Pellant (Penelope)
      Karen Pellant got her B.A. from the U.C. L.A. School of Theater, Film & Television. She was also trained in Shakespeare at King's College in London where she performed as Ophelia in Hamlet and as Lady MacBeth in MacBeth. Her roles for television have included "The Bold and the Beautiful" and the "Tracy Ullman Exposed Show". Her lead film roles have included "Murdered Sleep", "Sordid Lives", "Dark Focus" and "The Last Supper". She has also performed in the ancient Greek plays "Medea" and "The Trojan Women". as well as most recently Gwendolyn Pigeon in Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple”.
     Karen recently wrote, produced, and starred in the short film “Lora Rox” which received a bronze medal award from the 2009 Park City Film/Music Festival.

Mike Pfaff (Poseidon, Antinous)
     Mike Pfaff recently played a Civil War General from the North in a bloody sword battle in the action packed “Civil War” which aired on the History Channel.  Recent principal film credits include a detective in DSDC and a psychotic killer in The Debaser. Recent theatre credits include the upcoming production of "And the Winner is" at the Stillspeaking Theatre from April 18 - May 24, The Boys Next Door (Arnold), Waiting for Lefty (Joe), and Gary’s Gold (Richard).  He was an NCAA division one scholarship athlete in track and continues to be an adrenalin junkie.  Mike is a proud member of SAG and AFTRA.





Joey Puerto (Telemachus, Hermes)

        Joey Puerto is twenty years old and therefore the youngest in the cast. He is the same approximate age as Telemachus in the original poem. He was recommended to the Homeric Project by the Hollywood Actors Studio. This is the first play in which Joey is performing. He is excited that it is based on the classic epic story and he relishes the both the roles of the exuberant son of Odysseus and the messenger of the gods Hermes.  





Brook Heatly




Betsey Stevens (Eurycleia)






Project Biographies