|
Meet the
Cast:
Leonato - Ron
Dauphinee
This is the first time Ron has performed with the Park Players,
and he is both grateful to Hannah Wilkerson for casting him -
and - for being a part of such an outstanding cast. Ron's
last role in a
Shakespeare production was way back in 1997 at the ACTA
theatre in Trussville, when he played Thesues, in
A Midsummer Night's
Dream. Since then Ron has been active not only
in other shows at ACTA, but, also at
South City Theatre in Alabaster, at
Birmingham
Children's Theatre, and, most often, in Birmingham, at Theatre
Downtown. His last role was as Juror #10, in the TDT
production of
12 Angry Men. Theatre has been an avocation for
Ron most of his life and he is enjoying being able to be
more active at it since he retired from his insurance
underwriter "day (and "pay") job" a year ago. He hopes
that you will enjoy the play today, and, that you will tell your
friends, so they can (hopefully) plan to come and enjoy it too.
 Hero
- Emily Lunsford
Emily makes her Park Players debut in Much Ado. She is
thrilled to have the opportunity to perform Shakespeare for the
first time with such a great group of friends and the lovely
Hannah W. as director. In the past year, Emily has appeared as
“Ann Deever” in All My Sons, “Vera Claythorne” in And
Then There Were None, (both at ACTA)
“Emily Webb” in Our Town and “Mary Bennet” in
Pride and Prejudice (at South City Theatre). She would like
to dedicate her performance to all those ‘on quest’ for the
true, deeper meanings behind the Bard and his great works-
particularly Theater of the Word, Inc. and Joseph Pearce.
 Beatrice
-
Susan Cook
Susan has wanted to play this role since
she first read the show, and is thrilled to have the opportunity to do so under
the excellent direction of Hannah Wilkerson. In April, Susan appeared as "Eliza
Doolittle" in
My Fair Lady, and other favorite roles include:
The Spitfire Grill (Percy Talbott),
The Crucible
(Abigail
Williams),
Beauty and the
Beast (Belle),
Pride and
Prejudice (Elizabeth Bennett),
Noises Off
(Belinda Blair),
The Taming of the Shrew (Katherine Minola),
Steel Magnolias
(Shelby), and Cinderella (Cinderella). A newcomer to
Park Players, Susan is excited to be a part of such a great cast of old friends
and new.
 Don
Pedro - Clay Boyce
Clay is thrilled to be working on
the show he missed the first time park players presented it due
to a leg injury! He is the president of the Birmingham
Area Theatre Alliance (BATA) and the Community Theatre Chair for
the Alabama Conference of Theatre (ACT). He just finished
directing Driving Miss Daisy for South City Theatre in
March and is looking forward to directing Noises Off
for Park Players in July. Some of his favorite roles have
been George in Of Mice and Men, Hamlet and the Beast in
the Leeds Arts Council's production of Disney's Beauty and
the Beast. He would like to thank his wife, Vicki and
his daughter, Victoria, for all the love and support they give
him!
back to top^
 Don
John - Cliff Keen
Cliff is happy to return to the Park Players this year after a
successful run as Petruchio in
Taming of the
Shrew. He has been keeping busy being on stage and
from the director's chair, having appeared as George in
All My Sons
at ACTA in
Trussville, directed A South City Christmas at SCT,
and directed & starred in Let's Murder Marsha at the
Leeds Arts Council. He is currently directing
My Fair Lady
which opens in April. He will be directing Oliver in the
summer for LAC and
Agnes of God for SCT in September. Cliff is
the Director of Operations at
Pizza Hut,
when not doing theatre. He would like to thank Mark for his
friendship and his family for all their love. Thanks to Hannah
for allowing me to come back and play with Clay and the Park
Players!
 Benedick
- Kenny Morris
Kenny
is delighted for the opportunity to portray one of his favorite
characters from Shakespeare’s works.
Most recently he was seen as Henry Higgins in LAC’s
production of My Fair
Lady. In
October and January he performed as John Proctor and then as
Chris Keller in Arthur Miller’s
The Crucible and
All My Sons.
This past summer he directed Jane Austen’s
Pride and Prejudice
at South City Theatre.
He is currently writing an adaptation of
Wuthering
Heights
which he will direct in October 2010 at Theatre Downtown.
Personally, he shares many characteristics with Benedick
-- including his quick wit, loyalty, honorable nature, and his
periodic but persistent lack of self-knowledge!
 Claudio
- Cris Morriss
Cris is excited to be working with
Park Players for the first time. A graduate of
Homewood
High School in 1998, Cris
went on to get his BA in Theatre from Jacksonville State
University (2004). Recent
credits include The Wizard in
Wizard of Oz, Colonel
in Play to Win: A Jackie Robinson Musical,
and Professor/Aslan/Father Christmas in
The Lion the Witch and the
Wardrobe, all at Birmingham Children’s Theatre. Other local credits include
Pa Joad/Jim Casey in
Of Grapes and Nuts and
Boyd Graham in The Big Bang, both at
Terrific New Theatre. Cris would like to thank his family for all of their
support, and would like to dedicate all of his performances to his daughter,
Madeleine.
 Margaret
-
Jill Casey
Jill is excited to be part of her first production with Park
Players. She received her BA in Theatre from Union
University; therefore, she is a
coffee Barista by day and an actor by night. Her Birmingham credits
include, The Laramie Project (Ensemble),
The Lion, The Witch, and
the Wardrobe
(Lucy) and Disney’s
Beauty and The Beast (Babette). She is so very grateful to
Hannah for letting her be a part of her directorial debut; I
hope we do you proud.
 Borachio
- Tanner McCracken
Tanner is reprising his role as Borachio,
having portrayed him during his first season with Park Players
back in 2003. Other Park Players shows include
A Midsummer
Night's Dream,
The Tempest,
Comedy of Errors,
Shadowlands, and
The Taming of the Shrew. Outside of Park Players, he
has appeared in Take Me Out and Screwups @ BFT,
as well as Project Codename: Vulcan's Underpants
and
Thanksgiving on Trailer Park Avenue with
Extemporaneous Theatre Company.
back to top^
 Dogberry
- Casey Camp
Casey comes from Calhoun Theatre. This is his
first show with Park Players. Some of his favorite roles include
Antonio in The Merchant Of Venice, Capulet in Romeo
And Juliet, Bottom in A Midsummer Nights Dream,
and Skelly Mannor in The Rimers Of Eldrich. Casey would
like to thank B&B at Calhoun for giving him the opportunity to
learn and develop the craft. Thanks to the CT company: you are
family. Thanks to Hannah for casting me and to the rest of the
Park Players Company for making me feel at home.
 Antonia
-
Martha Crotty
Martha is most appreciative for this
first opportunity to do the Bard with Park Players .She has performed as
Madame Arcati in Blythe Spirit and as Lady
Catherine DeBourgh in
Pride and Prejudice. Martha is currently employed as
a counselor with
Birmingham City Schools and lives in Hoover with her
husband and five animals.
Ursula - Amy Harlan
Amy is excited to make her Park Players debut with
Much
Ado About Nothing.
Amy has been appearing in shows around
Birmingham
beginning with The Little Princess
with ACTA as Marie. She has also been seen in
Noises Off as Dotty Otley/ Mrs.
Clackett and The Christmas Carol as
Mrs. Cratchit, also with ACTA. She has also worked with LJCC and Leeds Arts
Council as Stage Manager. Amy loves to Stage Manage and Assistant Direct any
chance she gets. Amy wants to send
her many thanks to Hannah for this opportunity, as well as the tip to get her
started doing shows in town. It's all thanks to you!
 Balthasar
- Bates Redwine
This is Bates Redwine’s first Park Players production and second
Shakespeare play since college, when he portrayed Touchstone in
As You Like It.
After a twenty year absence, he returned to the stage last year at
Theatre LJCC as Dr. Hyman in
Broken Glass, and as an ensemble member of
The Who’s Tommy.
Bates also recently played Patrick O’Reilly in
BFT’s
The Musical ,Comedy Murders of 1940.
Some favorite past roles include Moon in
The Real Inspector Hound, Baylor in
A Lie of the Mind, and Parris in
The Crucible.
Bates is a member of Alpha Psi Omega, national honorary theatre
society.
He is proud to be part of
Birmingham’s incredibly vibrant theatre
community!
 Girl
- Victoria Boyce
Victoria
thrilled to be back with Park Players.
Other shows she has done with Park Players are
Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet,
and
A Midsummer’s Night Dream.
Other theaters she has acted with are The Leeds Art
Counsel
(Beauty and the Beast),
The LJCC (The
Pajama Game and
High School Musical),
and Center Stage (Music
Man). She has
also done some tech work for MCAT (Pippin),
Center Stage (Thoroughly
Modern Mille, Guys and Dolls),
and BFT (Over
the River).
She would like to thank her mom for teaching her, her dad
for introducing her to theater, her best friends Aaron, Spenser,
and Noelle for supporting her, and her drama teachers Francie
Gardner and Sandy Dittmer.
 Townsperson,
Ursula Understudy - Yvonne Gauntt
Yvonne first appeared
with Park Players in last summer's production of
Taming of the Shrew.
She had so much fun that she decided to do it again. She is once
again appearing with her husband and eldest daughter, and would
like to thank her two middle daughters for babysitting their
sometimes irrational little sister again so she could do this.
 The
Watch - Craig Sanderson
This is Craig's first production with Park Players. He began
acting at age 54, because memorizing lines is a great way to
find out whether or not you have Alzheimer's. His only
experience to date is with the Lakeside Baptist drama group.
Some of his roles include The Professor/Wise Man in The Full
Cup, The apostle Thomas in Twelve Ordinary Men, a
Revolutionary War father in
The Inheritance,
and Judge Potter in Miracle on Every Street. He
appreciates this opportunity for a shot at the big time. Finally
Craig wishes to state that the fact that he is employed by the
Federal Government and serves as an Irondale City Councilman,
has absolutely nothing to do with his being selected to portray
a pompous and incompetent public official.
Verges - Todd Ponder
Todd is thrilled to be performing
in his second production of
Much Ado About Nothing, having previously played the role of
Don Pedro in a production at Jefferson State Jr. College, where
he has also played Bottom in
A Midsummer Night's Dream. Todd
was last seen as Peter in
*romeo/juliet* and Nym in
Henry V for
MUSE
of Fire at Sloss Furnace. He played Boolie in the highly
successful and critically acclaimed production of
Driving Miss Daisy at
South City Theatre. For Park Players, he has played Antonio in
Twelfth Night, Lord
Capulet in Romeo & Juliet
and Duke Solinus/Balthasar in
Comedy of
Errors. Todd would
like to thank Hannah and the cast & crew for making this a
FANTASTIC production. He would also like to thank Park Players
for introducing him to his future sweetheart, the incredibly
talented Lisa Weaver!! Can't imagine where I'd be without you,
sweetie!! Love you so much!
Todd would like to dedicate his performance to his beloved
father, Aaron Ponder, who passed away on April 10, 2010 after a
long battle with
Parkinson's disease.
Watch - Steven Ross
Steven is a fixture of
Park Players since the beginning of time, or at least the
beginning of Park Players. A
Birmingham Native Steven fell in love with theatre in high
School. After a fifteen-year absence in theatre Steven returned
to the stage with the Canterbury players, playing Tito Mereli in
"Lend me a Tenor" in 1997. Since then he has been part of
several Canterbury productions and has also been seen on stage
with LJCC, Garden Variety Shakespeare, South City and four Park
Player Productions. Steven favorite role was Nick in Birmingham
Festival’s production of “Over the River and Through the
Woods”. Steven made his directorial debut with Park Players’ "A
Midsummer Nights Dream" in 2004, and directed Comedy of Errors
in 2007. He has worked as Assistant Director in Park Players
“The Complete Work of William Shakespeare (abridged), South
City’s “Driving Miss Daisy” and Leeds Arts Council "The Odd
Couple (female version). When not on stage he can be seen
running lights, sound and more often behind a camera taking
scene shots and headshots. On the board of Park Players Steven
has worked as Location Manager, Publicity, Box Office, Actor,
Grip, Sound tech, Lighting and all around Gofer.
back to top^
 Townsperson/Watch
- Melody Ann Taylor
Melody Ann is so excited to
perform (if not speak) her first Shakespeare with Park Players!
Melody is new to Birmingham and it's theater world, but you may
have seen her as Dorothy in
Alys
Stephens
Center's
Down the Yellow Brick
Road. Melody holds a BM in Musical Theater from
Ouachita
Baptist
University
where her credits included Brigitta-Sound
of Music, Snake/dancer-Children
of Eden and various other
animal and children characters (the specialty of the vertically
challenged). She has performed as a Featured Dancer in Stephen
Foster the Musical in the historical Bardstown, KY, and was
honored to be a part of the World Premier and Educational Tour
of the new play One Ninth
in cooperation with The Arkansas Rep. She is so thankful to have
landed in the B-ham, and looks forward to diving into the arts
here! Soli Deo Gloria.
 Cinder
- Beth Ashton
Beth is a working actor, and therefore recognizes her good
fortune. (Albeit tongue in cheek!) She studied a
BA/MA at The
University of Winchester, and has worked with
some of the world's most dynamic practitioners,
including The
Living Theatre and
Augusto Boal. Besides the Theatre, she has
many other frivolous passions. Some of which include
her joy for music and travelling, good food, books,
and being politically incorrect at every moment
possible. Beth believes Theatre is a tool for
education as well as entertainment, and has enjoyed
working with Alabama's youth through various
programs - including MCAT's Summer Workshops. Some
of her accolades include roles in Steel
Magnolias, Romeo
& Juliet, Machinal,
Under
Milk Wood, Top Girls, Mother Courage, and
most recently in MCAT's The
Laramie Project at The Virginia Samford
Theatre. Beth would like to thank her beautiful
sister, Uzume. The wisest sage there is. Also Willy
Shakes himself, for the legacy she has enjoyed since
childhood sitting on Gran's knee. She also wishes he
were still here today, so she could take him for a
beer and talk about weather.
"For we, which now behold these
present days, Have
eyes to wonder, but lack tongues
to praise." Sonnet
106
 Friar
Francis -Terry Hermes
This is Terry's eighth--yes--eighth--time in a
Park Players production. His first was back in 2003, when he
played Shallow in
The Merry Wives of Windsor. His second, in that same
summer, was in--tada!--Much Ado About Nothing. That time
he played Antonio, a character who, in this version, has had a
sex change, and no doubt for the better. Favorite roles down
the years in the park have included Claude in Headset,
Friar Laurence in
Romeo and Juliet, and
Toby Belch in
Twelfth Night. He has been seen on many other stages
besides the great outdoors. Highlights
include George in Theatre Downtown's production of Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Aaronov in Glengarry Glen Ross
(also Theatre Downtown), Dolan in BFT's production of Line,
three different stints as Ralph the Storyteller in different
productions of
A Christmas Story, various Shakespearean roles for
Muse of Fire, and most recently, Juror number 4 in Twelve
Angry Men. Lovely to be back in the park helping to bring
to life the words of the greatest writer the English language
has ever known.
Watch - Elizabeth Gauntt
Elizabeth is
a full time high school student. Her most recent role with the
Park Players was as a servant in
Taming of the Shrew.
She has appeared in only one other Players production,
Twelfth Night, as a
Surfer Girl. Her roles outside of Park Players have included
Miss Tenny in High School
Musical, Nanny in 101
Dalmatians, a chorus member in
Grease, and First
Officer Murdock in
Titanic. She appears in this show with both her parents and
leaves her three sisters, one dog, one cat, and ten hamsters (at
last count) behind because none of them bothered to audition.
Sexton/Townsperson - David Gauntt
David performed as Baptista Minola in Park Players'
production of Taming of
the Shrew, and as Sir Andrew in
Twelfth Night. He has also appeared as The Notary in Opera
Birmingham's
The Barber of Seville, a role
suspiciously close to The Sexton.
When not appearing onstage with his wife and daughter, he helps
raise three more daughters, designs x-ray machines, and teaches
middle school students how to design and build robots.
 Townsperson
- Noelle Gunn
Noelle is a senior in high school, and her passion is
theatre. She is thrilled to be joining Hannah in her first
Shakespearean endeavor,
Much Ado About Nothing .She has been seen in
Beauty and The Beast, A Christmas Carol,
The Pirates of Penzance,
Anne of
Green Gables ,Fiddler
on the Roof ,Grease
and most recently in
My Fair Lady.
Noelle would like to thank Hannah for giving her the opportunity
to be a member of this amazing cast, her parents and siblings
for their love and encouragement, and to her
best friends,
Hannah and Alex,
for being a constant source of support.
Messenger - Carter Sanderson
Carter is excited to be
taking part in his first production with Park
Players. A 2004 graduate of Shades Valley High
School, Carter is currently a senior at UAB majoring
in accounting and an alumnus of Delta Sigma Phi
fraternity. He began his theatre career as a child
with ACTA, where he portrayed the role of Edmund in
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
However, his acting career there was cut tragically
short when the theatre switched primarily to
musicals and they heard him sing for the first time.
More recent roles include several minor parts in
The Grapes of Wrath at UAB and multiple roles at
Lakeside Baptist Church including the
Waiter/Shepherd in The Full Cup, the apostle
Phillip in Twelve Ordinary Men, a WWII
soldier in The Inheritance and Jesus in
Miracle on Every Street (playing against type,
of course). Carter is currently youth drama
director at Lakeside. He would like to thank
Hannah for this opportunity and remind her that one
should not kill the Messenger.
 Director/Choreographer
-
Hannah Wilkerson
Hannah is delighted to make her
Birmingham
directorial debut with
Much Ado About Nothing.
She feels blessed to work with an extraordinary cast and
crew and is grateful to Park Players for trusting her with this
production.
Normally, Hannah is seen onstage, most recently appearing in
The Laramie Project.
Other favorite roles around Birmingham include Claire in
Proof, Maria in
The Sound of Music,
Poppy in Noises Off,
Bianca in Taming
of the Shrew, Charlotte in
Pride and Prejudice
and Mrs. Potts in
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
Hannah holds a BFA in Theatre from
William
Carey
University.
During her school days, she played a few of Shakespeare's
ladies: Beatrice,
Portia, Titania - and one of his men: Dogberry (her favorite
role to date).
Hannah would like to thank her family for their loving support,
Bill Provin and Bubba Godsey for their mentorship and her
sweetheart Drew, for putting up with her schedule!
 Stage
Manager - Mike Oakes
Mike
is one of the founding
members of Park Players. Unlike the rest of his fellow board
members he has no desire to be on stage and act. Although he can
be persuaded to act like a Klingon now and again. He is much
happier being behind the set in his role as the 'strong back -
weak mind' of the group. He has Staged Managed for Garden
Variety Shakespeare in "King
Lear" and "Hamlet".
For Park Players in "Romeo and
Juliet", "The Merry Wives
of Windsor" "Othello" and
"The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" and
the recent production of
"Driving Miss Daisy" for the South City Theatre. When not
being the roadie for Park Players he works at UAB as a network
administrator.
back to top^
 Set
Designer - Stephen French
Stephen landed in Birmingham where he set about acting in and
directing the kind of theatre he loved. Basically anything
twisted (Hiding Behind Comets at B'ham Festival Theatre), seedy
(The Little Dog Laughed at BFT), deviant (Quills at BFT), and
goofy (well, this...). In rare forays into the relatively
normal, Stephen has also been seen onstage with Muse of Fire
(Henry V, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream), Red Mountain
Theatre (Chicago), and The Birmingham Children's Theatre (Peter
and the Wolf, A Christmas Carol, and The Best Christmas Pageant
Ever).
|
