Tanner McCracken (Lucentio/Cambio) is happy to be back for his seventh show with Park Players, and he is thrilled to be working with so many new faces! Previous Park Players shows include Shadowlands, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Comedy of Errors. Other credits include Screwups, Cravings, Take Me Out, and Arcadia. Tanner is currently an apprentice member of the Extemporaneous Theatre Co. comedy improv troupe.

Wesley Glass (Tranio) is excited to be doing his first show with Birmingham Park Players. He is a Junior at the University of Alabama where he majoring in Spanish and International Relations and minoring in Theatre. He is also a proud member of the Gamma Gamma cast of Alpha Psi Omega. His favorite credits include Torch Song Trilogy (David) and Dog Sees God (Beethoven). He is very grateful to have had this wonderful experience with an amazing cast and crew. He would like to thank his family and friends for all of their support and the Bard for his words. 

David Gauntt (Baptista) was disemboweled shortly after appearing as Sir Andrew in Park Players' Twelfth Night (everyone's a critic!).  This scared him off the stage for a few years; however, as the father of four daughters he identifies enough with Baptista to return in Taming of the Shrew.  In recent years he has traumatized audiences with his appearances as Abner Dillon in 42nd Street, Parchester in Me and My Girl, the Wino in Little Shop of Horrors, Franz the Nazi Butler in The Sound of Music, and the Notary in The Barber of Seville. He and his wife Yvonne met while singing choruses in public with the Stanford Savoyard, having appeared in almost everything written by Gilbert and Sullivan.  In this production he appears with his wife Yvonne and daughter Elizabeth, and looks forward to appearing in future productions with daughters Bianca, Maggie, and Patricia.

Lee Fowler (Gremio)is excited to be appearing with Park Players for the first time with the wonderful cast of Taming of the Shrew.  A Birmingham resident since 1999, Lee has appeared in numerous productions, including Little Shop of Horrors, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, Cabaret, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Into the Woods.  Thanks to Clay, cast, and crew for the chance to perform!

Rachel Clevenger (Katherina) is delighted to work with an amazing cast and director in her first Park Players performance.  In the last year, since she discovered community theatre, she has worked with Park Players, Montevallo Main Street Players and South City Theatre. Her favorite past roles include Frankie in Christmas Belles, Gwendolyn Pigeon in The Odd Couple, and Lillian Gilbreath in Cheaper by the Dozen, all at South City Theatre in Alabaster.

Barry Perkins (Hortensio) is delighted to be in his first Park Players production and grew up acting.  He’s appeared in ABC’s October Road and in Warner Bros. One Missed Call.  He just finished a successful run of the production Beauty and the Beast where he appeared as Monsieur Dar’que/Wolf/Villager.  Currently, he works at St. Vincent’s East on MOU as an LPN; he also works at Atrox Factory, a local charity haunted house.

Hannah Wilkerson (Bianca/Katherina understudy) This is Hannah's first production with Park Players. She is thrilled to return to her theatrical roots with one of her favorite comedies by William Shakespeare.  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 man: Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing (her favorite role to date).  Hannah's recent performances in the Birmingham area include Mrs Potts in Disney's Beauty and the Beast (LAC), Charlotte in Pride and Prejudice (SCT), Poppy in Noises Off! (ACTA) and Maria in The Sound of Music (LAC & LJCC).  She wishes to thank Bill for his mentorship and Clay for letting her come play!

Kate Jenkins (Biondella) is thrilled to be appearing in her first Park Players production! She is a Birmingham Southern College graduate with a degree in Theatre. Her previous theatre credits include Miss Julie, As You Like It, Ah! Wilderness and Extremities. She has also appeared in various independent film projects. Kate would like to thank her family and friends for their collective support, and the entire cast and crew for a wonderful experience.

Cliff Keen Jr. (Petruchio) is pleased to being doing his first show with Park Players. He is just coming off from directing the highly successful Beauty and the Beast at the Leeds Arts Council. He also directed Over the River and the Through the Woods, The Sound of Music, Bonechiller, and Grease.  He also has directed The Little Princess at the ACTA theatre in Trussville. When not directing is also loves to act and has been in Pride and Prejudice, Pollyanna, Sound of Music, Rehearsal for Murder, Mousetrap, and Noises Off! all in the Birmingham area. By day he is the Director of Operations for a franchise of Pizza Hut. He loves Sci-fi and Disney. He would like to thank Clay for this great opportunity and the chance to play one of his favorite roles again! He thanks Mark and his family for all their love and support!

Scott Nesmith (Grumio) was last seen in We Three Queens for Theatre Downtown, and will next be seen in the hospital after working in the blistering August heat. Over the years, he has been in various productions, including Glengarry Glen Ross, Ten Little Indians, The Comedy of Errors, Christmas Belles, Of Mice and Men, The Crucible, The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Merry Wives of Windsor and The White Rose.  

David Gregson (Pedant/Vincentio) minored in theatre at Penn State, but quit theatre for philosophy in graduate school. It was 25 years before he decided to try community theatre and got a small part in Carousel (Capt. Watson) at ACTA. Over the past five years he has appeared in various area productions, including Veronica’s Room (the Man) at the Playhouse, Fantastics (Henry) at South City, Noises Off (Selsdon) at ACTA, and Comedy of Errors (Aegeon) and Shadowlands (Warnie), both with the Park Players. He lives in Irondale and works at EWTN, the Catholic Cable Network.

Victoria Boyce (Servant/Bianca understudy) is thrilled to be back with Park Players.  Other shows she has done with Park Players are Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, and  A Mid Summer’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. 

Elizabeth Gauntt's (Messenger/Servant) most recent role was Miss Tenny in her high school's production of High School Musical. Her other roles include Nanny in the LJCC's 101 Dalmatians for Kids and a "Surfer Girl" in the Park Players' Twelfth Night. She comes from a thespian family; her parents, both of whom are in this play, met in a theater company, but the two most dramatic members of her family are, respectively, adopted and 4 years old.

Yvonne Gauntt (Servant/Widow) grew up in a small farming town in Washington. One of her few entertainments while growing up was going to the big city (population 10,000) to see her mother perform in musicals once a year. She studied Electrical Engineering at Washington State University, choosing that college partly because of seeing a production of Taming of the Shrew at the theater during a summer Engineering camp there. She was finally able to fit performing into her college schedule in her Senior year, when she performed in Catch 22.
After graduating, she joined the Stanford Savoyards in Palo Alto, CA, and performed Gilbert and Sullivan operettas for several years. Fast forward to the present, where she is surprised to find herself the mother of 4 daughters, ranging in age from 4 to 16. In the not-too-distant past, she has performed with Centerstage Theater Company in Sound of Music, Kiss Me Kate, and Guys and Dolls. Despite a longstanding interest in Shakespeare, this is her first performance in a Shakespearian play. She would like to thank her husband, David and daughter, Elizabeth for joining her in this play; and especially her daughters Bianca and Maggie for babysitting our own "Katherina", Patricia, so that this could be possible.

Clay Boyce (Director) is thrilled to be directing a show he appeared in 7 years ago in the first season of Park Players! He just finished a very successful run of the production Beauty and the Beast with the Leeds Art s Council where he appeared as “the Beast".  He has directed for the Leeds Arts Council (The Odd Couple: Female Version), BFT (Over the River and Through the Woods) as well as directing many of the shows for Park Players (Shadowlands, Blackpool and Parrish, Romeo and Juliet: the comedy?)  He would like to thank this very talented cast and crew for all the wonderful evenings of laughter while working on this show and  he would like to thank his wife, Vicki and daughter, Victoria, for all their love and support.  These shows would not be possible without them!

Michele Robertson (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be the stage manager for Park Players Taming of the Shrew.  Thanks to Clay and the cast for everything!  Acting credits include It’s A Wonderful Life (Ma Bailey),  Cheaper By The Dozen (Mrs. Fitzgerald), and The Bird On Nellie’s Hat (Mrs. Gray).  Special thanks to Lisa Weaver and Clay Boyce for my first stage managing opportunity.   Love to my family and friends!