Welcome to The Park Players - Presents A Midsummer Nights Dream

Theseus - 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, Theatre Downtown and six 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.

Hippolyta - Jeannine Pope-Carter
Jeannine is thrilled to be acting in her second show with the Park Players. Her many creative interests focus on all things story related. Previously she has performed in several Birmingham productions of the "Vagina Monologues". Occasionally, she has told stories and poems at venues around Birmingham and Montgomery. A writer by trade, she has completed her own novel, which she is now in the process of editing. Likewise, she is an avid film enthusiast and has crewed on several small productions as well as writing and directing her own short. She just completed three years in seminary and year in a Pastoral Care Residency and is now combining her past and present professional skills by utilizing her decade-long experience as a facilitator, peer counselor and writer to focuses on religious and non-profit program direction and facilitation. Jeannine would like to thank Steve and Clay for casting her in this production of "Comedy of Errors". Her re-entry into Birmingham Theater has been a true joy for her.

Philostrate - Yvonne Gauntt
This is Yvonne's third show with Park Players. She has previously been seen as Hortensio's Widow in "Taming of the Shrew", and Townswoman and Ursula's understudy in "Much Ado About Nothing". She has enjoyed playing the Party Planner / Theater Critic in this show, and thanks Maggie and Bianca, her middle daughters for taking care of their dramatic younger sister so she can have one last chance to perform with Elizabeth before she disappears to college.

Egeus - David Gauntt
For some time, David had been typecast playing drunks (Abner Dillon in "Forty Second Street", Sir Andrew in "Twelfth Night", and Wino in "Little Shop of Horrors"), but has since branched out to minor public officials (Notary in "Barber of Seville" and Sexton in "Much Ado about Nothing"), and the father of rebellious daughters (Baptista Minola in "Taming of the Shrew" and now Egeus in "Midsummer's Night Dream"). 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.

Morgan is excited to keep her family tradition alive with the Park Players by playing one of the young lovers in Midsummer like her sister Jessica did in 2004! While this is her first Park Players show, she is not new to Shakespeare. Her favorite roles include Rosalind in As You Like it and Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor with the Bards of Birmingham, Katie in Bang, Bang Your Dead with Sybil Theatre, and Lidia in Runaways at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. While not on stage or in the Theatre Department at the ASFA, she enjoys cantering at Saint Frances Xavier Church, dancing with Zivah Saphirah and studying voice at university of Montevallo. Morgan is looking forward to performing in the park with her sister and the amazing cast of Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Helena - 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.

is making his Park Players, Birmingham, and Shakespearian debut. Steven is from Carthage, Mississippi and has recently taken a job as a software developer here in Birmingham. Steven has experience in the theatre scene with past performance roles of “The Mousetrap” (Christopher Wren), “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” (Charlie Brown), “Barefoot in the Park” (Victor Velasco), “The Spitfire Grill” (Caleb Thorpe), “Jane Eyre the musical “(ensemble), “The Secret Garden” (Major Shelly), “Murder at the Fruitcake Inn” (Harmon Sellit), and “Sweet Bird of Youth” (Stuff).

Demetrius - Tanner MaCracken
Tanner is once again on stage in a Park Player production of Midsummer Nights Dream having played Starveling in the 2003 show. Other Park Players shows include, 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.

Pallas Quince - Jessica Walston
This is the 4th time that Jessica will be caught playing in the park with the Park Players! The 1st was in 2004 when she played Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Jessica graduated from the theatre department at UAB in 2010 where her favorite roles included Galactia in Scenes from an Execution, Mag in The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Lil Bit in How I Learned to Drive. She was also a member of the UAB Shakespeare Ensemble for 3 years playing Desdamona in Othello, Kate in Taming of the Shrew, and Viola, Lucetta, and Hero, in The Women of Shakespeare. She currently works at St. Peters Child Development Center and teaches drama to some amazing preschool and elementary kids at Creative Montessori School. This show is very close to her heart since it will be the first time she is onstage with her wonderful and talented sister Morgan. Jessica would like to thank her fiancé David and their family for all of their love and support, (especially her parents who will attempt to see every show, even when its raining), her sister Morgan and brother Adam for always being her friends and her inspiration, and the Park Players for years of incredible theatre and friendship.

is a Senior at Valleydale Christian Academy, and plans to pursue theater in college. Her homeschool experience has given her a flexible environment that allows her to perform. From the age of 12, the thrill of acting on stage has been her passion. "The ability to transform myself into another character and deal with the exciting sequence of events that she (or he) experiences is an exhilarating feeling for me," Melissa says. She has acted with the Missoula Children's Theater for four summers, which has enhanced her love for acting. A Midsummer Night's Dream is her third Shakespeare play. In her own words: "I have found the dialogue challenging, but enjoyable. Being a part of Shakespearean plays has been a fantastic experience for me. May this play help you fall in love with Shakespeare the way it has inspired me."

Sarah is a senior at Mountain Brook High School. This is her first performance with The Park Players, because of her love for anything Shakespeare the is especially ecstatic to be performing in her first Shakespeare play. She participates in the theatre program at Mountain Brook, and is a tapped member of the International Thespian Society. She has performed in several shows with Mountain Brook including, Of Widows and Vegetables, The 11th, The Laramie Project, All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, and Our Town. She also has been a part of the Stage Crew at Mountain Brook and has worked several shows. She would like to thank Paul for giving her the opportunity to be in this show, and her school theatre director, Pat Yates for encouraging her to take a chance and try out for anything that comes along and teaching her that there is no such thing as a small part. She would also like to thank her mother for allowing her to try out and for taking her to rehearsals and for encouraging her along the way.

Laura is the artistic director of the Bards of Birmingham, a Shakespearian theatre group for young people. She's also the mother of two daughters, a freelance writer, and the victim of an extreme addiction to sewing costumes and reading crime novels.

Tippi Snout - Noelle Gunn
Noelle is a local of the Odenville area, and is a sales representative for
Premier Jewelry. She's always been a fan of the stage, whether on or off of
it, and has been actively doing theatre for the past 7 years. She has also
dabbled in stage managing this past spring, but soon returned to the stage,
entertaining the crowds with songs such as the classic, "Don't Rain On My
Parade", for the Distinguished Young Women's Society. She has also competed in
numerous Vocal and general talent competitions over the years, where she has
placed on Local, national, and international levels. She is also proud to have
been cast in last years' season of Atrox Factory. Noelle would like to thank
all Paul for this opportunity, as well as the cast for making this a fun
experience. Most importantly she would like to thank her close friends and
family for all the love and support they've lended over the years.

is thrilled to be making her Park Players debut in one of her dream roles. Gina graduated from the University of Montevallo in 2008 with a degree in Music. Since then, she has appeared in numerous professional and community productions, including several regional tours with Birmingham Children's Theatre. Favorite credits include: The Who's TOMMY (Sally Simpson), Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Mrs. Potiphar), Company (Sarah), & Pippin (Ensemble).

Oberon - Terry Hermes
This is Terry’s…hmmm…10th or 11th or so Park Players appearance. He has lost count. He just loves Shakespeare outdoors. This is his third time doing Midsummer. His first was with (of course) the Park Players as Peter Quince. His second was with Muse of Fire, in a cameo role as Philostrate. For this production he is playing one of his dream roles, and he is excited! Terry has been on the Birmingham drama scene for eight years now. Other favorite roles include George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Juror #4 in 12 Angry Men, Aaronov in Glengarry Glen Ross—all with Theatre Downtown-- Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night and Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet—Park Players-- Balthazar in The Lying Kind with TNT, and three times as Ralph the storyteller for three different productions of A Christmas Story, one with ACTA and two with Centerstage. Here’s hoping the audience shares in the joy of this performance.

Julie is delighted to make her debut with Park Players in this production of MND. Her previous Shakespeare credits include Queen Margaret in Samford University's production of Richard III as well as Garden Variety Shakespeare's productions of Macbeth, The Tempest, and Midsummer Night's Dream. When she isn't performing Shakespeare, she can be found teaching him and other authors at Samford University where she is Associate Professor of English. Her greatest role to date is mother of Finn and Adrian, to whom she dedicates her performance.

Well, I’m Zoe. I’ve been a few plays, including The Jungle Book and The Music Man. I really do enjoy theater and acting. It gives me a creative outlet and lets me step into someone else’s shoes for a little while and try to figure out how they would say this, or how the writer wants things said or done. I also enjoy music and am an avid music player. Many thanks to Paul McCracken, our director, for his patience and encouragement. Thanks!

-One role may not have as many words, but they’re all just as significant. – Paul McCracken

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.

Katherine Coulter is 11 years old and has just completed her fifth grade year at Shades Cahaba Elementary School. She is thrilled to be part of her very first production with the Park Players! Her previous roles include playing the role of Helena in the Bards of Birmingham's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Mistress Quickly in Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor", and Cupid in SCE's "North Pole Star." She also played Puck in "Midsummer" in 2009. She's currently in rehearsal to play Celia for the Bards production of "As You Like It" in June. She loves to read, hang out with her best friend Anne, and conduct unorthodox science experiments in her bedroom without permission.

Elizabeth Piatt is 13 years old and is finishing 7th grade. She is extremely excited about being part of the Park Players production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." She is currently rehearsing to play Ada (the female counterpart of Adam) and Phebe in the Bards of Birmingham production of "As You Like It." Elizabeth is on a local ballroom dancing exhibition team that will perform around Birmingham this fall. She loves to act, dance, and sing but her favorite pasttime is talking.

is honored and delighted to make his Park Players directorial debut in this production. His directing credits include Crossing Delancey (LJCC), Into the Woods and Amahl and the Night Visitors (both with CenterStage). He has also been seen on stage in shows such as A Christmas Carol (Ghost of Christmas Present), The King and I (the Kralahome), Peter Pan, Jekyll and Hyde, the Musical (Lord Savage), My Fair Lady, The Secret Garden (Albert Lennox). He has also been in Annie, Annie Get Your Gun (Sitting Bull), Give My Regards to Broadway (Richard Foster), Side By Side By Sondheim, and Godspell. Paul is a graduate of Auburn University where he was a member of the Auburn University Band and the Auburn Knights Orchestra. He is married to the lovely Nancy and has three adult children - and a beautiful eleven-month-old granddaughter!

A Midsummers Nights Dream , May 2011