New England Shakespeare Festival | P.O. Box 191, Deerfield, NH 03037 | 603.666.9088 | info(AT)newenglandshakespeare.org  
   
 
 

2007 Summer Tour
Cast & Crew
LAURA MAE BAKER  – is thrilled for this wonderful opportunity and to be part of New England Shakespeare! Credits include: Into the Woods (Rapunzel) at Center Stage Playhouse, NY; All's Well That Ends Well (Diana) with Hudson Shakespeare Company; Macbeth - three times! (playing the Porter, the Thane of Ross, Witch 1, Lady and the boy MacDuff) and she was the Emcee in an original Musical Shakespeare revue as a part of The Merry Month of May at the Manhattan Repertory. Other favorite NYC credits include Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear, Love's Labour's Lost, Cinderella and the Off-Broadway musical Alice in Wonderland. Laura Mae dedicates every show to her mother, Carol.


JUSTIN BENNETT  – graduated summa cum laude from LaGrange College in LaGrange, GA with a degree in theatre. Last summer, he performed in Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) in Long Island. He also played Alexander in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day for Mill Mountain Theater. He has toured the country with Garfield Christmas (Milestone Productions), Stuart Little (Theater IV), and other shows. Favorite past roles include: Lysander in Midsummer Night's Dream, Lloyd Dallas in Noises Off, and Charlie Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. This marks his debut with New England Shakespeare Festival.


JENIFER BORNTRAGER  – makes her debut with New England Shakespeare Festival in Comedie of Errors. She is a BFA graduate from the University of South Alabama. NYC credits include Lil' Heroes (Looking Glass Forum), The 47:59 Play Festival (Impetuous Theatre Group), and is a company member with trip., where she has performed in i'm just saying, RE: an untilted trip, and c'est une chose d' amour. She can be seen in Big Fish (dir. Tim Burton) and various student films. When not acting, Jenifer LOVES to bake and watch old movies! I give my "thank you" to Kenny.


JENNIFER BROWN  – originally hails from Atlanta, Georgia and is pleased to join New England Shakespeare for the third year in a row. While in Atlanta, Jennifer has stage managed with Synchronicity Theatre Company, Essential Theatre Company, 7 Stages, and the Atlanta Opera among others, as well as having spent several years working with the Shakespeare Tavern in a variety of capacities. It is through her first involvement with the Tavern back in 1998 (Two Gentlemen of Verona) that Jennifer discovered her love of the Bard's works, and she is pleased to be revisiting his work in such company as this and getting to share the joy she discovered years ago with audiences throughout New England.


AMANDA BRUTON  – is excited to be on tour with the New England Shakespeare Festival. She was last seen as Snout in A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Dark Lady Players in NYC. Favorite roles include Masha in the The Seagull, Buckingham in Richard III, and most recently Devilina in Dr. Destructo for RIPFest #9. Amanda is a founding member of Bloated Genius Productions where she is currently executive producing the short film, 'In His Image,' the first in the series entitled 'Seven Shorts for Seven Deadly Sins.' She would like to thank her family and friends, especially her parents and Kristen, for their never ending love and support.


ERIN COLLINS  – is excited to be working in the New England area for the first time. Since graduating with a BA in Theatre from Auburn University in 2004, she has done wardrobe work for the Springer Opera House, Cumberland County Playhouse, and Feld Entertainment. Most recently, Erin was seen as Alice in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at Troy University, where she is working on a Music Industry degree.


PATRICK HOGAN  – is an alumni from the Actors Theatre of Louisville Apprentice program. He has studied with the Royal National Theatre Studio in London, The AIRE retreat in Seattle and the SITI Co. from NY. He's a member of Theatre Lila where he played Cyrus in Wrecked and is currently co-creating a two-man show with Embodiment director Robert O'Neill. Most recently, he played in Naked Eggs & Scrambled Legs as part of the Kicking and Screaming Festival of one-act plays at the Manhattan Theatre Source.


MIKE HOLMES  – has been acting for over fifteen years with an emphasis on Shakespeare. He has traveled the world studying theatre and performance art. Some of his favorite roles include Jerry in Zoo Story, Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew, and Vince in Tape. Next summer he'll be going back to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to perform his one man show, My Crown is Called Content. As always love to Roro.


ANDY KIRTLAND  – is happy to return to NESF after appearing in As You Like It and Richard III. Some Chicago credits include: The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Speaking Ring Theatre), Stop Kiss (Black Dove Ensemble Theatre), The Serpent Woman (Tantalus Theatre Group) and The Jungle Book (AlphaBet Soup Productions). Other credits incluce: Macbeth, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, The Cherry Orchard, The Importance of Being Earnest (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company) and Encore! (Chamber Theatre Productions). Andy earned his BA in Theatre from Dickinson College and studied at the British American Drama Academy.


MICHELLE KOVACS  – is proud to be a part of the New England Shakespeare Festival for the fourth year in a row. Previous NESF shows include Richard III (Queen Margaret), Taming of the Shrew (Kate), and Romeo & Juliet (Lady Capulet). Earlier this year, Michelle appeared as Maria in Twelfth Night with NESF's New York City company, Wildbard. Other New York shows include Troilus and Cressida (Cressida), King John (Arthur), many original productions, and several TV and film projects. A teaching artist and mom, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Erik, and their son, Max.


DAN LAWRENCE  – is thrilled to be working with NESF on their tour of Comedie of Errors, and would like to thank Demi Papadinis for this great opportunity. Dan is a 2006 graduate of Ithaca College's B.F.A. acting program. He has also trained at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and internationally at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia. His most recent credits include the Narrator in The Tell Tale Heart, various roles in Chamber Theatre Production's national tour of Encore!, and Silvius in As You Like It with Queen's Shakespeare Inc.


DEMITRA PAPADINIS – is the Producing Artistic Director of NESF.   She founded the company in 1994 and has worked in some capacity on every show since its inception.  An ardent First Folio enthusiast, she encourages and inspires students, teachers, directors, actors and audiences through workshops and performances across the country.  She is also the proud mother of five felines and two-thousand-some-odd rubber duckies.


ADAM REICH  – Recent New York City credits include: High School Musical (New World Stages), Miss Julie (Cherry Lane Theater), The Tempest (Public), Fools In Love (BAM/Manhattan Ensemble Theater). Love and thanks to all of my friends and family.


MARY RILEY  – was recently seen as Lady Capulet in Genesis Repertory's production of Romeo and Juliet. NYC: NYIT Awards and L.E.S Arts festival performer, The Tragedy of Abraham Lincoln with La Muse Venale, Spickner Spin at the NYC Fringe Regional: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Mill Mountain Theatre, Proof, Deathtrap, The Nerd with Winni Playhouse, among others. You can see some of her finest background work on Guiding Light. Love to my family and friends for all of their continuing support. Please visit: maryriley.net.


EVAN SCOTT SCHWEITZER  – is thrilled to be part of NESF's production of Comedy of Errors. He received his BA in Theater from Rutgers University. Past credits include Spoon River Anthology, Closer (Dan), Godspell (Jesus), Company (Paul), The Scarlet Pimpernel (Elton). Evan has also participated in readings of two new plays, The Yellow Brick Monologues and DeCADEnce. He has also appeared in an episode of Law & Order as a protester. Thanks to his family for all their support. AOM all the way.


LAUREN SOWA  – recently graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in drama. This is her first production with New England Shakespeare. NYU credits include: Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Silvia), Coriolanus (Sicinius), The Tempest (Alonso), Odysseus (Andromache), Crimes of the Heart (Babe), and A Dream Play (Various Roles). Other New York credits: Love's Labor's Lost, (Rosaline) with the New York Neo-Classical Ensemble, and God's Country, (Actor Four/Meuller), as well as multiple performances with her sketch comedy group Hammerkatz. She sends love to her family and friends and hopes you enjoy the show!


MELINDA STEWART  – is an Honors graduate from NYU Tisch where she focused her studies in Shakespeare at Stella Adler in NYC and RADA in London. Recent Roles include Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Narrator and others in national tour of Encore!, Cressida in Troilus and Cressida, and Bette in The Marriage of Bette and Boo. Stewart is a proud performer and teacher for Slightly Askew Theatre Co. of NYC. She has also written and performed sketch comedy all over NYC for the last four years with The Wicked Hammerkatz, The Misses and now with The Other Baldwins.



ANDY STOKAN  – is pleased to be returning to New England Shakespeare Festival after appearing in last lear's A Midsommer Nights Dreame. He is also a member of NESF's sister company, WildBard, and recently appeared in their production of Twelfe Night, Or what you will. Other recent credits include work with The Gallery Players, The York Shakespeare Company, The American Theater of Actors, several shows with The Manhattan Children's Theater, and a number of original short films for dutchwest.tv and collegehumor.com. Andy is a proud graduate of Marymount Manhattan College's BFA Acting program.


DAREN TAYLOR  – was last seen in The Odyssey at The Looking Glass Theatre is a recent graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He has just returned from a year of teaching abroad in Japan and is very happy to return to the stage. Some of Daren's favorite past roles include The Colored Museum, Our Lady of 121st Street, and his one-man show What a Man!. Although a young actor, he is an accomplished one who has worked with many companies both in New York and Washington D.C. He is very grateful for this opportunity.


BRIAN WEISS  – is excited to be working with New England Shakespeare on this First Folio production. Brian studied First Folio with April Feld Sandor of the Original Shakespeare Company. He graduated from Muhlenberg College with a BA in Theatre. Brian was recently seen in The Two Gentleman of Verona at the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival. Other favorite Shakespearian roles include Ferdinand in The Tempest, Baptista in Taming of the Shrew, and Iago in an anthology including Othello.

 
 
 
  
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