A CHRISTMAS CAROL printed program bios 2017
ACTORS
EMMA ANDREWS(Belinda Cratchit/Youth Ensemble)KC Rep:A Christmas Carol(2nd Season) Local:Snoopy (Sally Brown), Aladdin,Jr. (Abu),Hairspray, Jr. (Featured soloist),Mulan, Jr. (Matchmaker’s assistant),Dr. Dolittle, Jr.(Polynesia),Seussical the Musical(ensemble) Christian Youth Theater;School of Rock(Musical Theatre Kansas City);Oliver!(Orphan, Musical Theatre Heritage).Film: Belong to Us (dir. by Patrick Rea).Education:5thgrade at English Landing Elementary; studies acting at Christian Youth Theater, MTKC, and The Coterie;voice with Melinda MacDonald; dance at Empire Dance and Jennifer’s Rising Dance Stars.Offstage Emma enjoys reading, swim team, and hanging out with friends.
CHIOMA ANYANWU (Ensemble)
MADDOX BANE(Peter Cratchit/Ensemble)KC Rep:A Christmas Carol(4thSeason).Local: The Who's Tommy (Musical Theater Heritage); Mary Poppins, Camelot (Starlight Theatre); Tosca(Children’s Chorus, LyricOpera of Kansas City);School of Rock(Musical Theatre Kansas City);Seussical the Musical(Immeasurable Productions); Shrek the Musical (Gladstone Theatre in thePark); Jane Eyre (The Barn).Film:“Gordon & Grace Social Media Ad campaign”(The Coterie).Education: CongressMiddle School in Park Hill, acting(The Coterie, Starlight Theatre) and dance (Empire Studio). @maddoxbane
LAUREN BRATON (Quartet – Soprano / Ensemble) KCRep: Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods. Local:Nine, Violet, A Little Night Music (Spinning Tree Theatre); First Date, Cinderella, Sound of Music (Starlight); Where the Wild Things Are, Shrek (The Coterie); Grey Gardens (Unicorn Theatre); Guys and Dolls, The Music Man, She Loves Me (Musical Theatre Heritage); Life Could Be A Dream, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, No Way to Treat a Lady, It's A Wonderful Life: A Radio Play (American Heartland Theatre); Judy Barbra Liza, Blues in the Night (Quality Hill Playhouse); A Man of No Importance (Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre); Passion and Everlasting Universe: World Premiere (Civic Opera Kansas City).Regional:Into the Woods, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Sugar (Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre);Seagle Music Colony, New York). Upcoming:Old Black Magic (Quality Hill Playhouse).AEA Member
SIENA CLAURE (Belinda/Ensemble)KC Rep: debut. Local: Bye Bye Birdie (Camellot Academy); singer and drummer with theSpiky Shades (Overland Park School of Rock).Education: 4th grade at The Pembroke Hill School. Siena is 9 years old and loves to read and play the piano. She enjoys playing chess, soccer, tennis, and ice skating and skiing.
WALTER COPPAGE (Marley/Ensemble) KC Rep: Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, A Christmas Carol, Carter’s Way, The Gospel at Colonus, To Kill a Mockingbird, Antigone. Regional: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Steppenwolf Theatre); Radio Golf (Studio Theatre DC). Local: Hamlet, A Lesson from Aloes (Kansas City Actors Theatre); The Mountaintop, How To Steal A Picasso, Water by the Spoonful, The Clean House, Ruined, How I Learned to Drive, Quills (Unicorn Theatre); Our Town, The Miracle Worker, My Children My Africa, The Giver, Frankenstein, Valley Song (The Coterie); Amadeus (Spinning Tree Theatre). TV & Film: “Chicago Med” (NBC), “Detroiters” (Comedy Central), Gone in the Night (CBS), A Deadly Vision (ABC), The Only Witness (Lifetime), All Roads Lead Home (Showtime), Truman (HBO), All Creatures Here Below, In the Wake of Ire, 12 Days of Giving, The Profit, Jayhawkers, Goodland, Destination: Planet Negro, James Ellroy’s Stay Clean, The Only Good Indian. Upcoming: The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time (KCRep).AEA Member.
SAM CORDES (Young Ebenezer, Fred, Ensemble) KCRep: Pippin, Christmas Carol, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Local: King Lear, Henry V, Julius Cesar (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival); RED, Farragut North, Mineola Twins(Unicorn Theatre); Wrestling Season, Ben Franklin’s Apprentice, Everyday Heroes (The Coterie); 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee(New Theatre); Talk Radio(The Living Room). Regional: Richard Oberacker’s ACE, As You Like It, Hound of the Baskervilles, Much Ado About Nothing(Nevada Conservatory Theatre); Bad Jews, Diary of Anne Frank (Nevada Jewish Repertory Theatre); The Foreigner, Glass Menagerie, Little Shop of Horrors, The Game’s Afoot(Okoboji Summer Theatre). AEA Member.
ASHLEY ELLIOTT-ROWE (Martha/Ensemble)KC Rep debut. Local: High School Musical (Stage Right Performing Arts); Seussical The Musical (Gertrude McFuzz, Jewish Community Center); Rapunzel, A Very Hairy Fairytale(Rapunzel), Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat(Theatre in the Park). Ashley performed in the first ever SYTE at The Rep! Education: 8th grade at Aubry Bend Middle School. Ashley dances (Tap, Jazz and Show Biz Performers) at Miller Marley. She loves singing, performing, dancing, writing, her pets and theatre friends.
BREE ELROD (Mrs. Cratchit/Ensemble)KC Rep: A Christmas Carol (2nd season), Constellations, and Fire in Dreamland, Roof of theWorld (World Premieres). Local: A Streetcar Named Desire (Kansas City Actors Theatre); Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival).Off- Broadway: My Name is Rachel Corrie (directed by Alan Rickman, Minetta Lane Theatre); Jump! Realism (The Kirk Theatre). Regional:The School For Wives (Two River Theatre); Rock ‘n Roll (Huntington Theatre, Boston/ACT San Francisco); Angels in America(Boston TheatreWorks); Candida (Malibu Theatre); The Two Noble Kinsmen, Antony and Cleopatra (Old Globe Theatre); Our Town, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Southwest Shakespeare); The Marriage of Bette and Boo, A Lie of the Mind, Measure for Measure, Ah Wilderness! (New York University). Awards:Eliott Norton Award Nominee; IRNE Award Nominee; San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award Winner for Best Actress. Film:Shutter Island (dir. Martin Scorsese). Ms. Elrod has appeared in several productions with New York City’s 52nd Street Project, and is a member of the Actors Center in NYC. Education: MFA, New York University Graduate Acting. AEA Member
PEGGY FRIESEN (Mrs. Fezziwig/Harp/Ensemble)KC Rep:The Fantasticks, The Diary of Anne Frank, Angels in America, Our Town, The Syringa Tree, Man and Superman, Indian Ink, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, A Delicate Balance, M. Butterfly, The House of Blue Leaves. Local: Shearwater (The Living Room). Steel Magnolias (Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre), The Year of Magical Thinking (Spinning Tree Theatre/The Living Room); King Lear, The Mousetrap, A Lesson from Aloes, The Cripple of Inishmaan (Kansas City Actors Theatre); 101 Dalmatians, Frindle(The Coterie); Stories My Grandmother Told Me, Little Foxes, The Dinner Party (American Heartland Theatre); The Clean House, Spinning into Butter, Frozen, Wit (Unicorn Theatre). Regional: Ghosts (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis); Blithe Spirit, Hay Fever (Okoboji Summer Theatre); The Tempest (Prospero, Guest Artist, Stephens College). Film: Ang Lee’s Ride with the Devil, Robert Altman’s Kansas City, Stephen Soderbergh’s King of the Hill, The Big Brass Ring with William Hurt, “Truman,” “My Antonia,” “Sarah, Plain and Tall.” Upcoming:The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (KCRep).AEA Member
Ella Graham(Martha/Ensemble)KC Rep:debut.Local:Magic Flute, La Bohème, Turandot(Lyric Opera of Kansas City);Fiddler on the Roof(The White Theatre);Annie Warbucks(Theatre in the Park);Jane Eyre(Barn Players);Little Shop of Horrors,Peter and the Starcatcher(The Barstow School).Education:Junior at The Barstow School; Interlochen Arts Camp Musical Theatre 2016 and 2017.
Gary Neal Johnson (Ebenezer Scrooge) KCRep (Associate Artist):Death of a Salesman (Willy Loman), Little Shop of Horrors (Mushnik), August: Osage County (Charlie), Cabaret (Herr Schultz), Bus Stop (Virgil Blessing), The Drawer Boy (Morgan), Oleanna (John), M. Butterfly (Gallimard), King Lear (Gloucester), Give ‘Em Hell, Harry (Harry Truman), Royal Hunt of the Sun (Pizarro), Treasure Island (Long John Silver), A Delicate Balance (Harry), The Foreigner (Owen Musser), Julius Caesar (Caesar), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon), Nicholas Nickleby (Squeers), Of Mice and Men (George), among others. KC area: King Lear (Lear), Merchant of Venice (Shylock), Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon) (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival); A Lie of the Mind, A Number,The Mousetrap, The Real Inspector Hound, A Lesson from Aloes (Kansas City Actors Theatre); Fiddler on the Roof (Tevye, Spinning Tree Theatre); Hello, Dolly (Music Theatre Heritage), among others. Regional: Goodman Theatre (Chicago), American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco), Shakespeare Theatre Company (DC), Utah Shakespeare Festival, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre. Awards:Dean Goodman Award for best supporting actor (San Francisco). AEA Member
SHANNA JONES (Quartet – Alto / Ensemble)KCRep:Between the Lines, Side by Side by Sondheim, The Diary of Anne Frank, Sunday in the Park with George, Stillwater, Hair: Retrospection, The Santaland Diaries (2013, 2014, 2016). New York: Undone, Decline and Fall (New York Theatre Workshop). Regional: Tug of War, Foreign Fire & Civil Strife (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Next to Normal (Kansas Repertory Theatre); Les Misérables (Pioneer Theatre Company); Romeo and Juliet (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Saturday’s Voyeur, Cabaret (Salt Lake Acting Company).Education:BFA University of Utah. AEA Member shannajonesmusic.com
JAMARR “JAY” LOVE (Ensemble)KCRep: Antony and Cleopatra (Co-Production, UMKC Theatre). Local: King Lear (Kansas City Actors Theatre); Neighborhood Goons (KC Fringe Festival, Crumblecake Productions); Way of the World, O Beautiful, Desire: An Evening of Plays Based on Six Stories by Tennessee Williams (UMKC Theatre); Coriolanus(Great River Shakespeare Festival). Education: BA in Acting, California State University Long Beach;3rd year MFA candidate, UMKC.
ELLIE SHEA MCMANAMY (Tiny Tim/Ensemble)KCRep: A Christmas Carol (3rd season). Local: Aristocrats (Roquefort, Theatre in the Park Academy); Jane Eyre (Adele, The Barn Players); School of Rock, Jesus Christ Superstar (Musical Theatre Heritage); Mary Poppins (Fannie), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Annie, Alice in Wonderland, Willy Wonka (Camellot Academy); Beauty and the Beast, How to Eat Like a Child (Theatre at Visitation). Education: 6th grade at Visitation School. Ellie also dances, trains and competes with Eagle Gymnastics.
BENJAMIN PRIESTLAND(Peter/Youth Ensemble)KC Rep:A Christmas Carol(2015, 2016).Local:Once On This Island Jr.(Storyteller, 2016), Honk Jr. (Drake, 2017) (StageRight Performing Arts). Pippin (Theo, 2017) (Bishop O’Hara HS) Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts Camp:Eurydice (Interesting Man/Lord of the Underworld, 2017)TV:KC Live, vocal performance, 2016.Education:7thgrade at Cure’ of Ars Catholic School. Benjamin loves to sing, act, play lots of seasonal sports, and year-round competitive soccer.
MIKE PRUCHA (flute/oboe)KCRep: debut. Regional: multiple woodwinds as a pit musician (The Rose Theater, Omaha; various Kansas City and Omaha venues).Education: Master’s Degree and Artist’s Certificate in woodwind performance, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. At UMKC Mr. Prucha studied oboe, clarinet, saxophone, flute, and bassoon and performed in the UMKC bands and chamber ensembles.
JOHN RENSENHOUSE (Old Joe/Ensemble)KCRep:To Kill A Mockingbird, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Dracula, Gross Indecency, Royal Hunt of the Sun, King Lear (twice!). Local: You Can’t Take It With You (New Theatre); God of Carnage, Inspecting Carol (Kansas City Actors Theatre/Unicorn Theatre); King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth, Love’s Labor’s Lost (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival); The Sound of Music (Starlight); The Importance of Being Earnest (American Heartland Theatre); Casa Valentina (Spinning TreeTheatre). National Tours: The Lion King (Scar), Noises Off (Garry). Regional: The Rehearsal, The Cure at Troy, Romeo and Juliet (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); As You Like It (Arena Stage, D.C.); The Mystery Plays (Hartford Stage); Coriolanus (McCarter Theatre); Saint Joan, Clean House, A Christmas Carol, Taming of the Shrew (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis); King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing (Cincinnati Playhouse). Education: BA Grinnell College; MFA University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Professional Theatre Training Program. AEA Member
Mark Robbins(Charles Dickens)KCRep:Roof of the World, Sticky Traps, Angels in America (Parts I and II), Death of a Salesman, The Mystery of Irma Vep, A Christmas Carol (23 seasons), Oedipus the King (title role), Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure (title role), Circle Mirror Transformation, Bus Stop, The Voysey Inheritance (co-production with ACT), Man and Superman, The Front Page, Guys and Dolls, Saint Joan, King Lear, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale, Major Barbara, The Sea Gull, Inherit the Wind, The Deputy, Crown of Thorn, Taming of the Shrew, Nicholas Nickleby, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Loose Ends.Local acting: Several roles for Kansas City Actors Theatre, The Living Room, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, New Theatre, Unicorn Theatre, American Heartland Theatre, The Coterie. Local directing: Unicorn Theatre, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. Founding member of Kansas City Actors Theatre: directed several productions.Education: BA, Webster College Conservatory; MFA, Wayne State University. AEA Member
KEN SANDBERG (Ensemble)KCRep: Antony and Cleopatra (Co-Production, UMKC Theatre). Local: King Lear (Kansas City Actors Theatre); Way of the World, Desire: An Evening of Plays Based on Six Stories by Tennessee Williams, O Beautiful, Immeasurable Heaven, Timon of Athens (UMKC Theatre); Twelfth Night (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival); The Fall of the House of Usher (KC Fringe Festival). Regional: Twelfth Night, The Heart of Robin Hood (Door Shakespeare); The Three Musketeers, The Venetian Twins, Don Juan (Quintessence Theatre Group); Aspects of Love, Dog Sees God, The Shape of Things (Plays and Players Theater of Philadelphia); The Rock Horror Show (Brainspunk Theater).Education: BA, Temple University Philadelphia;3rd year MFA candidate, UMKC.
JONATHAN LLOYD SCHRIOCK(Violinist/Ensemble)KCRep:A Christmas Carol,Evita, Sunday in the Park with George, Cabaret.Local:Violinist with Stevie Wonder (Sprint Center);Hands on a Hardbody, Everyday Rapture(Unicorn Theatre);Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, Hello Again(Spinning Tree Theatre);The Butcher’s Son(Buffalo Room);Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat(New Theatre);Les Misérables, Company, Chicago, The Producers, Peter Pan(Jewish Community Center, Shirley White Theatre); Legend of Zelda Symphony (KC Music Hall). Regional:Fiddler on the Roof(Fireside Theatre Company);A Catered Affair(Porchlight Theatre);Fiddler on the Roof, Hank Williams’ Lost Highway, Always Patsy Cline(Lyceum Theatre);Bus Stop(Sapulpa Theatre);Cheaper by the Dozen(Owasso Theatre);I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Fiddler on the Roof(Crown Uptown Dinner Theatre);The Importance of Being Ernest(Kechi Playhouse);Killer Joe(Theatre on Consignment); Ohio Lite Opera, Light Opera of Oklahoma, Wichita Symphony.International:Recitals in Austria, Germany, France.Upcoming: Tuck Everlasting(The Coterie)
MEGAN SELLS (Ensemble)KCRep:Antony and Cleopatra (Co-Production, UMKC).Local: Men on Boats (Unicorn Theatre);The Way of the World, Desire: An Evening of Plays Based on Six Stories by Tennessee Williams, O Beautiful, Timon of Athens (UMKC Theatre). Regional: Coriolanus, Julius Caesar (Great River Shakespeare Festival); Education: Apprentice Training Program, The Great River Shakespeare Festival; 3rd year MFA candidate in Acting and Directing, UMKC.
VANESSA SEVERO (Belle/Mrs. Fred/Ensemble) KC Rep:Roof of the World, A Christmas Carol, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, August: Osage County, Cabaret, Lot’s Wife, A Christmas Story, The Musical!Local:Gypsy (Musical Theatre Heritage);Men onBoats, Venusin Fur, The Motherf***er with the Hat, Green Whales, The Clean House, Bright Ideas (Unicorn Theatre); Frida...a self portrait,Annapurna, Master of the Universe, Black Bird, Burn This, The Death of Cupid (The Living Room); The Wiz (choreographer), The Miracle Worker, 2005-06 Artist In Residence (The Coterie); Black Pearl Sings, West Side Story (Spinning Tree Theatre); Much Ado about Nothing, Twelfth Night (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival); Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Absurd Person Singular, Taking Sides, Desdemona (Kansas City Actors Theatre); I’ll Be Back Before Midnight (American Heartland Theatre); Rumors (New Theatre); Hedwig and the Angry Inch (EGADS! Theatre); Motherfreaking Hood (Moonshine Variety). Ms. Severo is the recipient of the 11th Round of the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships, 2017. AEA Member
EMILY SHACKELFORD (Ensemble)KCRep: Between the Lines,Man in Love, A Christmas Carol, Evita, The Fantasticks, Stillwater, Hair: Retrospection, The Foreigner, Cabaret.Off Broadway:Lucky Duck (New Victory Theatre).Regional:Nunsense II, Quality Street, Secret Garden(Okoboji Summer Theatre). Local:By the Way Meet Vera Stark(Unicorn Theatre);A Year with Frog and Toad, Afflicted: Daughters of Salem, School House Rock Live, Seussical, Spring Awakening, The Wiz(The Coterie);Kiss Me Kate, 1776(Musical Theater Heritage); Aladdin(Starlight at the Kauffman Center);Bingo! The Winning Musical(American Heartland Theatre);Pride and Prejudice(Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre);Death of Cupid(The Living Room Theatre)Education:BFA in Theatre Arts, Stephens College. AEA Member Instagram: @emilyareti