King Lear Cast and Crew

king lear cast and crew

Kent Cassella (Earl of Gloucester) worked with Vermont Stage near the end of the last century, portraying Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing in
1997. Living in Vermont and working in New York is a delicate balance. Recent credits include appearances in all of the Law & Order's, the Showtime series Brotherhood, FX's Rescue Me and a new National Lampoon movie called Dirty Movie. Kent also narrates books for Tantor Media.

Kevin Chap (King of France/Peter) Born in New York City, Kevin moved to Stockbridge, Vermont, at a young age. He attended school in Bethel, where he was invested in athletics and drama. At Villa Julie College in Baltimore, Kevin focused on acting at the college and in the community. Some of his key performances were: Eilert Lovborg in Hedda Gabler; Lord Alfred Douglas in Gross Indecency; Romeo in Joe Calarco's Romeo and Juliet; the screen adaptation of The Connection; and the network series Young Americans, starring Kate Bosworth and Charlie Hunnam. Kevin attended the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. Upon graduation, he performed as Eric in Tom Stoppard's New York premiere of Indian Ink. He now splits his time between New York and Vermont, where he runs his own clothing company.

Read Kevin's Blog, Entries of a Young Actor , all about the rehearsal and production process of King Lear!

David DiLego David J. DiLego (Oswald) has a B.A. in Theatre Arts and studied at the National Shakespeare Conservatory. Some of his stage credits include Fluellen: Henry V(Lost Nation Theater), Claudio: Much Ado About Nothing (Essex Community Players), Demetrius: A Midsummer Night's Dream (ECP), Lucio: Measure for Measure (QuarryWorks), Paris: Romeo & Juliet (Lost Nation Theater), Antonio: Twelfth Night (Vermont Shakespeare Company), and Williamson in Glenngary Glen Ross (Classic Theater Co.). He's delighted to be working with VSC and would like to thank his wife Liz, family, and friends for their love and support.

Bill Dobbins (Duke of Burgundy/Curan) is happy to be working with Vermont Stage Company. His training includes workshops with the Royal Shakespeare Company, study with Wynn Handman, and a BFA degree from Penn State University. Theatrically, he has performed at The Utah Shakespearean Festival, and two seasons at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival. Lead credits in Manhattan include, Ian in Weekend at the Willard (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Frank in Meister Hemmelin (Theatre for the New City), Milton in Milton's Way (nominated best actor in festival - SpotlightOn Prod's.), Mike in Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind (White Horse Theater Co.), and Carey in Triptych (I.R.T.).

Chris Edwards Christopher V. Edwards (Edgar) Most recently he was seen as Richard III in Richard III at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in New York. Other credits include: West End: Bomb-itty of Errors. Off-Broadway: Lemkin's House at the McGinn Cazale Theater; Murder in Mind with Ubu Rep; Romeo and Juliet with John Houseman's The Acting Company. Other New York: A Mouthful of Birds at the Flea Theater; Sophiatown at The Atlantic Theater Company , Woza Albert at Lincoln Center Institute, Midsummer Night's Dream with rUDE mECHANICALS, Snatch and A Winter's Tale at SOHO REP. Regionally: The Guthrie Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, Stamford Theater Works, Penumbra Theater, and The Illusion Theater.

Donald Grody (Lear) In his seventh decade as a theatre artist, Donald is filled with joy to be able to return to Burlington and play the King in a text, which he edited and revised. He has appeared in more than a dozen Broadway shows, most recently Grey Gardens and Caroline, or Change, regional theatres though out the Nation, as well as popular television programming and soaps. Yet, his collaboration with Mark Nash on King Lear, an intense and rewarding experience, will stand as a high water mark in his theatrical career. Bravo to the people of Burlington and Vermont Stage Company for undertaking this dangerous mission.

Todd Lawson (Edmund) was just seen in Three Days of Rain here at VSC. Broadway: Summer and Smoke. Off-Broadway: Young Playwrights Festival and Only a Lad. National Tour: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. New York: Barefoot in the Park, John W. Engeman Theater; Unnatural Acts (OOBR Award), Urban Rock Project (founding member); Alphabet City III & IV and The Raven at the Metropolitan playhouse; LA: Title role in The Body, Nomad Theatre Co. (founding member) Regional: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Delaware Theatre Co., Key West Theatre Festival, Bay Street Theatre, The Wilma, The Human Race Theatre Co., and Stamford Center for the Arts, and in A Celtic Celebration with Symphony Orchestras around the country. Todd has also been seen in Films, TV and Commercials.

Melissa Lourie Melissa S. Lourie (Goneril) is the co-founder of Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in Cold Spring, N.Y., where she served as Producing Director for six years before moving to Vermont. At HVSF favorite roles include Hermia, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Phoebe in As You Like It, Mrs. Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Dorine in Tartuffe. She is currently the Artistic Director of Middlebury Actors Workshop in Middlebury, VT. Roles with MAW include Charlotte Wallace in Beyond Therapy and Mrs. Smith in The Bald Soprano. At Vermont Stage Company, Melissa has appeared in many Young Playwrights Festivals, as well as mainstage productions of The Big Random and, most recently, Copenhagen. Melissa has been teaching acting at the University of Vermont for the past twelve years. She has an M.F.A. from American Conservatory Theatre and recently retired from Actors' Equity finding it somewhat irrelevant in Vermont.

Heather Nielsen (Cordelia) is pleased to be on stage again at VSC, having appeared this winter as Sister James in Doubt. A Minnesota native, she graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College and was active in educational theater in the Twin Cities, teaching and performing with CLIMB Theatre Company, The Youth Performance Company, The Gaia Collective, and performing her one-woman show Learning to Swim. Heather also performed locally with the Barre Players in Jesus Christ Superstar and played Tina Jo/Gina Jo with the Valley Players in Dearly Beloved. She is currently getting her first opportunity to be on the other side of the stage, co-directing the spring show at Montpelier High School. Heather thanks her family for their support!

Jennifer Rohn Jennifer M. Rohn (Regan) Broadway: The Crucible (u.s.), The Kentucky Cycle. Off Broadway: The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Love's Fire (The Public), Romeo and Juliet (New Victory). Other New York credits: Another Person is a Foreign Country (En Garde Arts), The CIVIL warS (BAM and Carnegie Hall), Lady Windermere's Fan, The Taming of the Shrew (The Mint). Regional: Love's Fire (The Guthrie) The Kentucky Cycle (Kennedy Center) The Woods, How I Learned to Drive and Dinner with Friends (Philadelphia Theater Co.).The Butcher's Daughter, The Importance of Being Earnest (The Cleveland Playhouse), The Cherry Orchard, Arms and the Man (Dallas Theater Center), O,Pioneers (Huntington Theater and Seattle Rep.), The Glass Menagerie (Portland Stage), Quartet (American Repertory Theater) Europe: Love's Fire (The Barbican), Tour of Hamletmachine, Salome (La Scala). Television and Film: Law and Orde r(NBC), O,Pioneers (PBS/American Playhouse), Crossing the Atlantic and Afterwords.

Paul Schnabel (Earl of Kent) is a Burlington based actor who has been working on stage and screen for over 30 years. A company member of the internationally acclaimed and award winning Riot Group, he has spent much of the last seven years touring throughout the US and Europe, including several extended runs in London, New York, and San Francisco. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild with numerous feature film credits. Mr. Schnabel would like to thank Vermont Stage Company for the opportunity to work in his home town on this excellent production.

Andrew Sellon (Lear's Fool/Doctor) In 2007, Andrew played all 35 characters in VSC's I Am My Own Wife, and appeared as Wayne in Inspecting Carol. Also at VSC: Winter Tales 2005 & 2006, The Foreigner (Charlie), Waiting for Godot (Vladimir), and VSC's Young Playwrights Festival. Andrew holds a B.A. from Harvard, and an M.F.A. in Acting from UNC-Chapel Hill. He is proud to be an artistic associate at VSC, and a member of Actors' Equity, the Dramatists Guild, and ASCAP. He is also President of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America. Andrew would like to thank his extended family, and especially his partner Tim Sheahan, for their unwavering support and encouragement. Acting website: www.andrewsellon.com

Wayne Wayne Tetrick (Duke of Cornwall) Previous appearances with the Vermont Stage Company include Larry Vauxhall in Inspecting Carol and Owen Musser in The Foreigner. Among his more than 25 years of regional theatre work are appearances with Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany, NY (Inherit the Wind), Charlotte Repertory Theatre in Charlotte, NC (Other People's Money), The Theatrical Outfit in Atlanta, GA (The Displaced Person) and The Flat Rock Playhouse in Flat Rock, NC (Bus Stop, Arms and the Man, & The Affections of May). Most recently Wayne completed work on the short film Knock, Knock, Who's There? , An El Matador Films production, directed by Adam and Evan Beamer. As always, much thanks, love and gratitude to Ellen, Ruby and Nora June.

Daniel Troyen-Schwartz (Knight, Messenger & Servant) is a math major and a theater minor at the University of Vermont. He is 24 years old and engaged to marry to a wonderful Brazilian woman in June. Acting has long been a passion, and his parents have always been very supportive. Daniel wishes to dedicate this performance to his parents, Mitchell Schwartz and Cherie Troyen. "I love you Mom and Dad, and I love you Ana. I hope to give you a performance to which the only critique can be 'hats off'."

Paul Ugalde (Duke of Albany/Fight Director) makes his fifth appearance with VSC having played Rosenberg in Amadeus, Simon Stimson in Our Town, Captain Keller in The Miracle Worker and Froggy in The Foreigner. Paul is also the Fight Director for King Lear and has done similar work staging scenes of mayhem for various productions involving weaponry from rapier and dagger to frying pan and baguette. He holds the rank of Actor/Combatant in the Society of American Fight Directors. Huge thanks to Catherine, my constant inspiration to fight the good fight.

Design and Technical Staff

Mark Nash (Director/Producing Artistic Director) Now in his 8^th year as Artistic Director, Mark has produced over 30 productions for Vermont Stage Company. In addition, he has directed A Streetcar Named Desire, Waiting for Godot, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Miracle Worker, O'Carolan's Farewell to Music, The Drawer Boy, Quilters, The Foreigner, Winter Tales, Woody Guthrie's American Song and Inspecting Carol. As an actor, Mark has performed in Art, A Child's Christmas in Wales, Betrayal, Underneath the Lintel, Vanya/Vermont, Copenhagen and Doubt. Born and raised in Charlotte, Mark studied theatre at UVM before earning his BA in Drama from the University of Kansas. After an internship at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where he won two playwriting competitions, Mark received an MFA in acting from The University of California at Irvine. Mark has worked as an actor, director, playwright and acting teacher for theatre companies and schools in Minneapolis, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. In 1994, Mark returned to Vermont as a freelance theatre artist, working for companies such as Green Candle and Northern Stage. For 4 years Mark was the Artistic Director of VPR's Camel's Hump Radio. In addition to his duties at Vermont Stage, Mark continues to teach theatre classes and workshops for UVM and St. Michael's College. Mark lives in his childhood home in Charlotte with his amazing wife, actor and activist Kathryn Blume and his incredibly large cat, Toast.

Jenny Fulton (Costume & Scenic Designer) Fifteen productions with VSC as a set and/or costume designer, starting with Our Town, including To Kill a Mockingbird, A Child's Christmas in Wales, Vanya/Vermont, True West and Doubt, and it hasn't gotten dull yet. Most recently Jenny has designed the set and costumes for Kathryn Blume's one-woman show The Boycott both for the Burlington and NYC run. In NYC she has designed for the Women's Project, PBS/Channel 13, the Queen's Company, Salt Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, and design assisted such Tony award-winning designers as Jess Goldstein and Catherine Zuber. In Vermont her work has been seen most recently in Lost Nation Theatre's production of Tartuffe (italitcs), as well as St. Michael's Playhouse, Dorset Theatre, Northern Stage. Currently Jenny is teaching theatre at Keene State College. It is a very great pleasure to continue to work with such a dedicated company.

John B. Forbes (Lighting Designer) has previously designed the lighting for Inspecting Carol, Woody Guthrie's American Song, True West, Copenhagen, The Foreigner and The Drawer Boy at Vermont Stage Company. In addition he has designed the lighting for productions at the Old Globe Theatre, the San Diego Repertory Theatre, the Center Repertory Company, and the Ensemble Theatre Company, all in California. He has also designed lighting for Theatre Aspen in Colorado; the Riverside Shakespeare Company and Theatre Matrix in New York; the Arizona Theatre Company, and Saint Michael's Playhouse and Lost Nation Theatre in Vermont. He is the winner of three L. A. Dramalogue awards for his designs at the Old Globe Theatre and three Shelley Awards for his designs with the Center Repertory Company. He is the faculty lighting designer at the University of Vermont in the Department of Theatre, and his lighting design for UVM's production of Metamorphoses was displayed in the Gallery Exhibit at the World Stage Design Exhibition in Toronto. He has also taught at San Diego State University and the University of San Diego, and while at U.S.D., he also managed Shiley Theatre. In that capacity he served as the technical liaison between the University and the Presidential Debate Commission for the final Presidential Debate of 1996 held there.

Brian Johnson (Composer/Percussionist) has appeared as soloist and ensemble musician in many of the major venues for new and experimental music in the US and Europe and has performed in many New Music America Festivals and Percussive Arts Society conventions. As soloist he has premiered works by leading figures of the American avant-garde including John Cage, Alvin Lucier, Joseph Celli and Stuart Saunders Smith. As composer/performer, he has made voice and percussion music for dance and theater, and was on-stage sound effects artist for The Public Theater Shakespeare In The Park production of The Comedy of Errors, and percussionist for PT's production of Troilus and Cressida. Johnson is a percussionist with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Vermont Mozart Festival, Green Mountain Opera Festival, Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, Vermont Stage Company and others. Recording credits include the CBS, Folkways, Spectrum, Button, Woodcrest, OO Discs and MODE labels. He is also Manager of FlynnSpace at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, Vermont.

Dana J. Baker (Properties Master) has worked in professional theatre for over 20 years. He has worked in New York and at various regional theatres such as The Cleveland Playhouse, the Long Wharf Theatre, and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Dana spent 9 years at Syracuse Stage/Syracuse University Drama as the Properties Master. Since moving to Vermont with his family 6 years ago, Dana has concentrated on the art and science of fly-fishing. He is a resident of South Burlington.

Freda Farrell (Production Stage Manager) Broadway: The Lieutenant of Inishmore. Off-Broadway: Richard III (Classic Stage), Parlour Song, 10 Million Miles, The Voysey Inheritance, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Arrangements (Atlantic Theatre). Freda is happy to return to Vermont Stage. Some favorite past productions with the company include: Art, Betrayal, Proof, Underneath the Lintel and The Complete History of American (abridged).

Alli Shapiro (Assistant Stage Manager) is a recent graduate for UVM who is extrememly pleased to be working for VSC again on King Lear. She was previously ASM for Inspecting Carol and Winter Tales, and you may also have seen her on stage in UVM's productions of La Ronde (The Maid), India Song (Voice 2), Macbeth (Lady Macduff) and Ring Round The Moon (Mme. Desmortes). She thanks Mark - as always - for giving her this and every opportunity and Joel and folk for being her heart. So long Vermont!