Shirley Valentine Cast & Crew

Karen Lefkoe (Shirley Valentine)

Karen has performed with Middlebury Actors Workshop since 2002, in recent years as Phyllis in Body Awareness, Jill Banford in The Fox, Fannie in On the Verge, Prudence in Beyond Therapy, and Hattie in Laundry & Bourbon.  Elsewhere in Vermont, Karen has performed in David Budbill’s Judevine, with Lost Nation Theater, Sisters Rosensweig, with VtART, and in Deb Gwinn’s Shakespeare in the Barn at Mary’s.  She has also had the honor of participating as an actor in the Young Playwrights Festival for several years.  Karen began acting in musical theater in New Jersey and Philadelphia, before taking a leave to move about the country and raise two children.  She has studied acting and dance in Philly, Boston, and at the University of Washington in Seattle, and voice with Bill Reed.

Douglas Anderson (Director)

Douglas Anderson is executive director of Town Hall Theater, Inc., which has recently restored and revived Middlebury's historic Town Hall Theater.  The restoration, which took 10 years and cost $5 million, has quickly become a model for small-town theaters.  Mr. Anderson teaches Music Theater at Middlebury College and is co-founder and artistic director of the Opera Company of Middlebury.  Recent directing projects include La Rondine and The Pearl Fishers for the Opera Company of Middlebury, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd and The Wild Party for Middlebury College, Funny Girl and The Music Man for the Middlebury Community Players, workshops of new musicals at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Cleveland Playhouse, and RiddleLikeLove (with a side of ketchup) at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC.  

Mr. Anderson's television career includes stints as head writer for the CBS daytime drama Guiding Light (Emmy nomination) and staff writer for several series produced by Children's Television Workshop (Emmy nomination).  He directed the teleplay Jefferson & Adams, which has been shown on PBS stations throughout the country.

Upcoming productions include Massenet's Thaïs for the Opera Company of Middlebury (June 8-16) and a revival of Swingtime Canteen for the Middlebury Community Players (July19-22), both at Town Hall Theater, Middlebury.   Mr. Anderson lives in East Middlebury, Vermont, with his wife Debby.  danderson@townhalltheater.org

John Paul Devlin (Scenic Designer | Technical Director)

John is happy to be working with Vermont Stage on his 30th production with the company. He is an Associate Professor of Fine Arts at Saint Michael's College where he is the resident designer for the Department of Fine Arts and the Saint Michael's Playhouse. He also serves as Production Manager for the Playhouse. John is Co-Vice-Chair of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region One. In a career spanning 32 years, he has been involved as a designer, manager or craftsman on over 370 productions. In addition to Saint Michael's Playhouse and Vermont Stage credits, his professional designs have been seen on stage at the Black Hills Playhouse, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Next Act Theatre, Milwaukee Children's Theatre, Milwaukee Ballet II, Northern Stage, and Lost Nation Theatre. Thanks as always to Carol and Kat for their support.

Jamien Lundy Forrest (Stage Manager)

Jamien is delighted to return for the entire 2012-2013 season with Vermont Stage Company.  Originally from VT, Jamien has lived and worked in theater all over the Northeast. While living in New York City, Jamien worked as the full time Technical Associate for Lincoln Center Institute for Arts in Education.  She's stage managed Off-Broadway with The Gazillion Bubble Show. She also designed lights for the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and Wallis Knot Productions. Prior to that, she was the Technical Director for The Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH where she enjoyed the added opportunity to direct several youth performances. She spent two seasons on tour with American Theater Arts for Youth. Currently, she spends her extra time in the FlynnSpace, designing lights for the Flynn Arts Youth Program.  A 2001 UVM Theatre graduate, Jamien is happy to be back in Burlington with her husband and two year old son. Many thanks to Cristina for this opportunity and to the rest of the team for sharing their talent and hard work!

Ellen O'Brien (Assistant Stage Manager)

Ellen is delighted to be working on her sixth VT Stage show.  As a teenager, she studied dance at the Banff School of Fine Arts, then went on to graduate from Colby College with a BA.  She danced with the University of Iowa Dance Company until she attended dental school and graduated with a DDS.  Since then she has been dividing her time between family, dentistry, and the performing arts.  Favorite past theater endeavors include Lyric Theater's South Pacific, Liz Lerman's Hallelujah Project, Circle in the Square Theater School's summer musical theater program and cabaret, and Bill Reed Voice Studio's summer musical theater intensives and cabarets. Ellen has choreographed and taught dance at schools in Vermont and for the VSA Arts program. She's currently a member of VSA's Awareness Theater Company. Ellen thanks Cristina Alicea for this great opportunity.  Thanks Tim, Alice, George, and James, for your love and support.

Willy Russell (Playwright)

Willy Russell was recently represented on Broadway with his smash-hit transfer from London, Blood Brothers. For Shirley Valentine Mr. Russell won the 1989 Tony Award, Drama Desk Award for Best Play and Oliver Award for Best Comedy of the Year. His worldwide hit play and movie Educating Rita won London's SWET Award for Best Comedy, and in 1981, an Academy Award nomination for screenplay adaptation.
Born in Liverpool, he left school at 15 to become a hairdresser before returning to education and becoming a teacher. It was while training to become a teacher that he wrote his first play, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival, When the Reds. His adaptation of Alan Plater's Tigers are Coming O.K. was his first professional work, presented in Liverpool in 1973. This was followed by John Paul George Ringo... and Bert which moved from Liverpool to the West End, winning the Evening Standard and London Theatre Critics Awards for Best Musical. Mr. Russell was Commissioned to write a play for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The result, Educating Rita, ran on the West End for two years, has been performed all over the world and was made into a motion picture starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. Blood Brothers opened in Liverpool in 1983, before subsequently moving to the West End.
In addition to the film Educating Rita he wrote screenplays for the movie versions of Shirley Valentine and Dancing Thru The Dark based on his plays Stags and Hens. His plays have been translated into almost every language, with productions currently running in Japan, Australia, South America, Scandinavia and Europe.

Jeffrey E. Salzberg (Lighting Designer)

Jeffrey has been lighting theatre, ballet, and modern dance troupes for over 30 years, and is thinking of making a career out of it.  He has lit several new ballets featuring former New York City Ballet principal dancer Peter Boal, the lighting for one of which, according to Jennifer Dunning in the NY Times, was "ingeniously atmospheric."  In Vermont, he has designed for Vermont Stage Company, Saint Michael's Playhouse, and Lost Nation Theater, and is Resident Lighting Designer for Boston's Moonbox Productions.  Mr. Salzberg has also served as a design consultant for several theatres and has participated in the arts funding  process as a grantwriter, a panelist, and a board member of a municipal funding agency.  His web page can be seen at http://www.jeffsalzberg.com.

Mr. Salzberg's friends are still hoping that some day he'll get a real job.

Sue Wade (Props Master)

Sue Wade, delighted as always to be properties master, is thrilled to announce her fallback career, manufacturing flower pot bunnies.