Hugh Aaron

HUGH AARON - Playwright.
     Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Hugh Aaron received a Liberal Arts degree in the Humanities at The University of Chicago. He served three years during World War II, two of them in the Southwest Pacific. He was CEO of his own plastics manufacturing business for 20 years before selling it to write full time. Several of his short stories have been published in national magazines and anthologies, and 18 essays on business management and one on WWII appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
     Thus far he has written two novels, two screenplays, seventeen stage plays, two short story collections, a WWI letter collection, a travel journal, three children’s stories, five novellas (to be published in 2005) and a book (Business Not As Usual) on business management. He lives with his artist wife in mid-coast Maine.

haaron@adelphia.net
(207) 354-0735
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Leo Lunser

LEO LUNSER - Actor, Director
     At 55 years old, 6'3', 215 pounds, and sporting extremely long hair, Leo is not your typical actor/director. He is not your typical "dad", "businessman", "teacher", or "lawyer". Leo is more "aging hippie", "gypsy", "crazed lunatic", "prophet", or "street person". So if you're looking for "typical" or "stereotypical", look in some other direction.
      Leo does however, have over 35 years experience as an actor/director. Enjoyable past theatre roles include: Fagin, Sidney Bruhl, Harry Rote, Oscar Madison, the Scarecrow (Oz), Captain Hook, Chief Bromden, and Matthew Brady. A few directing efforts include HAIR (3 times), Wizard of Oz, 10 Little Indians, A Christmas Carol, and Arsenic & Old Lace.
      Leo has also appeared in Indie movies THE NINE, HITMEN, & MOTHER MADE ME He is founder and team member of the improvisational comedy troupe E.J.Smackels.

peacefreak@metrocast.net
(207) 490-1210
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Tim Ryan

TIM RYAN - Actor, Director.
     Since 2001 Tim has been directing Freeport High School's One Act productions. Tim has given students the chance writing & producing their own material. Tim is also an accomplished character actor & playwright. He has played many roles since he made his stage debut as Mr. Renfield in “Dracula”.
      Other roles include FDR in “Annie”, Big Jule in “Guys & Dolls”, Wolfman Jack in “Radio”, Mrs. Ethel Chauvanet in “Harvey” and The Ghost of Christmas Past in “A Christmas Carol” just to name a few. Tim has also appeared in the recent FRANK-FM television & radio ad spots. May 2005, Tim makes his national feature film debut in HBOfilm’s “Empire Falls” playing Brian (Buster) the drunken busboy.      Tim recently published his original plays "Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?" and "Mary O’Leary & The Leprechauns of Ballybunn Village” both of which have been performed many times in throughout New England.

ryan99@suscom-maine.net
(207) 865-4671
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BENJAMIN GERVAIS - Actor
    High school plays and musicals: "Little Mary Sunshine": One of the Forest Rangers, "The Good Doctor": Narrator, "Little Shop Of Horrors": Local Reporter. I've worked with the Belfast Maskers in the production of "The Boy's From Swanville": chorus and the Gaslight Theatre in "Mastergate": Senator Knight and Mr. Lamb.
     I have an MBA from Thomas College and currently work in the call center business. I enjoy writing, reading, weight lifting and am an avid tae kwon do buff with many years of training "under my belt".

BenGerv@aol.com
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DANIEL P. GOODHEART - Actor
    Dan is on the Board of directors for Aqua City Actor's Theatre (ACAT) in Waterville. You may have seen him as Sam/Jesse in Plaza Suite at ACAT, or in the past at the Waterville Opera House as Mr. Mushnik in The Little Shop of Horrors, at Gaslight Theater as Walter in Don't Drink the Water, or at Lakewood Theater as Warren in Moon Over the Brewery.
     He has also performed in past seasons at ACAT Theatre in Waterville as Milt in Laughter on the 23rd Floor, as Starbuck in the Rainmaker, Greg in Sylvia, Mike in Wait Until Dark, Felix in The Odd Couple, Bruce in Beyond Therapy, or Andy in Greetings. Daniel has also worked with Company of Angels as Lenny in Neil Simon's Rumors at Kents Hill (Thanks again Raz). Last season he directed his first show, Punch & Judy for ACAT.

daniel.goodheart@me.ngb.army.mil
dan_denise@hotmail.com
(207) 215-6988
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RUTH MONSELL - Director, Actress, Soprano soloist, , ,
     Ruth was raised in New York, but has lived in New England since 1985. She caught the theater bug in 9th grade and began directing as a Jr/Sr high English teacher.
     Her career includes directing both plays and musicals, sometimes combining stage and musical direction. In Connecticut she founded the Kent Players, giving area residents their first community theater in decades.
     Directing credits include The Fantasticks, Oliver!, Oklahoma, Once Upon a Mattress, Charlie Brown, Miracle Worker, Night Watch, Out of the Frying Pan, many others. Since moving to the midcoast in 2000: Fiddler, Our Town, Out of the Frying Pan, and Diary of Anne Frank.
     Midcoast appearances include Anything Goes, Twelfth Night, The Dining Room, Die Fledermaus, Amahl, To Whom It May Concern. She has also taught theater arts at the Chocolate Church, Riley School, and Round Top Center for the Arts.

ruthmonsell@yahoo.com
(207) 563-2920
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ANDY TOLMAN - Actor
     Andy spent the first half-century of his life in the audience. Then, his daughter, Laurie, and a friend, Jeff, convinced him to audition and he discovered both a modest talent and a rampant enjoyment of on-stage performance. Raz had faith, and cast him in Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and it's been trouble ever since.
     He's been very active with Monmouth Community Players since 1999. He's also worked with the Company of Angels, Johnson Hall, Lakewood, Gaslight, Open Book Players, and the Theater at Monmouth.
    He's clerk of the Board for MCP and OPB, and is Board secretary for TAM.
     Favorite roles include Dr. Lyman in Bus Stop, Merlin in Camelot, and any appearance in Gilbert & Sullivan.
     In his "free" time he's a geologist, working for the Maine Drinking Water Program, trying to convince people not to pollute the water they drink.
     He should be able to work himself out of a job any time now.

a183north@verizon.net
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Kristen Burkholder

KRISTEN BURKHOLDER - actress, singer, writer
    Kristen, also a solo performer, lives in Belfast. She was trained at Temple University in Philadelphia, and has been performing in Midcoast Maine for nearly four years.
     Her range spans high-speed comedy to intense drama, and everything in between: from the farcical “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)” as herself, to Belfast Maskers highly acclaimed recent production of “Proof” as Catherine, to the 15-Minute Festival’s first and only musical, “A Small Reception” as Angela, written by Tony-Award winner Mark O’Donnell.
    Burkholder is also a writer/performer: her one-woman show, “Martyrs Untied,” takes her Mennonite upbringing and the loss and exhilaration she has felt fashioning her own identity in a secular world. This piece was featured in Portland’s first annual Cassandra Project 2004, and has been performed in Belfast and Rockland, Maine, and in Pennsylvania.

kristen@kristenburkholder.com
http://www.kristenburkholder.com
(207) 338-3829
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LUCY RIOUX - Director, Actress
     Lucy has been active in community theatre for over 30 years. She has been the Artistic Director for the Monmouth Community Players from 1992 through 2002, and is presently Artistic Director for the Open Book Players, Maine's only performing readers theatre group.
     She received her degree in Theatre-Communications from the University of Southern Maine, and also has her Master's Degree in Education. She has been a teacher/consultant for the Gifted-Talented Program in the Litchfield School System for the past 16 years.
      She is the Director of Classroom Education for the Readers Theatre Institute in San Diego, and has taught RT in London for the past 11 years. She has directed over 35 shows and she was also honored with the distinction of being selected and recognized as the 1999 Maine Middle Level Teacher of the Year.

owilde@noctem.org
(207) 582-5717
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MATTHEW M. RYDER – Actor, Director, and Singer
      Matthew received numerous regional and state public speaking awards when he was an active teen in the International Order of DeMolay. Since his first acting class at Cape Elizabeth High School in 1987 he has studied acting at USM, and anticipates receiving his BA in Theatre in 2006. He also plans to receive a minor in music in the near future.
     Matthew has worked professionally in dinner theatre, musical theatre, film, and television. Leading roles from over 15 years of shows include ”Tony” in Westside Story, “Leading Player” in Pippin, “Jesus” in Godspell, “Jean-Michele” in La Cage aux Folles, “Billy” in Anything Goes, “Jack” in Where’s Charley
     Matthew has directed at several Maine High Schools, and is currently the Drama Club Advisor at Windham High School. He also serves as the Artistic Director for the Windham Center Stage Theatre. In the summer he works at the Cheryl Greeley Theatra-Dance studio teaching acting and directing musical theatre camps.

Rydermmr@aol.com
http://www.windham.k12.me.us/wsd_hs/Staff/theater/advisor.cfm
( 207) 939-5919
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CAROLYN GAGE - Playwright, Performer, Director, Activist
     Carolyn Gage is a lesbian-feminist playwright, performer, director and activist.
     She is the author of forty-eight plays and five books, four of which are on lesbian theatre. Last year, her play Ugly Ducklings was nominated by the American Theatre Critics Association for the ATCA/Steinberg Award for best new play of the year produced outside New York.
      Her work has been featured in the Washington Post and on National Public Radio, and has been acclaimed by such noted feminists at Andrea Dworkin, Jewelle Gomez, Phyllis Chesler, and John Stoltenberg.      Her papers are archived at the University of Oregon Special Collections. She has taught at Bates College, and she tours internationally in her own work. On the roster of a national speakers' bureau, she offers lectures and workshops on lesbian culture and non-traditional roles for women.

     Her catalog is online at www.carolyngage.com
carolyn@carolyngage.com
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WILL KILROY - Actor, Director, Producer
      Wil Kilroy is currently a theatre professor at the University of Southern Maine, and director for the Michael Chekhov Summer Training for actors and teachers, and the Theatre Academy for 13-18 year olds.
      As an actor Wil has appeared in a variety of local roles including Snowy Eagle in Tammy and Billy-Bob's Wedding which he co-created and directed, Michael in Tony 'N Tina's Wedding, and Hucklebee in The Fantasticks. For TV he's been a spokesman for Maine Tax Amnesty, "Release HD", and Vivarex.
      Credits as a director range from The Boys Next Door to Nunsense to West Side Story. Wil's productions of The Laramie Project, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Everything Sprite, and Purple Breasts were chosen for competition in the Kennedy Center's New England festivals, with Sprite also chosen for performance at New York's Village Gate and Purple Breasts chosen to perform in Washington, D.C. for the Breast Cancer Conference.
      Wil has been a Kennedy Center scholarship recipient and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Art, Michael Chekhov Studio, and National Shakespeare Conservatory in New York. He holds theatre degrees from the Universities of Rhode Island and Illinois.

kilroy@usm.maine.edu
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RON VENO - Actor
     Ron has been performing on stage since 1997 when he debuted as Sinclair Alcott in "Jungle Queen Debutante." Since then he has had roles in over 40 productions, some of which are as Warren Harding in "Camping With Henry & Tom", Henry Drummond in "Inherit The Wind," Coach in "That Championship Season," Champagne Charlie in "The Champagne Charlie Stakes," Buffalo Bill in "Annie Get Your Gun," Dale Harding in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," Judge Cassidy in "Wilde West," The Ambassador in "The Amorous Ambassador," Frank Gianelli in "Over The River And Through The Woods," Reverend B. H. Hooker in "Dearly Departed," Sir Danvers Carew in "Jekyll & Hyde," Arnold Wiggins in "The Boys Next Door," and Henry Potter in "It's A Wonderful Life."
     Ron also portrayed the Unscrupulous Lawyer in the History Channel production of "Haunted History."
     Ron can speak french, and can speak with various accents including Southern United States, British, Italian, Russian, French and Australian.
He can also recite the "Superman" opening sequence as a deaf person.

Zappadappadoo@ctel.net
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WILLIAM "BILL" HALEY – Actor, Director, Playwright
      Bill, born in the great State of Maine, is Founder of ACAT (Aqua City Actors Theatre) in Waterville. With over 30 years of experience in the magical world of theater, his favorite stage roles include Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, the King in the King and I and Norman Balanski in Boys Next Door.
      Bill has directed many straight plays and ventured, for the first time, into the world of musical theater as a director of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with Gaslight Theater in Hallowell. Bill’s latest adventure is in a supporting role with film in the independent Maine film “Boogie Board Beach” coming out in July of 2005 in Portland by Titans of Film.

William.Haley@legislature.maine.gov
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MARK NADEAU - Actor, Director, Producer
     Mark entered community theater in 1995, appearing as Mickey Gorski in Greetings! at Lakewood Theater. An award winning actor and director, he has since been involved in over 50 productions with the Park Street Players, Monmouth Community Players, Camden Civic Theater, the Waterville Opera House, Aqua City Actor's Theater (ACAT) and Lakewood Theater. He sits on the Board of Directors of Lakewood Theater, ACAT and MeACT.
     Favorite roles include Mickey Gorski in Greetings!, Stanley Gardner in Run for your Wife and Caught in the Net, Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple, Nick Cristano in Over the River and Through the Woods, Tom Daley in That Championship Season, Max Prince in Laughter on the 23rd Floor, George Milton in Of Mice and Men, Henry Jekyll and Edward in the musical Jekyll & Hyde.
     His proudest directing moments include The Homecoming, On Golden Pond, All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Auntie Mame, Over the River and Through the Woods, That Championship Season, The Important of Being Earnest, Champagne Charlie's Stakes, and Coyote on a Fence.

lkwdactr@hotmail.com
contact_phone: 207-649-0328
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foner.curtis@lonza.com

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Mark Bedell - Playwright, Director, Screenwriter, Actor, Film/Television Stunt Coordinator
   Mark Bedell has been making his living in the theatre and film industries since 1981 (full-time since 1985). He has worked on both coasts and internationally as a published Playwright, Director, Screenwriter, Actor, Film/Television Stunt Coordinator, and as Maineâ ™s only certified Fight Director.
   He is probably still best known as a professional touring childrenâ ™s theatre Producer/Writer/Director having toured in that business for 17 years (14 of which as Krackerjack Theatre Co.)
   Currently Mark runs the Maine Academy of Staged Combat (Fight-Director.org) in Westbrook and he freelances as a Staged Combat Teacher, Fight Director and Technical Director for High Schools and Theaters all over the state. Coming up in the fall of 2008, Mark Bedell, Jaclyn Bedell and Ronda Carlson will be opening a new Performing Arts Academy at Acorn Studios in Westbrook. They may also become a Traveling Performing Arts Academy going to High Schools and home school groups.

mark@Fight-Director.org

www.Fight-Director.org
www.MaineAcademyofStagedCombat.org
www.MarshallBedell.com
www.TravelingChildrensTheatre.com

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www.angelfire.com/art2/breuer

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