Hippodrome State Theatre: Current Production: How I Learned to Drive: Cast & Crew

How I Learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel
Cast & Crew

Li'l Bit

Uncle Peck

Male
Greek Chorus

Female
Greek Chorus

Teenage
Greek Chorus

SCENIC DESIGN James Morgan	COSTUME DESIGN Marilyn Wall-Asse	LIGHTING DESIGN Robert P. Robins
PRODUCTION MANAGER Timothy J. Dygert	SOUND DESIGN Lauren Caldwell Douglas Maxwell	PROPERTIES Lorelei Esser
	STAGE MANAGER Adam Cohen
	DIRECTED BY Lauren Caldwell

TIMOTHY ALTMEYER (Male Greek Chorus) is excited to be back in Gainesville, working with Lauren Caldwell on this tremendous play. He has appeared at the Hippodrome in The Illusion, The Mineola Twins, and Private Eyes. Other theater credits include the New York production of Three Tall Woman (1994 Pulitzer Prize); the premiere of Tennessee Williams’ The Notebook of Trigorin, opposite Lynn Redgrave; and regional productions of Arcadia, Ghosts, Twelfth Night, The Glass Menagerie, The Miser, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Pericles. Timothy is a Pittsburgh native who prefers tennis balls to snowballs in the middle of January.

BONNIE HARRISON (Teenage Greek Chorus) Bonnie holds a BA (honours) in Theatre from the University of Winnipeg and an MFA in Performance from the University of Florida. She last appeared on the Hippodrome mainstage as O’Eldest Magician in Just So Stories. Other productions include A Streetcar Named Desire and The Sugar Bean Sisters. Bonnie adapted and directed the 1995 A Christmas Carol and directed Theatre for Young Audiences productions of EcoHeroes, Alice in Wonderland, 4R Planet, and the local and state tours of To Be or Not To Be...That is Two Questions. As the Hippodrome’s Director of Education, she conceptualized, developed and incorporated a strong peer education component to the existing format of H.I.T.T , and is working on Florida’s first interactive prevention Web Site for Teens. For the past three years the Florida International Volunteer Corp. has invited Bonnie to bring the award winning H.I.T.T. program to teens in Antigua and Barbuda West Indies.

JENNIFER HUBBARD (Li'l Bit) Jennifer makes her Hippodrome debut with How I Learned to Drive. Acting credits include Actors' Theatre of Louisville productions of The Adding Machine, directed by Anne Bogart, and Humana Festival premieres of Reverse Transcription, written and directed by Tony Kushner, Waterbabies by Adam LeFevre, Jane Anderson’s The Last Time We Saw Her, and What She Found There by John Glore, directed by Jon Jory. Also A Christmas Carol, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Recent roles at Stage One, Louisville include the premiere of James DeVita’s Dinosaur and Grace in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. During five seasons with the New Harmony Theatre, Ms. Hubbard’s roles included Catherine in Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer, Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, Ruth in Blithe Spirit and Agnes in Agnes of God. Also productions of The Curious Savage, The Trip to Bountiful, The Glass Menagerie with Polly Holliday, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Eleeymosynary, and Lend Me A Tenor. Chicago credits include A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre, the Chicago premiere of My Sister in This House, and a Jeff nomination for Outstanding Performance in Christopher Durang’s Titanic.

ANTHONY NEWFIELD (Uncle Peck) Seen earlier this season as Uncle Adolph in The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Anthony is currently working with the actress Katherine Houghton, helping to develop her new play, Best Kept Secret, which has been presented as a work-in-progress in New York City, Connecticut and at the Hippodrome. New York work includes: The Bad Infinity; The Grapes of Wrath, It’s Only a Play, Ourselves Alone, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Mrs. Bromely. Regional theatre work includes: Arcadia (Huntington Theatre); Death Defying Acts (Coconut Grove Playhouse); several seasons at the Caldwell Theatre including Bent (Carbonnel Award – Best Supporting Actor); Antony & Cleopatra with Jane Alexander (Alliance Theatre); Benedict Arnold (Florida Stage); The Rivals, Peg O’ My Heart (Delaware Theatre Company). In Ireland: The Normal Heart (Ned Weeks) Dublin and national tour; Tom and Viv (T.S. Eliot) and Peer Gynt (Cotton, et al) Gate Theatre. In Russia: The Grapes of Wrath (Moscow Art Theatre). Television appearances: All My Children, One Life to Live, Capitol. Film: Farewell Miss Fortune, Dogwood, Ace in the Hole. His article about his experiences in Russia, ‘After the Orchard,’ was published recently in American Theatre magazine.

NELL PAGE SEXTON* (Female Greek Chorus) Nell is an Associate Artist with the Hippodrome State Theatre, and has appeared in more than fifty roles inluding Cory in Private Eyes, Jim and Sarah in The Mineola Twins, Kate in Sylvia, Aunt Leo in Indiscretions, Jean Louise Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, Bessie in Marvin’s Room, La Marquise de Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Carol in Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Charlotte Corday in Marat/Sade, various roles in All in the Timing, Mrs. Cratchit in A Christmas Carol, Willie Mae Nettles in The Sugar Bean Sisters, multiple roles in The Little Prince, Artie in Eleemosynary, Annelle in Steel Magnolias, Jan in Bedroom Farce, Clair in I’m Not Rappaport, Cassie in Rumors, Linda in Rum and Coke, Ruth in So Long on Lonely Street, Mary in Vanities, Janet in Accomplice, and Mrs. Emory in Earthly Possessions. Nell appeared as Kate in Sylvia and Kate and Kate in The Miracle Worker at the Heritage Reperatory Theatre in Charlottesville, Virginia. She has appeared Off-Broadway in Desperado. Nell’s film credits include Gathering Evidence and Ulee’s Gold. She co-authored Coquina, which opened at the Harold Clurman Theatre in October.

Adam Cohen* (Stage Manager)
Adam thinks he got infected by the theater bug when his mother attended My Fair Lady on Broadway while pregnant with him. After getting a BA in Theater from the University of New Orleans, he spent the majority of his 21st year touring with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus as a graduate of their Clown College. Upon returning to New Orleans, Adam began working professionally at local theaters on both sides of the curtain. His experience included all manner of backstage and technical work, onstage performances ranging from Shakespeare to Neil Simon, and a three-week stint as Lana Turner’s driver. Cinematically, he has worked on independent films and movies for television, seen most of Fred Astaire’s films several times over, and portrayed the title role in the recently released family video Dr. Dolittles’s Magnificent Adventure. After having worked all over the Southeast, Adam is very grateful to Mary, Lauren, and the rest of the Hippodrome staff for giving him a “home” in this transient business called show.

Lauren Caldwell (Director)
Lauren is the Hippodrome’s Artistic Director. She has directed over 30 shows on the Hippodrome mainstage, including The Rocky Horror Show and last season’s Dracula, The Glass Menagerie and Beehive. Most recently, she played half the characters in A Tuna Christmas, and revived her role as Louise in the critically acclaimed encore performance of Always...Patsy Cline. She has written a play entitled To Be or Not To Be...That is Two Questions which is currently touring the state of Florida. She adds this writing endeavor to last summer’s “free” adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories, which was produced on the Hippodrome mainstage. She is currently working on two other pieces: one based on the life of poet and novelist May Sarton and a play about Joe Carstairs, the fastest female speedboat racer in the world. In February, she will be taking five weeks off from the Hippodrome to study with world-renowned director, Anne Bogart. She conceptualized a comprehensive curriculum guide for Hippodrome productions, Perspectives, which is distributed to Alachua County High Schools, Santa Fe Community College and the University of Florida. A native of Texas, Lauren holds a BFA in directing from Baylor University and a MFA in acting from the University of Florida. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Drama League and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. She owns and operates Legal Acts, a consulting company for attorneys, and is actively involved in the Prosecution/Public Defenders’ Program at UF. This year, Lauren joined the Law School there as a coach for the student competing trial teams. She was recently named Arts Person of the Year by The Gainesville Sun.

James Morgan (Scenic Designer)
Jim is the Artistic Director of Manhattan’s acclaimed York Theatre Company (23 years, 85+ designs, including last season’s No Way to Treat a Lady, for which he received a Drama Desk award nomination, and, currently, The Show Goes On, starring Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt). Broadway: Sweeney Todd (York’s revival, Drama Desk nomination); the musical Anna Karenina (American Theatre Wing Design nomination); The Miser, Taking Steps, Getting Married, etc. National companies: On the 20th Century, The Jukebox, The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me (also San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston), etc. Regional theaters: Manhattan Theatre Club, Goodspeed Opera House, Chicago Lyric Opera, Asolo, Cleveland Play House, Cincinnati Playhouse, Coconut GrovePlayhouse, McCarter, Portland Opera, etc. Directing credits include Oh Coward!, Falsettoland (Carbonell Award, Best Director and Best Musical), and workshops of Jonathon Courie’s play Jack Hart). Recent/current projects: Cy Coleman’s new musical Exactly Like You (Goodspeed), Radio Gals (Geva) and No Way to Treat a Lady (Coconut Grove Playhouse). A Florida native, UF Graduate and recipient of the H.P. Constans Award, he lives in Manhattan. This is his 19th design for the Hippodrome; he directed and designed last season’s Sylvia.

MARILYN WALL-ASSE (Costume Designer)

Marilyn is a Hippodrome co-founder, Artistic Associate and the Costume Designer-in-Residence and has designed and built costumes for more than 150 Hippodrome productions. She is a four time recipient of the Outstanding Young Women in America Award and received the Margaret Sanger Certificate of Appreciation in 1987. She has twice received a Governor’s Award as one of Florida’s Outstanding Artists, and was the only theatrical artist to be granted that award this year. Her Hippodrome acting credits include The Madwoman of Chaillot, Cabrona, Bedroom Farce, Robber Bridegroom, Crimes of the Heart and Season’s Greetings. Directing credits include Macbeth, Same Time Next Year and Tangled Tales which she also co-authored. In the film world Marilyn has designed costumes and makeup for A Flash of Green, Shimmer, Ruby in Paradise, Gathering Evidence, Miami Hustle and the recently released Ulee's Gold with Peter Fonda and Patricia Richardson. At their local appearances, she has served as makeup artist to the famous faces of Phil Donahue, Al Gore and Bill Clinton. Marilyn recently received an Emmy nomination for her costume designs for the children’s television show, Salsa.

Robert P. Robins (Lighting Designer)
Bob has been Lighting Designer-in-Residence at the Hippodrome for the past 13 years. During this time, he has designed the lighting for more than 150 productions. He has also stage managed numerous productions including Hippodrome Mainstage, state and Theatre for Young Audiences tours. In addition to designing and stage managing, Bob also engineers the soundtracks and sound reinforcement for all Hippodrome productions. He is an Actors’ Equity Association stage manager and a member of IATSE Local 115. Bob has designed more than 250 productions regionally in the United States, including theater, dance, and industrials. For the past six years, he has taught at the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts. He spends what time he has away from the theater with his very supportive wife, Jodi, and their two children, Kayla and Evan.

Timothy J. Dygert (Production Manager)
This is Tim’s sixth season at the Hippodrome as a member of the production team. Tim started as a carpenter while in college, and has held the titles of Master Carpenter, Technical Director, and now Production Manager. He designed the set for Private Eyes and has been involved in the creation of over fifty mainstage and touring productions. Tim has also designed several industrials in and around Gainesville including scenery for Gator Growl, Puttin on the Ritz, and the American Heart Association’s “Five points of Life” ride, as well as the Hippodrome TYA production of To Be or Not To Be... That is Two Questions and the recent mainstage production of Private Eyes.

Lorelei Esser (Property Design)

Lorelei has been designing properties for the Hippodrome since the 1994 production of Earthly Possessions. She has long been recognized in our community for her accomplishments and contributions as an independent artist. Her medium, the collection and assemblage of “the stuff of life” can now be experienced in the sets of the Hippodrome’s productions. Lorelei’s understanding of time periods, cultures, the writer’s intentions, the director’s vision along with her tenacity for detail bring artistry to the craft of properties design.

DOUGLAS MAXWELL (Sound Design)
Douglas served as Musical Director for the recent production of The Rocky Horror Show, Musical Director and “Joe” Bob in last season’s Always ... Patsy Cline and this season's remount and for the recent production of Beehive. Over the past three years, Douglas has acted as Sound Designer at the Hippodrome for The Lion in Winter, Sylvia, A Streetcar Named Desire, Dracula, The Glass Menagerie, Just So Stories, and To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he also composed and performed an original score. He has acted as Musical Director for Sunday in the Park with George, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and The Secret Garden at the Gainesville Community Playhouse. He graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelors in Music Composition and is currently pursuing his Masters in Electro-Acoustic Music. Most recently, he wrote original music for The Last Night of Ballyhoo at the Hippodrome and Our Town at the Gainesville Community Playhouse.

*Member of Actors' Equity Association,
the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

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