Peter Haig*  (Abraham Yahuda)
Peter was a scholarship student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and remained in New York after graduation to work on and off-Broadway under such directors as George C. Scott and Joe Papp.  He has performed for the inmates of Rikers Island Prison in New York and for President and Mrs. Reagan at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  Since moving to South Florida, Peter has been seen in most of the regional theatres there, winning that area’s Carbonell Award for his performance in The Little Foxes , one of the 31 productions he has appeared in at Boca Baton’s Caldwell Theatre Company. On TV he can be seen in reruns of "Miami Vice", "Unsolved Mysteries", and "America’s Most Wanted".  In his latest TV movie he plays a general opposed to Mr. Hulk Hogan’s "Assault on devil’s Island."  Peter comes to the Hippodrome from a revival of George and Ira Gershwins Of Thee I Sing and returns to South Florida to reprise one of his favorite parts —the title role of Al Sjoerdsma’s  Gandhi Goes Fishing.

Gregory Jones* (Salvador Dali)
Gregg has performed on the Hippodrome stage since the fabled “warehouse” days where he first appeared in They Shoot Horses Don’t They during the 1978-79 season.  Since then, he has played various roles in over 30 shows at the theatre, including Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol for the past four seasons.  Recent roles on this stage include Adrian in Private Eyes, Leslie, Phyllis and Tom in Sylvia, Sid Caesar in Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and Steve Hubbell in A Streetcar Named Desire.  Other favorite shows over the past 25 years include Candide, Other People’s  Money, I’m Not Rappaport, and the Mystery of Irma Vep.  Film and television credits include Waterways, Miami Vice, and Victor Nunez’s A Flash of Green.  Gregg is currently a tenured professor of Theatre at Santa Fe Community College, where he has taught for the past 14 years.  He is very honored to be playing this great artist and he would like to thank his family for their endurance of his household rehearsals over the years, but especially of this “shameful genius”, Salvador Dali`.  He dedicates his performance to mentor and friend, David Lane.

Emilee MacDonald (Anna)
Emilee is pleased to be working at the Hippodrome.  She has just recently moved to the area from Long Island where she graduated from Hofstra University with a BFA in performance.  Some of her recent and favorite credits include Mrs. Peachum in the Threepenny Opera, Luce in Boys from Syracuse, Emilia in Othello, and Rose in the Woolgather.  This season Emilee will be ASM for the shows and is happy to be able to work with such a creative and professional team. Emilee would like to thank the household at Hollar Place for all their support.

Joy Schiebel* (Jessica)
 Joy is thrilled to return to the Hippodrome to continue working with this great company.  Since last season’s Hedda Gabler, she has taken on Lady Percy in Henry 4 Part 1, Rowena in Biloxi Blues, and Lady Macbeth in the Suzuki Showcase of Macbeth at Porthouse Theatre in Cleveland, as well as Lucy in Hostage with the New Ensemble, in New York City.   Other Hippodrome credits include Frankenstein, The Glass Menagerie, Three Tall Women, and Dracula. Other regional credits include Shakespeare’s Juliet, Viola, and Hero, Emily in Our Town, Hovstad in An Enemy of the People, Lady Teazle in School for Scandal, Diana in All’s Well That Ends Well, Poppy in Noises Off, Cherie in Bus Stop and Isabel in My Children! My Africa!  Joy lives in New York City.

ADAM COHEN* (Stage Manager)
Adam is in his fourth season at the Hippodrome, having stage managed over 20 productions during that time period. In a career that has taken him across the high seas, into huge arenas, in front of the camera, up in the control booth, and onto the stage, the experiences he has accumulated only serve to make him more aware of the value of the “jewel” the citizens of Gainesville have in their midst.  The caliber of the artists that the Hippodrome attracts is surpassed nowhere, and he thanks the management for the chance to be counted in that group.  His greatest thanks must go, however, to his family, who have supported his choices from the beginning and continue to be a source of joy and inspiration.

MARY HAUSCH (Director) 
A Hippodrome founder, Mary has directed more than 80 and acted in more than 50 productions in her 27 years with the theatre.  She recently wrote and directed An Enchanted Land, a one-woman show about Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, which she took to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland in1999. Directorial accomplishments include 'Art,' God's Man in Texas, Resident Alien, Gross Indecency:  The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, A Tuna Christmas, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Private Eyes, Three Tall Women, The Mineola Twins, Always ... Patsy Cline, Indiscretions, A Christmas Carol, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Lonely Planet, Broken Glass, Earthly Possessions, Marvin’s Room, Prelude to a Kiss, M. Butterfly, Lettice and Lovage, Other People’s Money, Steel Magnolias, Driving Miss Daisy, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Little Shop of Horrors, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf and True West.  She also directed a PBS teleplay based on David Mamet’s The Duck Variations.  She is a co-founder of H.I.T.T. (Hippodrome Improvisational Teen Theatre) for which she and her colleagues won the Margaret Sanger Award.   Mary has served with the National Endowment for the Arts as a panelist/reviewer, with the Florida Professional Theatre Association as treasurer and with the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs as a panelist/reviewer.  She was the recipient of the Gainesville Sun’s Star Business Award in 1991 and the Sun’s Arts Person of the Year Award in 1993 by The Gainesville Sun.  She was selected as one of 50 men and women of "notable achievement" who made contributions in North Central Florida in the past 100 years by the Gainesville Sun in 2000.

Michael Lasswell (Scenic Design)
Michael is now an expert on the subject of Hysteria, having obsessively redesigned the set you see in front of you a total of twenty seven times. For years he has been a victim of  ‘Artistic Compulsive Disorder,’ which forces him to simultaneously pursue careers as an actor, director, designer, and vertebrate paleontologist.  At the present time he has a total of fourteen different personalities occupying his body, many of whom brought their pets. He suffers from overwhelming feelings of guilt due to his excessive scenic exposure at Florida Studio Theatre where, in the past two years, he designed Invasion of Privacy, Gross Indencey, How I learned to Drive, As Bees in Honey Drown, Hittat hattie, Blues In the Night, and 37 Postcards before having to be institutionalized after an attack of excessive Paint Glazing.  Audiences may remember reading about the numerous prestigious design awards he’s received – but he doesn’t.  He has never stapled a character actress to a stage flat that’s just a vicious backstage rumor.  Anyway, she survived.

MARILYN WALL-ASSE (Costume Designer) 
Marilyn is a Hippodrome co-founder, Artistic Associate and the Costume Designer-in-Residence. She 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 Ulee's Gold with Peter Fonda and Patricia Richardson.  She has served as makeup artist to the famous faces of Phil Donahue, Al Gore and Bill Clinton at their local appearances.  Marilyn recently won two Emmy Awards  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 15  years.   During this time, he has designed the lighting for more than 175 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 300 productions regionally in the United States, including theater, dance, and industrials.   For the past  eight 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.

J. JEFFERY GUICE (Technical Director/ Production Coordinator)
Jeff has recently returned to the world of live theatre from an extensive tour of duty in the themeing industry. He has produced ultra realistic animal habitats for zoos and aquariums such as The Brookfield  Zoo in Chicago and detailed exhibits for museums, the latest being The 82nd Airborne Museum in Fayettville, N.C. From 1985 to 1999 Jeff has Art directed, sculpted and painted on many themepark attractions such as Disney MGM, EPCOT, E.T.’s Adventure and Jurassic Park rides at Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida plus projects in Italy, Las Vegas and the Bahamas. Having started in theatre with a B.F.A. in Theatrical Design and Technology from Auburn University and experence from Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Daytona Musical Theatre and Orlando Civic Theatre, Jeff is excited to once again participate in live productions.              

Lorelei Esser (Properties 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.

ROCKY DRAUD (Sound Designer)  
Rocky has designed sound for the Hippodrome for the past 20 years. Since the theatre’s production of Sleuth, he has created innovative sound designs for over 50 productions.   His recent credits include 'Art', God's Man in Texas, The Mineola Twins, M Butterfly, Private Eyes, Lonely Planet, and Three Tall Women. Rocky has also been seen on stage in the Hippodrome productions of Always…Patsy Cline as the bass player in the Bodacious Bobcats and in the band of Beehive. 

TAMERIN DYGERT (Dramaturg)  
Holds a B.A. in Theatre and English Education from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.  As Dramaturg and Literary Manager, Ms. Dygert compiles research materials for the artistic team; contributes to production concepts; serves as features writer/editor of the curriculum guide, Perspectives; and writes articles for Ovation newsletters.  She also assists in Mainstage season selection; negotiates Mainstage production rights; and directs the New Play Reading Series which she founded in 1998.  A native of Maryland, Ms. Dygert has worked at Baltimore’s Center Stage; toured with Shakespeare on Wheels; served as a freelance dramaturg with Baltimore’s Performance Workshop, Inc.; and taught English and Drama at Bais Yaakov School for Girls.  She has taught Hippodrome theatre arts classes and directed Florida Teen Playwright Festival productions and appeared on the Mainstage in The Sisters Rosensweig, A Christmas Carol and Just So Stories.  Ms. Dygert is a member of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), a professional association serving literary managers, dramaturgs and theatre professionals throughout North and South America.

Shirley Lasseter (Videographer)
Shirley has been with the Hippodrome since the late ‘70’s in various positions. In 1981 she and Mary Hausch and several other film lovers formed a committee and booked the first cinema program at the Hippodrome. Shirley worked as a projectionist for several years and took over as the director of the cinema in 1985. Video and film have always been a major interest in her life. She has served for over a decade as the Hippodrome’s videographer although her only mainstage piece prior to this production was the video segment for Earthly Possessions.