Hippodrome State Theatre: Current Production: A Tuna Christmas

CAST

Lauren Caldwell*
as
Arles Struvie
Didi Snavely
Petey Fisk
Jody Bumiller
Charlene Bumiller
Stanley Bumiller
Vera Carp
Dixie Deberry
Helen Bedd

Mark Chambers*
as
Thurston Wheelis
Bertha Bumiller
Leonard Childers
R.R. Snavely
Pearl Burras
Inita Goodwin
Joe Bob Lipsey

SCENIC DESIGN James Morgan	COSTUME DESIGN Marilyn Wall-Asse	LIGHTING DESIGN Robert P. Robins
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR/ PRODUCTION MANAGER J. Jeffrey Guice	SOUND DESIGN Douglas Maxwell	PROPERTIES Lorelei Esser
	STAGE MANAGER Adam Cohen
	DIRECTED BY Mary Hausch

Lauren Caldwell *
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 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.

Mark Chambers*

Mark is delighted to return to the stage of the Hippodrome. This season found the Reverend Chambers making three theatrical debuts around the country. Most recently he was featured a King Charlemagne in Pippin with the legendary Nanette Fabray in San Fransciso. He starred in the Mystery of Irma Vep at the City Theatre of Pittsburgh, PA. as Nicodemus/Lady Enid; and, the Self Family Arts Center was his host theatre for the Thurston roles of Greater Tuna. His Hippodrome debut was as Geoffrey in The Sisters Rosensweig. As Dr.Frank N Furter in the Rocky Horror Show, he stunned many with his seemingly lack of morals and inhibitions. He recently appeared as Sigmund Freud in the Hippodrome production of Hysteria.

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.

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 Hysteria, '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.

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 has received 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 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.

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 (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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