|
 Come
follow the band (and the crowds) to the Tony award
winning tale of that legendary master showman of the Big
Top, P.T. Barnum. You’ll experience the tale of his rise
to the top of showbiz, played out against his
bittersweet personal life, to the music of the one and
only Cy (CITY OF ANGELS, SWEET CHARITY, ON THE 20th CENTURY) Coleman. |
|
 Matt Wolfe*
(PT Barnum)
Matt was last seen at Showtunes! in Fiorello. Seattle credits
include the Bunny in Goodnight Moon with Seattle Children's Theatre,
Rudolph in Hello Dolly at The Village Theatre, Harold Hill/Charlie Cowell in
The Music Man also at the Village, Sound of Music at Fifth
Avenue, and Arsenic and Old Lace and Jacques Brel at Second Story
Repertory. Regional Credits include Cosmo in Singing in the Rain,
Tony in West Side Story, and Danny Zuko in Grease. |
 Beth DeVries*
(Chairy Barnum)
Beth has worked extensively around Seattle in such theatres as ACT,
Tacoma
Actor's Guild, Seattle Children's Theatre, Village Theatre, Civic
Light Opera, Bellevue Civic Theatre, and Arts West. Her most recent
shows have included Rumors at Bellevue Civic Theatre and the new
musicals Fairystories and Snapshots (where she had the
privilege of working directly with Stephen Schwartz) at Village
Theatre. Favorite roles have been Eve in Children of Eden, Bobbi/Gabby in
City of Angels, Annie Sullivan in Miracle Worker, and Gypsy Rose Lee in
Gypsy. You can also see Beth in several commercials presently airing
and in the upcoming SAG indie film, Continuum. |
|
 Jessica Skerritt
(Jenny Lind)
Jessica is overjoyed to return to Showtunes! where she was last seen
as Flora in Flora, The Red Menace. Jessica has performed locally
with Village Theatre, ArtsWest, ReAct, Civic Light Opera,
Contemporary Classics, and Harlequin Productions. Favorite roles
include Susan in tick,tick...BOOM!, Cathy in The Last 5 Years, and
Nancy D in A New Brain. Film credits: Rick Stevenson's Expiration
Date and Thom Harp's Driver's Ed and Fortune Hunters. |
 Faith Russell
(Joice Heth)
Faith has been working in Seattle as an actress, teacher,
choreographer, and director for the past 20 plus years. During that
time, she has been pleased to direct, teach and choreograph for
Village Theater Kidstage in Issaquah, Taproot Theater Acting Studio
in Seattle, and Studio East in Kirkland. Currently you can see her
perform with StoryBook Theater in Little Mermaid and look for her
this summer on the Taproot Theater stage as the narrator in Joseph
And The Technicolor Dream Coat! |
|
 Greta Bloor
(Tom Thumb)
Greta is very excited to be back performing with Showtunes! where
she was last seen in On the 20th Century. She has performed with
Village Theatre in Hello, Dolly (Ermengarde) and in Robin Hood: The
Legend Continues (Queen Isabella). Other credits include Three
Sisters at Intiman and Baby and Barefoot in the Park, both at ArtsWest. She holds a BS in neurobiology from the University of
Washington. Thanks to her Bud for everything! |
 Evan Woltz
(Ringmaster)
Evan is delighted to be a part of Showtunes! Theatre Company’s
production of Barnum. Although new to the Seattle theatre scene, he
has been performing in musical theatre most of his life. What
started as an extra-curricular activity in middle school has evolved
into an all-consuming career goal. Evan has recently graduated from
the University of Washington with a double BA in Drama and English.
While some may anticipate these credentials as a springboard into
the exciting world of the food service industry, he fully intends to
make a living singing, acting and writing until he dies of
malnutrition. Evan has appeared on stage in recent years as Baker in
Music of Remembrance’s operetta Brundibar!, as Riff Raff in the
Undergraduate Theatre Society’s Rocky Horror Show, and as Mr. Smith
in The Bald Soprano. Most recently, he played Richard the Nice Nurse
in Contemporary Classics’ A New Brain. As ever, Evan is indebted
to his parents for their fierce support of his theatrical endeavors. |
|
 Rachel Permann*
(Ensemble)
This is Rachel’s maiden voyage with Showtunes! and she’s pleased as
punch to be here! You may have seen her award winning performance as
The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet at Harlequin Productions last spring.
If not, look for her in the following films: I Scream, Perfect
Sport, and The Mix Up. Rachel is an alumni of the T. Schreiber
Master Class in NYC as well as a member of AEA and SAG. Thanks
Patti!! |
 Erin Sprow
(Ensemble)
Erin is pleased to make her Showtunes! debut in this
production of Barnum! Erin has performed throughout the Puget Sound
with recent credits including Hortense in The Baker’s Wife (CLO),
Mama Noah in Children of Eden (CLO) and Ramona in Blue Plate Special
(Centerstage). Other credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona (TAG),
Voices of Christmas (ArtsWest) and Ragtime (CLO). Erin thanks the
cast and crew and her friends and family for their continued
support. |
|
 Natalie Moe
(Ensemble)
Natalie is thrilled to be performing with Showtunes Musical
Theatre! She graduated from Northwestern University in 2002 and is
grateful to be working/playing in her hometown of Seattle. Favorite
roles include Chastity/Reno Sweeney US in Anything Goes, Sister
Hubert in Nunsense, Lilli/Kate in Kiss Me, Kate, featured soloist in
Swing!, and Diana Dream/Delores Delores in On the Town. She was most
recently seen in My Way – A Tribute to Frank Sinatra at Civic Light
Opera. |
 Naomi Morgan
(Ensemble)
Naomi is honored to make her debut with Showtunes! She's been
doing theater a year and a half and loving every minute. She's also
worked for Civic Light Opera: The Baker's Wife, Tacoma Actor's
Guild: Two Gentlemen of Verona, and 5th Avenue Theatre's AMT
(Adventure Musical Theatre): It Happened at the World's Fair. She's
also the lead singer of a rock band which plays many different parts
of Washington. Love to Kiel and the kids! |
|
 Mark Abel
(Ensemble)
Mark is delighted to finish out the Showtunes! season with
Barnum! What a great company to be involved with!! Putting on a show
in a week really keeps you on your toes and helps you remember why
you love theatre so much! Thanks again to David and Maggie! Mark has
been seen around the Puget Sound at Village Theatre, CLO, Renton
Civic Theatre, Eastside Musical Theatre, Driftwood Players,
Northwest Savoyards, Historic Everett Theatre, among others. Roles
have ranged from King Henry II in Lion in Winter to a tap
dancing Nebraskan in Kiss Me Quick Before the Lava Reaches the Village!
What fun! |
 Ryan McCabe
(Ensemble)
Ryan is thrilled to be making his Showtunes! debut in Barnum, which
happily reunites him with his favorite co-star, Erin Sprow. Most
recently he appeared as the priest in CLO's production of The
Baker's Wife. Other local roles include Abel/Japheth, Children of
Eden (CLO); Nick/Mr. Kopecki/Homeless Guy, Big! (CLO); Booby,
Saucy
Jack & the Space Vixens (BS Productions); himself, Boys Night Out
(ArtsWest).
As always, much love to my family, friends, and (most importantly)
Chandler. |
|
 Doug Fahl
(Ensemble)
Doug is pleased return to Showtunes! after having last appeared in
Dear World. Recently, Doug performed in The Great Gatsby
at the Seattle Repertory Theatre and Hello Dolly! at Village
Theatre--where he has also performed in productions of Robin Hood:
The Legend Continues and South Pacific. Doug has played
feature roles at Civic Light Opera (George M & On The Town); Eastside
Musical Theater (Tommy, Evita); and Annex Theatre (Yellow Kid,
For Lorne & Cat Like Tread). Doug has also performed at Alice B.
Theatre and Consolidated Works in Seattle and Pioneer Theatre
Company, Salt Lake Acting Company and Sundance Theatre in Salt Lake
City, Utah. He graduated with a BFA in Musical Theatre from the
University of Utah. Additionally, Doug works in freelance web and
graphic design and video production. You can find out more
information about Doug at
dougfahl.com |
 Josh Krupke
(Ensemble)
Josh is excited to make his Showtunes! debut! He was last seen in
Contemporary Classics' excellent production of A New Brain. Recent
favorites include Evita (Village Theatre), Picasso at the Lapin
Agile (Driftwood Players), and Anything Goes (CLO). Josh has been
seen around the Puget Sound at Village Theatre, CLO, Seattle Public
Theater, Driftwood Players, Eastside Musical Theatre, Ghostlight
Theatricals, Burien Live Theatre, and Capital Playhouse. Josh thanks
God, his wife Rebekah, and his parents.
COME
FOLLOW OUR BAND!
Piano/Conductor: Mark Rabe
Drums/percussion: Bruce Monroe
Woodwinds: Becky Bloomstine
Brass: Harlan Feinstein
Banjo & Trombone: John Lowrie |
|
Claudia Zahn
(Director)
Claudia is happy to be working again with Showtunes! She directed
On the Twentieth Century for the company last year, and Out of
This World in 2001. In her free time, she's the Director of
Opera and Music Theatre at the University of Washington School of
Music, where she recently directed Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins. Other
Seattle area work includes directing cabarets at the Ruins, the
operas Bon Appetit! and A Water Bird Talk for the Annas Bay
Music Festival and musicals at Civic Light Opera. She has directed
for opera companies throughout the country, including New York City
Opera, Sarasota Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Lake George Opera
Festival, and the Caramoor International Festival of Music in
Katonah, NY.
Mark Rabe (Music
Director)
Seattle area credits: It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman,
Flora, the Red Menace, Do I Hear A Waltz?, Out Of This World,
Anyone Can Whistle (Showtunes!); Oh, Coward!
(Seattle Repertory Theatre); Goblin Market (ACT Theatre);
Goodnight Moon, Harriet’s Halloween Candy, Junie B. Jones & A
Little Monkey Business (Seattle Children's Theatre); Forbidden
Xmas (Tacoma Actor's Guild); Ragtime, Red, Hot & Cole, Swing!, On The Town (Seattle Civic Light Opera);
The Last 5
Years (REACT Theatre); john & jen (Emerging Artists/White Raven
Productions). Future engagements: High School Musical (Seattle
Children's Theatre).
 Bobby Hedglin-Taylor (Choreographer, circus and aerial
staging)
Bobby makes New York City his home, and is the new director of the highly
successful Espana Streb Trapeze Academy in Brooklyn. www.espanastrebtrapeze.org His career combines 25 years of
theatrical experience as well as 17 years of circus performance as a
swinging trapeze artist and soloist. He's very proud and happy for
his first show with Showtunes! This production marks his 11th
version of the show Barnum. The latest, was the Westchester Broadway
Theater's production of Barnum, he was the swing for 14 chorus parts
and 2 supporting roles, and was the circus trainer teaching the
entire cast aerial, juggling and acrobatics. He's played every male
role in the show including PT Barnum himself. Bobby is proud to be a
part of Showtunes! and thanks to Claudia, and David for their love
and support and belief in his talents! As an actor, Bobby has shared
the stage with legends such as Lauren Bacall, Linda Eder, BeBe
Neuwirth, Marge Champion, Cady Huffman, Nell Carter, Eileen Fulton,
and many more. Theatrical credits include the national tours of A
Wonderful Life and Cabaret. Stock and regional credits include
42nd Street, Singing in the Rain and A Chorus Line. A very proud
member of Actors Equity Association and American Federation of TV
and Radio Artists. www.geocities.com/roberthedglin Special Thanks to
David Taylor and my mom Mary Lou, as always I dedicate my work to
the memory of my Father Robert Hedglin Sr. "why walk when you can
fly"
Janette L. Hubert
( Production Stage Manager)
Janette is thrilled to make her debut with Showtunes! doing one of
her favorite musicals. Previous stage management credits include the
recent 5 month run of Menopause, The Musical at ACT and 6 seasons as
Production Stage Manager with Village Theatre in Issaquah. Janette
has also worked locally with the 5th Avenue Theatre, Tacoma Actors
Guild and the Bathhouse Theatre, and has has taught Stage Management
at Cornish College of the Arts.
Brian Cordoba (Assistant Stage Manager)
Brian is continuously active in the theatre community both in Los
Angeles as well as in Seattle where he studies Performance
Production at Cornish College of the Arts. This year he was the
properties assistant for Bermuda Avenue Triangle at the Brentwood
Theatre, crewed the pre-Broadway engagement of Jay Johnson: The Two
and Only at the Colony Theatre, designed properties for Aloha Say
the Pretty Girls and stage managed Dido and Aeneas for Cornish
College of the Arts.
David-Edward Hughes (Co-Producing artistic director)
David celebrates our 2nd successful KPC season. He looks forward to
directing again for Showtunes! after the success of this season’s
Superman. Special thanks to Claudia, Mark, Bobby, Barnum’s cast and
crew, Maggie, Marcus, Mark C., Michelle, Nick, and Elizabeth the rest of the ST! Board, Beth Morusund, and to James for the great projection designs on our shows
this season. |
|
* Denotes member of
Actor's Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and
Stage Managers in the United States. |
|
 Synopsis:
"Barnum's the name. P.T. Barnum. And I want to tell you that tonight
you are going to see-bar none-every sight, wonder and miracle that
name stands for!"
Here is the show that traces the career of America's greatest
showman from 1835 to the year he joined James A. Bailey to form The
Greatest Show On Earth. Let us begin, as BARNUM does...
OUTSIDE THE TENT where Barnum tells us he's here to defend the
'noble art of humbug' which he defines as the puffing up he gives
the truth; the coat of varnish he puts on the hard facts of life.
Whether we agree with him or not, Barnum's sure he'll be able to
sell us his bill of goods. Why? There Is a Sucker Born Ev'ry Minute.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS as Barnum signs up his first attraction, Joice
Heth, the oldest woman in the world. Joice turns out to be less of a
draw than he'd hoped until he tries a bit of humbug and pitches her
as George Washington's nurse. Joice is a big success and sings the
virtues of living to be 160 in Thank God I'm Old.
P.T. BARNUM VS. THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES, an age-old contest that
pits Barnum against his good wife, Chairy. She wants him to settle
down, run a respectable business -a clock factory for instance-and
Barnum explains that clock-making is just not the right color for
him. He tells us what he means in The Colors of My Life, then rushes
off to close a deal to build a museum at the corner of Ann Street
and Broadway to house his growing collection of attractions. Chairy,
alone, tells us about the colors of her life.
CLOWNS! A cornucopia of them, tumbling into the main ring as-with
Chairy to guide them-they build Barnum's American Museum -One Brick
at a Time.
STEP RIGHT UP LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, says Barnum, and let me tell you
about all the wonders you're going to see inside my museum! -Museum
Song.
BARNUM VS. THE
FEMALE OF THE SPECIES, PART II. The years have gone by, the
Barnums are a bit older and a bit more successful, but their
conflict is the same. And so is their affection for each other
in I Like Your Style.
25 INCHES FROM TOE TO CROWN! None other than Barnum's latest and
most sensational attraction, General Tom Thumb, who tells us
that Bigger Isn't Better.
A RESPECTABLE ATTRACTION AT LAST-one that brings great rewards
and poses great problems; Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale,
whom Barnum presents in her first American concert at Castle
Garden. Jenny sings first in Swedish, then in English, and wins
the hearts of all who hear her-Barnum included-Love Makes Such
Fools of Us All.
THE HUMBUGGER HUMBUGGED! Barnum buys his own bill of goods-well,
who could resist a Swedish Nightingale-and leaves Chairy to tour
with Jenny and put a bit of color in his own life-Out There.
OUT ON THE MIDWAY for a Grand Patriotic Parade, when the
citizens of Washington salute Jenny Lind as she makes her first
appearance in the nations' capital-Come Follow the Band.
A SECOND MUSICAL DIVERSION: PAYING THE PIPER, as Barnum realizes
that Jenny Lind is not for him, that he only loves his wife. He
returns to Chairy on her terms as he promises to banish color
from his life and live it in Black and White.
BARNUM VS. THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES, PART III. Many years
later, Barnum is out of the 'humbug' business, and Chairy is
ailing. Both of them realize how seriously ill she is, and
before she leaves him forever, they declare their love for each
other by affectionately restating their age-old quarrel-The
Colors of My Life.
BEHIND THE SCENES, BENEATH THE MAKE-UP, as Barnum realizes that
being a respectable businessman is not for him, and even his
beloved Chairy would have agreed that what he is-and will always
be-is The Prince of Humbug.
THE MAIN EVENT: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH! James A. Bailey
arrives on the scene, and after a selling job that even Barnum
would be proud of, convinces Barnum at last to Join the Circus.
A PRINCELY FINAL ATTRACTION. The tent pole comes down, the
canvas is folded, the show is loaded and ready to roll, as we
hear from Mr. Phineas Taylor Barnum-himself-Final Chase and
There Is a Sucker Born Ev'ry Minute (Reprise). |
