Meet the Cast of “FOOLS”

FOOLS
by Neil Simon

CAST

 DSCN4105-001 Sarah Bell (Sophia) of Lewisburg was a theatre major in college and has performed in community theatre since she was a young girl.  Favorite roles include Reno in Anything Goes, Truvy in Steel Magnolias, and Grace in Aunt Elinor’s Closet.  After 14 years of not being involved with any theatre (hardly even attending!), she was in RiverStage’s production of Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel and can’t get over how much fun she has been having ever since then.  She is especially grateful for the encouragement, support and line-running from her husband Loren and children Max and Lucy.
 DSCN4127-001 Kathy Coup (Yenchna) is a native of Lewisburg, PA and now lives in Milton.  Milton has been her adopted home town since her years at WMLP brought her close to the people and businesses of this charming community.   Kathy is a newcomer to local theatre, but brings her radio experience to the stage.  Kathy is grateful to Riverstage Community Theatre for the chance to work with such a talented group of actors.
 DSCN4123-001 Traci Godfrey-Ferguson (Mishkin) is a resident of Milton and an original member of MACT (now RiverStage Community Theatre).   She began her theatrical career in high school and has been active in various productions for the past 35 years.  Most of her roles have been the sweet, innocent girl-on-the-corner type, and she is excited to have a role that involves a little more material (both figuratively and literally).
 DSCN4120-001 Ben Hartman (Leon) is a 2005 Bucknell graduate. His past credits include the titular Hamlet, the partially titular Romeo, and the in-no-way titular Puck. In his spare time, Ben enjoys volleyball, horror movies, and saying the word ‘titular.’ He would like to thank his family and friends for their support!
 DSCN4130-001 Hope W. Kopf (Lenya, Costume Design) Hope, a Milton native, lives in Northumberland with her husband, Ken, and four cats. She has been active in theater since the early 80’s, and loves to act, stage manage and costume shows. Her favorite roles are Emma in Over the River and Through the Woods, Miss Hannigan in Annie, and Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Since retiring as a teacher in the Shikellamy School District, she has studied drumming from West Africa. She has been teaching that since 2004 and now directs the Ko-i-niké West African Drum Ensemble.
 DSCN4112-001 Ken Kopf (Dr. Zubritsky) has been active in theater since 1980 and has worked with The Valley Players, Milton Area Theater of the Arts, Susquehanna University, Anchorage Community Theater, RiverStage and others, acting, producing, directing and stage managing.  Ken is recently retired after 40 years as a counselor/ therapist, administrator, teacher, and instructional technology specialist, with the last 20+ years of his professional life at Susquehanna University.  Ken resides in Northumberland with Hope, his wife of 45 years and a small herd of cats.  Hobbies include travel, technology, jazz, food, wine, and a special affection for his 20 year old M3 and 36 year old R69S.
 DSCN4117-001 Ned Ladd (Magistrate) returns to the stage after a 31 year hiatus, the result of a curse placed upon him by an irate audience member in 1982.  He last appeared in a high school production of “Something something something,” which was no doubt pretty good, except for the casting. Ned now lives in Lewisburg with a very patient and understanding wife and 3 children. He splits his time between reviving his acting career and his day job as an astronomer at Bucknell (which, when you think about it, is really more of a night job).
 DSCN4108-001 Andrew Shaffer (Slovitch): This is Andrew’s second show with RiverStage; his first role was Reginald Thorndyke in Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel.  Andrew has also performed in Gaspipe Theatre Company’s Shakespeare in the Park, where he has played roles including Macbeth, Iago in Othello, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, and Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream three times.  Andrew has a BA in Computer Science with a minor in Theatre from Cornell University and an MA in Mathematics from Bucknell.  Andrew lives and works in Lewisburg.
 DSCN4102-001 Brad Wakeman (Snetsky) lives in Lewisburg with his wife Jennifer and their two daughters. He has worked for Geisinger System Services for more than 17 years. He is the regional commissioner for Lewisburg AYSO and an active member of the Susquehanna Valley Chorale. Brad has appeared in several MACT productions and is happy to part of RiverStage Community Theatre’s inaugural season!
 DSCN4114-001 Glenn Wilson (Count Gregor) is a veteran actor who has appeared in plays since the age of six. Most recently he appeared as Mark Rothko in Red and Moss in Glengarry Glen Ross at Key West’s Waterfront Playhouse.  You may also remember him as Carlos on All My Children.  Musical credits include Daddy Warbucks in Annie and Horace Vandergelder in Hello Dolly! His hobbies are playing the piano, golf, manicuring his lawn, yoga and painting, and his loves are his children, his dog, and Barbara Ross.

CREW
Jove Graham (Director) received his B.A. in Theatre from Swarthmore College and is a graduate of the Arden Theatre Company’s professional apprentice program (Philadelphia).  He has worked onstage or backstage at the Arden, People’s Light & Theatre (performing and teaching improv), Montgomery Playhouse, and Bucknell University.  Favorite roles include Pseudolus in MACT’s A Funny Thing Happened…, Groucho in RiverStage’s Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel, Fipp in Urinetown, Champ on Jeopardy! and Tom in The Glass Menagerie.

Dennis Merkle (Set Design & Construction) is a Physician Assistant in the ER at Evangelical Community Hospital. For the last three years he has been the technical director and emcee of the Broadway Bistro at Lewisburg High School and has been instrumental in designing and constructing sets for several LAHS productions. He was most recently on stage in the RiverStage production of Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel: The Marx Brothers’ Lost Radio Show and lives in Winfield with his wife Deb.

Barbara Ross (Costuming) has been involved in theatre for most of her life. She met Glenn (Count Yousekevich) while designing costumes for a production of Annie in Media, PA. Glenn was Daddy Warbucks and the rest is history. She has designed costumes for My Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls, Evita, The Music Man, The Sound of Music and more. Barbara welcomes the opportunity to tell Glenn what to wear again.

Paula Davis (Choreographer) was introduced to the cultures of Eastern Europe in the mid-70’s through involvement with immigrant and 2nd-generation communities in Los Angeles where she performed with the Avaz and Aman Folk Ensembles.  Since 2000, Paula has traveled to Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey, and has taught folk dance classes at Arizona State and Bucknell Universities and for other dance groups.  Paula is Associate Professor of Costume Design and History and chair in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Bucknell.

THREE Performances — one weekend only!!

Friday, March 8, 2013, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 9, 2013, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 10, 2013, 2:30pm
The Campus Theatre, 413 Market St, Lewisburg, PA

This show is appropriate for audiences of all ages.