SPONSORED BYMADELEINE TAENI and ‘TWEEN WATERS INN ISLAND RESORT

SET DESIGNERRICHARD CROWELL

It’s A Wonderful Life is presented by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.Original Music and Musical Arrangements by Kevin Connors

2011-12 GRAND SEASON SPONSORS

This entire season sponsored in part by in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. Florida Repertory Theatre is a fully professional non-profit LOA/LORT Theatre company on contract with the Actors’ Equity Association that proudly employs members of the national theatrical labor unions. *Member of Actors’ Equity Association. **Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. ***Member of United Scenic Artists.

The Fred & Jean Allegretti Foundation • Bruce & Janet Bunch • Cheryl & David CophamGholi & Georgia Darehshori • John & Marjorie Madden • Arthur Zupko

HISTORIC ARCADE theatre • fort myers river districtROBERT CACIOPPO, producing artistic director

PRESENTS

BY JOE LANDRY

STARRINGMARK CHAMBERS* • BRAD DePLANCHE* • CLAIRE K. GUY • CHRIS KIPINIAK*

CARRIE LUND* • PETER THOMASSON* with RYAN CRIDER, JESSICA KIEFFER, AVERY KING, IAN TARDIF, TAYLOR MURPHY HALE

JULIANNE AVOLIO, CARLEY LEVY, ROBERT MITCHEL OWENBY, JORDAN PILANT, ANGELINA TORRE, HALLIE WAGE

DIRECTED BYROBERT CACIOPPO**

COSTUME DESIGNERROBERTA MALCOLM

LIGHTING DESIGNERKATE SMITH

MUSIC DIRECTORANDY SPAULDING

STAGE MANAGERJULIE A. RICHARDSON*

SOUND DESIGNERTIM COBB

(In Order of Appearance)Freddie Filmore (as Potter and others)................................PETER THOMASSON*Jake Laurents (as George Bailey)..................................................CHRIS KIPINIAK*Sally Applewhite (as Mary Bailey)...................................................CLAIRE K. GUY*Lana Sherwood (as Violet and others)..............................................CARRIE LUND*Harry “Jazzbo” Heywood (as Clarence and others)............BRAD DePLANCHE*

Melvin Swabbington (as the Foley Artist)................................MARK CHAMBERS* WFRT Stage Manager.......................................................TAYLOR MURPHY HALE*

Philip Arnold (as Young George and others).....................................RYAN CRIDER* Willy Kurtz (as Young Harry and others)................................................IAN TARDIF*Marjorie Parker (as Young Mary and others)..........................JESSICA KIEFFER*Hazel Jenkins (as ZuZu Bailey and others).......................................AVERY KING*

WFRT Singers.............................................................................JULIANNE AVOLIO, CARLEY LEVY, ANGELINA TORRE, HALLIE WAGE*

Assistants to Mr. Filmore..........................................................JULIANNE AVOLIO,ROBERT MITCHEL OWENBY, HALLIE WAGE*

UNDERSTUDIESFor Sally Applewhite, RACHAEL ENDRIZZI; for Philip Arnold and Willy Kurtz, CODY VAGLE; for Hazel Jenkins and Marjorie Parker, MEGAN SALERNO*

TIME & PLACEThe Stage and Auditorium of Studio A at WFRT in Manhattan, New York.

Christmas Eve, 1946.

It’s A Wonderful Life will be presented without an intermission.The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever is strictly prohibited.

*The Actors & Stage Manager employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

ABOUT THE playwrightJOE LANDRY (Playwright) Landry’s published plays include It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (named one of the top ten most produced plays in America by American Theatre Magazine), Vintage Hitchcock and Reefer Madness. Other works include Lifeboat, Dahling! (with Bert Bernardi) and the musical Mothers and Sons (with Kevin Connors). He is founder of the Second Guess Theatre Company in Westport, CT, where he produced and directed over two dozen original plays. Joe is a member of the Dramatists’ Guild and currently teaches playwrighting at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.

CAST LIST

Florida Repertory Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American Theatre.

Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) was founded in 1913 as the first of the American Actor unions. Equity’s mission is to advance, promote and foster the art of theatre as an essential component of our society. Today, Equity represents more than 40,000 actors, singers, dancers and stage managers working in hundreds of theatres across the United States. Equity members are dedicated to working in the theatre as a profession, upholding the highest artistic standards. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions and provides a wide range of benefits including

health and pension plans for its members. Through its agreement with Equity, this theatre has committed to the fair treatment of the actors and stage managers employed in this production. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. For more information, visit www.actorsequity.org.

MARK CHAMBERS* (Melvin Swabbington) made his Florida Repertory debut as man # 5 in Sherlock Holmes and the West End Horror. He has appeared in Enchanted April, The Rainmaker, Scapino, Breaking Legs, A

Funny Thing…Forum, Rounding Third, King o’ the Moon, August: Osage County and Rumors. Mark has appeared in productions at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Portland Center Stage, American Stage Company, Charleston Stage Company, City Theatre, 42nd Street Moon, Greenbriar Valley Theatre, Hippodrome Theatre, and Seaside Music Theatre. Mark can be seen in the recent films Baby Jane? and I Want to Get Married, and can be heard on the CD “Veil of Tears” by the Swiss group MGY. Mark was the Florida Theatre Conference 2006 honoree for distinguished career in professional theatre.

BRAD DePLANCHE* (Harry “Jazzbo” Heywood) is thrilled to be here at Florida Rep, where he has appeared as Ken in Rumors and last season’s The 39 Steps. Recent work; both Dromios in The

Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Santa Cruz), The 39 Steps (Actor’s Playhouse in Miami & Orlando Shakespeare Theater), Porthos in The Three Musketeers (People’s Light and Theatre Company) and Pseudolus in A Funny Thing…Forum (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival). Off-Off Broadway; China; The Whole Enchilada (NY Fringe), Gameshow! (Dodger Theatricals) Cloud Nine (Classic Stage Company) and Armchair in Hell (Theatre at St. Clements). Regional Theatre; Actors Theatre of Louisville (5 Seasons), American Conservatory Theater, South Coast Repertory, Syracuse Stage, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Cape Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, Hangar Theatre, B Street Theatre and Seattle Shakespeare Company. Upcoming, here at the Rep: Bedroom Farce and The Mystery of Irma Vep. Brad hails from Michigan and holds an MFA from the American Conservatory Theatre. Go Blue!

CLAIRE K. GUY (Sally Applewhite) is back for her third season working at Florida Repertory Theatre and her second with Education. A native of Georgia, Claire graduated from Brenau University in 2007 with

a BA in Theatre. She spent two summers as a Scenic Artist with North Carolina’s Flat Rock Playhouse, Production Stage Manager with North Carolina’s Horn in the West, but is pleased to call Florida Rep home. Claire has the privilege of directing this year’s The Imaginators, and last year’s touring show, Amelia Earhart. She also accompanies all of the touring shows as the Florida Rep’s Tour Manager. Claire performed the role of Annie in their mainstage production of King O’ the Moon. She hopes to see you this season at Florida Rep!

CHRIS KIPINIAK* (Jake Laurents) Broadway: Metamorphoses. Off-broadway: Kit Marlowe – Public Theater, Nora - Marvell Repertory, Charles Winn Speaks . . . Living Image Arts. London:

How To Act Around Cops – Soho Theatre (also New York and Edinburgh International Fringe Festivals). Regional: Mark Taper Forum, Hartford Stage, Berkeley Repertory, La Jolla Playhouse, Goodman Theatre and others. Film/TV: Delocated, Law & Order, The Black Donnellys, the feature The Poker Club, and the short Trying (also writer, director). Playwriting: Stalled – Horse Trade Theater Group and Hangar Theatre Lab, Save the World - Roundtable Ensemble, Change the Be and IIIINSAAAAAAAANE!!!! - Horse Trade Theater Group. Other writing: Nightcrawler, Amazing Fantasy and Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man for Marvel Comics.

CREATIVE TEAM

CARRIE LUND* (Lana Sherwood) has been the Associate Producer with Florida Rep since its inception, and has acted in over 100 productions in Southwest Florida. Selected credits include: Rumors (2002, 2011),

August: Osage County, Sylvia, Noises Off (1998, 2010), Boeing-Boeing, You Can’t Take It With You, The Last Romance, Alone Together, Dancing at Lughnasa, Enchanted April, Rabbit Hole, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, All My Sons, I’m Not Rappaport, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and Private Lives. Her work as a voiceover artist can be heard on NPR and industrial DVDs. She founded the Pirate Playhouse on Sanibel Island in 1984, served on the theatre faculty at Florida Gulf Coast University, produced theatre companies in her hometown of Erie, PA & New York City, performed in regional theatres in NY, VT and NC, as well as the Three River Shakespeare Festival, Pittsburgh Playhouse and American Ibsen Theatre. In 1987, the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce awarded her the Distinguished Citizen Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. She and husband Robert Cacioppo enjoy empty nesting with Matt at UCF and Julia at FSU.

PETER THOMASSON* (Freddie Filmore) last appeared at Florida Rep in Rumors as Glenn Cooper. He has appeared at Sarasota’s Banyan Theatre in Becky’s New Car, Ghosts and Retreat from Moscow. At home, in Atlanta, he

recently appeared as Oscar Hubbard in Theater in the Square’s Suzi Award nominated The Little Foxes and On Golden Pond. In 2010 he was named Actor of the Year for his work in The Men of Mah Jong and The Sunset Limited. He worked for 17 seasons at NC’s State Theatre, The Flat Rock Playhouse. Favorite Florida Rep roles include Bob Ewell in To Kill A Mockingbird and File in The Rainmaker.

TAYLOR MURPHY HALE (WFRT Stage Manager) is very excited to be a part of Florida Repertory Theatre’s company this year. He is a recent graduate of Ashland University (Ashland, Ohio) where he majored

in theatre and minored in music. Taylor has been seen in summerstock productions at The Huron Playhouse, and The University of Findlay SummerStock. There he played roles like Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hugo in Bye Bye Birdie, and Robert in The Drowsy Chaperone. In school, Taylor played roles like Bobby Strong in Urinetown!, Franz/Dennis in Sunday in the Park with George, Dickon in The Secret Garden, and Joe in The Spitfire Grill. Taylor would like to thank his family for all of their love and support.

RACHAEL ENDRIZZI (U/S Sally Applewhite) was seen in Florida Rep’s Noises Off and Almost, Maine. Other favorite credits include Run for Your Wife, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Lend Me a Tenor, Love,

Sex & the IRS and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Rachael is the Director of Education at Florida Rep and sends her love to Scott.

RYAN CRIDER (Philip Arnold) is thrilled to be part of another Florida Rep Production! Ryan is an avid Florida Rep camper and has performed in many productions including Bye Bye Birdie, Winter

Wonderland and Grease. Ryan is 12 years old and attends Gateway Charter School where he has also performed in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Ryan is so grateful for this opportunity and says he could not have done it without the help of his family, especially his grandpa.

creative team

JESSICA KIEFFER (Marjorie Parker) is 11 years old and attends Evangelical Christian School. Credits include Broadway Palm’s Sound of Music and Spirit of the Season, as well as CTW’s productions as

Alice in Alice in Wonderland, Thumbelina in Tiny Thumbelina, and many more. Jessie is proud to be a part of this amazing cast and would like to thank her parents, brother, and grandma for supporting her every ambition.

AVERY KING (Hazel Jenkins) is thrilled to be making her Florida Repertory Theatre professional stage debut in It’s A Wonderful Life. She was last seen on the professional stage as Molly in Broadway

Palm’s production of Annie. Avery would like to thank Ms. Phegley, her third grade teacher at Oasis Elementary, for all of her support. She would also like to thank Rachael Endrizzi and the Benzing family. Avery wishes everyone a blessed and joyous Christmas season. Listen for those bells!

CARLEY LEVY (WFRT Singer) is a sophomore in the IB program at FMHS. She enjoys singing and acting locally at Florida Rep, Barbara B Mann, and Alliance Of The Arts. She is currently working as an intern

with The Bach Ensemble in Naples and was chosen as an outstanding performer at The Bach Festival last month. She’d like to thank God for her talent and her family for their support.

IAN TARDIF (Willy Kurtz) is so excited for his first show at Florida Rep! He’s 13- years-old and attends Canterbury School. Ian’s favorite roles include Eugene Florczyk in Grease and

Harvey Johnson in Bye Bye Birdie, but he has also preformed in Anne of Green Gables, Miracle at St. Ottilien, Alice in Wonderland, Seussical the Musical, Willy Wonka and in the cast of WGCU’s Curious Kids Club. He’s a proud alum of Camp Florida Rep. Ian thanks his parents for their support. He hopes you enjoy the show!

MEGAN SALERNO (U/S Hazel Jenkins) is thrilled to be appearing on Florida Repertory Theatre’s mainstage for the first time. She is in the 4th grade at Christa McAuliffe Charter School. Megan

has appeared in over 20 local productions. Her favorite performances include, Merryweather in Sleeping Beauty, Baby June in Gypsy, Chip in Beauty and the Beast and Fern in Charlotte’s Web. Megan enjoys dance, reading and acrobatics. She would like to thank her family for their support.

CODY VAGLE (U/S Philip Arnold) is twelve years old and attends Cypress Lake Middle School. Cody has performed in several Camp Florida Rep shows and is thrilled to be involved in another Florida Rep production.

His favorite credits include Michael in Peter Pan and Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol. Cody was also chosen to perform for Prince Albert II of Monaco during a charity fund raiser for The Art of the Olympians at Harborside Event Center. He would like to thank his mom and dad for all their support and to Florida Rep for this opportunity. Cody extends holiday wishes and gratitude to the audience for supportingthe arts.

JULIANNE AVOLIO (WFRT Singer/Assistant to Mr. Filmore) recently made her Florida Rep debut as Officer Pudney in Rumors. She is a Theatre Arts graduate from the University of

Pittsburgh where she also received a certificate in Children’s Literature. Past roles include

CREATIVE TEAM

Violet Sharp (Betty Gow) with Terra Nova Theatre Company; Angels in America: Perestroika (Harper), As You Like It (Celia), Alice (Alice), Eleemosynary (Echo), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged (Jess’s Lines) with Pitt Repertory Theatre; and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona), The Farnsworth Invention (Pem Farnsworth) with Little Lake Theatre Company. She feels extremely fortunate to be interning with Florida Rep this season!

ROBBERT MITCHEL OWENBY (Assistant to Mr. Filmore) is a proud graduate of Brenau University in Gainesville, GA, where he recently earned his B.A. in Theatre in May, 2011.

After performing all over the country with various summer stock theatres for the past several years, Robert couldn’t be happier to be making his debut on the Florida Repertory stage. Some of his favorite past credits include: Oliver Warbucks in Annie (The Prizery), Nasty Interesting Man/Lord of the Underworld in Eurydice (Gainesville Theatre Alliance), Barking Fox/Stunts in Tecumseh! (Scioto Society), and most recently Man 1 in Edges: A Song Cycle (GTA Discovery Series). Robert is also a member of Florida Repertory Children’s Theatre Series and will be touring Thomas Edison: Fire of Genius and The Imaginators to children in Southwest Florida all season.

JORDAN PILANT (Fan) is thrilled to participate in a Florida Rep production and is a five-year veteran of Camp Florida Rep. Some of her favorite roles there have been Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Gertrude

in Seussical, and Miss Dorothy in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Jordan was a Young Artist Awards finalist this year and has also appeared in many other productions in the area. She also appeared as an orphan in the local production of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang national tour. Jordan would like to thank her mom for everything she does, as well as Rachael Endrizzi and Amy McCleary for all of their help and support.

ANGELINA TORRE (WFRT Singer) is ecstatic to be singing her little heart out here at Florida Rep! She is a senior and a Theater major at Cypress Lake High School Center for Arts. She is also a alumni of Camp Florida

Rep, performing recently this past summer in Grease and Seussical. She would like to thank Rachael Endrizzi! “Enjoy the show!”

HALLIE WAGE (WFRT Singer/Assistant to Mr. Filmore) is thrilled to be at Florida Rep as an acting intern this season! Hallie is a recent graduate with a B.F.A in Acting from the University

of Central Florida. Favorite credits include: Twelfth Night (Viola), Dracula (Lucy), Doubt (Sister James), Burial at Thebes (Chorus), and West Side Story (Pauline). She sends love to her parents and brother!

TIM COBB (Sound Designer) is excited to return for his third season at Florida Repertory Theatre. This is his first time designing sound here. His usual job at Florida Rep is working in the scenic studio as Lead Carpenter. Tim is always excited to branch out and work in different aspects of theatre production, having also worked in electrics and, once, in costume construction. He hopefully will never be allowed to do that again.

RICHARD CROWELL (Set Designer) is thrilled to return to Florida Repertory Theatre, to be a part of this wonderful production, and to work once again with the extraordinary staff at Florida Rep. Richard has been a part of various Florida Repertory productions since the inaugural season in The Arcade, and has been designing scenery and lighting for the stage for over 30 years. He received his MFA from the Stage Design Training Program at Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, and a BFA from Memphis State University. ROBERTA MALCOLM (Resident Costume Designer) After 25 years traveling the country as a costumer/designer for everyone from community theatre performers to Florence Henderson, John Ritter, LeVar Burton, Tony Bennett, Patti LaBelle, Margaret O’Brien,

Special Thanks to:Staging Matters, LLC

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Dean Jones, and Cloris Leachman, Roberta is pleased to be returning for her eighth season at Florida Rep. Favorite productions include: Gaslight, Boeing-Boeing, You Can’t Take it With You, My Three Angels, Lucky Stiff, Florida Follies starring Florence Henderson, Too Big to be a Waitress, Show Boat (Dean Jones and Cloris Leachman national tour), Little Shop of Horrors, Curly McDimple starring Margaret O’Brien, Blithe Spirit, Annie Get Your Gun, A Funny Thing…Forum, Death of a Salesman, and Cinderelle – a Rock Fairy Tale. Thanks to Sean, Becca, John, Bob – family always; and Florida Rep and its board for the opportunity to showcase the best theatre around.

JULIE A. RICHARDSON* (Production Stage Manager) is delighted to be returning to the lovely Arcade Theatre and the creative world of Florida Rep. She has worked extensively in the southeastern US for many years-from Florida to Kentucky as well as branching out to Ohio and Texas. Most recently she was a stage manager at Theater Emory at Emory University in Atlanta, GA for a production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore. She is also the Artistic Director for the outdoor drama Horn In The West in lovely Boone, NC. Julie has worked as production stage manger for the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Seaside Music Theater, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, American Stage, The Lost Colony, Blue Jacket and others and has served as staff stage manager at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Alliance Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Flat Rock Playhouse, Theatre On The Square, Theater Emory and Dallas Theater Center. New plays/premiers-Stand By Your Man, The Tammy Wynette Story (including the Ryman Auditorium and Bass Performance Hall), Tin Pan Alley Rag (2 Carbonells), Mrs. Klein, One Flea Spare, Shooting Craps, Moby Dick! The Musical, The Christmas Bus and many others while working with the Humana Festival at Actors Theater of Louisville. She served as Auditions Director for the Southeastern

Theatre Conference for many years and is a proud and long time member of the Actors Equity Association. ‘If you find yourself smiling and applauding this show, please tell five friends and pass the word and thank you for supporting the arts.’

KATE SMITH (Lighting Designer) is happy to return for her third season at Florida Rep. She is a native of Pennsylvania and a graduate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Kate has worked in many aspects of theater. She most recently served as the Sound Designer for FL Rep’s production of Rumors. Lighting design credits include; King O’ the Moon, Picnic (2009 KC/ACTF Region II Barbizon Award in Lighting Design for IUP) Santaland Diaries and The Lady With All the Answers for Florida Rep’s Studio, and Evil Dead the Musical for Keystone Rep. Sound Design credits include Sylvia, August Osage County , Trying, and You Can’t Take It With You. Kate has also worked for Brevard Music Center, NC as Master Electrician, as the light board operator at Flat Rock Playhouse, NC. This past summer she worked as the Lighting Designer for IUP’s Keystone Rep and part of the staff for the Footlight Players.

ANDREW SPAULDING (Music Director) is a native to Canton, Ohio and is a graduate of Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio with a BM in Music Education. After teaching middle school and high school choirs, Andrew founded the Jackson Community Theater in Jackson Township, Ohio. As a local musician, Andrew teaches private voice and piano lessons. Favorite Musical Director credits include: High School Musical, Honk! (Jackson Community Theater), Alan Menken’s A Christmas Carol (Firehouse Community Theater), Cinderella and School House Rock (West Branch Middle School). A great big thank you to the Florida Rep for this wonderful opportunity to work with such a great cast and crew!