Improv with Sasha by Lesley Becker
Lesley Becker (Playwright, Director) lives, writes and teaches in Burlington and her favorite show is always the show she’s currently working on! She misses live theater and especially the Off Center in Burlington, where she enjoyed the work of local artists and presented readings and productions of her plays, which are available on New Play Exchange. Lesley is grateful for all the creative people she has met online doing Zoom theater; In November, she was Festival Director of “Together in a Sudden Strangeness”, produced by Vermont Actors’ Repertory Theater in Rutland; she serves as Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Island Stage, and is a member of the Dramatist Guild.
Dana Block (Maggie) lives in Burlington and NYC. She has an MFA in Classical Acting and uses it as a Professor and Director when possible. She also acts professionally and has done a lot of stage, film and commercial work. Two of her favorite projects are “Monkey Man,” her one-woman show which she performed Off Broadway, and Richard Foreman’s award-winning film, “Once Every Day.” The pandemic has made it possible for Dana to build a sound booth and become an audiobook narrator. It’s time for the pandemic to be over! 🙂
Ariella Mandel (Ashley) lives in Manhattan and works as an Environmental Educator/ Nanny/ Farmers Market Manger. She was a theater major at UVM where she acted, designed, and directed multiple shows, and currently performs with the Stop Shopping Choir in NYC. Her favorite quarantine activity is cooking in her tiny studio apartment kitchen. Website: ariellamandel.weebly.com
Andrew Hamling (Craig) grew up in California, but moved to Vermont in 2018 to be closer to his roots. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Vermont Actor’s Repertory Theatre Company in Rutland, VT. He has been acting for a long time, and really enjoyed most of his theater experiences, but especially those while in New York City, where he developed original works with several theater companies.
Torri Hixon (Mariana) finds the arts to be a powerful channel through which to become more engaged with the full self as well as a wonderful way to connect and transform with others. She is grateful to have the opportunity to help in bringing the arts to people’s homes during this time.
Paul Cavaliere (Charles) is a Montpelier resident who has been appearing on various Vermont stages and computer screens since 2018, when he ended a 15-year acting hiatus. Prior to COVID shutdowns, he played lead and supporting roles in productions with the Valley Players, Unadilla Theatre, Plainfield Little Theatre, and the Grange Hall Cultural Center, with this being his first collaboration with Island Stage. Paul serves on the executive board of the Vermont Playwrights Circle, and is an active participant in their monthly workshops. He would like to extend gratitude to Lesley, Noni, Jeanne, and all of his Reunion and Improv cast mates for helping him get productively through yet another long Vermont winter!
Back of the Line by Susan Loynd & Ashley Hall
Susan Loynd (Playwright, Liz) lives in Fayston and works in human resources at a community mental health center. She has acted in dramas, comedies and musicals of all sorts. A favorite recent part was “This Flight Tonight” part of the “Standing on Ceremony” gay marriage plays. In addition to performing on Zoom, a new quarantine past time has been learning the art of home brewing beer.
Shannon Sanborn (Director) has been seen on and around the stages of Vermont for many years. Having last directed “Last Five Years” and “Rock of Ages” with the Valley Players she is excited to bring her directing skills to the virtual stage. She would like to thank her husband Jon and daughter Ella for their patience as she stole bandwidth to host yet another zoom from their home. Enjoy the show!
The Photograph by Dvora Zipkin
Dvora Zipkin (Playwright and Director) lives in central Vermont where she has been writing plays for both stage and Zoom, and getting the hang of virtual acting. On stage, she loved solving the murder mystery as Grace in “Murder Inn” (Lamoille County Players), portraying the laughing Swedish kleptomaniac as Mrs. Olson in “Concert in C Flat” (Valley Players), and travelling through time as Mrs. Antrobus in “The Skin of Our Teeth” (Lamoille). As for her own plays, choosing a favorite show is like trying to choose a favorite child – she just can’t do it.
Andra Krushenick Kisler (Patty) is absolutely delighted to have been invited to participate in Fruit of the ZOOM. In the olden days, Andra split her stage time between Valley Players in Waitsfield, VT, and Chandler in Randolph, VT. COVID has allowed her to spread the love around, for which she is very grateful.
Shanon Sidell (Zipporah) lives comfortably on The Big Island of Hawaii where she serves as a Naturopathic physician and aerial arts instructor for her village. Two of the most memorable shows she’s participated in are Macbeth performed at the Military School in Santiago, Chile just after the reign of Pinochet was over, and Shakespeare in the Park shows in Anchorage, Alaska with homeless people walking through scenes and interjecting lines. One puppy, 11 kittens and 2 cats found their way through her doors when she signed up to be a new foster for the humane society during COVID lockdown.
Perfect Match by Jeanne Beckwith
Jeanne Beckwith (Playwright) is a playwright and teacher who lives in Roxbury, Vermont with her husband, writer and professor, F. Brett Cox. In the midst of Quarantine, they have only become better friends. Her plays have been performed all around the U.S and as far away as Dublin and Istanbul, and she is always looking forward to the next show up which is this one!
Jillian Holland (Director) is a Burlington resident and has continued doing theatre throughout quarantine with the “Theatre in Your Home” series with Valley Players, “A New Fabric for Our American Quilt” with Vermont ART, and “Quaranscenes” with Revelry Theatre. When she’s not doing theatre over Zoom, Jillian has picked up cross-stitching and is now always covered in thread.
Lindsey White (Maria) is a New York based actor and model. During the lockdown, Lindsey discovered she was quite the ‘Jill of all trades’, teaching herself home improvement projects such as hanging wallpaper, distressing furniture, and reupholstering chairs. More information about Lindsey’s performance and modeling work can be found at www.lindsey-white.com
Dominic Wood (Calvin) lives in Winooski, VT and has been a part of various productions throughout the state. A few of his favorite roles include Jonathan Harker in Dracula and LTJG Sam Weinberg in A Few Good Men. Quarantine has helped renew Dominic’s love for activities such as cooking and film.
Zoom Reunion by Jeanne Beckwith
Jeanne Beckwith (Playwright) is a playwright and teacher who lives in Roxbury, Vermont with her husband, writer and professor, F. Brett Cox. In the midst of Quarantine, they have only become better friends. Her plays have been performed all around the U.S and as far away as Dublin and Istanbul, and she is always looking forward to the next show up which is this one!
Noni Stuart (Director) lives in Grand Isle, where she indulges her passion for theater as president of Island Stage. She has performed in numerous productions on stage throughout Vermont as well as in film. These days, Noni is happiest teaching and directing, sculpting, x-country skiing and playing with her 4 year-old granddaughter, Julia.
Tara O’Reilly (Anna) lives in Moscow, Vermont with her family. She teaches yoga and meditation. She has been part of the Screen Actors Guild since 2002 and has been in numerous films including Jay Craven’s films Wetware and Northern Borders. Tara loved being part of Vermont Pride one act shows at Chandler Theater. Quarantine time allowed her to spend wonderful, quality time with her family and produced a new career in teaching meditation via Zoom.
Andra Krushenick Kisler (Inez) is absolutely delighted to have been invited to participate in Fruit of the ZOOM. In the olden days, Andra split her stage time between Valley Players in Waitsfield, VT, and Chandler in Randolph, VT. COVID has allowed her to spread the love around, for which she is very grateful.
Doug Bergstein (Nathan) has been involved with the Valley Players Theater in Waitsfield since 1997. Over that time, he has been involved with every aspect of productions and has been a board member for 20 years. He has also performed with the Skinner Barn as Moxie Productions. He teaches 5th and 6th grade at the Fayston Elementary School, where he gets to try out various voices for potential parts.
Paul Cavaliere (Jeremy) is a Montpelier resident who has been appearing on various Vermont stages and computer screens since 2018, when he ended a 15-year acting hiatus. Prior to COVID shutdowns, he played lead and supporting roles in productions with the Valley Players, Unadilla Theatre, Plainfield Little Theatre, and the Grange Hall Cultural Center, with this being his first collaboration with Island Stage. Paul serves on the executive board of the Vermont Playwrights Circle, and is an active participant in their monthly workshops. He would like to extend gratitude to Lesley, Noni, Jeanne, and all of his Reunion and Improv cast mates for helping him get productively through yet another long Vermont winter!
Dream Circle by Pamela Formica
Pamela Formica (Playwright) has been involved in theater for about 30 years. She is co-founder of Small Potatoes Theater Company and has experience directing and performing. She has written shorts for cabarets and songs for the now defunct punk rock band, The Toes. She recently completed her first, full length, Christmas play, Aurora House. She is currently working on a series of shorts called At Home 2020. Pamela also works in private practice as a psychotherapist.
Natasha Mieszkowski (Director) is a fiction writer and theater junkie who has worked with numerous theaters in Maine, including Out of Cake, Good Theater, Acorn Productions, and the film company Gitgo Productions. She serves on the Board of Island Stage and was a happy participant in their production Summer Soliloquys in 2020. She lives in Grand Isle with her dog Taz, who was mostly well behaved during rehearsals.
Laine Gillespie (Liza) is thrilled to perform at Island Stage for the first time. Since moving to NH in 2000, she has performed in venues including Northern Stage, New London Barn Playhouse, Northern New England Repertory Theatre, Shaker Bridge Theatre, Parish Players, Vermont Pride Festival at Chandler, North Country Community Theatre, and BarnArts Center for the Arts. She also appeared in the 2018 indie movie “Thrasher Road”, produced by local filmmaker Samantha Davidson Green. When not performing on stage, Laine works for ANSYS, Inc., in Lebanon NH. Laine studies acting with Richard Waterhouse. She and her husband, actor Bill Chappelle, live in Enfield, NH.
Mary Scripps (Elaine) is happy to be back with Island Stage for the third time; first, as “Sonia” in Christopher Durang’s “Vanya Sonia Masha and Spike” and last summer in the monologues with husband Bob Carmody whom she lives with in Charlotte.
Bob Carmody (Larry) has worked various stages about Vermont and loves the travel between gigs. Zoom is quite a different experience.
Dawn Kearon (Kat) resides in Montpelier and is Program Director for Randolph’s Upper Valley Services. Kimberly Akimbo was her favorite and most memorable theater acting endeavor. A former gym rat, she has discovered the great outdoors during the pandemic.
Joshua Neilson (Al) has performed sporadically through the decades with such groups as; the Open Stage, Cradle to Grave, the Theater Factory, and Small Potatoes. Currently, he performs weekly (via zoom) as Dungeon Master for the City of Winooski (their library anyway), where he coordinates youth programming.