Heat Lightning at Market House Theatre

Scott Dossett is thrilled to be part of this world premiere of Heat Lightning! When not playing pretend at MHT, he is active in the community as a math teacher at McCracken County High School, worship and youth minister at Concord United Methodist Church, and instructor at Fred Myers’ Driving School. In addition to theatre, he is devoted to the crafts of songwriting, recording and performing music, writing essays and fiction and hiding away in old books. Previous stage credits include Of Men and Cars, Native Gardens, Something Dark, Eternity, The Christmas Book, and Les Misérables.

Catherine Lamsfuss (Raye) appeared in several productions at Market House Theatre as a child and teenager, where she first discovered her love of storytelling and community theatre. While she hasn’t been on stage in recent years, those early experiences remain among her favorite memories. Catherine teaches Adult Education at West Kentucky Community & Technical College. She is also a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, where she enjoys being active and volunteering. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, volunteering with the Paducah Tennis Association, writing, traveling, and spending time with her family.”

Karson Mercer (Rachael) is excited to return to MHT for the 4th time. A WKY native, Karson has worked professionally as an actor, scenic constructor, and teaching artist for several theatres--most notably as an acting apprentice at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. At ETC, she also taught students with autism and other disabilities through the Hunter Heartbeat Program which utilizes Shakespeare’s comedies to help students with facial expressions, emotions, and physicality. You may remember her from Comedy of Tenors and Dial M.... She is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to participate in the World Premiere of Heat Lightning.

MIRANDA BLISS (Joan) was last seen on stage in The Bachelorette Party. She has been in many shows at Market House Theatre with some of her favorites, including The Play that Goes Wrong, Barefoot in the Park, Exit Laughing, and Gods of Comedy. She has also been a member of many stage and technical crews. Miranda would like to thank her family and friends for their love, support, and encouragement. She is also incredibly thankful to the entire cast and crew for the lifelong memories and friendship.

Taylor West (Emily) is making her Market House Theatre debut. She recently wrapped on Apple TV’s ‘Lucky’ and HBO Max’s ‘Hacks’. West is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Heat Lightning cast and thanks her friends and family for all their support.

Ethan Hines (Christopher) returns to the Market House stage after a 6 year hiatus. Last seen in Evelyn In Purgatory (2020) and before that, Michael Cochran’s first play, Eternity (2019). This is Ethan’s fourth production with Kathy Pingel, she also directed him in Calendar Girls (2018), The Hobbit (2017), and Exit Laughing (2017). You may find Ethan building Lego sets with his wife Emily, watching NASCAR with his sister, or making videos about cars. Ethan would like to thank Kathy, Michael, and his family for convincing to come back to acting.

Page Stauffer (Paul) is thrilled to be returning to the Market House stage! Page holds a BFA in Acting from AMDA Los Angeles and has lived in the Jackson Purchase area since 2019. His recent credits include Dial M For Murder (2025), A Comedy of Tenors (2025), and Romeo & Juliet (2025). Page is also an active stage combatant and fight choreographer who specializes in swordplay. When not acting, he can be seen carrying mail for the Benton community. Page would like to thank all of the magnificent staff and crew at MHT for their incredible work and kindness.

Noah Warford (Steve) is happy to be at Market House Theatre for the premiere of Heat Lightning! BFA in Musical Theatre from Ouachita Baptist University. Previous Credits: Frederic (The Pirates of Penzance), Action (West Side Story), Billy Cane (Bright Star). Many thanks to Ben and Laura. noahwarford.com

Michael Cochran grew up in Kenosha, Wis., and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a bachelor’s in theatre. He attended graduate school at the University of Alabama and received his master’s in theatre from Southern Illinois University, where he studied design and playwriting. Cochran worked professionally in Chicago and Kansas City theatre as a lighting and scenic designer until 1983 when he was hired by the Market House Theatre in Paducah, Ky. Since then, he has directed and designed hundreds of productions with Market House Theatre and has served as artistic and managing director from 1996 to the present. He has worked with other playwrights on original works as a director and also worked with the West Kentucky Playwrights group to develop two of his short plays and historical pieces. He has written several historical and short plays that were produced by the Market House Theatre and other local groups. Cochran has written some short children’s scripts in collaboration with his wife and long-time creative partner, April, who is the education director of the Market House Theatre. The play Eternity was a script he wrote more than 20 years ago that sat in a box of scripts until Kathy Pingel, a directing friend of his, saw it one day and encouraged him to dust it off and polish it up. Cochran is extremely grateful to Kathy Pingel for her encouragement and help in getting his script ready for production. Eternity was selected as a winner of the 2018 AACT NewPlayFest.

Until her retirement in 2015, Kathy Pingel was the Director of Education and Youth Programming at the Des Moines Community Playhouse for ten years. She also served as Artistic Director of the Kate Goldman Children's Theatre. She holds a BA in theatre from Eastern Michigan University and an MA from Northwestern University in Performance Studies. Kathy has adjudicated at the state and regional, national and international levels for the American Association of Community Theatre. From 2020-2022 she served as dramaturge for AACT’s NewPlayFest. In 2016 she and her husband, Ron Ziegler, won the Cloris Leachman Award for best direction of The Hobbit. Kathy was also nominated for best director by Sarasota critic Jay Handelman for her work on Metamorphoses at Venice Theatre, and Bridges of Madison Country at Manatee Players. Kathy is currently a free lance director with credit in Iowa, Washington, Florida, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Ansbach, Germany.