New Acting Company Members Announced for 2022 at Placer Rep

Still glowing from their fabulous performances in Persuasion at the December 2021 Jane Austen Soiree, Placer Repertory Theater has announced the official inclusion of two of the production's local professional actors to the Placer Rep Acting Company for 2022.

The first individual joining the 2022 acting company is no stranger to Placer Rep followers; it is none other than Anne Merino. In addition to having seen her perform and provide feedback to help incubate new performing arts and visual works at Placer Rep's program "ColLABoration LAB" and perform several roles in Persuasion at The Jane Austen Soiree in December 2021, her background includes a long career in the performing arts. Anne began her career dancing for notable companies such as American Ballet Theatre and the London Festival Ballet. A prolific choreographer, she won the Vanguard Award for Choreography. Anne's traditional theatrical training was received at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Second City with Del Close and Jim Belushi and later trained under Alan Rickman at the British American Drama Academy. As an actor, and former member of AEA, SAG/AFTRA, Anne performed with The Groundlings and Tim Robbins' The Actors' Gang. Currently, she is a member of the theatre department faculty at William Jessup University, she recently won film festival awards for her screenplay, "The Season of the Wolf," received critical acclaim for her novel, Hawkesmoor, and recently completed the second novel in this series.

The second individual joining the 2022 acting company was most recently seen as Mr. Charles in Placer Rep's Persuasion at The Jane Austen Soiree and was known for his work with Stand-Out Talent of Roseville; Placer welcomes Steve Campbell. Audiences may recognize Steve from his role as Charlemagne in the McLaughlin filmed production of Pippin in 2020. Steve also performed with Big Idea Theatre in Sacramento playing MacBeth in MacBeth and Enobarbus in Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra. His background includes productions with Stand-Out Talent of Roseville including Fredrick Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein. His actor training began at San Jose State with a Minor in Drama, Voice Inflection course instructed by Rodger McDonald and was classically trained in Shakespeare with the great Jack Lynn. Steve currently works for Talkdesk and as a voiceover talent.

"Placer Repertory Theater is pleased to be working with two new great talents, and we look forward to sharing them with you throughout the 2022 season," said Kevin Foster, Placer Rep Outreach Director.

In additional company news for 2022, Placer Rep has said good-bye 2021 Acting Company Member, Spencer T. Gayden. Audiences may recall Spencer's performances in New Beginnings as Mr. Sweeney in July, as Thistledew in From the Mind of Scott Charles in September and An Evening with Sherlock Holmes as Inspector Jones in November 2021. Spencer is taking advantage of new opportunities offered to him with other companies but may be hired as a friend of Placer Rep in future shows from time to time, as his schedule permits.

Audiences may recall Placer Repertory Theater as the professional company that produced the immersive event "The Jane Austen Soiree" in December 2021, "An Evening with Sherlock Holmes" in November 2021, and commissioned and produced the "New Beginnings" event, featuring a new play about the history of the Placer County roundhouses by Ryan Gerberding in July of 2021. This is the same theater company that won the Gold Country Media's "Best of the Best: Best Live Theatrical Group" in 2021 and was nominated for seven and won four Broadway World awards, and host the programs ColLABoration LAB, The Writers Workshop and Rifts in Time: Interactive Adventure Theater.

Learn more at PlacerRep.org.