Bob Atkinson, Tom Churchill and Patricia Duff Among FRANKLIN & FIGARO's Cast, Show Opens 6/12

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, under the leadership of Executive Director Stacie Burgua, announces the cast of Franklin & Figaro, by Kristina Sutherland. The production, directed by the playwright, features Bob Atkinson, Tom Churchill, Ed Cornachio, Patricia Duff, Deana Duncan, David Gignac, Dave Mayer, L. Bennett Nolen, and Katie Woodzick. 

Performances will begin at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, 565 Camano Avenue, on Friday, June 12 and continue through Saturday, June 27.

Tickets range in price from $12 to $16, with discounts available for students and groups, and are available from www.WICAonline.com or 360.221.8268 – 800/638.7631. 

Set in 1776, Franklin and Figaro begins with Benjamin Franklin's legendary arrival in France.
Lauded for his exploits in physics, philosophy, and philandering, Franklin trigged a wave of
whispers, shrieks, and sighs especially among the upper-crust society of Madame Du Deffand's (L. Bennett Nolen) salon. This action-packed, and mostly true, story follows the high stakes adventures of Pierre Beaumarchais (David Gignac), the Parisian playwright who wrote The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville. As the aging Madame DuDeffand fights for control of her changing world, young upstart Pierre Beaumarchais runs guns for Franklin's American Revolution in the pursuit of liberté, fraternité, and cold hard cash!

A revolutionary farce.

Kristina Sutherland (Director) is a playwright, director, actor and teaching artist based in Seattle. She is the co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of Macha Monkey Productions, a nonprofit dedicated to creating fearless, funny, female theatre. Her recent directing credits include the critically acclaimed production of Kid Simple, a radio play in the flesh by JorDan Harrison, Fall Off Night by Allison Gregory, The Cowgirl Play by Sutherland and Prewitt, Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl, GameGirl by Jennifer Pratt, and Dukthul by Red Eagle Soaring. Besides authoring Franklin and Figaro in 2007, Kristina has co-created three plays with Desiree Prewitt: The Cowgirl Play, R (The Swashbuckling Tale of Anne Bonny and Mary Read) and Live Girls Do Elektra.

These works have been produced in Seattle, across Canada in numerous fringe theatre festivals and in Albuquerque’s Revolutions Festival. Kristina is incredibly grateful to the fine folks at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts and thrilled to share Franklin and Figaro with you all.

Jason Dittmer (Scenic Design) has worked as a director, designer and actor at WICA and with a number of other regional theatres. His design work includes: The Balcony, ETA Phoenix, The Naked King, Player King’s Ballyhoo, Gorey Stories, and The Revenger’s Tragedy (Open Circle Theater, Seattle); The Hostage and The Bondagers (Theater Schmeater, Seattle); Enchanted April, Three Sisters, The Laramie Project, A Murder is Announced, and The Importance of Being Earnest (WICA). Jason has appeared in the films “Max Rules,”  “Borrowing Time,” “The Clouds,” and several industrials and commercials. His favorite stage roles have been in Sweeney Todd; Cabaret; Dinner with Friends and Seduced (WICA); Amadeus; Candide; The Visit; A Little Night Music; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; King Lear; and The Threepenny Opera. He received his BA from Rollins College and additional training at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Valerie Johnson (Costume Design) has designed and built costumes for Whidbey Children's Theater Productions of Once Upon A Mattress, A Year with Frog and Toad, Treasure Island, Pirates of Penzance, Annie, Gosdpell, Charlotte’s Web, and The Secret Garden. She designed for This Child, the WICA Youth Conservatory/WCT’s Seussical the Musical, The Good Doctor, and Sweeney Todd at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. Ms. Johnson has worked along side Lani Brockman  designing and building costumes for Wizard Of Oz, Bye Bye Birdie, The Emperor’s New Clothes, We’re Having A Ball, Cinderella, ‘Twas The Night, A Little Princess, and Pippi Longstocking.

Ann CW Deacon (Lighting Design) has recently returned to Whidbey Island from Central New York where she studied at Syracuse University for Masters of Fine Arts in Theatre. She holds a BA from Washington State in Theatre and did an internship with Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company and School. She was Technical Director at Marlboro College in Vermont, and worked with Flatrock Children’s Theatre in North Carolina.

Larry Woolworth (Properties) has become an active volunteer behind the scenes at WICA doing scenic design and painting, and stage crew on varioUs Productions over the last two seasons. He was last seen on stage in Inspecting Carol.

Cally Beers (Stage Manager) made an unplanned WICA debut in 2008 when the stage lights came up unexpectedly during a scene change. She prefers being a WICA enabler, helping with set construction and painting, or backstage and booth crew duties. Franklin and Figaro is her first foray into stage management. A huge "Thank You" to Kristina and all my second family at WICA for the patience, guidance, shared-angst, and fun. I couldn't (and probably wouldn't) have done it without you.

Bob Atkinson (Prologue) is excited to be once again back on the stage after recently reconnecting with his  love of theatre as Mellersh in this past spring’s production of Enchanted April at WICA. Past performances include FASS 1987: A Touch of FASS, The Silver Sequel at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, and the role of Charlie Dalrymple in the 1982 production of Brigadoon at Westwood Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Bob is very much looking forward to the opportunity that Sweeney Todd provides for him to combine both his vocal and his dramatic interests.

Tom Churchill (Lord Stormont) last appeared on the WICA stage as Larry/Scrooge in Daniel Sullivan's Inspecting Carol. Favorite roles include Cherdyakov the Sneezer in Neil Simon's The Good Doctor,  Chebutykin in Chekhov's Three Sisters, and the Gravedigger in Hamlet. In September 2008, he played the Spirit Father in his own, Olive and Jack, at WCT's Martha Murphy Mainstage. Other plays of his include Blue Angelica and Lillian in Limbo produced at WICA in 1997 and 2005. He is finishing his fourth year as part of the WICA Conservatory's Cold Read/Stage Read program. A new play, West is West, needs only a producer, director and a cast to make its appearance.

Ed Cornachio (Jacques) began his acting career 26 years ago with his role as Dr. Stuart Framingham in Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy. Now, some 50 productions later, he appears as Jacques in Franklin & Figaro. Last fall, both he and Martha Murphy co-produced and co-starred in A.R. Gurney’s popular two-person play, Love Letters. His last performance on WICA’s stage was in Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor, where he had the dual roles of Army and The Banker. Some of Ed’s more memorable roles have included: Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman; Cardinal Wolsey, Anne of the Thousand Days; Nat Miller, Ah Wilderness; Otto Frank, Diary of Anne Frank; Rev. Casy, Grapes of Wrath; Scrooge, A Christmas Carol; Norman, On Golden Pond; Van Helsing, Dracula; Willie Clark, Sunshine Boys; Cherkov, The Good Doctor; Frank, Over the River and Through the Woods; Nat I’m Not Rappaport; and Harold in Orphans. Eggs Benedict is his favorite breakfast.

Patricia Duff (Lady Luxembourg) was last seen at WICA as Becca in Rabbit Hole, the Woman in The Good Doctor, Lady Caroline Bramble in Enchanted April, Kit Kat Club dancer Texas in Cabaret, and in Seven Keys to Baldpate in the role of Mary Norton the reporter. Her experience includes ten years as a working actor in Chicago playing such roles as Perdita in The Winter's Tale, Lady Anne in Richard III, Isabel in The Razor's Edge, Rose of Lima in Richard's Cork Leg, Salem in La Turista, and Masha in The Seagull. She wrote, co-directed and acted in her play The Dimmed Heart, which won a "Best of the Fest" award at the Bailiwick Director's Festival in Chicago and went on to a six-week run there. She is currently the Arts and Entertainment reporter for the South Whidbey Record.

Deana Duncan (Mme. Vergennes) serves as WICA’s Production Director and has assisted Executive Director, Stacie Burgua, in producing thirty-eight main stage and seven summer youth productions in the past eight years. Deana most recently directed an all-star cast including Gary Sandy, of WKRP fame, in the winning screenplay, Hallie Bowers at the 2008 International Mystery Writers Festival in Owensbury, Kentucky. This summer she co-produced Twelfth Night and directed The Wrestling Season for the new Whidbey Island Theatre Festival.

Other local directing credits include Emma Reeves’ Little Women for the WICA Mainstage, Nosferatu - The Legend of Dracula, and A Tale of Two Cities for the WICA Youth Conservatory. During her tenure at WICA, Deana has continued her education participating in directing and acting classes through Freehold Studio in Seattle, studying directly with the Tony Award Winning Intiman Artistic Director Bartlett Sher and workshops with the National Endowment for the Arts. She holds a BFA in theatre arts from the University of Nevada Reno, attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, began her graduate work in theatre at the University of CaliforNia Long Beach and is honored to be one of only 20 actors accepted to legendary theatre instructor, Stella Adler’s last master class.

David Gignac (Beaumarchais) has had a long-term relationship with the theater. It began about 27 years ago in Alfred, New York when he began working with a small summer stock theater company producing six productions a summer. David arrived on Whidbey in December of 1991 and since then has made this wonderful island his home. He currently makes a living as a studio artist working in steel and glass sculpture as well as painting. While pursuing his career he has continued to keep his hand in theater. He has been involved in all levels of theater on the island including design, directing and acting. Memorable acting experiences include Moon Over Buffalo, Bell, Book and Candle, and Never More: an Evening with Edgar Allen Poe. His most recent acting credit was as Philip in Island Theater's production of Orphans.

Dave Mayer (Daniel/Cecile) returns to the WICA stage, having most recently stepped out of the lights to help direct Tom Churchill’s Olive and Jack at Whidbey Children’s Theater. Dave has appeared in other Churchill creations, portraying the high-flying Alfredo Codona in WICA’s production of Lillian in Limbo and the creatively conflicted Terry in WCT’s Blue Virgins. You might also recognize Dave from his turn as Andrei, the brother to Chekhov’s The Three Sisters. He trained at Seattle’s Freehold Theatre, where he was fortunate enough to direct his own one-act comedy, Bad Appetite. Dave lives and works on the mainland, a giddy newlywed and proud stepfather to four fantastic redheads. He hopes to continue exploring the writing facet of this art form very soon.  Many thanks to Kristina and, as always, his Langley family.

L. Bennett Nolen (Mme. du Deffand) most recently appeared in WICA’s The Good Doctor. Prior Broadway Hall and Regional Theatre performances include the roles of Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, Mrs. Mullins in Carousel, and the Wicked Witch of the West/Ms. Gulch in Wizard of Oz (Village Theatre). She performed in substance abuse and awareness plays with Taproot Theatre. L has been honored with the highest civilian medal of “Excellence, Commitment, and Service” by then Three-Star General Dyke at Camp Zama, Japan for her work in stateside touring shows brought to the armed forces in Japan. She was trained by Cornish College of the Arts and James Madison University, and various established campuses of higher education in all aspects of the performing and visual arts, which she is still paying off. Life-skill training came with its own debt to pay, but she maintains a balanced sense of humor and a warped grin through it all. She thanks God for all her gifts, especially, her daughter, Juliana Brielle Nolen.

Katie Woodzick (Gabrielle) was last seen as Adolpho Pirelli in WICA's Sweeney Todd. A Midwestern transplant, she received her B.A. in Theatre/Dance from Luther College (and almost minored in French). Favorite roles include Marian in The Music Man, Sally in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Mrs. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera and Bette in The Marriage of Bette and Boo. Katie is serving her second term of service with AmeriCorps, working at both Island Coffeehouse and Books and WICA. Thanks to Kristina for the opportunity and to the "real" Gabrielle on her yellow brick road. "Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas." - Napoleon (It's just one step from the sublime to the ridiculous).

Special events:

Opening Night Reception

Friday, June 12 following the 7.30pm performance.

The Edgecliff Restaurant will host the Opening Night (post-show) reception at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. The Edgecliff Restaurant and Lounge is Langley’s first choice for tasty meals and an amazing atmosphere. The Edgecliff has a full bar and lounge that stays open late!

Post-Play Talk

Sunday, June 21, 4pm

On Sunday, June 21, the Production Team and Company will engage in a discussion following the 2pm matinee performance; the event will be free and open to the public. Additional information about the discussion, including speakers and other participants, will be announced at a later date. Patrons interested in attending only the discussion should arrive at WICA at 4pm.

2008/09 season sponsors: City of Langley; 2008 Producers Circle; Friends of WICA; Intermec Foundation; Puget Sound Energy; Washington State Arts Commission; The NEA; Whidbey Telecom; Boeing; Glaser Foundation; US Bank Foundation; Westaf; Target; The Inn at Langley; The Edgecliff/Beachfire; Whidbey Coffee; Whidbey-SeaTac Shuttle; The Law Offices of Kelly and Harvey; Catherine DeWitt Custom Picture Framing; The South Whidbey Record; Dr. Ric Prael, the Dentist; Boomerang Korner; and Island Asphalt.

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts’ mission is to provide and maintain a community arts facility, and to promote, develop and present diverse programs of entertainment, education, and cultural enrichment to the Whidbey Island community and its visitors.