Saint Michael's Playhouse Presents AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS June 29 - July 10

The Saint Michael's Playhouse stages AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, June 29 to July10, continuing the season of Equity professional summer theater, in the McCarthy Arts Center at Saint Michael's College. The show runs, June 29, 30, July, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, each evening at 8 p.m., with matinees, July 3 and 10, at 2 p.m.

Stampeding elephants! Raging typhoons! Runaway trains! Unabashedly slapstick! AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS presents the original amazing race! Fearless adventurer Phileas Fogg and his faithful manservant race to beat the clock, and the audience comes along for the oh-so-British ride.

"We've got five incredibly inventive comic actors playing a head-spinning array of characters," said Director Kathryn Markey. "It's been a lively and hilarious rehearsal process, and we are certain it will be a huge hit for audiences of all ages."

Phileas Fogg has agreed to an outrageous wager that puts his fortune and his life at risk. With his resourceful servant Passepartout, Fogg sets out to circle the globe in an unheard-of 80 days. But his every step is dogged by a detective who thinks he's a robber on the run. Danger, romance, and comic surprises abound in this whirlwind of a show as five actors portraying 39 characters traverse seven continents in Mark Brown's new adaptation of one of the great adventures of all time.

"We couldn't be more pleased with the caliber of our 2010 Acting Company," said Chuck Tobin, Playhouse Producing Artistic Director. "Greater Burlington is enjoying some of the best actors in the business performing on The Playhouse stage this summer," Tobin said.

CAST, in their own words:
ANDREW ZANE FULLERTON (Phileas Fogg) Andrew couldn't be happier to return to Saint Michaels playhouse where he debuted in Into the Woods (Cinderella's PrinceWolf). Favorite roles include, Tesman (Hedda Gabbler), Cain (Children of Eden), Agis (Triumph of Love), Evan Wyler (As Bees in Honey Drown), Barney Greenwald (The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial), Sky Masterson (Guys and Dolls), Edward (Someone Who'll Watch Over Me), among others.

David RossETTI (Passepartout, and others) New York credits: The Irish Curse (Soho Playhouse, Assistant Director), Hugh Cobalt: Pri vate Eye (HERE Arts Center), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Jimmy, Gallery Players), Ego (HERE Arts Center). National Tours: Hairspray (Brad '06-‘07 & Assistant Director '09-'10), Fame (Goody). Other favorites: A Christmas Carol (The Alliance The atre, 2007 Regional Tony Award winner), Gentle men Prefer Blondes (Gateway Playhouse), The Music Man (Theatre of the Stars), Guys & Dolls (Benny, El Camino Arts Center), Cabaret (Emcee, Neighborhood Playhouse).

Chip Phillips (Detective Fix, and others) Off-Broadway, Chip has been seen in Machiavelli, I Love You... Now Change and Perfect Crime. Re gional credits include John Adams in 1776 (Ar row Rock Lyceum), Milo in Sleuth and Marvin in Falsettos (Foothills Theatre), Maurice in Beauty and the Beast (Northern Stage), Hildy in The Front Page (Merrimack Rep), Lend Me a Tenor (American Stage Festival), Das Barbecu (New Repertory The atre), A Tuna Christmas (StageWest), and Jackie: An American Life (Wilbur Theatre).

Audra Wahhab (Aouda, and others) Audra is thrilled to be here at St. Mi chael's for the first time. Most recently, Audra completed a workshop of The Odyssey Project with the Rattlestick Playwright's Theatre Off-Broadway. Selected credits include Run for Your Wife and The Odd Couple at the John W Enge man Theatre. Charlotte in the national tour of Charlotte's Web (Theatreworks USA.) Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, London Assur ance and Coriolanus at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, The Merchant of Venice at Milwaukee Shakespeare and A Shayna Maidel at The Soulstice Theatre. TV Credits include One Life to Live and Season 3 of the CBS series Inturn.

 

PAUL Joseph BernardO (Gauthier Ralph, and others) Paul is delighted to be mak ing his St. Michael's Playhouse debut. Paul has worked extensively in regional theater where his favorite roles have included: Brutus in Julius Caesar, Duke Vincentio in Measure for Measure, Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Matt in Talley's Folly, Marc in Art, and Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman. He has appeared in numer ous industrials and commercials as well as in dependent and feature films including Brian de Palma's Snake Eyes. Paul is a proud graduate of the Shakespeare Theatre's Academy for Classical Acting MFA program at The George Washington University.

Creative team:
Mark Brown (Playwright) is an award-winning writer and actor. His plays include Around the World in 80 Days; The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge; China, The Whole Enchilada; Poe: Deep Into That Darkness Peering (co-written with Mark Rector); and The Little Prince (co-written with Paul Kiernen). As an actor, he has appeared on stage, screen and TV and worked with such people as Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Dick Van Dyke, Jeff Goldblum and the Rally Monkey. Brown lives in New York City with his wife, daughter, and dog and dreams of living in a chateau in France.

 

Kathryn Markey (Director) appeared on Broadway in 3 From Brooklyn and has been featured at Sym phony Space in The Thalia Follies, Bloomsday, and Wall to Wall Broadway. On-screen: Law and Order, All My Children, Filmic Achievement, DutchWest TV, and CollegeHumor. Other credits include The Chalks: An American Family in 3 Chords (Bay Street Theater), Over The Tavern (Penguin Rep), Dreamers and Demons (Emelin), Parallel Lives, Dancing at Lughnasa (Northern Stage), Selected Shorts: Eudora Welty (NPR), the world premiere of Jumping Blind (Gayfest), Thor oughly Modern Millie (NL Barn), Beau Jest (Penn sylvania Stage), Separation (English Theatre of Stockholm. At St. Michael's Play house Kathryn has appeared in: Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, Perfect...Change, Into the Woods, Pirates of Penzance and Suds. Directing credits include: South Pacific and Fiddler on the Roof at the NL Barn, Rag time at the White Plains Performing Arts Center and David & Goliath at Merkin Concert Hall. Kath ryn is one-third of the satirical country band "The Chalks," seen and heard in venues from Palm Springs to Passaic.

CHUCK TOBIN (Producing Artistic Director) began his involvement with theater at Saint Michael's Col lege in 1976 as a theater major in the fine arts department. During his junior year, Chuck was ac cepted into the Saint Michael's Playhouse Profes sional Theater Internship Program and spent the summer of 1979 learning aspects of professional theater production and administration under the extraordinary guidance of producers Donald Rathgeb, Joanne Rathgeb, and Margaret O'Brien. Now, thirty years later, Chuck is honored to serve as Producing Artistic Director of this professional theater company and internship program, which has been an integral educational component at Saint Michael's College since 1947. In his career, Chuck has been producing and managing live pro fessional theater with credits that include produc tions at Lincoln Center, Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, and Symphony Space in NYC, the Nis say Theatre in Tokyo, the Adam Mickiewicz Center in Poznan, Poland, and regionally at New Reper tory Theater, Worcester Foothills Theater, Nicker son Theater, Olney Theatre, National Players, and the National Theater Group's Broadway Celebrity Series. Chuck serves on the Council of Resident Stock Theatre's negotiating committee with Ac tors' Equity Association representing professional equity resident stock theater from across the na tion and has served on several boards and com mittees for Burlington, Vermont area non-profit organizations. Many thanks to the people of Saint Michael's College and the Greater Burlington area for your support of The Playhouse and for your un derstanding of the profound value of the arts to the community and education.

Playhouse background:
From its beginnings in 1947, Saint Michael's Playhouse has blossomed into an award-winning, highly-regarded equity theater company. The Playhouse features talent from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theaters nationwide, presented right here in Vermont. Housed in the Saint Michael's College McCarthy Arts Center, one of the finest theater facilities in the state, The Playhouse attracts approximately 16,000 theatergoers each season.

Saint Michael's Playhouse is a professional theater company operating as an auxiliary enterprise of Saint Michael's College. The Playhouse is Greater Burlington's only Actors' Equity resident theater company and as such operates under contract with Actors' Equity Association in New York City. At the same time, Saint Michael's College students have the opportunity to learn from the pros through internships in technical theater, costuming, lighting, set construction, and publicity.

The rest of the Saint Michael's Playhouse 2010 season:
BLITHE SPIRIT, July 13 - 24
A delightfully enchanting farce written by Noel Coward and directed by Thomas Ouellette breezes onto The Playhouse stage. Charles, a successful writer and his second wife, Ruth, decide to hold a séance as research for an upcoming mystery novel. An eccentric medium, Madame Arcati, arrives to conduct the session and to Charles' (and Ruth's) surprise, the ghost of his glamorous and delightfully mischievous first wife, Elvira appears. The evening quickly devolves into chaos as doors start slamming and vases go flying. An enchanted comedy for a lighthearted summer evening!

ALWAYS . . . PATSY CLINE, July 27 - August 7
Written by Ted Swindley, this most frequently requested musical is directed and choreographed by Keith Andrews. Always...Patsy Cline is based on the true story of the legendary country singer's unlikely friendship with a Houston housewife, Louise Seger. This smash-hit musical and Playhouse favorite offers old fans and new ones a chance to see, through Louise's eyes, the American original and dazzling star that was Patsy Cline. An intimate look at the woman behind the legend, as only a true friend could tell it, filled with all of Patsy's greatest hits including Anytime, Walkin' After Midnight, I Fall To Pieces, She's Got You, Sweet Dreams and Crazy. Featuring Lucy Sorensen as Patsy Cline and Sarah Carleton as Louise.

Ticket information:
Evening, are $35; matinee tickets are $29. Tickets may be purchased online www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) or at the Saint Michael's Playhouse walk-up window in the McCarthy Arts Center, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Playhouse Junior
Playhouse Junior presents PINKALICIOUS, directed by Equity actor/director Marc Tumminelli, and performed by area youngsters with theater experience and Saint Michael's theater students. This brand new musical, direct from New York, takes audiences on a "be careful what you wish for" adventure. Pinkalicious is a girl who loves pink and wants everything in her life to be pink. After over indulging in pink cupcakes, she wakes up pink. Her dream has finally come true . . . or has it? Performances Friday, July 9, 11 a.m.; Saturday, July 10, 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Tickets, $9.50.

Visit www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org for more information.