The Rocky Horror Show – Meet the cast and crew!

The Rocky Horror Show

The Cast:

Terence Sullivan (Dr. Frank N. Furter) is thrilled to be returning to FTP as Frank in The Rocky Horror Show. Terence was last seen as Roger in Rent at FTP. Some of Terence’s past regional credits include Curly in Oklahoma!, Tony in West Side Story, Tommy in Brigadoon, Ren in Footloose, Danny in Grease, Courier in 1776, and Cable in South Pacific. Terence holds a BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and has shown work in Richmond, Baltimore, and New York City. Terence would like to thank his friends and family for all of their love and endless support.

Aly Wepplo (Janet) appeared onstage at Firehouse Theatre Project as Pickles in The Great American Trailer Park Musical.  Her other work includes: Seussical (Gertrude) at Theatre IV, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Olive), Is He Dead?, and Lend Me a Tenor at Barksdale, A Thousand Clowns and Smoke on the Mountain at Hanover Tavern, Godspell and The Fantasticks at Cadence Theatre Company, and Wait Until Dark and The Winter Wonderettes at Swift Creek Mill. Aly is an Associate Company Artist with Company of Fools in Idaho, where she appeared in The Glass Menagerie, Steel Magnolias, The Spitfire Grill, 110 in the Shade, Doubt, and Jack and the Beanstalk.  She was introduced to Rocky Horror by her sister, who did all the cool stuff first.

Nick Shackleford (Brad) was last seen as Peck in Barksdale Theatre at Hanover Taverns production of Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas. NY Credits: Off Broadway: Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding (Donny/Joey Swing), Uptown vs. Downtown Selections of Rent in Concert (Mark) with the One World Symphony. Richmond: Jesus in Godspell (Cadence Theatre Company), Bojangles (Barksdale Theatre), Marvin’s Room, Babes in Toyland, Winnie the Pooh, Johnny Appleseed and Wind in the Willows (Theatre IV), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Lost in Yonkers (Swift Creek Mill Theatre). Reading: The Men from the Boys (Richmond Triangle Players). He has also worked as a guest entertainer with Royal Caribbean & NCL Productions. Producer: [vampire]Medea – A New Play (Atlanta Fringe Festival 2012).

Nicholas Aliff (Riff Raff) Previous Richmond credits include Dessa Rose (FTP) , The Mysteries of Plasma (Virginia Science Museum), Love Kills (FTP), RENT (FTP), Henry V (Richmond Shakespeare). Nick is pleased to be joining this wonderful family again.

Joy Newsome (Magenta) won the 2010 RTCC Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in RENT at Firehouse Theatre Project.

Maggie Horan (Columbia) is a rising senior BFA performance major at VCU where she has most recently performed in the roles of Olive Ostrovsky (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Juliet (Shakespeare’s R&J), Pauline (Legacy of Light), and The Who’s Tommy. She was most recently seen at Barksdale Theatre as Lauren (Circle Mirror Transformation), My Fair Lady, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and White Christmas. She also appeared as Jesus (Godspell) at Shafer  Alliance Laboratory Theatre. This November she will be playing Kate Monster in Avenue Q at VCU.

Chris Hester (Rocky) hails from North Carolina, where he received his BA from Duke University. He is elated to be back with the Firehouse Theater Project in The Rocky Horror Show. Most recently, Chris played Adam in HATTheater’s production of Jewtopia and performed a one-man cabaret on the stage of Richmond Triangle Players. Over the years Chris has played a variety of roles including Jeff in the RTCC award winning musical Title of Show with Richmond Triangle Players (RTCC nominee for Best Actor in a Musical), Herb in Cadence Theater Company’s production Godspell, Duke in FTP’s production of The Great American Trailer Park Musical (RTCC nominee for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical), Orpheus in FTP’s RTCC award winning production of Eurydice and Jack/Jesus in FTP’s production of Reefer Madness (RTCC nominee for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical). In April of 2008, he produced and developed his own one-man show, Stages, which debuted at the Henrico Theater. Other local credits include, Donner/Prancer in The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, Richard Loeb in the musical Thrill Me, and Ty Williamson in Sordid Lives all with Richmond Triangle Players. He also had the chance to play Billy Bigelow in Carousel, with the Theater Company at Fort Lee and Schroder in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown with the St. John’s Players. In his “real life” Chris is an Information Technology Director at Capital One. A special thanks to Jesse Kidd for the physical training and preparation for this role.

Matt Beyer (Dr. Scott/Eddie) is as happy as a reefer zombie with bag full of ‘special brownies’ to be back on the Firehouse stage once again. As a matter of fact, you may remember him as The Lecturer in our production of Reefer Madness just a few short years ago. No stranger to the Richmond theatre scene, Matt has been seen over the years at The Empire Theatre, Barksdale At Willow Lawn, Swift Creek Mill Playhouse, Richmond Triangle Players, Dogwood Dell, and even Kings Dominion. A seasoned cruiseship entertainer, Matt also spent several years performing in revue shows as well as his own cabaret act on ships traveling to various exotic ports around the world. Matt would like to thank Jase and the creative staff at Firehouse for welcoming him back on board for yet another wild ride!

Michael Hawke (Narrator) was recently featured in Hairspray at Dogwood Dell, Dirty Little Showtunes at RTP, My Fair Lady at Barksdale, The Liar for Henley Street at CenterStage, Dessa Rose right here at the Firehouse, and has been performing on and off professionally since the age of 14. A VCU graduate, he spent 17 years in NYC where he appeared off-Broadway, off-off Broadway, on soaps, national commercials, industrials, films, national tours, and stock. He toured the country extensively in 1979-1981 in the title role in The Rocky Horror Show, and was in the Barksdale production as The Narrator. Favorite local appearances include Annie Get Your Gun, The Full Monty, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Sound of Music (RTCC Nomination-Best Supporting Actor in a Musical) at Barksdale, and Kiss of the Spider Woman at RTP, and Arsenic and Old Lace (RTCC Nomination-Best Supporting Actor in a Play) Urinetown, Of Mice and Men, and Side Show at Swift Creek.

Alexander Gerber (Ensemble) recently returned to Richmond after an adventure in Chicago, following his graduation from Theatre VCU (BFA ’09). Most recently he was seen as Jim Stark in Stupid Kids at Richmond Triangle Players. Other favorite roles of his include Torch in Beirut, Jim the Gentleman Caller in The Glass Menagerie, Chris in All My Sons, The Bridegroom in Blood Wedding, and The Lecturer Understudy/Ensemble in Reefer Madness here at the Firehouse. He is incredibly excited to be on the Firehouse stage yet again and wants to thank all his friends and family for all their support!  Alex is a proud member of THE THEATRE LAB, Richmond’s newest acting ensemble!

Joe Winters (Ensemble) is going into his third year as a theatre performance major at Virginia Commonwealth University.  Some of his previous performance credits include Stupid Kids at Richmond Triangle Players (Neechee), Shakespeare’s R&J at VCU (Understudy: Juliet & Nurse), and [vampire]Medea performed at the Atlanta Fringe Festival (Francisco).

Katherine S. Wright (Ensemble) is thrilled to make her debut at Firehouse Theater!  The Time Warp at a daycare Halloween party has finally come full circle!  She would like to thank her father for supporting her dream of performing, her mother for being the star of Miss Donna’s School of Dance, her brother for letting her dress him in drag when they were little, and Jase Smith for giving her this amazing opportunity!  And also to Gavin McClung who always rose tints my world!

Sasha Wakefield (Ensemble) is a college student from Richmond, VA. She currently studies theater arts at John Tyler Community College. She also has studied Latin dance at the Latin Ballet of Virginia. Some of her most recent roles were “Kyra” in the Richmond Triangle Players Concert reading of Bare: a pop opera, “Claire” in the John Tyler Production of Fuddy Meers, and ”Country” in the African American Repertory Theater’s production of Langston is My Man. She recently had her first Television role doing the reenactment of Yolanda Gutierrez’s death in the T.V show FBI Criminal Pursuit. Sasha is very excited to be performing for the first time on the Firehouse Theater stage.

Mauricio Marcés (Ensemble) is a rising senior BFA performance major at VCU and was most recently seen as Jack in Theatre IV’s The Stinky Cheese Man at the Empire Theatre. Past credits with TheatreVCU include Grease (Sonny/Eugene Understudy), Legacy of Light (Lewis Understudy), a collaboration with Barksdale at Willowlawn, and several productions with Shafer Alliance Laboratory Theatre, including Corner of the World (Marcus/Asep), Back of the Throat (Asfoor), and Henry V (Bardolph/Le Fer). He made his directorial debut with Based on a Totally True Story, also on the Shafer stage. Mauricio worked with The Conciliation Project in Stolen Land: border crossings last summer. In 2008, he performed an original monologue at the Lincoln Theater in Washington, D.C. for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration’s annual conference and again for the Latino Behavioral Health Institute in Los Angeles, CA.

Katie Ford (Ensemble/Dance Captain) is excited to be in her second production at Firehouse Theatre, having previously appeared in RENT. Her other credits include, White Christmas (Betty u/s and Ensemble) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Ensemble) at Barksdale Theatre, Hamlet (Marcellus/ Guildenstern) and Amadeus (Katherina) at Richmond Shakespeare, West Side Story (Velma) with SPARC. Katie recently received her BFA in Theatre Performance at VCU where she performed in Grease! (Rizzo), Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Hermia), and The Who’s Tommy (Ensemble).

THE BAND:

Leilani Giles (Musical Director/Pianist), née Mork, is an active performer in both classical and musical theatre and holds a Masters in Piano Performance from VCU. She has collaborated with professional and student vocalists, performing throughout the US as well as Beijing, Shanghai, and Rome. With Theatre VCU, she is currently the vocal coach and music director for the Senior Showcase. Some of Mrs. Giles’ past shows include: Dessa Rose (FTP), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (VCU), Grease (VCU), White Christmas (Barksdale), RENT (FTP), The Who’s Tommy (VCU), The Great American Trailer Park Musical (FTP), Chicago (VCU), and Reefer Madness! (FTP). Three of these shows have been nominated by the Richmond Critics Circle for several awards including Best Musical and Best Musical Director and was the 2010 recipient of Best Musical Director for her work in RENT. Her next project will be Avenue Q (VCU), opening in November.

Grant Oliver (Guitar) is happy to be returning to the Firehouse for the fifth time.  His previous Firehouse credits include playing for Reefer Madness, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, RENT, and Love Kills.  A recent graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, he also played guitar in VCU’s Grease, the University of Richmond’s RENT, Cadence Theatre Company’s Godspell and the Richmond Triangle Players’ This Beautiful City among others.  Grant can be seen performing regularly with his country rock band The Trailer Court Marshals and with his thrash metal band Imperial Order.

Dane Magoon (Bassist) is currently involved with a number of Richmond-based bands, including the Trailer Court Marshals, the Us band, and the Dirty Truth.  Recent musical highlights include opening for Dickey Betts and Great Southern, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and country artist Eric Church.  Over the past two years he has played bass for numerous local musical productions, including VCU Theatre’s Grease! and The Who’s Tommy, Firehouse Theater Project’s RENT, and the Cadence Theatre Company’s Godspell.  He has a professional sponsorship agreement with Waterstone Musical Instruments of Nashville, Tennessee.  By day he is a Vice President and Senior Principal Investigator with Cultural Resources, Inc., and also serves as adjunct faculty in anthropology with Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of World Studies.

Bentley Cobb, Jr. (Drummer) is a Richmond, Virginia based musician versed in hand percussion and drum kit.  Bentley is an experienced rehearsal accompanist, currently employed by The Richmond Ballet, Virginia Commonwealth University Dance, and the University of Richmond Dance department.  This is Bentley’s thirteenth year playing for many musicals with Barksdale Theatre (Va. Rep), Barksdale Willow Lawn, Barksdale Hanover Tavern, Swift Creek Mill Playhouse, Firehouse Theatre Project, VCU Theatre, UR Theatre and the Hanover Cultural Art Center. Bentley is thrilled to be back at the Firehouse after playing for Reefer Madness, RENT, Love Kills, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Dessa Rose. If your son or daughter is interested in private lessons within percussion/drum-kit you can reach Bentley at BentleyCobb@gmail.com

THE CREW:

Jase Smith (Director) Previous FTP credits include Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Musical nominees RENT, Reefer Madness, and The Great American Trailer Park Musical. Other professional credits include A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant (FTP), Zanna Don’t and Christmas with the Crawfords (Richmond Triangle Players). Jase is an Instructor of Theatre at John Tyler Community College where he recently directed The Fantasticks. He holds a MFA in Theatre from VCU and a BA in Theatre from The College of William and Mary. Jase is an associate member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Maggie Marlin (Choreographer) is pleased to be back in Richmond and to be working on another Jase Smith production with the Firehouse Theatre Project! Previous FTP credits include choreographing Rent (RTCC Award Nominee), Reefer Madness, and Great American Trailer Park and performing the role of Izzy in Boys’ Life (Best Supporting Actress RTCC Award Nominee).  Other favorite Richmond credits include the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Best Actress RTCC Award Nominee) and Guys & Dolls at the Barksdale, and Velma Kelly in Chicago and Sally Bowles in Cabaret at VCU.  Recent credits include directing/choreographing Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) and Cabaret at Missouri State University and performing Izzy in Rabbit Hole, Olive in The Odd Couple, Female Edition, and ensemble in The Good Body.  Maggie is on the performance faculty at Missouri State University, a founding member of Springfield’s new professional performance company, the Resident Artist Ensemble (RAE), and a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association.  She received her BFA in Acting from the North Carolina School of the Arts and her MFA in Movement Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University with additional research at the Eugene O’Neill National Theatre Institute, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Dah Teatar of Belgrade, Serbia.

Sharon Gregory (Production Stage Manager) is happy to be working at the Firehouse again having spent the past year as the Production Manager at Riverside Dinner Theater in Fredericksburg, Va.  Her previous Firehouse credits include As Bees in Honey Drown, Bat Boy the Musical, Volume of Smoke, Where’s My Money?, Dinner with Friends, Eurydice, Rabbit Hole, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Love Kills, Dog Sees God, and Dessa Rose (ASM).  Other Richmond credits include The Syringa Tree and Jesus Hopped the A Train at Theatre IV/Barksdale; Long Day’s Journey into Night with Essential Theatre Company; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, and Macbeth for Richmond Shakespeare; This Beautiful City at Richmond Triangle Players; Dogtown Dance Theatre’s grand opening Flight, and numerous productions with the Carpenter Science Theatre Company and Dogwood Dell’s Festival of Arts. She has also worked in New York, where favorite credits include Feast of 2012 for the N.Y. International Fringe Festival ’07, Dreams of Home for Monarch Theatre Company, Welcome to New Jersey and The Littlest Light on the Christmas Tree for Vital Children’s Theatre, and the KNF Play Reading Festival.

David A. McLain (Set and Lighting Design) is a freelance designer working out of Richmond.  He designed the lighting for Theatre Virginia’s productions of A Wonderful Life and Holiday Memories.  He has also designed scenery and lighting for a number of productions for the Firehouse Theatre Project in Richmond including The Last Five Years, Bat Boy, Curse of the Starving Class, Where’s My Money?, and lights for Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Fast Hands.  David served as a guest artist in scene design at the College of William and Mary where he designed In The Garden of Live Flowers and Marat/Sade, and the lighting design for A View From the Bridge.   David provided the lighting design for Facing East and the scenic design for Last Summer at Bluefish Cove for the Richmond Triangle Players.  Recently, David designed the scenery and lighting for the Firehouse productions of Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll and RENT. His most recent work was as a guest artist at St. Mary’s College, Maryland where he designed the scenery and costumes for Mother Hicks.

Holly Sullivan (Costume Designer) With a degree in Fashion Design, Holly is somewhat new to the Richmond theatre community but is certainly no stranger. Already having worked on four productions since beginning her work in costume design this past January, she brings a strong and fresh approach to costumes with her background in fashion. Her artwork and clothing have been featured in local boutiques, galleries, fashion shows, and have even been recognized as one of the Top Five in a worldwide Fashion Illustration Contest. Holly’s work is bold, dramatic, and character driven which steered her in the direction of costume design. She draws many of her stylistic influences from glam punk, comic books, film noir, & drag queens and gives it a high fashion twist. She is absolutely thrilled and honored to be working on Rocky Horror as her first production with Firehouse Theatre and to be their featured artist – check for my artwork in the Firehouse lobby! If you are interested in purchasing a piece from her or would like to make a custom order, please contact her at holly.sullivn@gmail.com!

Joey Luck (Asst Technical Director/Sound Designer/Sound Board Op) is excited to be returning for his second production at the Firehouse Theatre (following Dessa Rose).  Joey recently moved back to VA from Fort Collins, CO (fresh to Richmond) and holds a BS in Business Management and certificates in Human Resource Management and Entrepreneurship from Colorado State University.  His passion is in the entertainment industry and he has been involved in theatre and concert production for over fourteen years (serving several venues in VA and throughout CO).  His credits include major tour kickoffs and televised events on NBC, VH1, and FOX.  Most recently, Joey has also been involving himself in film as Music Composer, 2^nd AC, and Associate Producer.  He has the best dog in the world, Fiona, who he has had certified as a therapy dog to provide therapy for EVERYBODY!  Joey would like to thank the cast, band, and crew for being so talented, professional, and incredibly enjoyable to work with.

Tad Burrell (Technical Director) is pleased to be back as TD for yet another show at FTP. Some of Tad’s Firehouse credits include: Set Designer for Kingdom of Earth and Reckless, and Firehouse Cabaret, Technical Director and Master Carpenter for Reckless, Volume of Smoke, The Last Five Years, Where’s My Money, Edward Albee’s The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, Birth, Compromise, Dinner With Friends, I Am My Own Wife, Mr. Marmalade, This is Our Youth, Spinning Into Butter, The Late Henry Moss, The Widows Blind Date, and Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them. His latest work was Technical Director/Master Carpenter for Dessa Rose. In the real world, Tad makes his living doing freelance Set Design, Construction, and Carpentry work. This is his tenth year as the Firehouse Theatre Project’s Technical Director.

Kiari Hicks (Props Master) This is Kiari’s first Richmond Theatre Production and she is so excited that its at Firehouse Theater Project and even more excited that it is The Rocky Horror Show! Kiari is a 20 year old Musical Theatre major at John Tyler Community College. She plans to transfer to The American Music Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York! Typically a performer, Kiari has enjoyed working crew for this production. Kiari looks forward to future productions at Firehouse and in the Richmond Theatre Community.

Alexandra Valentin (Assistant Costume Designer) is SO excited to be working on Rocky Horror, which has been one of her favorite movies since she was 9 years old! Alex has always had a flair for all things creative, theatrical, and campy, and has always wanted to be involved in the theatre world.  She received her B.F.A. in Theatre Performance from VCU in 2009, and has since made the change to costume design. Past Design credits include Cadence Theatre Company’s production of August: Osage County at Virginia Rep’s Theatre Gym, and The Musical of Musicals (The Musical) with Richmond Triangle Players.  Look for her work in next season’s The Busy World Is Hushed with Richmond Triangle Players, and The Apple Tree and The Last Night of Ballyhoo, both with Fort Lee Playhouse.

Deejay Gray (Producer) is an actor, director, and teacher. He studied theatre at Radford University (2010 graduate), served as the Education Intern at Mill Mountain Theatre (Roanoke, VA), and the Acting/Directing Intern at New Stage Theatre (Jackson, MS) before moving home to Richmond last fall. Favorite credits include Romeo and Juliet (Romeo), Lend Me A Tenor (Max), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Judas), Miss Nelson is Missing (Adam), Terminating (Hendryk) [Standout Performance - Unframmy Award Nomination], The Tempest (Ferdinand), The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (Cow Patty Boy, et. al.) and most recently a reading of 8 (Ryan Kendall) by Dustin Lance Black with Firehouse Theatre Project and Richmond Triangle Players. Directing credits include Line by Israel Horovitz, Proof by David Auburn, Liza and the Riddling Cave by John Urquhart, Ordinary People by Nancy Gilsenan, How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel [Best Director - Unframmy Award Winner!] and Hearts Online by Rebecca Jones & Paul Bartsch. Some recent credits include Stage Managing Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them (Firehouse Theatre Project) and Assistant to the Director for Dessa Rose (Firehouse Theatre Project/Richmond Center Stage). Deejay is the Creative Director for THE THEATRE LAB, Richmond’s newest acting company for young theatre artists.

Carol Piersol (Artistic Director) is the Founding Artistic Director of the Firehouse Theatre Project. In 2007 she was named one of the “Top 25 Innovators at the Forefront of Richmond Arts and Culture” by Style Weekly and was featured in Work Magazine. She attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City, where she studied acting under Sanford Meisner. Carol worked in film, television, and theatre in New York and was a member there of Force 13 Theatre’s ensemble. She then moved to Richmond, where her first appearance was Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Flood Zone. Carol co-founded the Firehouse Theatre Project with Bill Gordon, Harry Kollatz, Jr., Anna Senechal, and Janet Wilson in 1993. Her favorite acting roles at the Firehouse include Miss Carroway in A.R. Gurney’s The Love Course, Emily Gulick in Joyce Carol Oates’ Tone Clusters, and Billie in John Patrick Shanley’s Women of Manhattan. Carol currently teaches adult Meisner method acting classes at the Firehouse.