THE
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL Written by John J. Ronan
Directed by Dennis W. Gleason
Characters in order of appearance
Frank…………………………..
Paul
J. Caliendo
Dennis…………………………
Kalen
Hall
Laura…………………………...
Ashley
Victoria Harris
Jack…………………………….
Zachary
Tuckness
Gale…………………………….
Katherine
Paulsen
Who’s Who
Ree Davis (Jennie) studied at HB Studio. Stage credits include Rhoda in A Trolley
Named Tsuris, Juror #9 in 12 Angry Women, Martha in Gayest Xmas Pageant Ever,
Mrs. Nolan in Days of Wine and Roses, Mrs. Wire in Tennessee Williams’ Vieux
Carre, Penny in George S. Kaufman’s You Can’t Take it with You, and Pamela in
Noel Coward's Nude with Violin. Film
appearances include: King of the Corner,
Celebrity, 15 Minutes, The Tic Code.
Television: As the World
Turns. Having been in a 2001 performance
of Occam’s Razor at the Strawberry One Act Festival, Ree is delighted to be
here again.
Kalen Hall (Dennis) has worked at many theatres in NYC:
American Globe Theatre, Hudson Guild Theatre, Brecht Forum, Players Theatre,
Gallery Players, and others. He holds a
BFA in Theatre Arts from Point Park University, Pittsburgh, where he worked
extensively: Pittsburgh Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Musical Theatre,
and Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre.
Kalen has also worked on several films, one of which debuted at Cannes
in May. Many thanks for the love and
support from Cali. This winter he’ll
defend his Fantasy Football Championship!
(www.kalenjhall.com.)
Ashley Victoria Harris (Laura) is a Southern California
native (B.A. UC Santa Barbara; M.Ed. UC Riverside), now a resident of Brooklyn
and a proud member of the National WWII Museum's Victory Belles vocal trio.
Selected past credits: Seussical, The Baker's Wife, Parade, (The Gallery
Players), Les Miserables, The Great Gatsby, The Marvelous Wonderettes (Roxy
Regional Theatre). When not on stage,
Ashley teaches History and English at Fusion Academy Brooklyn.
Katherine Paulsen (Gale) graduated from Yale in 2014 with a
BA in Humanities. Since then she has
traveled the globe with her a cappella group, Whim 'n Rhythm (7 states and 12
countries), sung on two cast albums, and has been seen in numerous plays and
short films in NYC, including four shows directed by Dennis Gleason (Mad About
the Boy at the 13th Street Rep, American Lobster at MRT, Three Characters and
the Speed of Light, and The Early Bird Special). So many thanks to Dennis, Leroy, and, as
always, my parents.
Zachary Tuckness
(Jack) In New York, Zach Tuckness has played Kyle in Sick by Bekah Brunstetter
and Michael The Archangel in The General of Hot Desire by John Guare at
Atlantic Acting School, Dr. Tom Pitnick
in Night Visits by Simon Fill with Action Theatre Company, Rene Secretan in the
world premiere of The Final Days of Vincent Van Gogh by Donald Mann at the
American Theatre of Actors, Fabreze in the The Harlequin Maneuver by Don Nguyen
with The Riant Theatre, and he was in the New York premiere of the two-man
one-act Forgive Me, Brother by Barry Slater as Father Anthony in The Strawberry
One-Act Festival (2015). Zach is excited to be working again with director
Dennis Gleason at the Strawberry One-Act Festival.
John J. Ronan (Playwright) is both a playwright and
poet. He has received national honors
for his poetry and is a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow. His play The Yeats Game premiered in 2008 at
Boston Playwrights’ Theater and in 2012 moved to an off-off Broadway
production. A new comedy, The Tease of
Eden, will be appear in 2017. The Early
Bird Special was a finalist in the 2016 Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Festival
and John is very happy it’s part of the 2016 Strawberry Festival. (theRonan.org.) And a special thanks to Keri Landiero for her
helping hand.
Dennis W. Gleason
(Director) returns to the Strawberry Festival where four of his shows
have been finalists (Goodnite Lovin' Trail, On Top, Forgive Me Brother, Book
Wench); last year he was the only director to run two plays (as again this
season with Early Bird Special and Family Googling) and is proud that one of
his cast members was awarded "Best Actor". With a MFA in Directing, 150 directing
credits, and numerous awards, he has worked coast to coast including Off
Broadway, and regional, dinner, community and college theatre. Recent shows
include And Then There Were None, Side Show and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
This summer he directs the double bill The Unsalable Thing/Houseless in
Paradise in the New York International Fringe Festival.
A martini to
die for: the old folks are really stepping out.
Saturday, July
16th at 1pm
Monday, July
18th at 9pmSaturday, July 23rd at 1pm
For tickets go
to https://www.therianttheatre.com/item.php?id=265
At the Theatre
at St. Clement’s, 423 West 46th Street, NYC
The Riant Theatre’s Strawberry One-Act Festival
The Riant Theatre’s Strawberry One-Act Festival
No comments:
Post a Comment