The Cast of Jane Eyre: The Musical

At TheatreWorks: The Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts
(originally located at TheatreWorks.org/cast.htm)

*Members of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

	ALISON BLOOMFIELD (Miss Scatcherd, Grace Poole, Mrs. Dent) understudied the role of Mother in TheatreWorks' Ragtime. She performed with American Conservatory Theater in Full Moon (Christine), starred with Palo Alto Players in Aspects of Love (Rose) and most recently played Violet in Wonderful Town with Marin Theatre Company. Her performance as Lucy in Jekyll & Hyde at Solano College Theatre won the Elly Award and a Dean Goodman Choice Award. In addition to work at Pacific Alliance Stage Company in Man of La Mancha (Aldonza), Ms. Bloomfield has also appeared with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Theater Rhinoceros, 42nd Street Moon and Hillbarn Theatre. She also frequently performs in cabaret and jazz venues in the Bay Area.
	JENNIFER BRISSMAN (Young Jane) is 11 and thrilled to be returning to TheatreWorks after having made her debut as The Little Girl in Ragtime. Some of her other favorite roles have included Peter in Bay Area eTc's Peter Pan and Narrator in Pied Piper Players' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. When away from the theater, Miss Brissman studies Speech Level Singing, Jazz and Ballet and attends sixth Grade at Borel Middle School in San Mateo. She wishes to thank her parents for all their love and support, and all those who have taught and shared with her their love for theatre.
	KHALIA DAVIS (Schoolgirl, Maid) is 14 years old and makes her TheatreWorks debut in Jane Eyre. She has appeared with the Sunnyvale Community Players in Once On This Island (Little Timoune) and in San Jose's Children's Musical Theater productions of Bugsy Malone (Cagey Joe, Angelo) and Once Upon A Mattress (Lady Beatrice, Dancer). Ms. Davis has also performed with the Young People's Theater in The Frog Prince (Queen) and The Wiz (Scarecrow). She is a freshman at Notre Dame High School in San Jose and can presently be seen on KTEH's program, Real Science!, as a Teen Reporter. Additional television credits include: Kofy Kids Club/Warner Brothers/TV20 and national commercials.
	LIANNE MARIE DOBBS (Helen) portrayed Evelyn Nesbit in TheatreWorks' Ragtime. Her regional credits include The Difficulty Of Crossing A Field with American Conservatory Theater and Kronos Quartet, James Joyce's The Dead at American Conservatory Theater, Wonderful Town at Marin Theatre Company, Evita (Mistress) at American Musical Theatre of San Jose, The Night of the Iguana (Charlotte), The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy), and A Christmas Carol (Belle) at Center Repertory Company, and You Can't Take It With You (Alice) at Willows Theatre Company. She also appeared in A Little Night Music (Anne) at Lamplighters and Babes in Arms (Billie) and Funny Face (Frankie) at 42nd St. Moon. Ms. Dobbs has a degree in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University and studied at British American Drama Academy in Oxford.
	NOEL ESCOBAR (Richard Mason) is pleased to be making his debut with TheatreWorks in Jane Eyre. Prior credits include performances at American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Woodminster Amphitheatre, Willow's Theatre Company, New Conservatory Theatre Center, San Francisco and Broadway By the Bay. Last summer Mr. Escobar completed an intensive acting training program at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. He has also trained vocally with the Matthew Liebowitz studio and Pam Hicks, and is currently training at the Berle Davis Dance Arts Center. Love to family and friends.
	KAREN E. HALL* (Mrs. Reed) was last seen at TheatreWorks as Hata and Mrs. Cutter in the workshop production of My Ántonia. She also played the Nurse, Mrs., and Harriet in TheatreWorks' production of Sunday in the Park with George. Recent Bay Area theater appearances include Miss Foster in Lady in the Dark and Melba Synder in Pal Joey with Marin Theatre Company, and Jean Carr in Mountain Days with Willows Theatre Company. Ms. Hall has held leading roles in such operas as Die Fledermaus, Cosě fan tutte, and Albert Herring at Austin Opera Theatre, and was recently the soprano soloist for the Verdi Requiem with the Napa Valley Symphony. She also performs regularly with her chamber music trio The Mirage Ensemble.
	DAVID HESS* (Rochester) appeared in the recent Broadway production of Annie Get Your Gun as Frank Butler opposite Reba McEntire, then Crystal Bernard. He also played Admiral Peary and Charles Whitman in the First National Tour of Ragtime (original cast). Off-Broadway, he originated roles in Prodigal (Harry), Love In A Thirsty Land (Wingate), and The Strange Case of Mary Lincoln (Robert Lincoln). Regional theatre credits include Grand Hotel (Baron), Sweet Charity (Vittorio Vidal), Showboat (Ravenal), She Loves Me (Kodaly), 1776 (Thomas Jefferson), Beyond Therapy (Bruce). TV/Film appearances include Dynasty, Dallas, Max Headroom, General Hospital, The Young and The Restless, Santa Barbara, One Life to Live, Guiding Light, New York Crossing and others. Happily married to the beautiful and talented actress, Joan Hess.
	MARLA KAVANAUGH* (Blanche Ingram) made her TheatreWorks debut in 2000 as Sharon in Terrence McNally's Master Class. Bay Area audiences also know her from her many performances with Lamplighters (Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Lady Psyche in Princess Ida, and Gala concerts), Festival Opera (Monica in The Medium), and Pocket Opera (Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld, Minette in The Woman Who Turned into a Cat, Elisetta in The Secret Marriage, among others). Last year Ms. Kostantinos starred as Mimi in Livermore Valley Opera's La Boheme, and in December she made her debut at Eugene Opera as Musetta, also in La Boheme. She also has made many concert, stage and television appearances in her native New Zealand.
	DIANA TORRES KOSS* (Mrs. Fairfax) has been seen in TheatreWorks' Floyd Collins (Miss Jane), the New Works Festival's staged reading of Memphis (Dewey's mother), Heartland (Sara), The Human Comedy (Kate), Sweeney Todd (Mrs. Lovett), Pump Boys and Dinettes (Prudie), and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Rosabud). She performs throughout the Bay Area for various regional theatres including: American Musical Theatre of San Jose (most recently Sound of Music, Evita, Victor/Victoria, Singin' In The Rain, Phantom), Willows Theatre (all of the Nunsense series of musicals, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, In The Beginning, 1776, Radio Gals), California Conservatory Theatre (Dames At Sea, Lucky Stiff, Pump Boys & Dinettes, I'm Not Rappaport), and Marin Theatre Company (Cowgirls).
	JENNIFER KRANZ (Schoolgirl/Maid) makes her first appearance at TheatreWorks in Jane Eyre. Jennifer most recently appeared in American Musical Theatre's Sound of Music (Brigitta). Previous theatre credits include Peninusla Youth Theatre's (PYT) productions of Annie (Annie) and Charlotte's Web (Charlotte) for which she received PYT's 2001-2002 Season's Triple Threat & Best Actress Award. Other PYT credits include Oliver (Rose Seller), and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Storyteller). Jennifer is also part of PYT's touring Pizazz group which performs School House Rock Live (Lynn). She is a fifth grader at La Entrada School who studies voice, dance, and piano. Ms. Kranz thanks family, directors & theatre supporters for giving her the opportunity to perform.
	JEFF LEIBOW (Lord Ingram) is pleased to return to TheatreWorks after taking the stage for five performances in Smokey Joe's Café and understudying Ian in last season's world premiere of Kept. He has also performed locally at American Musical Theater of San Jose where he performed in the ensemble and understudied major roles in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Damn Yankees, The Sound of Music and Miss Saigon. Additional credits include A Cabaret Line at New York's Eight-Eight's Cabaret, and regional productions of Camelot and Paint Your Wagon (Sacramento Music Circus) and Fiddler on the Roof (Firside Playhouse).
	IAN JEFFREY LEONARD (St. John) returns to TheatreWorks after performing last season in the New Works Festival's My Ántonia (Marek). He has toured the country in the title role of Tom Sawyer-The Musical and recently stepped into a dress for the run of Some Like it Hot at Cabrillo Stage (Joe/Josephine). He also won a Dean Goodman Award playing Steven Kodaly in Foothill Music Theatre's She Loves Me. Mr. Leonard spent his early twenties performing in the nine-piece Bay Area cover band, Recess, which played festivals, weddings, and arena events from Monterey to Sacramento. He studied English Literature at the University of San Francisco.
	MARK D. MESSERSMITH (Robert) is pleased to return for his fourth TheatreWorks production, previously appearing in The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Grapes of Wrath and Floyd Collins. He was recently Henry in The Lion In Winter for Palo Alto Players and Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof for Saratoga Drama Group. Mr. Messersmith has also worked with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Cabrillo Stage, Western Stage, Foothill Music Theatre, Valley Shakespeare Festival and Central Coast Theatre Works among others. He is the current director of the Visual Voice, which describes events for the visually impaired for TheatreWorks and other companies.
	SORSHA MILES (Louisa) makes her TheatreWorks debut in Jane Eyre. She performed on Broadway in The Father with The Roundabout Theatre and off-Broadway in the world premiere of Michael Weller's Ghost on Fire at Samuel Beckett Theatre. Locally she has been seen in The Sound of Music with American Musical Theatre of San Jose, the title role in Peggy-Ann with 42nd Street Moon, Lady in the Dark with Marin Theatre Company and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Angel) with Willows Theatre. Her other credits include Dames at Sea (Ruby), The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy), Much Ado About Nothing (Hero), Brighton Beach Memoirs (Nora), and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Philia) at North Country Center for the Arts.
	MARGARET NICHOLS* (Jane) has been seen off-Broadway as Gloria in the world premiere of the lost Noel Coward play Long Island Sound at American Theatre of Actors (ATA) and played Olivia in the world premiere Moonwork musical What You Will. She toured nationally with Les Miserables and spends many summer seasons at Weston Playhouse in Vermont where she has played roles including Louise in Gypsy and Suzanne in Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Ms. Nichols is a company member of The Actor's Company Theatre in New York where she has appeared in a dozen productions, most recently as the title role in Eurydice. She received her BFA from the University of Michigan. Ms. Nichols wants to thank Alexander, and her families in Chicago and SF for their love and support.
	SOPHIE TAMIKO ODA (Adele) is 11 years old and is delighted to return to TheatreWorks where she has appeared in Pacific Overtures and The Joy Luck Club. Other credits include: The Sound of Music and Annie at American Musical Theatre of San Jose, A Midsummer Night's Dream with the California Shakespeare Festival, the title role of Annie for Stage 1 Repertory, The Wiz and The King and I at the Willows Theatre, Lost Vegas Acts for Z Space and San Jose Repertory Theatre's Playwright's Festival, and South Pacific and Annie at Alameda Civic Light Opera. Sophie has appeared in films, commercials, print, and recently appeared on the television show, Star Search.
	RYAN PFLEIDERER (Young John Reed) has appeared in Peter Pan (Curly) and Oliver! (Charley Bates) at Broadway by the Bay, A Wonderful Life (Tommy) at Hillbarn Theatre, The Man Who Came to Dinner (Banjo/Dr. Metz) with Peninsula Youth Theater, and Golliwhoppers (Skidmore) and Charlotte's Web (Templeton) with Palo Alto Children's Theater. He was also seen in The Marvelous Playbill (Mayor) and Bye, Bye Birdie (Randolph) at Jordan Middle School Theater. He studies at The Dance Arts Center, American Conservatory Theater's Young Conservatory Program, and with Joshua Finkel and Richard Nickol at The San Francisco Academy for the Performing Arts. Ryan performs commercial, voice-over and print work for Look Talent in San Francisco. He also loves to play flute and basketball.
	COURTNEY STOKES (School girl, Maid) is performing in her second show with TheatreWorks, having played Young Louise in Gypsy. She has been acting for seven years and has had numerous roles in the East Bay including Rhoda Penmark in Broadway West's production of The Bad Seed, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz with Star Struck Theatre, Evilina the Witch in Sleeping Beauty (Star Struck) and her latest show Godspell at Mission San Jose High School where she is a freshman.
	KRISTIN STOKES (School girl,Maid, u/s Helen) is appearing in her second production with TheatreWorks after playing a Toreadorable in Gypsy. She has also appeared in Foothill Music Theatre's production of Into the Woods as Little Red Riding Hood. She attends Mission San Jose High School, where she has had numerous roles including Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker for which she won the Best Actress Award in a play, and Liesl in The Sound of Music in which she won Best Actress in a Musical. Her most recent roles have been Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest and Susie Ward in Babes In Arms with Star Struck Theatre.
	LEE STRAWN* (Brocklehurst) created the role of John Muir in Mountain Days - The John Muir Musical (Concord Pavillion - Willows Theatre) a role he will play again this summer. He also performed the role of Le Fevre in the San Francisco production of The Phantom Of The Opera. Mr. Strawn just finished playing the villainous Grand Vizier in Aladdin, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival's Christmas Panto. Other favorite roles include Don Quixote/Cervantes in Man Of La Mancha and Papa Charlie in Shenandoah (both at Sierra Repertory Theatre), the mass murderer Sweeney Todd (Buffalo Theatre Ensemble), and numerous roles with American Musical Theatre of San Jose. The Ohio native lives in San Francisco with his wife, Laurie. Lee is proudest of his role as father to Julia, born in February.
	TIFFANY PAIGE TANQUARY (Schoolgirl/Maid) was first seen on the TheatreWorks stage last fall as The Little Girl in Ragtime. Other credits include Children's Musical Theater San Jose's Music Man (Zaneeta), A Little Princess (Sara Crewe), Annie (Title role), Pinocchio (Fox), School House Rock (Hillary Edmonds), Charlotte's Web (Fern), and The Wind in the Willows (Emily). Ms. Tanquary was recently awarded the 2002 Joshua Grant Brawn Award from San Jose Children's Musical Theater . She also sings the National Anthem at various venues throughout the bay area, participates in dance productions for The Dance Affair, and was the 2001 Grand Champion vocalist in the California State Talent competition. Ms. Tanquary is 11 years old and attends sixth grade at The Kings Academy.
	DARLA WIGGINTON (Bertha) has performed with TheatreWorks in Into the Woods (Golden Harp/Wicked Stepmother cover). She has sung with Portland Opera, Connecticut Opera, Opera Illinois, Opera Theatre of Lucca (Italy), Eugene Opera, American Opera Projects, Opera San Jose, and others. Her film and TV appearances include Turandot with San Francisco Opera, Friendly Fire and a documentary about her debut as Cinderella in Rossini's La Cenerentola, Italy. Ms. Wigginton earned her B.A. at U.C. Berkeley and studied at the Uta Hagen Studio in New York. She has sung concerts and recitals across the U.S. and has appeared in original pieces with new composers in George Coates' Performance Works in San Francisco and American Opera Projects in New York.

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