I have a great cast for Directions.... I asked them to share their professional resumes, a bit about their lives, and some thoughts about working on this great new script. Enjoy!
-David Zak
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 | Alanda Coon
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 | | Patrick Gannon |
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Patrick Rybarczyk
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 | Nick Stockwell
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Alanda Coon (Bea) is excited to be making her debut with Pride Films & Plays! Some past credits include Mrs. Phagan in the critically acclaimed, Joseph Jefferson and After Dark award winning production of Parade, Something Cloudy, Something Clear (After Dark Award winning ensemble), Q, and Gypsy, all with Bailiwick Repertory. Other favorites include Timeline Theatre's Fiorello!, Porchlight Music Theatre's production of A New Brain, American Theatre Company's Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Pyewacket's A Delicate Balance. Alanda is also a cabaret artist and a member of Chicago Cabaret Professionals.
Alanda is returning to the theatre after a 4+ year hiatus to start a family with her supportive and loving husband. This mother of two is eager to be back onstage and has discovered her truly blissful appreciation of "a moment's peace"!
She writes "working with new scripts is quite liberating. You don't have to conform to any preconceived notions of who played the character on Broadway, etc. You are able to bring this character to life for the first time and really play. I am especially excited to step into Bea's shoes to help tell this beautiful love story."
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Patrick Gannon (Jinx) is happy to be returning to Pride Films and Plays where he was previously seen in their Stage Reading productions of Some Men, The Ritz, and
Corpus Christi. Select other credits include: David Zak's Chicago and Boston productions of Sin, A Cardinal Deposed (Bailiwick), Clementine (First Floor Theater),
Betty's Summer Vacation (Roadworks), and he performed the role of Prior Walter in the extension dates of director David Cromer's acclaimed production of Angels In America(Journeymen Theater).
One of Patrick's hobbies is Martial Arts and he takes classes in Boxing, Kickboxing, and Krav Maga.
He writes "One of my favorite things about this new play is that it finds the drama in intelligent people who truly love each other and are trying to be the best they can be for each other. So many new plays, in an effort to create dramatic tension, end up being about people treating each other horribly. (And, in the case of most Reality TV, it ends up being about ignorant people treating each other horribly.)
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Patrick Rybarczyk is an artistic associate with PFP and most recently appeared as Tony in Beautiful Thing. He has performed in and directed several staged readings for PFP. Chicago stage credits include work with Ulysses Theatre, Bailiwick, and Timeline Theatre. Favorite roles include Mitchell Garabedian, in Sin: A Cardinal Deposed (original Chicago and Boston casts); Judas in Corpus Christi (Jeff Citation & After Dark Award: Ensemble); Frank O'Hara in the premiere of Too Live As Variously As Possible; and Felix Turner in The Normal Heart (After Dark Award: Performance). He appeared in the short film 'Telling Dad' and directed the premiere of Katrina: State of Emergency. Patrick was a co-founding member of Ulysses Theatre Company.
He writes "now that the Cubs haven't made the playoffs (stop snickering!), my spare time is partly spent cheering on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame each Saturday. I'm also enjoying watching my partner, Hector, transform our home from summer to fall. It's a sport in and of itself. And I owe him the world for his patience and understanding.
I am so thrilled to work on this incredible new script. It was a joy to meet Marty in the spring when we did the reading and it's an honor to bring this story to life. I am also very happy to work with David again and to reunite, after nine long years, with the wonderful Patrick Gannon. I think the next time we work together, it should be a side splitting comedy. We are due. It is also a real treat to work with Alanda Coon after all these years and to watch the fearless Nick Stockwell at work.
Working on this new play is everything that the theatre should be. It's exciting, daring, and touching. This process has been an intense creative challenge for me so far and I am grateful for every last minute of it."
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Nick Stockwell attended college in his hometown of Boulder, CO at the University of Colorado where he earned a BFA in Theatre Performance. He moved to Chicago in May of 2010 and since he has appeared in productions of The Rover (Fredrick), Romeo and Juliet (Prince), Jesus Camp: The Musical (Lee), Improv Gladiators and last season's award-winning musical Under A Rainbow Flag along with several student and independent films. For more info check out www.nickstockwell.com.
"I work as a pirate (docent) and live on the Tall Ship Windy down at Navy Pier. I also assistant coach the Speech & Debate team at Buffalo Grove High School
I am originally from Boulder, Colorado which is also where I went to college. I moved to Chicago in May of 2010.
Being involved in a new work is a blast. As the show gets better with each rehearsal I get more and more excited knowing that we get to share this production with an audience who doesn't know what they are walking into."
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