directed by Rob Schneider

 

     So how did we get actors who look and sound like them? We didn't try, because this isn't a documentary or a skit for impersonators. Pendleton discouraged would-be producers who wanted to do celebrity casting. The play is about people who happen to be theatre people and who are brought together at a crisis point in their lives--the moment when careers and relationships are peaking, the make-or-break moment that happens to us all. The fact that they are big names just raises the stakes for them.  

     What brings them together is the making of a production of Eugene Ionesco's absurdist tragicomedy "Rhinoceros," which actually did take place in London in 1960. We see Welles and Olivier jostle for control and see Olivier's personal life explode. Pendleton makes the critic Kenneth Tynan a part of the action, as Narrator and a kind of referee in the battle of the giant egos. And he invents a naive witness, the Irish stage-hand Sean, who is swept into the emotional climax of the play.  

      

     As we head into production, Austin Pendleton is reappearing in New York, this time as director of Chekhov's "Three Sisters," at Classic Stage Company. In a long career as actor, director and playwright, Pendleton has been Artistic Director of Circle Pepertory Company and is an ensemble member of the renowned Stepenwolf Theatre in Chicago, where "Orson's Shadow" originated. Highlights of a long career as an actor include performances in Brecht's "Mother Courage" with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," and "Vieux Carre" by Tennessee Williams. In addition to Orson's Shadow," he is the author of the plays "Uncle Bob" and "Booth," both of which have been produced on the New York Stage. Pendleton currently teaches acting at the HB Studion and teaches directing at The New School in New York.  

      

     Our director, Rob Schneider, is an Assistant Professor in the Penn State School of Theatre. He teaches Theatre 100, Advanced Play Analysis, and Junior Studio. Rob has directed a vast array of productions including "Six Degrees of Separation, "Company," "Babes in Arms," and "A Man of No Importance." He has worked at The Lyric Theatre, The Hudson Theatre, The York Theatre, and Second Stage Theatre. His many award-winning productiions all over the United States include "City of Angels," "The Man Who Came To Dinner," "The Sound of Music," and "The Dining room." As an actor, he twice won the Kennedy Center's Irene Ryan Award and in the proud recipient of The Helen and Lowell Manfull Award, as well as the Robert E. Leonard Award. Rob received an MFA in Directing from Penn State University and a BA in Political Science from California Lutheran University. He is a member of SDC.  

      

     The Cast  

      

     Suzanne Sadler (Vivien) is a graduate of The Acting Studio in NYC where she studied the Meisner technique under James Price, a protege of Sanford Meisner. Her early work was in musical theatre but for the last decade Suzanne has worked primarily in front of the camera, acting in commerciials, corporate films, and independent film projects. Being back on stage after 15 years is a dream come true. Suzanne is on staff at Pattee Library.  

      

     Anjannette Roczniak (Joan) is a native of Scranton, Pa, and a senior at Penn State's School of Theatre. She played Mary McGregor in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," directed by Susan Schulman, and was part of the ensemble in The Odyssey. Later this spring she will work again with Rob Scheider in "The Boys Next Door" as Sheila.  

      

      

     Zach Miller (Sean) is a freshman Musical Theatre Major at Penn State. Zach majored in acting at a performing arts high school in New Jersey, where some of his favorite roles were the Narrator/Mysterious Man in "Into the Woods" and Chino in "West Side Story." Zach spent 3 summers in PaperMill Playhouse's New Voices concerts and in NJPAC's summer showcase. He composes music.  

      

     Wilson Hutton (Larry) is a veteran of 7 NextStage productions, most recently as Frank in 2008's "Educating Rita" and Pozzo in 2010's "Waiting for Godot." He has worked professionally in Pittsburgh and New York, touring extensively in the U.S. and Britain and teaching in the Carnegie-Mellon drama school. He was founding Arts editor and critic for the news-monthly "Voices of Central Pennsylvania" and has appeared locally with the State College Shakespeare Festival, Pennsylvania Centre Stage, and the Penn State School of Theatre. Recent appearances include Prospero in "The Tempest" for The Nittany Valley Shakespeare Festival and Boolie in "Driving Miss Daisy" for the Professional Actors' Workshop of State College. He works as a graphics designer and photographer for Penn State, where his projects include the annual posters for the Public Poetry Project.  

      

     Lloyd Short (Orson) has appeared in many productions and venues in the State college area over the past 5 years. He especially enjoys working with NextStage because the entertaining and thoughtful lplays they present are often deeply meaningful to their audiences, and the intimate setting makes the actors and the audience feel they are sharing the same reality. Recently he portrayed Tobias in "A Delicate Balance," The Stage Manager in "Our Town," and Gene in "Something You Did." In other companies' recent productions , he was Leonato in "Much Ado About Nothing," Fred the Farmer in "9/11: A Day in the Life of a People," and Horse in "The Full Monty." He is delighted and honored to be playing Orson Welles, a towering figure in the history of theatre.  

      

     Tom McClary (Ken) is an actor, director, playwright, and teacher. He holds an MFA in Drama from the University of North carolina--Greensboro and has been a member of the Dramatists Guild since 1987. His play "Flights of Devils" was produced by North Carolina Rep and Long Island Stage as part of the Sherlock Holmes Centenary. For 9 years, he taught creative dramatic K-12+ for the National Endowment for the Arts' Artist-in-Residence program in Georgia and New Jersey. Last year he played Harry in "A Delicate Balance" for NextStage, and Fagin in "Oliver!" for Singing Onstage, and was the director of "Heloo, Dolly!" for the State College Community Theatre. He writes articles and reviews about theatre for the "Centre Daily Times."