WHO’S WHO in Whoville and the Jungle of Nool
AMY E. HAYNES (Director)
Amy is beyond thrilled to direct with The Heritage Players, after appearing as Penelope Pennywise in “Urinetown”. Amy also serves as Historian on the Executive Board at HP. By day, Amy is a Kindergarten teacher at The Chatsworth School and she is so excited to share this experience with some of her favorite people from school. Recently, you may have seen Amy as Sister Mary Patrick in Toby’s production of “Sister Act.” Favorite roles include Tracy Turnblad in “Hairspray,” Kate Monster in “Avenue Q,” Princess Winnifred in “Once Upon a Mattress, and Ado Annie in “Oklahoma.” Amy would like to thank her family and friends for their unending love and support. She would also like to thank the cast and production team for trusting her, for bringing her vision to life in ways she could have never imagined, and for making this opportunity so rewarding. Enjoy the show!
ADELINE SUTTER (Bird Girl)
Adeline is glad to be back at Heritage. Recent credits include Mrs. Claus, The Happy Elf (Red Branch Theatre Co.), Kathy, Really Rosie (Heritage Players), Day by Day Soloist, Godspell (Silhouette Stages), Edwina Spoonapple, Dear Edwina (Red Branch Theatre Co.), Waiter No. 3, eightysix (Baltimore Fringe 2014). Thank you to the production team, Jonas, Mason, and the good doctor.
AMY BELL (Wickersham Brother)
Amy is very excited to be a part of this fun production, sharing the stage for the first time with two of her four children. This is Amy's first show with Heritage Players; favorite roles include Golde in Fiddler on The Roof (Spotlighters Theatre) and Columbia in The Rocky Horror Show (Tidewater Players) She would like to thank her family for all their support in this adventure.
AUDREY BELL (The Elephant Bird / Ensemble)
Audrey is very happy to be making her stage debut alongside her brother and mother in Seussical the Musical! When she grows up she would like to be a vampire slayer or a stunt woman. Possibly both. Thank you to Mr. Andrew for being the best music director ever and thank you to Miss Amy for letting her come and play!
BAILEY WOLF (Bird Girl)
Bailey is all aflutter to be making her Heritage Players debut as the Bird Girl who came to be known as "the dumb one." Bailey graduated from Penn State in 2014 and has since been working with the special needs community in Carroll County. Bailey recently spun back into theater playing the human roulette wheel in Silhouette Stages' performance of Lucky Stiff. Other favorite roles have included Daniela (In the Heights) and Amneris (Aida) performed with the Penn State Thespians. Bailey sends infinite amounts of love and thanks to her friends, family and Jon for the support they've shown throughout her comeback into theater! A huge thank you to the incredible cast and crew for being so welcoming and making Seussical such a wonderful experience!
BRANDON GOLDMAN (JoJo / Ensemble)
Brandon is ecstatic to be performing with this amazing cast in his first show with Heritage Players. He is 11 years old and will be a 6th grader at Ellicott Mills Middle School in the Fall. Brandon has been in several productions, including Beauty & The Beast (Beast) and Aladdin (Aladdin) at Drama Learning Center, and The Wizard of Oz (Munchkin) at Reservoir High School. He also takes dance classes in hip hop, ballet, and jazz at Dance Connections. Brandon would like to thank the director Amy for this opportunity, the stage manager Darlene for running the show, and our phenomenal music director Andrew for teaching the harmonies. He would also like to thank his friends, his Mom and Dad, and his younger sister, Mallory. Shout out to Carly, the other JoJo, for her support during rehearsals.
CARLY DAGILIS (JoJo / Ensemble)
Carly will be a freshman at Baltimore School for the Arts in the fall and has been performing since she was six years old. Some of her favorite roles include: Annie in Annie Jr. (Beth Tfiloh), Beatrix Potter/Peter Rabbit in Peter Rabbit (Pumpkin Theatre), Sebastian in the Little Mermaid (Beth Tfiloh), Young Fiona in Shrek (Children’s Playhouse of Maryland) and Small Alice in Alice in Wonderland (Children’s Playhouse of Maryland). She is so excited to be performing in her first Heritage Production and would like to thank Amy, Andrew, Kelly and the entire cast and crew for making it such a wonderful experience!
DAVE HILL (Mr. Mayor)
Dave is beyond happy to be back at Heritage, where he has been seen before in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Hero) and Urinetown (Officer Barrel). Other notable stage credits include The Sorcerer (Alexis), Secret Garden (Dickon), and Ragtime (Younger Brother). Dave is also a member of the Joyous Voices professional Christmas caroling group. He would like to thank this cast/crew for being so fun to work with, and his wife, Mari, for her love, support, and amazing ability to put up with him.
GABBY GERTNER (Cindy Lou Who, Fish, Military)
Gabby is no stranger to the stage. She is a soon to be 4th grader. She has performed with the Children’s Playhouse of Maryland, Carroll County Children’s Chorus, at the Gordon Center in the Wizard of Oz and for several school talent shows. Gabby loves to sing, act and swim. She has been taking private voice lessons and hopes to continue musical theatre. She is very excited to be in her first show with her real mom. She wants to thank Amy, Andrew, Kelly, and the entire cast for teaching her so much!
JIM GROSS (Horton)
I’m back at Heritage, totally glad, ‘cause working with talented people is rad. Big special thanks to Amy and Andrew, for making us look good and sound so good too. My favorite roles, hard to choose, there are many, I’ll start with Warbucks, the Daddy of Annie. A monster named Trekkie from Avenue Q, Actor 4 in a small show called Das Barbecü. Here at Spring Grove in Rice Auditorium, you may have seen me as Miles in Forum. It’s been so fun with this talented cast, but there’s still some folks I need to thank last. To my sweet Alexandra and my great wife Renee, thank you, and thank you, I love you, I say! Now you, dearest reader, you enjoy the show, take its lessons with you, wherever you go.
JOHN CARTER (Wickersham Brother)
JOHN GERTSHAW (Wickersham Brother)
John is excited to be performing with Heritage Players once again. He performed in this show three other times, once as Grinch, Yertle the Turtle and twice as General Gengus Khan Schmitz. John has been involved in acting for the past 14 years. He graduated from Frostburg State University in 2006 with a degree in Theatre. Other performances that John’s has been in throughout the area include, but are not limited to: Barefoot in the Park as Paul Bratter with Salem Players, RENT as Roger Davis with Carroll Community College and as Benny with Silhouette Stages, and Company as Paul with Laurel Mill Playhouse. John would like to take this moment and thank Amy for the opportunity to play such as wonderful role. He also wants to thank the production crew and cast for making this such a great show and experience as a whole. It has been a joy working with all of you. A special thanks to all this friends and family that have been there for him.
JOHN SHELDON (General Genghis Khan Schmitz)
John has been in many shows, some of them were even good. He has played various parts, as only someone like him could. Many thanks to the cast and crew, especially those who are new. Enjoy the show and tell one and all that a person’s a person, no matter how small.
KRISTEN ZWOBOT (Sour Kangaroo)
Kristen was last seen at Heritage as Olive in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Favorite roles include: bare (Conejo Productions: Nadia), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Chesapeake Music Hall: Narrator), Lucky Stiff (Silhouette Stages: Rita LaPorta); Great American Trailer Park Musical (Spotlighters: Pickles), Shovel in the Dirt (Stillpointe: Cecile), prog metal version of Sweeney Todd (Landless: ensemble – Helen Hayes nominated) and Kennedy Center’s Broadway: A New Generation (soloist w/Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman). Many thanks to the cast and crew and to her co-star in life, Brett.
LISA PASTELLA (Mayzie)
Lisa is excited to return to Heritage for her 4th production. Previous Heritage shows include; You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Songs for a New World and Godspell. Last seen as Dragon in Dundalk Community Theater’s production of Shrek, Lisa has appeared on stages across the region. Recent favorite roles include the Narrator (Joseph…), Melpomene (Xanadu), Madeline True (The Wild Party), Svetlana (Chess), Cosette (Les Miserables), and Sally Bowles (Cabaret). When not performing, Lisa is a pre-K teacher at John Ruhrah ES/MS in Greektown.
LISA RIGSBY (Bird Girl)
Lisa is very excited to be returning to Heritage players she was last seen at Heritage Players in "Thoroughly Modern Mille as Gloria. Lisa has performed all over the Baltimore area including Spotlighters Theater, Dundalk Community Theater, Cockpit in Court at CCBC Essex, and Silhouette Stages. Favorite roles include, Glinda in The Wizard of Oz, Urleen in Footloose and Nellie in Jekyll and Hyde just to name a few. Theater has always been a passion for Lisa as well as working with and meeting new and wonderful people. Thank you so much to Amy, and Andrew for this wonderful opportunity! Enjoy the show!
MEGAN HENDERSON (Bird Girl)
Megan is excited to join Heritage Players! Professional credits include: Red Branch Theatre Company: The Happy Elf (Gilda), Spring Awakening (Thea), Triumph of Love (Princess Léonide u/s). Other: Little Women (Jo March), Edges (Woman 1), ...Charlie Brown (Woodstock). Megan holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Seton Hill University. She is a teaching artist with Drama Learning Center and director of the TYA Junior Company.
MEGAN MOSTOW (Gertrude)
Megan is thrilled to be making her Baltimore area debut with the Heritage Players in one of her favorite roles. She was most recently featured in RMT’s productions of Shrek the Musical as the Fairy Godmother, and in the Ensemble and Dance Captain of Dogfight. Other credits include Holly in DTC’s production of The Wedding Singer, and Usherette/Featured Dancer in SSTG’s production of The Producers. She would like to thank the Heritage family for welcoming her with open arms, and her own friends and family for their constant support, despite her crazy schedule.
MIKE ZURKOWSKI (Grinch/Yertle)
Mike is most notably known for his work in St. Mary's county with the Summerstock group and with the Newtown players. After taking a break from theatre, the Heritage Players have welcomed Mike back to the stage for the second time. It has been a truly wonderful experience for him to be able to share in the creation of something so Seussical with a crew of truly talented individuals. "Ohhhh the places [these actors] will go"...-"stay tuned"
MONIQUE ERDOS-GERTNER (Who Mom, Vlad Vladikof)
Monique is excited to make a small cameo in this production after not being on stage for more than 10 years. She has performed all over the Baltimore/Washington area in many dinner theatre productions and for Maryland Arts Festival. Some favorite credits include: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Who’s Tommy, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street and over 40 more productions. Monique has her degree in Theatre Arts from Towson University. After graduation, she moved to NYC to pursue her musical theatre/acting career. She was very lucky to tour internationally doing musicals, become a recording artist, and perform in productions at Madison Square Garden. Monique served as dance captain and played “Wanda” in the musical version of the Magic School Bus International tour. She has also been seen in several movies and TV commercials. After her dance career was cut short due to injuries, she moved back home to pursue a Master’s degree in Elementary education where she is now a 2nd grade teacher. Monique has been busy concentrating on being a mommy to two beautiful girls; one of which is in the show. She would like to thank her husband for arranging his work schedule and this talented cast and crew.
RACHEL WEIR (Mrs. Mayor)
Rachel is thrilled to join Heritage Players for the second time. Some of her favorite roles include Hello Dolly (Irene Molloy) Liberty Showcase Theatre, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Sally) Silhouette Stages, Chicago (Lipshitz) Silhouette Stages, The Producers (Ulla) Silhouette Stages, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona) Heritage Players. When not on stage Rachel is a long-distance runner, homeschooling mom of four boys, and the director of a local homeschool community.
SAMANTHA SHELDON (Bird Girl)
Samantha is thrilled to be in her fifth production with The Heritage Players. She was last seen onstage with Heritage last summer as Snow White in Snow White. In the fall, she will be a junior at Mount de Sales Academy and previous roles include Babette in Beauty and the Beast, Mary in The Secret Garden, and Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie Jr. She would like to thank her friends and family for their constant love and support.
STEPHEN FOREMAN (The Cat In The Hat)
Stephen is delighted to be returning to Heritage Players in Seussical. Area audiences may remember him as William Barfee in Heritage's production of Spelling Bee, as Warner Huntington III in Legally Blonde at Silhouette Stages or in Toby's recent production of Show Boat. Favorite Roles include: Bobby Strong (Urinetown), Carmen Ghia (The Producers), Steve (Zanna Don't), Seymour (Little Shop of Horrors), and Bobby (A Chorus Line). Enjoy the show, but don't forget the wise words of Dr. Seuss; "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"
TALYA GOLDSTEIN (Young Kangaroo)
Talya is excited to be making her theatrical debut with The Heritage Players. She recently completed her season with the Karen Sachs Academy of Dance Competition Team, receiving many accolades for a ballet routine, Oklahoma. Talya will be entering the second grade at Chatsworth Elementary School in the fall and she is looking forward to a summer of fun at Beth Tfiloh Camps. Talya is very involved in her community, and throughout the year has been involved in many charitable activities, including singing at local assisted living facilities, and collecting items for recycling. She has a younger brother Zachary (Z man) who just completed kindergarten with his incredible teacher, Amy Haynes.
XANDER BELL (Max The Dog / Ensemble)
Xander is very excited to be making his stage debut in Seussical the Musical here at Heritage! He's been studying the piano for 3 years now. Xander has had his artwork featured as the promo art for God of Carnage and his voice over talents used in ...Cuckoo's Nest. He would like to thank his mom for doing his very first show alongside him and to Miss Amy and Mr. Andrew for giving him this chance to sing and to dance!
