JOHN GARCIA

(Pseudolus) Actor’s Equity Candidate. John has over 360 productions under his..um…toga. He recently performed at Dallas Summer Musicals in the 

national tour of Xanadu starring Broadway star Max Von Essen. Okay, it was for one night in a cameo role, but still! John originated the role of “William 

Barfee” in the Texas regional premiere of 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Theatre Three last season. As a professional actor he has worked in 

Florida (performed & toured with Walt Disney World Entertainment); Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, and all over the DFW metroplex. Favorite roles include 

Pseudolus (Forum), Applegate (Damn Yankees), Deep South/Bible Belt (Pageant), Moonface (Anything Goes), Courier (1776), Neville (Drood), Sancho 

(Man Of La Mancha) and the Texas/ Regional premieres of THE WILD PARTY(Phil D’Armano) and A NEW BRAIN (Richard). John is the founder & Editor 

of the national internet publication THE COLUMN (over 16,000 subscribers worldwide) and the Founder/Executive Director-Producer of 

THE COLUMN Awards, which is the ONLY awards organization that honors excellence in theater within the DFW metroplex (going on 12 years now!). 

Past galas John has shared the stage & worked with such stars as Ron Bohmer (Broadway’s Phantom & Ragtime) Michael Urie (ABC’s Ugly Betty), 

Anthony Rapp & Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Original stars of Bway’s Rent & the film version), Christian Campbell (Trick, Book Of Daniel), 

Cady Huffman (Tony winner, The Producers) & Stephanie D’Abruzzo (Tony nominee, Ave Q). For info on THE COLUMN & THE COLUMN 

Awards go to www.thecolumnonline.com or www.thecolumnawards.org

GARY PAYNE

(Senex) Gary is very excited to be working with SSG for the first time, and to get the opportunity to perform this wonderful role with this amazing cast.  Gary was most recently seen as Andrew MacLaren in Artisan Center Theatre’s production of Brigadoon.  He has performed extensively throughout the metroplex at many venues, including: Stage West, OnStage, Theatre Arlington, Hip Pocket Theatre, ICT Mainstage, SceneShop, Fort Worth Theatre, CATS, Pocket Sandwich Theatre, and Casa Mañana.  Favorite roles include Pooh-Bah in The Mikado, Boolie in Driving Miss Daisy, Arnold and Norman in The Boys Next Door, Ray in Lone Star, Junior in Dearly Departed, and The Governor in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.  Gary is a multiple Column Award, ONY Award, and Stage West Award winner.

LANA HOOVER

(Domina) Lana K. Hoover is very happy to be making her debut with SSG.  She has appeared at Stage West, Circle Theatre, Theatre Arlington, Jubilee Theatre, Onstage in Bedford, DCT and many other theatres throughout the metroplex. A few of her favorite roles have been:  Bananas in The House of Blue Leaves, Sister Butterworth in The Book of Liz, Miss Mona in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and most recently, The Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. She is a multiple Column Awards Nominee and has been voted “Best Actress in a Musical” twice for Onstage in Bedford.  As always, she thanks her two best “productions”, Lauren (along with Ben) and Brady for always supporting her dreams and ambitions.

BEN PHILLIPS

(Hysterium) Ben Phillips recently graduated from Texas Wesleyan University, where he appeared in such productions as Educating Rita (Frank), How the Other Half Loves (Frank), and Sweeney Todd (Sweeney).  He also appeared in Wesleyan’s New York-staged readings of The Body of Eva Peron (Juan Peron) and Certificate of Death (Vagrant).  Additionally, he has appeared in Onstage in Bedford’s Sunday in the Park with George (Mister/Lee Randolph), Richardson Theatre Centre's Into the Woods (Narrator/Mysterious Man) and Runway’s Lonely Planet (Carl), and his voice can be heard in such animated series as Murder Princess, Shigurui, Kenichi, and One Piece from FUNimation Entertainment.

CLAY WHITE

(Hero) Clay is thrilled to making his second appearance with the SSG having recently played Mr. Bingley in Pride and Prejudice. Clay has been seen in several productions, mostly in Denton.  Previous roles include: 1776 (Judge Wilson), The Long Christmas Dinner (Samuel), Hot Mikado (Pish-Tush), A Christmas Carol (Young Scrooge), Blood Brothers (Mikey), A Funny Thing...Forum (Hero). Clay also served as assistant director for Music Theatre of Denton's Chicago and co-directed MTD's Crazy for You.  He would like to thank his family and friends for the love and support!

HARRY LISTON

(Erroneous) Harry is excited to be returning to the SSG stage after making his SSG debut in the 2008 Condensed Shakespeare Festival.  Harry appeared in the 2010 Column Award winning production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest at ONSTAGE in Bedford.  Harry has also appeared locally, in various venues, in The Music Man (as Mayor Shinn), The Foreigner ( as Owen Musser), The Odd Couple (as Murray, the cop), The Sound of Music, Big River, A View From The Bridge, The Promise, Taming of the Shrew, Arsenic and Old Lace, God’s Favorite, Fiddler On The Roof, Phantom Of The Country Opera, Much Ado About Nothing, Miracle on 34^th Street, Room Service, and many others.  He thanks Stefanie for casting him, his lovely and patient wife, Judy, for tolerating his thespian tendencies and God for his many blessings.

CRAIG MOODY

(Miles Gloriosus) Craig Moody is happy to be making his debut with the SSG.  Craig was most recently seen as Nanki Poo in The Mikado and Prince Christopher in Cinderella at Artisan Center Theater.  Craig teaches theater and music at All Saints' Episcopal School.  He came to Fort Worth as a studio member of the Fort Worth Opera Studio, a position he held for two seasons.  In 2003, he was an Apprentice Artist with Utah Festival Opera.  He studied voice and acting at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.  He also received his Bachelor's of Music in Education from Arkansas State University.

SOLOMAN ABAH

(Marcus Lycus) This  is his second show with SSG having appeared as Second Man - Thug in Kiss Me Kate. He has a BFA in theatre from Tarleton State University. He has been in shows such Aida as Mereb with Plaza Theatre Company, Lost in the Stars as John/ensemble with Theatre 3, Sweeney Todd as Bird seller/ensemble with Onstage in Bedford, and various other shows. He is very excited to be in his second show with SSG and hopes to perform more with them.

DARON COCKRELL

(Philia) Daron is excited to be performing in her second show with the SSG having previously performed in Kiss Me Kate as Lois/Bianca. Some other recent performances include Sunday in the Park with George (Celeste #2/Elaine) at Onstage in Bedford, Will Rogers Follies (Ziegfeld's Favorite), Music Man (Ethel Toffelmier), Aida and Seussical (Gertrude) at Plaza Theatre Company. A graduate of Texas Christian University, she uses her Ad/Pr degree during the day before heading to the theatre. She thanks Stefanie for the opportunity and this amazing cast for making the experience so much fun. As always, she sends her love to her family, who are probably in the audience tonight.

EMILY ANTRAINER

(Tintinabula) Emily is thrilled to be back on stage again in the DFW area. She was last seen as "Magenta" in The Rocky Horror Show at Greater Lewisville Community Theatre and as "Aldonza" in Man of La Mancha at Onstage in Bedford. This one goes out to Jess, Blake, and Sherry, thanks for all the "advice"!

KRISTIN DiFRANCESCO

(Panacea) This is Kristin’s debut performance with the SSG. Kristin holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Music and Theatre from Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. Kristin has worked withRichardson’s The Living Opera appearing in Hansel and Gretel, The Pirates of Penzance (Isabel), & HMS Pinafore (Hebe). Other past performances include Annie Get Your Gun at Theatre Arlington, Scrooge the Musical (Mrs. Dillbee) at Pocket Sandwich Theatre, and My Fair Lady (Mrs. Hopkins) & The Mikado (Yum Yum) at Artisan Center Theatre. She recently performed at Lyric Stage Theatre in Irving for John Garcia’s The Column Awards. Her latest shows were Brigadoon at Artisan Center Theatre playing the role of Maggie Anderson and she just wrapped up Funny Girl at Garland Civic Theatre. She is currently a student at Contemporary Ballet of Dallas.

THERESA BURTON

(The Geminae) Theresa is thrilled to be playing one of the Geminae in her second show for the SSG. She previously played Jane Bennet in SSG's Pride and Prejudice. She has recently performed with both the Plaza Theatre and the Carnegie Players. Some of her favorite roles include Sarah in Beau Jest, Puck in  A Midsummer Night's Dream, Wendy in Peter Pan, and M'lynn in Steel Magnolias. Theresa would like to thank SSG and Stefanie for this opportunity. Thank you to my family and friends for always supporting me in my love of theatre!

ERIKA LARSEN

(The Geminae) Erika is so happy to be performing for the second time with the SSG having played Lydia Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. She started performing in theatre when she was eleven years old.  Some of her favorite shows  that she has recently been in include Peter Pan, Les Miserables School Edition, Bethlehem Revisited, and The Wizard of Oz.  Erika is excited to be a part of this experience and wants to thank her family for all the love and support. 

KATE RUTLEDGE

(Vibrata) Kate is a 2009 graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University where she studied Theatre, which has been her passion since before she can remember. Some of her favorite roles from past shows have been Carol in Black Comedy, Elsa in The Sound of Music, and Shelby in Steel Magnolias. This is her second production with SSG, having played Elizebeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.

ASHLEY WHITE

(Gymansia) Ashley is so excited to be performing with SSG for the first time. Ashley studied theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. After graduating, she performed, directed and assistant directed various shows around NYC (and waited lots of tables). Ashley and her husband moved to Dallas in 2008. After taking a few years off from Theatre, she has decided to jump back in, and is very excited to be performing with such a talented cast and in such a fun show.

JARED JOHNSON

(Protean) Jared is delighted to be returning to work with the SSG after having appeared in As You Like It for them in summer of 2008.  He recently just finished performing as Leaf Coneybear in The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee  at Theatre Arlington.  Other favorite shows include The Importance of Being Earnest (John/Earnest), Footlight Frenzy (Alex/Chas) and Sweeney Todd (Ensemble).  Love to family and friends.  Thank you so much to Stefanie for this opportunity.  Thank you so much to this extremely wonderful cast.  It is a privilege to work with so many old friends and new ones.  Enjoy the show!

(Protean) Nathan is excited to be making his debut with SSG.  He most recently appeared at Onstage in Bedford as The Boatman/Charles Redmond in Sunday in the Park with George. He also appeared with Richardson Theatre Center as Pharoah in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and as a featured soloist with the Dallas Symphony Chorus where he has performed several times in Carnegie Hall in New York, and as The Marquis in La Traviata at the Vail Valley Music Festival. Nathan is a Column Awards nominee and is a new member of The Column Awards Board of Directors. Upcoming projects include costume design for The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at OnStage in Bedford and auditions, auditions, auditions! Thank you to this wonderful cast for the fun times we’ve shared and especially to Joseph for all of your support and encouragement!