THE CAST
In the order of their appearance
The Cast of
THE CAST
In the order of their appearance
Chelsea Morby as Elma
Duckworth (The Waitress)
Dhiana Gould as Grace Hoyland (The Diner Owner)
Brian Gronczniak as Will Masters (The Sheriff)
Molly McGrath as Cherie (The Chanteuse)
Jerry Petronis as Dr. Gerald Lyman (The Professor)
Marty Egan as Carl (The Bus Driver)
Ed Nieman as Virgil Blessing (The Ranch Hand)
Jason McClements as Bo Decker (The Cowboy)
From the left: Jerry Petronis, Molly McGrath, Brian
Gronczniak. Chelsea Morby, Dhiana Gould, Marty Egan, Jason McClements, Ed Neiman
MOLLY McGRATH is Cherie
Molly is thrilled to be back at SPAO where it all began. For the past three years she has regularly performed as a member of several Capital Region theatre companies, but considers SPAO home. She has played several characters for SPAO, including Shelby in "Steel Magnolias", Susan Hollander in "Don't drink the Water" and Catlin in "Over the River and through the Woods" - and she is so happy to be back on the SPAO stage to play Cherie. Most recently you may have seen her onstage performing the title role in The Not So Common Players spring production of "Little Mary Sunshine". Last fall she worked with two Saratoga based theatre companies on their well received regional premiers. She performed the role of Hope Cladwell with Homemade Theatre in their October production of "Urinetown", as well as Cathy in Channel Z's "The Last Five Years" which ran at Caffe Lena's last September. She also appeared with Homemade playing Adele Rice in "A Man of No Importance" and as Lulu the Kit Kat Girl in "Cabaret". Some of her favorite musical roles include Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls", Audrey in "Little Shop of Horrors", Annie Oakley in "Annie Get Your Gun", the Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz", The Narrator in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat" and Marian in "The Music Man". We welcome Molly back to SPAO.
JASON McCLEMENTS is Bo
As As boy, Jason began acting with SPAO’s Youth Theater in 1990. During that time, he was also a member of the Stillwater High School Drama Club. In the years since, Jason has appeared often on the SPAO dinner theater stage playing all sorts of zany characters. His first role was as the not-so-straight TV director in “Sunshine Boys”. He went on to play Leo, the party-hardy drunken landlord in “Lunch Hour”, Mark Jenkins, the love smitten mail clerk in “The Solid Gold Cadillac”, and the suicidal would-be jumper in "Lover's Leap". Jason who loves to play weird characters took on three character roles last fall’s production of “Eat Your Heart Out”. At long last, Jason has a lead role. It should be a lot of fun watching the comical Jason create the on stage character transitions of this “over-the-top” cowboy. He is the father of three and resides in Stillwater.
DHIANA GOULD is Grace
“I am very happy to be back on the stage with SPAO reprising my role as Grace. It’s great to be back with all of the wonderful people who work so hard to give their audience a great time. What a privilege to work with such a talented cast and crew. I have really missed the exciting experiences of SPAO.” Dhiana is originally from Dallas, Texas. Perhaps you will hear Grace’s accent during this production. She has lived in Hemstreet Park for many years but would rather not say the exact years due to her ego. Dhiana joined SPAO in 1993 for SPAO’s original production of “Steel Magnolias” in the role of Clairee. She then went on to play the role of Grace in SPAO’s original production of “Bus Stop” fourteen years ago. Dhiana has also worked backstage in many shows as well as on stage for the productions of “Fools” and “Heaven Can Wait” all during SPAO’s high school auditorium years. Unfortunately a career opportunity took her away for time. But, now retired, she said to herself “It’s Time to Play!” So here she is once again for all to enjoy. Dhiana wishes to thank her family for there patience when “Mom” leaves the dinner on the stove and runs off to play! She also thanks Jerry and Cynthia and all of the folks at SPAO for always keeping their doors open! “I extend my warmest thanks to the director, cast, and crew and, most of all, to you the audience.”
CHELSEA MORBY is Elma
Chelsea is a seventeen year old senior at Stillwater high school. Although this performance is her adult debut with SPAO she is no stranger to the stage. “Bus Stop” marks her eighteenth stage performance overall. She most recently played Mindy and the Queen of England in “A Night at Buckingham Palace” and Liese in “Strength of Our Sprit” with the Easton Village Theatre Ensemble. In school Chelsea participates in Math League, Masterminds, Band, and Drama Club. Her outstanding performance as Dr. Helga T. Finsdale in the her high school Drama Club’s production of “Li’l Abner” this past fall led Jerry to cast her as Elma. She is currently working hard on her Gold Award with Girl Scouts. This past summer she attended a Girl Scout Destination to New Zealand where she learned about Maori culture and heritage. Chelsea is excited and looking forward to her SPAO debut with hopes to continue with many more SPAO productions. We at SPAO are happy and proud to introduce Chelsea to our dinner theatre audience.
ED NIEMAN is Virgil
Ed joined SPAO in 1996 working behind the scenes for “Barefoot In The Park”. A former SPAO president and current board member, Ed enjoys all aspects of the performing arts. Off stage he’s worked as an executive producer, back stage manager, special effects designer, sound designer, musical editor, sound system operator, web site programmer and set designer/builder. His many SPAO stage credits began with Vinny the sun burned poker player in “The Odd Couple”. He has also appeared in “Moon Over Buffalo”, “All in the Timing”, “Rumors”, “Arsenic and Old Lace”, “Murder By Mistake”, "The Foreigner" (lead), “Kiss or Make Up”, “The Solid Gold Cadillac”, “Lover’s Leap”, Eat You Heart Out”, and most recently as one of the comical Costazuela brothers, Monola, in last spring’s female version of “The Odd Couple”. Ed, an accomplished musician, is excited to bring the guitar strumming ranch hand, Virgil, to the SPAO stage. By trade he is an estimate/project manager for Shelby and Smith Sheet Metal Company. The multi-talented Ed resides in Stillwater
JERRY PETRONIS is Dr. Lyman
Jerry is a founding member of SPAO. He is a producer, actor and director for the group and for this production takes on all three jobs. He started acting in SPAO's first production, "You Can't It With You" in 1989. He also appeared in the SPAO productions of "The Mousetrap", "Play It Again, Sam", "The Fantasticks", "Dracula", "Harvey", "Bus Stop", "Fools", "Heaven Can Wait", and "Wait Until Dark" during SPAO’s years at the high school. Jerry developed the current dinner theatre concept and produced and directed the first two dinner theatre productions, "Poisoned Pawn" and "The Sunshine Boys". He has also directed "Don't Dress For Dinner", “Murder by Mistake”, "All In the Timing", "The Foreigner", "Arsenic and Old Lace", “Steel Magnolias”, and "Lovers Leap". His favorite dinner theatre roles were Felix Unger in "The Odd Couple" and Teddy in "Arsenic and Old Lace". His other dinner theatre appearances include "The Sunshine Boys", "Rumors", "All in the Timing", "Lunch Hour", "Don't Drink the Water", "The Solid Gold Cadillac", "Everybody Loves Opal", and most recently played three character roles in last fall’s production of “Eat Your Heart Out”. Jerry has also appeared in Round Lake's Summer Theater productions of "The Miss Firecracker Contest" and "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail" and as a lead character in The Schuylerville Players production of "Murder at the Howard Johnson's". He is currently Vice President of SPAO's board of Directors. Jerry, father of three and grandfather of nine, resides in Stillwater with actress wife, Cynthia.
BRIAN GRONCZNIAK is Will
Brian is a former SPAO president and board member. He is a director, producer, designer, builder, coordinator and actor for SPAO. For this show he just about does it all. Brian designed and built this set. He is also this show’s Technical Director and Special Effect designer. And now, after a five year hiatus from acting returns to the SPAO stage in the role of Sheriff Will Masters. Brian started his acting career in SPAO’s very first production of “You Can’t Take It With You” in 1989. His other acting credits include “The Mousetrap”, “Play It Again, Sam”, “Fools”, “The Fantisticks”, “The Sunshine Boys”, “The Odd Couple”, “Murder By Mistake”, “Arsenic and Old Lace”, and his last on-stage performance as the lead in 2002’s “Lunch Hour”. His dinner theatre directing credits include “Full Moon” and “Don’t Drink the Water”. His credits as a producer include “Fools” and “Rumors”. Brian has also served as advisor for the Stillwater High School Drama Society where he produced and directed “Jenny Kissed Me” and “The Diary of Anne Frank”. He has also directed the SPAO Youth Theater productions of “Our Town” and “Fiddler on the Roof”. The very talented Brian is self employed as a contractor and resides in Stillwater with his faithful dog, Toby. He is also the proud father of Mechanicville high school’s class of 2007 student of the year, Becky.
MARTY EGAN is Carl
Marty returns to the SPAO dinner theatre stage as Carl, the bus driver. Marty’s other SPAO appearance was a memorable one playing the lovable Italian family member Nunzio in SPAO’s 2001 production of “Over The River and Through The Woods”. His most recent acting credits include Doc Reynolds in “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Father Jack in “Dancing at Lughnasa” both with Saratoga’s Home Made Theater. He was last seen playing opposite Molly McGrath as Uncle Oscar in Clifton Park’s Not So Common Players’ production of “Little Mary Sunshine this past summer. Marty is also a very successful playwright. He won the Albany Civic Theater New Playwright competition in 1994 and 1995. His work has been produced by Caffe Lena and by the Not So Common Players which includes “The Queen of Hearts” for Clifton Park’s 175th anniversary and “Ed” for the Grooms Tavern History Center. Marty resides in Clifton Park. SPAO welcomes talented Marty back to our dinner theatre stage.
NICOLE MURPHY is Co-Assistant Director
Nicole always wanted to be on stage but was scared to say any lines. Her first appearance was in The Stillwater School Drama Society's production of "George Washing Slept Here" with a major character role that had no lines. She then appeared in SPAO's Summer Youth Theater productions as a maid with one line of two words in "The Sound of Music" and as a wife of the king with no lines in "The King and I". But she was bitten. The theatre bug has kept her working in theatre ever since. After graduation she joined SPAO and was cast as an Arabian servant in "Don't Drink the Water" again with no lines. Nicole had been working backstage with SPAO for quite some time but always wanted to try her hand at directing. She spent a few years assisting SPAO’s resident directors. After her assistance to Jerry with his direction of “Steel Magnolias” her excellent directing skills lead her to direct her first SPAO production, “A Bad Year For Tomatoes” in 2004. SPAO is waiting for her to have the time to take on a directing lead in the near future. Nicole resides in Stillwater with daughter Aubrey.
CYNTHIA PETRONIS is Co-Assistant Director/Producer
Cynthia is considered SPAO’s Queen of Accents and as such, she is also serving as dialect coach for this show. This is her first effort in a director’s chair. Cynthia’s many memorable characterizations have been a mainstay for SPAO. In her pre-dinner theater years she debuted as Cherie in SPAO’s original “Bus Stop” and played Purity Dean in “Pure as the Driven Snow”. She began her dinner theater appearances with the first production, “Poisoned Pawn”. Her personal favorite roles include the mischievous, cockney, con artist cook in “Don’t Dress For Dinner” and M’lynn in “Steel Magnolias”. Other dinner theater appearances include “The Odd Couple”, “Full Moon”, “Moon Over Buffalo”, “Murder By Mistake”, “Lunch Hour”, “Don’t Drink The Water”, “The Solid Gold Cadillac”, “Lover’s Leap”, “Eat You Heart Out” and as Olive in this past spring’s Female version of “The Odd Couple”. Cynthia has also appeared in the Schuylerville Players and the Round Lake Summer Theater productions of “Mornings at Seven”. She was also the lead of Carnell in Round Lake’s “The Miss Firecracker Contest”. She is SPAO’s current treasurer. Cynthia is a Mechanicville mail carrier and resides in Stillwater with her actor/director husband Jerry.