For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls...
Written by Christopher Durang
Directed by Phil Johnson
Featuring Omri Schein, Wendy Waddell, Walter Murray, Wendy Maples & Christine Hewitt
Title Sponsors Alan Campbell, Laurie Gore & Julie Osman, Deborah Pantoni
About
A night of irreverent sketch comedy from the funniest playwright on Broadway!
Join us for an evening of 5 hilarious one-act theatrical comedies by the inimitable Durang, writer of the wildly funny Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge. Featuring four of San Diego’s funniest and well known-comic actors, you’ll laugh yourself silly. Fun and fast-moving, a welcome one-two punch to the Quarantine Blues from TRTC. Not always politically correct...but always hysterically entertaining.
Adult themes & strong language (some language may be found to be offensive/insensitive/triggering)
Talkbacks and events will include conversations with local comic writers and talent.
What The Critics Said...
“Alyssa Kane’s clever scenic design is an inspired backdrop for the 90-minute show, which is entertainingly performed by four versatile and very funny actors: Omri Schein, Wendy Waddell, Walter Murray and Wendy Maples.….Despite what’s behind the wallpaper in this show, there’s no hidden message in these plays. They’re simply meant to make pandemic-weary audiences laugh, and they succeed.” - Pam Kragen San Diego Union-Tribune
“With an all talented cast and Johnson directing, the laughs came so fast we were barely able to catch our breaths. And for a seasonal show NOT about Christmas this one fits the bill taking our minds off the holidays and the worlds woes for at least ninety fun filled minutes. The four cast members Wendy Maples, Walter Murray, Omri Schein and Wendy Waddell are all plugged into Durang’s warped humor rapid fire conversation and for ninety crazy minutes, you will laugh yourself silly. Lest we forget, director Johnson can be just as goofy as the rest.” - Carol Davis
“If you're looking for some comedy to cut through the holiday sweetness that takes over this season, then this is the show for you. Funny, fast-moving, and over the top. The cast is strong throughout and keeps the absurdities and laughs coming.” – E.H. Reiter BroadwayWorld
“Comedy besides knowing how to land a punchline, read the audience and make them laugh, is about taking risks and Roustabouts did just that welcoming us back.” - Alejandra Enciso-Dardashti From Another Zero
“For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls. The title alone is worth the price of admission. The five year-old Roustabouts Theatre Co. is always up for a good time — and a good think. Prepare for a lot more of the former here. Frankly, this is an actor’s more than a writer’s showcase, and skillful director Phil Johnson (Roustabouts co-founder and artistic director) has assembled a stellar ensemble.” - Pat Launer Times of San Diego
Cast
Wendy Maples
Actor
Wendy is thrilled to be on stage with The Roustabouts! Stage credits include Dance Nation and the world premiere of Orange Julius (MOXIE Theatre) PIPPIN, Fair Use (Diversionary Theatre), Dog Sees God (InnerMission Productions), and this summer, she’ll be in Steel Magnolias with Backyard Renaissance. Additionally, Wendy has directed & performed with New Village Arts, Playwrights Project, InnerMission Productions and the Theatre Arts School of San Diego. Her original writing has been featured in La Jolla Playhouse's WithOut Walls (WOW) Festival, and in Palabras del Cielo, to be published later this year by Dramatic Publishing. Wendy is a founding teacher at High Tech Middle Chula Vista. Thank you to Phil for pulling me into this one. Also, Wendy hates writing bios.
Walter Murray
Actor
Walter is well-known to San Diego audiences for his many appearances on local stages. Since the mid-1980s Walter has been seen at The Old Globe, Sledgehammer Theatre, Fritz Theater, San Diego Repertory Theatre, SD Black Ensemble Theater (Co-Founder and Executive Director), New Village Arts, Lamb’s Theater, North Coast Rep, and The Roustabouts Theatre Co. He has also appeared in productions in Los Angeles and New York. Film appearances include Your Name Here and The Case Regarding Joan of Arc. Thank you, Drs. Stanton, Epston, and Levine.
Omri Schein
Actor
Omri is a performer/lyricist/playwright. As a writer: The Remarkable Mister Holmes (Premiere 2022), Making Melrose (2021) at Slippery Rock University, Fintastic Finn (2021) at Cape Fear Regional Theatre, Mambo Italiano (2019) at Westchester Broadway Theatre, Withering Heights (2017) with The Roustabouts Theatre Co., and Gary Goldfarb: Master Escapist (2013) winner of the 2013 NYMF Award for Best Lyrics. As a performer he has been seen regionally in Babette’s Feast, All In The Timing, A Funny Thing…Forum, Persuasion, Noises Off, The Explorer's Club, Beau Jest, Laughter On the 23rd Floor, The Underpants, The 25th Annual…Bee, Five Course Love, When Pigs Fly, Disney’s Beauty and The Beast, Dear World, The People Vs. Mona (Off-Broadway/Cast Recording), Hell’s Belles, Henry V, Grease (tour) and When You’re in Love, The Whole World Is Jewish. He has taught at San Diego State University and Marymount Manhattan College, and currently teaches at Southwestern College. omri-schein.com
Wendy Waddell
Actor
After an interminable hiatus from the stage, Wendy is beyond excited to be back and making her debut for The Roustabouts. She has a BFA in Acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Select San Diego theatre credits:
Fiddler on the Roof (San Diego Critics Circle nominee, Welk);
9 to 5 (SDMT);
Sunday in the Park with George (ion);
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
(SRT);
Carrie (OnStage Playhouse);
All My Sons, Hamlet, King John (Intrepid);
American Hero, The Full Monty, Three Sisters (New Village Arts);
Brave Smiles, Bunbury (Diversionary);
Bluebonnet Court (MOXIE/Diversionary);
The Diary of Anne Frank, The Butcher of Baraboo (MOXIE);
The Miser, The Car Plays (La Jolla Playhouse); Company (Cygnet).
WendyWaddellActor.com
Christine Hewitt
Actor
Christine is thrilled to make her debut at The Roustabouts Theatre Co. Recent San Diego Credits:
33 1/3 House of Dreams
(San Diego Repertory),
Spamalot, A Little Night Music
(Cygnet Theatre), Tomfoolery (North Coast Repertory),
Young Frankenstein, Damn Yankees, La Cage Aux Folles (SDMT),
Spamalot, All Shook Up, Titanic
(Moonlight Stage). 1St National Tour:
Sunset Boulevard (Dir. Trevor Nunn, The Really Useful Company). Notable Credits: Eleanor: An American Love Story (Historic Ford’s Theatre, Washington D.C.),
Nunsense (Actors Theatre of Louisville),
Singin’ In the Rain (North Carolina Theatre).
Creative
Christopher Durang
Playwright
Christopher is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in the late 1990s. Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You was Durang's watershed play as it brought him to national prominence when it won him—at the age of 32—the Obie Award for Best Playwright (1980). His play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2013. He is co-director of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard.
Phil Johnson
Director/Producer
Phil is a proud founding partner of The Roustabouts Theatre Co. As an actor/writer, his solo show, A Jewish Joke (co-written with Marni Freedman) ran locally and regionally throughout the country, as well as an Off-Broadway in March 2019 His other shows include Withering Heights, She-Rantulas from Outer Space in 3D!, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. Phil played in Les Misérables on Broadway and on tour; the Canadian production of Sunset Boulevard; and the 1st National Co. of Miss Saigon. He is a two-time winner of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for acting. He regularly performs at local theatres including North Coast Rep, The Old Globe, Diversionary Theatre, and Cygnet Theatre. Local directing credits include SD Playwrights Project and Scripps Ranch Theatre. He teaches and produces a Solo Show Workshop for writer/performers that is part of The Roustabouts season. Phil's newest one-man show, Roosevelt: Charge the Bear, co-written with Marni Freedman, was presented and streamed by The Roustabouts in 2020. philjohnson.net
Zack King
Stage Manager
Zack is a dancer, actor, and video artist. He strives to cultivate empathy and curiosity by making work that is personal and socially relevant. He hopes this will inspire people to find out more about themselves and through that, connect more with others. Zack is relatively new to stage managing and is excited to support the production from behind the scenes.
Alyssa Kane
Scenic and Properties Design
Alyssa is elated to be working with The Roustabouts once again. She is a queer woman who has worked as a scenic designer throughout San Diego. She recently designed props for
The Mineola Twins at MOXIE Theatre. A few of her favorite past productions are
Sweet Charity at Oceanside Theatre,
Move Over, Mrs. Markham at Scripps Ranch Theatre, and gUnTOPIA with The Roustabouts. Alyssa is an operational board member at Scripps Ranch Theatre. She is also a performer and founding member of burlesque and variety troupe The Nude & Rude Revue in Southeast Alaska.
Chloe Oliana M. Clark
Lighting Design
Chloe is excited to be working with The Roustabouts Theatre Co again. Along with her previous work with The Roustabouts on
A Jewish Joke and
gUnTOPIA, she has also recently designed for Playwrights Project, Coronado Playhouse, Scripps Ranch Theatre, and Onstage Playhouse. She is a recent graduate from San Diego State University where she has designed
R+J, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Coyote on a Fence, and
Anon(ymous).
Jon Fredette
Sound Design
Jon is honored to be doing his first production with The Roustabouts. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles as a sound designer, composer, and podcast producer for The Open-Door Playhouse and
The Oddcast: Tales of the Occult, Weird, and Arcane. You may have seen his work in San Diego at San Diego Musical Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, as well as the WOW Festival. Most recently he has finished scoring and sound designing the pandemic-produced short film "Fantasie in Em." He has a graduate degree in sound design from the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC.
www.jonfredette.com
Renetta Lloyd
Costume Design
Renetta, with Roslyn Lehman, are a daughter/mother costume team, who’ve worked on shows together since Renetta turned 16. They have worked all over San Diego County, and welcome design challenges and period pieces. Renetta is also very involved in the CosPlay world, and creating personalized Halloween/Holiday costumes, through her company NattyLou Creations. Very happy to be collaborating with The Roustabouts!
Roz Lehman
Costume Design
Roslyn, with Renetta Lloyd, are a mother/daughter costume team, who’ve worked on shows together since Renetta turned 16. They have worked all over San Diego County, and welcome design challenges and period pieces. Very happy to be collaborating with The Roustabouts!
Maggie Allen
Costume Assistant
Maggie is delighted to be working on her first production with The Roustabouts Theatre Co. She is a recent graduate of UCSD's Theatre and Dance program where she studied costume design and stage management. Some of her favorite productions she's worked on have been
The Mineola Twins (MOXIE Theatre, Dresser/ASM),
Big Fish (Muir Musical, Costume Designer), and
Mothers (WNPF 2018, ASM).
Ron Christopher Jones
Line Producer
Ron was born and raised in San Diego. Ron has been a professional stage and film actor for over 25 years. He is the 2021 Winner of Best Actor at the San Diego 48 Hour Film Project, also 2018 winner of Best Actor and Best Fight Choreographer, and the 2015 winner of Best Supporting Actor, at the San Diego Film Awards. Ron spent the last 2.5 years as Production Manager for San Diego Musical Theatre, overseeing all creative aspects of shows from design to closing night. Ron is an avid filmmaker, and during the pandemic his production company, RCJones Productions, created and filmed many outdoor concerts and events.