The MCT Company at the Howmet Playhouse for Summer 2011

The MCT Company for Always…Patsy Cline
	Margot Van Oordt appears as Patsy Cline. We welcome back Margot, reprising the role of Patsy Cline following her smashing return to the stage in January! Her credits include Becky Bakowski, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, dance ensemble, Jesus Christ Superstar (1986), and the title role, Annie, Civic Opera Association. Some of her other credits include Nancy, Oliver!, Sister Leo, Nunsense and Nunsense II, The Second Coming, a clown, Stop the World, I Want to get Off, Central Park Players; as well as lead dance and lead dance/ensemble, Anything Goes and Sweeney Todd, respectively, Western Michigan University; and assistant director, Blithe Spirit, the Howmet Playhouse. A teacher for Grand Haven Area Public Schools, Margot and her husband, Kurt, have three children Paige, 14, Brooke, 13, and Noah, 11.
	Kimberly Harsch appears as Louise Seger. Kim returns to the Playhouse stage reprising her role of Louise. Recently Kim has been seen in The Dining Room (ensemble) and Rabbit Hole (Izzy) at MCT. Some other MCT credits include Jane Ashton, Brigadoon, Kate Keller, The Miracle Worker, Jennie Malone, Chapter Two, and Annelle Dupuy-Desoto, Steel Magnolias. Other credits include Stella, A Streetcar Named Desire, Shelby, The Spitfire Grill, Central Park Players; Elvira, Blithe Spirit, Susan, Dearly Departed, the title role, Educating Rita, and multiple roles, All in the Timing, Howmet Playhouse, for whom she was the 2007 summer season stage manager. Kim is married to Eric, and has two daughters, Sky and Jacy.
	The (Fortified) Oat Bran Boys aka "The Bodacious Bobcats Band". The Oat Bran Boys, brothers John and Rich King, and Daniel Seabolt, have been performing together since 1988. John (vocals, guitar, and mandolin) and Rich (vocals and string bass) explored other forms of music from classical to blues to soul before they fell under the influence of bluegrass, and they have been playing it ever since! Daniel Seabolt, (vocals and violin) began as John’s guitar student but switched to the violin. The rest is history! The Oat Bran Boys play regularly every Wednesday night at the Red Rooster in Whitehall and do various festivals and events throughout the year. John “Sky” King, an entertainer and musician, is married to Janice McDonald, and has three children, Nathan, Lafe and Grant. Richard (Richie) King, is the Head of Site QA/QC, Muskegon for Bayer CropScience, and is married to Lynn. Their daughter, Kimberly Harsch, is playing Louise Seger, and is the mother of their two granddaughters, Sky Lynn and Jacy. Daniel Seabolt is a luthier, hand-carving double basses and mandolins and will be playing the role of Ray Bob on Thursday and Friday. For this production, The Oat Bran Boys have been “fortified” Tim Johnson, who is playing the role of Bob Bob (drums), and Catherine Gilson, who is playing Jo Bob (piano), as well as John’s son Nathan King on lead guitar (Billy Bob), Robert Swan, who will play the role of Ray Bob in Saturday’s performance. Tim Johnson is the father of Alexander, and is a professional musician, percussion instructor, and the director of live music for Porto Bello Restaurant. Nate King grew up in Muskegon, MI and began performing professionally at the age of 17. Over the years, Nate has performed all over the world with a wide range of musicians and styles. Currently, he does studio sessions in Southern California and performs weekly all around the Southern California area. He lives in L.A. with his wife Kate and his daughter Gabby. Robert Swan was raised in Norwalk, CT. Bob attended Indiana University’s world renowned music school (Bachelor’s, Master’s with Highest Distinction, Performer’s Certificate) studying with David Dawson. Robert Swan was appointed to the viola section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by Sir Georg Solti in1972. From 1972 until 1980, he was professor of viola at Northwestern University where he also served as violist of the Eckstein String Quartet. He recently retired from the CSO and spends most of his time in Michigan enjoying a traffic-free life.
	Ted Swindley (Author and Original Director) has directed and/or produced over 200 plays for over 20 years. Some of his outstanding directorial credits include world premieres, classics, and musicals including Carnal Knowledge, Pacific Overtures, Follies, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, along with rotating repertory projects such as Havel’s The Memorandum with Giradoux’s The Madwoman of Chaillot, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town and Les Liasions Dangereuses with The Importance of Being Earnest. Ted was named to Esquire magazine’s register of Americans for Outstanding Achievement in Arts and Letters and was featured in Southern Living magazine. In 2007 he was a keynote speaker at the Southwestern Theatre Conference. He was also the recipient of the Los Angeles Dramalogue Award for outstanding direction and nominated for the Los Angeles Critics Award for his work at the Pasadena Playhouse. He is the Founding Artistic Director of Stages Repertory Theatre, the second largest theatre in Houston, Texas. There he implemented such diverse programming as the Texas Playwrights Festival, for which he won national recognition in 1986 from the Wall Street Journal and Backstage magazine. Best known for creating the hit musical, Always…Patsy Cline, which was one of the top ten shows produced across the country in 1998, he has also directed in over 60 theaters. The Honky Tonk Angels is his latest hit, and he has completed the trilogy with The Honky Tonk Angels Holiday Spectacular and Bubba’s Revenge, (which all can be done independently of each other). He has just recently premiered his latest work, Bachelor Pad, in New York City, and completed a Southern adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest, entitled The Importance of Bein’ Earnest, and a play, Stories My Grandmother Told Me, which had its premiere in Kansas City, MO, in January 2008. He is an active member of the Dramatists Guild and The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and is a member of the Playwrights/Directors Workshop at the famed Actors Studio in New York City.
	Matthew D. Robertson, Assistant Director/Stage Manager Catherine Gilson, Vocal Coach Kirk M. Wahamaki, Technical Director/Set Designer Patrick J. Harker, Sound Designer Lisa Hilliard, Costume Designer Andrew Patten. Lighting Designer

The MCT Company for Always…Patsy Cline