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Cast

Creative Team

Meet the Company

Thom Peters

Bill French

Thom has been happily married for forty-six years and has two daughters, two sons-in-law, and two granddaughters. He does not know anyone named Carla. This is his tenth production on the Cockpit in Court stage in the last fifteen years, nine of which have been on the Cabaret Stage. He was most recently seen here as John Wheeler in Night Watch in 2022, and one of his favorite roles at Cockpit was as Justice Wargrave in And Then There Were None on the mainstage in 2021. His association with Cockpit goes back to ancient times when in 1977 he appeared in Macbeth (Macbeth) and A Cry of Players (Sandells) in the inaugural productions of Cockpit in the Courtyard. Over the years he has also enjoyed performing at Vagabond Players, most recently as Jack Jerome in Broadway Bound, and at Fells Point Corner Theatre where he was last seen as “F” in Cock (and that is not a dick joke). He is delighted to be working again with Linda and TraceyAnn, as well as with the talented, energetic and enthusiastic cast of this play.

Carol Conley Evans

Nancy French

Carol was last seen at Cockpit in Court as Aunt Abby in the F. Scott Black's mainstage production of Arsenic and Old Lace. She has also appeared at Cockpit in Court as Ouiser (Steel Magnolias), Aida (Over the River and Through the Woods) Elizabeth (Angel Street), Mrs. Webb (Our Town), Beverly (Shadow Box), and Doris in the 1980 production of Same Time Next Year. Other recent roles at area theatres include: Kate (All My Sons), Daisy, (Diving Miss Daisy), Ethel (Moon Over Buffalo), Betty (The Foreigner), Lucille (The Cemetery Club), and Attorney for the Defense (The Trial of the Catonsville Nine). As she approaches the culmination of her 77th year, she is particularly delighted to embody the role of Nancy French, a woman of age who still has a lot of life to live. Working with Linda, TracyAnn and a truly marvelous family of cast and crew is bliss. Long live Cockpit in Court.

Sean Kelly

Brian French

Sean holds a BFA in acting from Towson University. A lifetime resident of the Baltimore area, he has worked with many theaters in the community on shows including Equus (CCBC), Heinie Goochems (Fells Point Corner Theater), The Revelation of Bobby Pritchard (Iron Crow), All My Sons and The Complete History of America(abridged) (Vagabond Players). This is Sean’s second time working with Cockpit in Court after appearing in Witness Statements last summer, and he feels honored to be back!

Ted Burke

Ben French

Ted is so vey happy to be back with Cockpit in Court again this year!! It always feels like coming home. Audiences may remember him from some of his recent shows here—Dial M for Murder as Max Halliday, The Dinner Party as Claude Pichon, & And Then There Were None as William Blore. Some of his favorite roles include Simeon in several local productions of Joseph…, Adam in Dot, and Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls. Ted has been a part of the theatre community for nearly 40 years. While he has been involved in all aspects, he definitely prefers to be ON the stage! Much love and thanks goes to Caye for always helping him study the scripts, and especially for putting up with his insane schedule. Ted would like to give special gratitude to Linda for allowing him to be a part of this AMAZING piece. But the biggest thanks goes to all the audience members who come to support live theatre. We truly appreciate you, and hope to see you again and again.

Stephanie Ranno

Jess

Stephanie is pleased to be returning to the stage after bringing the role of Marshal to life in the premiere of Witness Statements during Cockpit’s 2023 season. Stephanie’s regional theater credits include: Ensemble member in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat at The Wagon Wheel Theater (Warsaw, IN), and Ensemble member and dancer in Unto These Hills (Cherokee, NC). Stephanie's local credits include: Maria, Compleat Female Stage Beauty (Fell's Point Corner Theater); Agnetha Gottmundsdottir, Frozen; Caroline Saunders/Ellen/Betty in Cloud Nine, Myra and Myrna Richards in The Mineola Twins (Spotlighters). Other favorite roles include: Anne Boleyn, in the American Premiere of Six Dead Queens and an Inflatable Henry (Mobtown Players); Claire, Proof (Cockpit in Court) Sally Talley in Talley's Folly (Theatre Hopkins); Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show (Catonsville); Columbia, The Rocky Horror Show (Spotlighters); Ariel in The Tempest, (Spotlighters), Meg Magrath in Crimes of the Heart (Cockpit In Court); Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Annapolis Summer Garden); and Rosencrantz in Hamlet (The Rude Mechanicals). Much love to her family and friends, and especially Brad-who made rehearsing this show possible.

Matthew Sean Mitchell

Tommy

Matthew is a theatre practitioner and visual artist based in Baltimore. This is his first time performing with Cockpit in Court, and he has enjoyed collaborating with a great cast and crew. His most recent theatrical contribution was serving as Director of Disgraced at Vagabond Players. Some favorite past roles include Bertram Cates (Inherit the Wind), Lenny and the male characters (Marisol), Borachio (Much Ado About Nothing), Jack (Into the Woods), and Earnst Ludwig (Cabaret). Much love to Grant for running lines and holding down the fort during rehearsal and performance nights.

Jennifer Skarzinski

Carla

Jennifer (she/her) is thrilled to be a part of this talented cast. Some favorite previous roles include: Blanche in Night Watch, Sissy in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Barbara in Social Security and Evalita in Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got the Will? at Cockpit in Court; Felicia in I Hate Hamlet at Dundalk Community Theater; Kristine in A Doll's House at Vagabond Theater; Sandrine/Marci in Almost, Maine at Ruxton Players; Tina/Erica in Game Show at Spotlighters; Queen Marie-Therese in Las Meninasand Evelyn in The Shape of Things at CCBC Academic Theater. Away from the stage Jennifer is the Coordinator of the CCBC Essex Student Success Center. She is grateful for the love and support from her friends and family, especially Evie. And sends all her love to Joel.

Linda Chambers

Director

Linda’s previous productions in Cockpit’s Cabaret began with Crimes of the Heart in 2005 and continued through 2023’s Witness Statements, an original work by Anne Lefter. In 2012 she took a detour to Court Jesters Young People’s Theatre in the J Building Lecture Hall where she directed her first musical, Dr. Dolittle. She took another detour the summer of 2021 to F. Scott Black’s Theatre and, along with the cast and crew, worked through zoom, testing, masks and distancing to present Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None to an audience starved for live theatre. She’s thrilled to be one of the four directors (Lauren Spencer-Harris, Liz Boyer Hunnicutt and Bambi Johnson) making up Cockpit's first all-female directed season. Linda illustrated Sophie the Monarch Butterfly: Mission to Mexico!, Celia Straus’ children’s book/poem about the miraculous migration of monarchs and she is working on the second book of her fantasy coming of age story, The Swords of Ialmorgia, available on Amazon Kindle. Chambers has written and is directing a one-woman show about Mother Jones (Let The Fight Go On) in collaboration with actress Janel Bosies. Since 2018, she has worked as a Standardized Patient for various medical institutions and recently concluded 24 years teaching scriptwriting in Carver Center for Arts & Technology’s Literary Magnet Program.

TraceyAnn Tokar Smith

Stage Manager

TraceyAnn is pleased to be back in the Cabaret and working with such a talented cast! Previously at CIC, TraceyAnn stage managed Witness Statements (world premiere), Something Rotten, Night Watch, And Then There Were None, The Unexpected Guest, and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. She also stage manages for Dundalk Community Theatre, including their productions of Kinky Boots, A Bronx Tale, A Chorus Line, Mamma Mia, Side Show, A Year with Frog and Toad, and The Bridges of Madison County. Her directing credits include Shadowlands at DCT, Three Tall Women at Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre, Rimers of Eldritch at McDaniel College, Arsenic and Old Lace at Vagabonds Theatre, and Billy Would Have Been Thirty Today for the Baltimore Playwrights’ Festival. Away from the theatre, TraceyAnn works as the Resource Teacher at Lansdowne High School.

G. Maurice (Moe) Conn, III

Set & Lighting Designer

Moe (He/Him) is in his fourteenth year with CCBC where he is the full-time Technical Director and Designer at CCBC Catonsville’s Center for the Arts Theatre. He has an MFA in Scene Design and Technical Theatre. Moe has been working professionally in technical theatre since 1993, as a Designer, Technician, Technical Director, and Educator. He served as the Technical Director for five summers at Cockpit in Court where he continues to design both lights and sets. He has also designed for Vagabond Players and Fells Point Corner Theatres in Fells Point, MD. Moe has received multiple nominations for Best Scene Design from BroadwayWorld.com and received Best Scenic Design from the MD Theatre Guide’s Readers’ Choice Awards. When not backstage, Moe volunteers with “Behind the Scenes” which provides financial support for theatre technicians in need throughout the entertainment industry. He also helps coordinate the Long Reach Long Riders charity motorcycle ride, (www.LRLR.org) to benefit Behind the Scenes. Moe is the longest participant and core member of the board of directors (affectionately know as the Hoard of Directors) serving for 21 years! And the last of the original 11 riders.

Eva Grove

Costume Designer

Eva has costumed several shows for Cockpit in Court including The Dinner Party, Sweet Charity, Night Watch, and And Then There Were None. Around the region, you may have also seen her work in shows such as Toward Zero, Avenue Q, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Don’t Drink The Water, A Chorus Line, Catch Me If You Can, The Graduate, and The Bridges of Madison County, A Few Good Men, and The Full Monty.

Cathy Kratovil

Properties Manager

Cathy has been on the Board of Directors of Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre since 2019, and last year, started working with the stage crew. This year, she is excited to take on the role of properties coordinator for Grand Horizons. If you spot a particularly fabulous prop, she just may have had a hand in making it shine! As Communications Assistant, Cathy also manages the social media and digital signage of Cockpit, promoting the fantastic work we do, including creating the logo for Grand Horizons. She loves being behind the scenes, getting to know the actors, production crews, and directors. While being on stage isn't her thing, she truly enjoys supporting the incredible people who are, BAL!

Regina Rose

Lighting & Sound Board Operator

Regina has been involved in over 100 productions all over the Mid-Atlantic on and back stage. Some on stage Cockpit shows include Night Watch, The Unexpected Guest, Don't Drink the Water, and Brighton Beach Memoirs. Back stage Cockpit credits include Forever Plaid and An Evening of Murder.

Sophia Clark

Stage Crew

Sophia is thrilled to be working on her first show at Cockpit in Court. She has had an interest in tech theater since middle school, and has worked many shows at Friends School of Baltimore, including run crew for The Lion King Jr. and The Trail To Oregon!, set designer and assistant stage manager for She Kills Monsters, The Game’s Afoot, The Prom, and All Shook Up, technical director for Murder on the Orient Express, You Can't Take It With You, and Middletown, and stage manager for Almost, Maine, Xanadu Jr., and Once Upon A Mattress. She plans to contribute to the theater again this fall at Washington College, and would like to thank her parents for their patience as she finishes her driving time.

Julia Morgereth

Stage Crew

Julia Morgereth

Sound Board Operator

Julia Morgereth is 20 years old and an alumni of the Cockpit in Court Royal Jesters. She does both onstage and offstage when it comes to theatre. Her favorite shows she was onstage for are “The Little Mermaid” as Scuttle, “The Lion King Jr.” as Shenzi, “Anything Goes” as an Angel, and “High School Musical” as Martha Cox. Some shows she has been backstage for are “The Wizard of Oz,” “Newsies,” “Anastasia,” and many more. She loves being in theatre and can’t wait to see what comes next!

BWW Q&A: James Hunnicutt on CATS & GRAND HORIZONS at Cockpit In Court Summer Theatre

Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre will present a diverse lineup of shows this season. From July 19 to August 4, audiences can enjoy the beloved musical "CATS," directed by Bambi Johnson, which brings the whimsical world of T.S. Eliot’s poetry to life with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic music.

Running concurrently from July 19 to August 4 is the contemporary play "Grand Horizons," a heartfelt comedy by Bess Wohl, directed by Linda Chambers. Looking ahead, mark your calendars for the holiday special "A 1940’s Radio Christmas Carol," by Walton Jones, David Wohl, and Faye Greenberg, running from December 13 to 15, promising a nostalgic and festive theatrical experience.

James has been involved in the Baltimore theatre community for over 30 years.  He has performed, choreographed and directed at multiple theatres and is the current Artistic Director for Cockpit In Court Summer Theatre.  He holds a BS in Theatre - Acting Track, from Towson Univeristy.  He has enjoyed working at so many different theatres, including:  F. Scott Black's Towson Dinner Theatre, DCT, Cockpit In Court, PFT, Vagabond Players, MD Arts Festival, Roland Park Country School, Beth Tfiloh, Fells Point Theatre and Children's Playhouse of Maryland...not to mention the numerous high schools.  Besides performing, his other joy was teaching dance to children and watching them grow into nice young performers.  It is the one thing he wished had been available to him growing up.

Why did you choose Cats and Grand Horizons for Cockpit's upcoming season?

We chose Cats because it was something not done in our area and we knew the right director - Bambi Johnson. We also had limited space to build in our scene shop as the Mainstage was getting a renovation during the entire spring. We then chose Grand Horizons because it was a newer work that featured older characters and would be something we felt our audiences would find interesting.

Can you share some insights on the recent renovation of Mainstage and any changes the audience might notice?

Surprisingly, the audience won't notice much of a change. We had our entire rigging system replaced, after 50 plus years. This will enable us to do more with our lighting and fly system than we have done in the past. So hopefully, future shows will have more options when it comes to scenery.

How can individuals get involved in Cockpit In Court Summer Theatre?

Cockpit is always looking for board members and volunteers. Potential board members can submit their names, and are then invited to sit in on two meetings to see if they would like to go up for nomination. For someone who wants less of a commitment, we offer volunteer services, such as ushering, concessions, and raffles. This way the can help support the theatre and also get to see the show for free.

Can you share any information on the upcoming season for next year?

We are in the throws of coming up with shows for the 2025 season. However, we are going to do a holiday show this year, in December. 'A 1940's Radio Christmas Carol' will be presented December 13-15. A fun take on Dickens's A Christmas Carol and has songs as well. Hopefully something different for people experience this coming holiday season.

What inspired your interest in teaching dance to children and watching them grow into performers?

When I went to college I took a few dance classes and the teachers were always pushing me to continue. I had a friend directing a kid show and asked if I could help teach some dance steps. Since choreographers were not in abundance, i started getting calls from other friends or directors. I realized after working with some of these young performers over the years, how much they grew as individuals on the stage and also in their schooling experiences. It always felt great to hear how those inspired would go find other options to continue to grow in the field of dance and even go to college to become performers or teachers. It made me feel my joy of what dance is continued through these students to pass along the knowledge.

Why must audiences come and see the shows?

If you've never seen 'Cats' this is the way to see a full stage production at a family friendly prices. It is a classic for a reason. As for 'Grand Horizons', this show is funny and thought provoking at the same time. Anyone who has been married for many years will find moments to reflect on. It does have some adult language and content but I don't believe this takes away from the experience or the message of the story.

Donors

Be an Angel! – Your gift to Cockpit in Court helps us keep quality theatre alive in our community.  Ticket Sales cover only a portion of the cost of the season, so even a small gift can make a big difference.  Become a TPA member, and help keep the magic alive!

Kings and Queens | $200 and above
Danielle Alderson
Tim and Carol Evans
Dave Guy
Dennis Nonemaker
Ronald Stokes
Linda Yienger

Royal Family | $100 – $199
Tom & Sophia Montgomery

Regents | $50 – $99
Arlene Falke
Jamie Halcott
Sandra Merritt
R. Christopher Rose
Link Warfield

Friends of the Court | $10 – $49
Karen Bayne | Gary Brown | Jean Carr
David Coarts | Linda Klingmeyer
Colleen Kuhn | Winnie Levinson
L. Katherine Moore | Bruce Stevens
Maxine Tolly | Alma Wills

COCKPIT IN COURT 2024 PRODUCTION STAFF

Artistic Managing Director | James Hunnicutt
Administrative Manager | Lisa L. Boeren
Producer | Dr. R. Michael Walsh
Technical Director | Jason Randolph
Assistant Technical Director | David Martin
Box Office Manager | Lisa L. Boeren
Box Office Assistant | Thom Purdy
Business Manager | Johanna Lawrence
Communications Assistant | Cathy Kratovil
Production Photographer | Trent Haines-Hopper
THsquared Photography
Production Liaisons to the Board | Eva Grove, Cathy Kratovil

COCKPIT IN COURT 2024 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

James Hunnicutt | Artistic Managing Director
Lisa L. Boeren | Administrative Manager

John Chrzanowski | President
Thomas Hessenauer | Vice-President
Cathy Kratovil | Secretary

Robyn Alvarez | Patricia DeLisle | Xander Conte
Theresa Foggo | Eva Grove | Dave Guy
Sammy Jungwirth | H. Ray Lawson | Andrea Marsh
Sophia Montgomery | Marge Ricci |  R. Christopher Rose

SPECIAL THANKS

Dr. Sandra L. Kurtinitis, President, CCBC
Dr. Joaquin Martinez, Provost & Vice President of Instruction
Melissa Hopp, Vice President, Administrative Services
Dr. R. Michael Walsh, Dean of Arts & Communication
Damon Krometis, Interim Director of the Arts
Nicholas Van Horn, Chair, Performing Arts and Humanities
Michael Elspas, Asst. Director, Creative Services
Marc Smith, Technical Director, CCBC Dundalk
Moe Conn, Technical Director, CCBC Catonsville
Marc Ershler, Campus Director, Essex
CCBC Essex Foundation

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