Ann-Ngaire Martin, who lives in Chappaqua, is one of our favorite Actresses! She has graced our stage several times as very different characters……She can do it all….we asked her to let us in on a few things!

       as Maggie Jones  in "Shuffle off to Buffalo "      as Maggie with co-star Jonathan Tomaselli.

I grew up in California and was studying to be a pianist which led to singing then dancing and the rest is history. I’m the youngest of 4 and had a wonderful childhood of 4th of July croquet games,camping trips and capture the flag with the entire neighborhood. I moved to New York to study acting when I was 18 with $200 in my pocket. Good thing I was young and didn’t know any better.

          I’d have to say one of my biggest influences/mentors was my high school boyfriend (as crazy as that sounds). He was an extremely talented musician at a young age and became a well known film composer.  His whole family was in the arts and their house was full of music. His love for music was contagious and he set very high standards for being an artist.

As a young performer my favorite role was Charity in ‘Sweet Charity’. I think one of my favorite shows is ‘Sweeney Todd’. I would have to say my dream roles would be Edie in ‘Grey Gardens‘ and Nellie Lovet in ‘Sweeney Todd’. Here’s hoping I get the opportunity someday!

          I would have to say one of the most memorable moments I had on stage was with Martha Raye in ‘Annie’. She was playing Hannigan and I was playing Lily St. Regis. We were in Los Angeles on tour and there was a stage hand strike. The substitute stage hands were doing their best but a piece of our set which was a huge hanging sign of smiling teeth fell loose on one end. It started to swing precariously to and fro and was difficult to ignore. Martha took out her false teeth, threw them into the set desk drawer and continued the scene. The audience loved it, of course.

          Favorite moment in ‘42nd Street‘? I’d have to say when the ensemble is tapping in the closing number and the band drops out for a few moments. Just the pounding of feet in time together.So pure. It goes right through ya. Wow, gets me every night.

          When I’m not on stage I love going to the theatre with my husband and children. They’re all in the arts in one form or another, so it makes for good discussions afterward. When we can’t afford to go to the theatre I like fixing things in my very old house and taking naps on the couch with my dog is pretty great too.

           My Ipod has mostly Musicals(surprise, surprise), John Mayer, Joni Mitchell, Betty Hutton, Gershwin and Judy Garland. 

I spoke with the fabulous Dorothy Stanley who plays Broadway diva, Dorothy Brock in 42ND STREET…..

"I was raised in West Hartford, CT and went to school at Ithaca College and Carnegie-Mellon U (my parents’ Alma Mater) where I got my BFA and MFA in Viola Performance and minored in Drama. While in Pittsburgh I auditioned for the Civic Light Opera and was cast in the chorus. After two summers (five shows each) I had my Equity card. I then moved to NYC to continue studying the Viola at Julliard, but also started auditioning for shows. I started playing in area orchestras, but got my first theatrical job 2 months after moving to NY. I juggled both orchestra gigs and shows for about a year, but I got more and more theatre offers. Since performing was what I really my dream, I put the viola on hold."

   Dorothy with Todd Lattimore (as Billy)                                  Dottie & co-star Millie the dog!

Yes the Dancing in 42ND STREET will be Fantastic! Randy Skinner, Director/Choreographer extrordinaire, will see to that! The cast is Incredible! The costumes are fabulous!  We’re ready for "The Lullabye of Broadway!"

But our newest little star is MILLIE the dog! See her live starting September 24TH!   Millie is a six year-old Havanese. She just had a birthday on September 16th. She divides her time between her NYC apartment and her country home in Vermont. She travels to theatres far  and wide with Actress, Dorothy Stanley (our Dorothy Brock in 42ND STREET), who adopted her from "Broadway Barks".  Millie is no stranger to the stage and even has a fan club!  Her breed is a cousin to the Maltese and was brought to Cuba to be a companion dog to the wealthy!  You can see Millie & her Human cast mates  on the WBT stage in our terrific production of 42ND STREET!  Woof!

Brian Myers Cooper who brilliantly transforms into many diverse characters in ILYYPNC!  

I grew up on a farm in southeastern Ohio (the part of Ohio without a major city). It was a pretty idyllic setting – safe, secure and loving, with parents (now married 45 years) who instilled in me

a sense of self esteem, a sense of responsibility for my words, thoughts and deeds, and a great work ethic. I couldn’t have asked for a better preparation for life.

I was bitten early on in performances at church and school, so by the time I got to high school, I was fairly bursting at the seams to be a part of the spring musical. My freshman year came and they didn’t have one - seems the director had moved away and the music teacher retired leaving no one willing to take up the reins of corralling 30-40 teenagers to put on a musical comedy. I was devastated, but the next year, the new music teacher stepped up to direct, and I was picked to play the lead in Bells Are Ringing, the alcoholic, ascerbic, urbane and witty down-and-out writer character made famous in the movie version by Dean Martin. I was fifteen years old. I didn’t understand ANY of it, but I was onstage and for the first time in my life, I knew what I wanted to do. 
 

Some of my favorite shows: I have fond memories of the National Tour of Miss Saigon and the wonderful family that company created out there on the road, and I’ve been fortunate to originate a couple of roles Off-Broadway as well as an American premier of a wonderful play, The Cavalcaders by Irish playwright Bill Roche at Florida Stage, which stand out as  particularly proud accomplishments. But I’m still waiting to play Whizzer in Falsettos by William Finn - it’s a great role that I’m just now growing into, type-wise.

Developing the multitude of characters for Man#2 in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change! began several years ago when I did the role in a different production. I worked then to really ground these characters in their given situations and then let them live. Each scene is it’s own world with it’s own over-arching rule or theme, and it’s our job to create believable people to live in that world - people the audience will recognize from their life, or family, or maybe themselves - and then the fun begins as we unspool the story of the scene. The work I did before came in handy as I joined this production just as the company was preparing for Opening Night, so my challenge was to adapt my characters to fit into the slightly different worlds that director Charles Repole had already created with this cast, and to do it from the sidelines as Travis (the male standby) rehearsed and performed the role with the cast. It was a wonderful challenge, and I have to thank Charlie, Victor Lukas (our stage manager), Christine DiTota (the ladies’ standby) and especially Travis for helping me prepare to go on.
 

My favorite moment in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change! is hands down the final scene, “Funerals are for Dating”. I love these characters, and my own character (Arthur Beasley) is really an amalgam of amazing men from my family and beyond who inspired me the first instant I read the scene. I took traits from all of them to create my Arthur, and I think of them all fondly every night as I play him. 

I have done a number of other creative endeavors between acting jobs, including authoring CD-ROM multi-media content for a reading program and supervising the staffs of about a hundred weddings. When I’m not on stage, you will most often find me at the Actors Equity building in NY serving the membership as an elected Councillor and Board member, coaching other actors, running through Central Park (just two blocks south of my apartment), or cooking anything and everything - I rarely eat out unless it’s an occasion, and I love to create in the kitchen.

When you see me with my ipod earbuds in, I’m most likely listening to either an NPR podcast or a recorded book. I have loads of music and I love it, but I’m not big on having sounds around me all the time - the TV or radio - just as atmosphere.  So if I’m listening, I’m usually just catching up on the news or preparing for my next audition.

Joe DiPietro & Jimmy Roberts, Writer & Composer of I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE!

In 1989 Joe DiPietro, then in his early 30’s began writing sketches about how he and friends dated in their 20s. In 1990, he says, “they were presented in a basement theatre over a weekend. As fate would have it, a producer saw it and said, “This is a musical revue.” To me, a musical revue was something like Ain’t Misbehavin’.  I was still unsure when a friend introduced me to composer, Jimmy Roberts. He saw a video of the sketches and said. “Don’t change it, it’s funny, you don’t need music.”  Impressed with his honesty, DiPietro said, "I want you."  Roberts, in his early 40’s was unsure “I was tired of revues with five actors on stools wearing cutesy sweaters.” However, He liked the material, “It was funny and sharp. It rang true-to-life. With music, however, I worried it would soften it. It turned out just the opposite.”  Roberts had written other things (including A..My Name is Still Alice) and took DiPietro under his wing. "Any collaboration is a marriage," says DiPietro. The show evolved, says Roberts, “with the message that, dating or married, it’s worth connecting.”  They were warned that the title was too long and it wouldn’t fit on a marquee and it wasn’t marketable.  “We didn’t listen,” says DiPietro, and the title went on to become a catch phrase everywhere from religion to politics. “I hoped for a modest run. Never did I imagine we’d have thousands of productions in the US and worldwide!” Lyricist and composer agree their show strikes a chord with male and female, young and old. "It’s about love and maerriage," says Dipietro. Adds Roberts, "Every culture has relationship rituals, so our show is easy to identify with in any language."

The team also collaborated on the Off Broadway musical, The Thing About Men. and a children’s musical based on "The Velveteen Rabbit." Di Pietro also wrote Off broadway’s current musical hit, The Toxic Avenger, based on the ’80’s cult sci-fi  film. His other show, Memphis will hit Broadway in the Fall.

Noel Molinelli  plays 15 "perfectly lovely, ever-changing" characters in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change! After a smash opening and a few weeks into a ctitically acclaimed run…we asked her to share some insights with us about what makes her tick!

I was born in NYC while my parents were getting respective PHD’s in Physics and BioChem at Columbia, but grew up in Northern Virginia.  My mom instilled her love of old movie musicals and her fearless silliness from a young age. My dad taught me about visual and literary arts…and a wacky/nerdy sense of humor.  Both my parents shared their artistic talents with me and my older sister and younger brother and encouraged the arts along with high academic expectations.  Growing up was filled with fun and family! No major extravagances…but a wealth of love and attention and positive reinforcement on every level.

I assumed I would grow up and be a scientist like both my parents!  But…after my freshman year of high school and a summer music theatre program at the Institute for the Arts in NOVA…I realized I wanted to get involved in Drama and chorus at school. When I got the role of Adelaide in GUYS AND DOLLS at Robinson Secondary in Fairfax, VA my sophmore year, and the people laughed…and laughed…I was addicted.  I realized that telling stories and connecting with an audience on that organic emotional level was my future!  I went to a great state school, James Madison University.  I majored in musical theatre, but had a rich, well rounded academic experience including a semester abroad in Italy!

My dream role? This is an impossible question!!!!   I am notorious for loving just about anything ever put on stage for either the whole or the sum of its parts.  A Dream role would be something that I could help create with some talented writers…something with a rockin’ score.

The task of…..developing so many different characters in the show?

I’m just starting to figure this one out….get back to me at the end of the run, and I may have scratched the surface!  Joining this amazing cast who have spent such good quality time with the material (having done previous productions of the piece) helped crate a safe and solid environment for me to discover.  They made it easier  and immense fun to learn in our 10 days of rehearsal!  I already feel like each scene has evolved and improved for me, and I look forward to see how things progress to the end!

The Epilogue is my favorite moment in the show….it’s a great song full of fun harmonies, and we all get to be together on stage to wrap up the stories and recognize the universal and eternal search to find Love…and keep it. 

Full- time Mommy is my best AND most challenging job yet.  I have a 4 and a half year old son who keeps me constantly amazed and inspired, along with my phenomenal husband. With all that love, I’m a lucky girl.

I’m a big home body.  I love cooking and baking and enjoying my family!  I love lighting candles and listening to music, and creating a comfortable home environment.  And, I love  enjoying the outdoors whenever possible!!  I YEARN to live on the water in New England one day!

 My ipod has Everything from Bluegrass to Rap.  Favorites right now include Iron & Wine, Sara Bareilles, Carrie Underwood, Green Day, Martin Sexton, Boys Like Girls and….any and all 80’s rock.

I caught up with Christine DiTota and Travis Taber between shows and asked them about their challenging roles as understudies. They are poised to jump on stage at any moment, when needed! As luck would have it, Travis has already stepped in for several performances! 

Christine: I was raised by a little Italian Woman named Isabelle Pugliese in a small apartment in Yonkers NY.  My brother and I shared a room until he got a little too old and then I shared a room with my Mom.  It was funny because one side of the room had religious artifacts cluttering the walls and the other side had pictures that I had ripped out of the latest "Teen Beat" magazine taped to the walls.  Usually, the pictures that were hanging on my side of the room were of guitar playing, long haired icons.  And on her side, the virgin Mary.  We ate pasta at least three times a week and went to church every Sunday.  It was a standard Italian household.  Lots of food, fun, laughter and tears!

Travis: I grew up in Rochester, NY in a family of four; my parents and one older sister.  

As a kid I was always doing impersonations and funny voices.  I actually did my first musical when I was in fourth grade, I had the leading role in my church’s Christmas show they put on.  I really didn’t know I wanted to pursue acting professionally until high school when I did a community production of Les Miserables.  I had such an incredible experience, and the cast was amazing; it really drove me to audition for college programs.

Christine:  My first year of college, I had decided I would become a pharmacist.  I thought that was a strong/reliable choice.  I got a job working in CVS in the pharmacy so that I would be ready.  I had a meeting with my academic advisor and he took a final glance at the courses we had chosen and said "I’ve got an idea, how about you try taking a theatre class."  I was a little surprised.  Then I thought, hmmm, maybe as a hobby.  I signed up for an acting class.  The teacher put actors in pairs and gave out one scene for each couple to perform.  I watched couple after couple get up and perform their scenes. The day came that it was my turn to perform my scene. I sat in a wheelchair, my character was handicapped, and began the scene.  Something changed the moment I sat in the chair, I began to feel.  And I forgot who I was for a moment.  When the scene was over the whole class stood up and applauded.  When I could finally focus again, on something besides the character I was playing, I saw everyone standing there, clapping, and I began to cry.  It was a wonderful moment.  I have pursued the theatre since then…..

Travis: I love Sunday In The Park With George, and obviously I would love to play George sometime in the future.  I think though that my dream role, which I’ve already played once, is Georg in She Loves Me.  I really love that show and the role is a lot of fun to do.

Christine: I love the classics!  It is my absolute dream to one day get the opportunity to play Blanche DuBois in "Streetcar Named Desire". 

This is my first experience taking on the role of an understudy.  I’m finding it very interesting.  It is crucial to pay very close attention to the choices the actresses are making.  If ever I have to go on, I will need to honor their hard work. 

Travis: This is actually my first time doing it also, and it doubles your responsibilities.  It’s important that you are aware of what both roles that you are covering are doing so that you are able to just jump in if you are needed.  I personally took copious notes and made myself some diagrams to help me, and it worked pretty well.

Christine: There are over 40 characters in the play and all of them are so very different.  I think that the key to developing each individual character is to find the correct body.  I always ask myself, "How does this person walk, move, bend?"  In my experience, that is truly the best way to unlock a character.

Travis: I think it’s effective to just take one role at a time and break it down for yourself.  I dive into each character when I’m working on that scene and then after I finish working and I reach a certain level I leave it, until the next time I work on it and then I try and find more facets within that world to expand upon.

Christine:  I’ve worked in the children’s entertainment business for the last 7 years.  I’m a party planner/entertainer.  It’s a great job for an actor.  I’ll dress up as a Princess, Pirate or whatever character a child could possibly desire for their birthday.  We play games with them, give out prizes, face paint, make balloon animals, etc.  It’s a lot of fun working with children and they ARE the toughest audience.  Also, it provides a person with some of the funniest stories you’ll ever hear in your life.  The birthday party business is chock full of entertaining mishaps.   

Travis: I work part time at Starbucks.

 Christine: When I’m not on stage, I enjoy spending time with family and friends.    I love going to the theatre to see plays or musicals.   Of course, there is the homebody side of me.  I like to curl up on the couch with my husband and dog and watch a good movie.
 
Travis: I like to spend time with my wife Debra.  I really enjoy golf, as well as disc golf, or for that matter any sport.

Travis: My Ipod has  Everything just about, but some of my favorites are: The Format, MAE, Taking Back Sunday, Incubus, Motion City Soundtrack, Kanye, Coldplay, The Hoodies, Dead Poetic, Lloyd Banks….etc.

Christine: I don’t have an IPOD.

Talented young interns are invited to learn about all aspects of the theatre here at WBT. Their many duties include Backstage crew, Administration, Public Relations, Box Office and sales! 

Meet Meghan Kerwin! She is 17 years old and a senior at Greenwhich High School.  She will major in Theatre and Math at Northwestern University in the Fall.

As an actress, Her favorite role was Belle in Beauty And The Beast.  Kathy Lee Gifford commented on her performance on The Today Show! Wow!

Her favorite food is her mother’s chicken cutlets. Her Favorite Broadway Show was Wicked.  And she loves the song "I’m Yours"  by Jason Mraz

Louisa Flaningam is brilliant on the WBT stage! She is a delight off stage too!  Read on!

I was born in a small town in South Carolina.  I’m actually a pre-baby boomer as I was born a few days before VE Day!  I lived the first few years of my life in that town in S.C where my grandmother was the county auditor.  My parents were trying to get set up in Washington, D.C. but it was hard after the war.  We didn’t really settle down as a family ‘til I was 6 in our new house in the suburb of Bethesda, Maryland.  I started dancing as a child and loved it.  However, when I started college at the University of Maryland I thought I had to study for a more “normal’ career.  Maryland had a modern dance department and it didn’t take long for my passion for dance to have me leaping about the stage and dream of New York!

I remember one day I was working on costumes for the dance company at university and the head of the department, Dorothy Madden, looked and me and said “you’re happy here, aren’t you?”  She had been a part of the early modern dance world of Doris Humphrey and Martha Graham and I thought she was a very wise woman.  I realized she was right…so as soon as I graduated I packed the U-Haul truck and headed to NYC.

I have been so fortunate to have worked with so many great people who were always willing to answer questions and give advice or just teach by example.  I got my first job and my union card by sneaking into an equity audition a couple months after I got to NY.  The next thing I knew I was at the Goodspeed Opera House in a revival of ALLEGRO.  The cast found out it was my first job and just took me under their collective wings.  They taught me how to sing harmony lines and not be afraid to ‘act’ even when I wasn’t dancing!  Years later Grover Dale who was the choreographer gave me my first Broadway job playing Charmin in the MAGIC SHOW with Doug Henning.  I learned there is the magic of the theatre but real magic can be very tricky, dangerous and make for a lot of bruises as you get sawed in half and transformed into a cougar!

I think I have been so blessed to have done such wonderful shows as COMPANY and have Elaine Stritch coach me on how to get a laugh….PIPPIN and knowing Bob Fosse…

singing along side Georgio Tossi in the 1979 Broadway revival of THE MOST HAPPY FELLA and walking into Sardi’s opening night with my mother and father and having the whole place stand up and applaud.  To have Tony Randall tell you the most important thing an actor can do is….listen! Wow!  Traveling across this great country and playing all kind of theatres.   I particularly love the old theatres.  I remember that Penny Singleton once told me that in the vaudeville days they called each other “artists”.  How lucky to have spent the last 41 following in the footsteps of so many “artists and carrying on such a grand tradition!  So, I’ve done so many dream roles from Ma Joad in GRAPES OF WRATH to Daisy in DRIVING MISS DAISY to Bea in QUEEN OF THE STARDUST BALLROOM.  I just want to keep trying to do good work and who knows what the future holds!

FUNNY GIRL became a favorite show of mine ever since I worked as a dresser in a summer stock production on the Guber, Ford and Gross circuit in 1967 when I was still in college.  George Hamilton played Nick Arnstein and I actually did a play with him years later.  I wore the album out and Cornet Man was my up tempo audition song for probably 30 years!!!  So it is a real treat for me to play Mrs. Brice….particularly with such a glorious Fanny as portrayed by Jill!!!  And…sharing a dressing room with Karen McDonald and having her play my dear friend Mrs. Strakosh is just icing on the cake!!

My dear parents have passed on but were the best “stage” mom and dad.  They worried at first as all parents do when they think you’re crazy to try show biz but then relaxed and were great fans!! 

My husband, P.J. Benjamin, is not only a fabulous actor…he’s currently the Wizard in the Broadway show WICKED but he’s also a great guy.  It means so much to have such great understanding and support at home.   We first met on the National Tour of PIPPIN in 1975 and re –met on the national tour of TORCH SONG TRILOGY.  He was playing Arnold and I was playing Laurel.  It was September 5^th, 1984 and the ‘first sneaked kiss in the elevator’ and we have been inseparable ever since.   And….that’s really the most important part of my life…home.  I love the theatre but as Fanny says…”you can’t take an audience home with you”.  I do work I love in order to enjoy my house and garden and trips and exploring and nights with candle light and a big white cat with a very loud meow and dreams of seeing Italy again and someday owning a boat and going out on the Chincoteague Bay on my beloved eastern shore of Virginia and watch the sun set with the man I love and enjoy all the beauty of this world for as long as I can.