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Carly Heffernan
'08 Season
Carly Heffernan is an actor, singer and comic with a BA in Drama and English from Queen's University. She studied Comedic Writing and Performance at Humber College and is currently studying with the Second City. Recent Stage Credits Include: Craig, Hearts and Stones (WriteNOW Festival); Maria III, Rumours of Our Death (Staged and Confused); 365 Days/365 Plays (Theatre Best/Before); A Munsch Mixture (Solar Stage Children's Theatre). Carly also currently writes and performs with the audio sketch group Radio Vault as well as the all-female sketch comedy group She Said What. Click here to visit Carly's website.
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Courtney Smith
'08 Season
Courtney Smith is thrilled to be in her first production with NovaStage. She has lots of experience
in children's theatre and even owns her own company for children's birthday party entertainment. She is a graduate of the Randolph Academy of Performing arts. Some of her favourite roles have included Sharpay in High School the Musical on Stage, (Brampton, On), Goldilocks in Goldilocks theMusical (Toronto, On), Ross in Our Country's Good (Toronto, On) and Jamie in Are we There yet? (Fringe, Toronto). Courtney thanks her family for being so inspiring and her boyfriend for being so supportive. Click here to visit Courtney's website.
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Jaimie Birnbaum
'08 Season
Jaimie, a recent graduate of the Toronto Film School's Acting for Film and Theatre program, is ecstatic to be playing the part of Freya in Wickedly Wonderful! Some of her recent credits include Feste in Twelfth Night, Rizzo in Grease, and Olive in The Odd Couple: Female Version. Jaimie would like to thank all those special people in her life who have encouraged her to follow her dreams and reach for the stars! Enjoy the show everyone and remember; Life's a stage, so get out there and play!
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Piper Distel
'08 Season
Piper made her acting debut at the age of 3 in the role of Gabriel in her church's Christmas pageant. Since then, she has performed in school productions of The Panda Dance, The Snowman Dance, Boot Scoot Boogie, and A Christmas Carol as the Ghost of Christmas Past. At age 6, Piper danced on the Sanderson Centre's stage as a fairy in a ballet version of The Wizard of Oz. She previously worked with NovaStage in the 2008 production of Desperate Housepets as the voice of Becky. Piper aspires to become an author/illustrator -- and rich enough to buy Barney the dinosaur for her little sister Chloe.
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Nicholas Cumming
'08 Season
Nicholas is a local theatre creator with a BA in Drama and English from the University of Waterloo. He is a founding member of the Multicultural Theatre Space. He has appeared in Exit Strategy, Yes or No!, Season of Immigration to the West, Legion of Memory I + II, Me Here/Me Happy, Motio X Industria, and Three Legged Horse with The MT Space; Tennessee Williams' I Can't Imagine Tomorrow with Poor Tom Productions; Asphalt Jungle Shorts I,II & III with Flush Ink; and Mimetic Flesh/Mimetic Hotel, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Spring Awakening with UW Drama. He directed/wrote The Children's Crusade for the UPStart Fringe 2007, and HE for UPStart 2004. He is also working for Pat the Dog, Waterloo region's new professional playwrights' development centre. He is also a member of the earthling collective, whose WARMER project is examining the environment and human dynamics in a local context.
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Jeff Lefebvre
'08 Season
Jeff has been acting for over 20 years with credits in Ottawa, Montreal, New York, and Sudbury. In Ottawa he has appeared in Half Life (Goya Theatre), Serial Monogamy, A Straight Guy's Guide to Bondage, Manhattan, Je Vous Dis (N.O.R.T. Theatre), An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein, Murder In The Cathedral, Julius Caesar (Third Wall Theatre), and Murder Most Stinky (Remote Planet). Film and television credits include, Men: Their Love Stories (M.R. Video), The Boys of Kelvin High (Canadian War Amps), The Tournament (CBC), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (directed by George Clooney), and Butch Patterson: Private Dick (Ocnus Productions).
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Hayley Gratto
'07 Season
Hayley was born and raised in London, Ontario and is a graduate of the Ryerson Theatre School. Past theatre credits include Fabian in Twelfth Night (Alchemy Theatre), Mrs. Shin in The Good Woman of Setzuan (Ryerson Theatre) and Mona Then in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean (The Grand Theatre). Currently, Hayley is co-writing a new Canadian musical called The Black Roses Imperial Garden Party, and will also be featured at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. This is Hayley's first show with NovaStage and she is thrilled to be a part of the Harris Superman cast.
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Sharon Marquez
'07 Season
Sharon first fell in love with the stage in her early teens from watching operas by Puccini and Verdi on the Bravo channel. Realizing her two octaves couldn't quite match an operatic dream, she decided to try acting -- and hasn't stopped since. Sharon studied theatre at York University and graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada. She played the Medical Student this past summer in David Egan's play Love Songs From Unlikely Places at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Past credits include Lily in The Sisters of Punt (Nightwood Theatre), Mariette II in Michel Tremblay's The Real World? (Alumnae Theatre) and Lady Grey in Wars of the Roses (NTS). Sharon is delighted to be a part of this wonderful production (feMAELSTROM) and many thanks to Anne and Lori for their faith in her work.
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Jennifer McNaughton
'07 Season
Jennifer is delighted to join NovaStage for the first time in feMAELSTROM. She is a Toronto actress and clown with a BA in Theatre from Redeemer University. Selected theatre credits include Emily in Our Town (Village Playhouse), Nora in A Doll’s House (Redeemer University Theatre), Marilyn in Primal Broads (New Ideas Festival), and Maid Dim Witty in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Stage West). Film credits include The Storm (TnT Films), Friend of Mine and Colour Me Blue (Offshoot Films). Jennifer's clown Miladie has appeared in various cabarets, and in her solo clown show Three-Ply Issues, at the Ottawa and Toronto fringe festivals. Jennifer adores Shakespeare and co-founded The Patient Log Men, a Shakespeare collective of emerging artists.
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Ken Chamberland
'05,'06 Seasons
Ken Chamberland is excited to reprise the role of The Stranger in NovaStage's
2006 remounting of Anne Meighan's The Last Lunch. Ken is currently enrolled at Sheridan College in the Musical Theatre Program, where he was featured in the show Catch A Rising Star as a dancer, vocal soloist and musician. Favourite credits include Jesus Christ Superstar, Fame, Oz and the role of Jesus in Godspell. Click here to visit Ken's website.
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Rosemary Chatterson
'06 Season
Rosemary discovered the "thrill of the stage" 15 years ago at Galt Little Theatre, and has performed with various theatre companies over the years, her favourite role being that of "Kate" in GLT's Sylvia. She is also founder and member of Music & Madness, a group who have been performing shows of light-hearted music and comedy for over 10 years, including gigs at Roy Thomson Hall and River Run Centre. Local theatre-goers will also recall her appearances at the decade-long run of Wesley Dinner Theatre in Galt. Rosemary is delighted to be a part of NovaStage's production of Whispering Lodge.
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Glenn Purchase
'06 Season
Glenn is thrilled to be joining NovaStage for their production of Whispering Lodge. Glenn has been on stage many times in this area, most recently in Guelph for Steven:The Steven Truscott Story. He has also been with Theatre Downstairs in Guelph the last two summers in Run for Your Wife and Move Over Mrs. Markham. He has also performed with Galt Little Theatre, Guelph Little Theatre, and The Milton Players.
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Henry Shields
'06 Season
Henry has been involved in local theatre for the past eleven years, starting with Galt Little Theatre's production of The Crucible in 1995. Since then, he has appeared in numerous supporting and leading roles at Galt Little Theatre, Waterloo Stage, and most recently NextLevel Theatre in St. Jacobs. He is delighted to have the opportunity to be part of NovaStage's latest theatrical offering.
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Stevie Jay
'06 Season
Born in Toronto, Stevie studied drama at UBC and Langara College in Vancouver; as well as in Toronto at Second City, Players Academy Conservatory, Victory Artists, and Professional Actor's Lab. He also trained in mask, improv, and clown in Canada, Cuba, and Chicago. Of the many shows Stevie Jay has appeared in during this past year, playing
"Yarm" in Mike Kennard's The Hollow at CanStage's Berkeley Street Downstairs Theatre was one of his favourites. Stevie has also co-produced and directed theatre productions such as Cabaret Vulgar at Buddies in Bad Times and Sketchy Reality at The Poor Alex Cabaret. He produces a weekly open improv comedy jam in Toronto, called "Jammin' On The One", and most recently appeared in Stagewest's production of Charlotte's Web.
Stevie is extremely excited to be working with NovaStage in this amazing Canadian production of Whispering Lodge. Word. Click here to visit Steve's website.
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Robert Watson
'08 Season
Born in St John's and raised in Victoria, Robert has made Toronto his home for the past seven years. A graduate of The George Brown Theatre School, he divides his creative energies between acting, writing and makeup artistry. His first produced play, Desperate Housepets, was the audience and media favourite of the 2006 Toronto Fringe Festival, and was followed up by subsequent successes The Balloon Tree and Just So Stories, both in the Theatre for Young Audiences category. You can expect to see his latest work, The Ladies Room (inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde and David Hare's The Blue Room), in one of Toronto's summer theatre festivals in 2008. Robert gives many thanks to everyone at NovaStage for their energy and support.
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Heidi M. Hayward
'05, '08 Seasons
Heidi is a teacher whose interest in fairy/folk tales from around the world inspired her After Ever After stories. Heidi was most impressed with NovaStage's performance of an excerpt from her After Ever After: A Charming Affair during their inaugural season. She is looking forward to seeing them bring After Ever After: Wickedly Wonderful to life.
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Jenny Kreyl
'07 Season
Jenny is extremely proud to make her international and Canadian playwrighting debut with NovaStage. Harris Superman has previously been produced by Gettysburg College Theater Department and the Star Theater in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Her other play, Crystal Weeds, was a finalist in the American Theatre Co-Op National Playwrighting Contest and has been produced at Wilson College,
Coatesville Cultural Society, and the Adrienne Theatre in Philadelphia. Jenny has an extensive acting and directing background with regional and college credits and Off-Broadway in New York City, and her adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night received publication with Plays Magazine. She holds a BA in Theater from Temple University and a Master's Degree in Education from Arcadia University. Jenny currently teaches middle and high school drama at Renaissance Academy in suburban Philadelphia, where she resides. Click here to visit Jenny's website.
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Miriam Weisfeld
'05, '07 Seasons
Miriam Weisfeld is a freelance dramaturg/ educator in New York, most recently
for New York Theatre Workshop. She holds an MFA from the American Repertory
Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre Institute at Harvard University. At the A.R.T.,
she dramaturged projects headed by Robert Woodruff, Anne Bogart, and Paula
Vogel. She has lectured on theatre at Harvard, MIT, Suffolk University,
Northwestern University, and the Moscow Art Theatre School. Regional
credits include work with Actors Theatre of Louisville, Steppenwolf,
Lookingglass, and the Chicago Academy for the Arts. CHALLENGER and A BRIEF
MESSAGE FROM AMELIA EARHART are in memory of Rebecca Branch.
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Emily Schwartz
'07 Season
Emily Schwartz lives in Chicago, IL. where she is the Artistic Director of The Strange Tree Group as well as an Artistic Associate of Collaboraction. Her full length pieces and one acts have been seen at The Chopin Theatre, The Steppenwolf Garage, Gallery 37, the Athenaeum, the Side Project, The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, Interact Theatre Los Angeles and several other locals across the states. Her longer works include The Dastardly Ficus and Other Comedic Tales of Woe and Misery, Funeral Wedding (The Alvin Play), and Mr. Spacky the Man Who Was Continuously Followed by Wolves. She is very happy to be making her Canadian debut with NovaStage.
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Sabrina Noble
'06 Season
Sabrina attended the University of Western Ontario where she earned her
degree in English Studies and Film. Her play The New Madonna graced the
London stage before she went on to produce the one-act festival Purple
Shorts. Whispering Lodge is her first published work which debuted at the
Toronto Fringe Festival in 2005 by her theatre company Savage/Noble
Productions.
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Lori Distel
Jacqueline Jones
