Seagull Bios

Melissa Lourie -- Director, Arkadina.  Melissa last directed The School for Scandal for MCP.  She is also artistic director of Middlebury Actor's Workshop, where last summer she directed Laundry and Bourbon and Lone Star.  Melissa teaches acting at the University of Vermont and is the co-founder of the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in Cold Spring, N.Y.  This January, Melissa will be playing Margrethe Bohr in the Vermont Stage Company's production of Copenhagen.  Although not originally intending to act in the Seagull, Melissa is grateful for the opportunity to play Arkadina and has enjoyed working with this wonderful company.  Thanks to Franco Ciccone for his hard work!!  And thanks to Karen Lefkoe for coming to the rescue.

James Maroney – Sorin.  James appeared in several high-school productions among them Brigadoon, Finian’s Rainbow and Oklahoma; then, having sworn off musicals, he starred in Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Stalag 17 and Mr. Roberts.  After three decades off, he played Sykes in MCP’s production of Oliver (a musical).  James has also appeared in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, The School for Scandal and Words, Words, Words.  He lives in Leicester.

Jory Raphael – Treplev.

Mike Kiernan – Trigorin.  Mike is grateful for his first opportunity to work with the Middlebury Community Players. Previously he appeared in Lone Star and Dinner with Friends and directed Let Freedom Sing: a Celebration of the Life and Words of Martin Luther King Jr. and American Negro Spirituals at Middlebury College. Mike is a member of the Town Hall Theater Board and urges everyone to join him in supporting the restoration of this cultural and physical landmark. He loves his wife and daughters!

John Nordmeyer – Medvedenko.  John has acted with the Middlebury Community Players in Oliver, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Carnival, and Twelfth Night and produced The School for Scandal, The Pirates of Penzance, and Working.  John is also the producer for the Middlebury Actor's Workshop. He lives in Cornwall with his wife Liz Marino and daughters Marley and Emma, and is dearly missing his daughter Ann who began school in Wales this fall.

Ann Deppman – Masha.  Ann is happy to be back on stage in Middlebury after several performances with the Shelburne Players.  Recent theatergoers may recognize her from Middlebury Community Players productions of A Trip to the Moon and The School for Scandal, and from Shelburne Players productions of Jake’s Women, Steel Magnolias, and Sylvia.  Ann has a BA in theater from Middlebury College and a JD from the Vermont Law School.  She lives in Cornwall with her husband and four sons and looks forward to performing again whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Emma Wollum – Nina.  Emma most recently appeared as a street urchin in Little Shop of Horrors with the Middlebury Community Players.  She has also performed with Lyric Theatre Company, Theatre Group Limited, and White River Valley Players. She hopes to teach English as a second language in France, her favorite country.

Ken Tichacek –Yakov.  In real life, Ken is currently moving to Salisbury from Wilbraham, MA.  Prior to this role, Ken’s “wealth of stage experience” included a position in the back row of the chorus for his seventh grade production of the Pirates of Penzance and, more recently, singing King of the Road in a local talent show.  Between roles Ken spent years hamming in front of bathroom mirrors.  He wants to thank Melissa and Franco for giving him this opportunity, and Dora, and his cast mates for teaching him so much. He is also grateful to Mary Beth, the kids, and his new Middlebury pals (You know who you are.) for their support.