The Waterbury Festival Playhouse -- Central Vermont's only Semi-Professional Theater



Anton in Show Business

Directed by F. Reed Brown
Written by Jane Martin
Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French
Shows (Evenings at 7:30pm, Matinees at 2:00pm):
Wed. 7/23 - Sat. 7/26, Thu. 7/30 - Sat. 8/2, Wed. 8/6 - Sat. 8/9
Matinee Sun. 8/3


This madcap comedy follows three actresses across the footlights, down the rabbit hole and into a strangely familiar Wonderland that looks a lot like American theatre the resemblance is uncanny! As these women pursue their dream of performing Chekhov in Texas, they're whisked through a maelstrom of "good ideas" that offer unique solutions to the Three Sister's need to have life's deeper purpose revealed. In the tradition of great backstage comedies, Anton in Show Business conveys the joys, pains and absurdities of "putting on a play" at the turn of the century.

The Cast
T-AnneAnita Natarajan
Actress #1Ramona Godfrey
Actress #2Sophia LaPaglia
CaseyCael Barkman
LisabetteKrissy Kenny
HollyNicole Starrett
JobyBrittany Rhoads
The Crew
DirectorF. Reed Brown
Asst. DirectorAmber M. Couture
CostumesDonna Collins

Cael_Barkman (2K) Cael Barkman
is a native of New York who recently moved here from Florida-Interesting right? She has been on stage for years in plays such as Necessary Evil, Lobby Hero, Sisters Rosensweig, Laramie Project,House of Bernarda Alba, Vagina Monologues, One flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Midsummer Nights Dream and Henry IV to name a few. Cael finds enjoyment in singing loudly in her car, playing with her two dogs and living life with her love, Tucker. Nothing is Impossible.
FReed_Brown (2K) F. Reed Brown
is an actor, director and choreographer now based in northern Vermont. He is an assistant professor of theater at Johnson State College. The co-founder of the Ozark Actors Theatre, an Equity theatre located at the University of Missouri-Rolla, he directed and/or designed over 60 productions during his 14 years as artistic director there. He has worked with a wide variety of theater companies in New York, from La Mama to the Manhattan Ensemble, and was the original Hamlet in the U.S. premiere production of Heiner Muller's Hamletmachine with the Freiese Theatre of Munich. He holds a MFA in directing from Illinois State University. New to New England, and with the curse reversed, Reed is rapidly becoming a Red Sox fan, though is sure, something wicked this way comes.
Krissy_Kenny (2K) Krissy Kenny
hails from South Burlington and has been active in the local theater scene for nearly 10 years. Recently she was seen performing in a cabaret benefit for the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. The majority of her theater work has been with the Flynn Theater as an electrician and carpenter. Krissy is a junior at UVM with an anthropology major and history minor. She is also a master SCUBA diver. When not in class, the theater, or underwater, she loves skiing, historical re-enacting, brewing beer, and spending time with her boyfriend Erik, his boys Lansingh and Liam, and their dog Mishka.
Sophia_LaPaglia (2K) Sophia LaPaglia
graduates from the University of Vermont this year with a major in Theater as well as Film and Television Studies. She has been acting locally for over 15 years appearing in shows with the Barre Players, Dragon Dance, Vermont Opera Theater, and school productions both at U32 and UVM. Besides Anton, she is also touring with her latest film, Shout It Out, this summer. It's a musical written by Vermont teenagers so check it out when it's near you!
Anita_Natarajan (2K) Anita Natarajan
moved to Vermont 2 years ago to work with IBM. She grew up in Mumbai, India and went to school at Georgia Tech. She started doing magic shows as a pre-schooler and decided acting was a better choice. She's been a virus, a hippie girl, a spoon and an enchantress in some of her recent plays. She can't wait to be T-Anne and hopes you enjoy the show.
Brittany_Rhoads (1K) Brittany Rhoads
is from Underhill, Vermont. She has performed in theater productions in high school and college. Most recently, Nora in Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs." She is a journalism major with a theater minor at Johnson State College. She enjoys acting, writing, dancing and spending time with the love of her life.
Nicole_Starrett (9K) Nicole Starrett
is a very recent graduate of the UVM, and hails from Middletown, CT. She has appeared in several shows at UVM, including the one-act play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide and as Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera. Nikki fell in love with theatre at the tender age of 8, while seeing her first Broadway show (Cats), and still can't quite believe that she is getting paid to do her favorite thing in the world.