"List and learn!"
Cast Bios
LEIGHTON RAND PHRANER (Sir Joseph Porter) is a Gilbert & Sullivan legend.  He has sung with CG&SS in 20 productions, usually in the tongue-twisting leading roles, which require not only an incredible sense of humor and superb timing but also exceptional agility and the ability to rip through words at breakneck pace.  Theatergoers will recall his Koko (Mikado), Bunthorne (Patience) and his Major General Stanley (Pirates).  He maintains  a voice studio in East Haddam.  He is past president of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Connecticut Chapter, and a protege of the late Dr. Bernard Taylor of The Juilliard School in New York City.


JOHN T. SWANSON (Captain Corcoran), making his fifth appearance with CG&SS, has previously played Pooh-Bah in 2004 Mikado, Giuseppe (Gondoliers), Pirate King (Pirates) and King Hildebrand (Princess Ida).   Favorite roles include:  Don Quixote (Man of La Mancha), the King (King and I), Archie (Secret Garden), Elyot (Private Lives, where he met his wife, Deanna), and Noel Coward (Noel and Gertie, again with Deanna).  The couple perform their own musical programs (www.geocities.com/wearebuffa) and have been featured with the Torrington and West Hartford Symphonies, and First Night, Hartford.  Their latest production is their beautiful baby daughter, Jasmine, who was born last December.  John is Art Director for Barker Specialty in Cheshire.


JOHN CRAFT (Ralph Rackstraw) returns for the second time.  He is no stranger to G&S. You will remember him as Nanki-Poo in our 2004 Mikado; his previous roles were Ralph in HMS Pinafore, Lord Tolloller in Iolanthe, Alexis in Sorcerer, and Edwin (the Defendant) in Trial by Jury.  John is a graduate of UConn where he participated in the UConn Opera Outreach Program performing shortened versions of operas for middle school students.  While a student at UConn, John began his vocal studies with Dr. Donald Pyle.  He has also sung/studied at the Chautaqua Institute’s summer vocal program where he sang Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro, a role that he reprised for the Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra.  John is currently employed by Rumsey Hall School as a math teacher and the head of their drama department in addition to teaching voice.  He is also the soloist for Memorial Methodist Church of Avon and Our Lady of Lourdes in Waterbury.


ALLAN S. CHURCH (Dick Deadeye) is appearing for the fifteenth time with CG&SS (most recently he played John Wellington Wells in last year’s Sorcerer and Ko-Ko in our 2004 Mikado) and is happy to be here again. He has participated in choral singing for longer than he can remember. Offstage he is the Editorial Page Editor of the Record-Journal in Meriden and writes a weekly column; he is an amateur astronomer in between rainstorms and clouds.  He appeared last summer as Egeus in Artfarm’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and has also acted with Actors’ Ensemble, Elm Shakespeare, and East Lyme Arts Council.


MIKE REYNOLDS (Boatswain’s Mate) last appeared with CG&SS as Dr. Daly in last year’s Sorcerer, Pish-Tush in Mikado, and previously as the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in Gondoliers, holds an MFA in Directing from The Catholic University of America, and is co-founder of The Georgetown Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.  Mike played Gaston in Masterminds’ production of Steve Martin’s Picaso at the Lapin Agile. He also directed Cheshire Community Theatre’s production of Inherit the Wind. Previous acting credits include Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, plus roles in God, The Mikado, Cabaret, Little Mary Sunshine, The Crucible, Reptillicus Versus The Cowboys, or How The West Was Eaten. He resides with his wife Kim in Meriden, where he works as Media Studies professor at Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart Universities. He has two books published, The New Girl,  published by America House Books and Reaching Out, published by Double-Dragon Press. You can find both at: www.mike-reynolds.com,
or at bookstores anywhere.  


DON SHIRER (Carpenter’s Mate/Understudy for Boatswain's Mate), an ex-physicist, has turned his talents to theatre and music since his retirement.  Most recently he has appeared as the banjo-playing Grandpa in Meet Me in St. Louis and the prosecutor in To Kill a Mockingbird, both in Clinton’s Andrews Theater.  His adaptation of Victor Herbert’s Toyland had its première at the Ivoryton Playhouse last December.


BILL ZIEGLER (Carpenter’s Mate) is making his fifth appearance with CG&SS.  He has performed such roles as The Notary (The Sorcerer), Antonio (The Gondoliers), and Samuel (The Pirates of Penzance).  He resides in Chester with his wife, Agneta, and is trying (with some success) to adjust to life as an empty nester.  When not singing or driving his bright red convertible (often simultaneously!), Bill can be found in Hartford managing a group of extraordinarily talented software engineers.


DEANNA SWANSON (Josephine) is delighted to reprise the role of Josephine for CG&SS.  Her previous roles with the company include Mabel (Pirates), Gianetta (Gondoliers), and the title roles in Patience and Princess Ida.  She has also sung with Connecticut Opera, Crystal Opera, Opera Theater of Connecticut, Queens Opera, the Warner Theatre, and the Producing Guild, where she met her husband John.  Favorite roles she has performed include Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Musetta (La Bohème), Maria (West Side Story), Anne (A Little Night Music), Marian The Music Man), Laurey (Oklahoma!), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Despina (Cosi Fan Tutte), and Gertrude Lawrence in the two-person show Noel and Gertie which she performed with her husband.  John and Deanna sing their own musical programs for libraries and civic organizations throughout Connecticut (www.geocities.com/wearebuffa).  Should you attend one, you may see their proudest achievement in attendance as well: beautiful daughter
Jasmine, who was born December 27, 2005.


JULIE CHURCH (Cousin Hebe) is a Photography/English double major at SCSU. She has loved Gilbert and Sullivan practically all her life, and has performed in several shows with CG&SS, from The Gondoliers in 1992 through Pinafore in 1999. Some of her favorite roles include Passerose (the Lady of Shalott) in Le Chevalier de Neige, Fleta in Iolanthe and the Nurse/Prince/Soothsayer/Football Commentator/Polonius/Horatio in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged. Julie is excited to be performing with CG&SS once more, and is thankful for her family, friends, and good fortune.  
 

RENÈE HAINES  (Cousin Hebe) is delighted to be returning to the CG&SS stage for the fifth time (she was our Aline in Sorcerer, Pitti-Sing in The Mikado, Elsie Maynard in Yeomen of the Guard and Zora in Ruddigore). A graduate of the Hartt School of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in Opera Performance,  Renee  completed a two-week run of The Mikado with the equity theater company River Rep in their 2005 season at the Ivoryton Playhouse. Other credits include: Annina in Verdi’s La Traviata for the Hartt School, Yum Yum in The Mikado with the Thomaston Opera House, Jenny Lind in Barnum for the Connecticut Cabaret Theater, Julie Jordan in Southington Community Theater’s production of Carousel, Saccharissa in Princess Ida with the Simsbury Light Opera Company, operatic performances at the New England States Exposition, and a featured musical and guest appearance on the Connecticut Public TV show Living in the 90's. Renee would like to thank her wonderful husband Brian for his continued love and support of her musical endeavors as well as their two feisty pugs Ginger and Sage.
 

CAROL CONNOLLY (Little Buttercup) revisits the role she debuted at CG&SS in 1999. This year's Buttercup is "rounder and rosier" than ever!’ Carol hails from New Haven and has surely worn a groove into the Wilbur Cross Parkway after “lo these many wonderful years” performing with CG&SS.  Thanks as always to Bob C. for giving me another outlet for my multiple personalities; to Roy Mazzacane my eternally patient voice teacher; to my husband Jack, Katie, Megan and our whole family, especially Christina for following her dream to a role in an Equity musical in NYC.  Thanks to the cast and crew for making me laugh and touching my heart so often.


JOSEPH HEITMAN (Midshipmite) is thrilled to be making his second appearance with CG&SS.  At just 11-1/2 years old, he has been performing and taking dance lessons for ten years.  Recently he shot an improvisational dance piece (with a local troupe) for cable access.  Currently he is in rehearsal, for the second time, with Albano’s The Nutcracker, cast as Fritz and the Nutcracker, and is in the chorus for his school production of Into the Woods.


TOM SHULZMAN (Marine/Sailor) was lured into the world of theater by his wife, Denise. Tom began backstage with CG&SS in their 2001 Princess Ida, during which he became known as “Smokey.”  He made his stage debut as Charlie in East Lyme Art Council’s The Pajama Game.  In 2003 he made a very tiny appearance in Pirates of Penzance  (never tell Tom to “break a leg”) and walk-on roles in The Gondoliers and The Mikado.    He just completed the show A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with the Groton Regional Theater.


JOHN SLOAN (Marine/Sailor, Set Design, Master Carpenter, and Technical Director Associate) is an “idea man” whose specialty might be said to be the discovery of novel ways to produce the stage illusions required by the production. He has been essential to CG&SS sets and backstage wit for several years.


BILL SORENSEN (Understudy for Ralph Rackstraw, Set Designer and Technical Director) is well known to CG&SS audiences for the tenor roles such as Frederic in Pirates, Hilarion in Princess Ida, Fairfax in Yeomen of the Guard, Nanki-Poo in our 1994 Mikado, Alexis in our 1995 The Sorcerer, Ralph in Pinafore, Marco in Gondoliers, and The Duke of Dunstable in Patience.  He portrayed Father (God) in Children of Eden by Stephen Schwarz at The Ivoryton Playhouse.  He is a voice student of Leighton Phraner and has been soloist with Cappella Cantorum, the Shubert Opera in New Haven, La Petite Musique, the Con Brio Choral Society, and most recently as Parpignol in LaBoheme with the Opera Theatre of Connecticut in Clinton.  He owns a landscape gardening business and is one of Connecticut’s most popular professional soloists at weddings, funerals and banquets.


BETTY OLSON (Understudy for Josephine & Buttercup)  is making her debut with CG&SS.  She moved to our area from the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York where she played Mother Abbess in Sound of Music, Marian in Music Man and Anna in The King and I.  Prior to that, she sang with Chorus Austin’s lyric chorus including choral appearances with the Austin Symphony.  She also began her theatrical work under Chorus Austin in their Summer Musicals for Children.   You may have seen her in Connecticut productions of Man of La Mancha, Beauty and the Beast, Heidi, or The Merchant of Venice.  Betty studied voice in Elmira, NY, Austin, TX, and at Texas Tech University where she earned a BS in Electrical Engineering. “I am delighted to be performing my first Gilbert & Sullivan in Middletown with such a wonderfully talented cast. “


ROBERT CUMMING (Artistic Director/Producer/Choreographer) has appeared in Who’s Who in America (Marquis) every year since 1970.  CG&SS revived his operetta, Rumpelstiltskin “in the style of G&S” a decade ago with Trial by Jury.  He directed the world première of Willard Roosevelt’s opera, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, the New York première of Strauss’ Intermezzo, G&S’s Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance, and Victor Herbert’s Naughty Marietta with The Little Orchestra Society at Lincoln Center and on tour.  He has directed and conducted locally at UConn Storrs, the Repertory Theatre of New Britain, the Nutmeg Players, the East Lyme Arts Council, and has directed a dozen Elderhostels at the Incarnation Center in Ivoryton.  He was a featured soloist this past summer for six concerts with the Cappella Cantorum Men's Chorus .


JOHN E. DRESLIN returns as Music Director for Pinafore.  He has previously conducted 17 CG&SS productions since 1986, including Mikado, Gondoliers, Pirates of Penzance, Princess Ida, Ruddigore, Iolanthe, Yeomen of the Guard, Pinafore  Patience, and last year’s Sorcerer.  He collaborated with Jonathan Strong on the reconstruction of the lost G&S opus, Thespis, and conducted the world premiere.  He also orchestrated the Bob Cumming operetta Rumpelstiltskin that delighted audiences in 1993.   Last spring he music directed and accompanied the East Lyme Arts Council’s review Great Songs from the Movies at Deep River Town Hall.  He has been chorus director for Connecticut Lyric Opera’s productions of Don Giovanni, Faust, Barber of Seville and Merry Widow (in which he also played the part of Pritsch).  He has participated in over 90 productions as music director, conductor, accompanist, or actor.  During this time he has been honored with nine Eugene O’Neill awards.  He has been the organist at the Union Baptist Church in Mystic for the last fourteen years and is on the Board of Directors of the Thames Valley Music School in New London.  Dr Dreslin is a dentist in Waterford.  He resides with his wife Monika in Stonington.


TERESA E. HOLLO (Stage Manager) gladly returns backstage.  She is grateful for the support of her family which includes Ruth, Cathleen, and Tristan.  Her clever little dachshund Toby has been busily studying his new book, “How to Make Money on the Internet,” putting its ideas into practice by selling his sister Molly, the literate cat, on ebay.


BILL MARSHALL (accompanist) moved to Connecticut four years ago. During the day, he oversees Human Resources for three East Coast offices of a pharmaceutical research firm.  Bill is director of Music Ministry at St. Mark’s Church in Westbrook, and has been piano accompanist for productions of Your’re a Good Man Charlie Brown in Norwich and Grease in Waterford.  He and his wife Jackie (appearing in this production as one of Sir Joseph’s sisters, cousins, etc.) have three grown children and live in Old Saybrook.


DON CHAMBERLIN (Lighting Design) has  been active in stage lighting forabout  50  years.   He  is  past  President of The Repertory Theatre of NewBritain, where he designed lights for dozens of productions over 30 years, including The  King  & I (directed by Bob Cumming in 1981), and Arsenic & Old Lace (in which Don also appeared in two roles in 1995).  He lit the stage for CG&SS’s Sorcerer, as well as Gondoliers, Pirates, Princess Ida, Ruddigore, Yeomen of the Guard and Mikado.  He is a Principal Engineer at CL&P, and he and his wife Joan have two adult children, a son-in-law, and brand new granddaughter, Caitlin Marie Berry, born in August.

ALLAN CHURCH - Our "Lord Chancellor" (Comic Lead) for this year's production of Iolanthe has been a real stalwart of the company for many years.  He's sung chorus and leads, has worked backstage, and on the board of directors.  His first G&S experience was at the age of 12, watching his cousin play "Ko-Ko" in The Mikado.  He's been "under treatment for it" ever since, working with CG&SS, E. Lyme Arts Council, Community School for the Arts at UConn, and Simsbury Light Opera.
    He appreciates the very apt satire, and the marriage of words and music in G&S shows.  However, he mourns the lack of adequate use of the chorus's full potential in more recent musical theatre.  The Pirates of Penzance is Allan's favorite G&S show ("tightly crafted"), but he feels that Iolanthe is the most musically adept, and The Mikado is the funniest.  He also loves Shakespeare, and modern theatre.  He's having so much fun that he can't pick a favorite thing about being part of CG&SS!

    DAVE HENDERSON - Dave is new this year to CG&SS, and we welcome him with open arms, as "Strephon," our Romantic Lead.  He played "Pish-Tush" in The Mikado in high school, and has performed in many musicals.  He describes the on-going relevancy of Gilbert & Sullivan this way:
    "For as long as people are hypocritical, even though only to the end of being polite, G&S will continue to be relevant, funny, and enjoyed."  He also points out that audience members often leave the theatre humming a tune from a musical, but rarely, if ever, reciting a line from a play.
    Outside of G&S, he has a special affection for "Fiddler on the Roof," because of its themes of joy, and acceptance of change, and because of the great songs.  He also loves classical music.
    Dave is happy to be part of such a "phenominal group of people."  He particularly appreciates the high level of talent, and how welcoming and supportive everyone has been.

    MIKE REYNOLDS - Our "Lord Mountararat" (Baritone Lead) this year, has proved to be a strong performer with CG&SS in only a few years.  He considers his position within the company to be mainly "supine," which only serves to illustrate his rather acerbic wit.
    In his opinion, Gilbert & Sullivan relate to our times as "great uncles."  What he thinks he means by that is open to interpretation.  My feeling is that he thinks of them as "progenitors" of modern musical theatre, and still quite relevant, although admittedly dated in some ways.
    Mike succinctly states that tunes are what make musical theatre special.  His favorite G&S show is The Yeomen of the Guard, because of its greater dramatic complexity.  He enjoys most kinds of music and theatre - except, perhaps, "minstrel shows."
    He says that his favorite thing about CG&SS is the "free coffee," but I think I know better.  I've seen Mike seriously adjusting his style for each role he's played so far, and he's always well-prepared.  If that isn't devotion to his craft, I don't know what is.