Annie Oakley - the cast and creatives of LNT's staged reading of the new play by Jeanne Beckwith
All About the folks bringing you our Annie Oakley Staged Reading:
the second event of Lost Nation Theater's "A-LIST" Events Series
Playwright: Jeanne Beckwith
Co-Director: Kim A Bent
Co-Director: Kathleen Keenan
Costume Elements: Maura O'Brien & Kathleen Keenan
Lighting: SJB Light Design
Scenic: Kathleen Keenan & Kim Bent
Technical Coordinator: Kim A Bent
House Manager: Brandy Ann Perez
Live-streaming: Theater Engine
Featuring:
Maura O'Brien
as Annie Oakley
Special Thanks to:
Brett Cox
Sue Zeller
Capitol Copy & its Crew
Extra Thanks to Peggy & Paul Irons, and The Margot George Arts Fund, for sponsorship of this event, and their longtime support of LNT.
Do you want to give the playwright and LNT Feedback? Use THIS FORM
More Special Thanks:
Ann Harvey, Andrew Vachon, The World Newspaper, Mary Gow, Jim Lowe, dianne richardson,
Chris & Mike Zahm, Mara Iverson, Marissa Mattogno
Special Thanks to Lost Nation Theater's 2021 Underwriters: Capitol Copy, City of Montpelier, Eternity, National Life Group, Vermont Arts Council/NEA, Vermont Mutual and The World
The Estate of Ted Richards, and the Mary Shriver Fund of the Alan Weiss Estate
And ALL LNT's Business/Downtown On Stage Contributors. Please support these businesses supporting Lost Nation Theater. Read All about them HERE
About our Creatives:
Who’s Who in Annie Oakley
DONA BATE (Accounts Guru) was CEO of a regional community transportation system for 18 years before joining LNT, and is founder of dbatespeaking where as a speaker, trainer, and coach she shared her love and experience of communicating.
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JEANNE BECKWITH (Playwright) - Jeanne's plays have been staged from coast to coast and as far away as Dublin, London, and Istanbul. This year, online productions have been a godsend. In addition to several short plays being produced on line in Long Island, Boston, and here in Vermont, her new play in progress, Sam and Jim in Hell, had a public reading at Lost Nation Theater on Saint Patrick’s Day. Lost Nation also produced her play Love Letters Made Easy as a Valentine’s Day Special On line Performance. For most of her adult life Jeanne has worked as a playwright, director, actor and dramaturg in a variety of academic, professional, and community theater settings. She serves on the board of the New England Theater Conference, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Special Thanks to her husband, the writer and educator, F. Brett Cox for his constant support and excellent driving skills, to the Vermont Playwrights Circle for helping her flourish , and to the wider theatrical community of Vermont who have welcomed and nurtured her since she arrived in the Green Mountains almost twenty years ago. You can’t walk twenty feet in Vermont and not trip over an actor, a director or a playwright. She loves all of them.
For more on Jeanne and her work go to: jeannebeckwith.com
KIM ALLEN BENT (Founding Artistic Director/Director) Kim is the Founding Artistic Director of Lost Nation Theater. His roots in Vermont go back six generations.
He founded LNT in 1977 in Bristol, VT, yet Kim’s worked for professional theaters and university drama programs across America, Europe, and Canada as a director, actor, writer, and designer.
As a playwright, his play, STONE, won the Hathaway Prize. His adaptations of Lyddie (2012), and Treasure Island (2015) premiered to rave reviews. In 2018, he translated Howard Frank Mosher’s Vermont novel Disappearances for the stage.
When LNT was 'born' it produced exclusively original work. Kim is excited to be honoring those roots once again by helping to develop several plays over the past 19 months - including Annie Oakley, which he is proud of LNT for commissioning. He is grateful to Jeanne and Maura for saying YES!
Why does he do Theater? "Because it's the only thing that makes sense of the world." Favorite Show Quote: "It takes 900 years to explain one blown spark of Love..."
SAMUEL J. BIONDOLILLO (Lighting Supervisor & Rep Plot Designer) - is a New York based lighting designer for theatre, television, and events. LNT is grateful to this Vermonter for his assistance upgrading LNT's lighting and establishing a 'rep plot' which makes creating events like "Annie Oakley" possible.
Off-Broadway: NYC Dance & Music Festival, Geek! The Musical. Regional: The Rocky Horror Show, Cabaret (Moonbox Productions), The Complete History of Comedy Abridged (Lost Nation Theater), Private Lives (Vermont Stage), Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, Shakespeare in Love (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), Flamingo Kid (Hartford Stage, Assist.) Television/Events: The Celebration of the Inauguration of Governor Wolf 2019 (ESM, Assit.), The White House Frontiers Conference hosted by President Obama (ESM, Drafting Assoc.), Ice Chips Show of Champions (Boston Skating Club, Assist.). Sam is an adjunct professor of lighting and sound technology at the University of Connecticut, a proud member of Local USA 829 in the Lighting Design category, and holds a BA from Boston College in Theatre Arts. Website: SJBLightingDesign.com
KATHLEEN KEENAN (Producing Artistic Director/Director) is the producing artistic director of Lost Nation Theater.
In addition to acting, directing, & producing theater, she is a singer-songwriter. It is giddily gleefully gratifying to be rehearsing & performing once again – however truncated. And a pure joy to be developing a new play for Maura O'Brien with Jeanne Beckwith!
She is so grateful to Jeanne for saying Yes to this adventure and for introducing us all to the real Annie Oakley!
Kathleen sends her deepest thanks to all the artists involved and to the audience & community for “being there.”
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MAURA O’BRIEN (Annie Oakley)
Maura is thrilled to participate in this reading of Annie Oakley on the stages of LNT. It has been such a treat collaborating with Jeannie Beckwith, our illustrious playwright, as well as Kim and Kathleen, on bringing to life the complex and amazing story of Annie Oakley. And to be performing in live theater to Montpelier, once again, despite the pandemic and all the obstacles it presents!
Maura has been a longtime company member and supporter of LNT and was last seen on this stage in the title role of Becoming Dr. Ruth. Her LNT credits range back to 1999 and are too many to list. Just a few include Macbeth, Sylvia, Midnight and Magnolias, Vagina Monologue, It’s a Wonderful Life and Love Letters Made Easy, another of Jeannie Beckwith’s gems. Other theater credits include Sexy Laundry and Ripcord at The Public Theater in Lewiston, ME.
Maura is looking forward to performing in the full production of Annie Oakley, hopefully in the 2022 season. Special thanks and kudos to Kim, Kathleen, and Jeannie for this wonderful opportunity.
BRANDY ANN PEREZ( Associate Managing Director) works in arts administration for LNT while still sharing her love of dance and the performing arts. She also teaches ballet at Moving Light Dance Studio and volunteers as a development committee member for Vermont Dance Alliance. Over the years, Brandy has has been a member of the Vermont Dance Collective, has created her own original choreography for ballets and musicals, helped to found and run Ballet Wolcott, taught at Johnson State College and dance studios around the state, and has collaborated with many local choreographers, teachers, and arts organizations.
DOMINIC SPILLANE (Theater Engine) - Dominic is an actor, director, and producer currently living in Northfield, VT. Past acting credits include the online presentation of Hands of Light [GAAR / The Mirror Theater], a Vermont tour of Constellations by Nick Payne, and Gruesome Playground Injuries by Rajiv Joseph [Phantom Theater & Lost Nation Dark Nights, VT]. Other acting credits include the world premieres of The Wundelsteipan [The Flea Theater, NYC]; Clown Bar [Rising Phoenix Rep, NYC]; and the production of Six Degrees of Separation [Williamstown Theatre Festival - MA]. Dominic, with his wife Maren Spillane have just launched Dirt Road Theater, a theater company in Northfield, VT (dirtroadtheater.com), and Dominic is currently developing TheaterEngine, a website dedicated to the performing arts (theaterengine.com).
Lost Nation Theater is on its way back!
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