Thursday, April 18, 2024
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HOP ON THE BUS!
a ride to remember

Director - Tom Whateley

Tom WhateleyTom Whateley is celebrating his 41st year in theatre. He was born in Stoneham Ma., but has lived in Maine for over 10 years. Tom has worked at the Carousel Dinner Theatre in Ohio, The Shawnee Playhouse in Pennsylvania, Nick’s Comedy Stop in Boston, The Cooperstown Theatre Festival in upstate New York to name a few. Has also sung opera in Williamsburg ,Va.

His Florida Credits include: the Civic Theatre of Orlando, The Central Florida Lyric Opera, The Orlando Opera Co., Naples Dinner Theatre, and the Florida Repertory Theatre. He has also directed several shows, and has written a one man cabaret called Broadway And All That Jazz! which played before sell out audiences all over Florida . Some of Tom’s favorite roles are: Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof, Emile de Becque in South Pacific, The Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance and Fagin in Oliver.

In the Director’s own words…..” I could not be more humbled and honored to direct this wonderful new project! In this day and age where every headline and news item is far from uplifting and generally is downright depressing, it is a pleasure to be able to put forth a message of hope and joy! Alan Bean has written one of the most remarkable pieces of musical theatre I have ever been a part of! I can’t wait to see how it turns out!”

Email: director@TheBusStopAtheist.com

Stage Manager - Sue Roy

Susan RoySue Roy has been stage managing for 10+ years. She has been seen at the Hackmatack Playhouse, The Governors Inn Murder Mystery dinners, The Rochester Opera House and Garrison Players, to name a few.  She is so happy and proud to have been asked to participate and take part in this wonderful world premiere of "The Bus Stop Atheist."  She wants to thank the Director Tom Whateley for introducing her to Alan Bean, and Alan for letting her be involved in this special project. She would also like to thank her husband Tom for always being behind her in every endeavor. God rest his soul, 01/11/52 - 06/21/2014.

Music Director/Producer/Audio Engineer - Alan Bean

Alan BeanA more eclectic background than that of Alan Bean may be hard to find. Raised in rural Maine, he was indoctrinated into a love of music by his two older sisters.  They used to spin Motown 45rpm records while forcing him to be their dance partner -- even before kindergarten. Things changed even further upon seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show - a love had become a passion.

Alan was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition, served as an altar boy and was the first in his local parish to bring a guitar into a mass (much to the chagrin of many). When out of direct parental influence, however, the culture of the 70's swallowed him up and "religion" was no longer a viable part of his life.

He tried studying the sciences in college only briefly after high school before quitting to set out on the road to play music full time. For about a decade, he toured the country with numerous groups playing rock, country, jazz, blues and R&B, before hanging up his guitar to seek a more "normal" life. He then decided to try his hand at college again. This time he excelled, eventually becoming a medical doctor. Now, much like his lead character in “The Bus Stop Atheist”, science was his idol, his god.

Later, in the midst of a classic mid-life crisis, the guitar beckoned from beneath the bed. Additionally, a life-long interest in the art and technology of recording led to opening a recording studio. This turned out to be the vehicle to winding down his medical career and allowing his composing talents to flourish.

Completely unexpectedly, he found himself being hounded by the God of the universe who had been shoved in a corner and denied for nearly 30 years. Now, with Christ finally in his life, everything was changed.

For more about Alan and the genesis of The Bus Stop Atheist, check out his Composer's Blog, "Conversations at the Bus Stop".

Asst. Music Director - Kim Bean

Kim BeanKim Bean is the primary keyboard player and the wife of the composer. While her playing speaks for itself, her behind the scenes help has been more than words can describe--she personifies encouragement. Kim has a Bachelor of Art in piano and teaches 40-45 private students weekly at www.kimspianostudio.com.

Asst. Audio Engineer - Robert Baker

Pic and bio to be added . . .

Children's Choir Director - Lisa White

Lisa WhiteLisa has been singing professionally for over 20 years and loves to share her musical talent with others. She is involved in the music ministry at her church, Holy Spirit Parish in Wells, Kennebunk and Ogunquit, as a cantor singing at weddings, funerals and weekend masses.  She has also directed the adult and children's church choir.  Besides being involved in music ministry, she serves as a high school youth ministry leader and enjoys helping out in the Wells-Ogunquit school system with some of their musical productions.  Lisa resides in Wells with her husband Jim and their three beautiful children, Isabella, Emma and Colby. She feels abundantly blessed by God to have had this opportunity to work with these 22 wonderfully talented children in this production. Many thanks to Alan Bean for this amazing experience!

Co-Choreographer - Carmel Collins

Carmel CollinsCarmel Ann Collins has been a performer, competitor, and educatior of dance for over twenty years.  She was born in Yorkshire, England where she attained her B.Ed. in the visual and performing arts at Leeds University.  Settling in the United States she continued her studies at Leslie Univeristy and St.Joesph's College obtaining her M.Ed.  Camel competed in Ballroom dance for several years, is a member of the Denmark performing arts theatre, and has performed in community theatre; singing, dancing, and acting in a variety of roles.  Carmel has been an educator of dance for seventeen years in and around the state of Maine, with her main role as dance educator at Lake Region High School.

Email: choreographer@TheBusStopAtheist.com

Co-Choreographer - Adele Jones

Adele JonesAdele Jones is always excited for the opportunity to work on original productions! She is a recent graduate from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Theatre and a concentration in Dance, although she has been dancing for as long as she can remember. Adele started professionally choreographing and teaching at the age of 16, working in both children's theater and professional productions around the Seacoast. Recently, her choreography was seen at the Rochester Opera House, for an original musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol. When she isn't rehearsing for The Bus Stop Atheist this summer, you will find Adele working at Camp ENCORE! and Camp CenterStage, where she is combining her love of the arts with her passion to help her students. She encourages everyone to come see The Bus Stop Atheist, not only to witness this amazing production, but to help support Compassion International’s Water Of Life program in its efforts to aid poverty stricken children around the world.

Costumer - Ronda Verges

Ronda VergesRonda Verges has been part of performing arts world for over 18 years. She a well traveled director who was born in Rockport, Maine. Ronda has held various titles in the theatrical world, and has developed, implemented and established 2 children theatre companies (1 in Maine and another in Missouri). She has had the honor  of working with Ogunquit Playhouse as a playwrite, director;  Hackmatack Playhouse as a costume designer and makeup artists;  Arundel Barn Playhouse as a costumer;  A|d|a|m-Academy of Developing Artists of Maine as the artistic director, costume/makeup and set designer,  Brixham Dance Works as a seamstress ....and more in Maine. 
She carries credits both on stage as Marley in Scrooge; Aunt Allison in Alice in Wonderland; Mrs Darling in Peter Pan; Maria in Sound of Music; Hannigan in Annie; .... she can also be  seen in the filmed piece "Listen" as the mother of a bullied child.

As the Costume Designer and Make-Up Artist-Ronda's prayer is each and everyone of you to find your God given talent, so you too, may share it with the world. God Bless!

Asst. Costumer/Marketing - Elizabeth Roth

Elizabeth Roth

Set Designer - Steven Leighton

Steven LeightonIn addition to calling upon his design and carpentry skills for this project, Steven is a Maine based singer-songwriter, actor, and director. Most recently he was cast as the disturbing mentor Will in Hal Cohen's latest work 'Intervention' for the Portland Fringe Festival where he was fortunate enough to share the stage with his son Jesse Leighton. In his 30 years of stage work, Steven has been cast in a wide range of roles. From Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar to Aaron The Moor in Titus Andronicus, Max Reinhardt in Good theaters 'Shakespeare in Hollywood' to Dracula and the unforgettable favorite Mayor McD in Tim Ryan's '...Ballybun Village' " Clancy, get some meat." Steven is also a founding member of the band Beyond Reason who have been writing and recording together for 20 years on Laughing Cat Records. His latest studio work was with Alan Bean for the soundtrack album for The Bus Stop Atheist where he sang the parts of Pilgrim and Pilate. For the World Premiere performances at the Merrill Auditorium, Steven sings the parts of "Pilate" and "Panhandler". He lives In Alfred, Maine with his Love Laura where they garden poorly, fix and re fix everything, and own Village Heating.

Lighting Designer - Heather Crocker

Pic and bio to be added . . .

Webmaster - William Severance

Bill SeveranceBill Severance of Bridgton, Maine is a developer of .NET Windows applications and ASP.NET websites having coded in a variety of languages since learning assembly language for the DEC PDP-10 mainframe at Bowdoin College (A.B. Physics and Mathematics, 1974). In 2005, he retired after 14 years as manager/technical advisor for Lake Region TV, a community access television station, to devote full time to software development. Bill is currently working on a set of modules for church management system for the DNN (website CMS) platform. ePrayer, a module for tracking prayer requests is currently available. He has served as project lead for several DNN community modules, as a DNN Community Team member and as a DNN*MVP. His free time is spent as lead sound engineer and treasurer at the Bridgton Alliance Church and in long walks with his retriever, Duke. He and his wife, Laurie of 30 years have traveled to all 50 of the United States and much of Canada by van or RV. They now reside in Florida for 6 months of the year.

Graphics Designer - Mody Botros

Mody Botros has been a graphic designer since 1992, graduated from Alexandria University majoring in visual communication, and independent studies at Massachusetts Collage of Art. He started the company About Time Graphics in Bridgton, Maine for his ongoing business of helping small business, and working on freelance projects across the nation included logotype, font creation, branding, packaging design, and web design.

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Executive Producer - Tricia Smith

Tricia SmithTricia Smith has had numerous careers, but teaching and training have been the common threads throughout. For 11 years she was a school teacher and a principal. She then was a Professional Image Consultant for over 11 years, working with over 17,000 clients and with over 500 corporations. She was selected in 1986 to become the National Spokesperson for the Vision Council of America, promoting eyewear as a fashion accessory on such programs as Good Morning America. She has been a Corporate Trainer and Motivational Speaker, her specialties being Professional Presence, Personal Leadership, and Time Management.

Tricia joined Avon Products in 1993, culminating in directing all national Representative training. She was instrumental in elevating Avon’s image, changing the face of that company.

Tricia retired from the corporate world at the end of 2011 to pursue her love of painting and writing, to leverage her talents and skills to evangelize the Lord’s message, to teach fine art to middle and high school students, and to consult with various direct sales companies, all of which she does to this day.

Tricia has loved the stage since she was involved in theater in elementary and high school as an actress. Bus Stop Productions is thrilled to now have her incredible organizational gifts on-board as the Producer for this world debut of The Bus Stop Atheist

Email: producer@TheBusStopAtheist.com

Marketing - Lonnie Lauer

Pic and bio to be added . . .

Marketing - Jamie Basile

Pic and bio to be added . . .

Projection Design - Shay Willard

Pic and bio to be added . . .

Lighting Provider - Headlight Audio Visual

Set Construction - Rev. Robert White

Set Construction - William Legere

 

 

Contact Information

For more information, please contact us at:

Website Design By Bill Severance, WESNet Designs
webmaster@thebusstopatheist.com