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MARK ALLEN (Bishop) is happy to play a role in which he receives some respect (even feigned), having received none as President of the St. Mark's Players for the past nine productions.

SUSANNE ALLEN (Lady Alicia de le Pole) likes Broadway shows almost as well as opera. She is a member of St. Mark's Church and serves on the Players' Board of Directors. She has appeared in Players' musicals since 1983; her favorite roles were Katisha in The Mikado and Aunt Eller in Oklahoma!. She has also performed with the Summer Opera Theatre of Washington and the Paul Hill Chorale Society.

SCOTT BENEDICT (Lancelot) appears in his second St. Mark's produc-tion. Three years ago he starred as Frederick in Pirates of Penzance. Since moving Into this area form Pennsylvania, he has performed operet-tas and musicals with many local companies. He Is a graduate student at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, and works at the IBM Corpora-tion in Gathersburg. Some of his favorite roles include Cad-Magnus InA Litle Night Music, Tom in Good News, and Arthur in Camelot.

CHRISTINA BIRD (Young Girl) is In the eighth grade at Capitol Hill Day School. This is her sbcth performance with the St. Mark's Players. Chris-tina enjoys singing, playing the piano, reading, and doing gymnastics.

SCOTT CAMPBELL BROWN (Pell Inore) is a demographer for Gallaudet University, where he conducts research on aging and hearing loss. Originally from New York, Scott has performed improvisational comedy at the National Theater, Garvin's Comedy Cafe and the Bethesda Clnema'N' Draft House.

DORIS BURTON (Assistant Director) shares an Interest in theater with her husband, Jack. A trained musician and dancer, she appeared In Car-nival with John Kirkpatrick, and In Pajama Game, which she choreographed for Musicomedy. She has sung wth the Annapolis Chorale and the Chesapeake Chorale. Doris teaches Russian and American history at Bowie High School.

GREG BURTON (Set Designer) didn't let living In Brooklyn, New York stop him from designing the sets for this production, making this his D.C. debut. A graduate of SUNY-New Paltz, Greg recently served as electrician at the New York Shakespeare Festival. In the fall of 1988, Greg moved back east after serving as resident set and lighting designer at Fargo-Moorhead Community Theater In Fargo, North Dakota. Greg found Fargo to be rather cold. He shares the ACE Award with the scenic artist.

JACK BURTON (Director) has directed high school, college, and com-unity theater productions of both musical and rion-musical theater. His favorite theater experiences came from The Contrast, Our Town, Wait Until Dark, She Stoops to Conquer, The Fantasticks, Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing ... Forum, The Robber Bridegroom, Cosi Fan Tuffe-and, would you believe-The Miss New York State Pageant (Miss America preliminary). He holds an M.F.A. in stage direction from the University of Wisconsin. Jack is a member of St. Mark's and teaches physics at Broad-neck S.H. School In Annapolis.

PAM BURTON (Choreographer) reunites in this production with her direc-tor/father, Jack, who cultivated her early love of the stage. Pam has been dancing and performing all her life, most recently as June in Little Theater of Mexandria's Chicago.

FAIRFIELD BUTT (Dap) has played principal roles in every St. Mark's Players Production since its organization In 1983, except when he served as co-director of The Lion In Winter. Those roles have Included Koko, Sir Joseph Porter, the Pirate King, the Duke of Plaza-Toro, Captain Hook, and most recently, his particular favorite, Frank Strang in Equus.

ELLEN CARDWELL (Lady Elfrieda le Desirous) has spent her sabbatical year from directing lying prone under sets, handling box office, selecting next season's plays and learning the forbearance required of the chorus. Her "Caught In the Act'St. Mark's adult class has just concluded.

LARRY CARDWELL (Sir Sagramore le Desirous) Is finding lusty knight-hood to be the elixir he needs to keep him young at heart In this, his seventh spring musical with the Players. Being the Dream Dance Judd In Oklahomal was his favorite role. He Is a senior executive In the Interior Department.

ELIZABETH CROYDON (Morgan Le Fey) has been active In theatre for eight years. She has been seen In The Children's HoLy at the Washington Jewish Theatre, 'The Easter Surprise" at the Kennedy Center and various other local theatres and productions. This Is her second ap-pearance with the S t. Mark's Players.

MARY LOU COFFMAN (Musical Director) has served as musical director for all the St. Mark's Players' musicals. She has concluded that she must be a superconductor, since she Is able to work In the cryogenic tempera-tures of the St. Marks nave during the winter.

CAROLYN EMERY (Lady Sybil) lives with Steve, Matt and Charles Emery as wife, mother, chauffeur arid chief pun-maker. She appeared as Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz. Her first appearance with the Players was in the chorus of H.M.S. Pinafore.

CHARLES EMERY (rom, a young knight) has been in six St. Mark's productions and is 14 years old. He is in the 8th grade, on the track team, in the jazz band, and was on the soccer team for TJ Intermediate in Arlington.

MATT EMERY (Knight) is a senior at Wakefield High School in Arlington, and plans to study engineering this fall. He has appeared in all the St. Mark's musicals since The Pirates of Penzance. His favorite roles were playing Nana and the crocodile in Peter Pan. His hobbies are volleyball, sailing, and saving maidens in distress.

STEVE EMERY (Sir Dinadan) has been in The Pirates of Perizance, The Gondoliers, Peter Pan, Oklahomal" and The Wizard of Oz with the St. Mark's Players. He loves sailing, guitar, fishing and hunting with his Lab, Penny.

ABBY FEDER (Assistant Stage Manager) has worked as a production as-sistant at off-Broadway's Westside Arts Theatre. She has also served as Assistant Stage Manager for the New Theatre of Brooklyn and the New Arts Theatre Company. She studied acting with Elizabeth Dillon and Earle Hyman.

NICOLE FELIX (Lady Jane Ashton) works for the Library of Congress. She is a member of the Church of the Pilgrims and sings In their choir. She appeared in The Pirates of Penzance and The Gondoliers at St. Mark's.

ROB HALL (Sir Lionel) is a native Georgian. This production marks his first with the St. Mark's Players. He has previously sung roles in Fiddler on the Roof, The Pirates of Penzance, and Salute to Broackvay. He sings baritone with the Alexandria Choral Society and Is Legislative Counsel to Senator Sam Nunn.

KATHLEEN HAMOR (Lady Diana) makes her ninth appearance in a St. Mark's Players production, Including all spring musicals, a flight to Never-Never-Land as Liza in Peter Pan, and inciting witch burning in The Crucible. Kathleen is a corporate lawyer and a certified total Image con-sultant. She is Vice President of the Player.

THOMAS HILL (Page) is a 13-year old 8th grader at TJ Intermediate in Ar-lington. This is Thomas' second St. Mark's performance (his first was in The Wizard of Oz). Before he joined the St. Marks Players he was an ac-tive member of the Children's Theatre of Arlington.

SUSAN HIMES-POWERS (Guenevere) is one of a rare species-a native of Northern Virginia. She works as a temporary secretary during the day, but at night she moonlights as an actress, playing anything from Ado Annie to Abigail Adams. Susan received her B.A. in drama in 1985 and has appeared in several community theater productions in the Northern Virginia area, recently as Marsinah in lQsmet, Philia in A Funny Thing ... Forum, and Abigail Adams in 1776.

JOHN HUTSON (Lighting Designer) finds time to design lights for the St. Mark's Players when not causing massive traffic jams or Wng kites. John has fit nearly all of the Players' shows, including The Mikado, The Gon-doliers, Peter Pan, Oklahoma, and most recently, Equus.

JOHN KIRKPATRICK (Arthur) is a native of suburban Maryland and teaches high school history. He has riot performed in theatre for a num-ber of years, but decided to appear as Arthur in Camelot because he loves the character, the show, and the era. He appeared in the Prince Georges Community Theatre production of The Fantasucks in 1965.

CYNTHIA LAUREN (Mrs. Louis Gilliam-White, Chorus) returns to the stage after an adventure as assistant director of Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz for the Players. Her favorite roles include Marta in Company, Pfttl-Sing in The Mikado, Mrs. Darling In Peter Pan, and the third customer in She Loves Me.

PHILIP M. LOMBARD (Scenic Artist) worked on the Gilbert Gottfried Comedy Special for Cinemax, which won an Ace award. He recently designed Hair and The Dining Room. He will be graduating from SUNY New Paltz, New York in May with a B.F.A. in scene design. Originally from Elmira, New York, he has painted over 40 shows from North Dakota to New York City.

SHANNON 0. LOUDEN (Assistant Director/Stage Manager) is a member of St. Mark's Church. This Is Shannon's second show with the St. Mark's Players, but her first ever as stage manager. When she's not in Camelot, she can be found downtown working as a legal assistant. Enjoy the show!

BUZZ MARCH (Merlyn) was in the early St. Mark's Players of the 1960's. He appeared in The Bald Soprano, Mother Courage, and Cry the Beloved Country, and directed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Taylor Adams and The Queen and the Rebels with Joya Cox.

PAUL MARCHIONE (Castor) makes his St. Mark's debut as the feisty, fun-loving Scot, Castor (played in the movie by a much younger Sting). The Canadian-Irish-ftalian from Seattle is happy to call Scotland home, but he sincerely wished that the kilt had fit.

CHARLENE MILAM (Lady of the Court) plays daily in real life at the Columbia Federal Credit Union in the role of Marketing Director. She has appeared with the St. Mark's Players in several roles, including Gertie in Oklahoma! and the Duchess in Gondoliers." She's still wafting to be cast as the Pirate King.

JORGE MONTIJO (Page) is appearing for the third time with the St. Mark's Players. His hobbles include sleeping and eating. In the movie, his role was played by Dan Quayle.

WALTON MOODY (Sir Mador, Knight) is in his seventh season with the St. Marks Players. He sings in the St. Mark's choir, lives on Capitol Hill, and as a military historian, needs to overcome his conviction that Camelot is a fictitious place.

ANN NAFFIER (Young Lady) is one of several Lutherans who have in-vaded the St. Mark's Players this year. Originally from Iowa, she comes to Washington with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps and works at the Inter-faith Conference of Metropolitan Washington.

LOUIS PELLETIER (Knight) is an electrical engineer by profession. A member of the Annunciation Church Choir and the Thomas Circle Singers, Louis appeared in the Players' 1988 production of Oklahoma!.

ADAM REISS (Guillaume) began his performing career In the Players' 1983 production of 'Trial by Jury." This is his fifth production with the Players. He has also handled lighting and publicfty. Adam is a full-time student at Northern Virginia Community College. Like his character in Camelot, he is eligible and quite a flirt.

MARY RIENDEAU (Nimue) is appearing in her fifth production with St. Mark's. She was Gianetta (The Gondoliers), Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance), and Josephine (H.M.S. Pinafore). Mary also sings with the choir of the National Shrine and has appeared with Potomac Valley Opera and Prince Georges Opera.

LORIE RODDY (rehearsal pianist) has worked with the Players during the past two musical productions. In real life she plays the computer.

CHARLIE RUPP (Lighting Technician) is a computer specialist with the Defense Mapping Agency in Merrifield, Virginia. "Camelot" is his second serious lighting production following Equus at St. Mark's. He is deeply in-volved in many aspects of the St. Mark`s community.

JOHN SCHLEY (Pollux) returns to the stage for the first time since his senior class play, and is having a fascinating time in Camelot. John works through the Lutheran Volunteer Corps at the Capital Area Com-munity Food Bank as the Volunteer Coordinator (see our ad). Volunteer at the Food Bank-come once or Come-a-lot!

LESLIE SMITH (Lady Anne) works as a lawyer at the SEC at night to sup-port her stage career at St. Marles: Pirates of Penzance, Gondoliers, and Oklahoma! This year she has one speaking line and a stage partner (Sir Lionel) who keeps her chin up.

KEVIN SOCKWELL (Knight) returns for his seventh production with the St. Marks Players. He can be found during the week as a therapist for Bethesda Youth Services.

STEVE VINGE (Mordred) is in his first production in D.C. after being dis-covered for his acting in New York ... and being kicked out. He is currently working at the Cooperative Urban Ministry Center through the Lutheran Volunteer Corps program.

K-J. WILLIAMS (Lady of the Court) is from a small farm in Wisconsin and is yet another member of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps to irrvade the St. Mark's Players. She looks on Camelot as a place to escape, at least tem-porarily, after working on N Street with homeless women.

Stages of a Dream

Camelot, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, opened at the MaJestic Theater in New York on December 3, 1960. Based generally on T.H. White's The Once and Future King, it was a reworking of the material of the Arthurian cycle in a modern idiom. Starring Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet, Camelot ran for 874 performances.

From a literary standpoint, there have been many Camelots throughout history. The archaeologists and historians currently interested in the site in the English county of Somerset, near South Cadbury, make an interesting case that this was the original Camelot. For a discussion of the "historical Arthur" and the latest research on the subject, see Geoffrey Ashe, The Discovery of King Arthur (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1985).

In Ashe's view, Arthur was probably the hero who led the Britons in the fifth-century struggle to avert the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West. The story of this hero then passed into the lore of the surviving Britons (i.e., the Welsh). The story then became central to late medieval culture, linked with such names as Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chrestien de Troyes, Wolfram von Eschenbach, and of course, Thomas Malory. Tennyson, Wagner, and T.H. White are more modern artists to use the Arthurian material. The Lerner-Loewe musical itself became a metaphor for the hopes inspired by the administration of President Kennedy.

But in every account, including the latest historical theory, the end is betrayal and catastrophe, 'the sundown of a dream." Geoffrey Ashe describes the Camelot theme as "the long-lost glory or promise which not truly lost." It is our modest hope that this production of Camelot will offer a glimpse of that glory and promise.

The St. Mark's Players was founded in 1983 as a Gilbert & Sullivan company. The goals of the company have been to provide personal growth to the members of the company, and to provide an outlet for dramatic and musical talent within the community.

Our first season consisted of a one weekend run of Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury. In the years since, the Players has expanded its program until now three works are presented during the season. The first, presented in December, is a family-oriented production. The second, in March, is a serious, dramatic selection. The spring production is a musical drama.

The Players is an organization of St. Mark's church, chartered in recognition that theater provides another avenue through which we my explore our lives. The players has a fifteen-person board of directors headed by Mark Allen, President, Kathleen Hamor, Vice President, Ellen Cardwell, Artistic Director, and Mary Lou Coffman, Musical Director. This organization is intended to enhance the ability of the Players to present high quality participatory community drama.

Camelot represents the ideal of the company as a showcase for both new and experienced talent. Director Jack Burton has extensive experience in the theater. This is his first presentation as a director of the company, and we are pleased to welcome him.

If you would like more information about the Players, please feel free to contact us. We will be delighted to hear from you.

St. Mark's Players Production Archive