The Merry Month of May Presents
William Shakespeare's


All's Well That Ends Well


Directed and Adapted by Stephen Wargo

May 14, 15, 16 and 17, 2006 at 8:00 PM




All's Well that Ends Well is Shakespeare's most rarely produced "problem" comedy. Concerning the unlikely and unwanted romance between Bertram, a wealthy young nobleman, and Helena, a poor physician's daughter, it follows the two lovers through sickness and health, war and peace, "bed tricks" and broken promises as Helena tries to force her romance to adhere to what might be found in a fairy tale, even though her reality dictates the opposite. Through great struggle and greater obsession, Helena forces everyone and everything in the story to play by the rules of romance, ensuring that All's Well that Ends Well indeed - at least for herself. The adaptation, by director Stephen Wargo, excises some of the more notorious clutter in Shakespeare's folio text and presents the play and the plot as the tragicomic, jaundiced view of love that All's Well is at its broken heart.



Cast for All's Well That Ends Well
Navida Stein as COUNTESS
NAVIDA STEIN: OFF BROADWAY: created role of Beth in Carbondale Dreams; OFF-OFF BROADWAY: (recent credits) Hope in Top Ten with Working for Tips Productions; Frances in Orchidelirium with Personal Space Theatrics (US premiere); Mrs. Irons in the musical The Alchemists with Prospect Theater Company; REGIONAL: Mary Lou in Cowgirls at New Harmony Theater; Jennyanydots in CATS at Sacramento Music Circus; Catharine in A Perfect Ganesh at The Northeast Theater; Nurse in Romeo & Juliet and Featured Singer/Musician in As You Like It at Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival; TV: Law & Order and spots for Nickelodeon. FILM: Francie in Knowing Lisa. GRANTS: Independent Artist Challenge Grant from The Field. EDUCATION: Shakespeare & Company (intensives); Post-Graduate diploma from Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. As a professional storyteller, her one-woman show of stories from around the world with original music frequently tours the New York Metropolitan area. She is also an accomplished violinist, produced playwright and regularly works as a theater, music & creative writing artist-in-residence in the NYC schools.
Collin Biddle as LAFEW
Favorite recent shows include King Kong and War of the Worlds with Radiotheatre, Romeo & Juliet and Taming of the Shrew with the New England Shakespeare Festival, Comedie of Errors in Central Park (Oberon), The Wonder (Flying Fig) and The Rivals (Titans/Abingdon) which he also adapted and co-produced. In addition, Collin has done independent films, industrials, branded content and so on and so forth.
Richard Fromm as BERTRAM
Originally from Davtona Beach, Florida. Rich now lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, Bryn and their French Bulldog, Daphne! He is thrilled to be working with such a wonderful cast of characters brought together for this production. Some favorite roles are Young Charlie in Da (Asolo Theatre Festival), Jacob Whitting in Theatreworks USA production of Sarah Plain and Tall, Orsino in Twelfth Night (Off-Off Bowery Festival 2005) , Orlando in As You Like It (Monomoy Theatre), Mortimer in Arsenic and Old Lace (Monomoy Theatre Company) and most recently seen as Topper and Christmas Future in the Personal Space Theatrics' Production of A Christmas Carol. He is also a proud member of the short-form Improv comedy troupe Hooray For Everything!
Carol Hickey as HELENA
Carol Hickey has been acting in and around New York City for the past 9 years. Her favorite roles have been her critically acclaimed development of Penelope Pennywise in the 1999 NYC International Fringe Festival version of Urinetown! The Musical! for which she received an OOBR award. And, for the past four years she has been Mrs. Cratchit in A Christmas Carol with Personal Space Theatrics. Other favorites include the Wife in The Problem and Dr. Martina in A Stye of the Eye with Confluence Theater Company; Mrs. Cooper in The Alchemists and the librarian in The Flood with Prospect Theater Co. and several small roles in the developmental works coming out of the BMI and ASCAP musical theatre workshops. Carol was most recently seen in the Prospect Theater Company production of The Book of the Dun Cow, as Beryl, the title role, for which the NY Times described her as an "exceptional singer." Carol received a BFA in musical theater from Point Park College and is a graduate of the William Esper Studio.
Michael Poignand as PAROLLES
Michael Poignand (Parolles) loves his cast members, director and stage manager dearly. With neither time nor money, it is truly a blessing to work on great material with good friends that have a knack at their trade. Credits available on-request. Be excellent to each other. Sua Sponte.
Hank Davies as KING OF FRANCE
Hank Davies' recent stage appearances include: Richard in 20 Broken Legs, Ernest Farmer / Harold Clurman in St. Frances of Hollywood, Mephistopheles in Don Juan in Chicago, and Duke Vincentio in Measure for Measure. Other credits: You Ain't No Johnny Cash, The Ruffian on the Stair, The Exception & the Rule, Candida, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Taming of the Shrew, Ten Little Indians, At Home, Sharon & Billy, and Courting Monsters, assorted soaps, episodic television, features, and numerous independent films.
Alex Pappas as FIRST LORD
Alex Pappas is happily making his debut here with MoonBeam.Net Productions. Previously, he has been onstage at such places as Syracuse Stage, the Hangar Theatre, and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. He has also toured extensively throughout the U.S. with TheatreworksUSA, National Theatre of the Performing Arts, as well as others. He has a BFA from Syracuse University's drama program.
Chris Kateff as SECOND LORD
Chris joins the cast of All's Well after previously appearing in Personal Space Theatrics' production of A Christmas Carol and most recently in BTW's production of Largo Desolato where he played Professor Leopold Nettles. Chris spends the day as a projection designer. He has assisted in designing Ring of Fire, Jersey Boys, and the new off-broadway show Burleigh Grimes. Also an occasional musician, Chris has played in several big bands and jazz combos.
Nicholas Alexiy Moran as THE WIDOW
Nicholas Alexiy Moran - Most recent New York appearance as Bob Crachit in PST's A Christmas Carol, also directed by Mr. Wargo. Other New York credits: Quintus in Titus Andronicus (Gilgamesh Theater Group), Willie Joe in Sin Paradise (PRTT) and Flute in Midsummers (Interborough Rep.). Regional stuff includes Ringmaster/Bailey in Barnum (Cherry County Playhouse), Leon in Fools (Theater Barn), and Mr. Quimby in Ramona Quimby (Theatreworks/USA). Recent film credits include Agent Roberts in Slow Day, and the lead in Pornomime (don't worry, no nudity!). Commercial appearances include nationals for Old Navy and AT&T Wireless. He holds a B.A. in Theatre from Wesleyan University. Nick just finished shooting a film with MTV and Clio-award winning director Sam Bayer, set to the hit song Crazy by Gnarles Barkley; look for it on the web and elsewhere soon....
Melissa Menzie as DIANA
Melissa Menzie was born and raised just outside of Boston, MA where she received her BFA from Emerson College. She spent four years in the San Francisco Bay Area where she performed with many local theatre companies before returning to the East Coast a year ago. Most recently, Melissa was seen as Elizabeth in Personal Space Theatrics' Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which she has had the joy of performing two years in a row. Some other favorite roles include: Myrrhine in Lysistrata (The Queens Players, NY); Olivia in Twelfth Night (Costal Repertory Theatre, CA); Woman I in Starting Here, Starting Now (Bethany Theatre Company, CA) and Nina in the Seagull (Pear Avenue Theatre, CA).
Matt Mullin as EVERYBODY ELSE
Matt Mullin (Everybody Else) received his B.A in Performance from the University of Northern Iowa. He studied at Circle in the Square, The Actor's Gymnasium, Susan Grace Cohen, and with Thomas G. Waites. He is a three-time nominee for the Kennedy Center's Irene Ryan award and was a founding member of the Key Theatre. In New York he has appeared on national television and radio, and starred in the first full production from the creators of the New York International Fringe Festival, Oswald's Backyard at The Beckett on 42nd Street. Most recently he played Picasso in Steve Martin's play at the Bangor Opera House in Maine. Some appearances include The Seagull, Equus, A Dybbuk (Kushner), Taming-Shrew, Much Ado, Saint Joan, Wild Honey and Ashes to Ashes (directed by Steve Wargo).
Stephen Wargo : DIRECTOR
Stephen is a Pittsburgh native and is Artistic Director of Personal Space Theatrics (PST), now in its fourth season. For PST: four annual productions of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol', which he adapted with musical arrangements by Dianne Adams McDowell; the praised 2005 first NYC revival of David Ives' Don Juan in Chicago; and the U.S. premieres of the Canadian comedies The Duchess: a.k.a. Wallis Simpson and Orchidelirium. Other NYC credits: Ashes to Ashes, Spud to Spud, Something Lost, Something Gained, various readings, various writings. Other credits: Working, Drood, All in the Timing. Upcoming: a solo-performance A Christmas Carol with Robert Ian Mackenzie at StageWorks in Hudson, NY. Under development: Another Part of the Island, based on Shakespeare, and a new piece based on ETA Hoffman's Nutcracker. BFA: Musical Theater, Syracuse University. Also, a new ensemble musical based on Willa Cather's short fiction
Roseanna Sharrow : Stage Manager
Roseanna M. Sharrow (Production Stage Manager) is happy to be sharing in the craziness again with Steve. Most recently, she was the PSM for PST's production of A Christmas Carol. Broadway credits include: Lennon and In My Life. A recent graduate of Bowling Green State University, Roseanna spent two of her summers stage managing at the oldest Summererstock Theatre in Ohio, The Huron Playhouse. She would like to thank her parents, her sister, Brandy and her best friend, Emily for their continued love and support.
Juliet Heller : Assistant Director / Assistant Stage Manager / Stitcher / Shopper / Girl Friday
Previous projects include: F.R.A.M.E.D (College of Marin STORY Company, CA), COM Dance Company Spring Performance (where she fashioned a wedding dress out of CD.s), Artistic Director of The University Players (Indiana University, Bloomington) and was also a student producer of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at IU. Juliet was last seen on stage in Personal Space Theatrics' 2005 production of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Other favorite roles include Marjorie Pinchwife in The Country Wife (Diorama Theatre, London, UK), Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest (CA), Irene in The Dresser (CA) and Cinderella in Into the Woods (CA).
Special thanks to:
  • LF Stores, Brooklyn
  • Jessa-Raye Court
  • Theatre Row Studios
  • Emily Wright
  • Kathleen Leary
  • NASDAQ
  • Heatherlyn Egan