Moonlight Stage Productions

Moonlight Stage Productions, an award-winning regional musical theater, is located in the North San Diego suburb of Vista, California. Moonlight Stage Productions offers Broadway musicals under the stars during the summer months in the Moonlight Amphitheater and a diverse line-up of comedies, dramas and small-scale musicals during the winter months in the Avo Playhouse.

Moonlight Stage Productions 2009/10 Winter Season at the AVO Playhouse presents:

Ring Round the Moon

Mar 4 - Mar 21, 2010

Showtimes: Thu-Sat, 7:30pm; Sat-Sun, 2:00pm

A comedy by Jean Anouilh

Adapted by Christopher Fry

Directed by Jason Heil

Order Tickets Now from vistixonline.com

With a nod to George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” and the fairy tale “Cinderella,” Jean Anouilh’s original French comedy has been adapted by Christopher Fry with recent productions in London and New York. Set in a romantic French garden, the story centers on twin brothers. When one brother thinks his twin is entering a loveless marriage, he plans an evening of charades to save his sibling. What follows is a night of mistaken identities and misguided love affairs with unexpectedly happy results. Filled with charm and sparkling wit, Ring Round the Moon is a lavish romp where fairy-tale dreams come true.

 


The production of Ring Round the Moon is supported in part by a grant from the

National Endowment for the Arts.

 

Learn more:

'Ring Round the Moon' Program >>

Fairy tale, with knives - San Diego Reader >>

Moonlight's 'Ring' is Over the Moon - North County Times >>

Ring Round the Moon - SDNN.com >>

'Ring Round the Moon' Full of Talent - San Diego Union-Tribune >>

Romance, Laughs and a Bit More - San Diego.com >>

"Moon" Actor Makes a Name for Himself - San Diego Union-Tribune >>

Director Says Romance Wins Out in Moonlight's 'Ring Round the Moon' - North County Times >>

 

Horace Bickle as Frederic, Mary Bogh as Isabelle, and Howard Bickle as Hugo

 

Francis Gercke as Patrice and Jessica John as Lady India

 

Jim Chovick as Messerschmann and Frances Anita Rivera as Diana

Photos by Ken Jacques

 

Cast  
HOWARD BICKLE (Hugo) Avo Playhouse credits: The Foreigner, Driving
Miss Daisy, Moon Over Buffalo, Sylvia, To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday, See How They
Run, Lost In Yonkers, and The Fantasticks. Moonlight Amphitheatre credits: Ragtime,
Damn Yankees, Crazy For You, Grease, South Pacific, and Gypsy. Locally Howard has
performed, directed, or taught for The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Lamb's Players,
North Coast Rep., San Diego Rep., and The Theatre in Old Town.
   
HORACE BICKLE (Fredric) is pleased to return to the stage with his brother,
Howard. Previous stage credits include Sleuth and The Mousetrap. Film credits include
Alan Smithee's Burn Hollywood Burn and City in Fear.
   
MARY BOGH (Isabelle) is thrilled to work with such a lovely cast and crew
in her first Moonlight production. Currently based in L.A., Mary has performed
throughout Southern California and Chicago. Past shows include: The Glass Menagerie
(Laura), Twelfth Night (Olivia), Cash on Delivery (Sally Chessington), The Winter's
Tale (Paulina), Cementville (Dani), and Terminating... (Dr. Ester Zauber). She has
also appeared in a handful of independent films, including: 07, Love Hurts, and
Missing Pieces. Mrs. Bogh earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from California State
University, Fullerton.
   

DANNY CAMPBELL (Guy Charles Romainville) was last seen at the Avo
Playhouse as Finch McComas in You Never Can Tell. Moonlight credits: Sweeney
Todd, 1776, West Side Story, Fiddler On The Roof, Chess and Phantom. He has recently
appeared in Macbeth for Intrepid Shakespeare, Room Service (Lamb's), The Last Night
of Ballyhoo (SRT), and as Col. Pickering in My Fair Lady at Starlight. Favorite roles
include: Dancing At Lughnasa (Michael), Hamlet (Horatio), The Taming Of The Shrew
(Petruchio), The Odd Couple (Felix), La Béte (Bejart), Much Ado About Nothing (Don
Pedro), and A Walk In The Woods (John Honeyman). He is married to fellow Moonlight
veteran Sandy Campbell.
   
JIM CHOVICK (Messerschmann) was last seen at the Avo Playhouse in You
Never Can Tell. San Diego Theatre credits include: Cygnet Theatre Company, (Resident
Artist), Lamb's Players Theatre (Associate Artist), The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse,
San Diego Repertory Theatre, New Village Arts, North Coast Repertory Theatre,
Sledgehammer Theatre, Eveoke Dance Theatre, Starlight Musical Theatre, 6th@
Penn, The Ark, Christian Community Theatre, Mystery Café Dinner Theatre, Vantage
Theatre, and The Fritz. Awards: San Diego Theatre Critics Circle, Backstage West
Drama-Logue, Patté, Billie, and Robby.
   
JILL DREXLER (Madame Desmortes) is pleased to be working with the
wonderful people at the Avo Playhouse again. Avo credits include: Moon Over Buffalo
and You Never Can Tell. Other recent credits: Hysterical Blindness, Backyard at Cygnet;
Torch Song Trilogy, Fit To Be Tied (Patté Award, San Diego Theatre Critics Award),
Diversionary Theatre; Buried Child, What's Wrong with This Picture, North Coast
Repertory Theatre; Private Fittings (u.s.), La Jolla Playhouse. Film Credits include:
Chapters, Table for Three, The Married Men's Club, and Michael Landon, the Father I Knew. Ms. Drexler is Artistic Director of Scripps Ranch Theatre; look for her there in May in
Not Now Darling.
   
DON EVANS (General/Servant) was last seen on stage at the Moonlight
Amphitheatre in West Side Story as Schrank. Don has also performed with New
Village Arts, Moxie Theatre, Welk Resort Theatre and Lyric Opera of San Diego.
Favorite roles include Frank Butler, The Cowardly Lion, Horton, and Dr. Watson. He's
thrilled to be teamed with such a talented group.
   
FRANCIS GERCKE (Patrice) is the associate artistic director of Cygnet Theatre
Company. He has appeared on several stages throughout San Diego, most recently at
Diversionary Theatre in Ion Theatre Company's production of Hurlyburly. He also
teaches at Palomar College and the University of San Diego.
   

ANNIE HINTON* (Mother) Regional credits: The Hostage, Old Globe Theatre, (Jack
O'Brien); Our Town, Seattle Repertory Theatre, (Dan Sullivan); A Contemporary
Theatre; Empty Space Theatre; Seattle Children's Theatre; and New Mexico Repertory
Theatre. Local credits: Clean House, (Virginia), San Diego Repertory Theatre; Book of
Liz, (Liz), Christmas Carol (Mrs. Dilbur/Fezziwig), Cygnet Theatre; Glorious (Maria/
Dorothy/Mrs. V.G.), Importance of Being Earnest, (Lady Bracknell), Travesties,
(Nadya), North Coast Repertory Theatre. Film: Bring It On; Outta Time; 29th &
Gay. TV: Jenni Project (Disney), Veronica Mars, Push and many others. Annie also
channels her creative energy into her private students and is a Freeway-Flyer Theatre
Professor of many years. *Member of Actors' Equity Association

   
HANNAH M. JAMES (The Maid) made her Moonlight debut in Kopit and Yeston's
Phantom last August. Credits elsewhere: The Mikado, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and
Cinderella. Hannah is a senior at San Diego Christian College and will graduate in
May with a B.A. in music. Hannah currently teaches dance at California Ballet in San
Diego. Thanks to Jason, Kathy, Sarah, and the cast. Soli Deo Gloria.
   
JESSICA JOHN (Lady India) was last seen as Brooke in Cygnet Theatre's Noises
Off, (SD Critic's Circle Award Best Ensemble). Other favorite San Diego productions
include Cygnet Theatre: Mauritius, Love Song, Desire Under the Elms, Communicating
Doors (Patté Award Best Production), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (SD Playbill Award Best
Actress), Burn This (SD Critic's Circle Award Best Actress); North Coast Rep: A Shayna
Maidel; Moxie Theatre: Pulp!; New Village Arts: The Playboy of the Western World (Patté
Award Best Actress); Backyard Productions: An Experiment with an Airpump and
Renaissance Theatre: A View from the Bridge (SD Critic's Circle Award Best Actress).
She is a Cygnet Theatre Resident Artist. Love to Jillian.
   
RALPH JOHNSON (Joshua) is very pleased to be a part of this production of
Ring Round the Moon. He last appeared with Moonlight Stage Productions this past
summer in 42nd Street as Abner Dillon. In the past year he has also performed
in An American Christmas with Lamb's Players Theatre where he is an associate
artist. The Tempest with Grossmont College (Gonzalo), and in Annie with Starlight
Musical Theatre (Franklin Delano Roosevelt). Thank you to Jason and Kathy for this
opportunity. What a journey. What a ride.
   
RYAN HUNTER LEE (Twin Double/Servant) graduated from the Pacific
Conservatory of the Performing Arts in 2007. Local credits: The Foreigner, Avo
Playhouse; The Boys Next Door, Mira Costa College; Golden Boy, New Village Arts; The
Composers, Premiere Productions; Arsenic and Old Lace, Carlsbad Community Theatre.
   
VERONICA MURPHY (Capulet) It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, The
Matchmaker, My Fair Lady, Cygnet Theatre Company; Trojan Women, Ion Theatre
Company; House of Blue Leaves, Exonerated, and In Arabia We'd All Be Kings, Lynx
Performance Theatre; Mornings At Seven, North Coast Repertory Theatre; Steel
Magnolias, Alice in Concert, An Inspector Calls, Dracula and others at Lamb's Players
Theatre. She is the Artistic Director and co-founder of WRITE OUT LOUD.
   
FRANCES ANITA RIVERA (Diana) has been performing on the stage since she
was very young. She has had the pleasure to work with such theatres as Seattle
Repertory Theatre, Arizona Jewish Theatre, Phoenix Theatre, Magic Theatre in San
Francisco, Marin Shakespeare Theatre, and the American Conservatory Theatre. She
was most recently seen in Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company's production of 9 Parts
of Desire. She holds a BA in Dramatic Arts from the University of California, Santa
Barbara and has spent two years in The American Conservatory's Masters of Fine
Arts program.
   
Creative Team  

JASON HEIL(Director) returns to the Avo Playhouse, where he previously directed
You Never Can Tell and performed in The Goodbye Girl. Other directing credits include
Twelfth Night (Actors Repertory Theatre, Middletown, OH), Brilliant Traces (Finishing
the Hat Productions, Los Angeles), Baby In Concert (Shropshire Wolverine Productions),
Barefoot in the Park (Palo Alto Children's Theatre), and The Visit, Jacques and his Master, Manny & Jake, Recensio, and Closetland (UC Irvine). As an actor, Jason has also appeared locally at La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego & North Coast Repertory Theatres, Starlight Musical Theatre, and Lamb's Players Theatre. Regionally at A Noise Within, Arkansas and Tennessee Repertory Theatres, and the Utah, Lake Tahoe, Texas, & Marin Shakespeare Festivals.

 

COLLEEN KOLLAR SMITH (Choreographer) is thrilled to be working at Moonlight, having grown
up through their youth program. She is a proud member of the resident ensemble at Lamb's Players
Theatre where in addition to performing, she serves as Resident Choreographer and Director of Summer
Education. Choreography credits include: Pump Boys and Dinettes, Godspell, The Light in the Piazza, Joseph…,
Hello, Dolly!, and American Christmas. Favorite roles to date – wife to the remarkable Lance Arthur and
Mum to her darling Carmen Scotland.

 

MIKE BUCKLEY (Scenic & Lighting Design) Previous Avo Playhouse designs: You Never Can Tell,
The Most Happy Fella and The Game Of Love And Chance. Mike has designed for the San Diego Repertory
Theatre, Laguna Playhouse and the Old Globe MFA program. Recent favorites include Fences, Cygnet
Theatre Company; The Light in the Piazza, Lamb's Players Theatre; and Bad Dates, San Diego Repertory
Theatre. His accolades include two San Diego Theatre Critic's Circle Awards and five Patté Awards. Current
designs include An Inspector Calls, Lamb's Players Theatre, and Pump Boys & Dinettes, Horton Grand. Mike
also designs residential interiors through his business Weekend Makeover.

 

CHRIS LUESSMANN (Sound Design) Hay Fever, The Magic Fire, I Do, I Do, Avo Playhouse; Little Shop
of Horrors, Guys And Dolls, Joseph..., and Les Misérables Moonlight Stage Productions. Off-Broadway: The
Third Story, Lucille Lortel Theatre. Los Angeles: Company (UCLA) Mourning Becomes Electra, Interact; Das
Barbecu, Too Old For The Chorus, and Forbidden Broadway SVU, Miracle Theatre Productions; South Pacific,
Lamb's Players Theatre; Leading Ladies, Dracula, Baby, A Shayna Maidel, A Christmas Carol, Jacques Brel Is
Alive And Well... And The Big Bang, North Coast Repertory Theatre. Billy Crystal'’s 700 Sundays, La Jolla
Playhouse.

 

ROSLYN LEHMAN (Costume Design) has been designing for Moonlight Stage Productions for the
last 10 years. Favorites include this past summer's shows: 42nd Street, Phantom, Cats, and at the Avo, The
Foreigner, Swingtime Canteen, and last year's Driving Miss Daisy and Moon Over Buffalo . She also designs for
MiraCosta College , Welk Resort Theatre, and Carlsbad Community Theatre. Her favorite projects include
those she works on with her daughter, Renetta Lloyd (who designed extensively on this project), and her
costume buddy, Carlotta Malone.


RENETTA LLOYD (Costume Design) is excited to be back working with Moonlight Stage Productions.
Local costuming credits include shows at MiraCosta College, Carlsbad Community Theatre, Encore Youth
Theatre, and Welk Resort Theatre. When not costuming shows, Renetta keeps her sewing machine busy
with "one of a kind" pieces like wedding dresses, Carnivale of Venice outfits, formal wear, and whatever
else comes her way. She would like to thank her mother, Roslyn Lehman, for getting that sewing machine
for her 8th birthday and teaching her everything she knows; her father, for always encouraging that
entrepreneurial spirit; and her husband, Paul, for putting up with all the stresses and messes. Enjoy the
show!


BONNIE DURBEN (Properties) Moonlight credits: Little Shop of Horrors, West Side Story, and
Me and My Girl. Selected credits elsewhere: Fences, Communicating Doors, Bug, My Fair Lady, and The
Matchmaker, Cygnet Theatre (Resident Property Designer); Electra, and The Dining Room, MiraCosta
College. Member: Set Decorators Society of America. Recipient of the John Guth Patté for Backstage
Brilliance award. Independent film: The Street Sweeper and Ready? Ok!


SARAH AHLQUIST (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be making her Moonlight stage management
debut! She is a full time college student with a double major in theatre and interpreting. She is very excited
to be working with such a talented group of actors, designers and production staff. She has crewed many
shows for Moonlight and is excited to now be stage managing. Other stage management and assistant
credits include: The Foreigner, Moon Over Buffalo, Driving Miss Daisy, Avo Playhouse; The Legend of Sleepy
Hallow, Encore Youth. She also enjoys performing along with the management side of theatre. Love to my
Moonlight family and to my amazingly supportive mother.

 



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