And the Winner Is

A comedy

May 14 to 31, 2008

Directed by Eileen Moushey

Cast Biographies

TOM STEPHAN (Seamus) is happy to return to Weathervane for his first foray into the Dietz black box theater. Tom has been seen in over 75 productions in the area, and was last seen at Weathervane in the award-winning Lend Me a Tenor in 2006. Since then, he has appeared with the Ohio Shakespeare Festival in Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Othello and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; with the Largely Literary Theatre Company in The Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exxagerated; and with Stow Players in Greetings! A five-time Chanticleer Award winner, Tom is a retired English and drama teacher from Stow-Munroe Falls High School and is the longest surviving member of Mysteries by Moushey. He has served on the boards of both Weathervane and Stow Players. His “retired” life allows him time to serve on the boards of the Stow-Munroe Falls Chamber of Commerce, the Stow-Munroe Falls Community Foundation, the Kiwanis Club of Stow-Munroe Falls and the GriefCare Place. He also pursues writing, voice-over, commercial- and industrial-video work.

JOHNNY ROCCO (Tyler Johnes) is a graduate of the University of Akron with a bachelor's in photograhy. He last appeared at Weathervane as Rooster Hannigan in the 1995 production of Annie. Since then, he has also appeared with Hudson Players in Singin' in the Rain, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He shares the Dietz Theater stage with his wife, Darlene, who plays Serenity in this production of And the Winner Is.

DENISE BERNSTEIN (Sheri) is excited to be back on stage in Weathervane’s Dietz Theater. She was last seen here in String of Pearls. Some of her favorite roles include Frances in No Sex Please, We’re British, Belinda in Noises Off, Sarah in Laughing Stock and Doris in Same Time, Next Year. She received Ohio Community Theatre Association regional acting awards for her portrayal of Maggie in Jake’s Women and Kirsten in Days of Wine and Roses. She also received state OCTA awards for playing Aneese in Belles and Betsy in Messiah on the Frigidaire. “Thank you,” she says, “to supportive friends and much love to Zack (who just turned 18), Cody and Paul.”

IAN S. HABERMAN (Teddy) was seen here most recently in The Sisters Rosensweig as Merv Kant and previously as Dr. Scott in The Rocky Horror Show, Dr. Kelekian in Wit and as Senex in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He collected Chanticleer Awards for his performances as Mr. Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors, Zaretsky in Conversations with My Father and Lenny in Doubles. It would, actually, take several columns to list the productions in which Ian has performed to the pleasure of Weathervane audiences. He has also served as a Playhouse trustee and president of its board in addition to heading the play-selection committee for many years. He has received the Trustees Award for his service to the Playhouse. Ian lives in Sharon Center, holds a law degree from Case-Western Reserve University and practices law in Medina.

SCOTT CRIM (Kyle) returns to the Weathervane stage after a brief hiatus. He was last seen here in the Dietz Theater's inaugural productions, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Angels in America: Perestroika, in which he played Louis. Weathervane audiences also saw him as a Protean in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and as Nicodemus/Lady Enid in The Mystery of Irma Vep. During his time away from Weathervane, he was seen in Coach House Theatre's The Mousetrap and with the Theatre Ninjas at Cleveland Play House in Aphrodisiac. His previous roles include the Emcee in Cabaret and Philip in The Lion in Winter. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in theater from Mount Union College, where he earned the Dramatics Award in Theatre Arts. He has taught various acting and theater classes for the former Cleveland Youth Theatre, The Illusion Factory and for Weathervane. He thanks “the Academy” (i.e., Eileen) for this great opportunity and dedicates this role to all his friends in the Oscar pool.

DARLENE M. ROCCO (Serenity) met her husband, Johnny Rocco, when they both appeared with Hudson Players in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Husband and wife now share the Dietz Theater stage together in this production of And the Winner Is. Most recently, she appeared as Emily in Arsenic and Old Lace at Stow Players. Her previous stage appearances include productions of Run for Your Wife and I Hate Hamlet with Hudson Players and Nunsense II with Morrision Playmakers. She holds a master's degree in speech-language pathology from Kent State University. She lives in Stow.

VINCE RICHARDS (Announcer) is an Ohio native who is new to theater (unless you count his high school drama experience!). For the past 20 years, Vince has worked in the transportation/trucking industry with Schneider National, North America’s largest truck-load carrier. He has many interests (“maybe too many,” he says) including but not limited to music, movies, books and computers. Having always been fascinated by stage and screen, he says he really looks forward to actually being part of a production. He thanks his family and friends for always believing in him.

EILEEN MOUSHEY (Director) is a freelance writer/director. Her company, Mysteries by Moushey, performs throughout Northeast Ohio and her mystery scripts have been producced by over 1,000 theatres and schools all over the world. Eileen also writes video scripts and is a two-time regional Emmy winner. She has been active at Weathervane for more than 25 years as a volunteer and has received several of the theater's Chanticleer Awards for sound, lights and properties design as well as a “Best Actress” honor. Her co-direction of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum earned a Best-Production Chanticleer. Eileen has also served on Weathervane's Board of Trustees, including a stint as president. She lives in Kent with her husband, Stephen. They have three children and two grandchildren.

MARY KATE CLANCY (Stage Manager) was bitten by the stage-managing bug back in 1995 during a Weathervane Women’s Board production of Wolf Tales. She has been stage managing ever since and her Weathervane resume includes such shows as Lips Together, Teeth Apart, A Man for All Seasons and Blithe Spirit. She stage managed three Chanticleer Award winners: To Kill a Mockingbird, Wit and Lend Me a Tenor. She holds a master’s degree from Kent State University and her talent for organizing led to a position as the resident stage manager for Mysteries by Moushey. Mary Kate’s skills also extend to her career as a teacher – she’s “stage managed” second-graders at Chippewa Elementary School in Brecksville for 22 years. Her only acting role occurs in her classroom when she appears as her “cousin” from Ireland, Margaret Murphy.

SCOTT CUSTER (Lighting Designer) is very excited to be back at Weathervane designing lights. Scott has volunteered at Weathervane for the past 11 years as a stage manager (he’s a best-production Chanticleer Award winner for Noises Off), a lighting designer, a sound designer and a set-construction crew member. He spends most of his non-Weathervane time traveling around the country as a consultant for Deloitte Consulting but hopes to find some extra time in the future to keep active at the Playhouse. He thanks his “beautiful wife,” Holly Humes, for her support and congratulates her on her “wonderful performance” this season in Weathevane’s production of Enchanted April.

STEPHEN MOUSHEY (Sound Designer) marks his fourth sound design at Weathervane and his first in its Dietz Theater. His previous sound designs were for Of Mice and Men, Seven Guitars and Lend Me a Tenor. In his other life, he is a print salesman for SWC Enterprises and works behind the scenes for his wife, Eileen, and Mysteries by Moushey.

M.J. COULSON (Properties Designer) has been an active Weathervane volunteer for the past 15 years. Her most recent properties-design work was for this season’s Moon Over Buffalo and last season’s The Full Monty. This past September, she shared her expertise by teaching a properties-design workshop for prospective Weathervane volunteers. Retired as a registered nurse with Summa Health System, M.J. enjoys working with the many young people who come to volunteer at the Playhouse – and she cherishes the opportunity to chair the Youth Award presentation at the Playhouse’s annual Chanticleer Awards ceremony. In October, she traveled abroad to southern India, Sri Lanka and the Maldine Islands. Her recent travels have also taken her to Florida, where she spent time with her two sons and two grandsons.

ALAN SCOTT FERRALL (Scenic Designer and Technical Director) -- see staff bios.

KATHY KOHL (Properties Designer and Assistant Technical Director) -- see staff bios.

About the Play

Weathervane Community Playhouse celebrates the regional premiere of Mitch Albom’s And the Winner Is.

The play’s central character is Tyler Johnes, a handsome, self-absorbed movie star who dies on the eve of the Academy Awards. What soon ensues is a comedy of existential proportion! Trapped in a strange limbo-like place with no normal sense of time or meaning, can Tyler somehow negotiate with the heavenly powers-that-be to make it back to Hollywood in time to see if he wins his Oscar? Along the way, Tyler encounters a strange cast of characters including a weird bartender, a buxom ingenue, his cranky agent and even his eventual ex-wife. Alternately charming and cutting, And the Winner Is both skewers Hollywood values and offers up Albom's trademark self-reflective life lessons.

And the Winner Is premiered at the Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea, Michigan in 2005. It marked the second premiere of an Albom play at the theater, which was founded by actor Jeff Daniels in 1991. Albom’s first stage comedy, Duckhunter Shoots Angel, premiered at the Purple Rose in 2004. Albom’s association with the Purple Rose began when actor Jeff Daniels saw the 2002 off-Broadway production of Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie, after which he persuaded the author to consider writing an original play for his theater. Notable subsequent productions of And the Winner Is include the West Coast premiere in 2006 at the Laguna Playhouse.

About the Playwright

MITCH ALBOM is a best-selling author, playwright, radio host and newspaper columnist. His nine books include Tuesdays with Morrie (which spent four years on The New York Times best-seller list), The Five People You Meet in Heaven (which sold over 8 million copies worldwide) and For One More Day (which spent nine months on the NYT best-seller list). For nearly 25 years, he has written as a journalist and sports writer for The Detroit Free Press.