Meet the Cast of Emma

This week, the casts for all three shows started rehearsals.  Although I could introduce them to you all at once, I thought I'd give each show its due and introduce each cast separately.  So, here are the head shots and bios for the 2013 production of Jane Austen's Emma!

Director: Catherine Weidner  

Catherine Weidner is a professional director, actor and teacher.   She has directed productions of Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus and Merry Wives of Windsor for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival and Two Gentleman of Verona at Theater at Monmouth in Maine.

Catherine is an Associate Professor at The Theatre School of DePaul University in Chicago, where she teaches Classical Acting and Heightened Text in the BFA and MFA programs.  For DePaul, she has directed productions of The Rivals, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Richard III, as well as adapting and directing A Midsummer Night’s Dream for young audiences. 

As an actress, she has worked at The Kennedy Center in A Streetcar Named Desire with Patricia Clarkson and Amy Ryan, and at CenterStage in Baltimore (Blithe Spirit, Mary Stuart) and Arena Stage (The Heidi Chronicles) in Washington, DC.   She holds a BFA in Acting from Ithaca College, an MFA in Directing from the University of Minnesota, and has also trained at The Second City in Chicago and The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, and is a member of Actors Equity Association and the Stage Directors & Choreographers Union.  

Jessie Tidball -- Emma Woodhouse

Jessie Tidball is a recent graduate from the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film with a B.A. in Theatre Performance. You may have seen her as Tilly in the University production of Melancholy Play or as Elsa VonGrossenkneuten in The Musical Comedy Murders of the 1940's.  Since graduation, Jessie has appeared at the Haymarket Theatre as Ophelia in Hamlet, and Wendy Darling in Peter Pan.  Jessie's next project after Emma will be with The Haymarket Theatre as well, playing Anne Frank in the Midwest premier of Anne and Emmett, slated to tour Lincoln Public Schools in the fall.  Jessie is thrilled that her first professional acting gig is with the Nebraska Rep and wants to thank you all for supporting the arts!  Enjoy the show.   

Emily Martinez -- Harriet Smith
Emily is a recent graduate of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Performance, as well as Theatre Management. Nebraska Rep has given her the opportunity to excel in both areas, last season as the Associate Director of Audience Development and this season acting as Harriet in Emma! This marks her first appearance on the Rep stage! Emily was last seen in UNL’s production of The Taming of the Shrew as Bianca. Other show credits include: Lady Windermere, Lady Windermer's Fan (UNL), Maria, Twelfth Night (UNL), Antonia, My Antonia (Illusion Theater Company), and Lucetta, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Flatwater Shakespeare Company). In the fall of 2014, Emily will be attending the MFA International Acting Program at East 15 School of Acting within the University of Essex in Essex, England! She is beyond grateful for this year of blessings, proof that in the theatre, anything is possible. 

Jaimie Pruden -- Jane Fairfax

Jaimie Pruden recently graduated with a degree in Vocal Performance from UNL. This is her second summer with the Nebraska Rep. Recent performances include Paquette in Candide (UNL Opera), Rose in Paragon Springs (UNL Theatre), Glory in Almost. Maine (Theatrix), and Signe in Church Basement Ladies (NRT). Jaimie loves tacos and yoga. Enjoy the show!

Sean Schmeits -- Mr. Knightly

Sean Schmeits has previously performed on the Rep stage as Father Flynn in our 2008 production of Doubt. Sean has also acted for Flatwater Shakespeare (Henry V, Mercutio, Dromio of Syracuse, Berowne), the Angels Theatre Company (McMurphy in Cuckoo's Nest), The Haymarket Theatre (Rochester in Jane Eyre, Elyot in Private Lives), the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival (Antipholous of Syracuse), the Lincoln Community Playhouse (Garry in Noises Off), Rough Magic, and the Nebraska Theatre Caravan.

Alex Jeffery -- Frank Churchill

Alexander is an actor and filmmaker currently residing in Lincoln, Nebraska. Recently, he won the "Royal Reel Award" for his first feature film, One Way, at the Canada International Film Festival. This is his second summer with the Nebraska Repertory Theatre and he couldn't be more delighted to play the scoundrel Frank Churchill in Emma. Previous roles include Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing (Flatwater Shakespeare), Chris in Becky's New Car (Nebraska Repertory Theatre), and Alceste in The Misanthrope (UNL Mainstage). Alexander loves to travel, eat macaroni and cheese, and talk about himself in the third person. He hopes you enjoy the show!

Dan Rodden -- Mr. Elton

Dan happily returns to Lincoln for his second season, where NRT audiences will recall his performances as Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps and Steve in Becky's New Car.  His career has allowed him to perform for theaters across the U.S. and Canada.  Last fall, he had the honor of playing the iconic role of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird at Cardinal Stage Company in Bloomington, IN.  Other selected credits: Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha (Guest Artist - Normandale Community College, Bloomington, MN); Felix, The Odd Couple (Drury Lane Oakbrook); Antipholus of Syracuse, The Comedy of Errors (Oak Park Festival Theatre); Dr. Adams, Marrying Terry (Nightingale Group); Charles, Blithe Spirit; Mortimer, Arsenic And Old Lace; Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (New American Theater), IO Chicago; Texas Shakespeare Festival, and Cidermill Playhouse. Back home in Chicago, he performs frequently with The Shakespeare Project of Chicago in numerous classical staged readings, including Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing and Antonio in The Duchess Of Malfi.  Dan resides with his talented wife, actress Gail Rastorfer, whom he met a number of years ago while touring with the Nebraska Theatre Caravan.

Kimberley Clark Kaczmarek -- Mrs. Elton

Kim Clark-Kaczmarek possesses a B.A. in theatre from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a Master’s in Theatre from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. More recent roles with Nebraska Repertory Theatre include:  Tiny in The Anatomy of Grey and Chick in Crimes of the Heart.  She is very involved in the Omaha theatre community including working with the Living Picture Project, Nebraska Shakespeare, Omaha Theatre Company for Young People, Omaha Community Playhouse and the Great Plains Theatre Conference. Kim directed Two Minute Shakespeare for Nebraska Shakespeare also this summer.  She is on the artist roster for the Nebraska Arts Council Artists in Schools program, teaches acting with Performer’s Edge and is a Teaching Artist for Dancing Classrooms with The Artery.  She and her husband, Anthony, are proud parents of little Stella.  

Alan Knoll -- Mr. Woodhouse

Alan Knoll is a St Louis-based actor, and he's thrilled to return for another season at the Nebraska Rep; last year he was seen as Jeeves in Jeeves Intervens and Phillipe in Heroes.  Other favorite roles include George in Who's Afraid Of Virgina Woolf? (Riverfront Times 2010 Best Actor),  Max in Laughter on the 23rd Floor,  Graham in A Chip  in the Sugar,  and all the residents of Bedford Falls in This Wonderful  Life, named St Louis' best one-man show in 2011. Thanks to Virginia for the chance to return to Lincoln, and to his wonderful wife Laurie McConnell for her love and support.

Sasha Dobson -- Mrs. Weston

Sasha Dobson is a Lincoln native who received her BFA in Acting from Ithaca College in NY and her MFA in Acting from UNL.  After graduate school, Sasha moved to England for five years where she was fortunate to find work as an actress with the touring company Shakespeare To Go.  Since Sasha has returned to Lincoln she has worked extensively as an actor, director, acting/voice/ dialect coach, University educator and producer.  She teaches theatre and acting classes at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is also the Outreach Coordinator for the Lied Center for Performing Arts.  Sasha also serves on the board for two local theatre companies:  The Angels Theatre Company and Flatwater Shakespeare Company.  By far, the most rewarding roles Sasha has ever and will ever play is that of Mother to her two wonderful children, Josephine and Chase and Wife to her amazing husband Chris!

Richard Nielsen -- Mr. Weston

Richard Nielsen last performed on the Rep stage in 2000’s Picnic, and he is happy to return this season.  He has appeared on several Lincoln stages, most recently with the Flatwater Shakespeare Company.  His favorite roles include Roy Cohn in Angels in America, Parts I and II, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, the Fool in King Lear, and Caliban in The Tempest.  Later this summer he will be appearing in Flatwater’s production of Waiting for Godot.  He is an instructor of English at Southeast Community College in Lincoln.

Chet Kincaid -- Miss Bates

Chet is thrilled to be a Nebraska Repertory first-timer. Her last appearance on the Howell stage was almost 40 years ago as Conjur Woman in Dark of the Moon. She has acted in various Nebraska venues, including the Lincoln Community Playhouse, Futz Theatre, Gaslight Mellerdrammers, Murder To Go, and Cornhusker Hotel’s Colonnades Dinner Theatre, being awarded one UNL Dallas and 3 LCP Elsies. Chet’s favorite roles have been Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter, Bessie in Marvin’s Room, and Trudi in The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. Her day job is Senior Producer for NET’s Learning Services’ Interactive Educational Media, creating educational websites, some with dramatic videos. Thanks, Virginia, for this incredible opportunity. One Bucket List item accomplished!