Arsenic
and Old Lace
Elizabeth
Beach (Abby Brewster)
An Island
resident and member of St. Stephen’s parish since 1958, Elizabeth has never
before appeared on the Parish Player’s stage. She has directed and worked
behind the scenes since the inception, with Father Mark Illig, of the Parish
Players thirteen years ago.
She was
responsible for the organization and longevity (25 years each) of the Catholic
Theatre Guild of Indianapolis and the Island Theatre Group of Grand Island.
Elizabeth
first appeared on stage, at age 6, as one of six twinkling stars (no lines), and
through the years, has played title and/or leading roles in Auntie Mame, Lion
in Winter, Night Must Fall, Murder in the Nunnery, The
Girls in 301, Goodbye, My Fancy and many other productions locally
and in Indianapolis.
Presentations
she has directed include Plain and Fancy, Mister Roberts, South
Pacific, Music Man, Teahouse of the August Moon, See How
They Run, The Crucible, The Bad Seed, The Miracle Worker,
The King and I, and literally scores of others in Indianapolis, for the
Island theatre associations, and for the Niagara Falls Little Theatre.
The entire Beach
family: husband Bob, children Linda, Beth, Vic and Rob, and the five
grandchildren have all appeared on stage in a variety of roles and various
venues throughout their lives.
Ruth
Englert (Martha
Brewster)
Ruth has
been a parishioner of St. Stephen’s for 46 years. She and her late husband,
Charles, were married in the old church and raised four children. They have been
blessed with 13 grandchildren, all parishioners at St. Stephen’s.
Although
this is Ruth’s first time on stage, she has been active and held office in
PTAs, Kenmore Mercy Guild, and the Grand Island Historical Society. She is
currently president of the Altar Society. She serves on the liturgy committee
and felt it was an honor and privilege to be a member of the new church building
committee.
Ruth has
been an avid downhill skier for more than 50 years. She enjoys skiing and
playing tennis with her grandchildren.
Father
Daniel Fiebelkorn (Mr.
Gibbs)
A priest
for six years, Father Dan has served as Parochial Vicar at St. Stephen for
almost five years. During that time he has been in the audience for many of the
Parish Player productions and also enjoyed theatre at Studio Arena, the Shaw
Festival, and Shea’s. The role of Mr. Gibbs is Father’s inaugural
introduction to the “other side” of the stage.
He greatly
enjoys his ministry at St. Stephen and his hobbies include cycling, reading,
birding and the outdoors in general.
The
youngest of three, Father Dan is a native of Homer, Alaska where his family
still resides.
David Karb (Lt.
Rooney)
David is
married to a very supportive wife of 39 years and is a proud father of three
children and the grandfather of seven. He has been active in the Parish Players
for six or seven years.
He is a
retiree who likes golf and traveling and hamming it up in the church plays. Dave
also had several roles in the Grand Island Sesquicentennial Historic Pageant.
Richard
LaBend (Officer
Brophy)
Richard
began his theatrical career in high school in order to meet girls. He has spent
the past quarter century trying to get out. He has “retired” three times
from the Niagara Experience Players, the last time as assistant director. He has
since been with SUNYAB Spotlite Productions, has done several stints with the
Niagara Falls Little Theater and currently is trying to quit Kenmore United
Methodist Church’s Celebration Players.
He was
successful at one thing: He met his wife in a high school production of Arsenic
and Old Lace. She was Aunt Martha to his Teddy. Twenty-one years later, he
married her. Rich lives with his wife and son, Patrick, in Tonawanda and works
for CWM in Model City.
Michael
Lombardo (Teddy
Brewster)
Having
received both a JD and MBA from New York University at Buffalo Michael is an
attorney practicing in the areas of estate planning, estates, real estate, and
business matters. His law practice spans more than 20 years, and his office is
in Buffalo. He also is in his 22nd year of teaching, as a part-time
lecturer of business law in UB’s School of Management.
An Island
resident for almost 10 years, Michael is married with two daughters, both of
whom are responsible for his being involved in theatrical plays. His only prior
theatrical experience was several roles in the historical pageant Grand Island
– A Grand Place to Live, presented by the Susquicentennial Players in October
2002.
Michael is
entering his third season as head coach for a girls’ softball team in the
Grand Island Little League. Michael also enjoys hiking, camping, canoeing, and
traveling. His travels have been throughout many parts of the United States,
including Alaska, and a number of provinces and territories in Canada, including
the Yukon Territory.
Louie
Panzica (Mr. Hoskins)
Louie is a
fifth-grader at St. Stephen’s School, where he is a member of the swimming,
basketball, and soccer teams. He enjoys playing the guitar when not romping
around with his dog, Buddy. This is his first performance with the Parish
Players.
Rosanne
Panzica (Elaine
Harper)
This is
Rosanne’s inaugural stage performance. She is the mother of three children who
all attend St. Stephen’s School. She volunteers much of her spare time to the
school, where she served on the advisory board, was a past president of the Home
School Association and the chair of the Lenten fish fry fund-raiser.
Originally
from Kenmore, she has been a resident of Grand Island for 13 years.
Bob Priest (Officer
O’Hara
Bob had
been happy taking his children to various theatre rehearsals and then a part was
thrust upon him. Ah ha! Bob has since been in several area productions. His
favorite role was Officer O’Hara in Arsenic and Old Lace at the
Ghostlight Theater.
He has been
a Grand Island resident for 14 years and happily married for 27 years. He has
three children and more pets than can be counted on two hands.
Bob thanks
St. Stephen’s Parish Players for giving him his start and allowing him to
reprise his favorite role.
Lauren Priest (Mr.
Spenalzo)
Lauren says
she really enjoys working with the Parish Players. She has been in Cheaper by
the Dozen, Alice in Wonderland, and helped behind the scenes.
Her hobbies
are acting, playing sports such as soccer, basketball, and softball. She attends
Veronica Connor Middle School on Grand Island.
Mark
Priest (Officer
O’Klein)
Mark Priest
has been on stage since second grade in various school, church and local
productions His favorite role was Fred in Cheaper by the Dozen performed
with the Parish Players.
When not
acting he maintains a very busy life with school, a newspaper route, many
sports, (his soccer nickname is “The Wall”) and boating. During the summer
he can be seen daily jetskiing on the Niagara River, and in the winter,
snowboarding at local ski areas.
John Quackenbush (Jonathan
Brewster)
John is
father of the ingenious Kimberly and husband of the multi-talented Diane
Quackenbush. He is proud to be a veteran of many St. Stephen’s productions,
including, See How They Run, The King and I ( Sir Edward Ramsey,) The Music Man (Mayor Shinn),
Brigadoon (Angus Beaton), Judgement – The Trial of Lucifer
(Satan’s defense attorney), and Is There a Comic in the House? (Dewey,
the head kidnapper).
Outside the
theater, he is a litigation attorney and professor, teaching Industrial
Psychology at Niagara University.
Reginald
Schopp (The Rev. Dr.
Harper)
Reg, a life
long Island resident has always been interested in the theatre.
As a GIHS
student, he was a member of the Spotlighters and played the roles of The
Businessman in Everyman Today, and Dr. Chumley in Harvey.
His college career included membership in the Findlay College Players
where he also appeared on stage. Reg’s most recent stage experience was as
Grand Island’s first supervisor in the Grand Island Sesquicentennial Pageant.
Reg has
three children, Michael, Kim, and Betsy and three grandchildren.
Michael can be heard on WGR M-F from 3 to 6 p.m. and Kim and her family
are members of St. Stephen parish.
Islanders
might also remember Reg’s mother who was a first grade teacher at Huth Road
and, at age 93, is still sharp as a tack.
Jeffrey
W. Stone (Mortimer
Brewster)
Jeff and
members of his family have participate in several Parish Player productions, and
he has particularly enjoyed his time this winter with his fellow Arsenic cast
members.
He is married to Eileen and father to Meredith, 11; Brendan, 9; and Griffin, 6.
A lawyer,
Jeff is with the Buffalo firm of Hodgson Russ. He enjoys fishing, golf,
traveling, parish activities, Buffalo Bills football, Democratic politics, and
vacationing with his family at Black Rock Cottage in Turkey Point, Ontario.
Although
his stage experience has been rather limited, Jeff did play to a large audience
when he appeared on the television show, Jeopardy, a number of years ago.
Jeff
extends special thanks to his daughter, Meredith, for all the help she has given
him in learning his lines.
Len
Walentynowicz (Mr.
Witherspoon)
Len
describes himself as “a seventy-something, portly, retired lawyer who is
blessed with a lovely wife – Florence.”
This is his
first theatrical venture, although he did perform with the Singing Boys of
Buffalo and the Buffalo Tech High Band.
Many have
said his 49 years as a litigator prepared him well to be a performer. He spent
25 years in the Washington, D.C. area as a result of his appointment to the post
of assistant secretary of state by President Gerald Ford. He says he is
fortunate to relocate to Western New York and St. Stephen’s.
Len and his
wife live in Fairway Greens at River Oaks. They enjoy the arts, walking, bridge,
golf, tennis, shopping, and of course, parish life.
John
Wrzos (Dr. Einstein)
John has
spent most of his life acting up - some of it on stage. He has performed in
shows with the All Christian Community Theater, Buffalo Little Theater, and
Niagara Falls Little Theater, just to name a few. Arsenic and Old Lace is
by far his favorite show and Dr. Einstein his favorite character.