A Swell Party

A SWELL PARTY, An Evening with Cole Porter
A Musical Revue with Music and Lyrics by Mr. Porter

It’s delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely. Smart and sophisticated, Cole Porter roared through the 20’s dazzling the Paris social scene, dominated the Broadway stage for three decades, and remains popular today with audiences of all ages humming along to his timeless songs. Join us for a glimpse into Cole Porter's world for an evening of classics including "I’ve Got You Under My Skin," "I Love Paris," “It’s De-Lovely”, “Night and Day,” and many more of your favorites from some of Porter’s hit Broadway shows, Anything Goes,
Can-Can, Kiss Me, Kate, Silk Stockings and more.
What a Swell Party it will be!

Director: Valerie Haas

Marilyn Maxwell
Alex Meyer
Chris Meyer
Colleen Meyer
Amy Parenteau
Erin Phipps
Butch Plague
Leonard Poma
Brett Reynolds
Annette Ripper
Renee Valant

Amy Parenteau is ecstatic to be in her first show at Barefoot. You can usually find her singing with Rackham choir. She discovered Cole Porter at the age of 12 and has been “So In Love” with him ever since! Amy would like to thank her family and friends, as well as the entire cast and crew for their support during her return to theatre. Much love to her husband, Alan!

Valerie Haas (director) wears many hats at Barefoot Productions including Artistic Director, actor and director. She most recently directed our production of Almost, Maine this past December. As an actor, Valerie was most recently seen here as Arsinoe in The Misanthrope, and Nurse (along side her son, Cole) in her husband, Kirk’s, adaptation, Of Juliet and Her Romeo. As an acknowledgement for 25 years of work in area thea-tres, she was inducted into the Dearborn Area Theater Hall of Fame in 2016. Offstage, Valerie holds a Bachelor’s
Degree in Theatre from NMU and a Master’s Degree in Theatre from EMU, as well as an MA in English. Valerie teaches writing and speech at Henry Ford College and at the Women’s Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti through Jackson College. Valerie and actor/director/designer
husband, Kirk, live in Inkster with their actor sons, Ian, 18 and Cole, 16.
BAREFOOT

Christopher Meyer is excited for his very first performance with Barefoot Productions! Together with his wife Colleen, Chris has helped to write, produce and perform in four unique dinner theatre shows in Southeast Michigan, and has also performed with Novi Civic Theatre and Wayne ACT. Chris would like to thank Colleen, and their son Alex, for getting him involved with Barefoot, He and sends love to daughter, Abby (and the grandmas and grandpas who've watched her while Mom and Dad were at rehearsal!) “Thanks to the cast and crew for throwing such A Swell Party, and Break a Leg!”

Renée Valant is excited to be a part of her first show at Barefoot Productions! She has been involved on and off stage with several community theaters in Michigan for over 20 years. She thanks her wonderful family for their love and support, especially her husband, Pat.

Marilyn (Shuga) Maxwell is from Redford Township and works in Livonia. This is Shuga's first show with Barefoot Productions. She found us by attending the ribbon cutting ceremony for our new Livonia home. In past years she has participated in the Livonia Civic Chorus and the Redford Suburban League. Over the years she has performed in drama productions at church and currently sings with a jazz band. Shuga would like to thank her good friend, Antoinette, for pushing her to audition in the first place, and a warm thanks to the cast and crew for making this journey so much FUN

Alexander Meyer's this is his third production with Barefoot Productions and he's glad to be back once again. He is no stranger to theatre and has been in dozens of plays. His favorites include: Leaf in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Butler/Levi in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Jester in Once Upon a Mattress, Cogsworth in Beauty & the Beast Jr, and Talbert in 13 Past Midnight. Alex is a Junior at Eastern Michigan University and is studying Mathematics. He would like to thank Val and Paul for giving him this opportunity to be in A Swell Party. He sends love to his Mom, Dad, sister Abby, his Grandparents & the rest of his family and friends.
Annette

Brett Reynolds has spent over 25 years working as a stage director and Managing Director of Stephen Sondheim’s award winning Young Playwrights, Inc. He directed the first professional stage productions of Julia Jarcho’s Nursery (Jarcho recently won an Obie Award), Lauren Gunderson’s Parts They Call Deep (Gunderson is now one of the most produced playwrights in the United States), Caitlin Parrish’s The View From Tall (Parrish is the writer of Supergirl), and Madeleine George’s The Most Massive Woman Wins (George’s The Watson Intelligence was recently a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize). He occasionally can be found on the wrong side of the footlights, most memorably, aside Valerie Haas in A Little Night Music.

Butch Plague lives in Canton with his wife, Corinne. He has performed on over a dozen area stages, large and small, but none has been as rewarding as his experiences at Barefoot. He is very delighted to be here at the new venue. Enjoy the show!

Erin Phipps is thrilled for her second performance with Barefoot Productions. She grew up dreaming of a life on stage, studying music, acting, dance, and performing in numerous shows over the years. You may have just seen her as Anna in Barefoot Productions’ one act What Would You Do? Some of her other hobbies include cooking, working out, creating art pieces, and singing in the shower. She is also one of the chairpersons for the Redford/Livonia Relay for Life which is another one of her passions. Erin would like to dedicate this performance to her family and friends who have always been her biggest fans and source of support.

Annette Ripper was last seen on the Barefoot stage in Almost, Maine. She is excited to be included in the cast of A Swell Party at our new Livonia theater. Annette is on the Board of Directors of Barefoot Productions and serves as our House Manager. She lives in Northville with husband, Mark, daughter Melissa, and brother Ted and wants to thank them all for their love and support.

Leonard Poma has been an active member of Barefoot Productions since 2015. He’s been involved in at least ten productions with five of them on-stage and five behind the scenes. He’s honored to be in another production at their new facility and thankful to his wife for her patience this past year.

Colleen Meyer This is second production with Barefoot Productions, in her last production she played Rona in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Colleen is the director of the Franklin Players at Franklin High School and runs summer theatre camps for the City of Novi. She also worked for 11 years as the Arts & Entertainment Supervisor for the City of Wayne and worked for the Encore Theatre in Dexter for two years as their costumer. She sends her love to her daughter Abby, the only member of her family who is not in this show.

Paul Abbott (musical director and accompanist) makes his debut with Barefoot Production. Past music
director credits include : Beauty and the Beast, Sugar, Seussical, the Musical, Kiss Me, Kate, Hello, Dolly!, Spamalot, and many others. Paul is choir director at Divine Child High School. He lives in Livonia.