Paul Vandevert as Oronte Paul has worked with theatres across the Detroit Metro area as actor, director, lighting designer, set crew, as well as “behind the scenes” positions that keep live theatre, well, alive. Favorite credits include the Doctor in Marvin’s Room, Welch in Damn Yankees, and as director Beau Jeste, Barefoot in the Park and Lion in Winter. Paul is particularly proud to have been part of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest right here at Barefoot. “Thanks and love to Carrie and John for letting me do what I love to do.” |
Valerie Mangrum Haas as Arsinoe
Valerie returns to the Barefoot stage after two years. Valerie last appeared on our stage as the Nurse in her husband Kirk’s adaptation of Of Juliet and Her Romeo. Just before that, she appeared in Desk Set. Valerie has also appeared in a few fund raisers here, such as Food, Glorious Food!, and The Vagina Monologues. She has been in numerous productions at the Players Guild of Dearborn, as well as on various other stages in the area. Offstage, Valerie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre from NMU and a Master’s Degree in Theatre from EMU, as well as an M.A. in English, and teaches writing and speech at HFCC and at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, in Ypsilanti. Valerie and Kirk live in Inkster with their actor sons Ian and Cole. |
Samantha Munaw as Basque
of Canton, is animprov actor with Following Your Heart Players and a puppet entertainer with PCEP. Sam was bitten by the entertainment bug as a high school member of the choir and we, at Barefoot, are pretty happy about that. This is Sam’s second show with Barefoot. You may have seen her eating paste in our December 2016 production of Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells. This time she gets to ‘act’ like a grown up! |
Patrick Yee as Clitandre
Is pleased to be returning to Barefoot Productions for his second show with the theatre following MisCast. He holds a degree in Musical Theatre from Adrian College. Recent roles include Mr. Paravicini (The Mousetrap), Ian (I’ll be Waiting), and Mac Sam (The Miss Firecracker Contest). He first fell in love with The Misanthrope when he saw the show being performed at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival when he was younger. |
Brian Townsend as Acaste
Brian makes his Barefoot debut in The Misanthrope, but he as appeared in numerous shows throughout the metro area. Some of his favorite roles include The Man in Chair (The Drowsy Chaperone), Sancho (Man of La Mancha), Millet/The Widow Tillou (Is He Dead?), Max Bialystock (The Producers), Yvan (Art), Finch (How to Succeed...), Pseudolus (Forum), Tom/Phyllis/Leslie (Sylvia), The Chairman (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Patsy (Spamalot), Algernon (The Importance of Being Earnest) and Albert Peterson (Bye Bye Birdie), just to name a few. In addition, he has written and directed his original shows Therapy, Is This Seat Taken?, Pass the Ducks and Murder Comes to Uptight Abbey. |
Kristen Campbell as Eliante
Kristen joins barefoot for the first time as Eliante in this production of The Misanthrope. Some of her previous roles include Kate Keller in The Miracle Worker, Lucinde in The Doctor in Spite of Himself, Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet, and Chelsea Thayer Wayne in On Golden Pond. Kristen is currently working towards getting her masters in Marketing from the University of Michigan. She is excited to get this opportunity to work with Barefoot Productions and hopes everyone enjoys this show. She wants to thank her family, friends and cast for their support. |
Mark Ripper as Alceste
Mark was last seen on the Barefoot stage in the Miscast Cabaret and also performed at the Village Theater as Howard in Moon Over Buffalo. Other memorable roles include Edward in The Hollow, Lord Capulet in Of Juliet and Her Romeo, Dr. Lyman Hall in 1776, and Roy in The Odd Couple (reprised). “I am excited to be crossing the Barefoot Stage again to bring this work of literature to life. Please join me on this journey to explore questions still applicable today after 350 years. Why do we fool ourselves into believing we are social creatures when the very tools of socializing nowadays are just digital representations of isolation?” Mark thanks you for attending this show! |
Joanna Platzer as Philiante
Joanna is a newcomer to the world of community theater and is excited to make her Barefoot debut. Most of her performance work has been off-stage; she has spent countless hours behind the camera, making short films, creating fantasy-inspired conceptual images, anddocumenting life in 35mm. Her favorite acting roles have been Beka Cooper, Persephone, Sacajawea, and, quite frankly, all of her haunted house roles. When she's not conjuring up her next artistic pursuit or experimenting with stage makeup (there can never be enough fake blood), JoAnna can be found nerding out over all things animal behavior. She currently lives in Livonia with her wonder dog pit bull, Stellaluna, and bearded dragon, Melly. |
Richard Pientak as man servant
Richard started acting incommunity theater after he retired, which makes him a late bloomer. He’s acted in several shows in the Plymouth-Canton area. This is his fifth show at Barefoot; his previous shows at Barefoot were Things My Mother Taught Me, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Murder By Poe, and Our Show of Shows. He is very happy to be working with a very talented cast, and enjoys playing Pickleball when not studying his lines. |
Jessica Koloian as Celimene
Jessica's passion for acting began at a very young age and has only grown as her talents have been refined. She studied Theatre at Taylor University, working on over 15 productions which included Noises Off and Time Stands Still. Since then, she has appeared in several feature films including Courageous Love, Losing Breen, and Thy Neighbor. |