Feature Friday

We began this series in the summer of 2020 as a way to entertain our audiences during lockdown and to shine a spotlight on the immense talent that we have in our community. We are so grateful to all the performers who helped breathe a little life into our dark theatre by lending their talents to this series, and to everyone who has watched and shared these videos. 

The show must and will go on.

Lisa and Dean Neal

Featured Support: Thank you to all our donors and sponsors who have supported the performing arts in Central Maine during the last fourteen months!

As we prepare to reopen for in-person audiences this summer, we are saying farewell our Feature Friday series. For our final video, we’ve got our first duet! Lisa and Dean Neal have worked in theatre for decades, both separately and together. In addition to many individual roles, they have played couples on the WOH stage twice, as Gomez and Morticia Addams in The Addams Family (2014) and as Dave and Rhonda in our virtual production of Almost, Maine (2020). They are both arts educators at Nokomis Regional High School, with a combined teaching experience of nearly forty years. We couldn’t be happier to showcase their amazing talents as our Feature Friday Finale.

Jeff Fairfield

Featured Season Sponsors: KSW Federal Credit Union & Madame Marie Cormier

Our Feature Friday performer this week has a pretty impressive set of pipes! Jeff Fairfield has been acting and singing at the Opera House for a few years. Here, he has been a cast member in two classic Disney musicals, Mary Poppins (2016) and The Little Mermaid (2017). Jeff has also been involved with several other theatres across the state, appearing in such productions as Cabaret, Godspell, Fiddler on the Roof, The Rocky Horror Show, Hair, and the title role in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It was wonderful hearing Jeff’s voice fill our empty theatre, but he really deserves a bigger audience. We hope he’ll come back and join us onstage once we can fill the seats again!

Sharon Hood

Featured Season Sponsors: Kennebec Savings Bank & MaineGeneral Health

This week’s Feature Friday performer is a long-time member of the Opera House family! Sharon Hood is a talented actor and singer who has delighted local audiences with her powerful voice for over two decades. In addition to writing songs and providing lead vocals for her band, Sharon has also acted in many Opera House productions. You may recognize her from such musicals as Oklahoma (2004), The Full Monty (2008), Mary Poppins (2016), Seussical (2018), and two productions of Into the Woods (2005/2015). It was lovely having Sharon back at WOH! We know that she’s a very busy lady, but we hope she’ll join us for another musical again soon.

Evelyn LaCroix

Featured Season Sponsors: Harold Alfond Foundation & Golden Pond Wealth Management

Feature Friday is back with a wonderful performance by Evelyn LaCroix! A young actress, singer, and dancer, Evelyn is fast becoming what is known in the business as a triple threat. She’s been performing on the WOH stage for a few years, appearing in the ensemble of such productions as A Christmas Story (2016) and Hello, Dolly! (2018). But Evelyn’s most memorable performance was undoubtedly that of the title role in Annie (2017). With her bright red wig and powerful voice, she helped to make it one of our most successful shows ever! Over the past few years, we’ve enjoyed watching Evelyn grow as a performer and are eager to see what roles she will take on in the future.

Katie Libold

Featured Show Sponsor: Pro Moving Service

It’s Friday, so that means it’s time for another great performance from WOH! This week, we’re featuring one of our frequent performers, Katie Libold. Katie has been involved with WOH for many years and has performed in some of our favorite productions. You may recognize her from such roles as Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show (2015), Bridget in Nana’s Naughty Knickers (2016), Elizabeth in Young Frankenstein (2016), Mayzie in Seussical (2018), and Lily St. Regis in Annie (2017). She’s also been a member of several musical ensembles. We miss collaborating with Katie, but are so happy to hear her beautiful voice fill our theatre again!

Kay Warren

Featured Show Sponsor: Back Office Solutions

We’re back with another exciting Feature Friday! Kay Warren is a talented performer and director who has done extensive work with Lewiston’s Community Little Theatre since 2010. Waterville Opera House audiences will also recognize her from two outstanding performances here, Miss Hannigan in Annie (2017) and Medda Larkin in Newsies (2019). We’re so happy to have Kay’s powerhouse voice back on our stage and can’t wait to collaborate with her again in the future!

Emmy Carlson

Featured Show Sponsor: Maine Technology Group

We’re so excited to have another dance Feature Friday this week! 13-year-old Emmy Carlson became a member of the WOH creative family when she joined the ensemble cast of Mary Poppins in 2016. Since then, Emmy has appeared in several WOH musicals including The Little Mermaid (2017), Annie (2017), and The Wizard of Oz (2019). She is a frequent attendee of our Missoula Children’s Theatre Camp and has danced in recitals here with Kennebec Dance Centre. In late 2019, Emmy was cast as Winnie Foster in our production of Tuck Everlasting the Musical that was originally scheduled for April 2020. Though the production is currently on hold due to the pandemic, we are thrilled to have Emmy back onstage performing again! This routine was choreographed by Holly Gannett of Kennebec Dance Centre.

Adam P. Blais

Featured Show Sponsor: New Dimensions Federal Credit Union

We’re back with another exciting Feature Friday. This week, we have Adam P. Blais who has been a performer and member of our production team since 2015. You may recognize Adam’s face from roles such as Horton in Seussical the Musical (2018) and Cornelius in Hello, Dolly! (2018), but you also know his fancy footwork as the choreographer in other shows such as Rocky Horror Show (2015) and Annie (2017). We’re so happy to have him back on our stage and hope to work with him again very soon!

Shannon Thurston

Featured Show Sponsor: Bangor Savings Bank

We’ve got a powerhouse performer for this week’s Feature Friday. Shannon Thurston is an actor, singer, writer, and educator who has been involved with the Opera House for nearly two decades. Her more recent roles with us include her award-winning performance as Ursula in The Little Mermaid (2017) and the Sour Kangaroo in Seussical the Musical (2018). Shannon has studied and performed for audiences across the globe. We’re so happy to have her back here in Central Maine, sharing her talents with us!

Emilienne Ouellette

Featured Season Sponsor:  Madame Marie Cormier

We didn’t have to go far to find this week’s Feature Friday performer, her office is in our lobby! Emilienne Ouellette has been the Box Office Manager at WOH since 2016, and while she usually prefers to be behind-the-scenes, she will occasionally get onstage herself. Audiences might recognize her from the role of Muriel in our comedy A Fox on the Fairway (2019), or as the singer in the very sparkly dress from our VARIETY! fundraiser (2019). Em’s bright smile and sharp wit make her a “loverly” member of the Opera House family.

Zach Dickey

Featured Season Sponsor:  MaineGeneral Health

We’ve got another one of our favorite people performing for Feature Friday this week! Zach Dickey has been involved with WOH since 2017, when he portrayed Scuttle the seagull in our production of The Little Mermaid. Since then, Zach also acted in Annie (2017) and Things My Mother Taught Me (2018), and has been the Camp Director for several sessions of our Missoula Children’s Theatre Camp. A remarkably kind and generous person, Zach has a way of making everyone he works with feel like they are uniquely special. We are so happy to have him back on our stage and can’t wait to work with him again in the future!

Jeralyn Shattuck

Featured Season Sponsor: KSW Federal Credit Union

Feature Fridays are back and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with this entertaining performance by Jeralyn Shattuck! If you’ve attended a WOH play or musical in the past few years, odds are you’ll recognize Jeralyn. She’s performed such roles as Ouiser in Steel Magnolias, Hold-Me-Touch-Me in The Producers, Ginette/Waitress/Marci in Almost, Maine, and of course, The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. Jeralyn never fails to delight audiences with her quick wit and infectious joy and she’s dusting off yet another talent for us, but no spoilers, you’ll have to watch to find out which one.

Bee Tyler

Featured Season Sponsor: Kennebec Savings Bank

It’s #FeatureFriday​ and Bee Tyler is here to charm you with her big voice and a heartfelt song from Ragtime the Musical! The Opera House stage is a playground for Bee and many others, who find joy in sharing their gift of song and dance with the world.  You’ll recognize Bee from her performances in Young Frankenstein, Little Mermaid, The Producers, and Hello, Dolly! We think Bee has it right, there’s nothing like the magic of live theatre and the energy that’s shared between an audience and performers!

Tim Croce

Featured Business Partners: Selah Tea Cafe, Tree Spirits, Buen Apetito, Christopher Hastings Confections, Ming Lee Chinese Restaurant, Silver Street Tavern & Restaurant, The Thirsty Mule, Asian Cafe, The Official Jorgensen’s Cafe

#FeatureFriday is back to tickle your funny bone with a song from the musical with the loooong title, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Tim Croce is revisiting a character he’s performed before, William Barfee, who is proud of his special foot technique for winning spelling contests. If you’ve seen Tim onstage before you know that he has fantastic comedic timing and gives 100% to his character and the show. He’s been in more than 12 shows at WOH and you’ll recognize him as Igor from Young Frankenstein, the Primary Bovine Protagonist (Cow) from Into The Woods, and the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. Just ask Tim, theatre is a great way to get out of your shell, add more joy to your life, and find love!

Teresa Van Deventer

Featured Business Partners: Cancun, Cappza’s Pizza, Mainely Brews, Portland Pie, The Proper Pig, Amici’s Cucina, Grand Central Cafe, OPA Greek & Mediterranean

Music and art are basic human needs.  We all have the desire to create and express ourselves in some manner.  For Teresa Van Deventer, she loves sharing the gift of song and we’re glad to provide a stage and a camera to show off her vocals via #FeatureFriday. You may recognize her from the Opera House productions of Fame Forever, Fiddler On The Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar, Shrek, and Mary Poppins.  Teresa says, “happiness is being able to tell a story in an entertaining way, sing as loud as I want, and make people smile (not necessarily in that order)!”

Tony Gerow

Featured Sponsor: The Borman Family Foundation

The Opera House staff shrank significantly in March when the pandemic hit and we’re dedicating this #FeatureFriday to our coworkers we miss seeing and creating fantastic shows with! Tony Gerow is our technical director, a designer, AND a performer! Tony is fun to watch onstage and work with behind the scenes. Tony starred in Newsies the Musical as Jack Kelly, co-designed the lighting for Wizard of Oz, and designed the scenery for many of our plays, including A Fox On The Fairway and Ripcord. While his training is in the creation of live performances, he’s been invaluable in our first steps into online arts programming!

Will Stecher

Featured Season Sponsor: Harold Alfond Foundation

This #FeatureFriday is dedicated to all of the wonderful teachers and education workers in our community! We recognize the incredibly hard position you are in and all of the great work you are doing for students during this difficult time. Thank you to Will Stecher, a music educator, for entertaining us with this hopeful song, Beautiful City. Will is a versatile performer who can play the trombone in an orchestra pit or belt out a tune onstage! He’s performed on the Opera House stage in The Producers, Hello Dolly!, and Newsies. While Will is quite the musical theatre enthusiast, we hope that he’ll flex his acting chops in one of our plays in the future!

Emily Cates

Featured Season Sponsor: Colby College

After watching this #FeatureFriday you’ll definitely want to dance with Emily Cates! Sway along while Emily steals your heart with this tune from Bonnie and Clyde the Musical. We can’t believe it’s already been 2 years since she played Minnie Fay in Hello, Dolly! and we can’t wait to work with her again onstage! Like Emily, part of the reason we love theatre is because it lets us experience new perspectives of the world.

Isaac Tardy

Featured Season Sponsor: Golden Pond Wealth Management

Music is the best way to start your morning on this #FeatureFriday! Isaac brings a wonderful enthusiasm to whatever project he is working on whether it’s stage managing, being a part of a costume design team, or performing. He entertained WOH audiences as Davey in Newsies and, if it weren’t for the pandemic, would have climbed a huge tree onstage in Tuck Everlasting as Jesse Tuck (fingers crossed for next year)! We’re sad to see him sing “Goodbye” to Maine for now, but excited he’s going on to study musical theatre in college.

Katherine Boston

Featured Season Sponsor: Central Maine Motors

It’s our very first #FeatureFriday DANCE video! Katherine has been dancing almost her entire life and it shows in how at home she looks onstage. She’s been a theatre camp counselor, danced in Kennebec Dance Centre recitals, and starred in several musical theatre productions here at the Opera House. We’ll miss her while she’s away at college, but wish her all the best with her performance studies! Shout out to Holly Collins Gannet, another one of our community theatre performers, for the choreography in this beautiful piece!

Jacob Sutherland

Featured Season Sponsor: Woodlands Senior Living

We love learning about new musical theatre shows and songs, don’t you? Jacob is not only the singer for #FeatureFriday, he also created the piano track for this beautiful song from the musical Daddy Long Legs to share with you.  Jacob has great energy on and off stage, which you already know if you watch his music channel on YouTube or remember his performances from Young Frankenstein, The Producers, Rocky Horror, and Newsies.

C. Michael Perry

Featured Season Sponsor: JS McCarthy Printers

Michael Perry is a lifelong song and dance man. He’s choreographed for Dick Van Dyke and written music for more than 35 original musicals – wow! Now he’s here to entertain you for #FeatureFriday.  While Michael has directed and played accompaniment for his daughter, Jessica (you saw her last week), Tuck Everlasting will be the first time they’ve shared the stage together!

Jessica Haviland

Featured Season Sponsor: Northern Light Inland Hospital

Happy #FeatureFriday! This week we had the pleasure of hearing Jessica Haviland sing at the Opera House. She says theatre and music are like therapy for her – and who doesn’t love to belt out a song to channel your feelings whether you’re in the car, the shower, or onstage! Being a part of community theatre really is like being a part of a family and sometimes it’s even a whole family affair! Jessica and her husband, Richard, and her father, Michael, are all in the cast of Tuck Everlasting the Musical and are looking forward to returning to the rehearsal room when it’s safe. #ArtsCreateHope

Valerie LaPointe

Featured Season Sponsor: GHM Insurance Agency

This week’s star of #FeatureFriday is Valerie LaPointe! Did you know Valerie has been singing since she was 10 years old in choirs, dinner theatre, and community theatre? You probably recognize Valerie as Mrs. Banks from Mary Poppins the Musical or from Into the Woods – she was in BOTH productions of ITW at the Opera House in 2005 and 2015! Her chosen song is from one of Sondheim’s lesser known musicals, Evening Primrose. In a world focused on social media and connecting online the performing arts build long-lasting relationships between people who create together. #ArtsCreateHope

Isabelle Grignon

Featured Season Sponsor: Granite Hill Estates

The first of our #FeatureFriday videos, highlighting the talents of our community theatre performers, stars Isabelle Grignon performing a song from Mean Girls the Musical. Isabelle has frequented the Waterville Opera House stage since she was young and you may recognize her from her role as Ermengarde in Hello, Dolly! or as a Bird Girl from Seussical.

We honor and celebrate the array of identities in our local community and broader communities, including those that are not part of the predominant culture. We hold space on our stage, our screens, and our gallery walls, in our studios, and at our community events and programs to present diverse stories, identities, and lived experiences in real and authentic ways.

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