The Cherry Orchard

Yermolai Alexeyitch Lopakhin...........Matthew J. Roseman
Dunyasha, a maid.............................Audra Billet
Simeon Panteleyitch Ephikhodof.................A.L. Welch
Firs, a man-servant................Christopher M. Fordice
Anya, Mme. Ranevsky's daughter...........Angela Cacchione
Lyubof Andreyevna Ranevsky.............Audra Hope Hearity
Varya, Ranevsky's adopted daughter.........Amanda Numbers
Leonid Andreyevitch Gayev..................Brandy Mindick
Charlotte Ivanovna...........................Kelly Stover
Boris Simeonof-Pischtchik...............Jason W. LaBruzza
Yasha, a young servant........................Jose Lugaro
Peter Sergeyevich Trophimof.................Josh Chambers
A Tramp..................................Matthew Clifford
The Stationmaster.........................Chris Carithers
The Post Office Clerk ...................Frank Cartwright
Ephim..........................................Cary Toaso
Pauline........................... .... Joelle Rybakowski
Evstigney............................T. Martin Camden III
Karp...................................... Aimee Martinez
Antosha......................................Matt Stegall
Homeless Woman...........................Catherine Forero

Angela Cacchione (Anya) is a freshman Film and Video major from Avenel. NJ. Last semester, Angela played Phyllis the maid in Passion Poison and Petrifaction here on campus. While attending Middlesex Arts High School, Angela appeared in six productions, including You're A Good Man Charlie Brown and Up the Down Staircase.

T. Martin Camden III (Evstigney/Running Crew) is a freshman Film and Video major from Apollo, PA. Previous experience includes writing, directing and acting in one-acts before coming to Hazleton. He also has worked lights for our SOTA coffeehouses here on campus, and has played in several rock and alternative bands.

Chris Carithers (The Station Master) is a freshman Liberal Arts major making his theatrical debut with this show. Chris is from Ringtown, PA.

Frank Cartwright (The Post Office Clerk/Running Crew) has gone from having no lines last semester (during the Evening of One Acts) to having two offstage lines this semester. A native of Philadelphia, PA, and a sophomore Communications major, Frank says his experience in theatre come from "having to watch a lot of plays in high school."

Josh Chambers (Peter Trophimof) lists himself as a communications major, cartoonist, independent disc jockey, trombonist and the author of a satire column for the Hazleton Campus Collegian. Last semester, audiences roared at his portrayal of Adolphus Bastable in Passion Poison and Petrifaction. Previous stage roles include Officer Klein in Arsenic and Old Lace and Luther Billis in South Pacific.

Matthew Clifford (A Tramp) is a freshman engineering major from Allentown, PA. Matt is making his Hazleton stage debut with this show, though in high school he appeared in the one acts, The Slave with Two Faces and The Red Apple and, more notably, as Charles in Pippin.

Christopher M. Fordice (Firs), from Randolph NJ, is a freshman Biology major. Last semester He played the Detective in Abducted! for the Evening of One Acts. Previous stage credits include Reuben and the Butler in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Malcolm in Macbeth, Stanley in Brighton Beach memoirs, and Oliver in Oliver.

Catherine Forero (Homeless Woman/Running Crew) continues to work on crew once again, as she did for last year's productions. Catherine is a sophomore Pre-Law major from Stamford, CT.

Audra Hope Hearity (Lyubof Andreyevna Ranevsky) appeared on our stage as Betty in Sure Thing and as an Angel in Passion Poison and Petrifaction. She also wrote Opportunity for Comfort, one of the one acts presented last semester. Currently employed as a pre-school teacher in Hazleton, Audra has participated in many productions at the Rainbow's End Children's Theatre Company and Bloomsburg University, including Blood Wedding and Reckless.

Jason W. LaBruzza (Boris Simeonof-Pishtchik) is a sophomore Film and Video Production major from Piscataway, NJ. Most recently, Jason appeared as George Fitztollemache last semester in Passion Poison and Petrifaction. He played Frank'N'Furter in the Rocky Horror Picture Show on campus, as well as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in our production of Twelfth Night.

Jose Lugaro (Yasha) student directed Abducted! in last semester¹s production of one acts. Jose also appeared as Gary in Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You and as Orsino in Twelfth Night here on campus. A Business Administration major, Jose is also the Vice-President of the Society of the Arts.

Aimeé Martinez (Karp/Running Crew) worked backstage last semester, and emerges for a small role in this production. She also moved from the Dominican Republic to attend school in the States. An Advertising/Marketing sophomore, Aimeé is a student in the Honors Program.

Brandy Mindick (Leonid Andreyevitch Gayev) is a freshman Film and Video Major from Laplata, MD. A veteran of many elementary and middle school plays, he played the doctor in last semester's Passion Poison and Petrifaction.

Amanda Numbers (Varya) played Magnesia Fitztollemache in the campus production of Passion Poison and Petrifaction last semester. Previously, she appeared in several shows in her native Florida high school and college, and her high school won the state competition two years running at the Florida State Thespian Competition. Amanda is a Secondary Education/English major (with a minor in Theatre) now living in Sugarloaf.

Matthew J. Roseman (Yermolai Alexeyitch Lopakhin) is a freshman Film and Video major from Nazareth, PA. His previous stage credits include roles in The Pajama Game, South Pacific, The King And I, Oliver, and A Company of Wayward Saints. Last semester he appeared as a Detective in Abducted! and the Policeman in Passion Poison and Petrifaction here on campus.

Joelle Rybakowski (Pauline/Running Crew) is a freshman Speech Pathology major from Hazlet, NJ. She is making her stage debut with this production.

Matt Stegall (Antosha/Running Crew) is making his stage debut with this show, although he has sung in choir for four years and also acted in his friends' movies. Matt is a freshman Recreation and Park Management major from Hershey, PA.

Kelly Stover (Charlotte) appeared as Alex in Opportunity for Comfort during last semester's Evening of One Acts. Kelly is a freshman Communication major from Apollo, PA.

Cary Toaso (Ephim/Running Crew) is a freshman Film and Video major from Leechburg, PA. Cary had a small role in high school, and has experience working with lights and sound, as well as having played in bands.

A.L. Welch (Simeon Panteleyitch Ephikhodof) is a freshman Film and Video major from Tannersville, PA. Adam is also in the campus Honors program, and says his previous theatrical experience is "one other play one other time," but won't divulge any details.

Keri Garman (Set Painter) had her last brush with Chekhov in working on Neil Simon's The Good Doctor (based on Chekhov short stories) in high school. A student in the Division of Undergraduate Studies, Keri is from Renovo, PA.

Anton Chekhov (Playwright) was born in Russia in 1860. He studied medicine and became a doctor, but always pursued writing, his real love. He wrote many short stories, vaudeville sketches and one act plays, as well as his four famous full-length plays: The Sea Gull (1896), Uncle Vanya (1899), The Three Sisters (1901), and The Cherry Orchard (1904). Chekhov died of tuberculosis in 1904.

You people oughtn't to go and see plays; you ought to try and see yourselves; to see what a dull life you lead, and how much too much you talk.

For those people who still go to see plays, Chekhov provides life-like characters for the audience members to see their reflections. As you watch the play, think of people you know that act in exactly these ways.

Yet, Chekhov labeled The Cherry Orchard a comedy. With this production, I have sought to emphasize the humor of these people, trapped in their mechanical behavior patterns. As we watch them repeat the same mistakes again and again, we have to laugh at their foolishness, at the mercy of the strings that pull at them, like marionettes dancing at the whim of their operator. Because, if we don't laugh at them, we might recognize ourselves...

Chekhov was a very modern playwright, chronicling a period in Russia where the times were changing rapidly, and moving toward the Communist Revolution in 1917. Today, with the breakup of the Soviet Union, there is a capitalist revolution occurring, and Lopakhin the businessman is right at home. But the play is not only about business or about Russia, but about progress, environmental issues and changing times, in the West as well as in the East.

I would like to dedicate this production to Dr. Yvonne Shafer, an instructor, mentor, colleague and friend, who has encouraged me in many things, but who was the first to help me find the humor in Chekhov's plays.

Enjoy the show.

--Steve Schrum