These Shining Lives

By Melanie Marnich

Set in the 1920s, this impactful true account chronicles the strength and courage of female factory workers who hand paint glow-in-the-dark watch faces. When their health declines, proving their employer has poisoned them with radium becomes a valiant legal battle. Their story of survival is beautifully tragic as they strive to improve conditions for future working women.

SHOW PHOTOS

2016 Performance Dates

April 22, 23, 29 & 30 at 8 p.m.
April 24 & May 1 (ASL interpreted) at 2:30 p.m.

Ticket Information

Adults - $10
Seniors (55 and over) - $7
Non-KSU Students (17 and under) - $7
KSU Students - Free with current ID

• Tickets go on sale April 11.
• Purchase tickets online, by phone or in person at the Box Office.
• Visa, MasterCard and Discover accepted. Checks and cash accepted in person at the Box Office.
• Tickets purchased online or by phone will be available at Will Call.
• Will Call opens one hour prior to curtain time and closes when the performance begins.
• Kent State Students: Free admission with current Kent State ID. Seats must be reserved in person at the Box Office.
• No refunds for purchased tickets. Exchanges for the same production can be made by contacting the Box Office prior to the reserved performance date.
• Tickets held at Will Call will be forfeited if not picked up by curtain time.

Ticket sales begin April 11 at 8 a.m.

Cast

Anthony Antoniades: Tom, Dr. Rowntree, Dr. Dalitsch
Anthony Antoniades appeared in Huck Finn’s Story, Dating Is Tough To Do...And Funny, Too!, Plumfield, Iraq, Buried Child and Blur at Kent State Stark, where he also stage managed Songs for a New World and Evil Dead: The Musical, served as lighting design assistant for Anton in Show Business and served as crew for Almost, Maine and The Bicentennial Project. He is a theatre major at Kent State.

Faith Carpenter: Catherine
Faith has been acting on and off since she was little. She was in two plays and two musicals in high school. she played Mrs. Webb in Our Town, Linus in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Rat in The Wind in the Willows, and Violet Beauregard in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. She assistant directed five productions, including Miss Nelson is Missing, The Little Mermaid, And a Child Shall Lead, Charming, and Gran's Guide to Defeat an Ogre and performed in The Bicentennial Project at Kent State Stark.

Serena Fronimo: Charlotte, Reporter #1
Serena is majoring in musical theatre at Kent State University. She most recently played Villian, Gayle, and Hope in Kent State Stark's Almost, Maine and performed in The Bicentennial Project. Serena graduated from Massillon Washington High school as a part of the Thespian's club where she performed in 42nd Street as Dorothy Brock, Beauty and the Beast as a Silly Girl, and You Have the Right to Remain Dead as Lois/Savannah. She has also snagged various roles in community theatre. Aside from theatre, Serena is a makeup design graduate in beauty and special effects, and enjoys freelancing for films and special events. 
 
Craig Joseph: Mr. Reed, Announcer, Son, Grossman, Company Doctor
Craig is excited to make his Kent State Stark Theatre acting debut after hearing several of his friends talk about how rewarding it was to work with this department. A native of Canton, with a Masters in Directing from Northwestern University, he’s most often at the helm of productions like Picnic, South Pacific, Other Desert Cities, Avenue Q, God of Carnage, and others. Every so often, though, it’s fun to take the stage, most recently in Clybourne Park, Chesapeake, Shrek: The Musical, The Master Builder, and Our Town. The creative director for a branding agency and art exhibit curator by day, Craig relishes any opportunity to play with the interaction between words and images, and he’s grateful for the opportunity to do that onstage at night. Thanks much for your support of theatre in Northeast Ohio.

Breanna Morton: Frances, Reporter #2
Breanna is a sophomore at Kent State Stark, majoring in Theatre Management. She graduated from Hoover High School in North Canton where she performed in Les Misérables and Beauty and the Beast; worked on Peter Pan, Aida, Harvey, The Paper Chase, Wizard of Oz, and It's a Wonderful Life; and she also was stage manager for It's Murder in the Wings, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Aladdin Jr., Blur, Almost, Maine and The Bicentennial Project. She hopes to one day move to New York City and work as a stage manager for Broadway shows.

Sarah Marie Young: Pearl, Daughter, Judge
Sarah  is very active in community theatre all around the area, such as the Players Guild Theatre in Canton where some of her previous credits include The Ghost of Christmas Past (Christmas Carol), Little Pig #3 (Shrek the Musical), Star to Be (Annie), and Audrey (Little Shop of Horrors). She has also appeared as Marcy Park (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Janet Van de Graff (Drowsy Chaperone), and Violet (Violet) all at the Carnation City Players in Alliance. Additionally, she has performed onstage in various productions at The North Canton Playhouse, Weathervane Community Theatre, Plain Center for the Performing Arts, and Lake High School, where just a few of her other favorite credits include Natalie in Next to Normal, Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, Maria in The Sound of Music, and the Witch in Into The Woods. Sarah performed as Thea in Spring Awakening at Kent State Stark. She is pursuing a major in theatre performance.

Production Team

Brian Newberg: Director
Brian Newberg is an Assistant Professor of Theatre and Theatre Director at Kent State University at Stark. Brian’s directing experience (over eighty production credits) includes Broadway, Regional, Equity Waiver, industry showcases, new work development, and many college productions. He has extensive experience as an actor (over seventy production credits) in the New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oregon areas. He has also served as an Associate Artistic Director for a regional theatre company, run his own private acting studios, and taught at a number of colleges on the west coast before coming to Kent State. Brian is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and received his M.F.A. in Directing from the University of California, Irvine.

Louis Williams: Scenic & Lighting Designer
Louis Williams is the resident technical director, and scenic and lighting designer, at Kent State Stark and has designed over 200 productions in 30 years in theatre, opera, ballet and rock-n-roll. This includes work with such theatre companies as: The American Ballet Theatre II, The Joffrey Ballet II, The Arizona Theatre Company, The Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis, The Kenley Players, The Ohio Light Opera, The Cleveland Opera, The Cinncinnati Opera, Southern Arizona Light Opera Company, Carousel Dinner Theatre, The Agora, Cleveland Ohio, The Temple Of Music And Art, Tucson, Arizona, ChildsPlay Inc, of Phoenix, Arizona, and The Scottsdale Civic Center, Scottsdale, Arizona. Read more about Louis Williams.

Ron Jarvis: Sound Designer
You might recognize Ron Jarvis as a performer, producer, music director, and/or composer for such stalwart North East Ohio acts as The Buckeye Biscuit Band, Ital, First Light, Alex Bevan, Pat Dailey and, most recently, Macaw; the American Worldbeat Band.  He is also an adjunct faculty member at Kent State where he has taught Art of the Theatre and Theatre Criticism classes as well as the three part series of Sound Design and Technology classes for the Entertainment Arts and Technologies certificates program. Ron has worked with world renowned directors Vincent Dowling (composition for The Winter’s Tale at Kent State) as well as Ping Chong (Blindness: The Irresistible Light Of Encounter at La Mama Theatre in NYC) and has served as a live mix consultant at Geauga Lake and Cedar Point Amusement Parks. Although his first sound design for Kent State Stark was for the 2002 production of Dancing at Lughnasa, since 2007 he has designed many of the Kent State Stark theatrical productions including Oklahoma!, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Into the Woods, The Revenger’s Tragedy, The Mikado, Crazy for You, Dating is Tough to Do...and Funny, Too!, Songs for a New World, Plumfield, Iraq, Evil Dead: The Musical and Anton in Show Business.

Stephen Ostertag: Costume Designer
Stephen is a theatre graduate of Kent State University, who is excited to be involved in the Kent State Stark theatre scene, where he was costume designer for Almost, Maine and Spring Awakening, costume design assistant for The Crucible, scenic/lighting design assistant for the production of Buried Child, crew for One Slight Hitch and was part of the writing ensemble for Voices from Hurt Street. Some of his favorite onstage credits include Lennie in Of Mice and Men, The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, and Nick in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Stephen also enjoys directing, writing and designing. When not busy with his two children, Stephen runs the Silver Star Youth Theatre Company with his wife, Tricia. 

C.J. Pinter: Assistant Director
C.J. is a sophomore at Kent State Stark, and is majoring in marketing, as well as theatre. He played Stu in Our House, Paul in The Maiden's Prayer and multiple roles in Almost, Maine and The Bicentennial Project at Kent State Stark. C.J. has done theatre in high school, snagging multiple leads in Rehearsal for Murder, and being plant operator for Little Shop of Horrors. Most recently, he served as stage manager for Kent State Stark's One Slight Hitch. He also started the One Act Festival at his high school, and was also president of the Improv club. Aside from theatre, he enjoys a nice healthy lunch from Chipotle, head banging to music, and quoting Will Ferrell as much as humanly possible. He would like to thank the director for challenging him and giving him this great opportunity.

Samantha Wadsworth: Stage Manager
 

Layla O'Neal: Stage Manager

 
Benjamin Sherwood: Scenic/Light Design Assistant


 
 

Sean Carson: Multimedia Design Assistant

Kelsey Scheppler: Wardrobe Supervisor/Dresser
Kelsey is a freshman at Kent State University at Stark, majoring in psychology. She graduated from Hoover High School in North Canton. She performed in Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, and The Audition. Most recently, she served as costume design assistant in Blur and costume design assistant and wardrobe supervisor in Almost, Maine.

David Sponhour: Sound Design Assistant
David has been active in theater for over 30 years. He has performed on many local stages, and acted at Kent State Stark in Cat’s Paw, Buried Child and One Slight Hitch, where he is a full time theatre student. David served as assistant director for Voices from Hurt Street, sound design assistant for The Maiden's Prayer and The Bicentennial Project, and crew for Spring Awakening, Blur and Almost, Maine. He is also a founding member of “Scared Scriptless," Canton’s premiere professional Improv troupe. Some of his favorite past performances include Crumpet in Santaland Diaries, Comet in The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, Jerry in Zoo Story, and Hal in Proof starring All My Children’s David Canary. He spends what little free time he has with his wonderful, spectacular, and supportive wife, Christine.

Justin Miller: Sound Design Assistant
 

James McKeon: Crew
James is a music technology major at Kent State Stark. He has an extensive background in music performance and writing, as well as painting. James has performed in various bands since 5th grade, and has created original artwork all his life. He learned about scenic design through his first full theatre experience at Kent State Stark with Evil Dead: The Musical and again as scenic/lighting design assistant in Spring Awakening and Almost, Maine, and multimedia design assistant for The Bicentennial Project. He recently was a crew member for The Maiden's Prayer, Cat's-Paw, Our House, One Slight Hitch and Blur. James works as a theatre technician for the Kent State Stark Theatre Department.