Siri is a Salem resident who started her acting journey at the age of 12. In the 1980s in New York City, Siri joined two repertory companies and performed off-Broadway in "The Second Man," "Honor Bright," "Tartuffe," and "Romeo and Juliet." Locally, Siri is a storyteller with Story Circle of the Capital District, and performs with the annual touring group “Whispering Bones.” At Fort Salem Theater, she has appeared in “The Savannah Disputation” (Margaret), “Grease” (Miss Lynch), and “Footloose” (Betty Blast), and recently assistant directed "A Midsummer Night's Dream.” She is thrilled to be working with Kyle, Courtnie, Julia, Benita and Dorothy on this interesting play!

Dorothy made her stage debut only 2 years ago as the title character in Fort Salem Theater's "The Diary of Anne Frank." For her performance, Nippertown Magazine raved, "You could not want more from someone playing Anne than Dorothy Slim Van Pelt. The theater and this production are blessed by her presence." Dorothy is a senior at Greenwich High School, applying to the top theater schools in the country to pursue her craft. She was also recently seen in Fort Salem Theater's “Steel Magnolias” (Annelle) and “A Midsummer Night's Dream” (Hermia). Her other stage work includes “Twelfth Night” (Antonio), and a script she co-created and performed that advocated for Social Justice among climate change and the BLM movement. Dorothy spent two semesters studying Meisner and Stanislavski techniques for monologuing at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center School of the Arts.

Benita h brings not only her Emmy-Award winning talent, but also over four decades of news anchoring (WNYT) and professional acting. A certified health and wellness coach, Benita has recently transitioned her career, making guest appearances in theater, film, and TV, including a recent role in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on Amazon Prime. A proud member of Actors Equity Association, Benita's diverse theatrical background includes performances with Park Playhouse, Capital Repertory Theater, and various independent films. This past season she starred in Shear Madness (Mrs Shubert) at Lake George Dinner Theater. At Fort Salem Theater, she has appeared in “Steel Magnolias,” “They’re Playing Our Song,” and “Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road.”

HE/HIM | Kyle has three decades of creating award-winning theatre under his belt, working as a producer, director, choreographer, designer, and performer. His work has been seen all across the US, from Cape Cod, to Boston, Arizona and Dallas, to New York and has been recognized by the AriZoni Awards of Excellence, BroadwayWorld Awards, Column Awards, Annie Award, MET Awards, and MHSDG Awards, among others.

Best known for creating larger-than-life musicals, some of Kyle’s credits include Hairspray, Next to Normal, Evita, White Christmas, I Love You Because, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, The Music Man, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, A Man of No Importance, West Side Story, Footloose, Into the Woods, RENT, The Rink, The Boyfriend, Schoolhouse Rock Live, Little Shop of Horrors, A Chorus Line, Chicago, Grease, La Cage aux Folles, The World Goes ‘Round, Cabaret, Pirates of Penzance, My Favorite Year, Annie, and Fame.

At Fort Salem Theater, he has directed and choreographed Salem Under The Stars, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Next to Normal, There’s No Business Like Snow Business, Grease, and The Pirates of Penzance, and has designed costumes for FST’s Pride & Prejudice , Grease, and Bright Star. He recently made his FST onstage debut in The Rocky Horror Show.

Kyle is humbled to be the executive and artistic director of Fort Salem Theater, and in June 2023, was named one of the Top 10 New York State LGBTQ+ Leaders by I ❤️ NY.

SHE/HER | Courtnie is a Washington County native who trained at The Institute for American Musical Theater in New York City after graduating from Greenwich High School. While in NYC, she was the hair designer on Hudson Classical Theater’s productions of Pride and Prejudice (Lydia Bennet) and Sense and Sensibility (Charlotte Palmer). Recent credits include Songs for a New World (Woman 2) at SLOC and The Diary of Anne Frank (Edith Frank), Pride and Prejudice (Lizzy Bennet), Bright Star (Alice Murphy), I Love You Because (Marcy Fitzwilliams) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Peter Quince) all at Fort Salem Theater. Courtnie also originated the role of Kayla Charter in Solstice: A New Musical last May with Company of Curiosities.

Courtnie has served on the production teams of numerous shows including The Murder or Roger Ackroyd (Stage Manager) with iTheatre Saratoga and Spring Awakening (Stage Manager/Hair Designer), Footloose (Director), Corn! (Lighting Designer), and Pirates of Penzance (Stage Manager/Lighting Designer) at Fort Salem. She will also be directing FST’s upcoming production of Godspell.

courtnieharrington.com

Julia Steidle is a mezzo-soprano from Argyle, NY, making her Fort Salem Theater debut with Agne of God. She holds a B.S. in Music Performance from Roberts Wesleyan University, and a M.M. in Music Performance from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. Her performance credits include Hansel (cover) and The Witch (cover) in Hansel and Gretel and Second Lady in The Magic Flute with Roberts Wesleyan University; Venus (cover) and Ensemble in Orphée aux enfers with Opera Company of Middlebury; Amandine in Amélie and Flora in The Enchanted Pig with Crane Opera Ensemble.

Most recently, she performed The Sister/The Duchess/The Queen of Hearts in the premiere of ALICE: An Operatic Wonderland at Red River Lyric Opera. Her previous production credits include supertitle creator/operator for Crane Opera Ensemble’s production of Mahagonny Songspiel/The Medium and co-coordinator of Crane Opera Club’s annual LoKo Festival Gala.

John Norine, Jr: John is an award-winning Music Director and Technical Designer who hails from Utica, NY. He attended the Crane School of Music, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in Musical Studies before moving to the University of North Texas, where he earned both a Master’s degree and Doctorate of Musical Arts in Music Performance (Orchestral Conducting). Since 2005, he has been fortunate to work with many of the educational, community, and regional theaters in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in both a musical and technical role.

When the Fort Salem Theater reopened in 2021, John was honored to be asked to work as a guest artist, music directing the first shows under the new ownership as well as working as technical director and designer for several productions. In April of 2022, John was named one of the inaugural Artistic Associates for Fort Salem Theater.

Most recently, John worked as Music Director, Technical Director, and Light Designer for Fort Salem Theater's production of Little Shop of Horrors. Light/Sound Designer for Steel Magnolias, Pride and Prejudice (Light Design), Grease (Music Director, Light & Sound Design), Bright Star (Cello, Light & Sound Design), I Love You Because (Music Director/Technical Director), and Lakeside (TX) Community Theatre’s production of Sweeney Todd (Music Director).

He/Him | Jared is thrilled to be back on the Fort Salem stage once again. He has been both onstage as a performer and behind the scenes as a music director or pianist. Onstage, he was most recently seen in Footloose (Rev. Shaw Moore), Bright Star (Daddy Murphy), Pride and Prejudice (Wickham/Collins) and The Diary of Anne Frank (Otto Frank) here at Fort Salem, A New Brain (Roger) at OhLook Theatre and A Man of No Importance (Sully O’Hara) at Brick Road Theatre. Other favorite roles are Ragtime (Younger Brother), Guys and Dolls (Sky Masterson) and Cabaret (Cliff). Jared has recently appeared behind the keys for Grease, Little Shop of Horrors and Snow Business at Fort Salem, Ebenezer Scrooge at Pocket Sandwich Theatre and White Christmas, AIDA and Gypsy at Firehouse Theatre. Love to Kyle.

Charles/Chuck is a well-rounded artist with experience in creative writing, HDR photography, graphic design and 3D rendering, improvisational piano, original song composition and scenic design for theater. While attending Southern Vermont College 2001-2005 (bachelor’s in liberal arts) he worked summers at Old Castle Theater in Bennington, VT (2000 to 2005) where he learned, by observation, the creative nuances of set design as he worked as a stagehand. Charles is currently the Resident Scenic Designer and an Artistic Associate for Fort Salem Theater where, in October 2021, he debuted a design for The Diary of Anne Frank. In the 2022 season, he went on to design: Little Shop of Horrors, Steel Magnolias, Pride and Prejudice, Grease, The Wizard of Oz: Youth Edition, Bright Star, I Love You Because, Spring Awakening, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Footloose, The Little Mermaid Jr., The Pirates of Penzance, The Rocky Horror Slow, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, along with designing Grant’s Ghost for Hubbard Hall on the side. Charles has also directed Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus in 2004 at his then-former High School, and The Glass Menagerie at Southern Vermont College in 2009.

Prior to his work at Fort Salem Theater, Charles has over eight years of set design experience, artistic/stage directing, assistant directing and serving as a theatrical creative-solutions consultant (for a local high school drama club). Shows he has designed there include: The Diary of Anne Frank (2007), Once Upon a Mattress, Rumors, The Importance of Being Earnest, Beauty and the Beast, Into the Woods, Twelve Angry Jurors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, And Then There Were None, The Sound of Music, Noises Off, Shrek the Musical, and ended his run there with The Mousetrap (2015).

After taking some time away from theatrical design Charles feels truly thankful and honored to reignite his passion for design at Fort Salem Theater and is very honored to have helped design Grant’s Ghost for Hubbard Hall’s current presentation. Charles is presently looking forward to contributing more in the near future as he gears up for Fort Salem’s 2023 season.