There’s (Still, Definitely) No Business Like Snow Business

December 8-10, 2023

About the Show:
A Fort Salem Theater tradition, "There's (Still, Definitely) No Business Like Snow Business," brings back your favorite Fort Salem Theater performers as they deck the halls with boughs and Broadway in this original holiday showtune sing-a-long! Fun for the whole family!

Starring:
Guest Artist Rebecca Paige, and Fort Salem familiar faces Courtnie Harrington, Iris Rogers, Jared West, Maureen Cossey, and Zach Kaiser, plus Peter & Anna Bailey, and Brenda Levey, Cindy Fronhofer. Janet Fronhofer. Lori Stokem, Mari Barboza. Patricia Russell. Susan O'keefe. Susi Thomas. Valerie Sheldon of the award-winning Susi Shoes dancers with Bella Cary. Owen Greene on Piano and Ben Martin on Drums.

And joining us for a special One Night Only performance on Saturday night is violist Lila Brown, co-founder, and artistic director of "Music from Salem."

Directed & Staged by Courtnie Harrington & Kyle West
Music Directed by Iris Rogers & Jared West
Susi Shoes Dances by Susi Thomas
Scenic Design by Charles J.I. Krawczyk
Lighting Design by Vidur Katyal
Stage Managed by Courtnie Harrington

Additional music & arrangements by Charles J.I. Krawczyk, Laura M. Lytle, John Norine Jr, Darrell N. Holovach, Iris Rogers,Ryan Canavan, Courtnie Harrington, Kyle West, Jared West


Fort Salem Theater productions are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Meet the Team

  • Zach Kaiser

    HE/HIM | Zach is thrilled to be back at Fort Salem Theater! You may recall seeing him earlier this season in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Overon), You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Schroeder) and Spring Awakening (Melchior). Previously, Zach has performed with SLOC in Violet (Flick), Dog Sees God (Van), and First Date (Waiter). Some of his favorite past credits include West Side Story (Bernardo), Shrek the Musical (Donkey), Love's Labour's Lost the Musical (King), and Avenue Q (Nicky). Zach would like to thank his friends for their unwavering support and encouragement. Enjoy the show!

  • Iris Rogers

    Iris is a graduate of Purchase College Conservatory (2017) where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music with a focus in Operatic Studies and Vocal Performance. She has previously performed on the Fort Salem Theater stage in the productions of The Marvelous Wonderettes (Cindy Lou), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), Spring Awakening (Thea), The Pirates of Penzance (Kate), and There is No Business Like Snow Business 2022. In her time at Purchase, she performed the roles of Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Rebecca Nurse in The Crucible, and double cast as Arnalta and Nutrice in L'incoronazione di Poppea. In December of 2022, Iris musically directed her first show, Legally Blonde, quickly followed by The Lion King Junior, and The Rocky Horror Show here at FST. She also owns a local business in Hebron, (Homestead Hemp 1787) and is well known on TikTok for sharing mysterious stories about her family farm.

  • Courtnie Harrington

    SHE/HER | Courtnie is so excited to be back for year three of Snow Business! 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, The Diary of Anne Frank (Edith Frank), Pride and Prejudice (Lizzy Bennet), Bright Star (Alice Murphy), and I Love You Because (Marcy Fitzwilliams) all at Fort Salem Theater, and Solstice: A New Musical (Kayla Charter) with Company of Curiosities.

    Courtnie has served on the production teams of The Murder or Roger Ackroyd (Stage Manager) with iTheatre Saratoga and Little Shop of Horrors (Hair Designer/Assistant Stage Manager), Grease (Assistant Director/Hair Designer), Spring Awakening (Stage Manager/Hair Designer), Footloose (Director), Corn! (Lighting Designer), Pirates of Penzance (Stage Manager/Lighting Designer), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lighting Designer) at Fort Salem. courtnieharrington.com

  • Maureen Cossey

    Maureen attended The Crane School of Music and SUNY Albany, majoring in music. She has been in numerous local productions, including those at Hubbard Hall Opera Theater. At Fort Salem Theater, Maureen has served as stage manager, lighting designer, sound designer, and music director, working on shows like Steel Magnolias, There’s No Business Like Snow Business, a John Denver Christmas, Bright Star (Mama Murphy), The Pirates of Penzance (Ruth), and Little Shop of Horrors, where she performed the singing voice of Audrey II.

    Current engagements include music ministry director at 3 local churches, resident Stage Manager at Hubbard Hall, and vocal coach.

  • Jared West

    Jared is thrilled to be celebrating the holidays at Fort Salem 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 Rocky Horror, Grease, and Little Shop of Horrors at Fort Salem, Ebenezer Scrooge at Pocket Sandwich Theatre and White Christmas, AIDA and Gypsy at Firehouse Theatre. Love to Kyle.

  • Rebecca Paige

    Rebecca Paige is a visiting guest artist of Fort Salem Theater who performed here in Next to Normal (Diana) in 2021. She attended The College of Santa Fe as an acting major with a minor in dance and is a graduate of the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Rebecca lived and performed in New York City for 7 years, working at Radio City Music Hall, co-created a cartoon which was an official selection at the New York Television Festival, was a founding member of a comedy troupe, and starred in several cabarets, including her own one-woman show. She has appeared across the country in The Man of La Mancha (Aldonza), Jekyll & Hyde (Lucy – Column Award Nomination), Oklahoma! (Ado Annie), Evita (Eva Peron – Column Award Nomination), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Miss Dorothy), The Drowsy Chaperone (Janet van de Graaf), Urinetown (Hope Cladwell), Disaster the Musical (Jackie Noelle), and A Man of No Importance (Mrs. Patrick – Column Award Nomination), among others. Ms. Paige has performed with Rubber Road New York, The Triad Theatre Manhattan, Le Comedy de Parkside Queens New York, The Firehouse Theater, Theatre Britain, The Dallas Theater Center, Theatre Arlington, Runway Theatre, The Dallas Children's Theater, and Uptown Players. As a actor for Crunchyroll, Inc, she has also done voiceover work for several international TV series and Anime films. “Ms. Paige dedicates this and every performance to her late parents who were her biggest fans.”

  • Peter Bailey

    Peter has been performing music in the upstate NY area since the age of seven, his roots beginning in folk and bluegrass. A graduate of Schuylerville High School, Peter attended the Conservatory of Music at Wheaton College in Chicago, earning a Bachelor in Music Education with a voice concentration. Peter has been a private music instructor with Rural Soul Studios in Greenwich as well as providing music enrichment classes at area schools. He has performed with the Schuylerville Community Theater as well as Saratoga’s Homemade Theater. Peter has recorded five albums of original songs and is currently performing in local venues with the band Simple Beggars. At Fort Salem Theater, he has appeared in Bright Star (Papa Cane), and There’s No Business Like Now Business 2022. Peter is married to his high school sweetheart Jen and lives in Cambridge where he pastors the Coila Church.

  • Anna Bailey

    This production marks Anna’s Fort Salem Theater debut. She is a senior at Cambridge High School who recently appeared as Cinderella in Into The Woods and Little Women, both on the Hubbard Hall stage.

  • Lila Brown

    From her first job as a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra to the Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt, Lila has enjoyed an international performance career. She has been a professor at conservatories in Vienna, Austria, and Duesseldorf, Germany. On returning to the United States, she taught as a professor of viola and chamber music at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee until the spring of 2023, when she began enjoying full-time life in Salem, NY.. Founder and Artistic Director of Music from Salem, her greatest wish is for as many people as possible to discover the glorious music for small classical chamber ensembles. Lila is very excited that Music from Salem will be performing at both the Fort Salem Theater and the Salem Courthouse in 2024.

  • Susi Shoes

    BRENDA LEVEY, CINDY FRONHOFER. JANET FRONHOFER. LORI STOKEM, MARI BARBOZA. PATRICIA RUSSELL. SUSAN O'KEEFE. SUSI THOMAS. VALERIE SHELDON with BELLA CARY

    Along with their award-winning performances, the mission of the Susi Shoes is is all about providing the right support, both literally and figuratively. Her goal is to touch the lives of young people by ensuring they have the shoes and other necessary items they need to stand tall with confidence and pride. Susi believes that when our youth are equipped with the right tools, they can conquer any stage of life.

  • Kyle West

    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.

  • Vidur Katyal

    Vidur is an international student from India doing a Theater major and music minor at Vermont State University Castleton. (He) is enjoying his time in the US learning about American culture and the entertainment industry. His previous credits include No Exit(Garcin), The IT Girl Musical(Mr.Notting), The House of Yes(Director), All American Boys(English Jones - KC/ACTF Nominated), plus Fort Salem Theater productions of Footloose (Cop/ensemble) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theseus). During his free time, he likes making films and music videos. While not on stage, he also enjoys designing stage lighting. Vidur actively enjoys working on new projects and is always down to collaborate with new people.