Portland Center Stage

I AM BIG: Meet the Cast of Sunset Boulevard

Posted by Chris Coleman | 21 August 2010 | Comments (1)

The cast of Sunset Boulevard arrived last week and rehearsals are in full swing.  The music is proving trickier than we'd imagined as Mr. Lloyd Webber makes liberal use of 5/8 and 7/8 time signatures, which are never easy to keep track of.

Linda Mugleston plays Norma.  Linda grew up in a town of 3000 in Idaho, but has spent the majority of her career in NY.  She's worked at the Huntington, Hartford Stage, Old Globe, the Public,  and on Broadway in Young Frankenstein, Wonderful Town, Nine, Into the Woods, Kiss Me Kate and On the Town.

Kevin Reed plays Joe Gills.  He grew up in Long Island, did his graduate work at Columbia, and has worked at the Old Globe, Cincinnatti Playhouse, St. Louis Rep, and La Mama.  But perhaps most importantly:  he sang the national anthem at a Mets Game!

Sarah Stevens, who plays Betty, the ambitious young screen writer who steals Joe's heart, went to school at Elon University in North Carolina, and has most recently been seen in the National Tour of The Wizard of Oz.  She's also worked at Barrington Stage, Heritage Rep, and at CPCC Summer Theatre.

Larry Daggett plays Max, Norma's intensely devoted butler.  Larry appeared on Broadway as Henry Ford in the original company of Ragtime, and the 2005 revival of Candide.  He's also worked at Actor's Theater of Louisvlle, Asolo Center in Florida, the Wilma, Pittsburgh Public, and the Goodspeed Opera House.

Bob Stoeckle plays Cecil B. DeMille.  He's performed at the York, Paper Mill Playhouse, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Virginia Stage, and on Broadway in The Canterbury Tales.

Jeffrey Pew plays Artie (Joe's best friend).  He studied at Brigham Young, and has performed at the Pioneer Theatre Company, Sundance Theatre and Tuacahn Center for the Arts.

Michael Brian Dunn plays Sheldrake (the  Film producer Joe is pitching too), along with several other roles.  On Broadway he appeared in The Life, Cats, Guys and Dolls, Big River, Baby and Sweeney Todd.  He's also been in the National Tours of H.M.S. Pinafore, Amadeus, If this Hat Could Talk, and Nina & the Twelve Months.

The irrepressible Leif Norby (Tateh from Ragtime, and Richard Hannay from The Thirty Nine Steps, Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls) plays a smarmy agent, and a flamboyant tailor as well as other roles.

Lisa Karlin plays Joanna, Delilah and several other roles.  She recently appeared in the Broadway revival of Ragtime, the national tour of Cats, and has been seen at the Arvada Center in the title role in Evita.

Emily Leonard plays Mary and several others.  She trained at Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio, and has performed at the New London barn Playhouse, Beck Center for the Arts, Great Lakes Theater Festival and the Apex Theater.

Robert Koutras performed in the National Tour of The Full Monty and the international tours of Grease and Any Dream Will Do.  He plays Samson, and several others.

Courtney Freed and her husband Steve recently moved back to Portland from Chicago (though they plan a move to LA after this show).  She plays the Secretary, Larissa and several others.  Courtenay has performed at Lakewood Theater Company, Broadway Rose, Stumptown Stages, Profile Theater and the Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon.

Tony Falcon plays Myron and multiple others  (he is also our assistant choreographer).  He performed in the original Off Broadway production of In the Heights, Kismet at City Center Encores, Boobs the Musical, and At the Diner.  He also performed in the national tours of Evita, Chicago, Saturday Night Fever, and West Side Story.

Jessica Elovsson is of Swedish descent but grew up in North Carolina.  She also studied at Elon University, and has performed at the Goodspeed Opera House, Hershey Park, and for Matt Davenport Productions.  She plays multiple roles.

Kurt Raimer plays a bunch of roles, and recently returned to Portland from New York.  He's performed at Broadway Rose, Lakewood Theatre, the Portland Opera, Coeur d'Alene Music Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, and Theatre under the Stars.

Lindsay Luppino plays multiple roles and has performed in National Tours of Footloose and Copacabana.

Paul Louis Lessard plays Cliff and many other roles.  He studied at the University of Michigan and has performed at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Music Theatre of Wichita, and Theatreworks USA.

Tracy J. Wholf plays Heather and many other roles.  She studied at Northwestern, and has performed at Westchester Broadway Playhouse, North Carolina Theater and the Gateway Playhouse.

The marvelous Skip Mercier (Ragtime, Guys and Dolls, Cabaret, Grey Gardens, West Side Story) is back to design the set.  

And the wonderful Robert Wierzel (whose most recent claim to fame was designing the hugely successful production of Fela! for Broadway) joins us to design the lights.