Sordid Lives Cast

Bitsey Mae Harling (Flannery Whaley )
Flannery Whaley is thrilled to be a part of the Sordid Lives cast, especially after having seen two previous Birmingham productions of the show. After playing Rayleen Hobbs in The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife (Theatre Downtown), Flannery has been eager to delve into another Del Shores play and is thrilled to return to the BFT stage to do just that! Other favorite roles from past BFT productions include Trixie in The Miss Goosepatch Christmas Pageant and Sylvia in Tribes. Flannery would like to thank Mackey, Rhonda, Kay, Josh, Maddie, and the entire cast/crew for their unlimited dedication to making theatre magic. Flannery would also like to thank her husband Matt and dog-child Danny for their undying love, and to all friends and family who show their undying support every day. Last but not least, Flannery thanks you, the audience, for giving theatre folks all they need to keep doing what they're doing. Enjoy the show!
Ty Williamson (Kirk Kirkpatrick)
Kirk Kirkland is currently working on his bachelor's degree in Theatre at UAB. Previous roles at UAB include the following: Noises Off (Fredrick Fellows), Significant Other (Will), and Clarkston (Jake).
Sissy Hickey (Destiny Clark)
Destiny Clark is a native of St Clair County. She is a former Ms Alabama Proud, Ms. Central Alabama Pride, Miss Quest and Queen IV of the Magic City Sisters. Destiny works as a Community Healthcare worker for the CHAMPS study at BAO. She and her partner Randal have 5 dogs and live in the Moody area. She is excited to be making her theatre debut with Birmingham Festival Theatre and this amazing show.
Noleta Nethercott (Melissa Bush Hallmark)
Melissa Bush Hallmark’s first foray into Birmingham community theater was as Dr. Eve in Terrific New Theatre’s production of Sordid Lives nearly 20 years ago. She is delighted to have the opportunity to play Noleta this time around alongside this hilarious cast.
Latrelle Williamson (Kelsey Crawford)
Kelsey Crawford graduated from the University of Montevallo with a BFA in Acting/Directing. She was last seen in SIGNIFICANT OTHER. Kelsey would like to thank Mackey, Rhonda, Kay, Paul, Sam and the entire cast and crew for a wonderful experience. Special thanks to Nick, family and friends.
La Vonda Dupree (Mia Shirley)
Mia Shirley is so excited to return to the stage! She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of Montevallo in 2013. Favorite roles include Ouisa in Six Degrees of Separation, Molly in Unto These Hills, Lady Utterword in Heartbreak House and Esther in To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday. She would like to thank her mother for always being supportive!
GW (Jonathan Goldstein)
Jonathan Goldstein (GW): Originally a lawyer, Jonathan fell in love with acting 25 years ago. After quitting that lawyer gig, he spent many years pursuing an acting career in NYC, appearing in several Off-Broadway shows, and a few roles on network and cable TV, including a small role on Law & Order: SVU. Favorite Birmingham roles include Elliot in Apartment 3A (BFT), Mason in Take Me Out (BFT), Tom in The Glass Menagerie (Actors' Theatre of Alabama), Jamie in Long Day's Journey Into Night (DPTS), and Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross (Theatre Downtown). Most recently, Jonathan was seen in the role of James Lingk on the BFT stage in Glengarry Glen Ross.
Wardell "Bubba" Owens (Tim Seale)
Tim Seale has been in and around the Birmingham theatre scene for several years appearing in shows such as Yellow, and Tartuffe, Small Mouth Sounds. This is his second show at Birmingham Festival Theatre, having performed this last holiday season in The Eight Reindeer Monologues. So excited and humbled to be a part of such a wonderful show and an amazingly talented cast and crew.
Odell Owens/Rev Barnes (Matthew Whaley)
Matt Whaley is so excited for Sordid Lives at Birmingham Festival Theatre. You may recognize Matt from other productions around town - “Boy Gets Girl”, “Boeing, Boeing”, “Next Fall”, “Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical” and many others. Matt would like to thank Mackey for the invitation to play, and the BFT Board of Directors for making it all so fun and easy. But above all, he would like to thank Danny, his wonderful dog-child, and Flannery Whaley, for being the most amazing friend, partner, and wife anyone could ask for. Now let’s all dive into Sordid Lives and watch Odell play some strings!
Juanita Bartlett (Rhonda Ray)
Rhonda is thrilled to be performing in her first show at Birmingham Festival Theatre. She continues to enjoy performing in local community theatre productions after being bitten by the acting bug several years ago. One of her favorite plays was Mama Won’t Fly, also written by Del Shores. She played the parts of Aunt Rema Jean, Sybil “the soon-to-be ex-wife”, and Fannie “the protesting church lady”. She has had a blast working with the cast and laughing at the hilariousness of this hysterical show. Special thanks to Mackey Atkinson for casting me as Juanita in Sordid Lives…she’s my new alter ego!
Dr. Eve Bolinger (Sharon Cox)
Sharon Cox, also known as Samuel Torres is a local dragqueen/actor in Birmingham Alabama producing two Drag Brunches and many LGBTQIA Events as well at being the former Miss Druids 2019, Miss caritas 2018 and Mis Apollo 2015; as Samuel Torres they have stared in several shows in the Magic City like Beauty and the Beast as Lumiere at RMTC, The Rocky Horror Show as Frank N Furter at Theatre Downtown, Norton Dill's a Blue Grass Christmas, Best Little Whore house in Texas and 9to5 at VST and recently in their debut at BFT with The Eight Reindeer Monologues. They are excited to be a part of Sordid Lives and hopes you enjoy the show.
Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram (Neal Hunter Hyde)
Neal Hunter Hyde has appeared on the BFT stage in dream roles such as The Young Thing in Hello Again, Aaron McKinney & Matthew Shephard in The Laramie Project, Tom Jones in Tom Jones, and Marvin in Falsettos (with The Dane). He is absolutely blessed to get to step into another dream role, Brother Boy. As a videographer and media producer Neal’s Broadway credits include Newsies, The Lion King, Aladdin, First Date, Big Fish, and the webseries Submissions Only. Thank you to Mackey, Rhonda and BFT for this opportunity, and to Del for writing such relatable characters. NealHunterHyde.com