12 Angry Men CREATIVE
Director
Mike BolandMike is an award-winning actor and writer. He played three different roles on the Broadway national tour of Twelve Angry Men. The show starred Richard Thomas, George Wendt and Kevin Dobson, and toured from 2006-08, visiting 39 cities in the United States and Canada. Mike has also performed in two regional productions of Twelve Angry Men and directed several readings of the play. Other credits include: BROADWAY – An Enemy of the People. TOURS – West Side Story, All My Sons. OFF-BROADWAY – The Orphans Home Cycle. REGIONAL – Hartford Stage, Yale Rep, Long Wharf, Theaterworks, Playhouse on Park, ACT of CT, STONC, Greenwich, MTC, Westchester Broadway, Fulton, Judson, Engeman, Queens Theatre, Coastal Carolina, Chenango River, Hampton, Thrown Stone, Saco River, Virginia Stage, Totem Pole. TV – The Blacklist (recurring), FBI, Person of Interest, Zero Hour, Rubicon, FILM – Yo Andrea, Tommy and the Guru, A Stage of Twilight, Bobby Dogs. TRAINING – George DiCenzo, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Arkin, Penny Fuller, Cotter Smith, Bobby Moresco.
Co-Producer / Costumes / Set Decorator
Deborah BurkeDeborah loves every aspect of theater! She is an Actress/Producer/Director/Set Decorator/Costume Designer/Prop Master/Acting Teacher and currently President of Town Players of New Canaan which has become her home away from home. You may have seen the other shows she Directed and Set Decorated for this stage: Hay Fever, Gaslight, The Turn of the Screw, and her Set Decoration for On Golden Pond, The Heiress, Dixie Swim Club, Romantic Comedy, and Moonlight & Magnolias. Additionally she’s performed in dozens of plays at Town Players of New Canaan, Curtain Call, Westport Community Theater, Ridgefield Theatre Barn, Town Players of Newtown, Darien Arts Center, Carriage House, and Eastbound Theater. Love to Jeff Pliskin, my soulmate and cat daddy.
Co-Producer
Nova HallNova has spent most of her life around the stage. Some favorite roles include Delores Taylor in Billy Jack and The Teacher in The Children’s Story. She has produced a wide range of shows, from Cabaret to Much Ado About Nothing, and has shared her passion for theater by playing theater games and doing reader’s theater with her fourth graders in her day gig as a teacher. She thanks Deborah for the opportunity to work on such an important production, and the TPNC family for welcoming her as a new board member. Last, but not least, she must say a forever thank you to her family. For the Uber-talented actors in 12 Angry Men, break-a-leg!
Set Designer
Joel ReynoldsThis is the BEST job I never got paid for! Heck, building sets is probably the best job paid or unpaid I’ve had. Retired people can do a lot of good for the community. Building sets just ticks off a lot of what I wanted: grow my circle of friends, learn new skills, enjoy helping others display their talents, watch audiences light up as the stage lights are lit. This begins my seventh year of helping design and build sets for the Town Players at Waveny’s Power House Theater. I’m an enthusiastic supporter of this adventure and invite YOU to come in and see how the magic is made.
Producer and Lighting Designer
Patricia SpuganiThis is Patricia’s 5th year lighting shows on the Powerhouse stage. Her love of live theater is a family affair, with her husband, Joel, designing and building the Powerhouse sets. It is a pleasure to support the arts in New Canaan, and she looks forward to seeing these uber talented actors light up our community theater!
Stage Manager
Laura PlossLAURA PLOSS (Stage Manager) has been involved behind the scenes in community theater for more years than she is willing to admit as stage manager, producer, props, crew, light board op and even a couple (very rare) on-stage appearances. She most recently stage-managed Evita and Jekyll & Hyde at The Wilton Playshop where she is currently the President of the Board of Directors. Laura is honored to be backstage at TPNC with this amazingly-talented cast & production team. Thanks to Skip and Sarah, the other two members of the Ploss trio, for their love and support.
Asst. Director
Dana DiCertoDana is thrilled to work behind the scenes for the first time on this compelling play. She last appeared at TPNC as Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday, and recently appeared at the Wilton Playshop in Godspell. You may have seen her in productions at Curtain Call, The Downtown Cabaret Theatre, Ridgefield Theater Barn, and The Brookfield Theater for the Arts. Thank you, Mike, for asking me to be a part of this! And thank you to Deborah, and entire cast and creative team for the opportunity to learn from you and to help tell this story.
Asst. Lighting Designer
Sophie BardosSophie Bardos (she/they) is a film and theatre designer, writer, and producer whose work is focused on portraying a wide array of historically excluded narratives onscreen and onstage. Her work currently focuses on issues of sustainability, food justice, and LGBTQ+ rights. This is her second time designing with the NCTP, and she is so excited to see this classic show come to life on our stage.
Original Creative Team
American writer Reginald Rose first wrote this work as a teleplay for the Studio One anthology television series; it aired as a live CBS Television production on 20 September 1954. He adapted the drama for the stage in 1955 under the same title.Rose wrote several stage adaptations of the story. In other theatrical adaptations in which female actors are cast, the play is retitled 12 Angry Jurors, 12 Angry Men and Women or 12 Angry Women.
One early adaptation was staged in San Francisco in 1955.
In 2003 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the British producer/director Guy Masterson directed an all-comedian revival at the Assembly Rooms, including Bill Bailey as Juror 4, Phil Nichol as Juror 10, Owen O'Neill as Juror 8, Stephen Frost as Juror 3, and Russell Hunter as Juror 9. The production broke the existing box office record for drama at the Fringe Festival and garnered much critical acclaim.
In 2004, the Roundabout Theatre Company presented a Broadway production of the play at the American Airlines Theatre, starring Boyd Gaines as Juror No. 8, with James Rebhorn (No. 4), Philip Bosco (No. 3), Peter Friedman (No. 10), John Pankow (No. 7).