Pocahontas

The Cast

Thundercloud			Cameron Arias
Barbara		Gabrielle “Gaby” Calabrese
Jeremy			Christian Corpora
Powhattan/Wolf	Scott Thomas Gorbach
Brave Eagle			Evan Holland
Ensemble			Jaggerd Irizarry
Thomas			Neal Kennedy
Pocahontas			Alex Kruse
Charity/Raven			Adrienne Leska
Squirrel/Ensemble			Lauren Lopiccolo
Ensemble			Alexandra Matta
Little Running Rabbit			Macie Matta
Margaret			Jackie McCrea
Ensemble			Jenna Schroedel
Ensemble			Devin Sutter
Happy-She-Walks			Alyssa Tepfenhart
Esther			Lindsey Tryon
Carolina			Julia Tvardovskaya
Capt. John Smith			Vince Urbanski
Mother Earth/Mercy			Nicole Velotta
Wordspinner/Aunt Morning Star			Shelley Wyzynski

Production Team

Tim Anderson

Director

Amy McSweeney

Assistant Director

Peg Stettin
American Sign Language Instructor

Under the guidance of Dr. C. Jean Mosley-Hall, Ph.D.

Annette Phelps

Producer

Paige DeMattie

Light Board Operator

Brandon Schroedel

Spot Light Operator

Fran Norris, Cathy Calabrese, Annette Phelps,

Cleveland Costume

Costumes

Jackie Phelps & Karen Johnston

Props

Val Kaczor & Doris Coleman

Set Painting

Tim Anderson, Amy McSweeny, Vince Urbanski,
JeniLee Grabenhorst, & Joe Abraham

Set Design & Construction

Annette Phelps & Renee DeSantis
House Managers

Allison Naso

Publicity

Lori Lanning
Reservations

Doris Coleman

Programs

Photos

Evan Holland as Brave Eagle, Alyssa Tepfenhart as Happy-She-Walks,
Macie Matta as Little Running Rabbit, Shelley Wyzynski as Aunt Morning Star

Front Center: Scott Thomas Gorbach as Chief Powhattan

Rear (from left to right): Evan Holland as Brave Eagle, Jaggerd Irizarry as Algonquin, Christian Corpora as Algonquin, Alex Kruse as Pocahontas, Shelly Wyzynski as Aunt Morning Star, Cameron Arias as Thundercloud, Jenna Shroedel as Ensemble, Devin Sutter as Ensemble, Alexandra “Little” Matta as Ensemble, Alyssa Tepfenhart as Happy-She-Walks, and Macie “Big” Matta as Little Running Rabbit

Adrienne Leska as Charity Matthews, Vince Urbanski as Captain John Smith

Cameron Arias as Thundercloud, Ensemble

Alex Kruse as Pocahontas

Alex Kruse as Pocahontas, Scott Thomas Gorbach as Chief Powhattan

Gaby Calabrese as Barbara Matthews,
Alyssa Tepfenhart as Carolina Matthews,
Jackie McCrea as Margaret Wheeler

Vince Urbanski as Captain John Smith

Neal Kennedy as Thomas Rogers, Nicole Velotta as Mercy Rogers

Wolf, Squirrel, and Raven

Adrienne Leska as Raven, Lauren LoPiccolo as Squirrel, Scott Thomas Gorbach as Wolf

Nicole Velotta as Mother Earth

Lindsey Tryon as Esther, Christian Corpora as Jeremy

Wolf (Performed by Scott Thomas Gorbach)

Forrest Scene

Concepts

· The Wordspinner, (narrator) performed all of her songs in two languages simultaneously; she sang in English and signed a translation in American Sign Language.

· During the prologue, actors carried poles mounted with sails through the audience to represent the ships arrival from England. Poles with a sun, moon, and star were also used to represent Indian folklore.

· Puppets were used for the animal roles.

· Mother Earth traveled down stage in the tree, which was rotated to reveal her at the end of the Pocahontas’ Dream sequence.

· The entire cast learned an American Sign Language translation of the final song, “Your Heart Always Knows”.

· Audiences attending the second weekend were treated to a series of cast-created bloopers that were staged before the curtain call. Among these are:

· Powhattan destroying the ships before they land,

· Pocahontas being chased by wild animals to the line “The creatures of the forrest, have all become her friends…”

· The wolf puppeteer forgetting his puppet and singing original lyrics of “You can’t forget your puppet…”

· John Smith dressed as Mother Earth emerging from the tree and scaring the forest spirits, only to be chastised by the real Mother Earth, who can not get Pocahontas to awaken.

· Esther being hunted by her brother in the forest

· Thomas having an emotional breakdown due to his wife’s constant abuse, culminating with the line “I should have listened to my mommy and never married you.”

· John Smith receiving a cell-phone call from King James in England at the moment Pocahontas is about to spare his life.

The Set

The play required action to take place in three locations. The small stage with not wing space required some creative planning to accomplish this. Using the principles of black box theater, the three locations were quickly entirely shifted from one to another by the cast members. The longest scene change took 18 seconds.

The forest scene consisted of two drops that met in the middle. When opened, the left and right most sections of the drop remained visible and the remainder of the drop was tied behind the trees. In front of the drops were two free-standing movable pieces that served as puppet stages, the rock and the tree. The reverse side of the tree served as a wagon from which Mother earth made her entrance. There were also two flats that decorated the front of stage at the beginning of the show and after intermission. Painted on each was a tree: one smaller than the other, but resembling each other to represent Pocahontas and her father, Chief Powhattan.

The Algonquin Village consisted of a collapsible longhouse, made of three flats and trim. There was also a firepit wagon that was used in scene one. The reverse side of the Jamestown stockade was painted with a red stain to match the Algonquin village.

The Jamestown settlement consisted of a large painted drop of houses that was revealed by the eight-foot section of stockade that swung open and met the fence line. A rustic table and two stools also complimented the scene.