Our Town Program Information:
Our Town Cast
Our Town Artistic & Technical Team
Cast & Crew Bios
Sophie Alexander (Mrs. Gibbs) is a music education music performance double major with a theater minor. Specializing in piano and clarinet, Sophie has been splitting time between the music school and the theater program, and would like to thank each program for the support and encouragement! Sophie has also been Jack in Into the Woods with Shepherd University in Spring of 2024. Sophie was in various productions at home with local theaters in Charleston, WV. Sophie would like to thank the music program, the theater program, Printz 200 (Zoo) and everyone who comes to support the show!
Ken Boswell (Professor Willard) is a first year at Shepherd University. They major in contemporary theater studies. Our Town is their first on stage appearance at Shepherd. Before attending Shepherd, Ken was in a handful of plays including Into the Woods and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in high school.
Dani Carraway (Mrs. Webb) is a freshman Contemporary Theater Studies major. Our Town is Dani’s first appearance at Shepherd University. Before attending Shepherd, previous roles include the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid Jr., and Toby Slashburn in Killer Reviews, all at the Smithsburg Drama Company. Dani is so excited to be a part of this new theater experience and has enjoyed spending time with this wonderful cast and crew, and wants to thank their amazing family and friends that have always supported them and helped them get to this point!
Avery Copenhaver (Sound Designer/Foley Artist) is a junior Contemporary Theater and Communications major with a focus in Acting/Sound Design & Digital Filmmaking, with a minor in Music. Last spring, Avery designed sound for She Kills Monsters & played The Wolf in Into the Woods. For the past two summers, he’s been an intern for the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF), where he worked with front of house and box office management. While he isn’t working on assignments for school, he spends his time producing music and making short films & skits. Although this isn’t Avery’s first time working with sound, this is his first run working with live foley during a show. He’s grateful to be working with such a noble cast and wants to thank the department for offering him this opportunity.
Kayla Davis (Emily) is a junior Theater major at Shepherd University. Her most recent roles were as Agnes in She Kills Monsters last spring, and as part of the ensemble for The Pirates of Penzance at the Blackbox Youth Playhouse in Shepherdstown over the summer. In her free time, she can be found dancing at the Old Opera House in Charles Town, or tending to her ever-growing plant collection.
Eric Edwards (Howie Newsome) is a Sophomore Contemporary Theater Studies major with a minor in Photography. This is Eric’s debut at Shepherd, and he is thrilled to be in Our Town! Eric acted in high school, community college, and community theaters in the DC area. He has been in Abdication (Man in Yellow), Heddatron (Billy), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (King Claudius.) He also hopes to find a way to combine his proficient photoshop skills and apply it in the theater world. Eric thanks kb saine and the cast for welcoming him. Enjoy the show!
Juniper Elmer (Lady in the Balcony) is a junior Communications and New Media major with a minor in Contemporary Theater Studies. They will be performing onstage for the first time in Our Town and they are very excited to work with so many talented and kind people!
Taylor Gonce (Lighting Designer) – Taylor is a junior Contemporary Theater Studies major with a minor in Photography. She has helped build the set and run the light board for past Shepherd productions such as Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Into The Woods, and She Kills Monsters. Before shepherd she has worked on a lot of shows with her favorites being 9 to 5 and Noises Off. This is Taylor’s first time lighting designing and she is very excited and nervous to try something new! She is also excited to be making art with this wonderful cast and crew!
Ryan Gottrich (Constable Warren/Joe Stoddard) is a freshman Contemporary Theatre Studies major. Ryan has been acting since he was 6 years old, and has appeared as Scar in The Lion King Jr with JBAB Home Educators Musical Theater, Sebastian in The Little Mermaid Jr with the Viera Studio of the Performing Arts, Dr. Prospero in Return to the Forbidden Planet and The Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, both at the American School of Paris, and Hans of the Southern Isles in Frozen Jr. with American Children’s Theatre in Paris. He was also the proud director of Love of a Pig, produced at the American School of Paris as a part of the Black Box Society. Ryan is so glad to be surrounded by fellow thespians, and is excited to be a part of many shows during his time here at Shepherd!
Kat Grizzle (Stage Manager) is a sophomore Contemporary Theatre Studies major and Communications and New Media major. During her freshman year, she worked with The Rude Mechanicals Medieval and Renaissance Players, appearing in ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore and Lysistrata. Before that, she worked with Musselman High School, starring in shows such as Dogsbreath Devereaux, The Addams Family, and The Audition. Kat is very excited to now be working with Shepherd University’s Contemporary Art and Theater Department in their production of Our Town and is honoured to have the opportunity to lead this show.
Aubrey Harris (Woman in the Audience ) is a Junior Communications and New Media Major double minoring in Theater and Photography at Shepherd. She previously appeared in She Kills Monsters last year.
Brett Jeffries (Stagehand/Foley Artist) is a Freshman Communications and New Media major, and they are excited to be joining the Contemporary Theater Studies Program for their first production!
Christiana Johnson (Rebecca Gibbs) is a freshman Computer Science major with a double minor in Theater and Education. At Shepherd, this is Christiana’s first role. Previously she was seen in His Theater’s Newsies Jr. as Hannah, Urbana High school’s Newsies as a nun and bowery beauty, as well as props crew in Urbana’s The Play That Goes Wrong. She served three years in the International Thespian Society. Christiana is so glad to be able to have this opportunity to work with the amazing cast and crew for her debut show! She wants to thank kb and El for giving her this chance, as well as her parents for supporting her in her continued work in theater!
el lepp (Assistant Director) is an upperclassman and is super glad to have had the chance to work on this show with a wonderful mix of her old friends and all of the incredible new theatre students! She’s worked on many other productions in her career, and once out of school, she hopes to combine her majors in Theatre and Appalachian studies to continue to bring theatre to people of the region! El wants to thank her other professors for letting her out of classes to play with kb and the other techies, and her sweet perfect roommates for letting her skip out on dishes and dinner nights during late-night rehearsals.
Scott Milner (Sam Craig) is a Junior at Shepherd university, from Middletown, Maryland. He is studying Theater and Communications, and is very excited to be portraying the character Sam Craig in this production of Our Town. He also designed some of the costumes for this play; mostly Professor Willard, Simon Stimson, Rebecca Gibbs, and Mrs. Soames. This past spring, Scott performed as The Steward in Into The Woods, and was a part of the tech team for She Kills Monsters. Scott would like to thank kb saine, his fellow cast mates, and his family for all of their support.
Kaci Orr (Mrs. Soames) is a sophomore Vocal Performance major with a minor in Contemporary Theater Studies. Before attending Shepherd, previous work includes Assistant Properties and Run Crew in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical at Hedgesville High School. She is so glad to be a part of this awesome cast and crew, and it was a great first experience of acting in a play. I want to thank the whole cast and crew, especially the new friends I made along the way, for the fun we had – and I want to thank my mom and dad for encouraging me to follow my dreams. Lastly, I want to thank all the music professors and kb saine for helping me through this journey and helping me break out of my shell.
Kay Ramis (Production Stage Manager) is a junior Contemporary Theatre Studies major, stoked to be stage managing Our Town. At Shepherd, she has been in the booth calling cues for Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Into The Woods, and She Kills Monsters, and was Assistant Stage Managing/Costume Shop Manager for Cryptid Cave Escape Room. She has spent this past summer interning for the Contemporary American Theater Festival in company management. When she isn’t color coding her scripts, calculating how many minutes until places, or sending endless emails, she can be found baking at local coffee shop LostDogCoffee or volunteering at her Alma Mater in Martinsburg with the “Good Times Show Choir.” She’d like to thank her cast and crew for understanding when she doesn’t quite say the words she wants, her mentors and close friends Nicole & Danica for their endless support, and her family & partner for loving and feeding her. PLACES PLEASE!
Patrick Reynolds (Wally Webb/Si Crowell) is a freshman Contemporary Theater Studies Major. Before attending Shepherd, previous roles include Hermes in Hadestown: Teen Edition at The George’s Children’s Museum, as well as March Hare in Alice in Wonderland at Musselman High School. Patrick also spent three years in Kaleidoscope Show Choir, where he was both a soloist and a dance captain. Patrick is extremely excited to take on the new opportunities that Shepherd provides and to expand his horizons as an actor. He would like to thank his parents and his girlfriend for supporting his goals and having his back. He would also like to thank all the people that have supported him through the most difficult time of his life. He dedicates his performance to Izzy.
Giovanni Romero (George Gibbs) is a Junior Contemporary Theater Studies Major with minors in Business Administration and Communication and New Media. Giovanni has appeared in theCryptid Cave Escape Room as Mothman. Before attending Shepherd, Giovanni attended Davis & Elkins College, where he performs as Carl’s dad/Jesus in The 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee, Wall Clock/Henry Fail/Doctor in Failure: A Love Story, and David/ Kami 2 in Very Still and Hard to See. Also, Giovanni has worked behind the scenes building platforms for sets in Eurydice, She kills Monsters, and he also was part of the film crew set for Legacy Bid. I just want to give thanks to my favorite professors who are just outstanding and out of this world; Lonnie Martin and kb saine!! They’re the ones who encourage people to perform their best and find a way to always improve in the theater. Thank you for being supportive and and amazing human beings. Also, thank you for having patience because it is not easy to handle a group of DEgens!
Sarah Ward (Asst. Stage Manager, Costume Designer, Music Director) is proud to be taking her double lap sophomore year at Shepherd University in the Contemporary Theater Studies and English Education departments. She has previously been seen at Shepherd as Lilith in She Kills Monsters, The Witch in Into the Woods, Suzanne in Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and the Logan understudy in The Thanksgiving Play. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to pursue a graduate degree in costume design. She would like to thank the Theater department for the Theater Design class the opportunity to design and work on costumes for this show. It has allowed her to realize her passion for design and a practical way to implement it, which has been an absolute joy! Sarah would also like to thank her partner, Jacob, and her dear friends, Kay and El, as well as her parents for always supporting her in her many, many endeavors.
Sincere Warren (Dr.Gibbs) is a freshman Theater major at Shepherd University with hopes of becoming an actor. Before coming to Shepherd, he was a part of Hadestown: Teen Edition at The George’s Children’s Museum. Sincere has also performed with Goodtimes show choir. He is so glad to be able to be a part of his first-ever college theater show and he hopes to be a part of many more in the near future.
Alexander Whitler (Mr. Webb) is a junior Contemporary Theater Studies major with a minor in English Studies. Alexander has appeared in The Thanksgiving Play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and She Kills Monsters at Shepherd University. Alex is very happy to be part of this amazing cast & crew.
We are so proud of the amazing work our students have done in this production, and are excited to realize that all but one member of our cast & crew are Contemporary Theater Studies majors or minors. If you’d like to make a contribution to our growing program, please do so here: