2015 | ImprovAcadia

Larrance Fingerhut (Music Director) has been improvising on the piano since he was two years old. After spending 13 years performing and composing in the Bar Harbor area he went to Chicago where he was music director for iO, Baby Wants Candy, and Second City Touring Company, and a teacher and music director at Columbia College. In the winter months he composes string quartets and this past winter he music directed at Penobscot Theater in Bangor and taught at College of the Atlantic.

JENNIFER SHEPARD is one of the owners and is proud to say, "this is our twelfth season"! Jen went to school at University of Iowa, studied improv in Chicago and then moved to Maine in 2004. During the winter, she used to run away to work on Norwegian Cruise Lines for The Second City but now she stays in Maine. One of the many highlights of this winter was co-hosting, with Amy Roeder, Oscar Night at Reel Pizza as Minnesotan sisters Olive & Dorcas. {Do you read? Start!} She's taught improv at The College of the Atlantic, the Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center, with the Sea Coast Mission on Isle Au Haut & Frenchboro, at Penobscot Theater and, of course, ImprovAcadia. This winter she had the pleasure of performing in the first ever Improv ME Festival in Brewer, with Capital City Improv in Augusta, on New Year’s Eve as a part of Bangor’s Downtown Countdown celebration and a long form benefit show with Amy Roeder for the Bangor Library at the Rock & Art Shop.

Joe Burton is very excited to be back at Improv Acadia. Joe spends most of his time playing legos with his four year old, Crash, running Bughouse Theater and biking around Chicago where he and his wife, Shelby, call home. He is a member of the Improvised Sheakespeare Company, Laugh Out Load Theater and is a founding member of Bughouse Theater. He would like to thank his wonderful family, for all their support and especially Joe and Linda for making the trip Maine to see shows and, in accordance with their grandparent duties, feed Crash chocolate ice cream after bedtime.

Mike Kosinski is delighted to return to ImprovAcadia! A proud alumnus of The Second City Main Stage, ETC, and National Touring Company, he's taught and performed improv in Hawaii, Russia, and many places in between. In Chicago, he performed at The Annoyance, i.O. Theater, ComedySportz, and The Playground. You can see Mike on your TV this summer in the new sit-com Impastor on TV Land. Follow him on twitter @TheMikeKosinski or follow him in real life as he wanders the streets of Bar Harbor.

Shelby Burton is so excited to be back at Improv Acadia for her 8th season! She is originally from North Carolina, but has lived in Chicago for the past 10 years. Shelby spends the majority of her time educating middle school students young minds on the joys of theater. She is an ensemble member and teacher at Laugh Out Loud Theater. She and her husband Joe own Bughouse Theater in Chicago (www.bughousetheater.com), where she also serves as the Director of Outreach and Education. In addition, she directs the children's show Hogwash: An Improvised Tall Tale for Children (www.hogwashkids.com). She would like to thank her husband Joe and family for all of their support, Linda and Joe for coming all the way to Maine to entertain our son Crash, and to Jen and Larrance for everything they do to make Improv Acadia a place we love coming every summer!

Zach Zimmerman is delighted to return to ImprovAcadia for his third season! Zach is Chicago writer, improviser, and marketer. He's written and performed two solo shows, Straight Man (iO, PIT NYC, Princeton University) and Sunday School (PIT NYC). He has improvised at iO, the Playround, with Baby Wants Candy, ImprovAcadia in Maine, and aboard the Norwegian Breakaway with The Second City Theatricals. Favorite credits include the Chicago Reader-recommended works Steamwerkz: The Musical (Annoyance) and a storytelling piece with GayCo at the Fillet of Solo Festival. He is a proud graduate of the iO Training Center, The Second City Conservatory, and Princeton University. Follow along @zzdoublezz

Liz Pereira is thrilled and honored to be joining the cast of ImprovAcadia this season! She originally hails from the mean streets of Chicago, Illinois but recently relocated to the very quiet and peaceful streets of Southwest Harbor, Maine. Liz spent many years performing all around Chicago and taught improv and writing at The Annoyance. In her spare time, Liz and her husband lead running tours through Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor with their company, FitMoose. You can also see Liz performing at the Acadia Repertory Theatre this August and September in Sylvia and Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club.And you might even catch her on your TV box in a few local commercials. Liz would like to thank Jen and Larrance for this wonderful opportunity and her husband, Andy P., for being the tops and an all around super cool dude!

Stuart Ranson moved to Chicago to study improvisation after graduating from The College of William and Mary in Virginia. After completing the training centers of the Improv Olympic, Annoyance Theater, and Second City, he began a tour of duty with the Second City National Touring Company. At Second City, he also performed with the ETC cast in the Jeff Award Winning “Holy War, Batman!” Stuart is an original member of musical improv group Baby Wants Candy, with whom he attended the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Spoleto Arts Festival. Baby Wants Candy was named 2005 Ensemble of the Year by the Chicago Improv Festival and performs regularly at Chicago’s Apollo Theater and in various New York venues. His other credits include the smash hit musicals “Jedi: A Musical Tour de Force” and “Moulin Scrooge.” He lives in New York City.

Dennis Price returns to ImprovAcadia for his third season. He thanks Jen and Larrance for giving him a chance to play and for keeping improvisation alive and well in Maine! When he’s not improvising in Bar Harbor, he teaches English and Drama at Monmouth Academy. Dennis is the founder of Capital City Improv, an Augusta, Maine-based improv comedy group. www.capitalcityimprov.com Dennis would like to add that he isn’t hungry, but he could eat! Enjoy the show!

Jason Geis is thrilled to return to ImprovAcadia again this summer! When not galavanting around Maine, Jason is equally as pleased to be a Co-Artistic Director and Founder of The pH Comedy Theater in Chicago. Jason has trained and played at The Annoyance Theater (in the smash hit, Steamwerkz the Musical) and iO Theater (2002-2012!). Jason has also taught and coached for iO, The Playground Theater, The Basement Theater (Atlanta), Huge Theater (Minneapolis), ImprovBoston (Boston), Zoo Improv (Champaign), Westside Comedy Theater (LA) and The Cosby Sweaters (Depaul University). Jason also likes directing, some of his favorites include Women On Top(improv), Mission:Improvable (improv), The Breakfast Club Musical (original musical, sold out 26 weeks!), The Room: The Musical. Jason is excited for his newest musical, Centralia, a teen horror movie musical to premiere this fall. Big thanks to my family, friends and Jen and Larrance for putting up with Cynthia, Bill and I again. This year we make it to the top of that fire lookout!

Bill Letz was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. He began improvising in 2010 and has since graduated from the training programs at the Second City and iO. In Chicago, he performs with Ghost Car at the Playground and with On Demand anywhere they'll have them. He is very excited to be performing with ImprovAcadia this summer, and he would like to thank Jen and Larrance for the opportunity! Bill owes it all to his parents, Bill and Meth (she has the best nickname!)

This is Cynthia Kmak’s second season with ImprovAcadia. She is
originally from Wisconsin Dells, WI and moved to Chicago about 3 and a
half years ago. She has performed in Second City’s Training Center
HouseCo and iO’s Harold team Bear Bones. Back in Chicago she plays
with pH Theater’s cast weekly, her house team at ComedySportz Chicago,
Zephyr, and was recently hired by Laugh Out Loud Theater in
Schaumburg, IL. Some of her independent teams include The Maine
Event, Gross Orbit, Planetary Defense Force, and Dodgeball Dungeon.
She’s a graduate of Second City’s Conservatory, iO’s training center
and completed studies at the Annoyance and at ComedySportz Milwaukee.
Cynthia spends her days working with children on the Autism Spectrum
and children diagnosed with Emotional Behavior Disorder in a
therapeutic school. She also coaches people for endurance running, and
loves being very goofy. She’d like to thank everyone who laughs with
her through life.

Declan Thomas Murphy is beside himself over the opportunity to perform with ImprovAcadia in their twelfh season. Born and raised right here in Bar Harbor, he began improvising ten years ago, late one Saturday night in ImprovAcadia’s first season. Since then, Declan has followed that love worldwide, improvising with BoomChicago in Amsterdam and now at the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago, IL. He has received training from the iO Theatre, the Annoyance, and, of course, ImprovAcadia. Humbled to be home, on a stage he once (or twice, or a hundred times) dreamed of performing on, Declan would like to thank his family for their patience, love and support through the years, and Jen + Larrance for their patience, love and support through the years. It takes a village, and he could not be more grateful for his origins.

Ryan Ford is absolutely thrilled to be joining the 2015 cast of ImprovAcadia! Born and raised in Rochester, NY, Ryan moved to Chicago three years ago to begin learning the serious art of silliness and to maintain his streak of living in cities with terrible weather. Since then he has graduated from Second City's Training Center, iO Chicago, The Annoyance Theater, and Comedysportz School of Professional Improvisation. Ryan can be seen performing around Chicago with his Comedysportz house team Zephyr, sketch group Schwartz & Ford, and independent team Cool Ranch! Ryan would like to thank his wonderful family and friends for all of their support and Jen and Larrance for the amazing opportunity.

Neil Jacobsen performs with iO Chicago, the Second City House Co, The Playground Theater, and Laugh Out Loud Theater. He started doing improv in college and hasn't looked back since. He is just about the luckiest guy in the world, as he performs sketch and improv, cooks, and writes blogs with his darling fiancé Katie as Ed and Kath. He and she have two cats who need to learn how to behave just a little better.

Katie Klein began her improv career in Washington DC, where she trained with the DC improv comedy school and performed with Comedy Sportz and iMusical. Now in Chicago, she has trained with iO and The Second City. She was a cast member of Second city’s Improv Extravaganza Explosion, and currently works with their corporate arm "Second City Works". At iO she is on the Harold team “The Late 90’s” and performs weekly with "Virgin Daiquiri" and “Superhuman.” She is a cast member of the Laugh Out Loud theater and performs independently with her partner-in-crime, in their tag-team duo, “Ed and Kath.” Katie has coached, directed and taught improv and sketch around town as well as in other towns. She is very excited to be back at ImprovAcadia this summer!

Tyler Anthony Davis. Third time’s the charm! Back in Chicago, Tyler performs with Devil's Daughter (iO), Trigger Happy (Annoyance), Torque (The Playground) and the Laugh Out Loud Theater. He cohosts a free improv jam on Fridays at ComedySportz called Get on Up: The Improv Jam, is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent, and is probably editing his new webseries The Break Room as you read this bio (fb.com/TorqueImprov). Thanks to Jen and Larrance for taking him to/from the bus station at ungodly hours, and to YOU for coming to see live theater. ZIP!

Alice Stanley Jr. is pleased as punch to be joining ImprovAcadia! She is a graduate of The Second City Conservatory and performs with Music Comedy Live’s “MINt” and The Chicago Improv League. Alice earned her MFA in Dramatic Writing from Arizona State University. Her work has been produced from Alaska to Maine. Most recently, she was showcased in the Mary Scruggs Works by Women Festival, and her play Truth Wars with Tennie and Jen was staged at The Goodman as a winner of the 2014 Chicago Dramatists’ New Play Bake-Off. Favorite previous rolls: sourdough, pretzel, buttered.

Tully McLoughlin improvises in and around Chicago at Laugh Out Loud Theater, One Group Mind Theater, and Westside Improv. You can find him playing gleefully as half of the improv duo Pistil & Stamen. A graduate of iO Chicago, Tully has performed clown, scripted theater, and puppetry in South Africa, Alaska, and across the Midwest. Recently, John Muir told him the mountains of Maine are calling, and he must go. Thanks to Jen and Larrance for this tremendous opportunity, and to my friends.

Dylan Hackworth is a graduate of both the Second City Conservatory and iO Chicago Improvisation Program.
He can be seen performing at iO Chicago in the sketch comedy show "Damn, Gina!" as well as in "Set to Scene."
He also performs around the country with the critically acclaimed improvised action movie "Lethal Action Force."

Eve Krueger moved to Chicago from her hometown of Atlanta, GA in April 2014. While in Atlanta Eve spent 8 years performing and teaching improv with Dad's Garage Theatre Company where she was a member of the ensemble and a staff member. In addition to performing (and day jobbing) at Dad's Garage, Eve also co-wrote and directed several plays. She was also an ensemble member with Laughing Matters, Atlanta's longest running improv troupe. Currently, Eve is an ensemble member at Under The Gun Theatre and an original cast member of Trigger Happy at The Annoyance. Eve is also an understudy for The Second City's National Touring Company. She is delighted to be spending part of her summer in Maine.

VINCENT KRACHT is a Chicago actor and improvisor. He is elated to return to his second home, ImprovAcadia, for their 12th season, and his eighth! In Chicago, he has performed at Laugh Out Loud and The Comedy Shrine, been an ensemble member of GayCo, and was one of the founding members of "Cast on a Hot Tin Roof," Chicago's longest running, completely improvised play. Vincent played Wilbur (and Mr. Pinky, The Principal) in "Hairspray" on The Oasis of the Seas, a production which was featured on the 66th Annual Tony Awards. He cruised or the past three years, in the Caribbean before some Cats kicked him out.

Andel Sudik is an alumnus of The Second City ETC stage in Chicago, The Second City National Touring Company, Communications, Theatricals and NCL Cruise lines as well as a frequent contributor to Second City Network Words. She is also alumnus of Boom Chicago in Amsterdam where she got to live for two years, learn to ride a bike and do some of the most bizarre voice overs ever.

Andel has improvised with the Deltones at ioWest, Edmund Serves Coffee at The Second City Hollywood, Baby Wants Candy at the Apollo and a million other teams and shows at io Chicago and the Annoyance. When she isn't on the road she can be found teaching improv and sketch to teens and adults at The Second City Training Center in Chicago and trying to dye her hair gray.

Lizz Mathews was born and raised in Kalamazoo, MI, where she graduated from Western Michigan University. While she fell in love with the theater at age 5, she found her true passion within the world of improv in 2004. She's been a member of Crawlspace Eviction, Chaos&Maine, WIT, and was part of the resident company at What A Do Theatre, in Battle Creek, Michigan from 2012-2014. Lizz has performed and taught improv all over Michigan, until she relocated to Maine last year and started working with ImprovAcadia. She wants to thank Adam for being the best human ever, and her family for their unending support. Enjoy the show!

Amy Roeder is delighted to be back at Improv Acadia for her eleventh season! Most recently, she has performed with Penobscot Theatre Company in August: Osage County and directed a youth production of Holes through Penobscot Theatre’s Dramatic Academy. A Second City Theatricals veteran, she performed in Second City revues at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Denver Center for Performing Arts, the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, onboard the NCL Epic and NCL Star and in Second City's "History of Chicago" show at the UP Comedy Club. Amy has had the great good fortune to have improv homes at Gotham City Improv in New York, the Improv Asylum in Boston, the Playground Theatre in Chicago, Improv Athens at the University of Georgia, and at the incomparable ImprovAcadia. Amy holds an MFA from the University of Georgia and her BFA from the University of Evansville. During the daylight hours, Amy is the Director of Education at Penobscot Theatre Company, the northeasternmost professional regional theatre in the country. Many thanks to Jen and Larrance for the opportunity and to her husband Eric.

Liz Joynt Sandberg is so excited to be performing with ImprovAcadia for the first time! Liz is currently based in Chicago and performs improv and sketch regularly with The Improvised Sondheim Project, VAMP, Anarchy, Best of MCL, Storytown, The Greatest Story Never Told and all over town with her wonderful friends. Her dance and performance art works have recently been presented at The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Defibrillator Gallery, and The Chicago Improv Festival. Her writing can be found online at The Huffington Post, The Second City Network, and Rebellious Magazine's PLUCK Parenting. Her essay "Hummingbird" appears in the anthology Listen to Your Mother: What She Said Then, What We're Saying Now (Putnam, 2015). Originally from Michigan, Sandberg trained with The Second City Music Improv Program, and as a member of Infinite Sundaes, at iO Chicago, and in Chicago's improvisational dance community (most recently with Ayako Kato/Art Union Humanscape). She has a degree in Philosophy and Music from Central Michigan University. Thanks to Nathan, Ida, and Merce, and the Joynt Sandberg family's rotating cast of incredible babysitters for making Liz's dream come true possible. Thanks to Jen and Larrance for bringing Liz to beautiful Maine!

Bri Fitzpatrick originally hails from Seattle, WA, and holds a BA in Drama and Theatre studies from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. She is a graduate of The Second City Training Center's Conservatory and Music Improv Conservatory program, as well as a current member of The Second City Training Center's Musical House Ensemble. She can be seen performing regularly in Chicago with ComedySportz, Baby Wants Candy:The Improvised Musical, Anarchy: An Improvised Rock Opera, Thirsty, Storytown, and The Greatest Story Never Told. She has also worked as a teacher of improv, acting, and musical theater to young people of all ages.

John Hartman is returning to ImprovAcadia after appearing on The Second City Main Stage for several years. We’re thrilled he can join us.

Bill Stern has been performing the improvised arts in the streets and theaters of America since the year 2000. He has studied improvisation at iO, Annoyance, and directly under Keith Johnstone. He has toured to over 50 cities in 24 states and has played in tens of festivals. Currently a house team member of iO Chicago's Dart and The Playground theater's K.C. Redheart, Bill still manages to get out on the road a few times a year with the experimental theater group, Available Cupholders. From shows in parks and on city buses for bystanders to crowded theaters and auditoriums; from short-form to long-form, comedic to dramatic, narrative to avant-garde; from sets that lasted 5 minutes to shows that have lasted 41 hours, Bill has tried everything he and his compatriots could dream up to try in the realm of improvised theater and currently looks forward to continuing that tradition with the ImprovAcadia.

ImprovAcadia

Yes, and since 2004