The Retro Productions Company:
 Heather E. CunninghamProducing Artistic Director Actress |
Heather E. Cunningham was most recently seen as Anna “The Pig Woman” Trumball in Retro Productions’ What I Did Last Summer and as Widow 1 in Mill Fire. In 2007 Backstage named her as a “Performance to Remember” for her portrayal of Cheryl in Retro’s Still Life. Previous roles for Retro: Mrs. California (NYC premiere) and Catholic School Girls. Performances with local companies include Young Playwrights, New York Theatre Workshop, and Vital Theatre among others. Her residency at Hedgerow Theatre included appearances in over a dozen productions. Other favorite credits: Silence, Cole/Noël - "Let's Fall in Love," Cat Among the Pigeons, Macbeth, Unveiling, Comedy 101, Women Who Dare, Evita, Four Dogs and a Bone and the short films Double the Treatment and Reunion. She holds a B.F.A. in theatre performance from Denison University. She is the Producing Artistic Director of Retro Productions. www.heathercunningham.net |
 in Still Life by Emily Mann. |
 Mark Armstrong Company Member Actor |
Mark was most recently seen as Bo in Retro's production of Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Mark began his acting career in Minnesota, training at Inver Hills College & the Guthrie Theatre and performing in and around the twin cities and also regionally on the east coast before returning to NYC 3 years ago. Theatrical credits include: A View from the Bridge (Eddie Carbone/Inver Hills Theatre,Mn.), Terra Nova (Edgar Evans) & A Man for all Seasons (Richard Rich) Theatre in the Round, Mn.. Lovers & Traitors, the Killing of the Rosenbergs (David Greenglass/Mn.) Jewish Theatre Co.), The Foreigner (David Lee/Seasons Dinner Theatre, Mn.), Lost in Yonkers (Louie Kurnitz/New London Barn Playhouse, NH.) and Broadway Bound (Stanley Jerome) Ft. Salem Theatre, NY. |
 in Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth. |
 Lauren Coppola Company Member Actress |
Lauren is a recent graduate of Yale College and appeared as Bonny in Retro's What I Did Last Summer by A. R. Gurney. Past productions include The Seagull (Nina), Speaking Our Minds at the Yale Drama School’s Carlotta Festival, Equus, Bash by Neil Labute, The Duchess of Malfi, Much Ado About Nothing, True West, Mother Courage, Anne Frank (Majestic Theatre, MA), Our Town (Westfield Theatre Group, MA), and A Christmas Carol (Stage West, MA). Additional training at the Stella Adler Studio, Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, MA), Oxford School of Drama, and Interlochen Arts Center. |
 in What I Did Last Summer, by A. R. Gurney. |
 Jack H. and Rebecca Cunningham Company Members Designers |
Jack and Beckie most recently designed Retro Production’s Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth (nominated for 2008 Innovative Theater Award for set design), What I Did Last Summer by A.R.Gurney, and Emily Mann’s Still Life (the latter two of which had costumes designed by Rebecca whose design for Summer was also nominated for a 2008 Innovative Theater Award for costume design). Over the years this husband-and-wife team has collaborated on productions from Aristophane’s Lysistrata to Von Weber’s Der Freischütz. Jack has designed productions in summer stock, regional theatre, university theatre, off- and off-off Broadway. Rebecca is Professor Emerita from Brooklyn College where she taught costume design and construction for 30 plus years. Rebecca is the 2008 recipient of the USITT Award for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design. She is also the author of the costume design textbook, The Magic Garment, as well as Basic Sewing for Costume Construction, both published by Waveland Press. Rebecca and Jack received MFA degrees in Theatre Design from Brooklyn College. |
 part of the set design for Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth.  set design for What I Did Last Summer by A. R. Gurney. |
 Lauren Kelston Company Member Actress |
Lauren most recently appeared as Marlene in Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth for which she was nominated for a 2008 Innovative Theater Award for leading actress, and as Grace in A. R Gurney's What I Did Last Summer for Retro Productions. Prior to that she was seen as Elizabeth in Six Degrees of Separation at the Access Theater. She appeared off-Broadway as Iris in the RAT Theatre Company’s world premiere of Maiden’s Progeny at 59E59 Theaters. She was featured as Allison Roberts in the film Last Night in Brooklyn produced by Cypher Productions, and more recently as a woman turned zombie in a short called Mommy Isn’t The Same Anymore. She graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.A. in Theater and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse. |
 in What I Did Last Summer by A. R. Gurney. |
 Jim Kilkenny Company Member Actor |
Jim was most recently seen as the Minister and OSHA investigator in Retro's Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth. Previous roles for Retro include the role of “The Stage Manager” in Retro Productions Mrs. California. Prior to that Jim performed with a number of improvisational comedy groups at Gotham City Improv and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Besides improv, he has studied acting at the T. Schreiber Studio and commercial acting technique with David Cady. He has also been in the studio to create a number of voiceover spots for radio and internet broadcast. His most meaningful role in the past year and a half has been that of father and special entertainer to his toddler Liam, a role he continues to be most grateful for. |
 in Mrs. California by Doris Baizley. |
|
Larry Pease Company Member Technical Director |
Larry most recently Stage Managed Retro's Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth. He last worked on Retro’s production of What I Did Last Summer as the Light Board Operator. Larry is a native of California where he worked in various production aspects of Theater and Film. Since moving to New York last summer to attend Graduate School, Larry has worked on the theater productions of, Questa; Cutman; The Beastly Bombing; Theft of Imagination; Brief Confessions, and the productions of film shorts, A Family Outing; Point D'interro and One Broom Sticks With. Larry earned a BS at the University Of Colorado, Boulder, and a MA Southern Methodist University. Larry has a passion for the production and design side of theater. Larry is excited to be working with the powerful cast and crew of Mill Fire under the talented direction of Angela Astle. |
 Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth. |
 Ric Sechrest Company Member Director |
Actor/director/educator Ric Sechrest has helmed numerous productions throughout New York (including Retro Productions What I Did Last Summer by A. R. Gurney and Still Life by Emily Mann), Ohio and Maine and directed everything from Sam Shepard to Christopher Durang to Samuel Beckett. A member of Actors' Equity and AFTRA, he most recently appeared in Vaclav Havel's Redevelopment with Nomad Theatrical Company. He holds a BFA in acting from Syracuse University, an MA in Directing from the University of Maine and an MFA in acting from Ohio University. Ric will appear onstage in his first Retro Production as an actor as Charlie Reader in the Equity approved showcase, The Tender Trap. www.ricsechrest.com |
 in The Tender Trap by Max Shulman & Robert Paul Smith. |
| Kathryn Squitieri Company Member Designer |
Kathryn most recently did the costume designs for Retro's Mill Fire. She was a scenic artist on Retro's Still Life by Emily Mann. Kathryn is currently a student at Brooklyn College studying for her B.F.A. in Costume Design. She developed her love of clothing and design when her mother and grandmother taught her to sew at a very young age. Her most recent design credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie for Fort Hamilton High School, the Children's Acting Academy's Annual Showcase of Young Talent, The Fighting Days for Brooklyn College, and The Miser for Out of the Box Theatre Company. Other favorite designs include Danny Boy the Play for DB Productions at the NY Fringe Festival, and Red Light Winter for Brooklyn College. |
 costume designs for Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth. |
 Aubrie Therrien Company Member Actress |
Most recently Aubrie was seen as Elsie in Retro Productions What I Did Last Summer by A. R. Gurney. Aubrie hails from the good ol’ state of Virginia where she received her B.F.A. in Theatre Performance from Longwood University. Since graduating in 2005, Aubrie has been performing regional theatre all over the country with companies such as Lexington Children’s Theatre, The Legend of Blue Jacket and The National Players. Some of her favorite roles include Echo in Eleemosynary, Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest, Sarah in Stop Kiss and Viola in Twelfth Night. |
 in What I Did Last Summer by A. R. Gurney. |
 Kristen Vaughan Company Member Actress |
Kristen was most recently seen in Retro's Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth as Sunny, for which she was nominated for a 2008 New York Innovative Theater Award for leading actress. She has played Nadine in Emily Mann's Still Life and Mrs. San Francisco in Mrs. California for Retro Productions. Her prior credits in New York include; The Cocktail Party (TSI), Blue (TSI), Not In My Name (The Living Theatre), and F (Manhattan Theatre Source); in Santa Cruz, CA; Five Flights; Altruists; Lararmie Project; Food Chain (Pisces Moon Productions); Film; Gambling (San Francisco Independent Film Festival, Feb. 2006). Kristen grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has a BA in Acting from UW-Madison. www.kristenvaughan.com |
 in Mill Fire by Sally Nemeth. |
| Company Membership is by invitation from the Artistic Director. Auditions are open to non-members and members alike. Watch for audition notices or check out the contact us page for information on how to submit. | ||
