Wit&Will Biographies

	Parker Cross is an actor who has studied with Shakespeare&Company and is a recognized "actor-combatant" by the society of American Fight Directors; a director who has won national awards for directing Shakespeare and regional awards for directing musicals; a teacher who has been named to "Who's Who in American Education" nine times; a scholar who has done post-graduate study at Columbia, Brown, and Rice Universities and is a fellow of the Shakespeare Institute n Stratford, England. He starred as Demetrius/Bottom in AMND, July 2003 and as the title character in Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, December 2003, 2004. Parker fought and choreographed fights in Cyrano at Barrington Stage Co., August 2004. He wrote and directed Haunted Albany and Saratoga and recently played several mythical characters in Capital Repertory’s Metamorphoses. His new one-act play, Rapture, premieres in NYC in August. He is the founder, director and executive producer of Wit&Will Theatre.
	Joanna Peterson is a veteran improv performer and was glad to join in Wit&Will's inaugural production of Hamlet in 2000. After a long hiatus from theatre, Joanna is delighted to trade quips and quirks again; it rivals her current profession as a policy wonk. She started wending her witchy ways in MacBeth, summer 2001; played Viola in Twelfth Night, summer 2002. She starred in Betrayal at Curtain Call Theatre in March 2003, then as Hermia/ Snout in Wit&Will’s summer production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, then as Eva Tanguay (and others) the premiere of Haunted Albany County in October (a role she reprised in 2004). Joanna has been seen recently in Curtain Call's Ten Little Indians and Kiss the Bride and Noises Off . Her most stellar work is offering improvisation workshops for troubled youths and chairing the ACLU's annual Banned Books Week Readings.
	Janet Womachka is in her fifth season with Wit&Will. She has been seen as a witch in Macbeth, Maria in Twelfth Night, Antonia in What you Will, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Detective in Looking for Mr. Big and a regular player in the improv troupe. She was happy to reprise her roles in this year's Haunted Albany County and Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol. Janet was seen recently on Curtain Call Theatre's stage as Katie in Kiss the Bride. As the resident costumer of Curtain Call Theatre she has designed over 14 shows in their past two seasons. She received her BA in Theater from Coe College in Cedar Rapids (her hometown). By day she works for CSEA (NY's largest labor union) in their Education and Training Department.
	Jennifer VanIderstyne is a leading policy maven for the YMCA. A veteran of many theatrical productions, she starred at Potsdam University and with the Clifton Common Players, most notably as the sizzling Abigail Williams in The Crucible. At Schenectady Civic Players, she was the winsome Grazia in Death Takes a Holiday. Most recently, she starred as the nubile Bianca, the fiery Ariel, the fierce Lady MacDuff and the kittenish Snug in My Voice is in My Sword, Wit&Will's 2004 Summer Shakespeare production. She can also be seen every month performing improv with Wit&Will. Jen lately starred in Proof at Schenectady Civic theatre and played multiple roles in Sherlock at Albany Civic Theatre. When not on stage, Jen can be found enjoying her grandmother's cooking, using her parents' laundry facilities or spending time with her one true love, Al. She thanks them all for their continued generousity, understanding and support.
	Jack Shaefer is returning to Wit&Will after a long break, which he used to pursue a BFA in Fine Arts at the College of Saint Rose. Jack is most often seen covered in goop at the St. Rose sculpture studio or running to keep up with new additions to his family, but was last seen on stage as Feste and Duke Orsinio in Wit&Will’s Twelfth Night and as Lennox in Macbeth. Local stage credits also include Bernard in State Street Production’s Silences and several shows with the Steamer No.10 Theater. Before moving to Albany, Jack spent many seasons performing with the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society, which may explain his bizarre tendency to turn everyday occurrences into outtakes from musical theater. Jack would like to Thank Kitty for understanding and Taran & Caeden for making life fun.
	John Pruden has been involved in the Voiceover Industry since 1995. He has performed live on stage, and in studios throughout the country. He has Written, Produced, or Announced, Commercials, Public Service Announcements, and a Documentary. John has also enjoyed successful performances as a Master of Ceremonies for numerous organizations, and has sung competitively. John owns and operates his own voiceover business, Voice Acting With Character.
	Laura K. Murray is Wit&Will's one-woman publicity and production team. She manages and designs this web site; creates all the photography and videos (including most of the actor's head shots); press releases; reservations; program layout and production; posters and flyers; box office and house management. Oh, and she creates a new display window for ZuZu's each month. Laura also does all the photography, graphic design and sound design for the original Haunted plays by Parker Cross. In the past, Laura did production, publicity, lights, tech, costumes, props, set design, sound design and assistant directing for Wit&Will's Hamlet, Macbeth, Midsummer Night's Dream, My Voice is in my Sword, Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, Haunted Albany and Saratoga. Laura is an automation librarian for 60 of the SUNY libraries by day and is working on her Master's in photography. She lives in a 250 year old house with 4 talented cats, a couple of ghosts and an actor/playwright/director. Laura is invisible most of the time.