2016 | 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 thirteenth 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 two productions at Penobscot Theater - It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play and Hair Frenzy. She also appeared in the short film This Time It’s Shopping which won a Special Jury Award at the Providence Children’s Film Festival and she had a cameo role in The Strange Eyes of Dr. Myes as Susan (not Suzy) the Bank teller which was shown at several film festivals including Maine’s own MIFF.

VINCENT KRACHT is a Chicago actor and improvisor. He is elated to return to his second home, ImprovAcadia, for their 13th 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 for the past three years in the Caribbean before some Cats kicked him out.

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.

Tim Walsh, an improviser from St. Louis, is ecstatic to be joining the cast of ImprovAcadia. Tim teaches and performs at The Improv Shop in St. Louis. He performs on the house Harold team, Burnside, and also plays on the weekly show Storyteller, which interviews local community members and improvisers. Tim also recently played Cardinal Wolsey in an improvised version of Henry VIII for Shake 38, a celebration of Shakespeare’s 38 plays spanning 5 days. Besides performing, Tim serves as the St. Louis Compass Improv Festival’s producer and enjoys spending time with his 4-year-old son Ian.

Annie Niehoff
This is Annie's first season at ImprovAcadia and she couldn't be more thrilled to join the cast. She is a St. Louis based improviser and writer who works and performs at the training and performing center, The Improv Shop. She performs for the IS Harold team, Vertigo, as well as other independent teams. Outside of the comedy world, Annie enjoys volunteering at the International Institute of St. Louis and coaching volleyball.

Rudy Voit is so excited to be a part of the cast of Improv Acadia. Originally from LaGrange, Illinois. He is a graduate of The University of Iowa. When he returned to the Chicago area, he began studying improv. Rudy completed Second Cit's Conservatory Program and The iO Training Center. He can be seen around Chicago as an ensemble member at Comedy Sportz, Laugh Out Loud Theatre, Hogwash An Improvised Tall Tale, as well as in various groups at The Playground Theatre. His passions are baked goods, celebrity gossip, reality TV, Sports, The Sabre Room, and his friends and family.

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!

Dennis Price returns to ImprovAcadia for his fourth 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, Mission: Improvable, The Breakfast Club Musical, The Room: The Musical and Centralia. Jason is excited for his fifth original musical, Not As Advertised to premiere this year. Check out whatisph.com for more about Jason's company. Big thanks to Jen and Larrance for having me back for a third year. Now everyone turn your phones to off, or you might try off.

Ryan Ford is absolutely thrilled to be joining the 2016 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.

This is Cynthia Kmak’s third 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 inSchaumburg, 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.

Amber Linde is thrilled to be joining the cast of Improv Acadia! She is originally from the Twin Cities but has been performing for over 8 years in Chicago. She is a graduate of Columbia College, iO Improv program and The Second City’s Music Conservatory. She is a proud Second City Infinite Sundaes alumni and recently got back from two ship contracts aboard Norwegian Cruise Line working for the Second City Theatricals. She has performed with teams such as iO's Musical Armando, Anarchy: Improvised Rock Opera and Storytown Improv. Along with performing she is a music improv coach and teacher and believes anyone can be silly and sing beautifully. Thank you to Sam for all the love and support.

Christine Wines is beyond excited to join the 2016 ImprovArcadia cast. Originally from Houston, TX, she began improvising in 2011 with her college troupe, Phortasics (4to6). She found her way to CSz Houston and stayed there for 2 1/2 years. After some serious thought and a year of "funemployment," she decided to make the move to Chicago, recently celebrating her one year anniversary in Chicago May 2016. In the city, you can find her with the CSz Chicago House Team: 'Atomic’, Chicago's Premier Improv Drinking Party: 'Thirsty’, and whatever show her independent team: 'Porridg3' can get their hands on. Christine has trained with iO Theater, Annoyance, and is currently looking for another theater to learn from. She loves to cook and has a lot of opinions about Food Network personalities. She's like to thank Jen and Larrance for the great opportunity, and her family and friends and dog for the constant love and support.

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.

Alice Stanley Jr. is as happy as a blue lobster to be back in Maine for her second round of ImprovAcadia! A Chicago native, she holds degrees in writing from Principia College and Arizona State University. As a playwright, she most recently won the 2015 Mary Scruggs Works by Women Festival and was a finalist in the 2016 Little Black Dress INK Playwriting Festival. Previous comedy credits include Second City House Co., Chicago Sketchfest, MINt at MCL, and touring the Caribbean with Second City Theatricals. Huge thanks to J & L. Twitter/Instagram: @astanjr.

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 fiance Katie as Ed and Kath. He and she have two cats who need to learn how to behave just a little better.

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.

Andy Bolduc is wicked pumped to return to his home state for another season at ImprovAcadia. Originally from Bangor, Andy now lives in Chicago, where he acts, improvises, and writes. He performed last summer in #DateMe in Second City's UP Comedy Club, as well as with Second City Theatricals aboard the Norwegian Breakaway. You can also see him at the Annoyance Theater, at Chemically Imbalanced Comedy in the news comedy show That Just Happened, and at iO with his Harold team Duke of the Zoo. Check out videos by his sketch comedy group at youtube.com/cigarettesandwich.

TJ Jagodowski has been improvising on stages in Chicago for over twenty years. Has done some commercials, most notably as one of the Two Guys for Sonic and has been in a couple not great movies. He was born in Massachusetts and can't wait to come home to New England and root on the Sox.

Beth Melewski is jazzed to be in Maine where she gonna eat her weight in lobster. She has been a proud member of The Second City Chicago family for almost 10 years, and improvises at The Annoyance and iO theaters. She appeared at The Goodman Theater in “Twist Your Dickens” and wrote and performed in the Jeff award nominated Second City shows, “The Absolute Best Friggin’ Time of Your Life” in addition to the Jeff Award winning “The Second City Guide to the Opera” and “Studs Terkel’s Not Working”. TV credits include one season as the host of “Chicago Cash Cab” for the Discovery Channel, and “Arrested Development”. www.bethmelewski.com

Lauren Malara received a degree in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. She is an ensemble member at ComdeySportz Chicago and Laugh Out Loud. She has worked with Second City Theatricals. Her mom is the best.

Jon Forsythe is excited to be making his ImprovAcadia debut this season. An alum of the University of Florida, Jon studied improvisation at iO, Second City, and the Annoyance Theater. He can be seen every Tuesday night with the 6+ year veteran team Sears Tower at iO. One of his biggest delights is teaching improv at iO. He's a former member of ComedySportz Chicago and his old sketch group PennyBear performed two revues in Chicago and brought one of them to the 2008 New York Fringe Festival. When not performing improv, Jon enjoys meta crossword puzzles, geography trivia, and working towards completing his MFA thesis film for Columbia College Chicago.

Dave Lyzenga is elated to be joining ImprovAcadia this season! Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Dave is a recovering aerospace engineer, nanoscientist, and pastor’s kid (really).

Since starting out in 2008, Dave has performed as an ensemble member with River City Improv, co-founded and toured the sketch group The Don't We Boys, and sailed with The Second City Theatricals aboard the Norwegian Dawn.

Currently, Dave can be found performing all over the Midwest with his independent team Pop Scholars, the iO Harold team Eliza, the Second City Training Center house ensemble Dumptruck, and Hogwash - an Improvised Tall Tale.

You can find him in reality and on the internet as @davelyzenga

Amy Roeder is delighted to be back at Improv Acadia for her twelfth 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.

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ImprovAcadia

Our Cast of 2016