From Emma – Our Charter Arts Seniors (class of 2014)

As we continue through our post-Young Playwrights’ Festival (YPF) mode, it’s nearing the end of the school year, which means another class of high school seniors graduating. And while we treasure all of our actors who participate in the Festival, we’re particularly grateful for those from the Charter Arts High School. This year’s graduating class is rife with friends of Touchstone, and it’s hard to believe we’ll be doing next year’s Festival without them in the cast!

So, let’s give a shout-out to some of our senior superstars who’ve been a particular blessing to Touchstone productions these last few years:

Carly Bayer

• As seen in – Luna the Star (YPF 2014) – The Princess (YPF 2013) – What Happens in the Club Stays in the Club (YPF 2012) – A Resting Place (2012) – The Adventurous Girl (YPF 2011)

Beautiful and brilliant. Four years in YPF, and four years in plays directed by Mr. Bill George. You could say favoritism, but they just make such wonderful plays together that it’s hard to complain.

Felicity Bell

• As seen in – The Street Fighter Story (YPF 2014) – The Science Experiment that Went Wrong (YPF 2012) – A Resting Place (2012) – Friends 4 Life (YPF 2011)

Equally effective in a leading role, a support character, or a dedicated ensemble member who is still acting her heart out – Felicity does gymnastics, speaks Japanese, and just plain rocks.

Kynnedi Benson

• As seen in – Ghost Grandma (YPF 2014) – The Princess (YPF 2013) – The Sad Story of Mrs. Donut Person (YPF 2012) – Friends 4 Life (YPF 2011)

Gifted comedienne and darling as a donut person. Kynnedi is a delight for being able to embody big, bold, ridiculous characters, while being completely sweet and genuine as a human being.

Kylin Camburn

• As seen in – The Battle (YPF 2014) – Time Travel (YPF 2013) – The Sad Story of Mrs. Donut Person (YPF 2012) – A Resting Place (2012)

Another actress unafraid to hold down the fort as a support character when she’s not in the spotlight – great presence onstage even when she doesn’t have any lines and always willing to help out.

Pierce Campion

• As seen in – The Battle (YPF 2014) – Volcano Beauty (YPF 2013) – Inseparable (YPF 2012) – A Resting Place (2012) – The Crazy Secretary and the Love of Her Dreams (YPF 2011)

We met Pierce as a lanky young teen who could do a good Rod Serling impression. Now he’s… well, a lanky older teen, who can probably still do a good Rod Serling Impression. Dry wit and extraordinarily funny.

Anelise Diaz

• As seen in – Luna the Star (YPF 2014) – The Devil Has His Ways (YPF 2013) – Man’s Best Friend (YPF 2012) – A Resting Place (2012) – Killer (YPF 2011)

I am going to miss her so, so, so much. Consummate actress, good team player, great artistic eye, a natural mover/dancer/gymnast/graceful person, and pretty much just the best ever. If I have one regret, it’s that I only got to direct her twice. Did I mention that I’m going to miss her?

James Egbert

• As seen in – Journey of Two (YPF 2014) – Time Travel (YPF 2013) – What Happens in the Club Stays in the Club (YPF 2012)

James’ first role in a Young Playwrights’ Festival was as a creepy, evil stalker. And he still came back to us. Quick thinker, swishy swordfighter, and remarkably good at both drama and comedy.

Teague Fernandez

• As seen in – The Devil Has His Ways (YPF 2013) – Ulysses Dreams (2013) – The Sad Story of Mrs. Donut Person (YPF 2012) – Baby Bobby and Alex (YPF 2011) – PLUS serving as a stage hand for Christmas City Follies

A skill for playing ridiculous characters like you wouldn’t believe. And besides his delightful onstage persona, we will be forever grateful to Teague as one of our Follies stage crew buddies.

Savannah Murphy

• As seen in – The Battle / The Street Fighter Story (YPF 2014) – Volcano Beauty (YPF 2013) – A Resting Place (2012) – Into the Dark (2011) – PLUS helping with Camp Touchstone (counselor) and YPF (stagehand), and her mother is a Gala committee member/frequent volunteer

Savannah is an absolute gem – funny, smart, dedicated, willing to play, passionate about Shakespeare, and able to think on her feet. We cast her as the creepy little girl in Into the Dark (despite her being taller than me…), and she has been a whole-hearted member of the Touchstone family since.

Aidan Newell

• As seen in – Ghost Grandma (YPF 2014) – The Princess (YPF 2013) – The Sad Story of Mrs. Donut Person (YPF 2012) – A Resting Place (2012) – Friends 4 Life (YPF 2011) – Medieval Mice (YPF 2010) – Friendship Ballon Fire (YPF 2009) – PLUS helping with Camp Touchstone (counselor), and his mother is our board president

(We would say nice things about Aidan even if his mother weren’t our board president) Aidan is drama and comedy, awkward and smooth, dedicated and ridiculous, and we’ve so enjoyed watching him grow as a performer over the years.

Megan Schadler

• As seen in – The Broken Charger (YPF 2014) – Journey: Dream of the Red Pavilion (2014) – Christmas City Follies XIV (2013) – The Genie (YPF 2013) – The Sad Story of Mrs. Donut Person (YPF 2012) – A Tricky Story (YPF 2011) – What’s the Holiday? (YPF 2009) – Awful and Gruesome Battles of Triumph and Fate (YPF 2008) – PLUS attending Camp Touchstone and then helping out as a camp counselor (and probably other things that I’m forgetting as well), and her mother is a board and Gala committee member

Megan is probably our longest running Young Playwrights’ Festival alum – not just from Charter Arts, but ever, period – which makes her near and dear to our hearts. But on top of that, she stepped it up this year to perform and hold her own in featured roles in two Touchstone mainstage productions this season. She is funny like an episode of classic SNL and clever like something clever. And she takes a lot of good-natured heckling from Kyle, Jordan, and Josh without snapping, which is no mean feat.

Please join us in wishing “our” seniors well – we’ll miss them an awful lot but can’t wait to see what amazing work they continue to do!