Meet The Magic Fire Cast

                            
Charles Antalosky    Gianni “Juan” Guarneri
Charles Antalosky is delighted to be back at the Wilma where he has performed in The Concert at Saint Ovide's Fair, Loot and Cyrano de Bergerac. Most recently, he was seen with Alan Bates and Frank Langella in the Broadway production of Fortune’s Fool, directed by Arthur Penn. He won a Barrymore Award for his performance as Ben Franklin in 1776 at the Walnut Street Theatre and as a member of the ensemble in last season’s Baby Case at the Arden Theatre. Outside of Philadelphia he has worked extensively in regional theaters throughout the country from Alaska to Florida and Maine to New Mexico. Television credits include All My Children and Remember WENN. A forty-year resident of Philadelphia, Mr. Antalosky holds an MFA in Acting from Temple University.

Janis Dardaris     Elena Guarneri, Young Maddalena
This will be Janis' 6th collaboration with Blanka Zizka. Previously she appeared in the Wilma productions of Spin, Orpheus Descending, Road, Quartet and Escape from Happiness. Her most recent Philadelphia appearance was as Regina in The Little Foxes at The People’s Light and Theatre Company. Previously, she appeared as Mrs. Betterton in Playhouse Creatures, which garnered her a 5th Barrymore nomination. She has been seen locally at the Philadelphia Theatre Company in Side Man and A Moon for the Misbegotten for which she won the Barrymore Award as Best Actress for her performance as Josie Hogan. Her regional work includes the McCarter Theatre Center, Long Wharf Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Walnut Street Theatre and the Philadelphia Drama Guild. New York credits include Playwrights Horizons, Westbeth Theatre and Breaking Legs with Philip Bosco. Film & TV credits include Law and Order; The Sopranos; Third Watch; The Sixth Sense and Sounding, directed by Joel Coen. She will be seen shortly in the film Nola and Party Monster with Macaulay Culkin.

James Gale     Alberto Barcos, Giovanni
James Gale was last seen as Old Mahon in Playboy of the Western World at Irish Rep., and Bill Walker & Snobby Price in Major Barbara at the Roundabout. His regional credits include Ghosts, Night Sky, The Greeks, Titus Andronicus, Betrayal, Macbeth, Educating Rita, King Lear, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Richard III, As You Like It, Equus and The Merchant of Venice at theaters in Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and Rochester. His United Kingdom regional credits include: Romeo & Juliet, Arms & the Man, The Importance of Being Earnest and Richard II. He appeared in The Paddy Factor, Blood Wedding and The Dumb Waiter at the London Fringe Festival. He was educated in England at The Leys School Cambridge and The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art London.

Dan Kern     General Henri Fontannes
Dan Kern is honored to be making his first appearance with the Wilma. Last year Dan was seen locally playing the role of Dr. Jeremiah Mears in God’s Man in Texas for the InterAct Theatre. On the West Coast, he has appeared at the Mark Taper Forum (Zhorzh in The Wood Demon), South Coast Repertory (Salieri in Amadeus), the American Conservatory Theater (Eben in Desire Under the Elms) and A Noise Within (Leontes in A Winter’s Tale), where he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for “Outstanding Lead Actor.” Dan is also a member of the Department of Theater at Temple University. Recent film and TV credits include Frasier, Profiler, C-16, Star Trek: Voyager, Melrose Place and White Mile for HBO.

Kaye Kingston     Maddalena Guarneri
Kaye Kingston has done several roles on Broadway and in National Tours including: Mrs. Beckof (U/S) in Torch Song Trilogy, Lucille in Gemini, and Edna in An Inspector Calls. Kaye also has many Off-Broadway, Regional & Stock credits as well as film and TV credits. Kaye can be seen on an upcoming episode of The Sopranos & the film Jesus Mary & Joey.

Mikel Sarah Lambert     Clara Stepaneck
Mikel Sarah Lambert has appeared in The Three Cornered Moon at The Blue Heron Theater; Wit at Union Square; Diana of Dobsons at The Mint; Private Battles at Judith Anderson; All Over and Cyrano de Bergerac at the Roundabout; The Constant Wife at Westport County Playhouse; and A Christmas Carol at the McCarter, Princeton. She appeared in five plays with The Royal Shakespeare Company. Her television credits include five series for BBC-TV. She also teaches and directs. Her sons are Patrick and Timothy Row.

Robin Moseley     Lise
Robin Moseley was a company member with the Alley Theatre in Houston for seven years. She has appeared both on Broadway (The Sisters Rosensweig) and Off (Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center) and at over 15 regional theaters across the country, most recently in The Glass Menagerie at ACT in San Francisco. She has appeared on Law & Order, Law & Order Special Victims Unit, and As The World Turns, and in the films Manhunter, The Juror, and The Sky’s No Limit.

Angela Pietropinto     Paula Guarneri
Angela Pietropinto was a founding member of the Manhattan Project Theatre Co. under the direction of Andre Gregory and played the title role in their Obie-winning production of Alice in Wonderland. In 1980, she made her Broadway debut opposite Derek Jacobi in The Suicide and returned to Broadway for Eastern Standard and Tartuffe Born Again. Last season, Ms. Pietropinto played Prof. Kramer in Anne Meara’s Down The Garden Paths starring Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson. Her regional credits include: Yale Repertory, McCarter Theatre, George Street Playhouse and Long Wharf Theatre. On film, Ms. Pietropinto played Marj Weiner in Welcome To The Dollhouse, which won the 1995 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. Other film credits include Shaft, Nobody’s Fool, Goodfellas, So Fine, Without a Trace, Running On Empty, Heartburn, and Honeymoon in Vegas. On television, she has played an assortment of doctors, lawyers, secretaries, and nuns on Law & Order, Third Watch, Criminal Intent, Lateline, Mad About You, The Cosby Show, and NY Undercover. Soap fans may remember her as Jean Slocum on All My Children or Connie Corelli on Another World. She wishes to thank her husband and children.

Martin Rayner     Otto Berg
Martin last appeared at the Wilma as AEH in The Invention of Love (Barrymore Award), and is delighted to be back. Recent appearances include McCleary in Loot (McCarter Theatre Center), Hans in 16 Wounded (Cherry Lane Theater, NY), Kit Marlowe (Public Theater, NY), The Invention of Love (Broadway/Lincoln Center), Travels With My Aunt (Minnetta Lane, Drama Desk & Outer Critics Awards) and You Never Can Tell (Yale Repertory). Martin was born in England and trained at The Drama Studio in London. He was a member of Adrian Hall’s company for eight years. Roles included the Fool (King Lear), Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Astrov (Uncle Vanya), Ariel (The Tempest), Scrooge (A Christmas Carol), The Mayor (Inspector General), Father O’Donnell (Bette & Boo), and Stockman (Enemy of the People) In other media, Martin is Dr. Chaotica in Star Trek: Voyager, Alfred in the Warner Bros. Cartoon series Mike, Lu, & Og, and will appear in the upcoming PBS series Benjamin Franklin.

Jo Twiss     Rosa Arrúa
Jo Twiss is delighted to be making her debut at The Wilma Theater. She was last seen in the Philadelphia area as Madge in the Bristol Riverside Theatre’s critically-acclaimed production of The Dresser and as the psychiatrist Edith in Jakes Women. She has received two Barrymore Award nominations — one for Best Actress as Josie in A Moon for the Misbegotten and the other for Best Supporting Actress as Maggie in Dancing at Lughnasa. Other regional theater credits include: Sarafina in The Rose Tattoo, Amanda in The Glass Menagerie, Myrtle in Tennessee Williams’ The Seven Descents of Myrtle, Claire in I’m Not Rappaport, and the governess Carlotta in The Cherry Orchard. Jo has been seen in New York City at Lincoln Center in two shows written for her, Nothing You Can Say and Lily of The Valley. Off-Broadway appearances include: Richard Nash’s Life Anonymous, Sirens at HB Playwrights and over 65 productions of new plays at The Circle Repertory Company, where she has been a member for 16 years. Jo’s most recent television appearance was as Carol Werner in Law & Order, her fourth appearance on the series. She can also be seen on TV in a Sprite commercial directed by Spike Lee featuring Kobe Bryant. She is the one who says, “He could have been an oceanographer!”

Susan Wilder     Amalia Berg
Susan Wilder most recently appeared as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at the Marin Shakespeare Company, and at Lincoln Center Theater in Far East and Ivanov (w/Kevin Kline). Philadelphia credits include: Roxanne in the Wilma/Walnut Street Theatre co-production of Cyrano De Bergerac; Desiree in A Little Night Music and Rosalind in As You Like It at Arden Theatre; Betrayal, The Winter’s Tale, Don Juan at Cheltenham Center for The Arts; The Cherry Orchard and The Three Sisters at Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays; Inspecting Carol at the Philadelphia Drama Guild; A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival; and company member for six years at The People’s Light and Theatre Company. Film and television credits include: The Silence at Bethany (American Playhouse), Perry Mason, Spencer: For Hire, Equal Justice, Big and Unbreakable. MFA - The Academy for Classical Acting at The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC.

Samantha Wischnia     Lise 2
Sammy is a fourth-grader who enjoys writing, drawing, and doing imitations of her teachers. Her previous roles include Young Lillian in He Held Me Grand at The People’s Light & Theatre Company and Dandy Dan in Bugsy Malone at Independent Lake Camp. Her dining room is the venue for most of her appearances, however. Thanks to Zachary and Elizabeth for being her lifelong audience, and to Ari who gave her her first break.

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