Bios on the MID-LIFERS!

Michael Accardo* is truly delighted to be making his Noble Fool debut. He was most recently seen in Something???s Afoot at the Drury Lane Oakbrook. He has been a proud AEA member for 20 years and has performed on stage, film, television and radio. In Chicago, Once Upon a Time in New Jersey and ???Married Alive??? at The Marriott Theater, Shear Madness at the Mayfair Theatre, The Full Monty at Drury Lane Water Tower Place, and Clue the Musical at the Organic Theatre. At Drury Lane Oakbrook, Anything Goes and On Golden Pond. He has also worked at The Ravinia Festival and with American Theater Company. He wishes to thank his loving wife and best friend, Kristine, for her continued love and support.

Jane Brewer* Jane???s theatre history covers a wide range, from vocal teaching, performing live industrials, voice over radio, jingles, commercials, and motivational speaking.?? She just finished performing in the musical Hats at the Royal George Theatre, and is excited to be back at Noble Fool.?? Jane played in the starring role as Gina Oswald in last year???s Christmas show Roasting Chestnuts: Gina Wants You!.?? As a member of Actor???s Equity, Jane has been performing professionally since 1980, when she moved to Chicago.?? During that time she traveled the country performing with greats like Tony Randall and Broadway Joe Namath.?? From ???92-???96 she took a detour and moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands to start her own entertainment production company, writing, directing, performing and producing musical shows for incentive groups and corporations.?? To date, Jane???s biggest success was meeting her hubby David, who has been her best fan and teacher of life.?? She studied at Eastman School of Music and majored in Musical Theatre Performance from the University of Cincinnati.?? Originally from Belleville, IL, Jane???s credits include over 40 musicals during her career.?? Her response, ???I???m older than I ever intended to be.???

Anne Gunn* is thrilled to bring her own brand of belty-musicality??? to Noble Fool Theatricals. Anne was last seen at the Apollo Theater in Bingo! The Musical.?? Before that she was in the Drury Lane Oakbrook???s production of Pirates of Penzance as Ruth.?? She was in Cinderella and Footloose at the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre. Also at the Marriott, she was Mrs. MacAfee in Bye, Bye Birdie, in Damn Yankees and Carousel; and she was Kaye (in the purple dress) in The Taffettes and Eva in Evita.?? All this since the birth of her son Charlie.?? It seems Anne is the cicada of Chicago Theater.?? She surfaces after long periods underground, makes a bunch of noise, mates, then hides away again to have a baby and start the cycle over.?? She joined the cast of Closer Than Ever (Apple Tree Theater) six weeks after Emily was born, then went on to play Eva Peron in Evita (Candlelight Theater).?? Four months after Max was born she played Mary in Merrily We Roll Along (Apple Tree Theater), then Adelaide in Guys & Dolls (The Drury Lane, Oak Brook).?? Seven months after Jack, she played Sarah Jane Moore in Assassins (Apple Tree Theater)(Jeff Nominated), then played Pitty Sing in Hot Mikado (The Drury Lane, South).?? Beehive, Sophisticated Ladies and playing Lizzie in Baby (The Marriott Theatre) round out her resume. She???s appeared on TV and in radio commercials for Pillsbury, Kellogg???s, Glade, Old El Paso and some dotcom companies she can???t remember.?? Yes, this mother of four has been one busy cicada!?? She would like to thank her wonderful husband, Walter, for his deep understanding, unswerving support and for writing this bio.

Mary K. Nigohosian is??excited to be a part of such a wacky and fun production.?? She is uniquely qualified to??play a “woman in crisis” in Midlife! The Crisis Musical??given that she is married with a 3-year old toddler and a newborn!?? Mary lives in Batavia and performs professionally throughout the Chicagoland area.?? She has enjoyed??playing crazy, sassy, sexy and sage characters of all sorts including??Millie Bailey in Wonderful Life??(Porchlight Music Theatre), the neurotic Ellen in Luv??(Grounded Theatre), the sage Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web (Emerald City Children’s Theatre),??as well as Lilli Vanessi (Kiss Me, Kate), Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady), Giulietta Trapani (Aspects of Love), Amanda (Private Lives), Sarah (Quilters), Sr. Mary Amnesia (Nunsense) and Aldonza (Man of LaMancha).

Thomas M. Shea is thrilled to make his Noble Fool debut with this show and these great people. Immediately prior to Mid-Life!, Tom was seen in the Jeff-winning Fiorello! at TimeLine, with Porchlight in the world-premiere Teapot Scandals of 1923, and at City Lit in Christmas as We Grow Older.?? He was also recently seen as Officer Barrel in Urinetown at the Mercury Theatre, and has also been seen around town at Porchlight (Company and A New Brain), City Lit (Cocktail Time, She Stoops to Conquer), and many other companies. He???s also the author of a book, Broadway???s Most Wanted (Potomac Books) which is readily available at fine websites everywhere. Forty-One. Really? Well, thanks. You look great too.

John Vessels is thrilled to be making his Noble Fool debut!?? John moved to Chicago 3 years ago after 15 years of performing regionally and touring nationally and internationally with such shows as Snoopy!!! The Musical (national tour) and The Stephen Foster Story (Japanese tour).?? He has been a very happy resident of Chicago since 2004, and mostly loves the novelty of having an ADDRESS!?? Chicago appearances include:?? Henri Valmorin in the World Premier of Madame X, The Guardian in Bailiwick’s A Kiss from Alexander, Fiddlin’ John in Parade, Dr. Peter Crippen in The Strange Affair of Dr. Crippen in the 2005 Stages Festival, and a VERY confused security guard in Charles Strouse’s Studio in the 2006 Stages Festival.?? John is very involved in the development of new musicals at the Theatre Building Chicago where he is a reader of new works.?? “Much love to Jay who inspires me to keep creating!”

Kenneth H. Jones (Pianist) is??thrilled to be back at Noble Fool and ecstatic to be making his NFT Mainstage debut!????Ken has performed as a pianist??in Flanagan’s Wake for the last??four years.?? His last two??NFT productions were The Musical??of??Musicals, The Musical??and Roasting Chestnuts: Gina Wants You!, where he was the??Pianist understudy.????Ken??has been??the Music Director for Noble Fool’s Youth Ensemble’s??first season which included High School Musical, Annie, and??School House Rock! Live.?? He will be Directing and Music Directing the upcoming Youth Ensemble??production Footloose??opening in??December.?? An alumn of??the University of Illinois, Ken has been blessed to have made on- and off-stage??appearances throughout the Chicagoland area and around this great country for more than??twenty years.?? www.ken-jones.com