JOEY RODRIGUEZ (Oberon, King of the Fairies) attended TTU and studied voice under Dr. Rebecca Hays and Karl Dent. His credits include “The Fairy Queen” (Lysander) with Gramercy Opera, and “Don Giovanni” (Masetto) with the New York Lyric Opera Theater. Other New York credits include “Sweet Charity and Promises Promises” with the Transport Group Theatre Company. He has also been a repeat Baritone Soloist for the Westchester Oratorio Society where he has enjoyed the privilege of bringing to life the early music works of Bach and Mozart. Joey has also spent time as an associate choral director for the Inspirit Ensemble at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in New York City. Being a former company member at Ballet Lubbock, Joey has danced for Yvonne Racz-Key, as well as for Kate Thomas and Danny Catanach at Steps On Broadway. Joey's other credits include “Annie Get Your Gun!” with Westchester Broadway Theater (Sitting Bull Understudy), “KRiEp: The Grusical” (Det. Caccia), “The Full Monty” (Ethan), “The Wild Party” (Phil D’Armano), and a soloist in “Bock Stock”. Joey has most recently performed “Sweeney Todd” (Adolfo Pirelli) at the Wallace Theater.
MAKAIDYN OSBURN (Puck): Makaidyn Osburn fell in love with theatre at a very young age and took the stage at age 11 in her very first show “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” playing Lucy at Clovis Homeschool Theatre. Makaidyn’s dream was to eventually land herself on Broadway pushing her to her limits as she dove into the theatre world with her whole heart.
Her joy and desire for theatre began to grow throughout the years as she continued to perform in “The Christmas Carol” as young scrooge at Clovis Community Theatre , “A Christmas story” as jingle at Lubbock Community Theatre, “Willy Wonka” as Violet at Lubbock High, and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time” as ensemble at Lubbock High. Makaidyn moved to Lubbock Texas in 2016 sparking her interest in musical theatre. Her very first musical was “Shrek” with Moonlight Musicals and began to spread her versatility in shows being a part of “Matilda” as ensemble with Lubbock Community Theatre, “Disney tour” many different roles at Moonlight Musicals Directions, “James and the Giant peach” as ensemble with Moonlight Musicals, and “Young Frankenstein” as ensemble with Lubbock Community Theatre. .
Makaidyn is currently enrolled in high school at Lubbock High in her senior year. Makaidyn has been a part of the Lubbock High Theatre program for three years along with participating in the Lubbock High Debate team leading them as captain of IE and speech.
Makaidyn would not be where she was without the constant support from family and friends encouraging her to constantly push forward. No matter how many doors were shut or how many directors said no she continued to audition. Her devotion for theatre has landed her in this amazing role as she will play Puck in “Shakespeare in Hollywood”.
YNEZ SPENCER (Jack Warner) Ynez was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas where he graduated in 2016 from Coronado High School. Ynez had never done any kind of theatre or acting in general, having his eyes set on his first passion: NFL. He enrolled at Wayland Baptist University through the football program but it was at Wayland where Ynez found his true passion with acting. He joined the theatre program in 2017 under Marti Runnels, where he debuted in his first play, “Arsenic and Old Lace”. Ynez would go on to perform 4 more plays with Wayland before he got into film in April 2018.
Ynez’s film credits include “13 Reasons Why”, “Stranger Things'', “Cry Macho”, “American Underdog”, “The Senior”, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, “A Promising Decision”, “All American”, “Chicago PD” and upcoming “Chicago Fire” and Rod Lurie’s “Westpoint”.
Ynez has also been featured in multiple local commercials as well as ads for Nike, Academy, and Dicks Sporting Goods. Ynez’s most recent theatre performance was “To Kill A Mockingbird” with Will of the Wind Productions in 2019, where he performed as Tom Robinson. Ynez is currently living with his family in Lubbock as he prepares for “Shakespeare in Hollywood” as well as preparing for his upcoming film roles. Ynez would like to thank all of his family and friends for all of their love and support.
SCOTT ALFORD (Max Reinhard) has been performing on stage for almost 50 years. Some of his favorite roles to play have been the title role in “Becket or The Honour of God”, Barry Champlain in “Talk Radio”, Juror #3 in “12 Angry Men”, Bill Sikes in “Oliver!”, Miles Gloriosus in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, Richard in “The Lion in Winter”, Arvide in “Guys and Dolls”, Pharaoh in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, and particularly Tevye in two productions of “Fiddler on the Roof”. Most recently, he was Judge Turpin in The Wallace’s production of “Sweeny Todd.” He has also acted in independent short films and has done quite a bit of voice work over the years. He is really excited to be working with such a wonderful cast and crew in “Shakespeare in Hollywood”.
When not on stage, he works in Financial Aid at South Plains College. He also takes great joy in being husband to Jeanie, dad to JennyBeth, Jarrod, and Jaclyn; father-in-law to Kenneth and Brianna; Grandad to Nathanael and Luke (plus a set of twins (one boy and one girl) and another girl on the way!); son to Martha; and brother to Phil, Sherry, and Danny (plus their families). He would like to thank you all for your constant love and support (especially Jeanie for her indulgence of Scott’s desire to perform)!
Most of all, he expresses thanks to the Father of Lights for giving him the talent and opportunity to perform.
BLAKE ROBERTSON (Will Hays) was born in Snyder, TX, but grew up on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. He began acting in high school and has been involved with community theatres across the southeast for over 20 years. Some of his favorite roles include Stacee Jaxx in “Rock of Ages” with the Joe Jefferson Players (Mobile, AL) and Eddie/Dr. Scott in “The Rocky Horror Show” with Naturally Improvable (Fort Smith, AR). Most recently, he portrayed Chris Alvaro in “Hands on a Hardbody” with The Wetumpka Depot Players (Wetumpka, AL). Along with acting, Blake has also gotten the opportunity to direct “Little Women: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy” and choreograph “The Wizard of Oz” for The Ritz Community Theatre (Snyder, TX).
Aside from his love of theatre, Blake is also heavily involved with the color guard circuit. He is currently the instructor for The Texas Tech Goin’ Band Colorguard as well as Levelland High School. When he is not pursuing his love of the arts, Blake is the Training Coordinator for Octapharma Plasma.
Blake is recently engaged to his partner of 5 years and is incredibly grateful for the support he is given to pursue his creative endeavors. He is also excited to join the incredibly talented cast and crew at The Wallace and is grateful for the opportunity to play such a fun role.
NATALIE STANISLAUS (Olivia Darnell) Natalie is very excited to be performing as Olivia Darnell in “Shakespeare in Hollywood” with the Wallace Theater after her recent performance in “Sweeney Todd” as Johanna. Natalie came to Lubbock for her education, and she received both her bachelor’s and master’s degree in communications from Texas Tech University. Through her time in Lubbock, she fell in love with the performing arts community in the area and has worked with multiple performing arts organizations in Lubbock. She recently performed as Maleficent in “Descendants: the Musical” with Horizon School of the Arts and has been in several musicals with Lubbock Community Theater (LCT). Some of her favorite roles at LCT include Inga in “Young Frankenstein,” Miss Honey in “Matilda,” Judy’s Understudy in “9 to 5,” and Wednesday Addams in “The Addams Family.” Natalie has also performed with Lubbock Moonlight Musical as Olga Mara in “Singin’ in the Rain,” Jan in “Grease,” and as a General's Daughter in “Pirates of Penzance.” Before attending Texas Tech University and moving to Lubbock, Natalie performed in 12 musicals and 5 plays in her hometown of Frisco, TX, and some of her favorite roles include Mary Girard in “the Insanity of Mary Girard,” Wendy in “Peter Pan,” and Titania in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” In her free time, Natalie takes voice lessons from an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, Dr. Alice-Ann Light, and enjoys singing choral music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church under the direction of Dr. John Hollins. Natalie would like to thank her friends, family, teachers, and boyfriend for their continued support throughout her journey as an actress and performer.
MARY TURNER (Lydia Lansing) is a Lubbock native and Lubbock Christian University graduate. Mary recently performed in The Wallace Theater's production of "Sweeney Todd." Mary has worked with Lubbock Moonlight Musicals both as a performer and scenic painter since 2016, her performances including "A Grand Night for Singing" and the Madrigal Dinner. She was proud to perform at the Organization of American Kodaly Educators national conference as a member of the women's ensemble The Sweet Peas. Mary has also performed in Culture Nerd’s improv roleplay group live streamed on multiple platforms. "
ANNIE NICHOLS-BURGE (Louella Parsons) currently serves as Instructor of Voice at South Plains College. She holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Vocal Performance from Texas Tech University and has studied with Mary Jane Johnson, Sue Arnold, Quinn Patrick Ankrum, John Gillas, and Dr. Steve Weber. She also serves as music director and vocal coach for Lubbock Community Theatre’s Horizon School of the Arts, a preparatory program for students interested in pursuing Musical Theatre in college and beyond. Behind the scenes, Annie has served as Music Director for multiple productions including TTU’s “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”, LCT’s “Matilda” and “Young Frankenstein”, and Horizon’s “Godspell” and “Descendants the Musical.”
Annie has appeared in productions with Lubbock Community Theatre’s “9 to 5: The Musical” as Judy, “Young Frankenstein'' as Elizabeth, and most recently as the Fairy Godmother in “Cinderella”. She has also appeared in Moonlight Musicals and Moonlight Broadway productions. Favorite roles include Ursula in “The Little Mermaid'', Kala in “Tarzan”, Princess Fiona in “Shrek”, Miss Jones in “How to Succeed…”, Eponine in “Les Misérables”, Grizabella in “Cats” and Madame Giry in “The Phantom of the Opera”. Other favorite roles include Tracy Turnblad in “Hairspray” with Sidecare Theatre Company, Evil Queen in “Descendants: The Musical'' with Horizon, Cathy in “The Last 5 Years” with Renegade Productions, and her favorite experience to date, Mrs. Lovett in The Wallace’s production of “Sweeney Todd''.
FRANK ANGUIANO (Daryl) In 2011, Frank Anguiano stepped away from the theater program at West Texas A&M. Instead, he pursued a career in ordained ministry and spent the last three years as a pastor of United Methodist Churches in both Texas and Montana. But the desire to perform had never left. When Frank left his vocation at the end of 2021, he knew it was time to jump back in. “Shakespeare In Hollywood” was Frank’s first audition in TEN YEARS and Daryl is his first major supporting role. Frank currently resides in Lubbock, Texas and is a 2013 graduate of West Texas A&M University and 2020 graduate of Brite Divinity School. He plans to continue to pursue acting and entertainment avenues in the future.
Dantz DeBusk (Dick Powell/Albert Warner) Dantz was introduced to theatre in middle school a little over 10 years ago and has loved it ever since. He found that acting was his favorite artistic way to express himself and continues to pursue it. He graduated from Pampa Texas in 2016 and moved to California to attend the American Academy of Dramatic arts. He later became apart of a theatre in North Hollywood called Loft Ensemble and was apart of many productions over the course of 4 years. His favorite and most meaningful role was playing “Brooks Brown” in “The Columbine Project” He says this role changed him as a performer but more importantly as a person. The stories of everyone involved, meeting the person he played and the cast and crew will always have a special place in his heart. Since moving back to Lubbock he has been apart of two shows with the Lubbock Community Theatre. A Musical called “Descendants” where he played a nutty chemistry professor named “Maurice” and a play called “The 39 Steps” which is a comedic twist on the Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name. He played the role of “Richard Hannay” and says he loved every minute of it. He wants to thank the director of “The 39 Steps” Patrick for allowing him to be apart and collaborate with such an amazing team and artists. Dantz is extremely excited to be apart of the production “Shakespeare in Hollywood” After seeing the musical “Sweeney Todd” at the Wallace Theatre he knew he had to be apart in any way he could. He also wants to thank his family for their support, his middle school director Lou Lindsey for introducing him to theatre and his high school director Matthew Prather for inspiring him to always pursue acting.
CONNOR WARD (Joe E. Brown) is from a small town outside of Houston. He was always surrounded by different kinds of cultures and people that influenced him. He fell in love with acting after taking a class in Houston during winter 2021. His dream is to become a professional actor and his favorite genres are action, comedy, and suspense. He is involved in upcoming short films in Lubbock along with taking Introduction to Acting at Texas Tech University. Some of his hobbies include working out, running, writing and watching movies. He also loves hanging out with friends and playing various sports like basketball. Growing up in public school in Fulshear, Texas, his favorite subjects were English and art. His mother was an art teacher growing up so he was always surrounded by art and creativity. What he valued most is hard work and the belief that if you do something you enjoy, you should give it 100% and nothing less. He looks forward to a career as an actor and working with The Wallace in Levelland. He believes that it will be a great experience and he will learn lots from it. He is always willing to learn and feels very fortunate to get a chance to perfect his craft as an actor.
ALEJANDRO HERNANDEZ (Jimmy Cagney) Alejandro Hernandez is an independent musician/actor/entertainer of all sorts from West Texas. He showed an aptitude for music after receiving an acoustic guitar at five-years-old from his grandfather, Gumecindo Hernandez. Throughout his school years, he performed in any and all music and stage performances that he could. This unintentional draw to the limelight helped establish Alejandro as a very strong stage presence and led him to study Musical Theatre Performance at West Texas A&M University.
After school, Alejandro sought more stages and more ambitious projects. He began by returning to his hometown and dipping into the Lubbock local theatre pool and landed a the role of Ed Carmichael in the outlandish comedy “You Can’t Take It With You” by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart at the Children and Adults Theatrical Studio, CATS Playhouse. This kicked off a 5-year run in many different shows with many different local companies including “Damn Yankees!” with Lubbock Moonlight Musicals and “Lone Star” at Plainview’s Repertory Theatre.
In 2016, Alejandro was presented with a dream come true, the opportunity to play live music at Louie Louie’s Dueling Piano Bar. After all the years of studying, nothing could have prepared him for the real show. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t going to do the best he could. He had a tremendous support system from his fellow players as well as general bar staff that encouraged his ambitions and gave him the confidence to fly. Alejandro considers his years at the bar to be some of the best of his life and is very thankful that he was lucky enough to live his dream.
Alejandro has been recently occupied with reinserting himself into the live theatre scene and has found a new home away from home at The Wallace. He says, “It just feels right.”
DAVID MITCHELL (Ensemble) David is excited to be a part of “Shakespeare in Hollywood” which will be his first production at The Wallace Theater. David’s first experience in acting took place at The Garza Theater over 20 years ago in “Arsenic and Old Lace.” More recently he has appeared in many shows in Lubbock with his favorites being his portrayals of Matthew Cuthbert in “Anne of Green Gables”, Thomas in “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot”, Jan in “Small Mouth Sounds”, Kent in “King Lear”, and Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
David was born in Ft. Worth, TX, and has lived in Lubbock since childhood. In addition to his love for theatre, he is a ceramicist, an energy worker, and a writer.
OMAR SAMAD (Ensemble) Omar was born and raised in Lubbock, TX; and earned a Communications degree from Texas Tech University in 2020 with a Minor in Acting. Omar came to the Wallace Theater for the very first time just this past autumn to see some friends perform in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” and had such a great time, that they just had to come back for more! Omar is thrilled to be a part of this show, and hopes to help create some magic like that night they saw “Sweeney Todd,” here at The Wallace. Omar has recently been involved in Lubbock Community Theatre’s productions of “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” “The 39 Steps,” and “Society Paige.” They’ve also been in Lubbock’s CATS Playhouse’s production of “The Uninvited,” and several plays during their time at Texas Tech University, including “RROAPS/RRADS” and “The BurkTech Players.” The dream is to one day live and work professionally, as an actor in a big city. Omar is excited to work with some old friends in this production and is so, so grateful for the opportunity to do so! And, of course, is hoping to do more in the future! Aside from theatre & musicals, Omar’s other interests include: traveling, literature, movies, retro TV shows, art, world history, opera, different languages & cultures, karaoke, Disney and Harry Potter trivia.
