Male Acting interns

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All our acting interns have appeared in "A Christmas Carol"; Dan Amboyer & Adam Carpenter (see previous post) acted in "...Carol" as children and then later as adults during their internships.  Below is what other male acting interns have been doing since leaving MBT.  Look for the female acting interns' updates in an upcoming blog post.

Matthew Pecek from last season returned as Fred in this year's "...Carol".  Since his internship he's also starred in "As You Like It" for Water Works Theatre Company in Royal Oak, MI and filmed a webseries for elitedaily.com.  In 2016 he'll directing "The Light in the Piazza" for his alma mater Adrian College and planning a move to NYC.

Dave Roy ('13 - '14) performed at Greenfield Village the summer after his internship and is now a product specialist for Chevrolet and can be seen at auto shows around the country.

James Busam ('12 - '13) returned for a 2nd year of "...Carol" with us and has also acted since his time at MBT with Water Works Theatre Company, with Uncovered Theatre and at the Detroit Music Hall for Kelly Neiti Productions.  He is now a full-time educator.

Andrew Danner ('11 - '12) received a scholarship to American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco at the end of his internship here.  He then appeared in "Animal Crackers" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in MA before moving back to CA.  Now in LA he has focused on comedy & among other projects has worked with College Humor, Buzzfeed, Fullscreen & Nerdist, performed on the Independent Film Channel (IFC) and writes & produces digital shorts & commercials.

Christopher Tefft ('10 - '11)  sang in 3 of our productions that season & has focused primarily on musical performances since.  He most recently appeared with the Metropolitan Opera in NYC where he lives. Other recent performances have been at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre in PA w/ the New York Orchestra, the Israeli Philharmonic & the NJ Festival Orchestra and at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Theatre, Carnegie Hall & other venues.

Alex Pedica ('09 - '10) is currently the artistic director of the Roeper Theatre Company in Birmingham, MI.  Between his time here & now, he worked there, taught at Matrix Theatre in Detroit, performed with Greenfield Village in Dearborn and relocated briefly to Chicago before returning to MI.

Other interns from longer ago - Rob Arbaugh is now teaching at Rochester College and is artistic director for Uncovered Theatre, Kris Yoder returned to his home state of PA where he has taught college & just recently performed in "The Nutcracker Ballet" and Joey Bybee is based in CA where he continues to perform, though he did return to MBT to be in "By Jeeves" & "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown".

 

More past "Carol" kids

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Since we're halfway thru the performances of the 2015 run of "A Christmas Carol", we'll take a break from news on past interns to give updates on some other child actors from past "Carol"s.  (Two - Dan Amboyer & Adam Carpenter - were already mentioned in a previous post about acting interns.)

With 34 years & in most of them 2 alternating casts of 10 each and even with some doing the show for multiple years, there's been hundreds of "Carol" kids.  Some now too old to be in the show again are still students; some are still in school but as teachers.  There's also at least one of each of doctor, farmer, military pilot, policeman, lawyer and many in other businesses.  Here's some that stayed in performance-related jobs -

Katie Hardy now as an adult has appeared in several plays and musicals at MBT.

Katie Mahard is an actress, who after working in other MI theatres as an adult, recently has relocated to Los Angeles.

Steph Hamood is a singer and musician who has put out an album & is often on tour.

Alice Sherman is an actress, often appearing at Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

Matt Britten has acted in films and is now the Creative Director at NYMF (New York Musical Theatre Festival).

Amanda Cowper is currently a production coordinator for "Late Night with Seth Meyers".

Jenie Dahlmann Altruda (Jenie Dahlmann when at MBT) is the Vice President for Communications and Engagement at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, MI.

Joe Hawley was one of the founding members of the band "Tally Hall" often writing their songs as well as performing live and in their music videos.

Casey Purcell is Vice President for the Rolfe Company in NYC, a talent agency specializing in theatrical design.

Mike Kopera is a film actor & producer based in CA.

If you know about other past "Carol" kids, you can let us know in the comments.

 

"Carol" kids who were later interns

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Dan Amboyer acted as a child in our annual "A Christmas Carol" and then went for high school at Interlochen Arts Academy.  He came back to MBT as an acting ('01-'02 season) intern appearing in shows including "Carol" again. He then went to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh where he graduated with degrees in acting and musical theatre.  He has performed Off-Broadway, on tour and other regional theatres around the country including the Old Globe, The Shakespeare Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival & Walnut Street Theatre.  He played Prince William in the Hallmark film "William & Catherine: A Royal Romance," as well as guest starring on such TV shows as "Benders", "Inside Amy Schumer," "Person of Interest," "Unforgettable" and "Law & Order".  Films include the current release "Love the Coopers" as well as the upcoming "Batman v Superman."  He is presently shooting in NYC his second season on the TV Land series "Younger" with new episodes airing in January '16.

Adam Carpenter was also a child actor in "Carol" (many seasons including 3 years as Tiny Tim) before going to Hope College and then returning as an acting intern ('07 - '08) for several shows as well as "Carol" as an adult.  He then got his MFA in acting at the Asolo Conservatory/FSU in Sarasota where he also acted in several shows including as one of the "12 Angry Men" directed by Frank Galati.  He's now in NYC where he regularly acts in & writes for the monthly "Our Bar" performances (info on December '15  event at http://nyevents.us/new-york-our-bar-ho/235835), has appeared (sometimes featured) in films & episodic TV and done lighting designs and stage management for theatre groups.