All My Sons – Walterdale Theatre

Meet the Team of STAG AND DOE! John Anderson is Production Manager!

Who are you? John Anderson

What is your role in the show? I am happy to be the Production Manager of this show, supporting my friend, Louise, in her directorial project. My duties in the PM role involve a lot of administrative tasks, such as booking rehearsal space at the theatre and elsewhere; preparing the program by collecting bios and headshots from the team; organizing and running production meetings; etc. It’s a rewarding role, because it means the creative team members can just focus on those creative parts, knowing that people like me have taken care of the other details. It takes a village to create a show, and I’ve had fun being part of this one.

Have you been involved with Walterdale Theatre before? I’ve been involved with Walterdale for about ten or so years, but always behind the scenes, as I’m not an actor. I’ve been serving on the Board for about five years. I’ve directed a couple shows (The Realistic Joneses and All My Sons), and am hoping to direct another one as soon as they’ll let me.

What do you think is the best season for a wedding? Compared to others, I haven’t attended too many weddings, but the ones I’ve enjoyed most were in the summertime and one at New Years. I haven’t put too much thought into it, but I think early summer is a great time for it, because everyone is feeling new and excited after the winter and it’s easier to space out for people that need to step away from the commotion, either because they need a smoke break, or because they’re introverts that just need some momentary distance.

Tell us a funny short story about something going wrong at a wedding. My uncle was at a wedding where they served drinks before the ceremony, and he was telling me how much he liked that, because it allowed people to loosen up for the actual ceremony, as opposed to waiting until the reception to have a drink. Consequently, he got way too drunk by the end of the night, and my grandma told him the next day that he embarrassed the family on the dance floor. The female bartender was wearing the nice vest he wore to the wedding at the end of the night, he must have enjoyed ordering drinks from her a lot. So maybe don’t serve alcohol until the reception, if you get married…

Why should audiences come to see Stag and Doe? It’s a great, modern Canadian play. I think it has a lot of hilarious moments, but the characters can be very endearing as well.

Meet the Cast of ALL MY SONS – Catherine Krause is Bertie!

What is your role in All My Sons? What are they like? Role – Bertie. Bertie is a young girl who has a big imagination and loves playing games as a police officer.

Why should audiences come to All My Sons at Walterdale Theatre? Audiences can experience a range of emotions and learn about life in the 40s.

What would you say would be a highlight of working on All My Sons so far? Meeting the rest of the cast was great, and I loved rehearsing on stage.

Tell us your thoughts about horoscopes: I don’t necessarily believe 100% but it’s still fun to see what they predict for you!

Meet the Cast of ALL MY SONS – Jasmine Hopfe is Ann Deever!

What is your role in All My Sons? What is she like? I play the role of Ann Deever! Ann is in many ways a gentle, sweet woman, but it’s the times that we see her speak up and take control of her life that she is the most captivating.

Why do you think audiences should come see All My Sons at Walterdale Theatre? Despite being set in the 1940s, the value of Miller’s script truly transcends one particular moment in time. The play highlights the personal responsibility every individual carries for their larger communities and world, a concept that is vigorously debated by the characters and remains an incredibly important conversation to this day.

What would you say would be a highlight of working on All My Sons so far? A highlight of working on this production has definitely been the people. I went into this process only knowing one face in the room, and I have been accepted with such open arms into this little Walterdale family. I’m so grateful to be part of such a fun, talented, and welcoming team!

Tell us your thoughts about horoscopes: I don’t think any system of belief should be entirely prescriptive of one’s identity or truth. That being said, I love astrology. I find the practice of exploring one’s intrinsic connection to the universe and looking for resonance in what the stars have to offer a beautiful and fun one! (And yet, I think Frank is a bit of a goon about it.)

Meet the Team of ALL MY SONS – Brooke Emberly is Assistant Master Painter!

What is your role on this production? What does it entail? I am acting as Assistant Master Painter on this production. I work under the Master Painter to ensure that the painting on this production is scheduled, organized and run smoothly. I also assist in realizing the design elements asked of us for the set.

Why do you think audiences should come see All My Sons? Its a touching play that plays on the complexities of family expectations, and the balance between loyalty and self care.

What would you say would be a highlight of working on All My Sons so far? Getting to work so closely with the designer! Being able to discuss and change or improve things on the fly is invaluable for a detail-oriented design such as this.

Many of the characters in All My Sons have secrets that they keep from each other, or things in their past that people would not expect. What is something people wouldn’t guess about you? I come from a camping and hunting family so I have a deep respect and understanding of the value and responsibilities of hunting for your own food and how to live in the wild without leaving your footprint behind.

Tell us your thoughts about horoscopes: Horoscopes are designed to appeal to the masses, and are often written in a vague way that can apply to anyone. In my experience, it also gives others the excuse to bully you based on these silly writings…so needless to say I do not think highly of them.

Meet the Team of ALL MY SONS – Afrah Collier-Potts is our ASM

What is your role on this production? What does it entail? I’m the Assistant Stage Manager, personally I like to call it the back stage ninja role. My job is to assist the cast in all behind the scenes movements, and prop management.

Why do you think audiences should come to see All My Sons? There are many reasons to see All My Sons, from the cast to the crew it is labour of love. Who doesn’t love a good functionally dis-functional family full of secrets.

What would you say would be a highlight of working on All My Sons so far? The entire cast and crew. Everyone is delightful and so passionate about bringing this delightful period piece to life.

Many of the characters in All My Sons have secrets that they keep from each other, or things in their past that people would not expect. What is something people wouldn’t guess about you? I don’t know how to dougie. (We invite people to come forward to teach Afrah how to dougie…)

Tell us your thoughts about horoscopes: Well, I’m a Taurus sun, Scorpio moon, and a Cancer rising. Which I think says all you need to know.

Meet the Cast of All My Sons – Franco Correa is Chris Keller!

What is your role in All My Sons? I play Chris Keller, son of Joe Keller, and prospective husband of Ann Deever. Chris is a morally upright man, but he experiences substantial survivor’s guilt as well as shame about his community’s attitude regarding the war.

Why should audiences come see All My Sons at Walterdale Theatre? I’m not typically interested in postwar dramas, but this script really knocked my socks off. Why shouldn’t you see it? It’s Arthur Miller!

What would you say would be a highlight of working on All My Sons so far? Being able to step outside of my comfort zone as a performer, and in good company. It’s been a fun process so far. The longer period of rehearsal has allowed me to dig into this script in a way I’ve really always felt was necessary.

Tell us your thoughts about horoscopes: I hate ’em. I’m not into that witches and wizards stuff.

Meet the Team of All My Sons – Justine Woodfall is our Stage Manager!

What is your role on All My Sons? I’m stage managing this production. A little bit of what I do is calling the technical cues for the show, record blocking in rehearsals, and create rehearsal and show reports with updates for the production team.

Why should audiences come see All My Sons? To support local theatre and see the hard work we’ve put into this production.

Meet the Team of All My Sons – John Anderson is the Director!

Tell us about your role on this production: I’m the Director of this production. All My Sons is one of my favourite plays, meaning it was on my directing bucket list, so it is a thrill to be working on this show with such a talented cast, crew, and supporting Board of Directors.

Why should audiences come to see All My Sons? Like the Greek classics, All My Sons has an effectively orchestrated plot that gives the narrative a momentum that is engaging and tense for audiences. Also, Arthur Miller is one of the finest playwrights of the past century, and this work is one of his supreme achievements. If you want to see a masterpiece of the Dramatic Arts, look no further!

What would you say would be a highlight of working on All My Sons so far? Seeing the cast come together through the audition process, the actors we chose are fitting their roles very well. In rehearsals, they have the intelligence, the charisma, and the chemistry with one another to make their lines and the psychology of their characters ring true. It is so fulfilling to work with actors this talented.

Many of the characters in All My Sons have secrets that they keep from each other, or things in their past that people would not expect. What is something people wouldn’t guess about you? The people that know me in my work life as an Accountant are surprised to learn about how involved I am in the Arts. Meanwhile, the people in the theatre are surprised to learn I’m an Accountant by day. To me, these opposites compliment each other well in that I get to use both my left and my right brain, thanks to my work life balance.

Tell us your thoughts about horoscopes: Like a number of characters in this play — not including Frank and Kate — I tend to ignore horoscopes. However, I understand that they hold an important place in some people’s lives.

All My Sons by Arthur Miller, directed by John Anderson, runs October 11-21, 2023. Tickets can be purchased here.

Meet the Cast of All My Sons – Ursula Pattloch is Kate Keller!

What is your role in this production? I play the role of Kate Keller (or Mother). She is such an interesting, fun character to play! She is loving, controlling, caring, manipulating, cruel, kind, irrational at times and very complex. She claims she is ignorant but is exceptionally intelligent.

Why should audiences come to see All My Sons? This is definitely a play you do not want to miss. You will be laughing one minute, sitting on the edge of your seat the next, then totally shocked the next. Plus… Arthur Miller …so the writing is profound and thought provoking.

What would you says has been a highlight of working on the show so far? Working with the cast & crew so far has been wonderful. Exceptionally talented! Incredible to see the characters coming alive in rehearsals bit by bit.

Many of the characters in All My Sons have secrets that they keep from each other, or things in their past that people would not expect. What is something people wouldn’t guess about you? Hmmmm… I’m a huge nerd! Yup love Star Trek, Marvel (not DC), Harry Potter and really any Sci.-Fi., Fantasy themed TV show, Film, Play or Novel. So yes… the answer is 42 & I will bring a towel!

Tell us your thoughts about horoscopes: My character Kate is a huge believer! I, on the other hand, am a Capricorn so am far too practical to believe in horoscopes 🙂

All My Sons by Arthur Miller runs October 11 to 21, 2023. Tickets are available here.

Meet the Cast of All My Sons – Colin Stewart plays George Deever!

What is your role in the production? I’m playing George Deever (Ann’s brother) who shows up at the Keller’s after visiting his father in jail. He’s on mission to reveal the truth about Joe.

Why should audiences come to see All My Sons? I think people should come see All My Sons because it’s a great story with a lot of depth that will keep you engaged to the very end. Plus, the cast and the production team have done an amazing job at bringing the characters and their world to life.

What would you say would be a highlight of working on All My Sons so far? I’ve enjoyed the rehearsal process a lot, everyone is super collaborative. I really appreciate the attention to detail and the thought that the director and all of my castmates have put into crafting each character and their performances. I’ve learned so much working with everyone involved and I love that.

Tell us your thoughts about horoscopes: I only believe in horoscopes when they align with what I already believe to be true about myself.

All My Sons by Arthur Miller runs from October 11 – 21, 2023. Tickets can be purchased here.