ARTISTIC STAFF
CARL SPRAGUE
Set Designer
Carl Sprague, a Berkshire County native who lives in Stockbridge MA, has designed for both stage and film. He has worked on a long list of motion pictures including The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), State & Main (2000), The Love Letter (1998), You’ve Got Mail (1998), In Dreams (1997), Amistad (1997), Before and After (1995), The Paper (1993), and The Age of Innocence (1992). Mr. Sprague has also assisted with Broadway shows such as Girl Crazy and Chess. His local theater work includes designing for the Berkshire Theater Festival in Stockbridge MA, Mixed Company in Great Barrington MA, and the Oldcastle Theater in Bennington VT.
ROBERT BOLAND
Set Designer
Robert M. Boland is the retired Chairman of the Theatre Department at Berkshire Community College, where he taught Design, Acting, Directing and Art History. He has directed, designed, or choreographed more than 300 productions in the course of his career. Mr. Boland is a fine arts graduate of the University of Massachusetts and holds a MFA in Theatre from Boston University. A well-known director in the Berkshires, Mr. Boland has also designed the sets for ABB’s productions of Petrouchka, La Fille Mal Gardee, and The Nutcracker.
RITA WATSON
Costume Designer
Rita B. Watson has designed costumes for several ABB productions, including The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Cinderella, Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardee, and Romeo and Juliet. Ms. Watson has been costume designer for the Williamstown Theatre Festival since 1966, creating costumes for over 30 productions, dressing such stars as Ken Howard, Richard Chamberlain, Blythe Danner, Richard Dreyfuss, Carrie Nye and Dick Cavett, in such shows as The Shadow Box, The Learned Ladies, and Private Lives. She has also designed costumes for Williams College Theatre, Christopher Ryder House and Dances…Patrelle.
DEIRDRE DUFFIN SWINDLEHURST
Ballet Mistress
Deirdre Duffin Swindlehurst, a graduate of the Cantarella School of Dance, has appeared extensively with the Albany Berkshire Ballet, dancing in Coppelia, Les Sylphide, Giselle and The Nutcracker. She is a former member of the Albany Berkshire Ballet and joined the the Pennsylvania Ballet in 1980, dancing soloist roles in pieces such as Doris Humphries The Shakers, Paul Taylor’s Arden Court, and Balanchine’s Rubies, Midsummer’s Night Dream, and The Four Temperaments. She has appeared at Jacob’s Pillow as a guest artist on the Mainstage, and has participated as a teacher in the Pillow’s community dance classes. Ms. Swindlehurst appeared as a principal dancer with the acclaimed Cynthia Gregory in her Celebration Tour and also with Leonid and Valentina Koslov’s Bolshoi to Broadway Tour throughout the United States. She is on the faculty at the Cantarella School of Dance and the School of the ABB, and participates with the Albany Berkshire Ballet in community outreach programs for young people.
NANCY ROPELEWSKI KING
Ballet Mistress
Nancy Ropelewski King was among the original students at the Cantarella School of Dance. She was a scholarship student at Jacob’s Pillow, and studied with Margaret Craske and Antony Tudor. After her years of being a principal dancer and character dancer with ABB, Ms. King continues her invaluable contributions to the Company as Ballet Mistress, choreographer and teacher. Ms. King is on the faculty of the School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet in Albany and the Cantarella School in Pittsfield. She has been the director of the ABB Junior Company and Academies at both schools. Ms. King choreographed the Albany Berkshire Ballet’s production of Peter and the Wolf, a cornerstone of ABB’s Introduction to Dance program for the elementary level, and teaches in many of ABB’s dance education programs in the schools.