MEET THE DIRECTORS
Natalie Newberry
Natalie is thrilled to have the opportunity to direct at Scene One again with her “partner in crime”, Patrick. Natalie has been involved with JC community theater since before she can remember. She has directed several shows in the last few years including “Into the Woods” (TLT), “The Musical of Musicals: The Musical”(Scene One), “Puffs” (CCP) and “Disenchanted” (CCP). Although directing is her passion, she is no stranger to being on stage as well. Her most notable, recent onstage roles include Annie Oakley in “Annie Get Your Gun”, Dorcus in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, Elle Woods in “Legally Blonde”, Sally Brown in “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”, Fay in “At First Sight”, Mary Magdalene in “Jesus Christ Superstar”, and Ado Annie in “Oklahoma”.
Natalie would like to thank Mark and Tracy Wegman for the opportunity to share her craft, her mother for being an inspiration and role model, and her production team for keeping her sane throughout this process.
Patrick Pollock
Patrick is excited to be directing at Scene One again, almost 5 years to the day after “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” (2019). After a lifetime of friendship and theater experience with Natalie, I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to bring First Date to Jefferson City audiences. Many of Patrick’s most notable credits also involve working with Natalie, being her Assistant Director for “Death By Design” (2015) and “Into the Woods” (2022), both at TLT, her Production Manager for “The Musical of Musicals: The Musical” at Scene One (2019), and performing the role of Wayne Hopkins in “Puffs” (2020), which she directed at CCP.
Patrick would like to thank Mark and Tracy for building Scene One into a creative space that allows so many to truly express themselves, and to give a shout out to Amy Pringer for all the help and guidance she has given to the make sure First Date is the best show it can be.
MEET THE CAST
Jerico Whitaker
Jerico is thrilled to be back at Scene One Theater for this amazing production. He has been a part of Scene One for almost 15 years with his first show being “Intelligent Life” in January of 2010. Some of his favorite past roles include Hedwig in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”, Harry in “Harry and Sam Dialogues”, Leon in “Fools”, Roland in “Constellations”, and Ash in “Evil Dead: The Musical”.
He’d like to thank Mark Wegman and Matt Connor for the opportunity to join the Scene One Theater community, Natalie Newberry and Patrick Pollock for the opportunity to be a part of this show, and his family and friends for their support.
Jordyn Schnieders
This is Jordyn’s first Scene one show, however she is in no way new to the stage. Jordyn Schnieders is originally from Southern California where she took acting classes and was going on countless auditions for film and TV. She then moved to Las Vegas where she got accepted into a performing arts school for musical theater. She now resides with her husband and three children in Jefferson City and still stays plenty busy in the arts. Being in a few local bands, directing the musicals for St. Peter, running her own coaching business, and still performing in musicals when she can. Most recently she was the witch in Into the Woods at The Little Theater. She was also Snow White in Disenchanted at CCP.
Joe Schnieder
Joe is so glad to return to the Jack Renner stage after a multi-year hiatus from the world of theater and is excited to work with this wonderful cast and crew. Credits include: The Dentist (Little Shop of Horrors), Hamlet (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead), Lefou (Beauty and The Beast), TJ (Sister Act: The Musical), Picasso (Picasso at the Lapin Agile), Benjamin Braddock (The Graduate), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Pepper (Mama Mia), Scotty (Evil Dead: The Musical), along with many other roles as well as a few turns behind the stage in the crew.
Joe hopes you enjoy this fun show that reminds us all of the excitement and stress of going on a first date.
Ashton Knippenberg
Ashton is making her Scene One debut with “First Date: The Musical,” a show that her friends have been pestering her to listen to for years. With a background in both film and theatre, some of Ashton’s favorite credits include Lucy in “Dracula the Musical,” a tourist who gets blown up in “Iron Man 3,” Lauren in “Kinky Boots,” and most recently, Belle in “Beauty and the Beast.” Ashton is especially thrilled to showcase her percussion abilities on the zills in the upcoming production. She would also like to take this opportunity to formally apologize to anyone from New York and the Jewish community.
Brent Echols
Brent has enjoyed performing with Scene One in a few short plays and is very excited to participate in this musical. Just like in “First Date” he is “very much looking forward to the scene ‘he’s’ about to cause.”
Alexa Knippenberg
Alexa takes the Scene One stage, boasting credits as Sandra/Florence in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” Ulla in “The Producers,” and the unforgettable Heather Chandler in “Heathers: The Musical.” Notably, while her past roles often featured glimpses of underwear, “First Date: The Musical” deviates from that trend. With over a decade of theater experience, Alexa has developed many useful skills such as how to choreograph, rectify people’s problems, and make fake blood.
Alexa extends heartfelt thanks to her sister for unwavering support throughout her journey.
Curtis Sudduth
Curtis is happy to be back performing at Scene One where he has been apart of Short Attention Span and Rough Writers performances in the past. Some of his favorite performance credits include Lola in Kinky Boots, The Leading Player in Pippin, The King in The King and I, Tom Collins in Rent, Cain in Children of Eden, Judah in Joseph…Dreamcoat, Marcellus in The Music Man, Mitch Mahoney in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and many roles in Spamalot! He has choreographed productions of The Secret Garden, Annie, The Music Man, Rent, Mamma Mia, The Wizard of Oz, Spamalot, and Oklahoma! Curtis teaches dance to ages 7-85 at Elite Performing Arts. He also choreographs and coaches for the competitive dance team at the studio. He also teaches voice and musical theatre performance/audition technique. He is excited to share the stage with these wonderful performers, directors and musicians.