DIRECTOR: Deborah Fezelle
A native Cantonian, Deborah Fezelle returns to direct Canton Christmas for the second year in a row. Trained at Juilliard, Deborah was a professional actress in NYC for over 25 years. She’s worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Charles Playhouse in Boston and many Equity regional theaters across the country. She has appeared on stage with Robin Williams, Sir Anthony Quayle, Jose Ferrer, Christopher Reeve and many other well-known actors.
Ms Fezelle honed her directorial skills with Oscar & Tony winners Joshua Logan, John Houseman, Gregory Mosher and many others. Now an accomplished playwright/screenwriter, she and writing partner Sherry Yanow have successfully produced five new plays which are now in the hands of professional theaters in Chicago, L.A. and Virginia, with two more in the works for 2012. They also have a web series, ORIGINAL SIN, in pre-production with 747 Productions in Illinois.
In August 2010 Deborah founded Top Of The Town Productions, a mobile non-Equity theatrical troupe which has performed in various venues in the area and in Springfield, Illinois. The company premiered in October, 2010, with a revival of THE DISAPPEARANCE OF RAVEN BLOODBONE, followed by SCARLET FEVER in February, LET THEM EAT CAKE, in June & most recently A WALKING SHADOW at the Kathleen Howland Theater, all written by Yanow/Fezelle. In 2012 Top of the Town will add four cabaret shows to their roster, a joint venture with Gary Rivers as producer.
MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Kathleen Bell
North Canton native Kathleen Bell fell in love with the arts at an early age. Singing in children’s & youth choirs at church, as well as playing flute in band and singing in choirs at school fostered an enjoyment for many genres of music and entertainment.
After teaching K-12 music in Kentucky for four years, Kathleen and her husband Charles moved back to North Canton where they quickly became involved with Spectacular Music Productions; performing at both the Canton Palace Theatre & Akron Civic Theatre with SMP for 12 years. During that time she served as section leader, women’s vocal training coach, production committee co-chair, assistant rehearsal director and community outreach ensemble director.
In March 2009 Kathleen accepted the position of Musical Director for the newly formed choral group MajesticVoice. Through the years Kathleen has stayed active in church music as well, serving as choir director and assistant music director in three different churches. Currently she plays in the bell choir and sings in the chancel choir at Community Christian Church in North Canton.
CHOREOGRAPHER: Linda Cavella
Linda is the owner of “A Time to Dance” a studio in North Canton. For over 43 years she has trained young people a love of dance. As a professional choreographer, she has worked with many productions throughout NE Ohio and the South.
