Leading Ladies cast bios
Walt Haight - Duncan
Walter has been performing at Pentacle Theater for over a decade, first appearing in Bus Stop in 2005. His other Pentacle credits include Guys and Dolls, Fiddler On The Roof, You Can't Take It With You, The Sunshine Boys, Radium Girls, The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy and, most recently, The Rainmaker. Walter has also acted and directed at Gallery Theater in McMinnville numerous times, including Kiss Me Kate, The Laramie Project, HMS Pinafore, Born Yesterday, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, and recently completed work on Reefer Madness (the Musical) at that venue. He is pleased and excited to be part of this wonderful cast and crew. Walter lives in McMinnville with his wife, Dawn.
Jade Halpern - Meg
This is Jade's first performance with Pentacle. Jade participated in many community theater productions ending with Bus Stop and Blithe Spirit at HART theater in Hillsboro before taking a five year hiatus. Jade loves the outdoors, works as a Family Visitation Coach and has recently moved to Salem.
Tom Hewitt - Jack
Tom has acted in numerous productions at the Pentacle Theatre, most recently in Our Town, Legally Blonde, and Tuna Does Vegas. He has also served on the Pentacle governing board. He acts as emcee for local events and fundraisers. Tom retired from teaching in 2011 after 31 years with Salem-Keizer Public Schools, mostly as a mid-high drama teacher at Waldo and Judson. He then taught drama two years at Blanchet Catholic School. He received a Crystal Apple Award for excellence in teaching in 1997 and the Awesome Award in 2015 for his work with the Salem Keizer Education Foundation. He was one of the founding staff members of the popular Children's Educational Theatre summer program and taught and directed there for a total of 29 years. Tom lives in Salem with his wife Lucy. He is the proud father of daughters Lauren and Carey. He is also the proud grandfather of Theo, Abby, Ruby, and Riley Mae.
Lucas Hill - Leo
Lucas first appeared on the Pentacle stage as The Man Who Dies (Mortimer) in the 1997 production of The Fantasticks. Since that time he has appeared in more than a dozen straight plays and musicals, and has worked as an Assistant Director and House Manager. He has served one term on the Governing Board of the Theatre as well. His Pentacle directing credits include The Good Doctor, The Odd Couple, Moon Over Buffalo, and The Importance of Being Earnest. He has a Bachelor's degree in Theatre from Willamette University and a Master's in Education from the University of Oregon, and teaches at Gervais Middle School and Children's Educational Theatre. He wants to thank his amazing wife Margaret for allowing him the time to pursue his foolish passion, and his two beautiful sons, Owen and Silas, for giving new meaning to his life.
Joyce Kemp - Florence
This is Joyce's third performance at Pentacle Theatre. She was last seen as Carrie Watts in The Trip to Bountiful and also played Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. She has also enjoyed being active at Pentacle in other capacities, including house managing, hospitality guild, costuming, and prompting. Joyce recently seen as Ida in Brush Creek's production of The Cemetery Club, and Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit for Aumsville Community Theater. She was also in Aumsville's production of Spoon River Anthology, playing 17 different characters. A transplant from Coos Bay, Joyce was active in theater there for 22 years. Some of her favorite roles include Marguerite in Dearly Departed, Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!, Mother Miriam Ruth in Agnes of God, and The Woman in Veronica's Room. Joyce is a retired R.N. who moved to Salem with her husband in 2013 to be closer to their three grown children. She is grateful to be in an area where there is so much wonderful theatrical opportunity, as audience member or participant!
Ed Kramer - Doc
Ed began his affiliation with Pentacle in 2008, playing Al Lewis in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys. Other Pentacle roles include Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, Grandpa Vanderhof in You Can't Take It With You and George Hay in Moon Over Buffalo. He also served as assistant director for Pentacle productions Our Town and Blithe Spirit.Other local roles were Judge Taylor in Salem Rep's To Kill a Mockingbird and Pops Bailey in Enlightened Theatrics' The 1940's Radio Hour. After majoring in theatre in college, Ed moved to New York City where he studied with Actors Studio co-founder Robert Lewis and appeared in a number of Off-Off Broadway shows but ultimately realized that the closest he would ever get to a Broadway stage was sitting in the fourth row. He is a member of Pentacle's Hospitality Guild and served as co-chair of the Pentacle Benefits Program. Ed lives in Salem, is retired from a career in high-technology public relations and is grateful to be a part of the Pentacle Theatre community.
Belle Steele - Audrey
This is Isabella's third show at Pentacle and one of her favorite's she's gotten to be a part of. She was also Emma in Emma's Child and a dancer in Chicago. She has been in theatre since she was a kid and has been a part of multiple productions including portraying Rizzo in Grease, Bettie Meeks in The Foreigner, and two characters in Almost, Maine. She lives in West Salem. When she is not working at Torrid, you can find her outside with her dog or snuggled cozy with a cup of tea and a good book.
BrAd Steiner - Butch
This is BrAd's third appearance with the Pentacle. The first was The Nerd, and the second was actually as crew and vomit technician for God of Carnage. Normally shy and withdrawn, BrAd has secretly craved the spotlight. Thanks to the Pentacle Theatre, large amounts of caffeine, and his family, he is able to perform for an audience. In Eastern Washington, BrAd appeared in such shows as The Wedding Singer, Leading Ladies, Almost Maine, A View from the Bridge, Prescription Murder, The Odd Couple, Hate Mail, and many others. He owes his current acting career to his wife Liz, who lets him come to rehearsal and play with the other kids.