Production Bios & Headshots

Rachell Hodgins

ALICE

Rachell Hodgins is making her seventh appearance with Merlyn Productions. She most recently reprised the role of Mabel in “Suppressed Desires” at Gimli Summer Theatre in August, and also appeared as Berta in this February's run of “Sunday Costs Five Pesos”.

Rachell's theatre beginnings were at Manitoba Theatre for Young People, which led to the Junior High drama program at John Pritchard School, followed by two years in the Kodiak Moments Theatre Ensemble at River East Collegiate.

Outside of Merlyn Productions, Rachell has appeared with Chase & Hamill at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival for the last three consecutive years.

When not acting, she can still be found onstage, having been a singer for various bands since age 16.

Judy Arnason

ALICE LIDDELL

Judy Arnason is making her second appearance with Merlyn Productions. She previously appeared as Martha in “Confessional”, when the company presented its Morality Plays triple-feature in October.

Judy's other theatre experience was with Fantasy Theatre for Children, where she played the Fairy Godmother in a recent production of “Cinderella”.

On the film and TV scene, she has worked on numerous productions – including “Less Than Kind”, “Men With Brooms”, “Cashing In”, “The Don Cherry Story”, “Faces In The Crowd”, “Capote”, “The Assassination of Jesse James”, and “A Bear Named Winnie” – and also appeared in a couple of commercials.

Judy has trained at the Prairie Theatre Exchange (PTE), as well as the Actors Training Centre of Manitoba (ATCMB).

“May All Your Dreams Come True!”

Anna Woodward

RED QUEEN

Anna Woodward is making her fifth appearance with Merlyn Productions. She performed in both “Woman's Honor” and “The Boy Comes Home” during the 2010 Season, and most recently appeared in the “Hearts and Flowers” melodrama at Dramatic Showcase 2011.

Anna also took part in two Winnipeg Fringe Festival shows this Summer: “LAW & ORDER: Nursery Rhyme Unit” with HamDad Productions, and “HEY ABBOTT! - Another Classic Comedy Tribute Show” with Chase & Hamill.

Anna started acting in Grade 5, when she played Little Red Riding Hood. Her other recent stage appearances have been in “Fiddler on the Roof” with the Victorian Operatic Society, and “Sweeney Todd” with the Belleville Theatre Guild. As a military brat with her father in the Armed Forces, she has acted from Comox, B.C., to Belleville, Ontario.

In addition to stage acting, she has taken six years of vocal lessons, and has currently enrolled in a beginner jazz class.

Outside the arts, Anna is working as an ECE II, and holds a Social Service Worker Diploma.

Anna-Laure Koop

WHITE QUEEN

Anna-Laure Koop is making her first appearance with Merlyn Productions.

Anna-Laure spent her early years in Québec, where her first stage started off as a footstool. The rest of her childhood she spent living in a small town in Switzerland.

She attended high school in Winnipeg, where she appeared as Gabriella Montez in “High School Musical” and Penelope Sycamore in “You Can't Take It With You”, in addition to being active in the concert choir and vocal jazz groups.

After high school, Anna-Laure took on the “big city”, and attended the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts in Toronto, where she studied acting, singing and dancing. During her studies she had the great pleasure of playing Jane Bennet in the stage production of “Pride and Prejudice”.

Anna-Laure is currently a theatre student at the University of Winnipeg. She loves the great outdoors, where she finds much inspiration for her creative endeavours.

Brian Dougherty

ENGINE-DRIVER

Brian Dougherty is making his second appearance on the Merlyn Productions mainstage. He previously appeared as Philip Norton in “The Curtain”, when the company presented its Morality Plays triple-feature in October.

After venturing briefly onto the stage with a self-written solo comedy routine for the local “Free Laughs Comedy Series”, Brian decided to pursue theatre in earnest. He enrolled in the Spring 2011 session of “STAGE ONE: Adult Theatre” at Merlyn Productions, and performed with the class in Dramatic Showcase 2011.

Brian's first major community theatre production was with Chase & Hamill, creating multiple characters in “HEY ABBOTT! - Another Classic Comedy Tribute Show” at the 2011 Winnipeg Fringe Festival.

Behind the scenes, Brian has been very active in contributing his carpentry talents to the scenic departments of several productions.

Ryan Offenloch

TWEEDLEDUM

Ryan Offenloch is excited to be making his first appearance with Merlyn Productions as Tweedledum!

Ryan has been involved in theatre since he was 9 years of age. He is an alumnus of The Theatre School at Fantasy Theatre for Children, and appeared in several of the company's mainstage plays, including “Tom Sawyer”, “Aladdin”, and “Max and the Grinch”. He also had the wonderful opportunity to appear at the 2009 Winnipeg Fringe Festival in “Blitz Kids” with MacDonald's Plays.

Aside from live theatre, Ryan also has a passion for film work. He recently appeared in a Winnipeg Blue Bombers tribute video, which commemorates the end of an era for the existing football stadium.

Ryan hopes you all enjoy the show!

Trenton Trudzik

TWEEDLEDEE

Trenton Trudzik is making his first appearance with Merlyn Productions.

Trenton's previous training includes three years at Manitoba Theatre for Young People, as well as acting classes through RS Talent Search, of which he is a client.

In his home town of Teulon, he is enrolled in grade 10 at Teulon Collegiate, where he participates in his school drama club. Trenton is also a member of the Green Acres Art Centre, where he co-authored, directed and acted in a production entitled “Over the Rainbow”.

Outside of the theatre, Trenton's interests are sports, music, and video games. His ambitions are to produce a film, and write music.

Ian Peters

RED KING

Ian Peters is making his fourth appearance with Merlyn Productions. Ian most recently appeared as John in “Confessional”, when the company presented its Morality Plays triple-feature in October. He was also seen playing our hero in the “Hearts and Flowers” melodrama at Dramatic Showcase 2011.

Other recent appearances include performing at the Park Theatre in StrindbergFest 2011, and creating multiple characters with Chase & Hamill in “HEY ABBOTT! - Another Classic Comedy Tribute Show” at the 2011 Winnipeg Fringe.

Since 2006, Ian has trained at the Actors Training Centre of Manitoba (ATCMB) with Jeff Skinner and Darcy Fehr.

Ian grew up in Steinbach, and moved to Winnipeg in 2001. He loves the creative process, and working with others to bring a story to life.

Sam Kowaluk

HUMPTY DUMPTY

Sam Kowaluk is making his second appearance with Merlyn Productions, and couldn't be happier to be back on stage! His previous appearance was in “Woman's Honor” during the 2010 Season.

This past summer, Sam appeared at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival in both “LAW & ORDER: Nursery Rhyme Unit” with HamDad Productions, and “HEY ABBOTT! - Another Classic Comedy Tribute Show” with Chase & Hamill, in addition to working on a couple of local film sets.

Sam is an alumnus of The Theatre School at Fantasy Theatre for Children, where he also appeared in more than 30 mainstage productions over seven years, including: “Cinderella”, “Snow White”, and – a personal favourite – “Max and the Grinch”.

Sam is in his second year at the University of Winnipeg studying theatre and film, and is currently serving as Assistant Director for Dakota Collegiate's production “The Wizard of Oz” (which opens next week)!

He hopes you enjoy the show!

Chris Reid

WHITE KNIGHT

Chris Reid is thrilled to be making his third appearance with Merlyn Productions as the White Knight. His previous appearances were during the 2009 Season: as J. Altrus Browne in “Brothers in Arms”, and when the company produced Chase & Hamill's “HEY ABBOTT! - A Classic Comedy Tribute Show” as a Winnipeg Fringe Festival fund-raiser.

This year, Chris has been on stage with Winnipeg's Marketplace Players. He previously performed in a series of children's shows with Fantasy Theatre for Children from 2007 to 2010, and prior to that, with Theatre Amisk of Dauphin, Manitoba.

Off-stage, Chris is on-air at TSN 1290 doing a weekly show with the Manitoba Soccer Association. He can occasionally be heard on their sister station, FAB 94.3, filling in on the weekday morning show.