Biographies

Melanie is excited and scared to be starring in their first heavy drama! She studied, taught and performed across North America (mostly with children's theatres) before moving to Santa Cruz in 2014, and currently teaches private voice/ piano lessons locally. You may have seen them as a soloist in Considering Matthew Shepard (Cabrillo), ensemble in Dear Evan Hansen (AAT), as Cinderella's Stepmother (Scotts Valley Performing Arts) and/ or Into the Woods (Cabrillo Stage), as Ynez in The Odd Couple (MCT), as Shakespeare, the minstrel, and/ or eyepatch man + in Something Rotten, a soloist in CYT's Sondheim Revue (at the Rio), a soloist in All Together Now (AAT), Ruth in Pirates of Penzance (Cabrillo Stage), Susan in Company (Actor's Theatre), among others. Gratitude to everyone who has affected her life, especially her fabulous castmates, crew, director, stage manager, teachers, and loved ones.

Aaron is thrilled to be joining the cast of Gross Indecency. Originally from Rochester, New York, he is a playwright, director, and sometimes an actor. You may have seen some of his written and directorial work at The 418 Project including pieces for What is Erotic? (2013-2026), the play Who Killed Simon Braggart? (2024), and the book for the musical Night of the Vampire Queen! (2025). Evidently, he loves titles with punctuation.

Naomi received her B.A. in Theater Arts from Portland State University, and went on to study Experimental Theater with the Portland Experimental Theater Ensemble. While in Oregon, she worked as an educator for children's theater and behind the scenes in a multitude of roles. Since returning to her home state of California she has participated in local projects including Midsummer Night's Dream at Mountain Community Theater, and Best of the Rest at Santa Cruz County Actors Theater. She is excited to be part of bringing this show to Santa Cruz, with this wonderful company, and hopes you enjoy!

Peter received his B.A. in Theater from Wesleyan University, then worked professionally as an actor and director in New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, including a role as a misunderstood killer on the Kojak TV show. Finding it difficult to make a living as an actor, he went to law school and worked as an attorney in Los Angeles for 32 years, working on such cases as Goldman vs. OJ Simpson, and Recording Industry Association of America vs. Napster. Peter moved to the San Lorenzo Valley in 2008, and has been involved with Mountain Community Theater since then. He has directed many shows for MCT, including August: Osage County, Steel Magnolias, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Miracle on 34th Street, the Play. His acting roles range from Kris Kringle in Miracle to Brutus in Julius Caesar. He has also directed for many years at Santa Cruz Actors' Theatre annual 8 Tens at 8 Short Play Festival. In 2022, he created "The CZU Fire In Their Own Words," a 90-minute film about people who lost their homes in, and fought, the catastrophic August 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fires.

Kevin only started acting in February 2023, after retiring from 39+ years as an engineering professor, but has been training intensively, taking the equivalent of ~15 college courses at Cabrillo, Actors' Theatre, and UCSC. He has previously appeared as Polonius in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead with SH Theatrical, as Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet with Milo Rep, The Artist in 8 tens @8 and Beyond the Bus and The Fabulists in Best of the Rest at Actors' Theatre, as Claudius in Fortinbras at Cabrillo, as Mathis Zell in Katherina of Strassburg, as Egeus and Robin Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Mountain Community Theater, and in about 10 roles with NextStage Productions' Readers' Theater. "and I abide by what I wrote"

Andy is a retired English teacher who generally wastes most of his time but does sometimes manage to scratch out a few pages of fiction, including a novel (Hard Rain) he published last year. He ended a four-decade hiatus from acting a few years ago when he appeared in Santa Cruz Actors' Theatre's 8 Tens at 8. Last year he was again on the stage in that festival, and so was a play that he wrote, (Sacred Trust). This is his fourth time performing in a play directed by Simon.

Mark is thrilled to be performing in Gross Indecency the Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. His background includes performing as Ed Boone in Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for Mountain Community Theater. He also performed in 8 x 10s Best of The Rest for Actor's Theatre as multiple characters. Some other shows to mention are Robertson Ay in Mary Poppins, Drake in Annie, Harry in My Fair Lady, Charles Maude in Bye Birdie, and Wes Warnicker in Footloose. In his free time, he likes to play guitar and spend time with his family.

Ash Hartman recently woke up from a bad dream in which they didn't do theater, in an attempt to recover from this nightmare they've been throwing themself back into it and Ash is so grateful to the Santa Cruz community for allowing them to do so as mustard seed in MCTs Midsummer Night's Dream, as Sparky in Eight 10s @ 8, as Mortimer and Bardolph in gay innocent heartless's Henrymania and now as so many fascinating characters in Gross Indecency.

Marc has performed for 25 plus years throughout the Bay Area and Central Coast, with (Palo Alto Players) in the Bay Area, (Forest Theater Guild), (Pacific Repertory Theater) and (Wharf Theater) in Carmel and Monterey, (Western Stage) in Salinas and in numerous productions with (Cabrillo Stage & Cabrillo College) most recently as Old Man Jenkins in SpongeBob The Musical followed by The Best of the Rest at Actors Theater in Santa Cruz. Marc is truly grateful for the love and support from family and friends.

Susy started acting at age 8, when her mother told her she was "too dramatic" and put her in acting classes as a way to channel it. She's been acting ever since, most recently in Part 1 of the 8 Tens@8 Festival. Before that, she has been in many local productions including Cabrillo College's production of Metamorphoses, The Santa Cruz Shakespeare Gala, MCT's Miracle on 34th Street and The Odd Couple, Female Version. She has also acted in films, including Robert Kirkendall's Escape from Jury Duty, and the feature film Twenty.

Christina Wise was bitten by the acting bug somewhat later in life than most. In the past few years, she has performed in Mountain Community Theatre's Odd Couple and Miracle on 34th Street, as well as two iterations of New Works Weekend. She was also pleased to participate in a murder mystery that benefitted Santa Cruz Public Libraries. All of these experiences have helped Christina come out of her shell, and she is grateful to the local theater community for their support and encouragement.

Steve is honored to join this talented cast in this production of Gross Indecency. He began his theatrical career, as many do, in high school, where he starred in Harvey, delivering monologues to an invisible rabbit. He then went on to tour Europe with Velvets Theater, where, cloaked in black, on a black stage, with a black hood over his head, you would hardly know he was there. But there he was. And here he is, back, thrilling to all the chaos, adrenaline, and camaraderie that is theater.

Simon Hayward had the opportunity for involvement in a wide range of theatrical activities while studying at the University of Oxford. This including touring in the US (through the Midwest in midwinter!) with a production of As You Like It, plus directing Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author and Ibsen's The Doll's House (at the Oxford Playhouse). However the desire for a career in the professional theater was cut short by the need to earn a living...

While working in the tech industry, he was involved in many technology conferences, both as a paid presenter and director or producer of large scale events, with greater or lesser degrees of theatricality...

Since retiring he has been able to return to directing on a "real" stage, initially with Mountain Community Theater's production of The Odd Couple (Female Version) in 2024. In 2025 he directed Balloon Release as part of the 8x10s@8 Festival of New Short Plays at Actors Theatre, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime for MCT. He then directed a murder mystery (Final Checkout by Kathy Perrin) in conjunction with the Friends of Santa Cruz Libraries. In 2026 he returned to 8x10s as co-director of Best of the Rest.

In 2026 he set up a new production company (SH Theatrical) which had a successful run of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at Actors Theater in August. He is now delighted to present this show, exploring an extraordinary historic event which has strong resonance in our times, 130 years later!

Accaillia is grateful to have worked alongside such a hardworking and talented company. At times stage management can feel like doing a puzzle with a blindfold on, but rest assured once you find those corner and edge pieces, and get them down, soon after a complete picture is created. Thank you to our director, crew, and cast for their beautiful pieces.

Theo is a Bay Area lighting designer, lighting technician and actor. Theo is very excited to be doing lighting design for Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. Theo was lighting designer for Plaza Suit done by Costal Repertory theater, and Assistant Master Electrician for Cabrillo Stage's production of Sister Act. Theo also designed the lighting for Santa Cruz Parks and Rec's youth theater production of Peter and the Star Catcher. Theo loves hanging out with friends, being outside in nature and sitting with chickens.

Gary started acting in 2024 as drunken Santa and Lou at the Post Office in Miracle On 34th Street. He has been prop-master for The Addams Family and helped build sets for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Steel Magnolias.

Kate's work can be seen on many shows including Santa Cruz Shakespeare's 2026 repertory, Fences, Much Ado, Macbeth and Private Lives; MCT's Calendar Girls, Mama Mia, Midsummer Nights Dream, Spitfire Grill, Something Rotten, Spamalot, Rocky Horror, Lion in Winter, The Addams Family, the Humans, Robber Bridegroom, Miracle 2012 and 2018 and 2024, the Odd Couple and many more. Kate's scenic painting can also be seen in other local theater productions and companies, most recently SVPA's Annie. She paints local murals and her work also includes over 15 years as scenic designer for LPRT. She is a proud mom of three amazing, intelligent, talented young women.

Bess Frierson has been doing costumes for 6 years over many different productions. She started working with cosplayers and actors at the renaissance fair down in Southern California, then moved into theater. She recently began her costuming journey in Santa Cruz working with the cast of the Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, and is so excited to be a part of the show!

Benjamin has been a website designer and programmer for more than 30 years. With a lifetime of interest in digital creativity, he is happy to be contributing his skills in coding, photography, videography, and visual design — including posters, programs, and projections — to the Santa Cruz theatre community. As a founding member of Footlight Films, he films and edits performance videos for theatre companies all around the Bay Area. FootlightFilms.com