For Immediate Release: August 29, 2005
Media Contact: Jessica Calter, Arden Theatre Company, 215.922.8900 x49

Arden Theatre Company proudly announces the 2005/2006 Arden Professional Apprentice (APA) class and welcomes them to Philadelphia. Joining the Arden this year will be Barnabas Crosby, Mathilda B. McCommon, Daniel Rodriguez, Anneliese VanArsdale, Andrew Vaught, and Meghan Walsh.

The Arden's Professional Apprentice (APA) program is one of the most distinguished theatre training programs in the country. The program's philosophy is to provide a comprehensive working knowledge of the inner workings of a nonprofit, regional theatre. To that end, APAs work in every aspect of the Arden's operations including artistic direction, marketing, box office, development, production, prop/set/costume building, stage management, finance and general management.

This well-rounded experience serves the APAs well as they begin their careers in the local and national performing arts communities. Graduates of the APA Program have gone on to become:

• The founders of several new Philadelphia-based theatre companies
• A Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter
• An NEA/TCG Career Development Directors Fellow
• A DGA Assistant Director Trainee
• Technical Director of the McCarter Theatre
• Company Manager of the Wilma Theater
• Managing Director of the Lantern Theater Company, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Brat Productions, 1812 Productions and the Relâche Ensemble
• Education Director of Mum Puppettheatre

Arden Managing Director Amy Murphy created this unique educational program 12 years ago. "The Apprentice Program really gives young theatre professionals a chance for hands-on training in all aspects of a successful theatre company. The Arden staff is fiercely committed to teaching and also extremely reliant on the apprentices’ work. Every year there is an infusion of young energy and perspective with the new apprentice class which is a driving factor in our commitment to the program. We also try to expose the APAs to the Philadelphia theatre community at large by arranging meetings with as many theatre companies and theatre professionals as we can. In the end, we want them to leave with an arsenal of practical skills and an overview of how a career in theatre is not only a viable option but an opportunity for an amazing and creative life."

The new 2005/2006 APA Class will be a welcome addition to Arden Theatre Company, bringing a wealth of experience and a vast array of talent. The Arden proudly welcomes:

• Barnabas Crosby is a playwright, director and dramaturge from Cleveland, Ohio. He holds a BFA in playwriting and a MA in general theater from Ohio University. In 2004, his one-act play Hands was produced by the Negro Ensemble Company in Manhattan, and originally produced at the Horizon Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival in Atlanta. Other credits include After the Rain at Theatre Studio Inc. and a production of his play 23: Laces on Wire in Brooklyn. He has also worked with Ensemble Studio Theatre and The New Dramatists. Currently he is working on developing a children’s acting troupe in Dayton, Ohio.
  
  
• Mathilda B. McCommon has enjoyed living in Louisville, Kentucky for the last several years. There she worked with The Bunbury Theatre, Pleiades Theatre Company and Juneteenth Legacy Theatre Company at Actors Theatre of Louisville. She was also an active board member and performer with the Louisville Repertory Company. The summer prior to beginning the Arden’s apprentice program, Mathilda volunteered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Mathilda has also worked professionally in the commercial, film and voice over industry.
  
  
• Daniel Rodriguez, a native New Yorker, is a former production manager, producer and board member of the student-run theatre company DownStage at Sarah Lawrence College. His producing credits include Marisol by Jose Rivera and the original student play The Bar Trilogy by Suzanna Cramer. He is also the director of Lauren Cantrell's Cross My Heart and Hope for Nausea in DownStage's One Night Stand, a series of monologues performed by its authors. Daniel was also the assistant director of a New York City showcase, Barton's Crossing by D. Clifford Hart, a full-length original play performed at the Studio at the Cherry Lane Theatre directed by Kevin Confoy. He is a graduate of Hunter College and received his MFA in Theatre at Sarah Lawrence College, spring of 2005.
  
  
• Anneliese VanArsdale is a 2005 graduate of Kenyon College in Ohio with a degree in Drama. She has been active in theater programs at Kenyon College and in her hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. Some of her favorite theater related experiences were camp counseling at Camp Independent Lake, building costumes for Kenyon Dance Concerts and attending fringe plays in London pubs.
  
  
• Andrew Vaught is a native of Covington, Louisiana. He recently graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio where he majored in Drama and History. His most recent roles include Johnny in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune and the Duke in Measure for Measure. He has written a one act called George Wallace in Hell, and is looking forward to writing more.
  
  
• Meghan Walsh is a graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia where she received a BA in Theater, a minor in Art Administration, and the award for "Outstanding Achievement in the Major." While at George Mason, she served as the GMU Players Publicist for two years and was highly involved in their productions, acting in several plays and directing Betty's Summer Vacation by Christopher Durang. She spent the summer of 2004 as an intern at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, working with the American College Theater Festival and Youth and Family Programs. Meghan was also a 2004 finalist in the DC Improv's "DC's Funniest College" stand-up comedy competition.
  
  

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