Furever Home the Musical: Cast and Creative Team

Avery Illardi is honored to be returning to the Players Theatre stage as Bravo in Furever Home the Musical. Avery’s Off-Broadway credits include Alice In Wonderland, A Christmas Carol, The Little Mermaid, Frankenstein, and Beauty and the Beast. Avery can be seen in the Kars4Kids commericial, laughing it up with the Impractical Jokers, and co-staring alongside Eric Roberts and Matt Rife in The Elevator movie. Much love to Mother, Father, Rosie, Giulia and the rest of my support team who have helped me on my journey, especially Brenda, Micheal, Dustin and the entire cast and crew for their love and support. @averyilardi

Eric’s Off-Broadway credits include Frankenstein (Victor Frankenstein), Hollow (Henry and Van Ripper), Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom), Beauty and the Beast (Papa), The Little Mermaid (Fish Witch), Cinderella (Madame), Alice in Wonderland (Queen of Hearts), The Selfish Giant (Giant) and Treasure Island (Ben Gunn). Eric earned a BFA in theatre per-formance form Virginia Commonwealth University. He can also be seen around New York as his drag persona Sparkle Monster. Thanks to friends, family and Michael Capecci.

Austin Blake Sasser is currently an NYC based actor. Some credits include: Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Pass Over, Cinderella, The Hollow, Black Snow, A Midsummer Nights Dream, and Titus Andronicus! He graduated from The Atlantic Acting School’s full time conservatory and has been working in the city ever since. He would like to thank all his loved ones for helping him get the privilege of performing! He hopes you all enjoy the show! And with that being said….IIITTSS SHOWTIIIIIME!!!!

Patricia M. Lawrence (Fifi) was last seen here as Doris in “The Hollow”. Off B’way and Regional: Dowager Empress in “Anastasia”; Rita Ray in “The Picher Project”; Swing for the new Ahrens and Flaherty musical “Knoxville”; Roz in “Mike & Mindy’s Wild Weekend Jam”; serial killer Amelia Dyer in “Blood On My Mother’s Apron”; and Ensemble/Norma Understudy in “Sunset Boulevard”. TV: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “The Blacklist.” Love to hubby Jay and kiddos James and Kathryn…and a wag of the tail to my acting coach Bunny the Chiweenie! www.patriciamlawrence.com

Brenda founded Literally Alive Theatre in 1999 and Be Bold! Productions in 2009. She has written the book and lyrics for each pro-duction, including 12 with composer Michael Sgouros. Her adaptations of A Christmas Carol and original musical Tico Tales were featured in Costa Rica at Teatro Jaco. Rumor has it that she wrote, produced and directed her first show at age six when the summer proved to be too boring. Her first love has always been dance and Bell is committed to increasing the role of dance in Off-Broadway musicals. As the owner of the Showboat Theatre, she wrote and produced shows for theatre legends including Mickey Rooney, Jamie Farr, Van Johnson, Mimi Hines and Frank Gorshin. Her writing credits also include Reading Is Cool for Reading is Fundamental and Chasing Phantom, a travelogue that traced the novel of Phantom of the Opera through Paris. She would like to thank this talented cast and creative team for bringing the Dickens classic to life and The Players Theatre for providing the perfect home for her whimsy and always encouraging her to be bold! Special thanks to Michael Sgouros for his unending support and trust.Furever Home is precious to Brenda as it features the real dogs of her lifetime. The show is dedicated to the beautiful souls of all dogs but in particular to Bravo, her sweet, adopted pup whose paws graced the village, the halls of the Players Theatre and even the stage for 15 years. We miss the tapping of your little feet as you demanded your treats and feel you every day in spirit shouting – Oh joy!

Shino Frances (she/they) is a NYC-based international Theatre Maker. Raised in a Japanese-Jewish household, Shino’s performance career started in diapers when accidentally moon-ing their grandparents’ guests at the dinner table. Directing followed close after, as they enrolled their bestie from next door to act out scenes on the back porch. More recent adventures include an Outstanding Lead Actress in a Full Length Musical award from MITF; two nominations for BroadwayWorld Off-Broadway Awards – Best Original Choreography; Directing Rob Chen’s THE BLU ROOM; and most recently, Dir/Choreo of Sgouros & Bell’s CINDERELLA, this past spring. – A special thank you to all at The Players Theatre & Literally Alive!! @shinofrances

Nicholas Thomas is an actor, writer, and director from Melbourne, Australia. He works on theatre, film and T.V. and is thrilled to be part of this production.

Courtney Hansenhas been part of the Players Theatre, Literally Alive, & Be Bold! teams for over a decade. Love to Alex, the niblings, family, & friends.

Emma Ruopp (Production Manager)
NYC: Picnic; Asleep at the Wheel (Brooklyn College), The Misanthrope; A Doll’s House (BMCC), Dadabomb (Giants Are Small), I Am Not I, Colorblind’d (FringeNYC), The Gulf (Samuel French OOB). She is a Production Supervisor for Literally Alive and Be Bold! Productions at the Players Theatre.

NYC: Picnic; Asleep at the Wheel (Brooklyn College), The Misanthrope; A Doll’s House (BMCC), Dadabomb (Giants Are Small), I Am Not I, Colorblind’d (FringeNYC), The Gulf (Samuel French OOB). She is a Production Supervisor for Literally Alive and Be Bold! Productions at the Players Theatre.