THE CAST OF THE CHRISTMAS LETTERS

Southey Blanton (Sandy Copeland)  Southey is a recent graduate of UNC with a degree in Communication Studies.  This is his
second show with Ride Again Productions in the last year.  He is currently living in Chapel Hill and after signing with Artists
Resource Agency is doing his best to act whenever possible.  He is extremely excited to be working with such a wonderful cast of
new and old friends.  He would also especially like to thank his new fiancée Nicole Mckinney for being there for him through it all.

Gigi DeLizza (Birdie Pickett)  Gigi was last seen in the Party Girl production of Abigail’s Party at Common Ground Theatre.  Other
credits include Three Sister’s (On Ice) (Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern), Proof (Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy Theatre),
The Man Who (Manbites Dog Theatre).  She will be seen in the following productions in the coming year:  The Bitter Tears of Petra
Von Kant, A Streetcar Named Desire, and My Lovely Suicides (Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern).  Gigi graduated from Carnegie
Mellon University (BFA).

Cristina Garcia (Mrs. Pickett/Adelaide/Claire Copeland/Dovie Birmingham)  After graduating from Carolina in 2005, Cristina spent
four months abroad, studying  Shakespeare with BADA in Oxford, and working in London with dear friends.  Participating in  UNC’s
London Internship Program two years earlier made imagining this experience possible.  A Tarheel Tale Teller, Cristina has
appeared in various Lab! Theater, Communication Studies, and Wordshed Productions such as The Illusion, The Truth About
Forever, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and Water Rites.  She is thrilled to be back in North Carolina and on stage.  She thanks the cast
and crew, and her family and friends for their patience, love, understanding, and support.  Sugarplums and cheers!

Eric Kallin (Bill Pickett, Andrew Bird Copeland)  Eric is very excited about his first opportunity to work with everyone at Ride Again
Productions!  Born and bred in Buffalo, NY, Eric is nearing the end of his graduate work at UNC in the Curriculum in Genetics and
Molecular Biology, where he is investigating the role of histone modifications on epigenetic memory in the laboratory of Dr. Yi
Zhang.  Favorite previous performances include Sweeney Todd (Sweeney), The Last Five Years (Jaime), and Assassins (Zangara),
all with UNC Chapel Hill Pauper Players.  He would like to thank his wonderful roommates for their constant source of
entertainment and you for staying awake while reading this bio in its entirety!

Allan Maule (Slone Pickett/Joe Pickett/Prof. Rutledge/Peter Waterford)  Allan is a Master of Performance.  He recently acquired this
title from UNC-CH's Communication Studies department in exchange for a thesis, thirty-something credit hours, and a lot of lost
sleep. Since then, he has used his degree to write dialogue for computer games and tell awkward jokes (often at the same time).
Allan is greatly enthused to return to Swain with The Christmas Letters, and he encourages his fans to come see him in the
Burning Coal production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in March.

Andrea Powell (Mary Pickett Copeland)  Film:  Runaway Jury; Songcatcher (Outstanding Ensemble Performance, Sundance Film
Festival); The Legend of Bagger Vance; Empire Records; Super Mario Brothers (her film debut!); Asylum (upcoming); and the
critically acclaimed independent films Shooting Livien, Harmonic Distortion, and The Limbo Room (Breakthrough Performance
Award, NYC’s 2006 Visionfest Film Festival).  TV:  starred in A Touch of Fate (opposite Teri Hatcher) and 3: The Dale Earnhardt
Story; co-starred in Thief (FX); recurring on Surface (NBC); guest star on American Gothic, Dawson’s Creek and Matlock, among
others.  Theatre:  Off-Broadway (Strictly Personal), international (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), and everything in between (more than
100 credits overall, including several musicals).  Tune in to NBC on December 11 at 9 PM, when Andrea will appear as vainly
ambitious TV reporter Julie Kadlubowski-Sanchez in The Year Without A Santa Claus.         

Katherine Rogers Simonsen (Melanie Copeland)  Katherine is happy to be working with Paul and Andrea in another Lee Smith
adaptation.  Having acting professionally since childhood, she has performed in Russia, France, and Germany.  She has also
toured the United States in North Carolina Theater’s productions of The Diary of Anne Frank as Anne and Good Ol’ Girls, in which
she originated the role of Katherine.  Favorite roles include Prudie in Pump Boys and Dinettes and Denise in Smoke on the
Mountain.  She currently works as a teacher at the Chapel Hill Cooperative Preschool.  She also sings in several bands, including
Jackie O. Pillbox.