Anything Goes Biographies (Principal Cast)
Ellie Cooper as Reno
Ellie studied at The Edinburgh Acting School where she found her love for musical theatre and performed in everything from dance reviews to pantos and big musicals. Some key performances from her school days include The Sound of Music (Maria), Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown), Bugsy Malone (Blousey Brown) and You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown (Snoopy). After a break from performing for several years (her ‘wilderness years’!) she joined Edinburgh Music Theatre in 2002. Credits include Oklahoma! (understudy Ado Annie), Godspell (ensemble) and Copacabana (Gladys). In 2006 Ellie moved to Oban and joined the company for their production of Oklahoma! (ensemble). Other credits include Hansel & Gretel (Heidi), Robin Hood: Babes in the Wood (Maid Marion) and The Producers (Usherette & ensemble). Ellie is thrilled to be playing Reno in this production of Anything Goes.
DAVID JOHNSTON as Billy
David’s first performance on stage was at primary school in Oliver. He went on to enjoy parts in many musicals throughout high school including Grease is the Word (T-Bird), Aladdin (Aladdin) Cinderella (Ugly Sister) and The Wizard of Oz where he relished the role of a munchkin! After a long absence he returned to the stage when the Appin Theatre Group asked him to be part of a local play All For Mairi’s Wedding, giving him a taste for the limelight again.
David joined Spotlight for this production of Anything Goes unassumingly auditioning for a chorus part and landed his biggest role to date as Billy.
AIMIE MacDONALD as Hope
Aimie has always been interested in all things musical theatre from performing in school plays to belting out show tunes in the car with her parents. She has been considering going to college to study musical theatre since she left high school. Aimie was trained as a classical singer from a young age but enjoys belting out Elphaba songs as much as singing Christine arias. Aimie’s first musical role was Scaramouche in We Will Rock You. She enjoyed playing the loud-mouthed cockney just as much as she did playing the prim-and-proper Princess Aurora in Spotlight’s Sleeping Beauty in 2013.
Aimie is very excited to be portraying her version of Hope Harcourt in this production of Anything Goes.
MICHAEL WALL as Lord Evelyn
Joining Spotlight was one of the first things Michael did after moving to Oban in 2006. The year before he’d met someone called Kevin who recommended a group he was in, so he figured the one looking for men to be in Oklahoma! must be the same one. Well, turns out it wasn’t but it also turned out to be a lucky case of mistaken identity. After Oklahoma!, Michael went on to play the intrepid hillwalking boy scout Martin in Hansel and Gretel (2007) followed by roles in Crazy For You and Robin Hood (both 2009). In 2011 he played Benny Southstreet seeking salvation in Guys and Dolls before sharing dame duties with Roddy MacEachen as one of Cinderella’s nasty step-sisters in the same year. Before tonight’s performance his last role for Spotlight was as Franz Liebkind, the deranged scriptwriter, in The Producers (2013) who provides the unusual Broadway hit. After lending a hand backstage for Sleeping Beauty, Michael is delighted to be back on stage playing a character for whom – like many on board the S.S. American – it certainly seems that Anything Goes. What ho!
STEPHEN DAY as Moonface Martin
Stephen started on the stage when he was 12 in local drama festivals in Argyll. His first appearance in a musical was as Rusty Charlie in Guys and Dolls in Fort William. He would return to that show 17 years later but this time to direct it for Spotlight. In between times he assisted in producing , directing and touring with youth theatre groups and has acted in, and directed pantomimes for Spotlight. He has appeared in The King and I (Lun Tha), Kiss Me Kate (Gangster Number 1), The Sound of Music (Franz), High Society, Oklahoma! (Curly), and The Producers to name but a few. He has had some formal training in lighting and sound and has always swapped between stage, backstage, technical and production feeling it allows a better all-round understanding of all things theatre. A fleeting film appearance (you could see his red hair vanish round a corner) in a David Stoddart Short marks his only big screen outing – although he has ambitions one day to shoot and direct his own film one day… when he has time.
KATHLEEN MacGREGOR as Erma
Kate’s interest in musical theatre was kindled at school in Dollar where she played Graziella in West Side Story and Widow Corney in Oliver. After leaving school she studied medicine at Glasgow University which meant her stage interests had to be put on hold. After a number of years of study and work, Kate left Glasgow with her family and made the move to Argyll. Spotting a poster in the local butcher’s shop advertising auditions for Spotlight’s 2005 pantomime,
Goldilocks and the Three Bears, was the start of her theatrical life in Argyll. Since then Kate has performed in many productions with the group and alongside much chorus-work, she is delighted to have played the pantomime fairy in Hansel and Gretel (2007) and Sarah Brown in Guys & Dolls (2011). Kate has also worked with the Benderloch Drama Group playing Lady Cynthia in their production of the short stage play The Real Inspector Hound. She is enjoying immensely her latest stage role as Erma, a gangster’s moll, and her first comedy character part.
RODERICK MacEACHEN as Elisha Whitney
We have seen Roddy perform with Spotlight in a variety of roles, all of which he performs with enthusiasm and relish. His latest role as Eli Whitney, an aging New York stock broker with a penchant for strong liquor, provides him with yet another opportunity to enhance his already extensive repertoire of character parts.
The role of Eli Whitney is a slightly more demanding one due to the fact that he spends most of his time under the influence of alcohol ! this should give Roddy something to get his teeth into and give him a great excuse to do some character research! Couple this with Eli trying to win the affections of the widow Evangeline Harcourt and you have a recipe for fun and laughs.
ANN BUCHANAN as Mrs Harcourt
Ann joined the Spotlight Musical Theatre Company in 2008 as a set artist and stage-hand. She graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 1984 with BA Hons in Graphic Design and has produced artwork for several local organisations in the Oban area as well as for the shows. Nothing gives Ann more pleasure than using her experience in painting and design to render a realistic drawing out of a simple piece of plywood, to give maximum effect on-stage. As well as painting scenery and props,
Ann has recently ventured into the limelight in an acting capacity and is keen to learn. As a novice, she is grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an experienced and talented group and is really enjoying developing her eccentric character of Mrs Harcourt in this production.
