Tibbits Opera House

Funny Money opens tomorrow Thursday July 26th, with a matinee and evening performance.  This farcical comedy by famed playwright Ray Cooney, known for his farces, such as Run for Your Wife and Out of Order, will be playing on the Tibbits stage for two weeks, closing on Sat. Aug. 4th.

Playing the heated cab driver, Bill, who continually gets pulled into all the mischief of the money Henry Perkins has found in a mistaken briefcase off the subway, is Doug Robbins.  Doug was born in Reno, NV but moved around quite a bit as a kid.  His parents settled during his high school days in Cortland, NY, where he then attended SUNY Cortland University, graduating with a BA in Musical Theatre and minor in Communications.

This is Doug's second summer here at Tibbits.  He was last here in the summer of '10 and spent last summer at New Bedford Festival Theatre in New Bedford, MA.  Doug said he was excited to return to Tibbits because of the wonderful people here and especially how well done the shows are at Tibbits.  Doug began in theatre during high school, when a group of his friends kept asking him to join them in shows.  He was involved in sports at the time, but after doing his first couple of shows, the sports side of his life started to fade away. 

Doug remembers being little, reenacting Disney movies in his backyard with his sister, and says he was inspired to enter theatre as a profession because theatre is still like that fun play in the backyard for him.

Since graduating, Doug has worked at Cider Mill Playhouse in Binghamton, NY and also at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH.  A dream role he hasn't gotten the chance to play yet is Frederick C. Douglass in Kiss Me Kate.  Doug advises young hopefuls to not be afraid to really go for it, you may make mistakes but "you can't learn unless you try."


Our Props Master this summer for all the mainstage shows is Stephanie Baugher.  She has done a wonderful job collecting and building props, from those feathered fans in Chicago to the 70's paraphernalia in Funny Money.  Stephanie is from West Bloomfield, MI and just graduated from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, MI.  This is Stephanie's first summer here at Tibbits.

In past summers she has held two internships, in 2010 with Princeton University Theatre in NJ and 2011 with Central City Opera in Central City, CO.  Stephanie has an Illustration Degree with a minor in Theatre, she decided prop design was her forte around her Sophomore year in college.  She began in theatre doing church productions as a kid, and then migrated to backstage work from middle school on. 

Stephanie says her biggest challenge this summer will be with Nymph Errant, because of all the different locals in which the play takes place.  She has found her assistant, local Graham- Rowe Bultnick, very helpful in facilitating the borrowing of things from locals for the shows.  She said it is nice for locals to see a familiar face when asking to borrow something for a Tibbits show. 

Stephanie's advice to aspiring prop designers is to stay organized and figure out where to find or borrow things.  You have to be very resourceful and "be able to make something out of nothing."

Come check out both of these talented people's work this week and next at Funny Money.  I dare you to leave the theatre without your sides hurting from laughter!

See you at the show!!!