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The local live theater scene is not merely surviving – it is thriving.
There are 27 professional theaters in South Florida, according to Mary Damiano, managing director of the Carbonell Awards, a prestigious theater competition that held its 42nd annual show in April.
That volume gives area residents many opportunities to see – and be seen in – award-winning theatrical productions.
Here, we shine the spotlight on four South Florida theater professionals who take part in acting, directing or performing many other "backstage" tasks that keep them intimately involved in the creation of stage magic. Although their talents are varied, these talented "show folk" have one thing in common – a deep, personal passion for the stage that keeps them determined to remain in theater for the rest of their lives.
Clive Cholerton
Director
Although he just won the Carbonell Award for Best Director, Musical, for Palm Beach Dramaworks' "Sweeney Todd," Clive Cholerton is split between two loves - the theater and his day job in finance.
The Canadian transplant left a successful TV and stage career in Toronto to make his home in Coral Springs 20 years ago. He originally came here to open a financial planning business. He succeeded, sold the business and moved to the corporate side of the industry. But he's never been able to let go of the theater.
"It is an equal passion," he says. "The mindset I bring to both is equal."
In addition to doing some acting, he has directed "Camelot," "Man of La Mancha" and "The Most Happy Fella" for Palm Beach Dramaworks. But he faced the challenge of directing Hal Prince's 1979 production of "Sweeney Todd" with trepidation.
"My initial reaction was I had nothing to bring to it that he already didn't do," he says. "I hate to re-create someone else's work, because my feeling is that I'm not going to do it as well as he did."
However, when he saw the steampunk costume and set sketches for the show, he was intrigued. He also thought that the show, about a serial killer barber, could have a message for today.
"The violence pornography that we are inundated with creates a culture that says, 'This is the way I exact revenge when I feel downhearted and feel the world isn't treating me right. I react violently.'"
For the time being, Cholerton, 52, isn't taking on new theater projects because of the demands of his corporate life. But he's far from giving up his love of the theater.
"I wish I could do a bit more of each," he says. "The corporate side right now has really taken over, but I can see, in a few years' time, that will slow down and there would be more of a balance between the two. That would be great."
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Angelina Esposito
Costume And Lighting Designer
A high school performance that went terribly wrong gave Angelina Esposito stage fright for life, but it also led her to success in costume and lighting design.
It was a lucky disaster. With just two years under her belt in professional theater, she won this year's Carbonell Award for Best Costume Design, Play or Musical, for her work on Zoetic Stage's production of "Sunday in the Park With George."
"I am a newcomer, so I was not expecting this at all. I was so happy and excited just to be nominated," says Esposito, 32. "I was so not prepared for winning. I think I still am trying to absorb it."
However, she's ready for the attention.
"I want people to know I'm here – I exist – and understand my journey so they see my background, where I'm coming from and how much I love South Florida," she says. "This place rocks!"
Esposito relocated from New York to South Florida at age 15 and began dabbling in theater at South Miami Senior High School. She was interested in singing and acting, but, eventually, costume design grabbed her full attention.
"I quickly realized I suffered from stage fright," she explains about her preference for working behind the scenes. "I'm too scared to jump on that stage."
She plans to use her new award as impetus to "get bigger and get better" at her craft, and Esposito is already working on a production of "Fun Home" at Zoetic Stage.
"I would love to stay in Florida and do theater," she says. "Sometimes it's a little hard, but I don't want to leave here because I love this community."
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Ben Krieger
Actor
Palm Beach Gardens' Ben Krieger already has a lifetime's worth of theater work under his belt – and he's just 13 years old.
It all began two years ago when he saw how much fun his sister was having at StarStruck Theatre in Stuart and decided to join her.
"I love performing, singing and acting for people who enjoy singing and acting and putting a smile on people's faces every night," he says. "I think there's something magical about that."
Ben soon found a manager in New York City who began signing him up for auditions. Trips to the Big Apple every other weekend paid off, and he was picked for roles in "Finding Neverland," "Pippin the Musical" and "The Sound of Music." All three were national tours, sending the young thespian traveling around the country.
Back home in South Florida, he has played Gavroche in "Les Miserables," a Yeshiva boy in "Fiddler on the Roof" and a floating head/flower/puppeteer in "Through the Looking Glass," all at Maltz Jupiter Theatre.
He plans to attend the A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts next year, majoring in musical theater, and hopes to attend the French Woods performing arts camp this summer in the Catskills.
Music is Ben's primary love. He plays piano, ukulele, banjo and guitar in addition to singing, and he has performed in local showcases and as a solo act.
"I'm definitely hoping to pursue singing, but I don't know if it will be in the form of theater or in the form of being a singer-songwriter," he says.
However, right now, "he's staying at home and being a regular kid," says his mother, Tracie, a music teacher.
Ben's school friends don't know quite what to make of this seasoned performer.
"The people who understand what I've been doing for the past few years are very proud of me. My family has always been with me all the way," he says. "It's very important to pursue your dreams."
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Niki Fridh
Actress
Five is Niki Fridh's lucky number. She attended her fifth Carbonell Awards ceremony this year and won Best Actress, Play, for her performance in "Grounded," a one-woman production about a nameless fighter pilot in the Air Force, presented by Thinking Cap Theatre.
"It was such an honor," says Fridh. "I was just very, very happy. It was a great night."
She also was just 5 years old when she began acting. She was cast in a community college production of "A Christmas Carol" in her native Chicago and immediately fell in love with the art.
"It has been a lifelong passion of mine," she says. "It never stopped."
Fridh graduated from Florida Atlantic University and now lives in Delray Beach. She taught theater arts for six years at Gulf Stream School until her love of acting beckoned her back to the stage.
"I never wanted to be a full-time teacher," she says. "I wanted to be an actor. I was teaching what I love, but I wasn't doing what I love."
Five years ago, she quit her job and began auditioning again, and the roles came quickly. She has performed at Zoetic Stage, Actor's Playhouse, Island City Stage, City Theatre and Broward Stage Door.
She still teaches, at the Kravis Center's De George Academy, and practices another love, photography. But, for Fridh, it always comes back to live theater.
"There is some kind of magic that happens when I'm performing on stage in relation with the audience," she says. "It can be very nerve-wracking and scary and unpredictable, but I'm a very adventurous person, so maybe that's why I love performing."
Fridh isn't resting on her laurels. She just finished starring in "The Revolutionists" at FAU's Theatre Lab and is looking for her next role.
"Theater is something I've lived with for so long, that I have loved for so long, that it is part of who I am," she says. "I can't imagine not doing this." O