Cast

Jennifer Erlichman has 20 years experience in the theater arts as both actor and musician, and has studied performance music since age five.  She has done costuming and makeup for theater, and focuses her current business on historical costume design. Jennifer has performed with Bella Donna since 2005.
Role: Lucrezia Boccherini (courtesan)

Cynthia Howell has a degree in technical theatre, loves historic dance, and has performed at Renaissance and Dickens fairs for over 15 years. Her love of theatre started at an early age, with her debut performance as Cinderella in a local community theatre production at the age of 13. Cynthia hasn't stopped singing, dancing, acting, or playing pretty pretty princess since that time. Her love of historic costuming eventually lead to join the board of the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild, where she currently serves as Costume Academy Coordinator. Cynthia has performed with Bella Donna since 2008.
Role: Olympia Solari (courtesan)

Joseph Schmitz, a local actor and teacher, is co-founder of Special Focus, a performing arts program for special education students. He is currently working with local schools researching drama and puppetry as a method for teaching children with autism. Besides studying at ACT, Voice One, and BATS, he also studied clowning at the Scuola Dimitri in Switzerland. He divides his time among teaching improv, acting, refreshing his Italian, and reading about arcane history.
Role: Giuseppe (itinerant actor) / Alessandro (courtier)

Shawna Spiteri (Co-Director) has a bachelor's degree in theatre arts from San Francisco State University, where she studied music formally as well. She has extensive dance training in classical ballet, tap, jazz, modern, folk and ballroom dance. Shawna has performed both classical and avant garde music with local groups such as Masterworks Chorale and The Enormous Ensemble, plus she has done professional voiceover work for David Lynch's Blue Velvet and Francis Coppola's Dracula. In 1994, Shawna followed her interest in Celtic and early music into harp studies with well-known instructor and composer Diana Stork. Since then, Shawna has become a teacher of Celtic-style harp herself, helps direct the Bay Area Youth Harp Ensemble, and just finished her first CD with the harp trio Triskela. Shawna has performed with Bella Donna since 2004.
Role:  Rosetta Caravello (courtesan)

Kendra Van Cleave (Co-Director) has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history, is an award-winning master historical costumer, and has performed as an actor and dancer at a number of Renaissance and Dickens faires. She is a former President of the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild. Kendra has performed with Bella Donna since 2005.
Role:  Caterina da Venzone, “La Tempesta” (courtesan)

Linda Wenzelburger has a background in singing, ballroom dance and ballet. She was schooled in fashion design and has worked with several Bay Area theatre groups as Costume Designer. She is a former board member of the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild. Linda has performed with Bella Donna since 2005.
Role:  Chiara Vespucci (courtesan)