An actress, director, and producer best known for playing the role of Jo Polniaczek on the beloved long-running 1980s sitcom, “The Facts of Life.” She starred in and produced the sitcom “Can’t Hurry Love” and starred with Jean Smart in the sitcom “Style & Substance.” She portrayed Inspector Jinny Exstead on the Lifetime police drama “The Division” from 2001 to 2004. She also directed two episodes. McKeon starred in numerous made-for-TV movies in the 1980s and 1990s, some including A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story, in which she portrayed the title role of Tracey Thurman, and Firefighter portraying the first female firefighter in Los Angeles County. Strange Voices, she portrayed a woman with schizophrenia. “Love, Honor and Obey”; “The Last Mafia Marriage” , mini series with Eric Roberts. She produced many of these movies through her film company, Forest Hills Entertainment. In 1999, she wrote and directed her own short film, A Wakening. The film won two film festival awards.

Gail performed the role of Mags opposite Nancy McKeon and Nia Vardalos at the Theatre at St. Clement’s this past winter, and is thrilled to be teaming up with Nancy once again at the DR2! Other acting credits include originating roles in Pen Pals (NJ Rep); Trans Scripts, Part I: The Women (59E59, Edinburgh Festival Fringe); Missa Solemnis (Shotgun Productions); Beyond Gravity (NJ Rep); and What I Heard About Iraq (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), as well as numerous tours throughout the U.S., U.K., and Europe, As a director, producer, and/or creative consultant, Gail has collaborated on 50+ theater projects globally including Not Another Deaf Story at the Group Repertory Theatre in LA, TimeSlips at HERE Arts Center in NYC, and multiple award-winning productions at the internationally acclaimed Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As an educator, Gail has taught for the Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway, Kean University, Marymount Manhattan College, NYU/Lee Strasberg Studio, American Globe Theatre, National Shakespeare Company, and Theatre for a New Audience, as well as serving as guest lecturer at Stockholm University in Sweden, Starfish Academy in West Africa, and the Jakarta International School in Indonesia – among others.

Michelle Clunie is an award-winning veteran actress, born and raised in Portland, Oregon. Michelle stepped foot on stage at seven years old, first appearing in plays, operas and ballets.

She made her stage debut in Los Angeles at 23, in A Comedy of Eros, earning her a Drama-Logue award. She went on to star in numerous television, film and theatre productions earning awards in all three mediums, including a Backstage Readers’ Choice Award for her performance in The WestCoast premiere of Neil LaBute’s The Mercy Seat. In 2012 she wrote, produced, and starred in the off-Broadway play Us earning rave reviews, as an actress as well as writer, with critics comparing her style to Aaron Sorkin and Thornton Wilder.

Michelle is most often recognized as ‘Melanie Marcus’ in the groundbreaking series QUEER AS FOLK. The Boston Globe hailed her amazing performance as, “what Queer As Folk can be at its best, honest and unashamed”. The popular series was based on the original British series, but the American remake for Showtime/Showcase, remains incredibly popular to this day, with a passionate, continually building fan-base.

Most recently Clunie wrapped shooting the powerful short film, EVERYTHING’S FINE, about PTSD after a mass shooting. Michelle also recurred on the hit MTV show TEEN WOLF; as well as MAKE IT OR BREAK IT on ABC Family. Up next, she stars in the mystery thriller, BURIED TRUTHS.

Recognized and beloved by audiences worldwide for her starring role in the Emmy Award winning ANNE OF GREEN GABLES TV movies, Megan Follows has had a stunning and varied career in television, film and theatre. Her most recent iconic role brought her back into the international spotlight, portraying “Queen Catherine de’Medici” in the CW Network/CBS Studios series REIGN, which chronicled the rise to power of Mary Queen of Scots. Follows was nominated each year for a CSA, for her layered portrayal of this fan-favorite villain.

Follows began acting at the age of nine, landing her first leading role in the series MATT AND JENNY when she was eleven, and starring in the Oscar-winning short film BOYS AND GIRLS.

Follows went on to star in such iconic films as HOCKEY NIGHT, opposite Rick Moranis; INHERIT THE WIND, opposite Kirk Douglas and Jason Robards; Stephen King’s SILVER BULLET; Gregory Nava’s A TIME OF DESTINY with William Hurt and Timothy Hutton; and UNDER THE PIANO, in which she starred with the legendary soprano, Teresa Stratas.

Follows has shown incredible range in her illustrious career, appearing in celebrated television series including: HOUSE M.D.; HEARTLAND; CSI, ER; LAW AND ORDER; LONGMIRE; OCTOBER FACTION; THE REPUBLIC OF SARAH; RABBIT HOLE; and Syfy’s genre-breaking hit series, WYNONNA EARP. The daughter of legendary Canadian theatre actors, Ted Follows and Dawn Greenhalgh, Follows first embraced her theatrical lineage in the highly acclaimed Stratford Festival production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Richard Monet, and the televised version of the live stage play, directed by Norman Campbell. She has appeared on stage in Uncle Vanya at the Geffen Playhouse, The Seagull at the Old Globe Theatre, and A Doll’s House at the Guthrie, along with Soulpepper Theatre performances of ‘Night Mother, Top Girls, The Real Thing, Fool For Love and Three Sisters, which earned her Dora Award Nominations. Other theatre credits include “Jane” in This at the Vancouver Playhouse, “Desdemona” in Othello at the NAC, her critically lauded performance in the Mirvish production of Cloud 9, and the title role in Nightwood Theatre’s The Penelopiad directed by Kelly Thorton, which won the 2012 Dora Award for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role/Ensemble. She directed the Grand Theatre’s production of The Penelopiad, starring Seanna McKenna, and Nightwood Theatre’s The Carousel, starring Allegra Fulton.

Now, Follows divides her time between directing and acting. Last spring, she returned to the stage, to rave reviews, starring in Four Minutes, Twelve Seconds at Tarragon Theatre; and was seen last fall in the Crave original comedy series MY DEAD MOM, for which she received a CSA nomination for her indelible performance.

Follows has received both Directors Guild of Canada and Canadian Screen Awards for her work as a director for television. She has directed across genres for Netflix, Lifetime, CBC, The CW, Hulu, Hallmark Channel, and Audible Originals. She is currently touring the festival circuit

BROADWAY: Angels in America (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), Racing Demon, Dance With Me. OFF-BROADWAY: Wit (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, Connecticut Critics Circle, and Obie Awards), For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday, A Walk in the Woods (Drama Desk nomination), Talking Heads (Obie Award), Nine Armenians (Drama Desk nomination), Henry V (Callaway Award). LONDON & LOS ANGELES: Ovation Awards for Wit and Red Dog Howls. FILM: Isn’t it Delicious?, R.I.P.D., Lackawanna Blues, Perfect Stranger, Kinsey, Laramie Project, Random Hearts. SELECT TELEVISION “The Affair,” “The Strain,” “The Americans,” “House of Cards,” “The Book of Daniel,” “One Life to Live”; “Madam Secretary,” “Elementary. AWARDS: 1996 OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence, 2004 Lortel Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance, 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from the League of Professional Women, and the 2018 Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement. She received the Drama League and Sidney Kingsley Awards and an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Cooper Union.

Ellen McLaughlin has worked extensively in regional, international and New York theater, both as an actor and as a playwright. Acting work includes originating the part of the Angel in Angels in America, playing the role in workshops and regional productions through its original Broadway run. Other favorite work includes Violet in August Osage County at Missouri Rep, King Lear in King Lear at Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Nancy in Seascape at ACT, San Francisco, the Homebody in Homebody/Kabul (Intiman, Seattle, WA), Pirate Jenny in A Threepenny Opera (Trinity Rep. Elliot Norton Award), Claire in Albee’s A Delicate Balance (Arena Stage, Yale Repertory Theater), Margie in Good People (George St. Theater, Seattle Rep.) Penelope, and The Year of Magical Thinking, (Playmakers’ Rep. NC.) Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, (The McCarter, Paper Mill, N.J.)Her plays have been produced Off-Broadway, regionally and internationally. She has taught playwriting at Barnard College since 1995.

Broadway: Present Laughter 2017 (Kevin Kline), Spring Awakening, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, An American Daughter, Wild Honey, Company, Doonesbury and Jake’s Women. Tony nominated for Hedda Gabler (directed by Nicholas Martin), The Elephant Man (directed by Sean Mathias) and The Constant Wife (directed by Mark Brokaw. Drama Desk nominated for Some Americans Abroad (directed by Roger Michell). Theater World Award winner for Present Laughter 1982 (starring and directed by George C Scott). s. Film/TV: Dumb

Money, The Anne Frank Gift Shop, Our Son, “Inventing Anna,” “The Dropout,” Unfaithful, Ice Storm, 127 Hours, 2 Days in NY, Liberal Arts, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Celebrity, Big Trouble in Little China, “Homeland,” “Empire Falls”,“Scandal”, “Grey’s Anatomy”. Three Tony noms, three Emmy noms, Emmy winner. Professor at USC/Brown. Brown/Yale grad.

Pauletta Pearson Washington is currently reprising her role as ‘Mama Lu’ and is in production on Season 3 of the Kerry Washington-produced legal drama “Reasonable Doubt” on Hulu. She previously appeared in the anthology film “Tell It Like a Woman,” starring opposite Jennifer Hudson in a segment directed by Taraji P. Henson. She also appeared in National Geographic’s “Genius: Aretha” as well as in Season 2 of Spike Lee’s Netflix series “She’s Gotta Have It.” 

Pauletta’s other film credits include “Steps,” executive produced by Shaquille O’Neal, “The Real MVP: The Wanda Durant Story,” directed by Nelson George, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” directed by Kenny Leon, “Beloved,” directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover, “Purlie,” directed by Rudi Goldman, and “Wilma,” starring Cicely Tyson and Denzel Washington. Pauletta was also a featured vocalist on the soundtrack for the film “Philadelphia,” starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, and a featured pianist in the soundtrack for the film “Antwone Fisher,” starring and directed by Denzel Washington. 

Pauletta is also a veteran on the stage, having worked with some of theater’s biggest names, including Jule Styne, Jerry Herman, Phyllis Newman, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Carol Hall, Tommy Tune, and Lesley Gore. She has shared the stage with Amy Grant, Michael McDonald, and Sheila E., among many others, performing on Broadway and at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center Theater, Carnegie Hall, The Billie Holiday Theater, and more. Pauletta has also appeared off-Broadway in “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” and “Desperate Writers”. She most recently appeared in Michael Griffo‘s “Pen Pals” as ‘Mags,’ opposite Kate Burton.

Sharon can be seen now as the mischievous Missy in the Paramount+ series JOE PICKETT based on the bestseller novel series starring Michael Dorman. Other recent series regular roles are on Showtime as Louise ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA opposite Kirsten Dunst and on AppleTV as an elusive librarian in HOME BEFORE DARK from writer Dana Fox and Dara Resnick. Many recurring roles include a schemer in REBEL with Katey Sagal, a serial killer in CRIMINAL MINDS, Fiona’s acerbic boss on Showtime’s SHAMELESS, Sam Elliott’s easy going love interest in THE RANCH for Netflix and a complicated mother in the critically acclaimed series QUEEN SUGAR produced by Ava Duvernay and an even MORE complicated mother- a retired barrel racer turned crime boss- on the hit Western reboot, WALKER.

From the soapy sexy Laura Van Kirk in CW’s DYNASTY to arguing before the Supreme Court in the unforgettable crossover episode of HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER and SCANDAL, whether a warm lover for Sir Patrick Stewart in BLUNT TALK or a worn out mother opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins in SOLACE, versatility is Sharon’s specialty.

She has headlined her own comedy series FIRED UP produced by Kelsey Grammar for NBC and starred in LADIES MAN starring Alfred Molina and Betty White for CBS.

Sharon originated the role of “Katharine Graham” in the one woman play THE SHOT that has played to sold out houses over the past two years. It tells the story of the first female publisher of a major American newspaper and the lesser known details of her personal life and difficult marriage. New Jersey Stage called it a “stunning theatrical experience” and a “superb performance”. Her ‘master class” performance (The Berkshire Edge) won her Best Performance at the United Solo Festival in New York in 2022. Additionally, the show won Best Production and Audience Favorite.

She continues to be recognized from her multiple Emmy nominated and SAG Award winning role of ADA Sylvia Costas in the groundbreaking NYPD BLUE and as Izzy’s tender but ditsy mother on GREY’S ANATOMY (for which she earned her fourth Emmy nod.) Her fifth Emmy nomination came in 2021 as Lead Actress in a Digital Series for THE GAZE.

Other film work includes THE LOST HUSBAND with Leslie Bibb and Josh Duhamel, OF MIND AND MUSIC with Aunjanue Ellis and the indie MIDDLE OF NOWHERE directed by Ava Duvernay.

An accomplished stage actress and 2012 Lunt-Fontane Ten Chimney’s Fellow, Sharon appeared in the West Coast premiere of A KID LIKE JAKE directed by Jennifer Chambers. Other LA theater credits include her acclaimed performance in THE MYSTERY OF LOVE AND SEX at the Mark Taper Forum, portraying twenty different women in the LOVE, NOEL cabaret at The Wallis, Noel Coward’s final play A SONG AT TWILIGHT at the Pasadena Playhouse, she created the role of ‘Maureen’ in Theresa Rebeck’s POOR BEHAVIOR at the Mark Taper Forum and portrayed Vivian Leigh inORSON’S SHADOW for which she was nominated for an Ovation Award and received the LA Drama Critics Circle Award. Sharon was part of a rotating cast in Nora and Delia Ephron’s Off-Broadway play LOVE, LOSS & WHAT I WORE, and starred opposite Cherry Jones in TONGUE OF A BIRD at the Public Theatre. Her most recent Broadway appearance was as ‘Velma Kelly’ in CHICAGO.

Sharon is a North Carolina native, claiming both Charlotte and Raleigh as her home towns. She graduated from UNC-CHapel hill in 1983 with a BA in Journalism and a 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the Arts from North Carolina Wesleyan University in 2021. She was a founding member of the North Carolina Theatre family and has appeared on many stages in the state over the decades.

She is a current member of and past Chair of the Board for the Heal the Bay https://healthebay.org/ and serves as Second Vice President at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. https://sagaftra.foundation/
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/sharonelawrence/?hl=en

Maureen is an actress, author and singer. She is best known for portraying Marcia Brady on the iconic ABC series, “The Brady Bunch,” as well as numerous other television appearances. Maureen competed on season 23 of “Dancing with the Stars,” and through her overall deal with Discovery was featured on the HGTV series “A Very Brady Renovation.” She is the New York Times best-selling author of her memoir “Here’s The Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice.” Her theatre credits include playing ‘Betty Rizzo’ in GREASE on Broadway and ‘Wendy Darling’ in the national touring production of PETER PAN.