Cast
Alexandra Rovirosa plays Margot James in Masked.
Alexandra has been an obsessed fan of The Scarlet Pimpernel since she first saw the 1982 version of the film when she was sixteen. Ten years later, she has read all the books, seen most of the film adaptations, and has all the songs from the musical memorized. She is thrilled to be a part of this project and have the opportunity to play a modern version of one of her favorite literary heroines! Like Margot, she is an aspiring actress, her most recent role being Mary Bailey in Blue Springs City Theatre's production of It's a Wonderful Life: The Musical.
In her spare time, she enjoys music, lots of chocolate, spending time with friends, and discussing and quoting her favorite movies and shows ad nauseum. Her idea of a perfect world is one where she is a natural redhead instead of just one out of a bottle, where she can give and get free hugs 24/7, and where everything in the world is covered in pink glitter. The first she can't help, the second one is hard to do without coming across as crazy at best and creepy at worst, but she's working on the third one! You can connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.
Christopher Preyer plays Blake Percival in Masked.
Christopher is a native of Kansas City. Always a storyteller, Christopher struggles to create fresh, original experiences for audiences in whatever medium he finds. He got his love of acting when, as a young lad of twelve, he discovered the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. Since then he has been pursuing acting on stage and screen, gaining a Bachelor's degree in Theater from Gordon College, in Wenham Massachusetts, where he studied writing, classical and contemporary acting, directing, clowning, sword fighting, accents/dialect work, and design. He has appeared onstage with Image Theater, Mass Theater Experiment, History Alive, The 5th Wall, By th' Rood, and (locally) the Barn Players and The Dinner Detectives. He has appeared in student films and local commercials, and teaches acting at local high schools and camps across the Kansas City area.
A relative newcomer to the KC film community, Christopher is excited to be a part of this exciting production, and is looking forward to sinking his teeth into it.
Christopher is also a playwright, a screenwriter, and a writer for the podcast "Zombie Guppies" at SciFi4Me.com.
Offstage and off camera Christopher is constantly creating things; whether it is a short story, a doodle or cartoon, a poem, or a dynamic figurine out of scrap materials.
Isabella Rovirosa plays Suzanne James in Masked.
A high school student and drama queen extraordinaire, Isabella has had many varied roles in plays over the years. Masked marks her screen debut, following appearances in such productions as Ms. Scrooge, Pajama Party and It's a Wonderful Life: The Musical, etc. Isabella has been a devoted fan of The Scarlet Pimpernel since 2012 when she first saw the film starring Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour, and she is overjoyed to be a part of reinventing this classic story for a modern audience.
When she's not acting, singing or orchestrating shenanigans (a hobby at which she excels), Isabella enjoys obsessing over Doctor Who and Sherlock, dabbling in art, reading good books, dancing anywhere and everywhere, making her famous pancakes and doing flawless impressions of Miranda Sings and Martha Mahinsky. She's a little bit bonkers... but then, all the best people are.
Arthur Clifford plays Paul Reynard in Masked.
Arthur found acting later in life, but at the age of 33 started to become involved with theater because of his son's involvement at The Culture House. Luckily, he was given an opportunity to audition for The King and I and was cast as the Kralahome. Once he got on stage and found out how fun entertaining people is, he changed from a sports-only person to someone who really loves and enjoys the arts. Some of his favorite roles have been Marcellus in The Music Man, Lazar Wolf in Fiddler on the Roof and Monsieur Thenardier in Les Miserables.
Arthur is married to Kerstin who is an amazing person and not only puts up with him, but actually loves him despite the fact that mentally he's still 14. His son is pursuing a BFA in Musical Theater at UCM in Warrensburg, MO. In his free time Arthur is a Jayhawk, Royals and Chiefs fan, and last year got to knock a bucket list item off by going to the World Series. Let's hope he can do it again this year!
Jacob Funke plays Drew Ffoulkes in Masked.
Jacob first caught the acting bug when one of his middle school English teachers convinced him to audition for a community production of the musical Smoke on the Mountain. He thoroughly enjoyed his experience and continued acting into his high school and college years. His stage roles include Thomas Putnam in The Crucible, Percival Browne in The Boy Friend and the hotel manager in the wild comedy Out of Order. His favorite stage experience thus far has been playing the role of June Cline, the nervous undertaker in Pamela Parker’s Second Samuel. After a three year hiatus from the stage, Jacob decided to move back to the Midwest to pursue a career as an actor. The bug had returned! Although new to independent film, Jacob is honored to be a part of this exciting project.
Jacob graduated from Macon Stage College (now Middle Georgia State College) in 2012 with a degree in English. He enjoys rock and folk music, and he plays three instruments: guitar, mandolin, and bass (none of them particularly well, he confesses). An avid lover of film, Jacob’s favorites include classics such as The Searches, Unforgiven, Rope, and The Grand Budapest . In addition, he is borderline obsessed with shows such as House of Cards and Modern Family. “My tastes are obviously wide and varied”, he says, “I’m basically a cinephile with ADD.”
Michael Reiser plays Tony Dewhurst in Masked.
Michael Reiser considers the Scarlet Pimpernel to essentially be the Batman of the late 1700's, and is excited to see the story get merged into today's society. Michael is a recent grad of Missouri State University where he got his BFA in Acting. Michael was heavily involved with student films at MSU, co-founded the premiere improv troupe at MSU: Missouri State Improv, and participated in mainstage productions such as Our Town where he portrayed George Gibbs and Man/Daniel in Almost, Maine. He is excited to continue pursuing his acting career in Los Angeles, CA where he will be stationed at the beginning of 2016.
Michael is the second oldest in a family of 7, and has a soft spot for his puppies Lucy Lu and Molly Mae, both proud Boston Terriers. When Michael isn't on camera you can find him partaking in shenanigans with friends and cracking the worst pun you've ever heard. To get in touch and up to date with all his projects check out his website: www.michaelareiser.com
Kristian Jett plays Angelo St. Cyr in Masked.
Kristian is an actor and an adventurer at heart. He is currently working toward his BFA in Acting at Missouri State. He recently had the privilege of working with the Bread and Puppet Theater on their show, The Shatterer of Worlds. He has also been seen in MSU's productions of Runaways and Our Town. Kristian is very excited to be joining the cast of this modern adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
When not acting, Kristian can be found hiking or surrounding himself in nature. Occasionally, when the opportunity arises, he will grab a surfboard and catch some waves. Usually, he spends his time at home reading, watching Netflix with his puppy, or going on spontaneous adventures with friends.
Daniel Olson plays Timothy St. Cyr in Masked.
Daniel loves spending as much time outside as possible. Camping, hiking, fishing, and sports! Nothing better then fresh air and the sun on his skin. He also loves traveling. He has traveled the world experiencing and studying new cultures. He has lived in both Sydney, Australia and Tanzania, Africa. He's also a singer and song writer. Music is a very important part of his life and a way he feels he can express his emotions and passions. He is the third oldest of eight children and loves his family deeply. Every day he wakes he counts as a blessing and does his best to make the people around him enjoy life as much as he does!
Maggie O'Neal plays Julie Denman in Masked.
Maggie is a 2014 graduate of Newman University, Wichita, where she studied Psychology and Music as well as participated in theater for fun! Currently she’s working in sales and paying back student loans while still trying to feed her theater obsession and spend time with the people she loves. Although fairly new to The Scarlet Pimpernel world, she is nonetheless very excited to be a part of this project and looks forward to helping bring this story to life! Masked will be her first time acting on film, but she has performed in several stage productions such as: Pippin, Something’s Afoot, A Woman of No Importance, and It’s A Wonderful Life: The Musical, among others. She was also nominated for an Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship for her portrayal of Sparrow in Newman University’s 2013 production of How the Dog Runs.
Currently work and theater take up most of her time, but in the rare quiet moments Maggie is a fan of science fiction novels, watching Netflix, playing volleyball, and experimenting with new dessert recipes (although her pumpkin muffins and fudge are always crowd pleasers)! She might have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with the most adorable animals on the planet, but she just can’t help it, penguins are simply adorable!
Michelle Matherly plays Theresa Cobarrus in Masked.
Michelle Matherly is a social worker with a passion for theatre. She is relatively new to the scene, with her first production as an adult being in the December 2014 production of It’s A Wonderful Life through Blue Springs City Theatre. She was originally cast as a Townsperson, but was promoted to Mrs. Martini, an outlandish Italian immigrant. She was cast in the June 2015 City Theatre of Independence’s production of Seussical: The Musical as The Sour Kangaroo. Michelle enjoys character acting and portraying roles with memorable personalities. She’s very excited to move from the stage to in front of the camera in Masked!
Creative Team
Amy Dashwood is the Co-Creator, Head Writer and Producer for Masked.
Amy discovered The Scarlet Pimpernel in seventh grade, fell in love at first reading and never looked back. Since then, she has become an avid fan of the 1982 film version, read as many books in the series as she can get her hands on, and daydreamed of recreating the classic story for a new audience. She is thrilled to be a part of the opportunity Masked presents to do just that!
In her scattered and erratic spare time, Amy enjoys reading, sewing, cooking, organizing her book collection, listening to musical theatre 24/7, writing blog posts, eating dark chocolate and wasting far too much time on Twitter and Tumblr.
Alexandra Rovirosa is the Co-Creator and Associate Producer for Masked. Read more above.
Melody Rose is the Assistant Producer for Masked.
Melody has loved old-fashioned books and movies ever since she was almost too young to know the difference. Naturally, when she discovered The Scarlet Pimpernel several years ago, it was added to her list of favorites. Despite the above-mentioned love for all things old-fashioned, she's always been interested in filmmaking and is a bit of a computer nerd on the side. She's thrilled to work on Masked as the social media and public relations manager, as well as any other producing tasks that can be done long-distance!
An acclaimed Janeite, she writes a blog about everything remotely connected to Jane Austen, including a bunch of other 19th-century stuff. You can also find her on Twitter and Tumblr. (Getting a new follower makes her day. Not that that was a hint or anything.)
Sydney Harvey is the Director for Masked.
Sydney is a senior at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a dual major in Philosophy and Film with a minor in Classical studies. She spends her free time reading philosophy and writing creative stories and screenplays. Occasionally she likes to perform standup comedy at open mike nights in bars. She also volunteers as a stage manger at the True or False film festival every year in Columbia, Missouri. Sydney has had a passion for film all of her life. She tends to only watch independent films; she just feels that independently produced films have an immense amount of freedom that Hollywood denies today's filmmakers. Although her favorite film, Scream, is Hollywood produced, she loves the independent work of directors like Michael Haneke, Lars Von Trier, Quentin Tarantino and of course Wes Anderson. Masked is her first directing experience outside of school and she is very excited to help bring this amazing story to life.
You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Crew
Jessie Ehl is the Cinematographer for Masked.
Jessie Chipchase Ehl is an established short film Writer, Director, Producer and Cinematographer. She has a BA in Communication, Film Emphasis from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and currently works as a freelance professional business writer, primarily for Transaxtion Advisory Services. Jessie does contract videography, sound and editing for Cinematic Visions, a commercial production company in Lee's Summit, MO. She works as a videographer and sound operator for the travel TV show Just Down the Road, and has done contract work for Wright/Laird Casting, the premiere casting agency in Kansas City. Jessie is in the midst of completing her "12 Months of Movies" project launched in January 2015, through her blog www.silencestressed.wordpress.com. You can find much of Jessie's work at YouTube.com/DefineFast.
Laurie Crawford is Production Assistant I for Masked.
(Bio coming soon!)
Maggie O'Neal is Production Assistant II for Masked. Read more above.
Theresa LeFawn is the Makeup Artist for Masked.
(Bio coming soon!)