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ATI’s Lab Series returns this weekend with IT GIRL or: Evelyn and the Eternal Question at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 16 at the Carmel Clay Public Library, 425 E. Main St.
The play tells the true story of Evelyn Nesbit, a normal teenager who happened to be America’s first supermodel. Her beauty was her blessing when she rose to prominence in New York society at the turn of the 20th century. But, as her star rose, that blessing became a curse with violent ends.
Meet the cast & creative team
Paige Scott (Author)
Scott is a multi-hyphenate performance artist, actor, director, and composer. Performance credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Rock of Ages, Miss You Like Hell, Jollyship the Whizz Bang, and most recently The Minutes with American Lives Theatre.
As a musical theatre playwright, Scott’s most recent collaboration with KT Peterson, Razor Creek, will be a part of the Iowa New Plays Festival in May.
Scott is a member of the Dramatist Guild.
Olivia Wise (Evelyn Nesbit)
Wise is a 20-year-old actor, having participated in theater since only four years old, always having an intense interest in singing and acting. Wise participated in school theatre, along with personal voice lessons for over a decade.
Wise is interested in the theatrical side of art, as well as having a passion for the visual side of things. Wise is currently studying Illustration at School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Wise hopes to one day be able to create a series and to inspire others.
Judy Fitzgerald* (Flo/Mary Copley Thaw)
Fitzgerald is the Artistic Director/Co-Founder of ATI. Credits include: Radio City Music Hall with Glen Close; Madison Square Garden with Liza Minnelli & Danny Burstein (conducted by Marvin Hamlisch).
Fitzgerald has toured nationally with Debbie Reynolds and Shirley Jones. Off-Broadway productions include Swingtime Canteen with Tony Award winner, Charles Busch at the Blue Angel; Placido Domingo’s operetta VLAD at the Lamb’s Theatre; Dodsworth with John Collum, George Lee Andrews and Dee Hoty at the York Theatre and the John Houseman Theatre; Irene at the Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse; Face the Music and That’s The Ticket! with Tony Award winner George S. Irving for Musicals Tonight!
With ATI, Fitzgerald has been seen as Mama Rose in Gypsy, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Fraulein Kost in Cabaret, Marie Lombardi in Lombardi, and Mary Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life – A Live Radio Play.
A native of Indiana and long-time resident of New York City, Fitzgerald now resides in Carmel.
Cynthia Collins* (Chorus Girl)
Collins has been a proud member of Actors Equity Association since 1991. Credits include: Off-Broadway, National & International Tours, Regional, Summer Stock, Cabaret, Dinner Theatre, Cruise Lines, Film & TV.
Collins has had the pleasure of working with such artists as Ben Vereen, Sandy Duncan, Claude Aikins, Comden & Green, Cy Coleman, Avery Schrieber, Joel Grey, Cyndi Lauper, Fred Waring & his famous Pennsylvanians, Chita Rivera, Sutton Foster, Jerry Michell, Diane Rehm, Billy Stritch and Patricia Wilson.
Collins is one of the Co-Founders of Actors Theatre of Indiana. A native of New Jersey and long-time resident of New York City, Collins now resides in Carmel.
Clay Mabbitt (Stanford White)
White is thrilled to be involved with his first ATI project. Recent theatre appearances include Hedda Gabler at Theatre at the Fort and Predictor with American Lives Theatre. Other appearances on local stages include Thomas in Defiance Comedy’s North Wing, Ladahlord in James and the Giant Peach with The Children’s Museum, Rick in Building the Wall with Fonseca Theatre Company, and Apartment in Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake) with Theatre on the Square (now The District Theatre).
Callie Burk-Hartz (Director)
Burk-Hartz is a producer, director, actor, teacher, and mother.
Burk-Hartz made her way back to Indiana in 2012 after working over a decade in Los Angeles, Vancouver, and NYC on stage, on camera, and voicing video games. She currently teaches adult acting classes at the Phoenix Theatre, as well as theatre and film at University High School.
You can hear Burk-Hartz on air across the nation with iHeart Radio or see her local work with her female-centric production company in Indianapolis, Betty Rage Productions.
Ginger Stoltz (Music Director)
Stoltz is excited to musically direct this production of IT GIRL.
Stoltz has musically directed and performed with many Indianapolis-based theaters, non-profit organizations, and big bands. Recent projects include Bright Star with Purdue University, Tick, Tick, BOOM! with Phoenix Theatre, Little Shop of Horrors, Spelling Bee, and Pippin with Claude McNeal Productions, Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical, Fun Home with Footlite Musicals, and Twelfth Night with Southbank Theatre Co.
Darrin Murrell* (Stage Manager)
Murrell has worked as a professional actor, director, producer, and educator for over 35 years with theatres all across the country including extensive work in Indianapolis, Chicago and Portland, Ore.
Murrell has multiple recent credits as both actor and director at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, Human Race Theatre in Dayton, Ohio, Texas Shakespeare Festival and Actors Theatre of Indiana. He is the multi-year recipient of the Indiana Arts Commission’s Individual Theatre Artist Grant Award and served as Artistic Director of Nettle Creek Players from 2015 to 2019 and again in 2023.
Murrell has previously served as Artistic Director of Muncie Civic Theatre, American Heritage Theatre Project, LAFF Shows, The Royal Panto Players, and The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville.
Murrell served as Executive Director of The Paramount Theatre and in leadership positions at The Capitol Theatre in upstate New York, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Mt. Hood Repertory Theatre, Seaside Music Theatre, The Round Barn Theatre at Amish Acres, and Ghostlight Theatricals. In Chicago, he served as both Executive Assistant to producer Michael Leavitt and Director of Marketing & Advertising for Fox Theatricals.
Also included are Pete Scarbrough* (Harry Thaw) and Christian Condra (John Barrymore). *Indicates member of Actors Equity Association, the professional union for Actors & Stage Managers.
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The LAB Series program, in its ninth year, is designed to nurture new plays and playwrights Each play is given a reading followed by a talk-back session with the staff, cast and playwright.
The Lab Series is presented in partnership with the Carmel Clay Public Library Foundation. The public reading event is free, but seats should be reserved at this link.