Meet our Cast and Crew
Malayna Aguillon has been involved with The Players Studio since she was 12 years old. Since then she has had the privilege to perform several roles, such as Meg March in Little Women, The Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol, and most recently Captain Hook in Peter Pan Saving Neverland. TPS has facilitated a love of theatre and the performance arts, as well as stronger confidence, ambition and sense of community. Acting aside, she loves animals, music, and collecting assortments of oddities. She hopes you enjoy the show and consider returning for future TPS productions!
Sherlyn Balderas has been acting since her sophomore year of high school and her last production was "Things We Don't Say." with Palabrandar Community Theater. Her favorite recent production was "Legally Blonde, the Musical" with Spotlight Theater Company. Sher is very excited because this is her acting debut with The Player's Studio and would like to thank her director Mrs.Karen for giving her the opportunity to be able to bring this character to life! Sher would also like to thank her friends and family for being her biggest supporters - I love you guys besitos!! <3
Valentina Capistran is so excited to be in her first Player’s Studio Production! She wants to thank her family and her boyfriend for always being so supportive of her and her dreams. She dreams of telling stories on stages around the world for the rest of her life. She hopes you enjoy the show!
Manny Cianciotto is very proud to get to return to his love of acting after two years of being off a stage. He began his acting journey at the 3rd grade by writing shows for him and his sisters to do for his parents and now as a college student he still loves to bring emotions out of an audience! He would like to thank his parents for supporting him through his endeavors. He would also like to extend his thanks to his cat Cheeto for being the best ball of fur he could ask for.
Elanor Culbertson is a founding member of The Player’s Studio, and is proud to star in her thirteenth show with the company (ominous). Her past roles include Viola in Twelfth Night, Cece Randolph in A Murder Most Fouled Up, and Christopher Wren in Agatha Christie’s the Mousetrap. Most recently, she starred in the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged!) at South Texas College. She would like to thank her best friend Maya Eliza Wylie, her partner Franco Ortiz, and her family for always supporting her, as well as the rest of the cast and crew for making this show so wonderful. She hopes that you enjoy this production of a Murder is Announced!
John Thomas Culbertson is very proud to be playing the role of Inspector Craddock. He has preformed on stage for several shows with The Player's Studio, including but not limited to You Can’t Take it with You, Ash Girl and Little Women. He has also performed as a member of tech crew for The Mouse Trap, Tempest and several more.
Franco Ortiz is thrilled to make his debut in The Player’s Studio’s “A Murder is Announced.” Franco is a graduate of South Texas College with an Associates of Arts degree in Drama, with previous roles from South Texas College including: King, Businessman, Lamplighter, and The Fox in “The Little Prince;” Inspector Geoffrey Lestrade in “Miss Holmes Returns;” and a catalogue of Shakespeare’s characters in “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged).” He gives many thanks to his sister Janae Maria Ortiz who introduced him to acting in high school and to Marcy Garza, his previous director at STC, for giving him many opportunities as an actor. He extends his thanks to his Director Karen Culbertson and his Stage Manager Isabella Zambrano for such an amazing opportunity working with The Player’s Studio. He is thankful for his cast and crew mates at The Player’s Studio, and his close friends, Maya Eliza McCauley, Abbie Salinas, and his partner Elanor Culbertson for another opportunity being in a theater performance together. He hopes that you will enjoy this performance as much as he did being a part of it.
Nicole Portillo is pleased to be in her second play with The Player's Studio. Her first play was ‘Twelfth Night.’ She is excited to join the stage again in Agatha Christie’s ‘A Murder is Announced’ and especially to share the stage with her friends. Nicole wishes each actor in the studio the best, on and off stage.
Abbie Salinas has been doing theatre for 13 years now, mainly working back stage in costumes. This is her first show with The Players Studio and marks her return to the stage in over 5 years. She would like to thank her parents for always supporting her and her endeavors as she peruses her dreams of being in theatre as a career.
Pedro Torres is currently a senior at UTRGV, majoring in English Literature and minoring in Film and Theater Production. He is excited to be in his first production with The Players Studio. You might have seen him in other productions, such as Uncle Fester in The Addams Family, Three Pigs in Shrek The Musical, or even in his own written and directed play, The Turtle. He plans to pursue his career in theater and film as a writer, director, or in whatever roles life has for him. He would like to thank his parents and Mrs. Karen for their support throughout this production. Enjoy the show.
Maya Elizabeth McCauley Wylie is a TPS volunteer who works specifically with the young players. He has been doing theatre with TPS ever since graduating highschool. He is very excited to be in another Community players show. He would like to thank Ms. Karen, Franco, Abbie, Christian Borle, His Nana and Grandaddy, his amazing parents and all his lovely friends in the cast. He would especially like to thank his best friend Elanor Culbertson for being the person who modivated him to do theatre in the first place, which led to finding his passion in the arts. He truly wouldn't be here without her. He hopes you enjoy the show, and have some delicious death!
Karen Culbertson is the founder and director of The Player's Studio. She has directed more than 30 plays over nine seasons with the company. Among her favorites are The Mousetrap, You Can't Take it With You, The Ash Girl, and the Alibis. Karen is also a playwright and has written ten productions including adaptations of Little Women and Peter Pan. Her play Wonderland has been performed at a high school in Illinois and in Canada. She would like to thank the cast and crew of A Murder is Announced for all their hard work and dedication to this production and is especially grateful to her children and her husband for all their support.
Isabella Zambrano is thrilled to stage manage A Murder Is Announced at The Player's Studio! She holds a BA in Theatre from Texas A&M University--Corpus Christi. She has assistant stage managed A Wrinkle in Time at the Pharr Community Theater and the dance production Step Into Joy at TAMUCC. She will be acting in Act One Production's Hamlet. She wants to thank her family, her director, and the hilarious cast and crew for their support.
Ryan Culbertson has been designing and building sets and props for The Player's Studio since its beginning nine seasons ago. He enjoys coming up with clever solutions to make theatre magic come to life. Ryan also designs most of the promotional material for the studio and has even acted in the community production of The Alibis. He is always happy to support his wife in her work and hopes that everyone enjoys tonight's show.
Aleyna Villarreal is a freshman attending UTRGV as a Theater Design Major. She has been in love with theater ever since her freshman year of high school and is so grateful for the opportunity to work with such kind and hard working people at The Player’s Studio. In her time besides school, she is also a hairstylist accepting new clients at @divinedpetals on Instagram. She is thankful for the support from her family, friends, fellow theater members and audience and hopes you enjoy the show!
Thank you for coming to our Show!
The Player's Studio
The Player’s Studio is a non-profit drama club and performing group based in North McAllen, Texas. We exist to serve the greater McAllen area with particular focus on youth and youth/community involvement through access to the performing arts and education.
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