Meet the Cast of Bill W. and Dr. Bob: Alan Gardner

Meet the Cast of Bill W. and Dr. Bob: Alan Gardner (Dr. Bob Smith)

Alan Gardner is the co-founder / co-artistic director of City Equity Theatre and has acted in or directed many productions since the company’s beginning.  Patrons might remember his acting from last summer’s The Seahorse and Superior Donuts.  Alan has been a member of Actor’s Equity and the Screen Actors Guild for over 15 years; he has an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. in Theatre from UAB. Professionally he has acted in nine feature films, 50 television commercials, and onstage off-Broadway, and regionally in Los Angeles, Denver, Atlanta and Pittsburgh.  He has also just achieved another personal goal with the formation of Ashland Films (2013), of which he is co-owner, and has sold Ashland’s first project.  For 22 years he has been the proud husband of Francie Gardner and is also extremely proud of his four sons, McNeill, Stuart, Hamilton and Walker.  He also is proud to lead the Vestavia High School Theatre Guild as director since 2007.  He thanks all of his talented castmates and crewmembers for their hard work and dedication on this production.  He dedicates his performance though to Sandra Taylor, his own high school theatre director (Berry, 1986), who clearly made an impact his life! Thanks, T.

Meet the Cast of Bill W. and Dr. Bob: Jonathan Fuller

Meet the Cast of Bill W. and Dr. Bob: Jonathan Fuller (Bill Wilson)

Jonathan is a co- founder and Co-Artistic Director of City Equity Theatre; Graduate of Alabama School of Fine Arts (1974), BFA from the Goodman School of Drama, (1978). He is currently also the Artistic Director of the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) Theatre Arts Department. In his career, Jonathan has worked in many of the country’s prestigious regional theatres such as The Guthrie, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has starred in over a dozen films such as The Pit and the Pendulum and A Day Without a Mexican. Here at City Equity he has acted in True West, Faith Healer, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, and Race.  He directed last summer’s acclaimed August: Osage County and other CET shows including: The Cripple of Inishmaan, Spring Awakening, Stage Door, Superior Donuts, and Ruined. Jonathan is proud to have returned to Birmingham to bring his ongoing theatrical experience and an Actor’s Equity presence back to his hometown and students at ASFA. Proud member of Actors’ Equity since 1979.

Bill W. and Dr. Bob: trailer

by Samuel Shem and Janet Surrey. Featuring Jonathan Fuller, Alan Gardner, and Jan D. Hunter. Directed by Sandra Taylor. Through October 6 at the Virginia Samford Theatre–buy tickets here.

2013-2014 Season

BILL W. AND DR. BOB, by Samuel Shem and Janet Surrey.

This amazing true story tells of the two men who pioneered Alcoholics Anonymous, and their two wives who founded Al-Anon. Told with refreshing candor, humor and a refreshing lack of sentimentality, this play is a fitting tribute to Bill Wilson–a man Aldous Huxley called “the greatest social architect of our century” and who Time magazine named to their “TIME List of The Most Important People of the 20^th Century.”

Sept. 27 – October 6^th, 2013 on the Main Stage of the Virginia Samford Theatre.

THE SEAFARER, by Conor McPherson.

Written by one of Ireland’s new wave of playwrights, this chilling comedy takes place on a Christmas Eve during which two brothers, their friends, and an unexpected guest play a convivial game of poker…little realizing that one in the room is playing for his very soul.

In a first time Partnership with Birmingham Festival Theatre.  December 5^th  – 22^nd, 2013 at Birmingham Festival Theatre.

A STEADY RAIN, by Keith Huff.

Originated on Broadway starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, this dark duologue tells the story of two cops, partners on the force and friends since kindergarten.  When a domestic violence call takes a turn for the worse, their friendship takes a harrowing journey into the gray areas where trust and loyalty are pitted against each other as their ethics struggle on the mean streets of Chicago.

In the Martha Moore Sykes Studio of the Virginia Samford Theatre. February 20^th – March 9^th,  2014.

And finally in another partnership with the Alabama School of Fine Arts:

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF BILLY THE KID, by Michael Ondaatje.

This rarely seen, visionary play is by Michael Ondaatje, the author of “The English Patient.”  With the rights granted us by the author himself, the revolutionary play combines truth, fiction, historical quotes, myth and hallucinatory prose poetry to tell the tale of one of the Wild West’s most famous outlaws.

In ASFA’s new Black Box Theatre May 1 – 18, 2014.