JOAN FREED (Performer, Playwright, Co-Producer) is a Portland area actress who has appeared in a variety of local productions, including Brigadoon, Irene, The Boyfriend, Oliver!, Follies, Kiss Me Kate (Lakewood Theatre Company); Funny Girl, Camelot, Of Thee I Sing, Gigi (Musical Theatre Company); Little Shop of Horrors, Bye Bye Birdie, Snow White, Dames at Sea (Broadway Rose Theatre Company); The Pirate Show (Really BIG Dance Company); 1941 Christmas From Home (Tapestry Theatre); and Anne of Green Gables (Oregon Children's Theatre.)

Most recently, Joan appeared as the Iowa Housewife in the smash hit Menopause the Musical, which ran for nearly one year and 300 performances at the Winningstad Theatre, the longest running show ever at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.

Joan's one-woman shows include Chocolate Confessions, Make Mine Mocha, Crossword Puzzle, and So - You Wanna Be in Showbiz?  In her former life, Joan was an actuary and co-manager of Retirement Plan Services for Sedgwick James.  She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Occidental College and holds an MA in Mathematics from UCLA where she was a Graduate Regents Intern Scholar.  Joan is a proud member of Actors Equity.

BRUCE FREED (Co-Producer, Business Manager) wears more hats than you'll see in the show.  For Chocolate Confessions, he has served as director, contributing writer, technical supervisor, house manager, box office manager, stage manager, and of course, co-producer.  Bruce and Joan met on their first day of Calculus class in college.  Bruce is also a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Occidental, earned his MA in Mathematics at UCLA, and is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.  He co-managed the actuarial consulting practice at Sedgwick James for twenty years before leaving to pursue interests in writing, investing, and producing.

Bruce and Joan say the co-productions of which they are most proud are their children: Marie, Adam, and Noah.

MARIE FREED (Film Editor, Technical Support) is a graduate of Pacific University with a degree in Creative Writing. Her non-linear thinking provides material for some of the quirkiest humor in this show. As creator and director of Purple Evening Media, she has assembled short films that have earned many accolades, particularly among her fellow Colbert Report aficionados. She has performed the film editing for the demo video of our show and has assisted in the ongoing maintenance of the Chocolate Confessions website.

RICHARD BOWER (Musical Supervision) University of Portland, Bel Canto Northwest, faculty; Portland Opera, Music Staff; Musical Theatre Company, Musical Director, Drammy for Funny Girl; Guest Music Director, Choral Arts Ensemble and Broadway Rose; OBT, arranger, ballet for Richard Rodgers’ Centennial, pianist for Christopher Stowell’s Eyes On You. Lived NYC twenty years; Music Director, NY Light Opera; coach to Tony winners, Metropolitan and NY City Opera singers; performed frequently with noted cabaret artist Martha Schlamme and legendary folk singer Ronnie Gilbert; recitals in North America, Europe and the Far East; Kurt Weill Cabaret, pianist, major North/South American cities.

MARK LAPIERRE (Lighting Designer) has been designing lights for dance and theatre for the last six years.  He has designed works for Bodyvox, Oregon Children's Theatre, Live Onstage, Reed Dance Program, Portland Taiko, and others.  Mark is also a composer who writes for theatre (Miracle Theatre, Lakewood, Classic Greek Theatre, OCT, etc) as well as musical theatre (Playwright/composer-in-residence for Stumptown Stages).  Check out his work at www.marklapierre.com.

DOUGLAS MITCHELL (Set Designer) has been working in theater for over 10 years with companies such as Portland Center Stage, Profile Theater, and Oregon Children’s Theater. He studied theater arts at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, and then worked three years at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He is current the Associate Artistic Director of The Tragedies, located in NE Portland at the Village Ballroom. He would like to thank the Freeds for this set designing opportunity.

DUANE RODAKOWSKI (Sound Designer) started his love of all things sound when he was 6 years old, listening to his mother’s collection of 50’s music on 45 rpm records. This led to a life as a frustrated musician, spending many years mixing live bands in bars and regional venues, eventually moving onto corporate events and fashion shows. The last 10 years have been spent at Portland Center for the Performing Arts engineering theatrical productions.

KAREN WILKINSON (Stage Manager) Karen returns to the World Trade Center after last winter's production of Can't Say I Do, by Kevin Yell and Peter Alexander, for the new Key Productions. She recently stage managed Hamlet for Quintessence: Language and Imagination Theatre. After working at the Hillsdale Branch Library for two years, Karen has become a chocolate snob and usually won't eat anything less than 70% cacao.

BRAD JOHNSON (Technical Supervisor) Brad is pleased to be working again with Joan after our lengthy stint together with Menopause the Musical. New to Portland, Brad has also worked with Portland Center Stage, Triangle Theatre Productions, and a full summer concert season at Edgefield and Spirit Mountain.

VICKY CESSARO (Crew, Concessions) has served in many positions, including work within corporate communications and staff support for IT management. She brings her people skills and background in working with industry vendors to our concession operations. She and her husband have been married for 30 years, and she is the proud mother of two daughters and grandmother to one grandson. She also has earned the unconditional love of her two cats!

MARGARET MATIN (Group Sales Manager) latest theater project was handling group sales for Menopause the Musical. She had a ball helping all the gals set up dates for their Ladies Night Out. Through that adventure, she met the Freeds and jumped at the opportunity to work with them on Chocolate Confessions. She alerted all the “funmeisters” who bought tickets to Menopause the Musical that this is going to be another great evening that they do not want to miss. So here you are tonight reading her bio, ready to enjoy another hilarious play!