Busy mother of two and local school librarian, Jenna McCoy is active in front of the curtain as well as behind-the-scenes.  Her favorite roles include Little Shop of Horrors/Audrey and The Music Man/the wife of Mayor Shinn, as well as starring in and acting as emcee alongside her husband Kyle for the Paradise People Charitable Theatre Group.  When not performing, Jenna enjoys traveling with her family and attending various youth sporting events for her kids Jack & Lilly.

Julie Hermann performs regularly as a soloist throughout McHenry County.  Her most recent performances include soprano soloist in:  Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem & Exultate Jubilate, Haydn's Creation and Schubert's Mass in G.  Julie also performs regularly at the Woodstock Opera House, most recently in H.M.S. Pinafore/Josephine, The Mikado/Yum-Yum, Cinderella/Title Role, and Brigadoon/Fiona.  Julie also performed both as a soloist and choir member in Rome, Italy for Pope John Paul II with the St. John Vianney Choir and is returning to Italy in February ’07 to sing with the St. Thomas Choir.  Julie graduated from the University of Illinois with a full tuition scholarship for Voice.  Julie resides in Crystal Lake with her husband Michael, and she can be heard singing every weekend at her parish, St. Thomas the Apostle.

 

Shannon Mayhall is a Cary resident who works for McHenry School District 15 as a Speech Therapy Assistant.  Most recently, she performed in the Black Box Theatre at McHenry County College in Man Who Came To Dinner/Lorraine.  Before that she performed at the Stage Left Cafe in Love Letters/Melissa, and year-round with Paradise People.  Also at the Cafe, Shannon performed in Picasso at the Lapin Agile/Suzanne, Countess, Admirer.  On the Woodstock Opera House stage, she performed in Diary of Anne Frank/Mrs. Frank and Chicago/Velma.  She also performed with Elgin Musical Theatre in A Little Night Music/Desiree, and at the Raue Center for the Arts in The Sound of Music/Baroness Schrader.  And, as always, Shannon would like to thank her two favorite fellas: John and George for their love and support!

 

When not portraying “a responsible grown-up” in her work as director of the McHenry County Schools Environmental Education Program, Barbara Tipton likes nothing more than hangin’ with her Blender Sisters, both on stage and off.  Since her debut in 2002 as “Madam Nellie” in Jekyll and Hyde at the Woodstock Opera House, in addition to taking credit whenever possible for Shannon’s roles, Barbara has portrayed a lengthening (and somewhat concerning) list of very odd characters of questionable virtue and sanity; among them I Hate Hamlet/Felecia Dantine (crazy psychic realtor), HMS Pinafore/Hebe (pathetically desperate-for-a-man aristocrat), Lusting After Pipino’s Wife/Lorraine Sadler (totally psycho, pseudo-lesbian, gun-waving wacko), A Christmas Story/Miss Shields (seriously repressed spinster with a yearning for “good margins”), Sweet Charity/Nickie Pignatelli (head floozie at the Fandango Ballroom), and most recently, Merriam Berriam/Dick Tracy Murder Mystery Theatre (seductive murderess and professional Black Widow.  Barbara resides in Woodstock with Husband Tom, their couple of hundred children, and a slowly dwindling menagerie of pets (“Hey, Mom…my snake is missing…and so is the hamster…”).  She is very grateful that you have decided to invest your hard-earned money in this show instead of beer, donuts or lottery tickets (you probably would have won, you know…), and thanks you for supporting her performance habit (which is a much-better fitting habit than the one she had to wear the last time she was a Sister…)

Angie Kells-Brandenburg is a proud founding member of the Blender Sisters singing group.  A lifelong McHenry resident, Angie’s theatre highlights include: Kiss Me Kate (Lois/Bianca), City of Angels (Bobbi/Gabby), The Taffetas (Kaye), Noises Off (Belinda/Flavia), The Sound of Music, The Music Man, A Chorus Line, Fiddler on the Roof (Fruma Sara) for which she won the WMTC Best Actress award and Joseph for which she won the TSP Soul Award.  You can catch Angie and some of her Blender Sisters at Dunhill’s restaurant in McHenry alongside notable jazz musicians Ken Cooper and Joey Zymonas.  Currently, Angie is devoting her time and energy in developing McHenry’s Riverview Theatre Company…a non-profit theatre arts company; coming Summer 2007!

 

After the resounding success of their debut summer show in June ’06, their fast-growing fan base clamored for more, prompting these talented gal pals to take the stage yet again for a wintry-version of their musical cabaret.  Here they all are again tonight, “BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!”

The Blender Sisters name came from our love and respect for each other as dear friends who truly believe that each and every one of us possess unique talents…so much so, that if we were all “put in a blender” we would come out as the perfect woman!  We hope you enjoy our show!