P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525
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P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525 |
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Toni Ford - Seven Seasons of Song By: Roy Riedy |
It was in HLT's hundredth play's program, La Cage aux folles, that Toni Ford's name first appeared in April, 1997, the Little Theater's twenty-third season. She was named as being a Costume Assistant for the Frank Oberhausen's dressy musical with the French name.
Since that first appearance, Toni's name has appeared in thirteen other play programs, five Zenon programs, fifteen HLT Newsletters, and forty local news articles for a total of seventy-four citations.
Toni appeared on stage in the final show of the twenty-third season, Tammie Pollard's revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as the forceful Roman wife, Domina, a role that won her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 12th Annual Zenon Ceremonies.
During the next season, the twenty-fourth, Toni was in two more shows: Sue McCollum's Godspell in October, 1997, in which she was a member of the ensemble; and Tammie Pollard's Rumors in August, 1998, for which she worked on its costumes, and once again she received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Godspell at the end-of-the-year Zenon Ceremonies.
Toni worked on four of the five shows given in the Twenty-fifth season. In November she was a Winkie and a Citizen of Oz in Melanie Boulay's immensely popular Wizard of Oz; in January she was a costume coordinator for Peter Pollard's powerful drama, The Miracle Worker; in April she sang the role of Elsa in Frank Oberhausen's reprise of The Sound of Music; and in August she designed the costumes for Jet Hansen's sidesplitting Noises Off. Again at Zenon time, Toni received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Elsa in The Sound of Music.
During the Twenty-sixth Season Toni was associated with two shows. She was a member of the Construction Team for Frank Oberhausen's revival of Annie Get Your Gun; and sang the role of Nancy in Melanie Boulay's revival of the Dickensian musical, Oliver!. Once again at the Zenon Ceremonies Toni received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her memorable role of Nancy in Oliver!
The Twenty-seventh Season saw Toni as Lady Thiang in Frank Oberhausen's reprise of Rogers and Hammerstein's wonderful The King and I. For the fifth time in a row, Toni received a Best Supporting Actress for her singing and acting in the role of Lady Thiang.
Toni appeared as one of the wives on stage and a seamstress backstage in Joe Willis' biblical epic and multi- Zenon winning Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the March production of the Twenty-eighth Season.
In the Twenty-ninth Season Toni appeared in two musicals both directed by the team of Frank Oberhausen and Kathy MacNeill. In November she sang the role of Aldonza/Dulcinea in the revival of the moving Man of La Mancha, and in March, 2003, she played Meg Brockie in Lerner and Loewe's Brigadoon. At the Eighteenth Annual Zenon Awards at the close of the Twenty-ninth Season, Toni was rewarded for her many years of stage work by receiving the Zenon for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her stellar performance as Aldonza/Dulcinea in the November revival of Man of La Mancha.
Congratulations Toni, you are an inspiration to all aspiring actors and actresses for the perseverence you have shown in following your very "Possible Dream."
