Staff

TONY BRAITHWAITE is a Philadelphia-area native, who returned to the East Coast after an acting stint in L.A. and he has led ACT II Playhouse as Artistic Director since 2012. Tony has worked as an actor, writer, director, or comic with every major theatre company in the region, including 1812 Productions, Arden Theatre Company, Delaware Theatre Company, Montgomery Theater, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Philadelphia Theatre Company and The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Since 2003, he has appeared in, written or directed many of the Playhouse’s most successful productions, including My Fair Lady, Art, Say Goodnight Gracie, Heeere’s Tony!, First Impressions, Look Mom, I’m Swell!, Didn’t Your Father Have This Talk With You?, Electile Dysfunction, Driving Miss Daisy, Forbidden Broadway, and multiple Neil Simon plays. Tony is a 13-time Barrymore Award nominee, a four-time emcee of the ceremony, and a three-time winner (two wins for performances at Act II – The Big Bang and The Story of My Life). Since 1995 Tony has also been the Director of Dramatics at his beloved alma mater, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School (aka the “Prep”). tonybraithwaite.com

PAT TADDEI joined Act II in 2015 as Business Manager and Development Associate. Pat’s role aligns with her love of theatre and live music, and follows an extensive career in Business Management in the fields of computerized inspection systems, powder metallurgy, and finance. In 2020, Pat was named Director of Finance and Operations at the Playhouse. A native of Montgomery County, she relocated from New Jersey back to her home state, and is delighted she can now walk to work.

MARY CARPENTER joined Act II full-time in 2021. She has been working as a performer, director, teacher, writer and producer in the Philadelphia theatre community for over twenty years with The Second City, 1812 Productions, Act II Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Arden Theatre, Wilma Theatre, and Montgomery Theatre Company, among others. Directing credits include Intimate Exchanges and Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe at 1812, On the Road Again, Oh What Fun, Didn’t Your Father Have this Talk with You, Making Spirits Bright, A Few of Our Favorite Things, and Kalamazoo at Act II Playhouse, and I’ll Have What She’s Having at CSZ Philly. She has written and produced two one woman shows: The New & Improved Stages of Grief and Dot & Me. Mary has been a performing and teaching member of ComedySportz for over twenty-five years where she also served as Artistic Director twice. She served as Assistant to the External Relations Director at 1812 Productions for five years, and taught Middle School Theatre at Abington Friends School for eight years. She holds degrees in theatre from Northwestern University and The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and has recently published Do Or Do Not: How to Improvise Like a Jedi.

NICK CARDILLO joined Act II in 2022 after working at an area non-profit organization. Nick is a graduate of Susquehanna University holding degrees in Communications and Theatre. He was previously the Publicity Coordinator for the Susquehanna University Department of Theatre and performed in several college productions. A native of Montgomery County, Nick has also appeared in productions at Montgomery Theatre, Playcrafters of Skippack, and Dutch Country Players. Nick is an avid reader, passionate film buff, and a published author.

CAROLYN DIXON joined Act II Playhouse in 2022 after four years as Lead Production Manager for Without A Cue Productions (WAC), an interactive events and immersive theatre company based in Bucks County. Carolyn comes from a long history of producing niche, custom themed entertainment. Most recently, she produced, “Masque of the Red Death” which sent audiences on an Edgar Allan Poe themed scavenger hunt through the Collingswood Grand Ballroom during an epic masquerade ball. Notably, she has worked for Cape May Museum Arts & Culture (MAC) as a historical interpreter at the Emlen Physick Estate. Pairing MAC with WAC, Carolyn was able to create new historic entertainment for the Cape May community. Carolyn is also a performer and is usually involved in some sort of murder most foul with Without A Cue. A Montgomery County native, she lives with her fiance, Michael, and their Australian Shephard, Sydney.

PAT SABATO joined ACT II in 2013 and has been an Actor’s Equity Association (AEA) Stage Management professional since 1997 working on over 60 professional productions and over a dozen world premieres. Pat has stage managed with every major theatre company in the Philadelphia area, including 1812 Productions, Arden Theatre Company, Azuka Theatre, InterAct Theatre, Lantern Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre, and the annual PlayPenn play development program. Pat also serves on the AEA Liaison Committee for the Philadelphia Region. She is married to Edmund Sabato and they are the delighted parents of Christina, Kathryn, Jessica and Daniel.

DEB WESLER joined ACT II in 2019 and has extensive experience in multiple aspects of theatre production and management including Stage Management for The Wilma Theatre, The Kennedy Center, The Philadelphia Drama Guild, The Russian Ballet Theatre, and murder mysteries produced by DMK Productions in Philadelphia; Box Office Manager at Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in York, PA, and Audience Services Manager at The Wilma Theatre. Deb has even fund-raised, made props and done faux painting! Deb’s Stage Management skills were developed at Temple University’s School of Communications and Theater. She is a Philadelphia native and now resides in Drexel Hill with her husband Ken.

ALICE DAKE joined Act II in 2021 after seven years as Production Associate/Box Office Manager at Montgomery Theater in Souderton where she also was the scenic designer and artist for all of their children’s productions for 13 years and painted sets for many of their main stage productions. She worked as a scenic artist for The Center for Performing and Fine Arts in West Chester for six seasons and provided commissioned art and set pieces for a number of productions at St. Joseph’s Prep. Alice is also a fine artist in the ninth year of her “A Drawing a Day” project. She has two adult children and resides in Chester County with her husband Paul and multiple cats.

TRACI LAW joined the Act II team in 2023. A native of Montgomery County, Traci got her start in the performing arts with a local TV series in high school and went on to work in numerous films and television series in Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore such as The Lovely Bones and Silver Linings Playbook, as well as write and produce two, short web-series. She is also an award-winning photographer with two published books. Majoring in Anthropology and English at Temple University, she joins us after having spent many years working in museums and historic sites, including the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in England.

PAUL DAKE joined Act II in 2021 and has worked in professional theater since 2006 as both an Actor and Stage Manager, mostly at Montgomery Theater in Souderton. Paul can be seen in TV commercials now and then, is also an accomplished singer/songwriter, and has self-produced several albums of original music. He enjoys spending time with his family, golfing with his musician friends, reading biographies, and is an avid runner.

ROSE MARIE KETTINGER joined ACT II in 2019 and is a career educator having spent 22 years as Assistant Principal at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia (aka the “Prep”), with additional classroom and administrative roles at Cardinal O’Hara, Lansdale Catholic and the Academy of Notre Dame. Rose has performed and assisted in school productions and been an avid supporter of students of all ages in the performing arts. She now resides in Worcester with her husband Rick, and is a proud Mimi to her granddaughters.

MICHAEL DONOVAN joined Act II in 2012.  A comedian since he was just 14, Mike inaugurated the Playhouse’s stand-up comedy shows in 2012, and has facilitated workshops and classes for Act II, including the popular Stand-up Comedy Workshop. He is a graduate of LaSalle University, with additional certifications from Villanova University and Temple University.

EDMUND SABATO joined ACT II in 2015 as a member of the Box Office and House Management team. Ed served as a police officer before entering the corporate world, and then turned to arts non-profits as Marketing Director for the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra and the Cultural Data Project. Ed has been onstage or backstage at multiple area theatres as a performer or understudy, and is also a playwright and member of the Dramatists Guild. His play Tight Race was produced in Philadelphia and Troublemakers was produced in Normal, Illinois. Ed is married to Pat Sabato, ACT II’s Resident Stage Manager.