Shakespeare Orange County Founding Members
Thomas F. Bradac
Director Thomas F. Bradac has had a thirty year professional career in the theatre, which has been highlighted by his founding of SHAKESPEARE ORANGE COUNTY in 1992, where he has directed Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, A Midsummer Night's Dream, the award-winning King Lear (featuring Alan Mandell), and where he played Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing and Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Bradac is also known for his founding of the GROVE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL, and guiding it during a thirteen season tenure as Founding Artistic Director where he produced and/or directed 110 productions. Most notable productions at GSF include: Cyrano de Bergerac, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Dresser, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Quilters, Mrs. California, Devour the Snow, and The Merchant of Venice (with Alan Mandell). He was awarded the prestigious Hollywood DRAMALOGUE "Publisher's Award" for Exceptional Achievement in Theatre in 1991. Tom also serves on the faculty at Chapman University, and has directed Hamlet, Equus, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Diviners, Lysistrata, The Comedy of Errors, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Serpent, and Tartuffe.
Michael Nehring
Michael has received DRAMALOGUE awards for his performances in The Suicide and Marat-Sade. For SOC, he was seen last summer in Midsummer Night’s Dream. Among his numerous credits are Caliban in The Tempest, La Fleche in The Miser, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice, Biondello in Taming of the Shrew, Semyon in The Suicide and the Herald in Marat-Sade. Michael is an accomplished director, choreographer, and teacher at Chapman University. Directing credits at Chapman include: The Crucible, She Loves Me, The Creation, Pippin, Cloud Nine, The Grapes of Wrath, HAIR, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Playboy of the Western World, The Bacchae, Animal Farm, The Fantasticks, and Travelin' Medea.
Carl Reggiardo
Carl has distinguished himself as both actor and director for such Orange County theatres as The Grove Shakespeare Festival and South Coast Repertory. Audiences will remember his award-winning portrayals of Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew and Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock's Last Case, along with brilliant portrayals of Oberon, Hotspur, Brutus and Edmond in King Lear. For SOC, his Macbeth and Don John were well received award-winning performances. An accomplished director, Carl received a DRAMALOGUE award for his direction of Our Town and SOC's Much Ado About Nothing. In addition, he has directed Richard III, Twelfth Night, Don Juan in Hell, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and most recently Measure for Measure for SOC in 2005. Carl also directed Dancing at Lughnasa for Chapman University in the fall of 1997 and the SOC 2006 production of Twelfth Night.
