A “Peachy”-Keen Cast

THE CAST:  Top row, Geoffrey Wade, Richard Doyle, Jennifer Parsons,
bottom row, Derek Manson, Wyatt Fenner and Ameila White.

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James and the Giant Peach boasts a cast of South Coast Repertory veteran actors, who have decades of experience and a commitment to their craft. Richard Doyle, who portrays the Earthworm, has been part of SCR for most of the past 50 years. Jennifer Parsons is active with SCR and is married to Doyle. And to a person, the actors love great storytelling. For this production in particular, many in the cast cite Roald Dahl’s books as a childhood favorite. Learn more about the cast for James and the Giant Peach.

Richard Doyle (Earthworm)
Doyle has been acting since his teen years and has been with South Coast Repertory for the past five decades. He has portrayed hundreds of characters in all kinds of productions, but this is the first time he has portrayed an Earthworm. He is the Ghost of Christmas Past in SCR’s annual holiday classic, A Christmas Carol. Active in television and film, his credits include “Cheers,” Air Force One, “Ben 10,” “Justice League” “Lego: Clutch Powers.” He also has given voice to characters in CD ROM games, such as “Metal Gear Solid.” He also narrates the annual Pageant of the Masters each summer in Laguna Beach. He is married to Jennifer Parsons (Miss Spider).

Wyatt Fenner (James)
Fenner loves books by Roald Dahl; in fact, he has loved storytelling (and theatre) since he was a child, growing up in Washington, D.C. He has portrayed characters from many well-known, including the Sheriff of Nottingham, Mowgli, Linus and—one of his very first and favorite parts—the back end of the cow, who was sold for some magic beans. He also has performed in plays by William Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, Joe Orton, Ben Jonson and many more, and has appeared on two detective TV series: “Bones” and “Veronica Mars.” Here at SCR, he portrayed the spoiled Bentley Summerhays in Misalliance and Elder Thomas in The Whale. Fenner studied theatre at the University of Southern California.

Derek Manson (Centipede)
Manson returns to where he donned a tiger tail and rode a skateboard in the world premiere musical, Jane of the Jungle. As a child, one of Manson’s favorite authors was Roald Dahl. Manson grew up in Georgia—which is the “Peach State”—and now resides in Hollywood. He has an active career, with stage and television appearances in New York City, Chicago and Atlanta.

Jennifer Parsons (Miss Spider)
Parsons is a veteran actor in both Theatre for Young Audiences productions and other productions at SCR. In an earlier production of James and the Giant Peach, she portrayed the Ladybug. Her other SCR productions include Anastasia Krupnik, The Borrowers, Sideways Stories, Bunnicula, James and the Giant Peach, The Only Child, Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business, The BFG and The Brand New Kid. She also portrays Mrs. Cratchit in A Christmas Carol.  In addition, she has an active career in other theatre works, movies and television. She is married to actor Richard Doyle (Earthworm).

Geoffery Wade (Old-Green-Grasshopper)
Last season, Wade portrayed Anastasia Krupnik’s Dad, who was a teacher. In James and Giant Peach, he’ll bring the Old-Green-Grasshopper to life. Through his years in theatre, he has portrayed more than 100 different characters; Wade says that this is the first time he’s portrayed a bug. His television credits include “Scrubs,” “Num3ers,” “Law & Order” and “NCIS.”

Amelia White (Ladybird)
White was born in Nottingham, England. She been a stage actress since her teen years, went to college in Nottingham and then in London to learn all the different ways to enjoy being on stage. She previously was seen at SCR in a number of productions, including  The Importance of Being Earnest, The Heiress and Misalliance.