Introducing the Cast of ECTC's "Almost, Maine"

Emerald Coast Theatre Company's "Almost, Maine" production opens next weekend at The Market Shops in Sandestin. This sweet, romantic comedy takes place on a cold winter night in the mythical town of Almost, Maine. It is comprised of nine vignettes which share the stories of its residents falling in and out of love in unexpected and entertaining ways.

Cast members include Panama City favorites Justin Mclendon and Doug Gilliland, and Santa Rosa Beach stage veterans Rachel Lewis and Laura Holloway.

Here is a look inside the lives of each of our cast members:

Introducing Justin McLendon

Justin McLendon (Actor) has been passionate about theatre since he was very young, performing in school and in the Panama City community. Justin attended New World School of the Arts in Miami, FL and received conservatory training and a Bachelor’s in the Fine Arts for Acting. While in South Florida, Justin’s professional theatre credits included: The New Ones: One Man Show Festival (Miami New Theatre), Knish Alley (Broward Stagedoor), Quetzal’s World (Miami Metro Zoo), Final Meow: Original One Man Show, Billboard (The State Theatre Project), House of Yes, Orphans (Alliance Theatre Lab). Justin also was a company actor and did multiple tours with Fantasy Theatre Factory, where he performed educational theatre and circus for children. Justin has a variety of circus skills including juggling, plate spinning, unicycling, stilt walking, and more. He has performed and taught circus with a variety of entertainment companies in Miami and also at French Woods Festival for the Performing Arts in the state of New York, and sometimes appears as a guest instructor at the Rehearsal Room in Panama City. Justin co-starred on an episode of the USA Network show Burn Notice while working in Miami, and can even be seen unicycling in the movie Dancin’ Its On, which was filmed in Panama City Beach. After returning to Panama City, Justin’s theatre credits included: Urinetown (Summerstock Productions), The Big Goodbye (Gulf Coast State College), and a company actor for the short-lived Sherlocks Murder Mystery Dinner Theater. Justin was most recently seen in ECTC’s A Midsummer Nights Dream.

Introducing Doug Gilliland

Doug Gilliland (Actor) is from Birmingham, Alabama and started his theatrical career playing Lil Abner for Shades Valley High. He knew right off he had found his passion. He went on to study theatre at The University of Alabama-Birmingham where he studied with Bob Yowell and Rick Plummer. He held a performance scholarship and toured locally with Kids on the Block, a handi-capable puppet troupe. Some of his roles for the University were Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Sal in True West, Delmount in The Miss Firecracker Contest and John the Baptist in Salome. His work at the college level got a few local theaters interested in working with him. Terrific New Theatre offered him roles in Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris as Man #1, George Spelvin in The Actor's Nightmare and Griever in Blue Window which introduced the playwright Craig Lucas to him. Carl Stewart, the creative director of TNT, is Doug's mentor and taught him a different perspective on community theater. It is always Art. A theme that resonates in Doug's work through all of his life. He then got hired to do an 11 month national tour of Charlotte's Web that culminated in a performance at New York City's Town Hall on Broadway for Birmingham Children's Theatre. The New York performance was Doug's first trip to New York and he knew he had to live there. His quest to get to New York led him to the Georgia Shakespeare Festival for 2 Seasons where he performed in Twelfth Night, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Winter's Tale. Finally getting to New York, he started directing. Some of his work was a one woman show called Womenfolks written by Brad Bailey, which was toured nationally. He directed The State of Tennessee, A Night of One Acts, at The Harold Clurman Theatre. He developed a friendship with Harold Guskin and started using some of his methods from his book “How to Stop Acting," which led to him teaching. After 17 years in NYC, it was time to return to the warmth of home, moving to Panama City Beach. Locally, he has been in Little Shop of Horrors as The Plant, Red as Rothko and The Rocky Horror Show as Frank-N-Furter at The Kaleidoscope Theater. He starred as Sweeny in Sweeny Todd at The Martin Theater. He has also directed Prelude to a Kiss, continuing his love of Craig Lucas, as well as Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, both at The Kaleidoscope. He was thrilled to have a chance to co-direct Avenue Q with his husband Jason Blanks. Doug is thrilled to have an opportunity to work with Emerald Coast Theatre Company for the first time.

Introducing Rachel Lewis

Rachel Lewis (Actor) returned to Destin after graduating from UWF in May 2015 with a BFA degree in Musical Theatre. Some favorite roles include Maureen in The Beauty Queen of Leenane (’14), Viola in Illyria (’14), and Edwin Drood in The Mystery of Edwin Drood (’15). During the summer, she enrolled in school for massage therapy and began working with ECTC. Rachel joined the creative team for the summer outdoor adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She was delighted to continue with the cast in the fall, as they began an educational theatre tour to several elementary schools in the tri-county area: an experience that tested her improvisational and character development skills more than ever. Rachel enjoyed more experience with ECTC as an assistant teacher for summer and fall theatre camp classes. To complement these exciting projects, Rachel also joined the staff at the Mattie Kelly Performing Arts Center in Niceville last August. She serves as the Production Manager and coordinates crew arrangements for local rentals and Broadway tour performances in the theatre space. She has appreciated every opportunity over the last year to further her understanding of theatre in all aspects. ECTC has been a wonderful outlet to keep her performance skills sharp while expanding on outside abilities. Rachel hopes someday to find a bridge between massage therapy and voice & bodywork for actors, between cultivating her acting career and looks forward to being a licensed massage therapist this spring.

Introducing Laura Holloway

Laura Holloway (Actor) is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles and the University of South Alabama, holding degrees in Theatre and Journalism. After spending seven years in LA working in film and television, she made her way back to one of the greatest places on earth, the Emerald Coast, where she is the owner of The Storyteller Agency, a video production and marketing company that specializes in telling great stories through marketing. She is a proud member of the ECTC board and is thrilled to be doing this show with such a talented cast. She lives on 30A with her handsome husband and four rescue dogs, and spends her time filmmaking, Vespa-riding, yoga-posing, Airstream-adventuring and beach-loving. Favorite past roles include Jeanie in Hair, Marjorie in Extremities, Becca in Rabbit Hole and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. Thank you to Nathanael for that fateful meeting at Badass Coffee two years ago, Anna for being good at (seriously) everything, my family and friends for always showing up and laughing, and Jimmy, for your constant support and sharing me with my other love: the theatre.