Our Teachers
Learn more about the professional acting teachers who facilitate our free acting classes.
Our Students
Maria Younger
Maria is proud of her three beautiful adult children for earning their education. They motivated her to attend college and pursue her Liberal Arts degree. Maria volunteered with the police department in the Family Assistance Crisis Team for three years, in the battered women section.
Charles Woodruff
Charles is a Veteran of 22 years with the U.S. Airforce Nurse Corp. He has been happily married to Joann for 32 years. He has a Master Level Social Worker degree, and he has been involved with theatre since 1986 and with Seniors in Play since the beginning. He was with Murder Mystery Theatre in San Antonio for 15 years. He loves to write poems and monologues and enjoys acting on stage when possible.
Mary Williams
Mary is originally from Virginia Beach. She has resided in San Antonio for 5 years. Mary has always enjoyed the performing arts and would perform in the school choir and dance classes. She never expected to attempt acting because of her fear of speaking in front of an audience.
Pat Whitty
Pat calls himself a Modern Elder Whisperer. He recently left his position as the Dean of the School of Business at a San Antonio university to pursue a new career as a Health and Life Transition Coach helping people in midlife and beyond write the next chapter of their life. He recently completed a week retreat at the Modern Elder Academy, which has its own unique curriculum and celebrations for transitioning into another chapter of life, so we can “grow whole, not old.”
Wanda Webbe
Wanda is retired after 37 years with AT&T. She is a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother. She is open to the changes created by Covid-19 and Zoom.
Gary Walton
Gary attended Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, majoring in Speech/Drama and minoring in English, graduating with a BS in Education. In 1972 he moved to San Antonio, and immediately found community theatres to join and began doing voice and on-camera commercial work. He joined his friends in forming a theatre company that staged several full productions.
Ida Steele
Ida has done a number of shows in San Antonio the past 20 years. Ida is from Port Arthur, where she appeared in many plays; also in Beaumont and Orange. She went back to college at the age of 50 and got her BS in theatre arts at the age of 55. She is single, has three children and seven grandchildren.
MaryLou Russell
MaryLou is the organist/pianist at Alamo Heights United Methodist Church. She is retired from San Antonio College Professor Emeritus after teaching over 40 years in the music department. She presents a piano concert every October; the latest was themed women composers. It can be seen on YouTube: MaryLou Russell Sisters Show 2020.
Chetta V. Ramirez
Chetta is originally from Brownsville, TX. She was an active member of the local community theatre starting at age 12 and learned all aspects of technical, backstage, and onstage work. At 19, she formed her own company with a friend and produced and performed in Godspell, was the leading player in Pippin, and played Anita in West Side Story. She has retired from the banking industry, and currently co-owns JCR Magic Shop with her husband.
Rosemary (Roze) Livar
Rose is a San Antonio actor who has performed at The Guadalupe and Jumpstart Theaters. After learning that Tony Plana had chosen San Antonio to launch his Seniors in Play program, Roze assisted in advocating the free acting class to all seniors in the area who are interested. She is now a proud participant in Seniors in Play.
Catherine Lee
Catherine explores poetry’s percussive jazz voice by reading solo and performing with improvising musicians “on poem.” Multimedia pieces Lee produced—radio specials, original jazz poetry, commentary, and documentary videos—are archived on Soundcloud and Vimeo. Her jazz-related poetry with audio links is featured in the July 2020 “Music” Issue 5 of Northampton Poetry Review.
Gloria Leal
Gloria is 77 years young, and has been married for 60 years, and has children, grand-children, and great-grand-children. She has lived most of her life here in Texas. She has visited 13 states but have never had the chance to visit anywhere overseas, and her family is very close
Adele Herzstein
Adele is a retired teacher and a work-from-home contractor in the field of education. Adele was looking for something to do that was both enjoyable and challenging when she discovered Seniors in Play. She has had a lifelong love of the theater as an amateur participant, audience member, and educator, so this was a perfect fit.
Esperanza Garza
Esperanza, who goes by Hope, has been in Seniors in Play for about 3 years. She has always loved acting and her greatest desire is to have a part in a Mexican novela. She is turning 65 soon and is appreciative that Tony is willing to invest his time in by having this wonderful life-changing program. He makes us feel valued and understands that we don’t stop playing just because we age.
Edward De La Rosa
Edward received his BA degree from Southwest Texas State University and did his Masters work at the Dallas Theater Center. In his more active years, Eddie has performed in films, television, radio, and on the stage. His years-long friendship with Bill Gundry has led him to become a player with the Seniors in Play ensemble.
Javier Cortinas
Javier is bilingual, fluent in both Spanish and English. He studied under Bill Gundry at The Cellar at the San Pedro Playhouse for 4 years and also at the Boerne Community Theatre, followed by Tony Plana’s Seniors in Play in its incipiency at the Wellmed Senior centers and throughout more recent changes.
Kevin M. Connolly
Kevin is a classically trained actor from San Antonio, now residing in Los Angeles. He attended Incarnate Word in San Antonio and received his MFA from UCLA. For the past 27 years he has been a professional actor and voice artist working in theater, animation, video games, audio books and TV/film.