Ernestine Phillips, Wayne Stribling Jr, & Gerald Rivers →

Ernestine Phillips, Wayne Stribling, Jr, & Gerald Rivers, Actors/ Resident Members of Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum drop by the studio to invite you all to the 450th Birthday Celebration of an All-Shakespeare Season for 2014. 
Earnestine and Wayne appear in this summer's production of "All's Well that Ends Well" as the Countess of Rousillon and the King of France, respectively. and Gerald plays the Earl of Kent in "Lear." Theatricum is a repertory company, so all the productions are up and running at once, and it's possible to see all the shows in a single weekend. 
About Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum
The beginnings stretch back to the early 1950s when Will Geer, one of the many actors victimized by the McCarthy Era Blacklisting, opened up a theater for blacklisted actors and folk singers on his property in Topanga. 
The gardens were a place of refuge for Geer. Here he could indulge his passions for horticulture and acting. With wife Herta Ware and their children, Geer, unable to find work in Hollywood, made money selling vegetables and flowers. On the dirt stage next to Topanga Creek surrounded by ancient oaks and sycamores, the family presented Shakespeare and played music with good friends such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and John Randolph. The audience sat on hay bales and the performances were free. This magical combination of nature and art formed a nurturing, creative oasis for many actors and artists and an invigorating natural setting for audiences. Then, in 1962, Otto Preminger cast Geer in the film Advise and Consent. His acting career was rekindled and eventually he was cast as the feisty but loveable Grandpa on the long-running television series The Waltons (1971-78) – the role for which he is best remembered. In 1973, Geer re-gathered his family, who were now working actors at theaters across the country, and together they formed a nonprofit corporation. The theater, which was then a performance space on the property where the Shakespeare Garden now exists, housed workshop performances of Shakespeare; folk plays; memorials for actors such as Robert Ryan; concerts by Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Della Reese and Burl Ives among others; and "hootenannies" given by and for the artists who were by now considered part of the family. Upon the death of Mr. Geer in 1978, the family and a small band of players decided to work towards becoming a family. 
About Wayne
With 14 years of acting, over 25 plays and over 200 improv performances, I finally get to play the King in All's Wells that ends well. I've performed in Northern and Southern California. As a native Californian it's great to be able to perform in your home state and not have to move across the country to pursue your dream. I love Theater more than film or TV, but will gladly take a series regular role on TV. Over the years I have crafted 12 different characters for my improv performance including Bill Cosby, Mike Tyson, Christopher Walken and Chewbacca from Star Wars. 
About Earnestine 
A native of Dallas, Texas, she earned her BA in Drama at the University of Houston where she was accepted into the Alpha Psi Omega Dramatic Fraternity, whose membership includes Elizabeth Taylor and Sidney Poitier. Since moving to California she has made numerous television appearances, including guest roles on Southland, Desperate Housewives, Glee, Bones, ER and The Shield.
her home is Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum, where she is a longtime member of the theater's repertory company and has appeared in roles varied and colorful, male and female, young and old. Past productions include Cymbeline, As You Like It (for which she won the NAACP Theatre Award 2009), The Tempest (for which she won the NAACP Theatre Award 2008), Omnium Gatherum, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, The Winter's Tale, King Lear, Lysistrata, The Skin Of Our Teeth, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Animal Farm, Medea, Harold and Maude, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Miracle Worker, Macbeth, Richard III, The Robber Bridegroom, The Crucible, Lettice and Lovage, Saint Joan, Educated Women, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Carry It On, Richard III, Rose Cottages, Measure for Measure, The Royal Family and All'sWell That Ends Well.
About Gerald
Gerald C. Rivers is a multi-talented Actor, Voiceover Artist, Teacher, Master African Drummer and Inspirational Speaker. He studied Theatre Arts at Los Angeles City College and then went on to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. A classically trained Shakesperian Actor, Gerald is a company member at "The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum" in Topanga.
Gerald is also a Voiceover Artist for well known video games such as "World of Warcraft", "Final Fantasy", "Street Fighter" and "Mortal Kombat". He can also be heard as the voice of the "Tobacco Free Florida" campaign and as M. Bison in the Disney Academy Award Nominated 3D Animated Film "Wreck-It Ralph." For kids Gerald is also the voice of Jaguar in "Pacha Mamas Pajamas," an environmental animated program for kids and he is Murphy the math guy on the new educational website ABCMouse.
It is important to Gerald to give back and to encourage young people. He teaches acting classes and Traditional African Djembe Drumming to students of all ages, assisting them to perform and play in drum circles.
Growing up in Compton, Gerald's own personal story is one of overcoming huge obstacles and he is often asked to share his inspiring story with various audiences.
"William Shakespeare, more than any other writer, chronicles every one of our emotions: love, jealousy, rage, romance, despair, joy, tenderness and humor," we understand our world – and ourselves – better because of him,"says Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer.
For Play Dates & Ticket Information: theatricum.com