Meet the Actors

Mary McHale - Sister Bernie

Mary is a Chicago south-side Irish Catholic girl raised in the Marquette Park area. Her acting credits include Aunt Rose in Tony and Tina's Wedding, Cookie Cusack in Neil Simon's Rumors, BS, Back in the Shadows Again, Dysfunctional Dixie Christmas, and Chancing at Lunacy for The Free Associates Theatre Company. She is a graduate of Second City and Players Workshop and has also studied at Victory Gardens Theater and Annoyance Theatre. She produced and performed in the successful cabaret series Songs at Seven on Sunday for Crossroads Theater in Naperville, Illinois.

Dave Nolan - Father Chuck

Dave is an American-Irish Catholic guy, born on Chicago's south side and happy to be playing an Italian priest. Among his acting credits are dozens of regional and national commercials, including Tide, Beltone, and Black & Decker. He's been seen in Chicago Hope, Ali and The Inlaws. Some of you may have seen Dave at Drivers School as an attorney for the Cook County Circuit Court.

Dave's Italian was honed as Tony Sr. in Tony & Tina's Wedding, and he hosted the Video Chicago Mob Recipes. Dave's training included improvisation under Jay Leggett and shows at the Improv Olympic. And now, Bingo with Mary McHale, what a riot. Peace.

Paul Stroili - Father Chuck

Paul Stroili was nominated for a 2006 LA Ovation Award and an LA Weekly Award for his autobiographical solo show, Straight Up with a Twist, which has enjoyed nearly 700 performances nationwide and recently completed an extended Off-Broadway run.  Past stage credits include Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Of Grapes and Nuts, Under Milkwood,  Sister Bernie’s Bingo Bash and Oedipus: A Requiem. Television credits include “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Chance of a Lifetime,” “Brother’s Keeper,” and most recently, the role of the disgruntled Mr. Tony, in the pilot “Help Us.” Playwriting credits include Cheese Lousie, My Dinner with Arlecchino and The Day the Arts Stood Still. Paul’s writing has appeared in Los Angeles Magazine, NY Blade Magazine and the Chicago Tribune. He is a founding member and the Managing Director of Los Angeles-based SeaGlass Theatre.

Susan Gaspar - Sister Cherisse

Susan hails from the Adirondack region of NY State and holds a BA in Theatre Arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz. In NYC, Susan appeared Off-Broadway at The Actors Playhouse in Lady L and at Lincoln Center in Finishing Stroke as well as in several independent films. She studied improvisation with Paul Sills and acting at The Actors Institute, and taught Improv for Actors workshops at The Actors Co-op. Susan relocated to Chicago in 1992 and has since performed with many Off-Loop theater companies including Close Call Theater, Zeitgeist Theater, Baird Hall Theater, Speaking Ring Theater Co, Corn Productions, Backstage Theater Co, Rivendell Theater Ensemble, and A Reasonable Facsimile Theatre Co. Susan was an ensemble member of The Free Associates Theater Co from 1993 to 2002 and appeared in over thirty productions, including winning an After Dark Award for Outstanding Performance in 1999.

Carolyn Schramm - Sister Cherisse

Carolyn Schramm is a native of Brooklyn, NY and received a BFA in Acting from The Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University. She was featured in the "Kidworks" and "Toucan Productions" children's theatre touring companies, and played Tina in Chicago's production of Tony 'n Tina's Wedding. Carolyn took a break from the theater to run a fitness personal training business, which brought her to live and work internationally in places such as Canyon Ranch Health Spa in Tucson, AZ, and as royal personal trainer to the Princesses of Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh. Now back in Chicago, Carolyn is thrilled to return to performing and is enjoying her role in Sister Bernie's Bingo Bash.

Colleen Elizabeth Miller - Sister Cherisse

Colleen Elizabeth Miller graduated with a B.F.A. in Acting from Northern Illinois University. She has been performing with the Bingo Bash for almost two years now and has also studied and performed improv/sketch comedy at The Second City and iO!; as well as has played various characters in shows like Justice is Served and Improv Stand-Up. Some of her professional theatre roles include Tricia in Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, Donnie Mashburn in Offsprung, Olive Madison in The Odd Couple: Female Version, Titania/Hypolita in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ms. Applerose in Scrooge Unglued and a Zombette in the musical Zombies from the Beyond. Colleen is also a company member with Rubicon Theatre Project.