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Thunder Bay Theatre welcomed in another new earlier company this month, the majority of which has signed on for a full year as opposed to the usual season or two.

"As with every season I'm beginning, I'm always thrilled with the challenge of new people," said TBT Artistic Director Mark Butterfuss. "This group is really exciting both with their experience and their resumes, and it's great knowing I'll have them for a year for me and the community to get to know them better."

Among those making up the company of four professional actors and one technical director is Jennifer Carter, an actress who previously spent the fall 2007 and spring 2008 seasons in Alpena.

"I'm really excited to be here through a summer," said Carter, in anticipation of warmer weather. "With the shows we're doing, I personally think it's going to be a great year."

When last at TBT, Carter performed on stage as June Oglethorpe in "Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming," Chris Gorman in "Rumors," Patsy Cline in "Always...Patsy Cline" and Anne Frank in "The Diary of Anne Frank."

A Virginia native with a bachelor of arts degree in theatre from Florida State University, Carter performed and worked with the Gamut Theatre and Showtimers Theatre, both in Roanoke, Va., and Snow Camp in North Carolina, since last at TBT.

When she learned of the 2009 season on tap for the theatre and that Butterfuss intended to assemble a company for an entire year, she knew she wanted to return to Alpena. Among the shows she is enthused about appearing in are "The Art of Murder," a comedy mystery that opens March 4; the classic drama, "A Streetcar Named Desire;" and the musical, "The Producers."

Carter isn't the only one intrigued by the chance to perform in "A Streetcar Named Desire." New company member John Mervini, a 2006 musical theatre graduate of the American Music and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan, N.Y., jumped at the chance to play the role of Stanley after noticing online that TBT planned to do the famed Tennessee Williams play. He expressed his interest online and got a call soon after from Butterfuss.

"After being offered the role of Stanley, it took me about five minutes to decide," Mervini said. "Wherever you have to go to do Stanley - it's a dream role."

Though he's a native of New Mexico, he has been based out of New York City his entire adult life, making a year spent in Alpena a big change, but one that he welcomes.

"It's a huge change of pace, but I love it. It's absolutely beautiful and it's very refreshing," said Mervini, who up until this point has kept busy acting in NYC in what he calls off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway and off-off-off-Broadway productions. He also has done film and television work.

Mervini counts "Under Milk Wood," the only play ever written by Dylan Thomas, as one his favorite past pieces to have appeared in. It was produced at the Mint Theatre in NYC.

Richmond, Va., native Matthew Akers joins the new TBT company as well. He is a 2008 theatre graduate of Lynchburg College in Virginia and most recently worked at Astors' Beechwood Mansion in Newport, R.I., where he gave living history tours and appeared in plays heavy on improvisation. Favorite productions he took part in while at Lynchburg College include "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" and "Antigone."

Ready for a change of scenery, he heard about the theatre position in Alpena from a fellow company member at Beechwood Mansion.

"I looked at the season and it really attracted me with all the different shows being done," said Akers, who is most looking forward to TBT's "The Art of Murder," "Happy Birthday," a farce, and the musical, "Brigadoon."

This marks his first time in Michigan, but Akers already likes what he sees.

"It's so nice up here," he said. "I like the snow, and it's nice to be by the lake. I'm just excited about the season. The people coming to see the shows are going to get a wide variety."

The final actress making up the new company is Mary Riley. Planning to stay at TBT just through the spring season, she is a native of Virginia Beach, Va., and holds a bachelor of music degree from East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and a graduate degree in music from Radford University in Radford, Va. She recently completed a performance stint with the Southwest Shakespeare Company in Phoenix, Ariz., and a stay in New York City.

Like some of her other new fellow company members, "A Streetcar Named Desire," turned out to be the draw that led her to Alpena.

"When I saw the part of Blanche online, I applied for that," Riley said. "I couldn't pass up 'Streetcar,'"

Once her contract at TBT is completed, she plans to return to NYC to work. In the meantime, her stay in Alpena is her second time performing in Michigan. She previously toured the state with a children's theatre company.

Rounding out the 2009 company is Dustin Shattuck of New Kent, Va., the theatre's new technical director. He has been studying technical theatre at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pa., and previously has worked as assistant technical director of Pittsburgh Musical Theatre, a children's conservatory.

Though he has only been in town a few days, Shattuck already has sized up the physical space at TBT and gotten right to work on his first set for "The Art of Murder." He considers his main strengths to be lighting design and carpentry, but is also hoping to bring more sound to the theatre.

Shattuck said the stage at TBT is a little unique, but in a good way, and that it presents interesting challenges.

"With the stage up so close to the audience, it's hard sometimes to hide a lot of things and not lose some of the magic," he said.

Like the rest of the company, Shattuck expressed enthusiasm over the 2009 season of shows.

"I think the season and the year are going to be a lot of fun," he said. "I hope we get good audiences to receive what we're doing."