Newnan-coweta magazine readers choose area’s best actors

Written by JOAN DOGGRELL  |  Photos courtesy of NEWNAN THEATRE COMPANY

Readers of Newnan-Coweta Magazine and The Newnan Times-Herald recently voted for their favorite local actors in the magazine’s sixth Best of Coweta Readers’ Choice Awards. Not only are these top vote-getters exceptional actors; they are delightful people. While theater is a beloved hobby for two of these winners, who also have full time jobs, acting and the arts are central to the lives of the other two. We extend congratulations to all.

Allison Yost: First Place

Allison Yost got her acting start in East Coweta High School and the Superintendent’s Theater Arts Resource (S.T.A.R.) program, held each year at the Donald Nixon Centre for the Performing Arts with Coweta County School System students involved in classes that culminate with a big production. Yost played leading roles that included Sandy in “Grease,” Wendy in “Peter Pan” and Catherine in “Pippin.”

In college, her focus was on her studies, and Yost didn’t return to theater until after graduation. All her subsequent acting experience has been with Newnan Theatre Company (NTC). Two of her major roles there were as Maria in “Dracula” and Janet in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Her favorite part of all time, says Yost, was as a character she calls Homeless Man Number Two in “Annie,” a part she played twice.

With the ability to play comedic parts as well, she has portrayed Felicity for the past 10 years in “Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s ‘A Christmas Carol.’”

Acting is an avocation for Yost, who is a nurse practitioner as well as the mother of twin boys. She credits her acting success to the support of her husband and her mother, who takes care of her 2-year-olds while she works and rehearses at NTC.

“I was shocked to learn that I had won first place,” Yost said of her Best of Coweta award. “Newnan Theatre Company has so many talented performers.”

Joe Arnotti: Second Place

Joe Arnotti credits the Magnet School for the Performing Arts in Cobb County for jump starting his professional career. The training he received there in singing, dancing and acting led to many performance experiences while he was still in high school, such as singing backup for Clay Aiken and dancing with Chita Rivera.

After graduation, he won a role in “The Sound of Music” and toured the country with the National Theatre. On returning to Atlanta, he produced shows in Marietta at the Strand, an old movie theater beautifully refurbished by Coca-Cola. This led him to theme park entertaining at Six Flags Over Georgia, Georgia Aquarium and Stone Mountain Park, where he was immersed in all aspects of theater production, including singing, dancing and writing shows.

Next, Arnotti worked in Atlanta’s professional theaters, performing in “Mamma Mia,” “Aida,” “Pippin” and “The Wizard of Oz.” He toured the country performing in Irving Berlin’s “Holiday Inn,” a show featuring tap dancing, his favorite dance style.

Arnotti moved to Newnan in 2020 and discovered Newnan Theatre Company, where he has enjoyed a variety of roles. The latest was in “The Wedding Singer.” His most recent endeavor has been with fellow actor Emily Kimbell to produce the Amethyst Tour, a variety show and fundraiser for NTC.

Arnotti loves Newnan and has become deeply involved with the arts community here. He is chair of the Newnan Cultural Arts Commission, which produces Jazz in the Park and has brought several cultural events to the Wadsworth Center. The Commission recently joined with Newnan Carnegie Library Foundation to bring Sean Dietrich to Newnan, and Arnotti had the pleasure of introducing the humorist to the audience at Wadsworth.

“Newnan wants art,” says Arnotti, who’s proud of his efforts in broadening local cultural opportunities.

Maria Aparis: Tied for Third Place

Maria Aparis has been captivated by theater since she was 4 years old and won her first role when she was 7 in a play called “Son of the Unicorn.”

She booked her first commercial at age 12, which put her on the road to many professional opportunities in the Los Angeles area.

When she was older, Aparis moved to New York to study under the legendary Wynn Handman. According to his obituary, Handman was “one of this city’s most revered acting teachers for over 65 years.”

In New York, Aparis performed in serious plays. She studied playwrights and their styles and studied character development in depth. Then she moved back to Los Angeles where she started a business called Spa on Location. For 14 years, she drove a specially fitted recreational vehicle to sets and locations, providing the cast with massages, hair styling, makeup, manicures and pedicures.

After COVID-19, she and her husband moved to this area and Maria discovered Newnan Theatre Company, where she performed with the Improv Troupe and won roles in “Calendar Girls,” “Spamalot” and “Always a Bridesmaid.”

Now she teaches in the Newnan Theatre Company Conservatory, a full-year program for aspiring career actors that focuses on the fundamentals of character development and scene study. She also works for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), providing holistic programs for children who have survived trafficking.

She continues to audition for TV and film and has just booked a role in “Reasonable Doubt,” on Hulu, as a guest star.

“I love every minute of what I do,” says Aparis. “I will be an actor forever.”

Emily Kimbell: Tied for Third Place

Emily Kimbell sings for joy, and her singing brings joy to all privileged to hear her.

Although a classically trained soprano, Kimbell says her favorite genre is musical theater. She got her start in music and drama at Trinity Christian School, and her subsequent experience has been mainly with Newnan Theatre Company, though she has performed with The Henry Players and the Southside Theatre Guild as well.

Kimbell has played leading roles in a bevy of productions, including “Spamalot,” “The Last Five Years,” “9 to 5: The Musical,” “The Sound of Music,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Noises Off,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Addams Family,” “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” and “Cabaret.”

The show she enjoyed most, however, was “Evil Dead: The Musical.”

“The cast had so much fun every night,” says Kimbell. “We'd go home covered in fake blood. We still have cast reunions, and it has been seven years since the show.”

“The Sound of Music” was a favorite of hers as well.

“Working with the kids in the show was a fabulous experience,” she says. “Now they’ve gone on to graduate high school, joined choruses and performed in other productions. I love seeing them grow in their talent, and we always greet each other with a smile and hug.”

Kimbell’s accomplishments go beyond theater. She works as director of communications at The Heritage School, where she also teaches ninth grade English. Before that she was director of Newnan-Coweta Historical Society. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Georgia State University. NCM