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16 l MACON MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013 bits & pieces Two local actors' careers are on the fast track. Reviewers have been enthusiastic about 22-year-old Grey Henson's performance as Elder McKinley in the first national Broadway tour of "The Book of Mormon" musical. In August, "BOM" opened to sold-out crowds in Denver, the hometown of its creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, before heading to Los Angeles for a three-month run. The tour's inaugural year officially ends at The Kennedy Center Aug. 13, but, in 2013-14, the show will travel to several Southeast locations including Atlanta's Fox Theatre, although no firm dates have been announced. Winner of nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the cult favorite by "South Park" creators Stone and Parker, broke sales records at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles selling $2.5 million in tickets in one week. In Los Angeles, Henson's performance caught the eye of the producers of ABC- TV's comedy "Suburgatory," who cast him as a guest star, along with Top Chef Season 6 winner Michael Voltaggio. In the Valentine's Day episode, Henson plays a snooty maitre'd, and Voltaggio plays the chef of an upscale restaurant in suburban Chatswin. The show airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. on ABC. Henson is the son of Johnny and Paige Henson of Macon. He graduated from Stratford Academy (2008) and Carnegie Mellon University/Pittsburgh (2012). Macon actor and musician F. Michael Haynie is the newest star of one of Broadway's most acclaimed, long-running musicals, "Wicked." In late October, Haynie was cast as the character, Boq, a Munchkin whose love is torn between Oz opposites, Glinda and NessaRose. This role marks Haynie's Broadway debut, although at age 25, he is already a seasoned performer, having celebrated his first birthday in the lobby of Macon Little Theatre, and counting his first stage appearance in Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors" two months before he was born. He is the son of theater actors/teachers/ directors Sylvia Haynie (Macon's Academy of the Performing Arts and Stratford Academy) and Phil Haynie, former director at Macon Little Theatre. His maternal grandparents, Franklin and Martha Shirah of Hawkinsville, are also life-long performers, directors and theater aficionados. Haynie and his older brother J.P. grew up on Macon stages at Macon Little Theatre, Theatre Macon, Stratford Academy and Mercer University. In 2008, F. Michael graduated from the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where he studied at the Lee Strasburg Studio for actors and the CAP21 Musical Theatre Studio. Since his graduation, he has appeared in several shows at the Goodspeed Opera House, Playwrights Horizons. His off- Broadway credits include the revival of the musical, "Carrie" (where he performed on the musical's cast album), and more recently, the acclaimed "Dogfight." Haynie makes his major motion picture debut in "Not Fade Away," about a 1960s start- up band. The Paramount film is directed by David Chase, creator of HBO's "The Sopranos." Watch the trailer at youtu.be/8w_uqflpCcU Cutline: Grey Henson(far RIGHT), opening night in Los Angeles with "BOM" actors Kevin Mambo, Gavin Creel, Jared Gertner, Samantha Ware Source: Araya Diaz/Getty Images North America O N T H E F A S T T R A C K LEN BERG'S Another Macon institution has been highlighted in a locally written book. Marie J. Amerson's "Remembering Len Berg's Restaurant" features 30 recipes from the venerable downtown restaurant, "but it is more about the place and the people who kept Len Berg's Restaurant a favorite destination for good food, from peach ice cream to corn bread to salmon croquettes and more," according to press material about the book. e book is available from Mercer University Press or from the author. You can visit her websites atsandspurhill.com or mariejamerson.com. by paige henson