Airness 2023 BBT Playbill

PLAYBILL

Presented by Breckenridge Backstage Theatre Since 1974 - Breckenridge, Colorado - 2023

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Letter From the Producing Artistic Director Thank you for joining us for the production of Airness! You are in for one rockin’ good time! I am beyond honored to be wrapping up my first full season here in Breckenridge, and have absolutely fallen in love with this community and all that it stands for. This is our final performance of the Summer season and we can’t thank the community enough. We have just announced our 2023-24 line-up and it all starts with the Haunting of the Breck Theater in October, so mark your calendars. It will certainly be fun for the entire family with two show times daily!

We are currently running our end of year Giving Campaign through September.

We hope if you love your experiences at the theatre, you will find a way to give back what you can in either Time, Talent or Treasure! We are adding a monthly donor incentive where you could win a free ski pass courteousy of Epic Promise if you sign up before Sept. 30! Scan the QR code to learn more or go to www.backstagetheatre.org/donate.

Now please, sit back and enjoy the show!

Sincerely, Jacqueline Stone

Written by Chelsea Marcantel Directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy Production Team Scenic Designer Additional Scenic Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer Air Guitar Consultant Stage Manager Sub Stage Manager Asst. Stage Manger Props Assistant Scenic Painters Set Construction Production Assistant Photographer

Tenzing Ortega Jazmine Aurora Medina Keith Parham & Branden Smith Jazmin Aurora Medina Keith Parham Jeffrey Levin Rachel Sinclair Adara Baltazar Megan Nations Brooke Curry Kylee Purcell Megan Nations Jim Anderson, Drew Black, Matthew Combs, Lloyd Harvey, and Branden Smith Riley Goossen Curtis DeVore

Cast and Crew Shreddy Eddy Golden Thunder Facebender Cannibal Queen The Nina D Vicious Announcer/Sprite Exec/ Hooded Figure u/s Announcer/Sprite/Figure u/s Nina & Cannibal Queen

Jeff Ararat Felix Mayes Matt Miles Ana Dragovich Kiana Holmes Philip Shinn Lloyd Harvey II Drew Black Brooke Curry

BBT’s mission is to enrich, educate and entertain Summit County residents and visitors of all ages through high quality professional theatre, community theatre, and meaningful learning through the arts.

BBT Staff

Producing Artistic Director Creative Producer Director Business Dev + PR Front of House Manager

Jacqueline Stone Branden Smith Juli Rathke Rebecca Summer

Board of Directors

Chair Vice Chair Treasurer Secretary

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Jim Anderson Suzanne Allen-Sabo Laurie Rambaud Renee Imamura Cara Cipriani Anna Dudick Amanda Jones Chuck Marcy David Nicoli Chris Schandera Juli Rathke Jacqueline Stone

Artist Biographies Jeff Ararat (Shreddy Eddy) Breckenridge Debut. Selected Stage credits: (Trinity Rep) A Christmas Carol (The Gamm) A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Lie Agreed Upon, (Department of Defense Traveling Play USO) Second Chance, (New York City Fringe Festival) Pickles, (El Paso Playhouse) Haunting Of Hill House, (Amphibian Stage) Spaceman. Selected film credits include (Netflix) The Line, (Pulse Films) Dead Reckoning starring Kj Apa, (Tribeca Film Nominated) Lost Soulz, (Showtime) Dexter: New Blood. Born and raised in Rhode Island, studied at The New York Conservatory of Dramatic Arts . A Salty Army Infantrymen Veteran who currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Felix Mayes (Golden Thunder) is grateful to the Gods of Air for bringing us all together for this incredible show. They are a Chicago-based artist, game-master, and puppeteer. Credits include: The Old Country Landy (Steppenwolf), No Blue Memories (Manual Cinema), House of the Exquisite Corpse (Rough House), Nevermind It’s Nothing (Chicago Slam Works), and too much Shakespeare to list.

Drew Black (u/s Announcer/Sprite Exec/Hooded Figure) Breckenridge Backstage: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder Regional: The Winter’s Tale (Hartford Stage) Double Helix (Goodspeed Musicals); Bridges of Madison County (Vintage Theater); The Full Monty (Little Theatre of Manchester). Education: BFA Music Theatre, The Hartt School, University of Hartford; Productions include Drowsy Chaperone, Anything Goes, Legally Blonde, Pippin. Love to my parents and Zoe! Instagram: @drwblck Brooke Curry (Female Understudy/Assistant Stage Manager) graduated this May from the University of Colorado Boulder with a BA in Vocal Performance, BA in Communication, and a Business Minor. You may have seen her recently in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder as Evangeline Barely/Ensemble. Recent credits include The 25th…Bee (Marcy Park), The Drowsy Chaperone (Kitty), Chicago (Squish), Cinderella (Ensemble), Company (Kathy), The Three Penney Opera (Mrs. Peachum), Guys and Dolls (Hot Box Dancer), and Loveville High (Chastity)! Thank you to everyone who supports her and her love of the arts. IG: brookeccreates

Ana Dragovich (Cannibal Queen) is excited to be in her second show with the Breckenridge Backstage Theatre. She is a Los Angeles-based theatre & film actor. Recent credits include A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Ensemble/Sibella Understudy) at BBT, Haunt Season (Taylor) by Jake Jarvi (film coming out next Halloween), and The Pirates of Penzance (Ensemble) with Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company Chicago. Ana is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago (B.A. Theatre) and Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts (M.M. Voice). She would like to thank her parents, her voice teacher, and her grandmothers for their guidance and support in her career.

Lloyd Harvey II (Announcer/Sprite Exec/Hooded Figure/Male Understudy) is excited to be back on the BBT stage. Starting with one show last summer and this is his 7th show with the company.

They can’t get rid of him! A Fort Worth resident, Lloyd was seen in BBT’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter and the Starcatcher. He has worked with Dallas Children’s Theatre, Casa Mañana, Jubilee Theatre, Uptown Players, WaterTower Theatre, Ohlook, Artisan Center Theatre and many others. Some greatest hits include Next to Normal (Dan), Company (Bobby), Sweeney Todd (Sweeney Todd), How I Became a Pirate (Swill), Some Girls (Guy), Take Me Out (Darren Lemming), Dog Sees God (Beethoven), RENT (Tom Collins), Grease (Danny Zuko), and Peter Pan (Captain Hook).

Kiana Holmes (Nina) tied for 7th at USA Air Guitar Nationals this summer as Kiki Pink. She is a multi-hyphenate theatre artist from Colorado, a recent theatre grad from Muhlenberg College, and a Breckenridge ski instructor. Most recently at BBT, she stage managed A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder and assisted SMed and understudied Roxanne in The Understudy. She hopes this story inspires you to invite more joy, unhinged chaos, and falling forward into your life. Thanks to my family for celebrating my silliness and USAG for making me feel like a rockstar. For more: @kikipinkairguitar kianaholmes.com Matt Miles (Facebender) couldn’t be more thrilled to be rocking out in the Rockies, and making his Breckenridge Backstage Theatre debut this summer. A Chicago-based actor, cinematographer and musician. Partial Credits: Seagull, Bald Sisters (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Comedy of Errors (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Avenue Q (Mercury Theatre Chicago); Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Porchlight Music Theatre); Peter and the Starcatcher (Drury Lane Theatre). FILM/TV: Emmy Award winner Trial In the Delta (Peacock Network); Chicago Fire, Chicago Med (NBC Studios); Chicago Rot (Dakini Productions). Immense Love & gratitude to Agnes, Jackie, Aileen and the air guitar Gods who have come before us.

Phillip Shinn (D Vicious) is stoked to share the stage with so many imaginative rock stars! Hopefully the spirit of this play offers an injection of oxygen in the mountain air and beyond.

Thank you for supporting Breckenridge Backstage Theater’s celebration of collaboration, conversation, and creativity. Enjoy the show!

Tenzing Ortega (Scenic Design) was born and raised in Mexico City, and designed over 150 productions with international Scenic Artists. He felt passionate for Social and Political Theater and believed the only way to keep theater alive is to keep it out of its comfort zone. Recent credits include A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (Breckenridge Backstage Theatre), The Mole Hill Story (with Children’s Theater of Madison), Address the Body (UTNT 2023) & Luchadora (St Andrews University). He was a second-year MFA in Scenic Design at the University of Texas at Austin.

Jazmin Aurora Medina (Costume Design) is a national Xicana costume designer from Milwaukee, WI. She is thrilled to be joining Breckenridge for her second show this season. Jazmin is a firm believer in finding the magic in everyday life, and the transformative power of clothing. Previously, Jazmin has been selected as one of thirty-four young emerging USA costume designers for the 2019 Prague Quadrennial. Jazmin wouldn’t be here without the support of her incredible family, friends and community, and would like to continually honor them through her work. This design in particular, she would like to dedicate to the incredible life & talent of Tenzing Ortega. Que tu luz y tu energía permanezcan en nuestra imaginación y nuestros corazones. Te extraño, mi amigo.

Keith Parham (Lighting Design) BRECKENRIDGE BACKSTAGE THEATRE: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder. BROADWAY: Between Riverside and Crazy (Second Stage Theatre); Therese Raquin (Roundabout Theatre Company). OFF-BROADWAY: Wild Goose Dreams (The Public Theater) The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois, Between Riverside and Crazy (Atlantic Theater Company); Tribes, Red Light Winter (Barrow Street Theatre); Stop the Virgens (Karen O at St. Ann’s Warehouse/Sydney Opera House); A Minister’s Wife (Lincoln Center Theatre); Adding Machine A Musical (Minetta Lane).

REGIONAL: Goodman, Steppenwolf, Mark Taper Forum, Court Theatre, Trinity Repertory, The Alley, among others. CONCERT: Crush Songs Tour (Karen O).

TUTA Company Member. AWARDS: Obie, Lortel.

Jeffrey Levin (Sound Design) is happy to be returning to Backstage Theatre after designing A Christmas Story and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Jeffrey is a sound designer and composer based in Chicago IL. Selected Chicago credits: Fen, Photograph 51 (Court Theatre); Murder on the Orient Express (Drury Lane Theatre); Grey House (A Red Orchid Theatre); The Brothers Size (Steppenwolf) and many more. Regional: A Raisin in the Sun (American Players Theatre), The Great Leap (Asolo Repertory Theatre) and more. He has been awarded and nominated many times by the Joseph Jefferson Awards. Visit www.jeffreylevinmusic.com

Lead Season Sponsors

BBT is partially supported by BGV Gives, The Town of Breckenridge, Colorado Creative Industries, Summit Seniors, and The Summit Foundation.

Special Thanks to Broken Compass Brewery, Theatre Silco, and Ski Town Chicken Joint for their in kind support on this production.

Artists Continued Adara Baltazar (Stage Manager) is delighted to work with Breckenridge Backstage Theatre for the first time. Adara graduated from the University of Denver with a distinction in stage management. She is a stage manager, theatre technician, and prop designer throughout Colorado. Recent stage management and assistant stage management credits include Shakespeare in the Parking Lot (Denver Center for the Performing Arts), Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson, Dorothy’s Dictionary, Amelia’s Big Idea (Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado), and The Enchanted Bookshop (Northglenn Youth Theatre).

Aileen Wen McGroddy (Director) is delighted to make her Breckenridge debut directing Airness. Past work includes: Sense and Sensibility and Sisters (Northern Stage); A Christmas Carol (Trinity Rep); The Chinese Lady (Kitchen Theatre and Geva Theatre Center); The Glass Menagerie, Dani Girl, Or, (The Winnipesaukee Playhouse); The Late Wedding, The Dumb Waiter, Summer and Smoke, and The Tempest (Brown-Trinity); Throwback Island, On The Y-Axis, Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (Writing is Live); Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical (Emerald City Theatre); Montauciel Takes Flight (Lifeline Theatre); Ulysses (The Plagiarists); A Hero’s Journey, The Hunting of the Snark (The Forks & Hope Ensemble); The Whiskey Radio Hour, Wake: A Folk Opera (The Whiskey Rebellion); Gentle, The Edge of Our Bodies, Music Hall, The Anyway Cabaret (TUTA); The Nose and Reika and the Wolves (Mudlark Theatre). She is a co-artistic director of TUTA Theatre Chicago and a current member of the Roundabout Director’s Group. MFA Directing from Brown-Trinity. AileenWenMcGroddy.com Chelsea Marcantel (Playwright) is an LA-based writer, director, and collaborator.

Reared by Cajuns in southwest Louisiana, Chelsea has lived and worked among the peoples of the Midwest, Appalachia, the Mid-Atlantic, and now the West Coast.

In 2016, she completed a Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Fellowship at The Juilliard School. Her plays, which have been produced across the US and Canada, include Airness (2018 M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award), Everything is Wonderful, Tiny Houses (2018 Roe Green Award), Ladyish, Devour, and the online theatrical experience Citizen Detective (NY Times Critic’s Pick).

Chelsea has been entrusted with teaching young minds at Virginia Intermont College and Emory & Henry College, and loved every minute of it. As a writer, she is extremely interested in humans as small-group primates, and what happens when the rules and value systems of our chosen groups cease to serve us. She reads a lot of books, watches a lot of documentaries, and listens to a lot of podcasts. Chelsea is an enthusiastic member of The Writers Guild of America and The Dramatists Guild, and runs with a kick-ass group of activists called The Kilroys.

Chelsea’s current theatrical projects include the new plays Vanishing Act commissioned by the Geffen Playhouse, Lake Erie Oubliette commissioned by Cleveland Playhouse, and The Upstairs, which will have its world premiere at Signature Theatre DC in 2022. She is also working on (at last count) five commercial musical projects, as well as writing the book for the original musical The Monster, commissioned by Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, for which she won a 2021 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre.

COMING THIS FALL! Purchase tickets online today!

The Haunting of Breck Theater Written and Directed By Harrison Farmer An immersive Halloween Experience that combines the haunted tales of Edgar Allen Poe with a spirited interactive haunted house, engaging activities, live storytellers, photo opportunities, and spooky cocktails and treats.

www.backstagetheatre.org October 12 - 28, 2023 All Ages at 4pm shows PG-13 at 7pm shows at Breckenridge Theater

FALL CLASSES NOW OPEN! Inquire at info@backstagetheatre.org

Platinum $10,000 +

Allen-Guerra Architecture Debra & Jim Anderson BGV Gives iFurnish G & G Roofing Richard & Gene Sosville Town of Breckenridge Summit Foundation

Gold $2,000 +

Suzanne Allen-Sabo Colorado Creative Industries The D’Augustine Foundation Mike & Anna Dudick Exxon Matching Grants First Bank Fortunato Properties Linda Gunden David Hughes Renee Imamura CJ & Chuck Marcy The Andrea-Mennen Family Foundation David & Robyn Nicoli Pinnacle Gives Laurie Rambaud Marte Singerman Slifer Smith & Frampton Stables Village Solitude - Ranch at Breckenridge Alan & Kathy Sonnanstine

THANK you to our amazing supporters of the 2022-23 season!

Silver $500 -$1,999 Alpine Bank, Kenneth & Lorraine Appleton, Jean Berkheiser, Richard Carleton, Howard & Sue Carver, Timothy Casey, John & Linda Ebright, Jonathan & Robin Gear, John & Judith Goebel, John Goff, Sherman & Alana Glass, Claire Greenberg, Linda Hall, Matt Hanson, Hearthstone Restaurant, Vanessa & Jim Hester, Nina Janneti, Patti Klinge, Ted Lawson, Helen LeMay, Edward & Ro Means, Jim & Kaylon Phillips, Phred Solutions, Hollis Shumway, Marte Singerman, Summit Seniors, Treeline Dental, Bruce & Sally Queen, Dan Rowley, Edward Wahtera, Ann & Gordon Wilson, Steve & Sandy Wilson

Copper $100-$499 Karen & Ed Bassett, Benevity Fund, Sarah Barclay, Penny Banks, Bird + Cow, Gary Clark, Alice & Mike D’Ambrosio, Jim & Suzanne Davis, Reilly Desantis, Christopher Dorton, Peter Dunn, Deb Edwards, Alanna Ferrara, Debra Fox, Janet Good, Ben & Cynthia Gordon, Reginald Gray, Beth & Neil Groundwater, Scott Hislop, Mary Lou Johns, Phil & Janelle Kopp, David Krapf, Gary Martinez, Braden McMillan, Anne Mead, Cornelius Milmoe, Janna Nolt, John O’Neil, Tara Olson, Geoff Palmer, Tamara Park, Barbara Payne, Lorraine Rambaud, Juli Rathke, Dunie Righter, Jessica Ruda, Ray & Sharon Smith, Scott Sperry, Jacqueline Stone, Daniel Stone, Russ & Janey Trowbridge, Ann & Layton Williams, and Ashley Wolick

Supporting to $99 Howard Bellowe, Stephen Blitz, Margaret Brazzel, Chris & Jen Cawley, Dana & Bob Cottrell, Wanda Creen, Candace Galen, Julie Granshaw, Janet Good (Wendy Moore), Dona Parker Horne, Laura Komeshain, Cornelius Milmoe, David Pepper, Sheri Skolnick, Lawren Susan, VERT Sites, Sally Vincent, Victoria Walcott, Anne Watts, Jennifer & Patrick Welch, and Susan Witala

Backstage Theatre is honored to be supported by so many in our community. There are unique ways to get involved with your TIME. TALENT. TREASURE. Please reach out to learn about creative and fun sponsorship opportunities.

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