PRODUCTIONS

tick, tick…BOOM by Jonathan Larson

DIRECTOR

In BoHo Theatre’s groundbreaking all-TGNC production, director Bo Frazier reimagines this compelling rock musical as a celebration of trans joy, love, and creativity. tick, tick…BOOM! tells the autobiographical story of Jonathan, a struggling New York composer entering his 30s. The year is 1990, the AIDS crisis is escalating, and Jonathan is growing increasingly desperate to leave his dead-end job and write the next great American musical. Jonathan’s girlfriend Susan and his best friend Michael announce major life changes, and Jonathan begins to wonder if the ticking clock is running out on his Broadway dreams.

CAST: Alec Phan (JONATHAN), Luke Halpern (SUSAN), Crystal Claros (MICHAEL)

CREATIVES: Jamal Howard (CHOREOGRAPHER), Harper Caruso (MUSIC DIRECTION), Bek Lambrecht (SCENIC), Piper Kirchhofer (LIGHTING), Liliana Otero (COSTUMES), Eris Backus (SOUND), Noah Elman (PROPS), Kirsten Baity (INTIMACY).

BoHo Theater, Winter 2023

5 JEFF AWARD NOMINATIONS:

Best Director
Best Music Director
Best Production of a Musical
Best Principal Performer in a Musical (Alec Phan as Jonathan)
Best Supporting Performer in a Musical (Luke Halpern as Susan)

FEATURED IN AMERICAN THEATRE MAGAZINE

Photos by J Franco Images

BOTTICELLI IN THE FIRE by Jordan Tannahill

DIRECTOR

Playboy Sandro Botticelli has it all: talent, fame, good looks. He also has the ear – and the wife – of Lorenzo de Medici, as well as the Renaissance’s hottest young apprentice, Leonardo Da Vinci. But while at work on his breakthrough commission, ‘The Birth of Venus’, Botticelli’s devotion to pleasure and beauty is put to the ultimate test. As the plague sweeps through the city, the charismatic friar Savonarola starts to stoke the fires of dissent against the liberal elite. Botticelli finds the life he knows breaking terrifyingly apart, forcing him to choose between love and survival. Jordan Tannahill’s hot-blooded queering of Renaissance Italy questions the value of art at the collapse of society.

CAST: Alex Benito Rodriguez (BOTTICELLI), Yuchi Chiu (POGGIO), John Payne (LEONARDO), Neala Barron (CLARICE), Jenece Upton (MADRE MARIA), Andrew Cutler (LORENZO) , Christopher Meister (SAVANOROLA).

CREATIVES: Lauren Nichols (SCENIC), Benjamin Carne (LIGHTING), Hilary Rubio (COSTUMES), Willow James (SOUND), Caitlin McCarthy (PROPS), Micah Figueroa (INTIMACY/FIGHTS), Andres Fonseca (ORIGINAL MUSIC), Dionne Addai (ASSISTANT DIRECTOR), Ozzy Avile (STAGE MANAGER), Jamal Howard (CHOREOGRAPHY).

First Floor Theater, Fall 2022

6 JEFF AWARD NOMINATIONS

Best Director
Best Production of a Play
Best Lead Performer in a Play
Best Lighting
Best Costumes
Best Sound Design.

Photos by Lauren Nichols and Evan Hanover

HIT THE WALL by Ike Holter

DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER

On a typical hot and humid New York City night in the summer of ‘69, a group of queer, trans and BIPOC outcasts gathers at The Stonewall Inn. However, on this night, when the police show up for a routine raid, all are thrust into the frontlines of history. A riot ensues that would launch the LGBTQ+ movement in America. A rock concert/docu-drama, Hit the Wall pays homage to these revolutionaries who came together 50 years ago to fight for their freedom.

CAST: Kyle Braeseke, Akeem Celestine, Nicholas Currant, Keri Eastridge, Hannah Frame, Kallen Glawe, Britny Horton, Kyler Johnson, Peter Noll, Brad Pickhincke, Akya Nyrie Smith, Brett Stone, Brandonn Treviño, Steven Willis, Paris Winters, Shelby Zukin

CREATIVES: Luke Daniel White (DRAMATURG) Alex Casillas (SCENIC) Courtney Gaston (LIGHTING) Chelsea June (COSTUMES) Nicholas Coso (MEDIA) Mark Bruckner (ORIGINAL MUSIC) Spencer Clouse (STAGE MANAGER) Tonia Sina (INTIMACY DIRECTOR) Paul Kalina (FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY) Akia Nyrie Smith (ASSISTANT DIRECTOR) Shelby Zukin (ASSOCIATE CHOREOGRAPHER) Erica Vannon (ASSOCIATE INTIMACY)

University of Iowa Mainstage 2020

MERRILY by Dakota Parobek

DIRECTOR

Emma Goldman (Anarchist) and Wilbur Wright (Capitalist) wade through history in search of long lost loved ones in this expressionistic new play. As their past lives collide and coalesce, the integrity of memory and time begins to unravel.

CAST: Jessie Shaw, Jivani Rodriguez

CREATIVE: Tobin Griffin (SCENIC) Chelsea June (COSTUMES/MEDIA) Kimberly D Fain (LIGHTING) Dakota Parobek (SOUND) Madison Davis (STAGE MANAGER)

University of Iowa Second Stage 2019

BELL AT THE BACK OF HER THROAT by Courtney Meaker

DIRECTOR

Cass wakes up from a dream to find her hands are burnt having seen a vision of Greenville engulfed in flames. No one believes her, but smoke has started descending on the town. People are leaving, never to be heard from again. Meanwhile, the Director of Tourism is determined to keep tourists out of the town. Bell at the Back of Her Throat is an examination of patriarchy, witchcraft, and xenophobia through the Cassandra myth.

CAST: Vinnie Doud, Temyia Holcomb, Britny Horton, Nicole Gabrione, Liat Graf, Ash Pierce, Jivani Rodriguez, Erica Toney, Bries Vannon, Steven Willis

CREATIVE: Morgan Grambo (DRAMATURG) Akeem Celestine (COSTUMES) Kimberly Fain (LIGHTING) Fatima Tall (SOUND) Jacob Sikorski (SCENIC)

Iowa New Play Festival 2019

LOVE & INFORMATION by Caryl Churchill

DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER

[57 short plays, 12 people, 12 cell phones, 7 sections, 1 iPad, 1 Laptop] With this production we analyze the many ways that we communicate (or don’t communicate) in 2019 and projecting our hopes for the future. A world where people from all walks of life can present themselves without having to conform to false constructs of the gender binary. The play asks us to consider how meaning is constructed, who creates the meaning and to participate in the process.

CAST: Kate Anderson, Kyle Braeseke, Robyn Calhoun, Anna Currier, Makayla Houser, Elijah Jones, Lance Junck, Krista Neumann, Miriam Ochs, Cameron Speta, Emma Staff, Erica Toney

CREATIVES: Emily Haywood (SCENIC & LIGHTING) Chelsea June (COSTUMES) Dakota Parobek (SOUND & MUSIC) Courtney Gaston (PROJECTIONS) Spencer Clouse (STAGE MANAGER) Kimberly D Fain (ASSOCIATE PROJECTIONS)

University of Iowa Second Stage 2019

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Simon Stephens

DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER

Fifteen-year-old Christopher has an extraordinary brain - exceptional at maths, while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. When he falls under suspicion for killing his neighbor’s dog, it takes him on a journey that upturns his world. A beautiful, heartwarming, invigorating new play with physical theatre created by Bo Frazier & the ensemble.

CAST: Leela Bassuk, Robyn Calhoun, Mary Denmead, K. Michael Moore, Karle Jeanne Meyers, Tad Paulson, Barry Schrier, John Smick, Ben Sulzberger, Erica Toney, Noel VanDenBosch

CREATIVES: Rachel Sather & Ryan McElroy (LIGHTING) Rich LeMay (SCENIC) Will Borich & Brian Canchola (MEDIA) Bri Atwood (SOUND) Bethany Horning (COSTUMES) Lisa Kelly (STAGE MANAGER) Michael Dierdorff (AUTISM CONSULTANT)

City Circle Theatre Company 2018

I AM PRETTY BIRD by Leigh M Marshall

DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER

A one-woman performance in verse with doom metal underscoring, movement and multimedia. Inspired by La Petite Mort, this piece blurs the lines between rock concert, performance art and avant-garde delving into sex, death, and the inherent danger of women in 2018.

CAST: Ashlynn Dale

CREATIVES: Marc Macaranas & Brian Canchola (MEDIA) Emily Haywood (LIGHTING) Akeem Celestine (COSTUME) KT Peterson (BUTOH COACH)

Iowa New Play Festival 2018

THE FIELD, OR TA’BORNE (Workshop)

DIRECTOR/CREATOR

Dance/Theatre piece about a forbidden interracial queer love affair using English and Arabic text featuring Lebanese dance-maker Jadd Tank and American Actor Steven Bono Jr.

“Day after day we’d meet in the same field. Our relationship a complete secret. It wasn’t that it was considered ‘not cool’that kept us hiding; gay wasn’t even a word for homosexual yet. It was that we would lose everything. But eventually I realized that I was willing to lose everything but this...He wasn’t.” -Anonymous

New York City, 2016

KONSTANTIN by HoosierMuse

CREATOR/CO-DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER/DESIGNER

A rebellious, re-imagined riff on Chekhovian characters told (almost) entirely through original music and movement. The eternal struggle between traditional and new artistic forms, told in a battle of sorts. Old vs New /American Standards vs Electronic Rock Fusion. Created in deep collaboration with the ensemble and Co-Director with Mary Colvin.

CAST: Alyssa DiPalma, Joshua Doss, Kevin Hoffman, Ashlee Nunn

CREATIVES: Mary Colvin (CO-DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER) Kevin Hoffman (COMPOSER) Sylvia Eskridge (COSTUME)

Dixon Place, NYC 2015