BWW Stage Mag Spoon River Anthology - Burning Coal Stage Mag

               

JEROME DAVIS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
 
SIMMIE KASTNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR
 

P R E S E N T S

Spoon River Anthology

p o e m s    b y    e d g a r    l e e    m a s t e r s

 

CO-DIRECTED BY:    Elliott Gittelsohn  and  Ayal Prouser

MASTER ELECTRICIAN:
Barry Jaked
AUDIO AND VISUAL DESIGN:
Joel Soren
COSTUME DESIGN:
Adrian Ewens
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / BOARD OP:
Elikya Mwanda
STAGE MANAGER / BOARD OP:
India Nykamp
ASM / BOARD OP:
Jay Sihm

 

STARRING:
Dana Anger
Kaitlyn LePage
Grace Niesel
Anna Jett Winter
Emma Butler
Sasha McGinley
Jeremy Squires, Jr.
Graham Wood
Lydia Elder
Ben Meyer
Noah Swindell
 

Cast

Dana Anger
Emma Butler
Lydia Elder
Kaitlyn LePage
Sasha McGinley
Ben Meyer
Grace Niesel
Jeremy Squires, Jr.
Noah Swindell
Anna Jett Winter
Graham Wood

Creative Team

Elliott Gittelsohn

Director

Ayal Prouser

Director

Eliyka Mwanda

Assistant Director

India Nykamp

Stage Manager / Board Op

Jay Sihm

Assistant Stage Manager / Board Op

Joel Soren

Lighting, Sound, and Projection Design

Adrian Ewens

Costume Design

Barry Jaked

Master Electrician

Special Thanks to Our Guest Instructors

John Gulley      Meisner / Stanislavski

Willie Hinton      Movement

Sarah Hankins      Linklater

Jill Matarelli      Stage Combat

Mary Schindler      Choreography

 

 

Board of Directors

Slee Arnold
Pamela Blizzard
Cari Grindem-Corbett
Jerome Davis
Kate Day
Grace Gregson
Simmie Kastner
Deborah Keefe
Paul Leone
Jordan Lichtenheld
Linda Martin
Elaine Quagliata
David Ranii
Gustavo Schmidt
Gwynn Swinson

Bios

Dana Anger

Dana Anger - Dana is entering her high school senior year. She began theatre in Alaska and recently worked with Panther Creek’s “The Addams Family”. Prior to that, she appeared in their productions of “Medea” and “Murder’s in the Heir”, as well as acting and writing during their 24-hour Play Festival. Last summer, she enjoyed playing Miranda in Burning Coal’s STC “The Tempest”. She also participates in wrestling and track at PCHS.

Emma Butler

Emma Butler - Emma is a rising 9th grade at Knightdale high school. She enjoys art, roleplaying, being outside, and acting. She is currently involved in a non paid photo shoot as an elf with cloud steel. Previously, she has participated in several theatrical productions, including your a good man charily brown and smaller school plays. She would like to pursue acting and if that does not work out she will go to therapy. Now, she is excited for this production of Spoon river Anthology!

Lydia Elder

Lydia Elder - Lydia Elder recently graduated Rolesville High School. She has been involved in theatre since her freshman year of high school, playing roles such as Betty Parris in The Crucible, Lavinia in Titus Andronicus, and Fairy May in The Curious Savage. She has also done several musicals. Along with doing theatre, she also plays trombone, and she will be joining the Pride of the Niner Nation Marching Band at UNCC. She’s excited for Spoon River Anthology!

Kaitlyn LePage

Kaitlyn LePage - Kaitlyn LePage will be entering Wakefield High School as a freshman. A favorite color of hers is orange. As a hobby, she enjoys playing volleyball. She also loves acting, which is a major passion of hers. At the moment, Spoon River Anthology is the first play she has been cast in. However, she looks forward to more opportunities to stand out in the future. It is very exciting for her to be a part of Spoon River Anthology

Sasha McGinley

Sasha McGinley - Sasha McGinley is so excited to be involved in this program and production, her first since moving here from Pennsylvania last summer. She is a rising sophomore at Apex High School where she served as dramaturg for the Peak Players productions of "The Liar" and "Curtains". Sasha ran cross country and track and field as a freshman as well as participating in Science Olympiad. In her spare time she enjoys writing, reading, playing video games, and spending time with her dogs.

Ben Meyer

Benjamin Meyer is entering his sophomore year at Cardinal Gibbons High School. He has been interested in drama since elementary school. He has participated in performances in middle school and played Scrooge in the freshman production of "A Christmas Carol."

Grace Niesel

Grace Niesel - Grace Niesel (they/them) is an actor and aspiring environmental journalist. They acted (and wrote) previously for North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre’s original devised musical Perspectives, acted in North Wake Theatre’s High School Musical 2 and Shrek the Musical, and Rolesville High School’s The Curious Savage and Chicago. Their writing was also featured as a part of Burning Coal’s 2021 KidsWrite Festival, and they’re excited to work with Burning Coal again.

Jeremy Squires, Jr.

Jeremy Squires, Jr. - Jeremy Squires, Jr., a rising senior at Rolesville High School was born and raised in Raleigh, NC. He is currently a virtual student and has managed to successfully participate in this modality of learning since the onset of the pandemic. He was recently crowned prom prince for the Jr./Sr. prom. He has participated in band (trumpet) and is currently teaching himself how to play the keyboard. He spends his free time writing scripts for his movie ideas. Jeremy aspires to become a writer and/or actor.

Noah Swindell

Noah attends Enloe High School and is a rising 10th grader. Noah has been active in his Middle School and High School theatre performances and classes. He enjoys performing on stage as well as working behind the scenes. Thank you to the instructors for this great opportunity at his neighborhood theatre!

Anna Jett Winter

Anna Jett Winter - Anna Jett is excited for her 2nd Burning Coal production, where last year she played the role of Ariel in The Tempest. She has also done numerous other school productions, including playing Juror 2 in 12 Angry Women, Snow White in Princess Party Smackdown, and being in the nun's choir in Sound of Music. Outside of scool and acting, she also loves doing aerial performance, singing, and music theory and composition.

Graham Wood

Graham Wood - Graham Wood is certainly a man that exists. He has done productions for Burning Coal in the past, and loved doing it. He's also been a part of their KidsWrite program, writing a one act play from scratch.

Elliott Gittelsohn

Director
Elliott Gittelsohn - Director Elliott Gittelsohn is thrilled to return to directing for the Burning Coal stage. Elliott resolved to join the circus at age 12. His training includes an apprenticeship at Circus Smirkus Academy, a degree in clowning from The Clown Conservatory, and training under award-winning Mongolian contortionist, Serchmaa Byamba. Elliott has performed around the world with companies including Capacitor, Sister Magic Productions, MOTH Poetic Circus, Vau de Vire Society, Celebrity Cruises, Kinetic Arts Productions, and Sir Cupcake’s Queer Circus. He has coached circus skills for Time Flies Circus, Circadium, Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, Levity Circus Collective, Kinetic Arts Center, Circo Caribe, Circus Center, Acrosports, Circus Moves, and Hampshire College. Elliott received a Bachelors in Performing Arts from the LEAP Program and conducted research on the psychological stress-recovery response of circus performers in training versus performance. Elliott was the co-director of Oregon Fringe Festival for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, was a junior fashion designer with Joe Dunbar Designs, and co-directed a circus adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest at Burning Coal Theatre Company in 2021. A recent resident of Philadelphia, Elliott enjoys fiber arts, exploring the outdoors with his dog, Toby, and long drives across the country.

Ayal Prouser

Director
Ayal Prouser - Director Ayal Prouser has been a professional circus artist and coach for over 10 years. He is co-founder of Time Flies Circus, a mobile circus school. He has performed and taught across the United States as well as in Asia, Europe and Africa. Ayal has received funding from the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics, the Jerome Foundation, Clark University and Columbia University for circus research and creation. His graduate work at Columbia University was on the intersection of queer theory and film theory, and circus studies. He now has multiple publications on the subject.

Eliyka Mwanda

Assistant Director
Elikya Mwanda is thrilled to be a part of the production! A first time AD, Elikya has an acting background and is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts' senior year drama program. In June of this year, Elikya served as the Assistant Stage Manager for What If If Only and Air at Burning Coal. Elikya has been seen on stage in classics like "Antigone" (Teiresias/Chorus) and "As You Like It" (Celia), both at Raleigh Little Theatre. Elikya will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall.

India Nykamp

Stage Manager / Board Op
India Nykamp (they/them) is an actor, stage manager, and director who is thrilled to be apart of Spoon River Anthology. A rising junior at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, India has been involved in theatre since they first were in a play when they were 5 years old, and has done shows in and out of school since then. In 2020 they received an Outstanding Breakout Performance award from the Chatham Life and Style Best of the Triangle Awards for their role as “Perfect” in Pittsboro Youth Theater’s production of “columbinus”. Most recently, they assistant stage managed a new student-written play at Sarah Lawrence called “Agatha”, starred as Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth”, and directed “The Perfect Ending” at Northwood High School.

Jay Sihm

Assistant Stage Manager / Board Op
Jay Sihm is excited to be a part of this production. A rising senior at Cary Academy, Jay has participated in school productions since middle school in shows such as "The Music Man", "The Flying Doctor", "The Theory of Relativity", and "Beneath the Moon". Having filled a variety of positions at school, including as a dancer, camera op, and stage manager, Jay is honored to have the opportunity to be an ASM at Burning Coal

Joel Soren

Lighting, Sound, and Projection Design
Joel Soren is a theatrical director, technical director, and designer. He also was a production manager for the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute and Paul Taylor Dance Co (Taylor 2). Joel has designed lighting, sound, costumes, projections, properties and scenery for live performances in spaces ranging from inhabited studio apartments to the New York Hall of Science as well as off-broadway and off-off broadway in NYC. (Playwrights Horizons, Dixon Place, HERE, The Flea, The PIT). Joel recently transplanted to NC and is happy to return as a designer at the Burning Coal Theater. (BFA: NYU)

Adrian Ewens

Costume Design
Adrian Ewens (he/him) is very excited to be a part of this show! He is currently a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he is majoring in technical theatre. He has been involved with costume design and construction for over 5 years, and received an International Thespian Society award at the state level for costume construction in 2020. This is his first time working solo on costumes for a show, but he will be designing the costumes for A Hatful of Dragons at UNCC in the spring. His past costuming credits include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Wonderland, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Enloe High School, among others.

Barry Jaked

Master Electrician
Barry Jaked has returned to Raleigh after spending two years as the Technical Director for the Capitol Theatre in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He has been on the production team for over 25 shows with Burning Coal most recently Art and Life of Galileo. Barry is happy to be back in Raleigh.

TIME FLIES CIRCUS

Time Flies Circus is a mobile circus initiative for educational and arts institutions who wish to provide innovative, fun, physical programs to their students. We are a full-service program, handling all aspects of equipment, curriculum, staffing, making it completely stress free for the partnering administration. Our decades of experience guide them in providing industry best practices. Partnering organizations will see not only see demonstrable skills performed by participants, but smiling faces from all. 

 

 

 

COMING SOON

For More Information

          

 

Additional thanks to

                                                  

              

 


 

            

 

Burning Coal Theatre Company is supported by the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County.
Burning Coal Theatre is funded in part by the city of Raleigh based on recommendations of the Raleigh Arts Commission.
This project was supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources. NCArts.org

 

 

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