The Long Christmas Ride Home

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LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

“For an American Dramatist, all roads lead back to Thornton Wilder”- Paula Vogel, Forward, The Skin of our Teeth

Paula Vogel’s brother Carl died of AIDS in 1988. And she remains her brother’s keeper. Carl was the writer and cultural intellect of the family and she looked up to him dearly. Vogel talks often about Carl being a major inspiration in many of her plays and, within that work, Carl has found a piece of immortality. One of her earlier most notable stage works depicts this relationship. The Baltimore Waltz is about an imaginary trip through Europe, a trip the siblings had planned to do in real life before their time together was cut short. However in the play, it is Ana, the sister, who has been infected and not her brother. In short, the play’s events of a trip throughout Europe are all part of Ana’s fever dream taking part in a drab Baltimore hospital. And the audience then realizes it is the character of her brother, Carl, that is dying and not her. She is both surrogate and witness. And there is the feeling in that play of attempting to change the ending or wanting to redo something that cannot be redone.

Vogel set out writing this play as a tribute to Thornton Wilder’s work and the importance of his contributions to theater of which she draws inspiration. She looked specifically at 3 early one act plays where Wilder was attempting something new and apart from American Realism. By drawing inspiration from Japanese theatrical techniques, such as the use of narrators with third person storytelling, presentational rather than representational setting, and the use of the “perpetual present”, Wilder wrote The Long Christmas Dinner, The Happy Journey from Trenton, and the Pullman Car Hiawatha.

The Long Christmas Ride Home fuses Carl Vogel’s passion for Japanese culture with Thornton Wilder’s inspiration from Japanese Noh theater. And in this fusion, Paula Vogel creates her own personal familial “ghost” story as tribute to them both. The play is a continuation in Vogel’s exploration of experimental techniques, combining Wilder’s presentational theatrical style, and his frequent exploration of the micro vs. macro, with Japanese Bunraku puppet theater techniques (of which Vogel reminds theater artists is “one Westerner’s misunderstanding of Bunraku. The misunderstanding is key”) In this play, it is the puppet children that serve as both surrogate and witness.

The play itself details a family’s journey to their grandparents house on Christmas Day. And what should be a day of celebration and togetherness, slowly becomes THE day where the ties that bind the family together fray and, ultimately, sever. On Earth, we have lives built on beautiful moments that seem fleeting and then we have devastating ones that impact a lifetime. When one realizes that one has lost the love and support one thought you had from the family unit, the security one felt in the micro details of your everyday life are gone . And in that loss, you seem to drift untethered in the macro. And again, the painful realization that “what is done, cannot be undone”, even in death.

“Sometimes using the distance and perspective of a far-off land, of another people, we can return and see our home more clearly.” Minister from The Long Christmas Ride Home

Cast

Creative Team

Meet the Company

Ethan Wade

Stephen

Ethan is so excited to be a part of this ACC production of The Long Christmas Ride home. Ethan is a student at ACC Highland and studies Theatre arts as well as Radio Television and Film. He also has a passion for audio design and on rare occasions is a T-shirt model. Ethan would like to thank his family and friends for being so supportive in his artistic pursuits, as well as Jamie Rogers and the rest of the Theatre department for the chance to pursue art.

Travis Owens

Man

Travis is the weird southerner in his family, or "artist." After discovering the arts in high school he immediately turned down a scholarship to pursue arts outside of his small Texas town. From initial extra work in Vegas, Improv in L.A., screen acting in L.A. and self-producing his named headliner stand up comedy show in L.A., the business side of the arts didn't sit well, so he followed his intuition coming back closer to home to the very supportive arts community in Austin. Getting back to his beginnings and theatrical roots has been his best creative decision. Having the pleasure of telling this tapestry of a story with this stellar cast has been an absolute joy!

Eva McQuade

Woman

Eva has appeared in recent productions including: Your Old Fashioned Die Hard Radio Cast (Penfold Theatre Co); Tales of Darkness (The Baron’s Men); Appeal (ACC Drama); The Library (Different Stages); The Mad Ones (ACC Drama); Miracle on 34th St (Penfold); Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven (Vortex, received a B. Iden Payne Award nomination); good friday (New Manifest Theatre Company/Vortex); MÁS CARA (Vortex/Teatro Vivo, received a BIP nomination); Lady Macbeth & Her Pal Megan (a solo show with Shrewd Productions, BIP award recipient); and many others. Eva is the host for the New Manifest Theatre Podcast. You might also find Eva and her comadre, Tía Chancla, hurling chanclas at ne’er-do-wells. Amor y gracias to friends y familia for so much support.

CB Feller

Rebeca

CB is thrilled to be a part of The Long Christmas Ride Home. CB is a multidisciplinary artist. Most recent acting credits include Moll Cutpurse in the Archive Theatres staged reading of Roaring. They recently had a reading of their own play for youth, Security Blanket, did properties for Penfolds Its A Wonderful Life, and set designed/painted for Different Stages 26 Miles. I know, how do they have time!? When not on the stage CB is a visual artist and pet parent. But mostly, they are just trying to remember where they put their car keys.

Hannah Cohen

Claire

Hannah has had the amazing opportunity to work with the Costume Crew in the ACC productions of The Mad Ones and Bat Boy: The Musical, as well as performed in past ACC productions of Appeal as Irene, A Fiend’s Folio as Iris, and Hearts Like Fists as Nurse. They have been working on their acting skills with various acting classes for the last 10 years and has recently started working on voice lessons with the ACC Music department. Their career goal is to perform full time, getting the opportunities to play as many different roles as possible. Hannah would like to give a special thanks to friends and family, and ACC Drama Department, especially to their talented professors, for being so welcoming and encouraging.

Ryan Alexander

Minister/Various

Ryan is an ACC alumni, Austin-based director/actor that is very honored to be a part of this show. Previous credits include “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised]” (ACC), “The Real Inspector Hound” (ACC), “The Snow” (ACC), “Eurydice” (ACC), “Shakespeare In Love” (Austin Playhouse), and “A Little Night Music” (Austin Playhouse). Additionally, he appeared in “Rondo & Bob: A Love Story” directed by Joe O'Connell and directed “RED” by John Logan (ACC). He would like to shout out the loving and always supportive partner, Lindsey, and our beautiful kitten, Matit. Special thanks to the crew and ACC Drama for always believing in us. Constant love and support to the team for making dreams come true. (a bit much? jeje)

Jamie Rogers

Director

Jamie Rogers holds an MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School and an MFA in Arts Administration from Texas Tech University. He has worked as an actor and teacher in New York City, Los Angeles, and in various cities across the country. Recent Directing credits at ACC Drama were the Fall 24 production of Bat Boy The Musical (nominated for 7 B Iden Payne Awards),Spring 23 production of The Snow (nominated for 8 B Iden Payne Awards, including Production of Theatre for Young Audiences & Outstanding Direction of Theater for Young Audiences) & the Fall 21 production of Lonely Planet (nominated for 4 B Iden Payne Awards, including Outstanding Production of Digital Theatre & Outstanding Direction of Digital Theatre). Other recent directing credits include: Disaster! at the Georgetown Palace Theatre (nominated for 8 Broadway World Austin nominations) & The Addams Family Musical School Edition at Georgetown Palace Education. Favorite acting performances include Hector Hushabye in Heartbreak House (Different Stages-Austin & B Iden Payne Award Nomination for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Comedy), Louis in Angels in America (NoHo Arts Center), Vince in Tape (Westbeth Theatre, NYC), Reverend Shaw in Footloose (Theatre West Virginia), Mr. Banks in Mary Poppins (Lubbock Moonlight Musicals), Trigorin in The Seagull, Mark in Rent, and Uncle Peck in How I Learned to Drive (TTU School of Theatre and Dance). Jamie is an Associate Professor of Drama at Austin Community College and a Teaching Artist at the Georgetown Palace Theatre. Jamie will next be directing a new work titled Wanna Play by Christine Hoang at the Hyde Park Theatre later this Spring!

Caroline Reck

Puppet Direction & Consultant

Caroline Reck is a Co-Producing Artistic Director of Glass Half Full Theatre, an Austin-based company known for devised visual storytelling through innovative puppetry forms, detailed physical theatre narratives, and multilingual performances. Glass Half Full Theatre most recently toured their award-winning performance Yamel Cucuy to the Los Angeles Theater Center. She is a graduate of Ecole Internationale de Theatre, Jacques Lecoq in France and has an MFA in Theatre for Self-Producing Artists from Towson University in Baltimore. She has received local awards from the B. Iden Payne and Austin Critics Table for Outstanding Direction, Movement Direction, Playwrighting, Acting, Puppet & Prop Design, and Puppet Performance. She teaches Movement for Theatre at ACC and St. Edwards University, and teaches workshops in puppetry locally (UT Austin), nationally (The O’Neill Theatre Center) and internationally (Université de Lorraine).

Lindsey Ollinger

Stage Manager

Lindsey is stoked to be a part of this production! After getting her theatrical debut with ACC in 2017, she transferred and graduated with a degree in stage management from The University of Texas. Her recent stage management credits include ACC’s Bat Boy: The Musical, Penfold Theatre's Vincent, and Ground Floor Theatre's Sanctuary City. She would like to thank her family and friends for their support, Ryan for being a constant source of stability and love, Matit for being Matit, and ACC Drama for always feeling like home.

Robert Buckland

Assistant Stage Manager

Robert is a former ACC student who has completed his general studies. He plans on transferring to Texas State to complete the technical theatre degree. Robert’s work includes Bat Boy: The Musical at ACC, Red By John Logan (ACC), Hearts Like Fists (ACC), Appeal (ACC), The Pajama Game, Mary Poppins, and The Addams Family. Robert would like to thank his family for their support.

Rachel Atkinson

Scenic & Media Designer

Rachel is a multi-disciplinary collaborative artist with a particular focus on designing theater for young audiences, immersive theater design, and design for devised theater. She is a faculty and staff member at Austin Community College. Rachel holds an MFA in Theatre Design from The University of Texas at Austin. .

Jacob Kilch

Assistant Scenic Designer

Jacob has been a technical theatre student since freshman year of high school. Graduating in 2017, his life-long goal is to work in the industry as a stage designer and graduate from ACC. He’s even a current overhire at the Zachary Scott Theatre here in Austin, previously working on the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. His previous works include Guys and Dolls (Westwood High School), Grease (Liberty Hill High School), Appeal (ACC), The Seven Wives of Dracula (Westwood) and A Streetcar Named Desire (Westwood).

Kerry Bechtel

Costume Designer

Kerry has been designing costumes for over thirty years. She has worked with such regional theatre and opera companies as the Saint Louis MUNY, Kansas City Repertory, Kansas City Ballet, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Rainbow Company Youth Theatre, Zilker Theatre Productions, Main Street Theater, Central City Opera, Unity Theatre and The Alpine Theatre Project. Kerry is a member of USA Local 829 and currently teaches at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas where she also serves as the Director of Production.

Asa Cavazos

Assistant Costume Designer/Wardrobe Head

Asa is a student at ACC studying creative writing and technical theatre with a specialization in costume and makeup artistry. She is excited to be a part of this production & for the opportunity to gain more experience!

Channing Schreyer

Lighting Designer

Channing is a faculty and staff member at Austin Community College and is grateful to be a member of both the Dance and Drama departments. Channing received their BA in Production Design and Studio Art from Pepperdine University and is an ACC alumnus. Recent Lighting Designs include The Long Christmas Ride Home, Bat Boy The Musical (B Iden Payne Award nominee), The Snow, Iphigenia at Aulis, and all of the ACC Dance Department’s performances since 2020.

Ollie Sofield

Assistant Lighting Designer/Master Electrician

Zia Fox

Sound Designer

Zia is a part-time freelance sound designer and audio engineer based in Austin. They are thrilled to be working with Austin Community College again for this production! Zia received their BA in Music Technology and MFA in Sound Design and Technology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Their local sound design credits include Austin Community College (The Long Christmas Ride Home; Bat Boy the Musical), Mary Moody Northen Theatre (Macbeth; Into the Woods; Godspell), Zilker Hillside Theater (Legally Blonde), and Summer Stock Austin (In the Heights; Alice’s Wonderland). Zia also has local credits as a Substitute Sound Advisor (Pippin, Texas State University), an A1 (Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch!, Zachary Scott Theatre), an A2 (A Christmas Carol; Into the Woods, Zachary Scott Theatre), and an Intern Technical Director (The Kindness of Strangers, The Hideout).

Bert Keefer

Puppet Design & Construction

Bert is super excited to be a part of the production team and is even more excited to make the jump from props and makeup and over to puppets.

Nan DeYoung

Assistant Puppet Design & Construction

Nan DeYoung has previously done theatrical work in the Waco and Killeen areas, where you may have seen them as Sandy in The SpongeBob Musical at Central Texas Theatre, or in an outdoor Shakespearean production at Tablerock Fest every summer in Salado. They would like to thank the wonderful faculty and fellow students at ACC for welcoming them into their great little drama community.

Izzy Rowland

Props Designer

Izzy is a student within the Technical Drama Department at ACC and is ecstatic to be involved with this production! Previous experience includes acting and creating props in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland at The Vortex for the Summer Youth Program. She would like to thank the ACC Drama Department for giving her this chance, her parents for always supporting her, and her friends for letting her vent to them.

Phillip David Weaver

Choreographer

Philip David Weaver has lived, studied, worked, volunteered, and performed in Austin since 2008. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts with majors in Classics, Latin, French, and Linguistics and a certificate in Paralegal Studies from the University of Texas, as well as an Associate’s of Arts in Dance and an Associate’s of Science in Computer Information Technology from Austin Community College. He studied Butoh with Yokko and Jordan Rosin, as well as master classes with Yuri and Seisaku. His list of credits comprises roles in many different positions, including Actor, Dancer, Instrumentalist, Director, Stage Manager, Choreographer, Writer, and Makeup Artist. His drag character Sister Serena Severe, a fixture of the local activist community, has appeared across the United States.

Kaela Williams

Hair & Makeup Designer

Kaela s a student at ACC in the Technical Theatre Department and is excited to be a part of this production! She would like to thank her family and friends for their support.

Tomas Salas

Scene Shop Head

Tomas has more than thirty years working as a professional theatre technician. He is a master scenic carpenter and lighting tech. His experience includes working in California as; the technical director for Luis Valdez’ El Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista, Master Electrician for the Mark Taper Forum and Japan America Theatre in Los Angeles. In Austin Tomas has worked as a freelance tech with just about every local theatre and dance company and in most performance spaces including the Paramount Theatre, State Theatre, ESB Mexican American Cultural Center, Carver Cultural Center, Zach Scott, Planet/Vortex, and others. He is very happy to be a part of the ACC Drama Dept. Team.

Christina Montgomery

Costume Shop Head

Christina received a BFA in Technical Theatre, Theatre Design, and Technology from the University of Kansas and has over 15 years of experience working in professional theatre. Her costume designs for (The Odyssey) were sent to represent KU in the RITU 24 International Theatre Festival in Liege, Belgium. After graduation, Christina worked with the Kansas City Ballet and Opera (Kansas City, MO) and the Theatrical Wardrobe Union Local 810. She moved to Austin, Texas, in 2013, where she was Wardrobe Supervisor at Zach Theatre for seven years. Costume Designs (Zach Theatre, Austin TX) include: (Every Brilliant Thing, Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch, Notes from the Field, Goodnight Moon, Elephant and Piggie, Winnie the Pooh, and Frog and Toad). She is excited to be part of the ACC Drama Department and would like to thank everyone for their hard work and support.

Joe Kelley

Puppeteer/Scenic Shop Assistant

Joe is an Austin resident with a passion for collaboration and storytelling who firmly believes it is not the destination that matters, but the journey itself. He has been active in the Austin performing arts community since 2014 as a designer, educator, scenic artist, director, technician, and performer. He’s collaborated with local companies such as: Pollyanna Theatre Co., The Archive Theatre, Impact Arts, Bottle Alley Theatre Co., Dirty Gold Theatre, and his home: ACC Drama.

Deya Macias

Puppeteer/Costume Shop Assistant

A recent ACC graduate with a Certificate in Costume Technology, Deya’s primary job is costume construction and alterations. They love helping realize the designer’s vision, as well as working backstage with wardrobe crew. They’ve worked as a costume shop assistant for most ACC productions since 2016, and even helped ASM for Frontera Fest and ScriptWorks shows outside of ACC since 2022. This production will be Deya’s puppeteer debut, and they are very excited to have this dream finally realized! Early interests in puppets include 31 Minutos, Zoboomafoo, Dinosaurs, and of course Sesame Street (but in Spanish, so Plaza Sesamo), with Child’s Play, Puppet Master, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared and The Dark Crystal becoming later favorites. Deya’s first appearance on the stage assisting a puppet (with their makeup) was in “Felt”, ScriptWorks’ 10 minute play from the 2024’s lineup of Out Of Ink.

Cynthia Gage

Puppeteer

Cynthia Gage believes in the magic of creativity, education, and joy. She is an Austin native and holds degrees from the University of North Texas and Baylor University. Cynthia participates in the local Austin theatre scene both onstage and backstage. As always, she is so incredibly grateful to be a part of this production, ACC Drama, and this community.

Noah Sanchez

Puppeteer

Noah is in his final year as a technical theatre student and happy to be making his debut as a performer on the ACC stage! His previous work at ACC includes Appeal (Asst. Costume Designer), Hearts Like Fists (Asst. Scenic Designer), and Red (Light Board Operator). He’s thankful for the opportunity to continue exploring new creative avenues in theatre, and he hopes you enjoy the show!

Marcus McQuirter

Producer

Marcus is a faculty member in the Drama Department at ACC where he teaches Voice, Acting, and Introduction to Theater. He would like to thank the cast & production team for their work on this production.

Light Board Op: Samuel Baldwin-Pointer

Sound Board Op: Grace Galiba

ASL Interpreting Students: Ravi S. Rāmphal, Able R. Bee, Dawn Clark, Rebekah Bond & Christopher Mena 

Set Run Crew: Justin Clark, Ruby Cloke, Izza Dehaven, Brenden Kellicker, Vic Lott

Make-Up Run Crew: Kaela Williams

Wardrobe Run Crew: Izzy Rowland, Audrey Hoch, Angel Robles

SPECIAL THANKS:

ACC Campus Security

ACC Campus Management

Reuven View

Cynthia Gage

Brandon Whatley, Associate Vice Chancellor Workforce Education

Perry Crafton, Dean of Arts and Digital Media

ADM Staff 

Sam Coldiron

Georgetown Palace Theatre Education

Ordinary Days
Music & Lyrics by Adam Gwon

Directed by Gabriel Peña

Feb. 7-Mar. 1, 2025
Penfold Theatre

2120 N. Mays St. #290, Round Rock, TX 78664
Tickets: $19-$39

Ages 14+

penfoldtheatre.org

Penfold Theatre Company presents Ordinary Days, a musical about finding fulfillment and rediscovering love in the city that never sleeps. 

Ordinary Days is a small cast chamber musical with an outstanding score by Drama Desk Award-nominated composer and lyricist Adam Gwon. It's a refreshingly frank, funny show about forging real connections in a city of 8.3 million people.

More info: https://www.penfoldtheatre.org/event/ordinary-days/2025-03-01/