Featuring an original immersive Pre-show experience
Directed by Jacey Little
August 4 - 20, 2017
1891 St. John Church, The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park
DIRECTOR … JACEY LITTLE
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CHURCH CAST CRIS SKELTON BRITTNY BUSH MARGARET LEWIS ALLI VILLINES HORSE HEAD IMMERSIVE PRE-SHOW CAST DANTÉ ANDERSON DANO COLÓN JAYDEN KEY MAI LE BRITNEY WALKER-MERRITTE CONNOR WOODS |
about the playwright
Young Jean Lee (Playwright) has been called “hands down, the most adventurous downtown playwright of her generation” by the New York Times and “one of the best experimental playwrights in America” by Time Out New York. Lee is a writer, director, filmmaker, and experimental playwright. She has written and directed many shows in New York as the artistic director of her nonprofit Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, and toured her work to over 30 cities globally. Lee's credits as writer and director include Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (2003), The Appeal (2004), and Pullman, WA (2005). Her 2006 FCA grant supported Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven (2006). Her works subsequent to her 2006 Grants to Artists award include Church (2007), The Shipment (2008), Lear (2009), Untitled Feminist Show (2010), and Straight White Men (2013). Lee's first short film, Here Come the Girls (2013), was presented at The Locarno International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and BAMcinemaFest. Her work has also been presented at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, Joe's Pub, Soho Repertory Theater, The Kitchen, The Public Theater, Performance Space 122, and HERE Arts Center. Her work has toured throughout the United States and internationally at venues in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Zurich, Budapest, Seoul, Sydney, and elsewhere. Subsequent to her 2006 Grants to Artists award, Lee received a Brooklyn College Young Alumni Award (2009), two OBIE Awards (2007, 2011), a Prize in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2010), a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2011), a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award (2012), and a Doris Duke Artist Residency (2013). Lee has completed residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, Hedgebrook, the Park Avenue Armory, Orchard Project, HERE Arts Center, and Brooklyn Arts Exchange. She has also received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Rockefeller MAP Fund, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, Creative Capital, the Greenwall Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Arts Presenters/Ford Foundation Creative Capacity Grant, the Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation, and the New England Foundation for the Arts: National Theater Project Award. Lee graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English. She holds an M.F.A. from Brooklyn College, where she studied playwriting with Mac Wellman. She is on the board of Yaddo.
CHURCH BY YOUNG JEAN LEE - CAST
Margaret Lewis (REVEREND MARGARET) is making her Horse Head debut. Most recently, she performed both weekends with Mildred's Umbrella for Museum of Dysfunction IX. She was also in Museum of Dysfunction VIII and Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. Some past credits include: New American Voices Play Reading Series (Landing Theatre Company), The Little Prince (Luciole International Theatre), The Odd Couple (Texas Repertory Theatre), HYPE (Alley Theatre), and The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Celebration Theatre).
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Brittny Bush (REVEREND BRITTNY) has performed with many local theater companies including – Classical Theater Company: Barber of Seville, The Christmas Carol 2014 & 2015; Cone Man Running Productions: Five Minute Mile 2016; Boiling Point Players: Improv Play x 3; Main Street Theater (partial listing): Harriet the Spy, Love and Information, Junie B. Jones The Musical, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Stargirl, Close Up Space, My Wonderful Day; Mildred’s Umbrella: Museum of Dysfunction 2016, Large Animal Games; InterACTive Theater (partial listing): Harriet Tubman, and Jack and the Beanstalk. Brittny has also worked as a theater teacher with Main Street Theater Summer Camp and is currently a teacher with the Hope Stone Project. She is a native Houstonian with a BA in Theater Acting and Directing from the University of Houston.
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Cris Skelton (REVEREND CRIS) is excited to be back with Horse Head after performing in The Judgment of Fools (Fool 6). Previous stage credits include: Leading Ladies (Duncan) and Scapino! (Sylvestro) for Unity Theatre; 39 Steps (Clown) for Queensbury Theatre; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Guildenstern) and When the Day Met the Night: A Moosehunt Experience (Elery) for Obsidian Theater; Cassandra (Apollo) and Notions of Right and Wrong (Crocodile) for Mildred’s Umbrella; Balm in Gilead (Dopey) for the Back Porch Players; The House of Yes (Anthony) for Tutto Theatre Company. He has been a company member of The Coda Project in Austin, The New Movement in Austin and New Orleans, At-Random in San Marcos, and was a founding member of Station Theater in Houston. He is also a regular contributor and performer at Grown-Up Storytime and Neo-Benshi for BooTown. He holds a BFA in Acting from Texas State University and trained in improv comedy with The New Movement, iO Chicago, and Upright Citizens Brigade-Los Angeles.
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Alli Villines (REVEREND ALLI / MUSICIAN) MUSICAL THEATRE: The Wild Party, Catch Me If You Can, Mary Poppins, Smile, Carousel, Annie Get Your Gun, Cinderella, Grease, Hatfields and McCoys, Honey in the Rock, Little Shop of Horrors. PLAYS: The Christians, One Man Two Guvnors, Nation, Lobster Alice. OPERA: Viva La Mamma, Nixon in China, Die Zauberflöte, La Boheme, Dido and Aeneas, La Perichole, Game of Chance, Slow Dusk. GUEST ARTIST: A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, Gone Country. PUPPETRY: Nation, A Global Economy, Sesame Street Forest of Fun, Dine with Elmo and Friends, Sesame Christmas, Countdown to Halloween. THEME PARK: Celtic Fyre, Miracles, Sesame Street Forest of Fun. CHOREOGRAPHY: A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, Reefer Madness. NEW WORKS/WORKSHOPS: Speakeasy, Babe: An Olympic Musical, Sole Mates. COMPANIES: Houston Grand Opera, Alley Theatre, Phoenix Theatre, Phoenix Symphony, Lonestar Lyric, PMT Productions, Island ETC, SRO Productions, Ash Lawn Opera, Heritage Theatre Festival, Live Arts, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Theatre West Virginia. UPCOMING: Babe: An Olympic Musical at the National Women’s Music Festival, Church with Horse Head Theatre Co.
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Also, featuring Danté Anderson as "Soloist" (see bio below).
HORSE HEAD IMMERSIVE PRE-SHOW CAST
Danté Anderson (REVEREND DANTÉ & SOLOIST) graduated from Houston Baptist University with a degree in vocal performance. His other stage credits include Go Yell it on the Mountain with Standing Room Only Productions, and supernumerary roles in Houston Grand Opera’s productions of Tristan un Isolde and Fidelio.
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Dano Colón (REVEREND DANO) studied theater at St. John's University in Minnesota, the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theater in Blue Lake, CA, and Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Etampes, France. He is the co-founder of Time to Quit! Theatre, a clown and Commedia Dell'Arte company based out of Kalmar, Sweden. He has performed in Houston with Company Onstage, Rec Room, Houston Theater Company, Misnomers, and the Alley ECE.
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Jayden Key (REVEREND JAYDEN) is thrilled to be in his first production with Horse Head Theatre Co. Just graduating out of high school a year ago, Jayden wants to thank his family for being there and always supporting him.
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Mai Le (REVEREND MAI) Previous local roles include: Rhiannon/Evelyn/Dre/Gloria/The Zoogoers in Precious Little, by Madeleine George (Next Iteration Theatre Company, or NITC); Fiona in in a word, by Lauren Yee (NITC); Working Lunch, by B. N. Reichenberger (Boiling Point Players); Christie in CREEP, by MT Cozzola (Wordsmyth Theatre Company); Kate as Stage Directions in 10 Ways on a Gun, by Dylan Lamb (Landing Theatre Company); Penny Stripling in The Baby, by Lisa Omlie (NITC); Ly in Time is the Mercy of Eternity: A meditation in four acts, by Deb Margolin (NITC); Amber/Bethany/Ginny in As Bees in Honey Drown, by Douglas Carter Beane (Queensbury Theatre); Peggy Norris in The Me Generation, by Catherine Rush (Landing Theatre Company); Estelle in No Exit, byJean-Paul Sartre (Firecracker Productions); Ariel in The Tempest (Company Onstage); and Betty/Kafka in All in the Timing, by David Ives (Landing Theatre).
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Britney Walker-Merritte (REVEREND BRITNEY) made her Horse Head Theatre Company debut as Danny & Diana in Sensitive Guys. Recent credits include Esther in Intimate Apparel, Cook/Ensemble in Amadeus (TheatreSquared). At the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, she appeared as Phebe in What Holds the Future, Sarah in Perfect Adornment, Clarinda in Secrets of the Midwives, and Phillis in Faith Hope and Love. She wrote/performed/produced A Night of Poetry, Poetry for Mothers, and The Voice that Speaks. She holds an MFA in Acting from University of Arkansas.
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Connor Ahngus Woods (REVEREND CONNOR) Connor is a graduate of the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance’s Playwriting and Dramaturgy program. He currently works as an improviser at CSz Houston and can be seen in ComedySportz, the longest running improv show in Houston, and with his long form troupe, Better Linda. This summer he will also be a member of the Houston Shakespeare Festival’s dramaturgy team.
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ARTISTIC & PRODUCTION TEAM
Greg Cote (Musical Director & Composer) is a proud graduate of the University of Houston SOTD where he received his BFA. Favorite past roles include: Paul in Snow White and Ensemble in Tamarie's Merry Evening of Mistakes & Regrets (Catastrophic Theatre); Kugle in 10 Ways on a Gun (Landing Theatre Company); Noah in Cherry Muffins: A Demon Play (Cone Man Running); Ensemble in Love & Information (MST); Matt/Homer in Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play (Cape Rep); Bird/Others in The Birds, Fred/Past/others in A Christmas Carol (CTC); Robert in Boeing Boeing (Unity Theatre); Mickey in Greetings! (Texas Rep); Herman Mann/Paul Revere/Others in Deborah (Unashamed Heat!); Horatio in Hamlet, Le Beau in As You Like It, and Porter in MacBeth (Houston Shakespeare Festival); Kelso in Robert Whul’s Hit-Lit (Queens Theatre); Daddy in The Dinner Table (Theatre for the 99%); Edwin in Our Lady Of 121st St.,Eddie/Dr. Scott in The Rocky Horror Show, Paroles in Alls Well That Ends Well, Ezra Chater in Arcadia, and Bob, The Pizza Boy in bobrauschenbergamerica (UHSOTD); and other various readings, workshops and collaborations around Houston. Mr. Cote is a theatre teacher at Duchesne Academy and can also be seen most Saturday mornings performing as Garbage Man Joe, the host of Rec Room's recurring children's sketch comedy show, Garbage Island, written by Abby Koenig. Greg is also a local musician and his band Greg Cote & The Real Life Friends will be releasing new music this year and can be found at gregcoteandthereallifefriends.bandcamp.com. Thank you for supporting Houston's artists.
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J. Mitchell Cronin (Lighting Design) Horse Head Theatre Co.: The Judgement of Fools; Main Street Theater: The Last Wife, Native Gardens, How I Became a Pirate (MATCH and Hobby Center),The Revolutionists, Duck for President, RFK, Red Hot Patriot, Harriet the Spy, Magic Tree House: A Night in New Orleans, Goodnight Moon, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse; Prague Shakespeare Company MST: Much Ado About Nothing, Venus in Fur, Twelfth Night; Stages Repertory Theatre: Honky Tonk Angels at Miller Outdoor Theatre (Assoc. Design), Panto Wonderful Wizard, Panto Snow Queen: Unfrozen; The Ensemble Theatre: Simply Simone, The First Noel, A Soulful Christmas; Catastrophic Theatre Company- Tamarie's Merry Evening of Mistakes and Regrets; Classical Theatre Company- The Bear/Proposal, The Ghost Sonata; A.D.Players: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Charlotte’s Web; Prohibition Theatre: Eat Me, The Jazz Age; Opera in the Heights: The Telephone and the Medium; DiverseWorks: What Shall We Do Next; Urban Souls Dance Company: Between Two Worlds, Three City Blocks; Sam Houston State University: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Much Ado About Nothing, Trojan Women, Waiting for Godot, Enron; (Dance Lighting Design) Spectrum: Drift; It’s Good to See You Again; Texas Dance Improvisation Festival. Education: B.F.A., Sam Houston State University, Theatre Design and Technology; Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas. www.JMCdesigns.info
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Sydnee Davis (Stage Manager) is a class of ’15 graduate from Hendrix College, where she studied Theater Arts with a concentration in Psychology. Her credits include the lead role as Abby in The Hourglass Project by Lee Blessing, and supporting role in the children’s play L’estrange Mysteriux by Ann Muse. Her technical credits include directing a short scene from Marisol by Jose Rivera, as well as writing and directing an adaptation of the Maya Angelou poem ‘Alone’. Outside of the theater she appeared in a silent short film Fleur, as well as the lead role in a mini-series “Nicole”. Her technical credits include Stage Manager for Mr. Marmalade by Noah Haidle, Redemption Series, This Is Modern Art by Kevin Coval and Idris Goodwin, Small Jokes About Monsters by Steven Strafford, and In Darfur by Winter Miller. She is eager to work with Horse Head company!
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Justin Dunford (Properties Design) Justin is a local artist, designer, and theatre professional. Dunford graduated from the University of Houston School of Drama with a B.A. in 2005 and has been heavily involved in the local theatre scene. Dunford has performed in many shows and was a company member of Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre from 2004 to 2014. He founded Red-handed productions which specializes in Puppet theatre in 2014. He has been involved in the construction and painting of many sets for a variety of theatres and groups in Houston, and has also assistant directed for Classical Theatre on Ubu Roi, Faustus, and The Byrds. This production is Dunford’s second with Horse Head Theatre Co., following The Judgment of Fools scenic design. He currently works at The Kinkaid School as a tech theatre assistant.
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Lydia Hance (Choreographer) Dubbed Houston’s “queen of curious locations,” Lydia Hance is the Founding Executive and Artistic Director of Frame Dance Productions. She has been named an Emerging Leader by Dance/USA and Arts + Culture Texas has described her as "sharply focused." Born out of a desire to connect dance with technology and facilitate collaboration among diverse artists, she founded Frame Dance in 2010 and the company has quickly become a fresh and energetic presence through their internationally screened dance films and responsive, intimate performance in unconventional spaces. Hance has choreographed works on the Galveston pier, the METRO light rail, in the backs of U Haul trucks, downtown tunnels, clawfoot bathtubs and museums, stages, and warehouses. A champion of new music composers, her work deepens interdisciplinary and multigenerational collaborations, and investigates the placement of dance in our lives. Hance is a choreographer, curator, filmmaker, educator, and dance writer originally from the California Bay Area. She holds degrees in Dance Performance and English Literature from SMU and trained at the Taylor School, Graham School, Tisch School of the Arts, Limon Institute and SMU. Since 2011 she has been a curator of the Third Coast Dance Film Festival, and has served on the artist boards of DiverseWorks, and Fresh Arts.
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Jacey Little (Director) is the Artistic Director of Horse Head Theatre Co. (HH), Mildred’s Umbrella Theatre Co. company member and Production Manager at the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO). In 2017, Jacey will also direct Feathers and Teeth by Charise Castro Smith with Mildred’s Umbrella, a staged reading of Sensitive Guys co-presented by Horse Head and AFTER. Jacey’s past work includes the development and direction of The Whale; or, Moby-Dick* by Timothy N. Evers, Philip Hays & Herman Melville (Houston Press 2015 “Best New Play” Winner) and Spaghetti Code* by Abby Koenig (BroadwayWorld Houston 2014 “Best New Play or Musical” Winner) with HH; the development and direction of the first performance of Dialogues on Grace by Cressandra Thibodeaux; Dollface* by Katharine Sherman with Mildred’s Umbrella (Houston Press 2016 “Best New Play”) and Ten Ways on a Gun by Dylan Lamb with The Landing Theatre Company. Jacey is the former Literary Manager and Dramaturg for the Alley Theatre. Highlights of her Alley dramaturgy credits include Warrior Class* by Kenneth Lin, The Mountaintop by Katori Hall (Arena Stage co-pro) and What We’re Up Against* by Theresa Rebeck. As a freelance dramaturg, Jacey has worked with The Landing Theatre Company, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company, Wordsmyth Theatre Company, 14 Pews and Obsidian Theater. Jacey received her MFA in Dramaturgy and Theatre Historiography from University of Houston and her BFA in Dramaturgy with an English Literature minor, from University of Oklahoma. *Indicates a world premiere.
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Laura Moreno (Costume Design) is a recent graduate of the University of Houston BFA Acting Program. Previous credits include: Leading Ladies, The Judgement of Fools, Oklahoma!, The Grapes of Wrath, The History of Tom Jones, Antigone, A Chorus Line, You Can’t Take It With You, Agamemnon, Holy Rollers, The Snow Queen, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, End of Side A, Romeo & Juliet and ¡Bocón!. She was most recently seen as Vera in She Kills Monsters and Kitty in world premiere of Cherry Muffins. Prior to UH, Ms. Moreno spent several years working in the cosmetics and fashion industry in New York City, and is a professional makeup artist.
Jana Whatley (Co-Production Manager) A Houston based sculpture, installation, and performance artist who graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Arts in Sculpture in 2014, Jana has done work for Lone Star Explosion, Performance Art Houston, Experimental Action, and is a former member of Houston performance art collective Continuum. Her varied professional and creative experiences in painting, carpentry, ceramics, arts leadership, performance, sculpture, installation, and theatre have encouraged the growth of her dynamic practice. She is a Jack of all trades with an aptitude for ways and means.
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Julia Claire Wallace (Co-Production Manager) is a Houston based performance artist and organizer. She has performed with and without permission in a variety of contexts, from art galleries to bars to grocery stores. She grew up in Houston, Texas and received her BFA in painting from the University of Houston in 2009 and is currently working towards her MA in Arts Leadership at the University of Houston. She served as a facilitator to Performance Art Lab, one of Houston’s most mischievous art collectives, and was one of the founding members of their guerilla flash dance project sexyATTACK. She is also a founder and former facilitator of Continuum, a social sculpture consisting of a group of performance artists joined in the aspiration to create a safe and encouraging space to grow through performance art. She was a co-director and co-curator of Lone Star Explosion 2014 and is currently co-directing Experimental Action, a new international Houston performance art festival. She is the creator of Performance Art Houston, an entity created to nurture the performance art community through events, resources and innovation. Her personal art is often a cathartic exploration of desire, the body, and personal experience. She happily lives in an old house filled with history, peeling paint and the laughter of her daughter Lily. www.juliaclairewallace.com.
Connor Ahngus Woods (Dramaturg & Pre-show Cast) Connor is a graduate of the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance’s Playwriting and Dramaturgy program. He currently works as an improviser at CSz Houston and can be seen in ComedySportz, the longest running improv show in Houston, and with his long form troupe, Better Linda. This summer he will also be a member of the Houston Shakespeare Festival’s dramaturgy team.
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This project is generously sponsored and hosted by The Heritage Society.
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The Heritage Society (THS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to tell the stories of the diverse history of Houston and Texas through collections, exhibits, educational programs, film, video, and other content. Founded in 1954 by a number of public-spirited Houstonians to rescue the 1847 Kellum-Noble House from demolition, The Heritage Society has since saved an additional nine historic buildings, moved them from various locations to join the Kellum-Noble House in Sam Houston Park, and restored them to reflect their respective eras. These ten buildings, along with the Museum Gallery, serve as historic reference points and exhibition spaces for more than 23,000 artifacts that document life in Houston from the early 1800s to the mid-1900s.
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