Eight 10s in Tucson ONLINE
May 28 – June 30, 2021 ShowTix4U The 3rd Annual Eight 10s in Tucson ONLINE 10-minute play festival features eight original scripts chosen from hundreds of blind submissions from all over America, vetted and curated to assemble an eclectic collection of comedies and dramas on a myriad of themes pertinent to our lives. |
Selected from 300 submissions from around
the country, the selected plays include:
the country, the selected plays include:
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FESTIVAL PRODUCTION TEAM
Samantha Severson
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Denise Blum
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Maria A. Caprile
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China Young
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Production Support & Special Thanks: Mike Saxon
YOU CAN BAKE!
Desperation takes hold when Lila realizes her Zoom baking class is going off the rails. Her students don't listen, the technology is imperfect, baking via Zoom is harder than it looks, and to make matters worse, her ex-boyfriend is taking the class.
Andrea Aptecker (Playwright) is a teacher and playwright from Cambridge, Massachusetts, a member of the Dramatists Artists Guild of America, and serves on the Board of Directors of Playwrights' Platform. Her plays and monologues have been performed across the United States and the UK. Andrea's short film is a documentary about her father, photographer George Aptecker: In the Darkroom. Her 10-minute play, Unapologetic, is included in the Boston Theater Marathon XXII Anthology, published by Smith and Kraus, 2020.
You can find her plays on the New Play Exchange: Andrea Aptecker | New Play Exchange. |
Joshua Lorris (Director) is a performer, creator, and teacher based in Minneapolis. Joshua explores improvisation and creative process in performance. With the body has the primary source, his work navigates the layers of daily experience that humans carry moment to moment. Select performance credits include the work of Xu Jiali, Leigh Fondakowski, Wendell Beavers, Amanda Hamp, Jane Hawley, Bob Holman, Ami Dayan, and Valerie Williams. Joshua's creative foundation is Action Theater (Ruth Zaporah), Open Source Forms (Stephanie Skurra), the Six View Points (Wendell Beavers), Roy Hart Extended Voice (Ethie Friend), and Body Mind Centering (Erika Berland). In addition to degrees from Luther College (BA Theatre/Dance) and Naropa University (MFA Theatre), Joshua is a trained Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst and is a certified teacher of Open Source Forms, a practice developed and expanded from Skinner Releasing Technique.
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Gianbari Debora Deebom (Lila) is an aspiring entertainer and all-round artist in Tucson, AZ. A recent Grad from Pima Community College; some of her credits include Singin' in the Rain (Miss Dinsmore), Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Mr. and Miss Stapleton), Mamma Mia! (Rose), Tartuffe (Monsieur Loyal), and The Magic Rainforest: An Amazon Journey (Wakote and Turtle). Her professional work includes The Little Foxes (Addie), Moby Dick (Dagoo), Valerie: A Cosplay Monologue (Valerie), and Aristophanes v. Euripides: Dawn of Poetic Justice (Myrrhine), Sweeny Todd (Beggar Woman), and recently: Gloria: A Life at the Invisible Theatre. Special thanks to my family for putting up with my Zoom rehearsals.
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Andy Ober (Lorenzo) recently moved to Tucson from Indianapolis, where he performed in shows including Spamalot, Noises Off, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and was a part of the ComedySportz Indianapolis professional comedy improv troupe. In Tucson, he has performed as part of the Dinner Detective murder mystery dinner theater.
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Annie Koepf (Tatiana), after a lifetime of being a benovelent dictator for a small mini kingdom, started acting 4 years ago. It has been a wonderful opportunity for her during this part of her life. She has worked with many theatre companies in town. Favorite roles include being a bearded lady brother in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Helga van Dorp in Deathtrap. Annie is grateful to be cast for the second year in an Eight 10s in Tucson play with Winding Road. When not acting, she loves getting out in nature and walking and hiking and traveling. She shares her space with a wonderful rescue dog named Annabelle. Life is very, very good!
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Bella Vivante (Martina) is thrilled to debut with Winding Road Theater Ensemble. She acted professionally in San Francisco, performed roles in Ancient Greek and diverse roles in Tucson, including ensemble work: Townswoman in Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, Stephana in The Tempest, Kate in A Tucson Pastorela. Other theatrical activities: English translations of Euripides' Helen and Aristophanes' Woman at the Thesmophoria, scriptwriting, directing, and assisting on a regional summer fesitival theatre program in Greece. She still avidly folkdances, wants to expand her stand-up comedy chops, and loves leading tripts to Greece—check out her next Greece theater program, rescheduled for summer 2022.
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COASTER
A nervous Maria gets onto a roller coaster with her boyfriend Paul, who realizes she has ulterior motives for bringing them there.
Scott Mullen (Playwright) is a longtime Hollywood screenplay analyst and screenwriter, a two-time winner of Amazon Studios' screenwriting contest, whose thrillers The Summoning, In Broad Daylight, and Blood On Her Badge aired on TV One. His short plays have been produced hundreds of times around the world. An evening of his comic plays, A Night of S.M., recently had a two-week run in Hollywood.
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Marguerite Saxton (Director) started as an actor & circus performer before finding the behind-the-scenes world. She is a director, playwright, and theatre tech who's worked with various theaters such as Scoundrel & Scamp, Flam Chen, Pima Community College, Zuzi!, and Borderlands. She served as Assistant Director for Tucson's All Souls Procession, and recently directed a visual essay of her own making, entitled jd. In Fall 2021, she will begin her MFA in Theatre Directing at the University of Hawai'i, further developing her interest in surreal pieces based in movement & sound. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to direct with Winding Road on the 2021 Eight 10s In Tucson ONLINE.
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Myani Watson (Maria) is appearing in her first production with Winding Road. She's excited to get back to performing since her hiatus due to the pandemic. She had been consistently working at Old Tucson before its closure. Most recently she has appeared in Arts Express' West Side Story. She's happy to have this role as Maria in Coaster, and looks forward to future ones.
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Tom Cracovaner (Paul) has had recent pre-pandemic theatre performances including Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical, Blithe Spirit, Crazy for You, and Nana's Naughty Knickers. He earned eligibility in the Screen Actors Guild for a national television commercial appearance and creates, produces, and performs in Keep Tucson Sketchy. He's starred in the cable TV show The Scorcher Report, and has appeared in many short and feature films. Tom is a recording artist and musician (Triple Double Band and Craig Green Band) and has recently released parody music as Tom Bly the song spoof guy. He is also a nationally awarded poet and published fiction author who is revising his first novel for publication.
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MISPLACED
Jane's grief over her recent miscarriage drives her to find her first ever heartbreak, her sixth grade boyfriend Abe, forcing him to participate in her deep need to know "why."
Cassie M. Seinuk (Playwright) is a Jewish Cuban playwright, stage manager, artist, and educator in Boston, MA. Her play From the Deep woin the Pestalozzi New Play Prize, the KCACTF Latinx Playwrights Award, the Boston University Jewish Culture Endowment, Honorable Mention on the 2015 Kilroys List, and IRNE Award nominations. Eye Shut. Door Open. (ESDO) received the Bob Jolly Charitable Fund, and won an OnStage Critics Award for an Outstanding New Work. Dream House developed at New Rep Next Voices Fellows, semi-finalist for the National Playwrights Conference, and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Finalist 2017. Una Me Da Leche was a semi-finalist for the National Playwrights Conference. Short play Occupy Hallmark won the 2015 KCACTF National Ten Minute Play Award. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild and AEA. Cassie teaches at Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music.
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Esther Almazan (Director) is a Tucson Theatre Artist and has an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Arizona State University. Her scripts have been staged in the Pandora Festival, Apron Strings Project, ASU's Mainstage and TheatreLabs, Write Now, Institute of American Indian Arts, and Cadenza Theatre. Her play, Indian School, received the Kennedy Center Latinx Playwrighting Award for Distinguished Achievement, the ariZoni Theatre Awards of Excellence, and was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O'Neill NPC. Esther is the proud recipient of the Gammage Scholar Award for 2019-2020.
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Jacqueline Garza (Jane) is a Yuma native that recently moved to Tucson, AZ. She had acted in many productions with Yuma Community Theater, Yuma Art Center, and Arizona Western College. Her roles include Anne Frank from Diary of Anne Frank, Ana from Woman Have Curves, Hero from Much Ado About Nothing. She has also worked on the technical side of theater as an assistant director and most recently as a lighting designer/operator. Jacqueline is honored to be a part of this show as it marks her first show in Tucson.
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Jake Wesley Montgomery (Abe) most recently performed Imprint Theatreworks' First Impressions play festival. Prior to COVID, he performed as Sam in Shakespeare In Love with Shakespeare Dallas, Alan in Equus with Lakeside, and Otto in Spring Awakening with SMU; he has played roles such as Satan in the Last Days of Judas Iscariot and Princeton in Avenue Q. He earned his BFA in Theatre from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
More info about Jake at: jakewmontgomery.com |
RECIPE
A family confronts more than one kind of change as its weekly Sunday dinner is relegated to a Zoom chat.
Robert Weibezahl's (Playwright) And Lightning Struck: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Creation, first commissioned and presented by Lit Live in Simi Valley, California, won the Quarantine Playwriting Competition at the Grand Theatre, Cartersville, Georgia. Other full-length plays include Which Way the Wind Blows, a finalist for the Dayton (Ohio) Playhouse's FutureFest 2019, and Hold On, featured at the 2019 Palisades Playwrights Festival in Los Angeles. Weibezahl's short plays have been performed live and virtually by theatre groups in New York, California, Arizona, Minnesota, Kansas, and Australia. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
More info about Weibezahl at: www.robertweibezahl.wordpress.com |
Jonathan "MJ" Barbee (Director) is currently a junior at the University of Arizona where he is studying Theatre Arts, with minors in Photography and Arts Administration. He started performing on the stage at 12 in his hometown of Orange, VA. In his free time, MJ is also a photographer for the university, a freelance worker, and is a member of the collegiate a cappella group, Notoriety.
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Cynthia Villareal-Jeffrey (Deborah) previously appeared in Winding Road's productions of The Little Foxes (Regina), The Big Meal (Woman #1), and Consolation (Ellen Wilson). She was most recently in Invisible Theatre's Gloria: A Life (Gloria Steinem). A resident of both Hawaii and Arizona, Cynthia has been nominated for 6 MAC Awards, winning for LTW's Best Performance recognition for The Glass Menagerie (Amanda), and has earned 4 Tiki Awards for Best Actress. She previously co-owned and operated Wide Eyed Theatre, has worked as a DJ, and co-produced three videos on Teen Crime Prevention with the Maui County Prosecutor's Office. Her film credits include Lost River: Lincoln's Secret Weapon, The Greening of Eritrea, Spin, Animal Planet's I Shouldn't be Alive, Finley Wade, Dead West, Survive, The 3 O'Clock. Other notable performance credits include The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Mag), The Lady in the Looking Glass (Narrator), Richard III (Queen Elizabeth), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Big Mama), just to name a few.
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Steve McKee (Jerry) is excited to be returning with Winding Road, having participated in Stain from the 1st season of Eight 10 plays. Steve has worked with many local theatre companies including The Rogue Theatre, Live Theatre Workshop, Arizona Rose Theatre, and The Gaslight Theatre. Favorite roles include Alan in God of Carnage and Roger Debris in The Producers. Thanks for supporting the arts and enjoy the show!!
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Roark Polzin (CJ), a Tucson resident, fell in love with the stage just five years ago when he got involved with community theatre, and has been a maker and artist for as long as he can remember. As a multifaceted creator, he enjoys all aspects of theatre and has done work as a costume designer, prop maker, and production manager, in addition to character acting and improv performance. Some of his favorite moments on stage include his roles in Peter Pan, Laertes in Hamlet, and Steve in She Kills Monsters. Roark is excited to be a part of Recipe and can't wait to breathe life into the vital message it brings.
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Noë Austin (Dylan) has been dancing and singing since they were 3 years old. They began acting in middle school where they were cast as Tessie in Annie Jr. and Sister Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls Jr. They went on to do subsequent productions of Macbeth, Hairspray, and High School Musical. They served as dance captain in their college hip hop dance club. In their free time, they like to practice Mandarin, learn new dances of all forms, and learn new makeup styles.
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THE OFFERING
When a young black man is gunned down by the police, one bereaved mother tries to comfort another.
Andrea Fine Carey (Playwright) is a playwright and lyricist based in Maryland and Virginia. Her works include two award-winning short plays (Jump and Strange Brew), a full-length comedy (Moving On), a full-length drama (Lost Causes), and a brand new musical (The Reluctant Queen). Her plays explore human relationships and portray the flaws, weaknesses, and inherent goodness of everyday people. Andrea is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.
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Roberta Rubin (Ellen Goldblum) got up on the stage at age 4 and refused to get down. Following a professional career in Ballet, Ro let her inherited flair for comedy and acting loose. Ro's grandmother was a Stand-Up Comic, who taught her 3 essential words: "Timing Is Everything." Randomly Meeting Maria Caprile led to a wonderful association with the Winding Road Theater Ensemble. Back for a second run with the Eight 10s in Tucson, Ro is proud to be part of the moving and beautiful story of The Offering. Please enjoy it, and all of the ten minute jewels presented in the festival.
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Louise Reid Ritchie (Tesa Hightower) is making her Annual Eight 10's debut by playing Tesa in The Offering. Her previous roles include: Mama in Raisin in the Sun (Monticello, Florida), Maria in Twelfth Night (Tallahassee, Florida), and Lady Cynthia in The Real Inspector Hound (San Antonio, Mexico). A former psychologist and Navy officer, she resides near Guadalajara, Mexico, to where she moved from Florida two years ago.
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THE ELUSIVE PURSUIT OF MAXIMUM BLISS
A wealthy man and a female researcher explore multiple timelines to explore the feasibility of 100% happiness.
Ken Preuss (Playwright) is a former children's magician, aspiring actor, deejay, and improvisational comedian who became a teacher to guarantee himself an audience 5 days a week. His published one-acts for teens include Shuffling, Alienated, and Campsite Chaos. His short plays, The Elusive Pursuit of Maximum Bliss, Taking Sum Lumps, and A Dave with Destiny, are produced world-wide. Although his plays have reached Australia, Canada, China, England, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and 48 of the 50 states, Ken can be found rooted near Orlando with his wife, sons, and assorted pets.
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Alex Totillo (Director; she/her) is a University of Arizona Alum where she majored in psychology. While there, she had a few opportunities to direct while earning her theater minor. She directed and helped produce the student written play, Never Forgotten. She is excited to return to directing after participating in theater around Tucson as a stage manager, dramaturg, actor, and as a children's improv instructor with Troubadour Theater. You might have seen her in last year's Eight 10s play, The Wolves.
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Richard 'Chomps' Thompson (Max) is a local playwright and performer who has had the honor and privilege of working with the incredible artists of the Tucson community, both on stage and behind the camera. Richard's acting career has spanned live stage, voice over, film, and contemporary art installations. A heart poet and James Beard nominee, he has also produced original pieces in Tucson, Last Call (The Community Players; 2017) and The GRANDest Pageant (Tucson Fringe Festival; 2019), and his first independent film, You.kNow.Me (2019) was nominated for an Apex award. His prior work with Winding Road includes Trigorin in Stupid F$#@ing Bird (2019), and Cal in The Little Foxes (2019). He has most recently continued his learning as an Arizona Theater Company cohort for the 2019/2020 season as well as a current student of the Theater Bennett Conservatory, where he practices Shakespearian form and Stanislovskian technique.
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Gianbari Debora Deebom (Elle) is an aspiring entertainer and all-round artist in Tucson, AZ. A recent Grad from Pima Community College; some of her credits include Singin' in the Rain (Miss Dinsmore), Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Mr. and Miss Stapleton), Mamma Mia! (Rose), Tartuffe (Monsieur Loyal), and The Magic Rainforest: An Amazon Journey (Wakote and Turtle). Her professional work includes The Little Foxes (Addie), Moby Dick (Dagoo), Valerie: A Cosplay Monologue (Valerie), and Aristophanes v. Euripides: Dawn of Poetic Justice (Myrrhine), Sweeny Todd (Beggar Woman), and recently: Gloria: A Life at the Invisible Theatre. Special thanks to my family for putting up with my Zoom rehearsals.
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TOP SHELF TOLSTOY
A new arrival in a small town finds her quest to check out a copy of a Tolstoy novel thwarted when she discovers that the library has resorted to drastic measures to raise funds.
Maximillian Gill (Playwright) has had his work staged by a number of companies and festivals in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Play productions include Debriefing (New York International Fringe Festival), Fresh Paint (The PlayGround Experiment), Cold Dead Heart (New Ambassadors Theatre Company), Truthiness (SkyPilot Theatre), The Caveman Principle (Otherworld Theatre Company), The Ghost Hypothesis (MadLab), Twenty, Stars and Crescent, Stick (The Collective NY), Four Interrogations(The Jack Studio Theatre), Walima (Swivel Theatre Company), Seen and Unseen (Theatre InspiraTO). He is a proud member of the New Ambassadors Theatre Company.
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Tyler Gastelum (Director) has been a member of Winding Road Theater Ensemble since 2019. A Tucson native, he graduated from the University of Arizona and the Bennett Theatrelab. He now works as a local drama teacher. Favorite roles with Winding Road include Dev in Stupid F***ing Bird and Moritz in Spring Awakening in Concert. Tyler directed shorts in Winding Road's Eight 10's festival in 2019 and 2020, as well as the Winding Read of Dusk in 2020.
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Samantha Severson (Erica) attended Pima Community College for a degree in the performing arts, and is currently seeking a BA in Psychology. She has become accomplished as an actress, director, stage manager, and technical theatre designer. Most recently, she was the PRoduction Manager and Designer for The Time is Out of Join, and performed with the ensemble. She received the 2019 MAC Award for her role in Winding Road's production of Stupid F&#!ing Bird. She is currently Co-Managing Director of Winding Road Theater Ensemble, and has been a member since 2019.
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Jake Wesley Montgomery (Tyler) most recently performed Imprint Theatreworks' First Impressions play festival. Prior to COVID, he performed as Sam in Shakespeare In Love with Shakespeare Dallas, Alan in Equus with Lakeside, and Otto in Spring Awakening with SMU; he has played roles such as Satan in the Last Days of Judas Iscariot and Princeton in Avenue Q. He earned his BFA in Theatre from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
More info about Jake at: jakewmontgomery.com |
Kendall Gastelum (Crystal) is very excited to be making her Winding Road and her Tucson Theatre debut this season as Crystal in Top Shelf Tolstoy. After graduating from the University of Arizona in 2016 with a Bachelor's in Philosophy, she now works as an Academic Advisor to support online Undergraduate Students in the completion of their programs. Kendall would like to thank her family and friends, as well as her husband, and Winding Road Theater for their support and encouragement.
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153
A middle-aged man and a young man travel through a barren, desolate space. They fold clothes and place them into suitcases, but before they can continue their next journey, arguments arise about leadership and bad life choices.
Steven G. Martin (Playwright) is a playwright based out of Lafayette, Indiana. His plays have been performed in Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and the U.K. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. He is grateful that Winding Road Theater Ensemble is producing 153 in the Eight 10s In Tucson ONLINE ten-minute play festival.
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Sean Patrick (Director) is a Tucson-based artist drawing on an eclectic background in devised theatre, non-profit work, multi-lingual education, and all-around observer of life, the universe, and everything. Obtaining degrees in Theatre and French in 2011, Sean has since taught nationally and abroad. As a director with local devised theatre projects, he has had the fortune to create art and stories alongside many of Tucson's varied and vibrant communities of all languages, histories, and artistic backgrounds. Recent credits include projects at the Rogue Theatre and Scoundrel & Scamp, and he is pleased to be returning for his second project with Winding Road.
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Noë Austin (Eighteen) has been dancing and singing since they were 3 years old. They began acting in middle school where they were cast as Tessie in Annie Jr. and Sister Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls Jr. They went on to do subsequent productions of Macbeth, Hairspray, and High School Musical. They served as dance captain in their college hip hop dance club. In their free time, they like to practice Mandarin, learn new dances of all forms, and learn new makeup styles.
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Tony Caprile (Forty-Five) has been a member of Winding Road Theater Ensemble since 2017. He has been seen in our productions of The Big Meal, Stupid F*!#ing Bird, Good People, The Fantasticks, United, Death of a Salesman, and August: Osage County. Tony is a part-time resident of Spokane, Washington, where he was a resident artist of Interplayers Theatre. His appearance in Interplayers' production of Rounding Third earned him Best Actor in a drama nomination from the Spokane Inlander. Tony has conducted many a set build for Winding Road.
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David Updegraff (Ninety), following a 40-some year career in education, decided to take on a new challenge as an actor! He was cast as Jeffrey Cage in the original production of Elevator in 2011, his first role in 25 or so years. Since that time he has appeared in several roles in Tucson community theatres, including a run as Fagin in Oliver, and Dr. Alphonso Muti in The Real Machiavelli. More recently, he has become interested in film, and has landed a couple of small roles in local film productions. David wishes the reader to know that, although he is play "90" in 153, he is only 81, and still getting it done! David thanks his wife of over 54 years, Susan, for her forbearance as he pursues these new passions.
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I SEE YOUR FACE IN MINE
Two beings share in the wonders of Earth.
Madison Peden (Playwright) has been involved in theatre for the last 16 years. She started acting at a young age and studied under Robin Stanton through Solano Youth Theatre in California. She went on to perform with Volcano Theatre Company for 6 years and in 2014 was awarded Best Supporting Actress for her role as Isabel Channing in The House of Frankenstein. While studying at Pima Community College, Madison starred in Mamma Mia, Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Story, and Singin' in the Rain. In 2020, she received her AA from PCC for Visual and Performing Arts: Theatre. I See Your Face in Mine is Madison's debut to playwriting, which she hopes will one day be a full-length play.
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Calla Hay (Director) has had a passion for theatre ever since she was a kid. She was worked over the years to learn as much as she can about all aspects of theatre, whether it is directing, performing, or being a part of tech. She is currently attending Pima Community College, majoring in Theatre Arts. Calla is looking forward to being a part of this show and getting to work with the amazing staff and team.
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Ariel Cheng (Julie Henderson) is currently a freshman student at the University of Arizona. She is passionate about acting through, not only theatre, but film as well. Recently Ariel has worked on different production plays through the UofA, Live Theater Workshop, and local independents in Tucson, Arizona. Ariel is excited to work with Winding Road Theater for the first time and can't wait to do more work in the future!
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Steve McKee (Tom) is excited to be returning with Winding Road, having participated in Stain from the 1st season of Eight 10 plays. Steve has worked with many local theatre companies including The Rogue Theatre, Live Theatre Workshop, Arizona Rose Theatre, and The Gaslight Theatre. Favorite roles include Alan in God of Carnage and Roger Debris in The Producers. Thanks for supporting the arts and enjoy the show!!
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