Directors
Directors for BoxFest Detroit 2012:
Stephanie Buck is so grateful to the wonderful women who have put together this awesome festival. She previously directed Sound of Music at Young People’s Theatre, and has designed and styled hair and wigs for several theatres in the Ann Arbor area. Stephanie is a graduate of the Purple Rose Theatre Company apprentice program, which she completed after attaining her degree in theatre from Central Michigan University. She is now a stage manager and resident artist at the PRTC.
Kennikki Jones-Jones is a graduate of Wayne State University, and has recently completed two films; one is currently in post-production. Look for Truck 20s Location at film festivals throughout the country! She has also been working with the exciting Detroit Public School district with a non-profit organization called Playworks, where she plays and has fun with children all day. She is striving to break loose into more films and directing for the theatre.
Madison Lynn McEvilly lives in Hamtramck with too many pets. She has seen on both coasts while touring a one-woman show, spent two years playing the singing saw in a bluegrass band, and one time she almost worked for the Insane Clown Posse. She’s been published a few times but you should probably just ask her what she’s up to.
Molly McMahon, a director, actor and puppeteer, is thrilled to serve as artistic director for BoxFest Detroit 2012. She has been involved with BoxFest Detroit since 2005, previously acting, stage managing, and directing for the festival as well as serve as art liason for the past four years. Previous directing credits include The Altrusits (Magenta Giraffe Theatre Co.), The Current (Magenta Giraffe Theatre Co. and Wilde Award nominee for Best Production of a New Script), Henrietta Hermaline’s Fall from Great Heights (Planet Ant Theatre), Blocked Up (BoxFest Detroit 2007), Necessary Lies (BoxFest Detroit 2008), and Squisher’s Atonement (BoxFest Detroit 2009 Audience Vote Winner). She will be directing Picking Palin for Magenta Giraffe Theatre Co. in the fall of 2012. She received a BFA in Theatre from Wayne State University and studied at Moscow Art Theatre School. She has been seen on the Planet Ant, Magenta Giraffe, Abreact, Breathe Art, Wild Swan, PuppetART, Hilberry and Bonstelle stages.
Carrie Morris (www.carriemorris.com) is a multi-media performance artist, puppeteer and director – and this is her first year at Boxfest, which she is STOKED to be involved in. Her work has been seen at the NYC Fringe Festival, the Canadian Fringe Festival (various locations), The Annex Theater in Seattle, University of Michigan’s Duderstadt Center, the Athens Museum of Art in Ohio, MOCAD and PuppetART Detroit, among other venues. She holds a BFA in directing from NYU, an MFA in multimedia performance from U of M Ann Arbor and received a Fulbright grant in the field of performance art for creative work on multimedia shadow puppetry in Solo, Indonesia. For the past year she has been the Program Coordinator of Puppetry and Performance at the Detroit Institute of Arts, which has given her the opportunity to meet many amazing performing artists – among them many of the directors and performers you can see in the Boxfest performances.
Kristen Nader has lots of love for BoxFest. She has written, directed, and rapped for, and won a scholarship award from BoxFest. She has been acting and improvising in and around Detroit for many fabulous years and currently can be seen in The Grand Mutiny at Go Comedy! and was most recently in The 59ers at Michigan Actors Studio.
Ileah-MaRè Nichols is a Detroit native who has been involved in theater since the age of eight. While she loves being on the stage and in front of the camera, I-Marè has also a passion for scriptwriting and the process of directing. While she has directed several film projects, including her master’s thesis Reactive Impulsives, Sam’s Secret, also written by I-Marè, will be her theatrical directorial debut.
Kelly Rossi is so excited to be a part of BoxFest Detroit this year! Kelly is a local actor, playwright and bar owner. She was recently on stage at The Ringwald Theatre as Karen in Speed the Plow, and is excited to perform in the reading of When the Moon Disappeared this year at the gala!
Natividad M. Salgado is very grateful to have had the chance to direct for BoxFest. Recently she directed If You Start A Fire [Be Prepared To Burn] at The New Theatre Project, Months on End, Passing Fancy, Playing Basketball and Heartless for Tipping Point Theatre. She also directed White Trash Brothers at the Raw Festival Detroit. Starting mid-August she will go on to work for the Alma College Theatre Department as their Intern.
Terie Spencer has a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Directing from the University of Minnesota and has directed over 40 plays in professional, college, community, high school and dinner theatres. She’s worked as artistic director of a children’s theatre, developed curriculum, classes and residencies, written plays and video scripts, and started theatres from scratch, utilizing backyards to basements. She has a passion for educating and entertaining through live theatre, and is working to develop a local company of Playback Theatre, which combines improvisation and storytelling.
Jackie Strez has been directing for four years and started acting with BoxFest Detroit in 2005. She has a BFA in Acting (WSU), studied in Moscow, RU in 2006, has been puppeteering since 2008 at Detroit PuppetART Theater, and has been producing, costume designing, and acting in feature films since 2010.
Megan Wright is an MA Drama and Theatre for the Young graduate student at Eastern Michigan University and has a BFA in acting from Wayne State. She has been an actor since she could talk and directing has been a love of Megan’s all her life. This is Megan’s 2nd year directing for BoxFest with an additional year as an actor.
Themocracy
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