PALESTINE, NEW MEXICO

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Program Magazine

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Palestine, New Mexico

Cast Biographies

	Lavonne Rae Andrews Sally 30/30 has two commercials running — CareMore and AARP. She also played a “crazed woman” in the recently released film (also on DVD) Dark World, starring Michael Paré, Theresa Russell and James Russo. Two of her favorite roles are Grandma Two Hawks at the Autry in the Equity production of Teaching Disco Square Dancing to our Elders by Larissa Fasthorse and the lead in the award-winning Dust Eaters by Julie Jensen at the Salt Lake City Acting Company. She is also an ordained minister for the Centers of Spiritual Living.
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	Michelle Diaz La Megadeath Off-Broadway: King Cowboy Rufus Saves the Universe (Director, Richard Foreman). New York: Gint, Lysistrata, Wrestling Porcelain (Wreckio Ensemble). Regional: The Deception (La Jolla Playhouse, Director, Dominique Serrand). The Skin of Our Teeth, Labyrinth of Desire, Measure for Measure, Heart of a Dog, The Physicists (La Jolla Playhouse/UCSD MFA Program). TV: Three Rivers (CBS).
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	Julia Jones Dacotah, Girl in Blue Dress began working in regional and community theatre when she was eight. She had a recurring role on ER in its final season, and she will next appear as Leah Clearwater in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Other film credits include Hell Ride, Black Cloud and Three Priests. Julia is a graduate of Columbia University.
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	Geraldine Keams Maria 15 is a storyteller, author and actor whose career spans 20 years. She studied theatre at the University of Arizona and became a member of the theatre group Café LaMama in New York City. She has appeared in many films including The Outlaw Josie Wales (co-starring with Clint Eastwood), Disney’s Buffalo Dreams and the signature film One Thousand Roads for the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C. Recent appearances include Sons of Anarchy (FX-TV) and a recurring role in the HBO series Big Love. Geraldine is a well-known Navajo storyteller who has performed at the Smithsonian and the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She is a children’s book author and a performing artist with the Los Angeles Music Center and the Orange County Performing Arts Center. She performs her children’s show, Legends Come Alive, in schools across the country. She makes her home in Pasadena.
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	Russell Means Chief Birdsong The Los Angeles Times has called him the most famous American Indian since Sitting Bull. Russell Means’ indomitable sense of pride and leadership has become embedded in our national character. Today, his path has brought him to Hollywood, thus enabling him to use different means to communicate his vital truths. With the same passionate determination, this famed political activist and early leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM) has made over 22 feature films including The Last of the Mohicans, Natural Born Killers and  Disney’s third highest-ever-selling video Pocahontas. Through the power of media, his vision is to create peaceful and positive images celebrating the magic and mystery of his American Indian heritage.  In contemplating the fundamental issues about the world in which we live, he is committed to educating all people about our most crucial battle — the preservation of the earth.
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	Richard Montoya Playwright, Top Hat The playwright is the grandson of a New Mexican bootlegger who rode a horse and saw tommy gun action and Leavenworth Prison during prohibition. Montoya has been chasing the stories and ghosts of his father’s New Mexico since he was a child and heard the stories of his grandparents, Malaquias and Luciana. For CTG and Michael Ritchie - Montoya penned Water & Power (L.A. Drama Critics Award; published by Samuel French). Richard is a co-writer for Chavez Ravine, and this is his fifth Culture Clash production for CTG. He is a Sundance Writers and Director Film Lab alum and staff writer for John Wells’ Southland. He dedicates this play to Consuelo (Chelo) and Mountain. A-ho!
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	Brandon Oakes Mountain Ratsienhonnonron of the Mohawk Akwesasne, Quebec/ New York (The Land where the Partridge Drum). He has performed and toured extensively throughout North America with Kanata Native Dance Theatre and Red Thunder. He attended the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto and then went on to study contemporary dance at the Banff Centre for the Arts and appeared in several contemporary/traditional native fusion performances over the past 12 years. Working with The Native Earth theatre company of Toronto, he toured the one man show Tales of an Urban Indian in 2007. He also appeared in Into the West, Wonderfalls and Taking Chance, and was the lead in the live dance Spirit the Seventh Fire which has toured the U.S.
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	Robert Owens-Greygrass Broke Arrow Regional: Oregon Shakespeare Festival – Richard II, The Winter’s Tale, The Skin of Our Teeth, Romeo and Juliet. L.A.:Native Voices at the Autry – Kino and Teresa, Salvage (which also played at the London Origins Festival); Boston Court – The Street Angel Diaries; Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, Australia, Germany and England, D’White Dog Productions – Walking on Turtle Island and Ghost-lands of an Urban NDN; Actors Theater of Ashland, Oregon – The Elephant Man, (Best Actor of the Year) and Black Elk Speaks (Best Actor of the Year). National Tours –As a storyteller and performer of original one man plays throughout the United States, England and Germany. Film: Flicka, Ricochet River, The Mojave Experiment, Walking on Turtle Island, Good Neighbor Policy, Learning to See, 3:52, Grizzly Mountain.
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	Kirsten Potter Captain Catherine Siler Los Angeles: The Heiress and Taking Steps – South Coast Repertory; Sex Parasite – Center Theatre Group; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Geffen; Honour and Bold Girls –  Matrix; As You Like It – A Noise Within, Tonight at 8:30—Antaeus; Regional: Work Song by Jeffrey Hatcher and Eric Simonson (premiere); Steven Dietz’ Paragon Springs and Force of Nature (premieres); Twelfth Night, Amadeus, The Mai, An Ideal Husband, Inventing Van Gogh, Collected Stories, The Weir, The Glass Menagerie, Mill on the Floss – Milwaukee Repertory Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Seattle Rep; Hamlet – Huntington Theatre; Big Love – ACT; numerous roles at the Utah, California, Nebraska and Santa Fe Shakespeare Festivals. Film/TV: Medium, Judging Amy, Bones, and the newly released film The Eyes Have It. Ms. Potter can be heard on numerous video games and audio books, and has been honored by Audiofile Magazine, the American Academy of Achievement, LADCC, the Garland Awards and the NFAA. As ever and everything for Charlie and Wyatt. kirstenpotter.com.
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	Kalani Queypo Star Man is thrilled to be invited back from this production’s developmental workshops. This marks his 15th world premiere. Kalani is an active collaborator with Native Voices Theater at the Autry where he proudly serves on the Advisory Council. Before moving to Los Angeles, Kalani trained in New York City, and was featured on stages all over the country — the Goodspeed Opera House, Trinity Repertory Company and The Ordway. Hollywood has embraced Kalani with prestigious acting projects such as the Oscar-nominated, Terrence Malick film The New World, and Steven Spielberg’s Emmy Award-winning mini-series Into the West. In 2007, Kalani’s short script, Ancestor Eyes, won a screenplay competition, initiating his directorial debut. He has been recognized with twelve awards on the film festival circuit, including RIIFF’s prestigious Directorial Discovery Award.
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	Justin Rain Ghost of Birdsong, Suarez Born in Vancouver of Plains Cree Nation descent. Film: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Quilente Warrior – Summit Entertainment), Discussing Mr. Darcy (Adam – Kiss Dust Pictures). Television: The Guard (guest star – Global Network), Ayaa (principal – APTN Aboriginal Peoples Television Network), Legend (guest star – CTV Canadian Television Network). Theatre: The Two Sisters by Floyd Favel (Full Circle Theater). I’d like to thank everyone at CTG. I’m very grateful to be a part of this beautiful story. Thanks so much!
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	Ric Salinas Bronson I am grateful and proud to have performed over 4,500 times on stage with my partners/brothers Richard and Herbert under the moniker of Culture Clash for the past 25 years. Having travelled across the U.S. many times over, performing at prestigious venues to hole in the wall clubs, the Lincoln Center to the Guadalupe Cultural Center, universities, colleges, high schools, elementary schools, repertory theatres and 99-seat theatres, comedy clubs, hotel ballrooms, convention halls, outdoor parks, fairs and donor living rooms. It’s been one hell of a fantastic journey!I humbly dedicate this play and performance to the loving memory of my neighbor, decorated Army veteran Reuben Paul “Chips” Santos — 4/27/82 - 10/15/09. May he rest in peace.
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	Herbert Siguenza Farmer is a founding member of Culture Clash. Together with his partners Salinas and Montoya, Culture Clash is the most prominent Chicano/Latino theatre ensemble in the nation. Mr. Siguenza has co-written and performed the following Culture Clash works: The Mission, A Bowl of Beings, SOS, Radio Mambo, Bordertown, Nuyorican Stories, Mission Magic Mystery Tour, The Birds, Chavez Ravine, Zorro in Hell and Peace. Mr. Siguenza will co-star in the upcoming Ben Ten: Alien Swarm television movie on the Cartoon Network. His solo show A Weekend with Pablo Picasso will be presented by the San Diego Rep in April. Mr. Siguenza is a proud member of Equity and a Los Angeles City Commissioner.
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Credits

Lisa Peterson Director CTG/Taper: Water & Power, Electricidad, Chavez Ravine, The House of Bernarda Alba, The Body of Bourne, Tongue of a Bird and Mules. New York: Shipwrecked (Primary Stages); The Poor Itch (Public); End Days (EST); Tight Embrace (Intar), Bexley OH, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, Slavs!, Traps, The Waves, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (NYTW – Obie Award), The Fourth Sister, The Batting Cage (Vineyard), Collected Stories (MTC), Birdy and The Chemistry of Change (Playwrights Horizons), Tongue of a Bird (Public), The Square (Ma-Yi / Public), The Model Apartment (Primary Stages), The Scarlet Letter (CSC) and Sueño (MCC). Regional: La Jolla Playhouse, Arena Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Guthrie, McCarter, Hartford Stage, Yale Rep, Baltimore Center Stage, Huntington, Dallas Theater Center, Intiman Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Long Wharf, California Shakespeare Theater, South Coast Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival, N.Y. Stage & Film, Sundance Theatre Lab, Midwest PlayLabs, New Dramatists, Young Playwrights Festival. Other: associate director at La Jolla Playhouse 1992-1995 and resident director at the Taper 1995-2005.

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Rachel Hauck Scenic Design Previously for the Taper: Water & Power, Chavez Ravine, Electricidad, Bernarda Alba, The Body of Bourne, Tongue of a Bird. Recent Off-Broadway Work: Creature (Page 73/New Georges), A Boy and His Soul (Vineyard), Ethel: TruckStop (BAM Next Wave Festival), Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Hourglass/37 Arts), The Fever Chart, The Poor Itch (Public Lab), 100 Saints You Should Know (Playwrights Horizons),  1001 (Page 73 and DCPA), Cataract, Antigone Project (Women’s Project), Where Do We Live, Fourth Sister (Vineyard). Recent regional work includes The Road to Mecca (Seattle Rep); The Music Man, Othello, Cherry Orchard, Winters Tale, Richard III, Hedda Gabler (OSF); Ion (Shakespeare Theater DC); Mother Courage (Berkley Rep/La Jolla Playhouse); Midsummer Night’s Dream and Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner (Hartford Stage); Sleeping Country (Cincinnati Playhouse). Recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Theater; NEA/TCG Design Fellow; Adjunct Professor at Vassar; Resident Scenic Designer for the O’Neill Playwrights Festival since 2005.

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Christopher Acebo Costume Design Center Theatre Group: world premiere productions of Water & Power (costumes), Living Out (set), Chavez Ravine (costumes), Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner (set), Electricidad (costumes) as well as this season’s production of Lydia (sets). Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Equivocation (world premiere), The Clay Cart, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Othello, All’s Well That Ends Well, among others. Mr. Acebo has also designed productions for many regional theatres including the world premieres of The Clean House (Yale Repertory Theatre); Zorro in Hell (Berkeley Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse); My Wandering Boy, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, The Beard of Avon, Hold Please (South Coast Repertory Theatre); Electricidad (Goodman Theatre) and Culture Clash’s Peace at the Getty Villa.  Mr. Acebo’s designs have also been presented at Lincoln Center Theater, Guthrie Theater, Denver Center Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center, The Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, among others. He is the Associate Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where next season (2010) he is designing Hamlet, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and the world premiere of Throne of Blood a stage adaptation of the Kurosawa film. He was an ensemble member of Cornerstone Theater Company (1999-2006) and received his MFA at UCSD.

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Alexander V. Nichols Lighting and Production Design Theatre credits include the Broadway production Wishful Drinking (Carrie Fisher), originally presented at Berkeley Rep, off-Broadway productions Los Big Names (Marga Gomez), Horizon (Rinde Eckert), Bridge and Tunnel (Sarah Jones) and Taking Over (Danny Hoch). Also, production designs for American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Mark Taper Forum, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage Co., Huntington Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and Seattle Rep. Dance credits include several seasons as the Resident Designer for Pennsylvania Ballet, Hartford Ballet and American Repertory Ballet. He was the Lighting Supervisor for American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House, and elsewhere, and is the Resident Visual Designer for Margaret Jenkins Dance Co.  His designs are in the permanent repertory of San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Hubbard Street, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre and ODC/SF. Recent projects include the museum installation Circle of Memory, in collaboration with Eleanor Coppola, recently presented in Salzburg, Austria, and video and visual design for Life – A Journey Through Time with photographer Frans Lanting and composer Philip Glass recently presented at Alice Tully Hall.

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Paul James Prendergast Original Music and Sound Design Center Theatre Group: Water & Power, Electricidad, The Stones, Animal Logic, Lily Plants a Garden, Sez She, For Here or to Go? Other Theatres: South Coast Repertory, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Hartford Stage, Great Lakes Theater Festival, East West Players, Florida Stage, Geffen Playhouse, Atlantic Theater Co., Long Wharf Theatre, Cal Shakes, The Kennedy Center, Seattle Rep., Alley Theater, Honolulu Theater for Youth, Imagination Stage, Actors Gang, Cornerstone Theater Company.Theme Parks: Universal Studios and Knott’s Berry Farm. Casinos: Treasure Island, MGM Grand and Buffalo Bill’s. Museums: J. Paul Getty, Geffen Contemporary and the Autry Museum of Western Heritage. Dance: Diavolo Dance Theater, Momix, Parsons Dance Co., Ballet Florida, Demetrius Klein, Teatro du El and Xing Peds. Paul’s work as a singer/songwriter has appeared in films, on recordings and in music venues nationwide.

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Photo Credit

L to R: (standing) LaVonne Rae, Andrews, Kalani Queypo, Justin Rain, Robert Owens-Greygrass, Brandon Oakes, Julia Jones, Michelle Diaz. L to R: (seated) Geraldine Keams, Kirsten Potter, Russell Means, Herbert Siguenza, Ric Salinas, Richard Montoya. Photo by Craig Schwartz.