The Book of Will

JACOB OFFEN is thrilled and honored to return as a guest artist with OpenStage Theatre after two years in Houston, Texas, where he received his MFA from the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Houston. There he played Brutus in Julius Caesar, The Stage Manager in Our Town and Joe Keller in All My Sons. Jacob also has worked for Texas Shakespeare Festival, Houston Shakespeare Festival and Houston’s Main Street Theatre. He formally served as the Company Development Administrator for OpenStage and appeared in numerous roles with the Company, including as Dr. Frank N’ Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet, and Tom Collins in RENT. Jacob won the OpenStage OPUS Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor twice for performances in Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol and once for Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice.

JAMES BURNS graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Theatre Arts in 1997. He worked at the Arvada Center during the 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons as a scenic painter and technician before moving to New York City. He stage managed On Love and Lies and Square One at the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Box of Fools for the 2005 American Living Room Festival in NYC. Since moving back to Fort Collins in 2010, James has worked extensively with both OpenStage Theatre and Bas Bleu as an actor, fight choreographer and scenic artist. He appeared onstage most recently as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Phillip Lombard in And Then There Were None, Steve Heidebrecht in August: Osage County, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew,The Husband in Stage Kiss, Austin in True West and Sharky in The Seafarer, all with OpenStage Theatre. In addition, James recently co-directed OpenStage’s Sherwood and directed etcetera’s productions of Fool for Love and Christmas Chaos. He sends thanks to his wife, Jessica and love to his daughters, Scarlett and Sterling.

CISCO SAAVEDRA is thrilled to be returning for his second production with OpenStage. He appeared in last summer’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac as Le Bret after a three-year hiatus from the state. Cisco has played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing with Southwest Shakespeare Theatre in Arizona. Some of his favorite roles include Mace in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Macduff in Macbeth, and the time he was able to play Macbeth and Darth Vader in a stage combat showcase.

MOLLY MCGUIRE first performed with OpenStage Theatre in 2004 in The Women. She began performing with the Company again in 2014, when she appeared as Nerine in Scapin. Since then, she has appeared with OpenStage as Beatrice in The Servant of Two Masters, Millicent/Laurie in Stage Kiss, Danielle in Ultimate Beauty Bible, Suzanne in Don’t Dress for Dinner, in the Ensemble of Christmas Chaos and Dromio of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, Conrade in Much Ado About Nothing, Angela in Natural Shocks, and Fanny Dashwood/Lucy Steele/Lady Middleton/Gossip in Sense and Sensibility. She is excited to be working with the amazing cast of Cyrano and would like to thank the entire cast, staff and crew for their unwavering support. Also, Molly would like to take this opportunity to give her heartfelt thanks to her OpenStage family. Their support and love has helped her immensely this last year.

JESSICA EMERLING CROW is thrilled to be performing again with OpenStage, having appeared with the Company as Helen Hubbard in Murder on the Orient Express (Henry Award Nomination/Outstanding Supporting Actress), the Narrator in Every Brilliant Thing (OpenStage Opus Award/Outstanding Actress), Truvy Jones in Steel Magnolias (OpenStage Opus Award/Outstanding Supporting Actress), Emily Brent in And Then There Were None (Opus Award/Outstanding Supporting Actress), Genevra in Bright Ideas, Rosemary in Outside Mullingar (Opus Award/Outstanding Actress), Karen in Unnecessary Farce, Madame de Volanges in Dangerous Liaisons (Opus Award/Outstanding Supporting Actress), and Clara in 33 Variations. Outside of OpenStage, favorite roles include Kelly in Chaim’s Love Song, Rita in Prelude to a Kiss, Annelle in Steel Magnolias, and Rosaline in Love’s Labor’s Lost. She would like to thank her husband Robert for putting her three boys to bed all those nights she was at rehearsal.

KAYA RUDOLPH graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. While at CSU, her favorite productions included Love and Information and Little Shop of Horrors. Kaya also worked on Elephant’s Graveyard with Bas Bleu Theatre. She has appeared with OpenStage as Gary Coleman in Avenue Q, Seneca Howland/The Bishop in Men On Boats, Writer 2 in Tiny Beautiful Things, and Texas in Cabaret.

DAN TSCHIRHART is a graduate of Colorado State University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. He received a 2017 Colorado Theatre Guild Henry Award nomination for his role as Sam in OpenStage’s The Flick. Dan has appeared with OpenStage in Much Ado About Nothing, Avenue Q, And Then There Were None, Spamalot, Pride and Prejudice, Splitting Infinity, The One-Eyed Man Is King, The Ladies Man, Noises Off, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Seafarer (OpenStage OPUS Award/Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role), The Tempest, Spring Awakening, Unnecessary Farce, Romeo and Juliet, and Stage Kiss. Other memorable performances include Almost Maine, 1940’s Radio Christmas Carol, The Lion in Winter and Our Town with Bas Bleu Theatre and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Scapin , and The Beckett Project at CSU. Dan is a member of the local improv group, Comedy Brewers, which performs regularly at Bas Bleu Theatre.

BRUCE K. FREESTONE has been an outspoken advocate for the performing arts in Colorado for over four decades. Co-founder of OpenStage Theatre with his wife Denise in 1973, he has served as director, designer, actor, and technician. In addition, Bruce serves as a Producer and an ex officio member of the Board of Directors. In 2015, he retired from I.A.T.S.E., the international stagehands union, after forty years serving that organization. Bruce has appeared in numerous OpenStage productions, most recently as Beverly Weston in August: Osage County, Curtis and Vincencio in The Taming of the Shrew, Tony Reilly in Outside Mullingar, Alonso in The Tempest, Mr. Lockhart in The Seafarer, Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Emperor Joseph II in Amadeus and Louis de Rougemont in Shipwrecked (OpenStage OPUS Award/Outstanding Actor). He has directed numerous OpenStage productions, most recently Wit and A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Bruce is the recipient with Denise of the prestigious Tree of Peace Medallion from Arts Alive Fort Collins, signifying a lifetime of contributions to the Arts and Culture Industry.

VIEW BRUCE’S FULL SHOW HISTORY

RYAN WILKE-BRAUN is a recent Graduate of Colorado State University’s theatre program. This is his first performance with Openstage but he appeared in many productions at CSU including Cabaret, Big Love, A Man of No Importance, and many others. If you enjoy his performance you can look on Spotify or Apple Music to listen to the Radio play Patria Del Cuore Sergio or swing by First United Methodist Church of Fort Collins to hear him singing with the choir.

ANH NGUYEN Coming to America at a young age, Anh is proud to be making his debut with OpenStage. He is currently attending Colorado State University concentrating in theater performance, some of his credits include Polyneices in These Seven Sicknesses, Ensemble in She Kills Monsters, and Judge in Machinal. Anh is very thankful to the cast and crew of OpenStage for this opportunity, it has been a meaningful experience to be with the amazing cast of his production, as well as a great learning experience in his career as an actor.

DAVID AUSTIN-GRӦEN A Doll’s House Part 2 marks David’s lucky 14th show with OpenStage and his second directing credit after The North Plan in 2016. A 37-year veteran of theatre, David has performed in over 56 different productions and theatrical tours as well as several directing credits. Some of his favorite past roles include Brock in Ideation, Harold in The Full Monty, Prince John in Sherwood, Caliban in The Tempest, Agamemnon in Apocrypha, Stuart in Cooking with Elvis, Edward Winslow in A Pilgrim’s Project, and Parmenter in God’s Country. David was previously the Artistic Director of Radio Star Improv in San Francisco and is a founding member of Fort Collins Comedy Brewers Improv. When not being a theatre nerd in one way or another, he is a brewer, an avid gamer, and Board Vice President at Fort Collins Children’s Theatre.

DENISE BURSON FREESTONE co-founded OpenStage Theatre in 1973 with her husband Bruce and served as the Company’s Producing Artistic Director for forty-six seasons. During her extensive career, Denise has worked as an actress, director, producer, designer, and dancer and has directed and performed in numerous productions. Some of her most memorable acting roles include Violet Weston in August: Osage County, Vivian Bearing in Wit, Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie, Sister Aloysius in Doubt, Dotty in Noises Off, Hannah/Ethel Rosenberg/Roy’s Doctor/Rabbi Chemelwitz/The Oldest Bolshevik/Angel Asiatica in Angels in America, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and Emily Dickinson in The Belle of Amherst. Recent directing credits include The Comedy of Errors, The Three Musketeers, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Denise has received numerous OpenStage OPUS Awards for directing, acting, and designing, and has been named an inaugural Zonta: Her Legacy recipient, a BizWest Woman of Distinction, and a Colorado Woman of Influence.

VIEW DENISE’S FULL SHOW HISTORY

JUDITH ALLEN served for over two decades as the Associate Artistic Director for OpenStage Theatre and is an award-winning director, actress, and designer. She most recently appeared with OpenStage as Princess Dragomiroff in Murder on the Orient Express, Clairee in Steel Magnolias, and is a recent recipient of the BroadwayWorld (Denver Region) nod for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mattie Fae Aiken in August Osage County. Judi was the first recipient of the Shela Jennings Award for Theatre Excellence (OpenStage, 2017) and has directed OpenStage productions of Noises Off (OpenStage OPUS Award/Best Play and Best Director and Denver Post Ovation nominee/Best Comedy), The Drawer Boy (OPUS/Best Play and Best Director), and Romeo and Juliet (OPUS/Best Director. Other favorite roles with OpenStage have been Chris in Neil Simon’s Rumors (OPUS nominee and Denver Post Ovation Award/Best Supporting Actress) and the Nurse in the 2014 production of Romeo and Juliet (OPUS/Best Actress). Judi is also an award-winning makeup artist and the 2001 recipient of the OpenStage Founders’ Award for outstanding contributions to the Company.