PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
ADRIENNE FLAGG, director, writer, editor, producer
Adrienne trained in New York at SUNY Purchase and New Actors Workshop with Gene Hackman, Paul Sills, Mike Nichols and Elaine May. While in NY she performed as April in Hot L Baltimore and Alex in On the Verge and appeared in Paul Sills’ improv shows. Returning to Portland in 1994 with her company Toad City Productions she focused on improv and creating new plays. She was a founding member of Badass Theatre, Portland Theatre Brigade and a board member for Jane: A Theatre Company and Creative Director of the IFCC for its final 5 years. She has also directed for Stark Raving Theatre, Integrity and JANE and for young people throughout NW including DaVinci Arts Middle School, Young Musicians and Artists and the Portland Theatre Brigade which she founded in 1999. She can currently be seen regularly improvising with The Knockouts and as a company member of The Brody Theater.
JANE FELLOWS, actor, writer, collaborator
Jane has performed with University of Montana Drama Dept., Montana Repertory Theatre, Bigfork Summer Playhouse, Riverfront Summer Playhouse, The Gathering at Bigfork, The Colony in Missoula, Glacier Symphony, Great Falls Symphony, Spokane Interplayers, ART of Northwest, Whitefish Theatre Co. and Port Polson Players.
Portland performance credits include work with Artists Rep, Profile Theatre, Theatre Vertigo, Coho Productions, Lights Up! Productions, Lakewood Theatre, Mt. Hood Summer Rep., Many Hats Collaboration, The Bluestockings, Post 5 and Oregon Children's Theatre. She has performed the solo show, The Belle of Amherst, extensively in the Pacific Northwest, Montana, Minnesota and Alberta.
ARMOND JAM FRAZIER actor, dancer, collaborator
Armond Frazier is an all around performing artist. From getting second place as a soloist in the PIL Solo/Ensemble Festival and singing in multiple accapella groups to learning various forms of dance, competing in the Portland battle scene and opening for Marques Houston. He wants to keep adding to his skills as an entertainer wanting to pursue rapping, which he's been able to open for T-Pain (Faheem Najm) and training in gymnastics and parkour at the local Revolution Parkour gym. Standing at 6'5" he believes all these versatile skills can help him with his pursuit in breaking in as an actor.
LIZ HAYDEN, actor, writer, collaborator
has a B.A. in theatre from Southern Oregon University, and an MFA in performance from Northern Illinois University. She has taught children’s drama since 2003, when she started teaching at the Piero Dusa Acting Conservatory in Santa Monica California. In L.A. She also headed an Arts Camps & Fairy Tale Drama through parks and recreation. She teaches at Westhills Montessori School and has a drama program there and at Lakewood Theatre in Lake Oswego. Liz has taught and directed through Profile Theatre, Shaking the Tree, Young Audiences, Hand2mouth, and NWCT. She is also a company member of Hand2Mouth theatre in Portland, which is best known for devising shows from raw seedlings of an idea and touring when finished.
JANE LANCASTER, actor, writer, collaborator
Jane Lancaster oversaw the City wide theatre Program for Portland Parks and Recreation for decades ensuring thousands of children and adults had affordable access to excellent training. She hails from Utah mostly, where she developed and ran several nationally award winning children’s theatre programs. She is on the board of the AAUW and devotes herself to providing access to higher education for women. As for theatre- it all started, she recalls, when she got kicked out of Girl Scouts for writing a play that took place in a Mexican prison.
..
MIKKI LIPSEY, actor, writer, collaborator
Mikki Lipsey has been an adjunct professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Merrimack College teaching acting and public speaking. A graduate of Emerson she has a long list of east coast credits including award winning performances at American Reperatory Theatre, Center Stage, Concord Players and EMACT. Locally she was in IFCC’s production of Tim Stapleton’s Leaning On the Everlasting Arms, and productions at Lunacy Theatre, Portland Actors Conservatory and Badass Theatre. She has also amassed quite a few local film and television credits including three seasons on Portlandia and can be seen performing regularly with OPS Fest.
CHRIS PORTER actor, collaborator, hero
Chris Porter's first involvement with Portland theater was in the mid-70s with the Mark Allen Players, as Bogie in Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam. Since then he has bounced about through a number of relationships with several theater companies. Some died. The inevitable breakups with many others usually were amicable. Some agreed both should see other people, a few were destined to be only one-run stands. Others just never called again. The names drift through his head in the wee hours: Willamette Rep...Columbia Theater...New Rose. O, Tygre’s Heart, wrap’d in a woman’s hide. Phoenix, Vertigo, Northwest Classical, Anon It Moves. He’s currently seeing the Willamette Radio Workshop—so far, they just talk---on a semi-regular basis. It’s complicated.
CATON LYLES, actor, writer, collaborator
Catón Lyles has been performing in the Portland in comedic and folkloric theater productions for over twenty years. Recently reprising “Snooper” in the Rick Weiss, Kate Finn production of Still Crazy After 20 Years he enjoys combining his expertise as a percussionist with his love of performing and educating. He was a member of Facets of Africa an ensemble performing for students and the community. Catón was a founding member of the Northwest African American Ballet. Youth outreach included many shows in the Pacific NW, Europe and South Africa . One of shows they were featured in was broadcast continent wide in Africa. Catón is passionate about passing the torch. As an artist in residence at the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics he directed student based works. Catón still enjoys facilitating residencies throughout the NW.
CLAYTON PEARCE, actor, writer, collaborator, composer
Clayton Pearce is a former performing/producing mentee of Adrienne Flagg who has gone on to perform and teach throughout the NW. He is a favorite instructor at young Artists at Play in Pendleton, Oregon and was Assistant Director for the last two years of the Portland Theatre Brigade. He performs regularly with the improv troupe Light Box Ensemble, The Brody Theatre and is a singer song writer as well as a trained chef.
RABBIT, actor, writer, collaborator, composer
Rabbit is a trans gender rights activist, sacred clown, singer songwriter, and member of the Radical Faries.
TIM STAPLETON, actor, writer, collaborator, set designer
Tim Stapleton has been a professional Painter, Photographer and Scenic Designer for thirty years having designed for many plays at companies including Artists Repertory Theatre, Storefront Theatre, Portland’s Civic Theatre, Triangle Productions, Tygres Heart Shakespeare Company, Miracle Theatre, Profile Theatre Project, the Oregon Zoo and OPB as well as having work exhibited in galleries across the country. He has been a guest designer for The Pacific Dance Ensemble, The Apollo Theatre in Chicago, The Riverwalk Theatre in Okemos, Michigan, Wenatchee Children’s Theatre and the Mariko Dance Theatre in Kyoto, Japan and is the resident designer for Portland Actors Conservatory. He worked with the Regional Arts & Culture Council as a liaison to Social Services, and has taught Theatre courses in Scenic Design, Scenic Painting, Costume History and Design and Introduction to Theatre for Willamette University, Central Washington University, Lewis & Clark College. In 2009, Tim mounted a project at the IFCC, which included photographs, paintings, and an original play called Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.
OLIVIA WEISS, actor, writer, collaborator
Olivia Weiss received her BA, in musical theatre, at West Chester University in May of 2011. After doing some soul searching in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, she decided that Portland was the place to be. Past roles include Cinderella in Into the Woods, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Eliante in The Misanthrope, Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing and Harriet in Boy Gets Girl. Olivia has also spent some time working on other original pieces. While in Philly, she worked with Kaleid Theater on a piece called Eurydice in Grand Central. That experience opened her eyes to a new form of theatre and is what made her so ready to tackle Note to Self.
NORAH ZAHAKARIAS, actor, writer, collaborator
Norah Zahakarias is a former mentee of Adrienne Flagg trained in Spolin Improvisational theater. She is also a former cheerleader and musical theatre aficionado. She has taught improv and musical theatre for Portland Parks and Recreation, Young Artists at play and Willowbrook Arts Camp where she has spent most of her summers. She is a licensed massage therapist and Reiki master.
KIMBERLY SMAY, costumer, writer, collaborator
Kimberly Smay is a Portland based costume designer who enjoys telling stories, especially with clothing. Her B.A. is from Lewis and Clark and has an MFA in Scenography from Northwestern University. She works primarily with young people (Cleveland and Madison High Schools). Kimberly particualrly likes working on original pieces (Confessions of Le Boit with The Reformers) and she will pit her Singer AL687135 agoinst your fancy computerized machine any day of the week.
BRENT BARNETT, photographer, videographer, collaborator
Spending my formative years emerged in music, photography, television broadcasting and technical theater, it paid off as my career started in 1987 shooting professional local and national sporting events. Educational videos, short films, product shots, commercials and corporate audio visual continued to sharpen my skills as a multi-functional crew member. As a videographer I have won awards for both commercial and show production while working on internationally syndicated hunting and fishing shows. Currently a photographer and documentary filmmaker,I call upon my vast production background as I start each project to tell the story at hand in the most authentic and inspiriting way possible.
JANA LOSEY CRENSHAW, sound designer, composer, collaborator
Jana is a singer-songwriter and composer originally from Lawrenceville, PA (pop. 600). She has toured the US and Canada extensively with the avante-garde musical troupe Squonk Opera, and with her solo material, under her maiden name, Jana Losey. While performing with Squonk, the group landed on Broadway with ‘BigSmorgasbordWunderWerk’, with Jana in the lead role. In 2005, she met producer/guitar/bassist Melanie Peters, producing 3 albums (Bittersweet, Blocks, Bare Bones), a video for the song ‘5 Days’ that spent 10 weeks at #1 on MTV’s LOGO channel, and a TV show (‘The Song You Heard’). Jana has composed music and soundscapes for shows at Portland Center Stage (futura, Small Fire, Chinglish, Other Desert Cities), Portland Playhouse (Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin/Hand2Mouth), Liminal (Our Town), and performed in a devised piece called “Please Validate Your Identity” as part of Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival.
AMANDA BOEKELHEIDE, movement specialist
Amanda Boekelheide’s most recent & fun roles performing were 1/3 of Macbeth, many characters in R&J, reimagining Handke’s Offending the Audience, a ghost in The Turn, Town Cryers & ensemble in The Whistling Mortician, Blowfish in Heist, Iphigenia inIph.then, Scarlett, Rhonda & Lilly in Lion in the Streets, & Olga in Nature Theater of Oklahoma’s adaptation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters. Favorite Columbia roles include Bosola in Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, Inez in Satre’s No Exit, & The Secretary (Death) in Camus’ The State of Siege. She's worked as a movement director for many years with multiple companies and projects, and is happy to be back in Portland working with Adrienne and all the fine folks from Note to Self. Please visit amandaboekelheide.com for complete bio, resume & class list, or find her onthe usual social media sites.
STEPHEN ALEXANDER, guest composer (HE SHE IT pronoun trouble)
Stephen Alexander is a freelance theatre artist based in Portland, OR. For over two decades, he has refined his talents as a theatre Producer, Director, Music Director,Composer/Lyricist, Conductor and Arts Administrator.
Formerly Artistic Director of Grandstreet Theatre in Helena, MT, Steve’s ventures have included work with Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Lakewood, Triangle Productions, Stark Raving, NWChildren's Theatre, Oregon Children's Theatre, defunkt and Theatre Vertigo. Other work & play includes stints in Washington, Idaho, Illinois, Ohio & London, UK.
JENNYB THE SHADY LADY, lighting design
JennyB splits her time between Portland and San Faransisco where she is well known for lighting all kinds of dance performances and art installations especially contemporary and hip hop. Her company The Shady LAdy also lights spectacular events and in Portland she lights our lovely symhony!
ALWYNN ACCUARDI, stage manager, fight choreographer, anchor and glue
She is the best. There is a lot more to day about her as a contributor, as an artist but what you relaly need to know is that she is the best.