THE READING SERIES
The never summer by ellen k. graham
April 24, 2017
7:00pm
2412 E. Colfax
TICKETS-FREE -RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED CALL 720-583-3975 (We do ask that you purchase something from the venue as they are donating the space)
THE NEVER SUMMER
BY ELLEN K. GRAHAM
DIRECTED BY SUSAN LYLES
STARRING
LAUREN MICHELLE LONG, TARA KELSO, LISA YOUNG, VERONICA STRAIGHT-LINGO, SUZANNE CONNORS NEPI
AND LIBBY ARNOLD
In circa 2040 Denver, city girl Lee works hard, saving up money to get her own apartment. But her plans are derailed when she meets the velvet-voiced Corva, who wants to lure her away from civilization into the unmapped wilderness.
PLAYWRIGHT
ellen k. graham
Ellen K. Graham is a Denver native and a graduate of the University of Chicago. She has been a finalist for the Shakespeare’s Sister Fellowship, Clubbed Thumb’s Biennial Commission, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and the Global Age Project. She has worked with many companies in the Denver area, including Athena Project, And Toto too, Pandemic Collective, the Edge, Paragon, and the Denver Center. She is the founder of Feral Assembly, a co-founder of Shocking Beyond Belief! Films, and a frequent contributor to the live storytelling shows Stories Stories Bring Your Stories and the Narrators.
DIRECTOR
SUSAN LYLES
Susan Lyles, is an award winning director with an BA from Wichita State University, and received certification from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Shakespeare. She has worked on stage in London, Chicago and Denver and has also worked in film, commercials, print, industrials, and voice over. Susan is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of And Toto too Theatre Company, and has directed more than 20 plays, including the award winning Naked in Encino, Car Talk, and Heads. She has designed costumes for more than 50 plays, including Lion in Winter (Denver Victorian Playhouse), 12th Night (Denver Victorian Playhouse), and Greater Tuna and Christmas Tuna (Denver Victorian Playhouse, Town Hall Arts Center). Susan was recently honored with a 2015 True West Award. She also owns the award winning film production company, Ruff, Ruff Dog Productions.
CAST
LAUREN MICHELLE LONG (LEE)
Lauren is a excited to make her debut in the Reading Series and to be a part of The Never Summer. She is known for directing at the Play Crawl in 2016 with And Toto Too Theatre. Other works include acting with the Murder Mystery Company, a dinner theater group. She has recently performed with the troupe in the Denver Metro area and in Salt Lake City, Utah. Lauren wants to thank her friends for their endless encouragement, her family for always sending her love and support, and a huge thank you to Susan, Darren, Ellen and everyone in The Never Summer."
TARA KELSO (JANIE)
Tara graduated from Colorado Mesa University (CMU) with a bachelor’s in acting/directing and a dance minor. Some of the roles she played at school were Vanda in Venus in Fur, Nat in Rabbit Hole and Mary in Vanities. While in school Tara had the opportunity to participate as a featured dancer and choreographer in many of the CMU’s Fall and Spring dance concerts. Outside of school, Tara choreographed for various shows at Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre and played Celia in As You Like It. Ms. Kelso has been seen in the following productions around Denver including Dog Sees God (Equinox Theater Company), Taming of the Shrew (Lost and Found Productions) and Romeo and Juliet (Foothills Theatre Company). Currently Tara is dancing for Whitney Waugh Dance Company and choreographing for The Denver Academy of Dramatic Arts at Visionbox Studio’s production of Juliet and her Romeo.
lisa young (corva)
Lisa Young - a Denver actor and theatre enthusiast is grateful to work with And Toto too and the reading ofThe Never Summer. WE NEED NEW IDEAS. She is humbled to work with such a talented cast and a brilliant new playwright, thank you Susan. Recent regional credits include Vintage's Intimate Apparel as Esther Mills, Spotlight's To Kill a Mockingbird as Calpurnia. Phamaly's touring children's musical: Rapunzel. Regional honors include the CCTC Festival 2014 Best Actress Mrs. Helen Vintage's A Song For Coretta. Next up is Motormouth Maybelle in Town Halls's HAIRSPRAY this summer. Lisa thanks God for the gifts. Kisses to hubby, Mike, her biggest fan. Love to my family, friends, fans and "The Youngsters"
veronica straight-lingo (customer/office worker/customer)
Veronica Straight-Lingo loves supporting And Toto too, and their mission! She can now be seen in Much Ado about Nothing with Lost and Found Productions at the Bug and will join Arts in the Open in their summer production, The Oddest Sea!
suzanne connors nepi (coworker/patron)
Suzanne is uber happy to be mixing it up again with her good pal Susan Lyles/And Toto too, and the fabulous Ellen Graham. She has been seen at many theaters round town with favorite roles including Martha in Virginia Woolf?, Carmen in Curtains ( Marlowe Award), and Agnes in I DO I DO! New works are so important and vital to the theatre community, thanks for coming!
libby arnold (commuter/friend)
Libby Arnold has acted and directed in New York, Los Angeles, Florida, New Mexico and most recently Colorado. Previous And Toto too Theatre Co credits: Directing: Who Will Sing for Lena, Swan Day, and Assistant Director of The Greater Good; Acting: Naked In Encino (Cat) and the Play Crawl. Other acting credits: Colorado: Sylvia in Sylvia (Platte Valley); Natalie in Leap; Agnus in Dancing at Lughnasa (DCPA Ed.); Heidi in The Heidi Chronicles (DCPA Ed.). NY Off-Broadway: The Libertine (Theatre Row); Swimming With Watermelons (Vineyard Theatre); Six by Tenn (Red Room); Regional Credits: Pursuit of Happiness, Suddenly Last Summer, Night of the Living Dead, The Dead Guy, (Hippodrome, FL); The Man of Mode, Cornbread Man (World Premiere), Vincent in Brixton (Nadine McGuire Theatre, FL); Three Times a Lady (Santa Monica Playhouse, CA). International Tours: Lysistrata (Greece), Our Town (Brazil). Ms. Arnold holds a M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Florida & a B.A. from The College of Santa Fe, NM.
(stage directions)
Darren serves as president as well as technical director for And Toto too, Darren is responsible for the technical operations of the theater, determining technical staffing and equipment requirements for productions, and acts as the central coordinating point for the designers, the stage management team, the craftspeople, etc. – throughout each production. With more than 30 years of experience both on-stage and in almost every capacity behind the scenes, Darren brings a wealth of ideas and best practices to And Toto too.
Darren is not, despite what a 'vanity search' on the internet may lead you to believe, an editor and writer specializing in travel directories and feature magazine stories, an Australian rugby league player, the 1997 World Irish Dancing Champion, a football player for the Grand Valley State University Lakers, a new age composer living in Texas, or a Christian comedian and illusionist. He lives in Denver with his wife, sons, and their two dogs, and is also the co-founder of the leading B2B customer reference company Point of Reference.