Women’s VOICES Theater Project

Spring, 2022

Photography | Graham Northrup

WETLANDS

Created by 10 local women in an effort to amplify often-silenced voices in our valley, The Women’s VOICES Theater Project, WETLANDS, was a kaleidoscope of a show using movement, music, nature puppetry, and the human voice to spotlight how deeply connected we are to each other and to the natural world.

Participating Artists included

ENSEMBLE MEMBERS included Alexandra Jerkunica, Flor Paz Pastrana, Sandra Prado, MinTze Wu, Toddy Walters, Marcia Weese, and Suzie Brady. SOUND & VISUAL EFFECTS by Jennifer Hughs. PUPPETS by Soozie Lindblom. STAGE MANAGEMENT by Danielle Taylor, and ARTISTIC DIRECTION by Renee Prince with assistance from Gabriela Alvarez-Espinoza. 

Watch excerpts of Wetlands

compiled and edited by Jem Moore

The Cast & Crew

DIRECTOR | RENEE PRINCE is the Executive Artistic Director of VOICES. She recently directed As Close As I Can by Cassidy Willey and Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker at Thunder River Theater. Renee has a passion for community-based, original theater and has been developing new work for the stage for over 15 years, including during her time as Education Director at Creede Repertory Theatre. Renee holds a Bachelor Degree in Theater from Northwestern University and a Masters in Theater Education from the University of Northern Colorado. Photography | Jem Moore

ENSEMBLE | TODDY WALTERS is a multi-faceted artist who has performed in theater, film, television, and commercials both as an actor and a recording/touring vocalist. She has recorded albums of original material and collaborated with producers and songwriters for film and music projects. Toddy began as a voice-over artist in the first 2 seasons of South Park, the South Park feature film, ‘Bigger, Longer and Uncut.’ She lent her vocals to the score on John Carpenter’s ‘The Ward.’ Most recently, she played Heroin Jones in the feature film ‘Stadium Anthems’ and provided vocals on 26 of the 31 original pieces of music in the film.

ENSEMBLE | MARCIA WEESE is an artist and designer of rugs and interiors. She danced with an improvisational dance troupe in New York years ago. The images projected during her performance are her original etchings and mono-prints. The narrated text is lifted from her journals while living in New Mexico with Bogeyman. Photography | Jem Moore

PUPPETRY | SOOZIE LINDBLOOM is the Founder and Artistic Director of Out of the Mud Puppet Theatre located in Carbondale. She creates puppets and masks for parades, festivals, events, and performances. She wants to give special thanks to Jill Scher for teaching her how to make the marionette birds. Photography | Jem Moore

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR | GABRIELA ALVAREZ ESPINOZA was born in Mexico City, where she studied theater at the National School of Theater, she specialized in Performing Arts Studies in Lyon, France and recently obtained a postgraduate degree in Theater and Education from the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. She moved to USA in 2016, and has collaborated with Voices for different projects since 2017. She also works as a kindergarten teacher at BES, where she pursues her interests in community and education.

ENSEMBLE | ALEXANDRA JERKUNICA is the owner of Coredination, Bonedale Ballet & Bonedale Flashmob, established 2004 in Carbondale, Colorado. She is a professional ballet dancer, dance teacher, choreographer, certified Pilates instructor, and holds a BA degree in Psychology from Chapman University. Alexandra dedicates her time to dance performance, classical music, hiking, and the practice of centered motion both as a dancer and movement instructor. Photography | Jem Moore

ENSEMBLE | SANDRA PRADO, originally from Mexico City, is the instructor and founder of Aspen Polynesia. She discovered the Polynesian dances at the age of 15 and since then she became a passionate dancer and teacher. She moved to Aspen in 2018, a place that she finds unique, not only because of its beauty and nature but also because of all the talented, wonderful, and kind people who live in the valley. Sandra loves spending her free time doing any outdoor activity and she considers skiing her second passion after dancing.

LIGHTS, SOUND & PROJECTIONS | ​​JENNIFER HUGHES is the Executive Director of Sol Theatre Company in Carbondale, and cannot think of a better use of her spare time than collaborations with other local theatre companies, and hopes this is the first of many with Voices! When not directing student productions, running summer camps, or creating magic with artists up and down the Valley, Jennifer works on producing and editing podcasts as well as recording Heirloom Audio as part of her business, Circa 71 Productions.

ENSEMBLE | MINTZE WU is a violinist of many passions and a visionary with illuminating artistry. A native of Taiwan and deeply rooted in the richness of classical music, MinTze embraces the word “BenFeng” (running with free spirit) as her way of exploring the world and the music. Infused with spirit, precision, and soulfulness, MinTze founded BenFeng Music Productions and played the role as producer and artistic director to several notable productions including Kreutzer, Beneath, Xu Zhimo & His Transfigured Night, and Death of the Pugilist. Photography | Jem Moore

ENSEMBLE | FLOR M. PAZ PASTRANA, originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, began dancing when she was 6 and was part of a Dance Academy for Folkloric Mexican Dances. Her family moved to the U.S. when she was 11. She taught a group of friends the Folkloric Dances and performed around the Roaring Fork Valley. In college, she took classes in Jazz, Modern, Latin, and African dance. She was recently an ensemble member of VOICES' Nuestras Voces project Asi Bailamos, as well as original dance works by Alya Howe, Disappeared: Women, and Walls.

ENSEMBLE | SUZIE BRADY is a homo sapien with a prefrontal cortex and a uterus. For the last 7 trips around the sun, she has been a dedicated student of the human condition. A proud graduate of Summit High School, Suzie moved to this valley in August of 2016 to pursue her love of the stage from both sides of the curtain. While attending CMC she performed many roles including Candy Starr in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest & Rita in Uncommon Women. Suzie now counts herself amongst the more fortunate of her species as she is making a career out of being a nerd at The Aspen Historical Society. Photography | Jem Moore

STAGE MANAGER | DANIELLE TAYLOR is currently the Managing Director of Thunder River Theatre Company and SOL Theatre Company. She is thrilled to be stepping back into Stage Management for WETLANDS after working as the General Manager for Theatre Aspen and Director of Production for Des Moines Metro Opera over the past several years. Previously she was the Resident Stage Manager for The Rose Theatre in Omaha, NE. and Production Stage Manager for the National Tours of Bye Bye Birdie, Cabaret, and Altar Boyz. Photography | Jem Moore

WETLANDS WAS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY

 
 
 

Women’s VOICES Podcast

Our 2020 Women’s Voices Theater Project was moved to May 2022 due to COVID 19, but we’re thrilled to share our Women’s Voices Podcast, featuring stories by our ensemble members.

This podcast was created in partnership with Circa 71 Productions and WRit Large.

Group photo.jpg

Our 2022 Women’s VOICES Theater Project will feature Suzie Brady, Alexandra Jerkunica, Jennifer Johnson, Amy Kimberly, Vanessa Porras, Natalie Spears, Marcia Weese, and Mintze Wu.

 

Listen to our 2020 Women’s Voices Podcast Collective Pause.

 
 

Photos from our 2019 Women’s VOICES Theater Project.

 

An ongoing study by the Lilly Awards in partnership with the Dramatists Guild has found that only 22% of the plays produced in the U.S. in the last three years were written by women. Only 22%.

“If life worked like the theater, 4 out of 5 things you had ever heard would have been said by men.”