To watch Hi-DeF 2021, click the link below…..see ya there!
WELCOME
2:00 - 2:02pm. Opening video
2:02 - 2:04pm. The Show That Shall Be Named
2:04 - 2:05 pm. Miri & Ann “Live” welcome
THEATRE
2:05 - 3:05pm. Dear Donald, Dear Hilary
3:05 - 3:30pm. Producers’ Award Announcement
PANEL
3:20 - 3:40pm. What did actors do during the lockdown?
FRINGY FILM FESTIVAL
3:40 - 3:45pm. Torn Hide
3:45 - 3:50pm. Interview with Filmmakers Alex and Lauren
3:50 - 3:55pm. Fidalgo by Cannibal Sickness
THEATRE
3:55 - 4:35pm. Second Helping
IMPROV
4:35 - 4:45pm. Imaginary Friends, Zoom Improv
DANCE
4:45 - 5:15pm. Mohiniyattom, A Woman’s Perspective
PANEL
5:15 - 5:35pm. Summer Rep panel
DISCUSSION
5:35 - 5:55pm. Technical wizardry brought to you by Charlotte Brown
FRINGY MUSIC
5:55.- 6:25pm. Leonard Jorns
6:25 - 6:55pm. Kurt Schauppner
UNTIL NEXT YEAR
6:55 - 7:00pm. Ann & Miri “Live” Thank you & See you next year
2:00 - 2:02pm. Opening video
2:02 - 2:04pm. The Show That Shall Be Named
2:04 - 2:05 pm. Miri & Ann “Live” welcome
THEATRE
2:05 - 3:05pm. Dear Donald, Dear Hilary
3:05 - 3:30pm. Producers’ Award Announcement
PANEL
3:20 - 3:40pm. What did actors do during the lockdown?
FRINGY FILM FESTIVAL
3:40 - 3:45pm. Torn Hide
3:45 - 3:50pm. Interview with Filmmakers Alex and Lauren
3:50 - 3:55pm. Fidalgo by Cannibal Sickness
THEATRE
3:55 - 4:35pm. Second Helping
IMPROV
4:35 - 4:45pm. Imaginary Friends, Zoom Improv
DANCE
4:45 - 5:15pm. Mohiniyattom, A Woman’s Perspective
PANEL
5:15 - 5:35pm. Summer Rep panel
DISCUSSION
5:35 - 5:55pm. Technical wizardry brought to you by Charlotte Brown
FRINGY MUSIC
5:55.- 6:25pm. Leonard Jorns
6:25 - 6:55pm. Kurt Schauppner
UNTIL NEXT YEAR
6:55 - 7:00pm. Ann & Miri “Live” Thank you & See you next year
The Stories.....
Dear Donald/Dear Hillary (Their Secret Correspondence) takes liberties, for laughs, with the biographies of the famous political rivals. What if they’ve known each other since the age of 8, assigned to be pen pals as second-graders? In their heretofore undiscovered personal letters spanning half a century, right up to November 2020, we see their awkward friendship wax and wane in letters that borrow liberally (not conservatively) from Trump and Clinton’s actual public dialogue. You might be surprised who gets the last word!
Second Helping
Kelli Dunham grew up the youngest child in a large Germanic midwestern farm family that taught self-reliance as a religion. As an adult, Kelli struggled somewhat with her sexual orientation (queer) and gender identity (nonbinary) but her true lifelong fight has been to accept the tiniest bit of assistance from even those closest to her. When Kelli lost not one but two partners in a row to cancer, she was forced to start making different choices. Second Helping is part stand-up comedy, part sit down tragedy with love and body fluids in the cracks in between.
Torn Hide
Torn Hide is a psychological bull fight, centered within a worn western woman, who battles her darkness in a vicious struggle, day after day, bruised by the desert. A cycle that has no end. Yet she never gives up.
Mohiniyattom: A Woman’s Perspective
Saraswathy will be exploring the emotions of a woman repining, especially during the lockdown when she has been separated from her beloved.
Interweaving music and dance, she hopes to convey a story through her dance, to speak of the feeling of anxiety due to separation from a beloved and the doubts that arise in one's mind about relationships. It will be in traditional mohiniyattom style.
Costume: white and gold
Original music score composed specifically for the piece.
Imaginary Friends
What is solo improv?
a) Is it about being alone?
b) being seen alone?
c) talking to ghosts?
d) none of the above?
Do you know? Well, if you don’t stick around.
If I Could Dream I Would and Other Tales
Kurt Schauppner sings a half dozen self-penned songs while talking about how and why they were created.
Music With Vocals
Live vocal performance of original music written, enginered and produced by Lenny Jorns.
Fidalgo by Cannibal Sickness:
Pull up a chair by the fire for Michael Van Haney’s film interpretation of a poem written by Pacific Northwest artist and author Steve Hapy.
Dear Donald/Dear Hillary (Their Secret Correspondence) takes liberties, for laughs, with the biographies of the famous political rivals. What if they’ve known each other since the age of 8, assigned to be pen pals as second-graders? In their heretofore undiscovered personal letters spanning half a century, right up to November 2020, we see their awkward friendship wax and wane in letters that borrow liberally (not conservatively) from Trump and Clinton’s actual public dialogue. You might be surprised who gets the last word!
Second Helping
Kelli Dunham grew up the youngest child in a large Germanic midwestern farm family that taught self-reliance as a religion. As an adult, Kelli struggled somewhat with her sexual orientation (queer) and gender identity (nonbinary) but her true lifelong fight has been to accept the tiniest bit of assistance from even those closest to her. When Kelli lost not one but two partners in a row to cancer, she was forced to start making different choices. Second Helping is part stand-up comedy, part sit down tragedy with love and body fluids in the cracks in between.
Torn Hide
Torn Hide is a psychological bull fight, centered within a worn western woman, who battles her darkness in a vicious struggle, day after day, bruised by the desert. A cycle that has no end. Yet she never gives up.
Mohiniyattom: A Woman’s Perspective
Saraswathy will be exploring the emotions of a woman repining, especially during the lockdown when she has been separated from her beloved.
Interweaving music and dance, she hopes to convey a story through her dance, to speak of the feeling of anxiety due to separation from a beloved and the doubts that arise in one's mind about relationships. It will be in traditional mohiniyattom style.
Costume: white and gold
Original music score composed specifically for the piece.
Imaginary Friends
What is solo improv?
a) Is it about being alone?
b) being seen alone?
c) talking to ghosts?
d) none of the above?
Do you know? Well, if you don’t stick around.
If I Could Dream I Would and Other Tales
Kurt Schauppner sings a half dozen self-penned songs while talking about how and why they were created.
Music With Vocals
Live vocal performance of original music written, enginered and produced by Lenny Jorns.
Fidalgo by Cannibal Sickness:
Pull up a chair by the fire for Michael Van Haney’s film interpretation of a poem written by Pacific Northwest artist and author Steve Hapy.
Discussions, Panels, et al....
What did actors do during the lockdown?
Moderated by Miri Hunter
How actors spent their creative energies, while social distancing.
Jeanette Knight is an award-winning actor, director, and choreographer. As a proud member of SAG/AFTRA and Actors Equity Association, she has played over twenty roles, ranging from Rose in The Woolgatherer at the Tony award winning Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, to Shen Te/Shui Ta in Brecht’s Good Person of Szechuan to Roberta in Going to a Place Where You Already Are. In 2017, she received the Michael Grossman Most Inspirational Award from the Desert Theatre League. For classes and other info contact her at cvimprovfest@cvrep.org
Tessa Gregory-Walker is a performer, stage manager and theatre producer based in the Coachella Valley. Since moving here from the UK three years ago, she has been seen on stages across the valley and has worked extensively behind the scenes for Desert Theatreworks as their technical supervisor. The Pandemic cut short her work on Man and Wife with Desert Ensemble Theatre and for the past year she has been performing with multiple international improv groups, taken part in staged readings and is now launching her own company - Quake Theatre.
Grey Forge LeFey is an actor and director in the prime of their prime, having spent decades creating theatre on the stage and on the page. Before recently relocating to California, they were the founder and artistic director of Ohio’s LGBTQ+ theatre company Gilda Shedstecker Presents!
Desireé Clarke is a theatre professional and artist. She received her BFA in Acting from AMDA: College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts and is also a graduate of The British American Drama Academy. She was the Director of Development for Desert Ensemble Theatre Company for the 2020-2021 season. Desiree is also the president and founder of SHOUT!, a theatre based program for underrepresented kids and teens.
JT Summer Theatre Under the Stars
Moderated by Miri Hunter
Abe Daniels, Producer, has been working in the high desert Theatre community for almost 20 years. He is an award winning director, producer actor and recipient of the Bill Kuhlamn award for excellence behind the scenes. He studied under Salome Jens of the Actors Studio and truly enjoys helping those with the craft.
with the craft.
Wendy Cohen, Director, has been an enthusiastic member of the theatre arts community since early childhood, when her parents would bring her to play rehearsals instead of hiring a babysitter. Most recently, Wendy performed at the Groves Cabin Theater in “My Old Lady” and “The Shadowbox”. She is very grateful to Abe Daniels for pulling a theater season together even as we break free of COVID-19 restrictions. She looks forward to directing “Miles Gloriosus”, a wacky take on a 2000 year old Roman comedy.
Miri Hunter, Director, is the Artistic and Producing Director of Thought Theatre Morongo Basin. She currently resides on the outskirts of the Basin. Evenings, when not in a theatre, she sits on her porch and sings to the stars.
Haley Kooyman, Director, is a physical comedian and mime artist currently nesting in Joshua Tree, CA.
Howard Shangraw, Director, is an award-winning actor and director. His acting career includes productions Off-Broadway, summer stock, feature films, regional theater and episodic TV. Also an acting instructor, Howard served as chair of theater for Idyllwild Arts Academy, core faculty at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles, resident faculty at South Coast Repertory Theater, and most recently as drama instructor at Hi-Desert Cultural Center where he also served as Artistic Director.
TECHNICAL WIZARDRY
Charlotte Breanne Brown, technical director
all the answers to the technical questions about producing an online festival or anything.
Moderated by Miri Hunter
How actors spent their creative energies, while social distancing.
Jeanette Knight is an award-winning actor, director, and choreographer. As a proud member of SAG/AFTRA and Actors Equity Association, she has played over twenty roles, ranging from Rose in The Woolgatherer at the Tony award winning Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, to Shen Te/Shui Ta in Brecht’s Good Person of Szechuan to Roberta in Going to a Place Where You Already Are. In 2017, she received the Michael Grossman Most Inspirational Award from the Desert Theatre League. For classes and other info contact her at cvimprovfest@cvrep.org
Tessa Gregory-Walker is a performer, stage manager and theatre producer based in the Coachella Valley. Since moving here from the UK three years ago, she has been seen on stages across the valley and has worked extensively behind the scenes for Desert Theatreworks as their technical supervisor. The Pandemic cut short her work on Man and Wife with Desert Ensemble Theatre and for the past year she has been performing with multiple international improv groups, taken part in staged readings and is now launching her own company - Quake Theatre.
Grey Forge LeFey is an actor and director in the prime of their prime, having spent decades creating theatre on the stage and on the page. Before recently relocating to California, they were the founder and artistic director of Ohio’s LGBTQ+ theatre company Gilda Shedstecker Presents!
Desireé Clarke is a theatre professional and artist. She received her BFA in Acting from AMDA: College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts and is also a graduate of The British American Drama Academy. She was the Director of Development for Desert Ensemble Theatre Company for the 2020-2021 season. Desiree is also the president and founder of SHOUT!, a theatre based program for underrepresented kids and teens.
JT Summer Theatre Under the Stars
Moderated by Miri Hunter
Abe Daniels, Producer, has been working in the high desert Theatre community for almost 20 years. He is an award winning director, producer actor and recipient of the Bill Kuhlamn award for excellence behind the scenes. He studied under Salome Jens of the Actors Studio and truly enjoys helping those with the craft.
with the craft.
Wendy Cohen, Director, has been an enthusiastic member of the theatre arts community since early childhood, when her parents would bring her to play rehearsals instead of hiring a babysitter. Most recently, Wendy performed at the Groves Cabin Theater in “My Old Lady” and “The Shadowbox”. She is very grateful to Abe Daniels for pulling a theater season together even as we break free of COVID-19 restrictions. She looks forward to directing “Miles Gloriosus”, a wacky take on a 2000 year old Roman comedy.
Miri Hunter, Director, is the Artistic and Producing Director of Thought Theatre Morongo Basin. She currently resides on the outskirts of the Basin. Evenings, when not in a theatre, she sits on her porch and sings to the stars.
Haley Kooyman, Director, is a physical comedian and mime artist currently nesting in Joshua Tree, CA.
Howard Shangraw, Director, is an award-winning actor and director. His acting career includes productions Off-Broadway, summer stock, feature films, regional theater and episodic TV. Also an acting instructor, Howard served as chair of theater for Idyllwild Arts Academy, core faculty at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles, resident faculty at South Coast Repertory Theater, and most recently as drama instructor at Hi-Desert Cultural Center where he also served as Artistic Director.
TECHNICAL WIZARDRY
Charlotte Breanne Brown, technical director
all the answers to the technical questions about producing an online festival or anything.