Foolish Voices: A Company Of Fools Podcast

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form. Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with Company of Fools favorite, Richard Rush!

Rich was born in Chicago, Illinois and was raised in the southwest suburbs. After attending Viterbo College in LaCrosse, Wisconsin - moved to New York to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.While in New York pursuing acting, became interested in painting and visual arts. After 15 years in New York, he and his wife, Jenn - who grew up in Ketchum - moved to Hailey, Idaho. During the past 20 years in Idaho, has had the opportunity to work with Company of Fools in many productions - as a set painter, prop maker and actor.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with Portland, Oregon based actor, Yesenia Lopez!

Yesenia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Public Relations from California State University of Sacramento. Yesenia’s last time on stage before the COVID-19 crisis was in February 2020 at the Milagro stage in Portland, Oregon as Minerva in, “In the Time of the Butterflies.” Yesenia has also worked with Bag&Baggage Productions, where she performed “The Island in the Winter Or Isla en el Invierno,” for which she received a BroadwayWorld Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Yesenia’s favorite past roles include: Zoot Suit (as Lupe); Water by the Spoonful (as Odessa); Women of Juarez (as Maritza); and Electricidad (as Electricidad). When Yesenia is not on stage, she works as a Marketing Coordinator for a sports accessories store and also dabbles with graphic design and web development.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with one of our favorite members of the Foolish Family, Michelle Carter!

Based out of Los Angeles for the last 20 years, Michelle is a Richmond, VA native and a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Theater VCU. When not sitting in traffic on the 405 to get to auditions or to set for work, Michelle is trying to keep up with her busy 4 year old daughter Hailey. And in non-pandemic times you can find her watching college basketball and all things baseball. Some of her television and film credits include Speechless, Marvel’s Runaways, Grimm, Jane The Virgin, Castle, Grey’s Anatomy and most recently the independent film MASS which was shot on location in her favorite little town of Hailey, Idaho. Michelle was first connected with Company of Fools 12 years ago when she got a call out of the blue asking her to come to a little town in Idaho to perform in Doubt. She’s very thankful that she answered the call. Other shows that she’s performed in with her Foolish family include Violet, 110 In The Shade, Noises Off, Welcome Home Jenny Sutter and Cry It Out.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with Idaho-based actor Alexis Ulrich!

Lexi is a Las Vegas native who came to Idaho when she was just five year old and has been performing onstage ever since. Alexis’s main passion is acting but in her spare time she loves singing, playing piano, and spending quality time with her family. She’s worked with a variety of theatre companies in Idaho for fifteen years. She is a graduate from Twin Falls High School, has her Associate Degree in Liberal Arts from the College of Southern Idaho, and is currently pursuing her Bachelor Degree in Theatre performance from Idaho State University. This past year Alexis had the privilege of performing in two shows in Company of Fools 24th season, Lydia Wickham in Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley and Zoe in The Niceties. Some of her other favorite roles include; Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, Deloris in Sister Act, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible, and Ursula in The Little Mermaid. She is also a new and proud member of Actors Equity. Despite not currently having work due to Covid, she is excited and hopeful for the future!

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with lighting designer and theatre administrator, Steve Koehler!

For the past two years Steve has served as the Managing Director of Swift Creek Mill Theatre in Chesterfield Virginia, a professional theatre south of Richmond Virginia. Steven has also been Managing Director of Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette in Lafayette, Indiana and Actors Guild of Lexington in Lexington Kentucky. He has served on the Boards of The Kentucky Theatre Association, The Indiana Community Theatre Association, and the Richmond Virginia Theatre Alliance. Steve has served as a panelist for The Indiana Arts Commission and the Virginia Arts Commission.

As a lighting designer, Steve has worked extensively in Richmond Virginia, and through the midwest. For The Company of Fools, Steven has designed The Syringa Tree, It's a Wonderful Life, a Radio Play, The Woman in Black, Good People, Grey Gardens, and most recently, Crimes of the Heart.

Steve is married to musician, Shellie Johnson, and proud father of three.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with Norman Wilson!

Norman is a Portland transplant from Los Angeles. Growing up in Orange County, CA, he cut his teeth on community theatre, church choirs and background work in film before graduating to professional stage, film and TV work. He now lives in Portland with his partner of fifteen years and their dog of ten, and they co-work in their one BR apartment for their employers. Norman is an underwriting account manager for All Classical Portland, the premier classical music station of Oregon and southwest Washington and the entity that produces the nationally syndicated program The Score with Edmund Stone.

When not touting the virtues of public radio or performing on stage or screen, Norman can usually be found running along the Willamette River, on the Oregon coast or in his kitchen cooking. He is also a rabid watcher of Turner Classic Movies and solver of NY Times crossword puzzles.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with internationally acclaimed actor and director Molly Lyons!

A recent transplant to Tuscon from Chicago, Molly has directed such shows as: On the Verge, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, Barber of Seville, Magic Flute, Carmen, The Foreigner, Diary of Anne Frank, The Clearing, an award-winning Glass Menagerie, among many more.

As an actor, some of her favorite roles include: Ellie – Sweet Texas Reckoning, the Nurse – Romeo & Juliet, Beatrice – Much Ado About Nothing, Titania – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cecilia – At Water’s Edge and, as the last queen of Ireland in her solo show, A Most Notorious Woman.

Molly has worked across the US and internationally in Canada and Europe. Her education includes: Santa Clara University, California Institute of the Arts, Royal Shakespeare Company. Molly has been Artistic Director of Green Wood Studios, actor training, and Actors' International Retreat Experience (AIRE) since 1994.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with my LA-based actor, activist, and essential worker, Ian Armstrong.

Ian is an actor, an improv comedy performer, and, brilliantly, an essential health care worker and union activist living in Los Angeles. He got his BA in theatre arts from the University of Oregon and has trained at the Lesley Kahn Institute and the Upright Citizens Brigade Sketch Comedy group in LA in Sketch Comedy writing. He has appeared in dozens of shows with Bag&Baggage Productions as a resident actor, including Of Mice and Men, Twelfth Night, The Glass Menagerie, The Great Gatsby, and many more. He has also worked with Lord Leebrick Theatre, Action/Adventure Theatre, and the Enclave Theatre Company, where he is a founding member. His film and television work includes a number of lead roles with Enclave Entertainment Group and on BuzzFeed and Jay Spears Productions.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with Rick Noble!

Rick is the Director of Production at the American Repertory Theater, where he’s proudest of getting a 4,800 gallon pool onstage for the world premiere of Endlings by Celine Song. Prior to that, he was the Director of Production at Baltimore Center Stage, leading the production department through the renovation of the historic theatre building. Favorite productions at BCS include One Night in Miami by Kemp Powers, Twisted Melodies by Kelvin Roston Jr., and the world premiere of One Love: The Bob Marley Musical by Kwame Kwei-Armah. He also worked as the Associate Production Manager at the Denver Center Theatre Company, where he was part of the team that created Off-Center, a sub-brand of unconventional programming aimed at bringing new audiences to the theatre, and was the lead production manager on multiple world premieres, including The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez and The Whale by Sam Hunter. Rick is a graduate of Oregon State University, where he helped start Bard in the Quad, an annual outdoor Shakespeare program. Pre-theatre he was a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, with deployments to Iraq as a combat engineer leading land mine clearing teams.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with Company of Fools company member, Christine Leslie!

She currently teaches Drama and directs and produces theater performances at Wood River Middle School with 6-8th graders. She also co-directs many high school plays with Karl Nordstrom and the high school theater department. Her first play with Company of Fools was The Laramie Project in 2003. Since then she has performed in several productions and readings as well as working behind the scenes with the stage crew, and teaching Stages of Wonder at the local elementary schools. Christine appreciates all aspects of theater and has written scenes and plays that her students have performed.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with the actor David Kepner!

David is a very foolish actor who feels incredibly fortunate to be a part of the Foolish community (wow that was a lot of fricatives!). David is from Nampa, Idaho. He received his B.A. in Theater and Secondary Education from Boise State University where he too performed in numerous productions. He's also appeared on the Liberty Theater stage as Prentiss in Company of Fool’s production of Peter and the Starcatcher. David is currently living in West Hollywood with his fiancée Hailey, completing his M.F.A in Theater at UCLA’s Theater, Film, and Television program.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! I’m Scott Palmer, Producing Artistic Director of Company of Fools, and on this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with Nate Vilandre!

Nate is a Production Manager, Company Manager, and Producer based primarily in the Northeast. He is entering his second year at Vermont’s oldest theatre, The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company as their Production and Operations Manager. Prior to his work at Weston, he was the Production Coordinator for TROIKA Entertainment, managing fourteen tours including Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, School of Rock, and On Your Feet!. Nathaniel began his career working at theatres such as the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hartford Stage, Geva Theater Center, and the Glimmerglass Festival.

Welcome to Foolish Voices!

On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with the utterly delightful RL Rowsey.

R.L. Rowsey has spent his like immersed in the arts.  From his start in Richmond, Virginia filled with piano lessons, church choirs and high school plays, R.L. has continued his love for the arts in a diverse and exciting career.  After studying voice and piano at Virginia Commonwealth University and musical directing dozens of musicals at local theatres, R.L. moved to the Washington, D.C. suburbs where he spent time serving as musical director for a new American opera, singing the title role in Michael Nyman’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, teaching and directing at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Studio Theatre, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.  After a quick return to Richmond as the associate producing artistic director for TheatreVirginia, R.L. was back on the road first as conductor, then company manager and finally general manager for one of the nation’s leading producers of national tours.

Almost twenty years ago, R.L. and his partner John Glenn moved to Hailey, Idaho to work with Company of Fools.  In addition to his work as the Education Artistic Director for the Sun Valley Music Festival, he also serves as the music director for Light on the Mountains Center for Spiritual Living and conductor of Caritas Chorale.  

Welcome to Foolish Voices!

On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with the dangerously delightful Lon Gowan!

Lon is a professional stuntman, actor, and writer. He has appeared in over 30 national commercials and numerous TV shows & films, including: Big Little Lies, 9-1-1, Seal Team, Jordan Peele's Us, Grace and Frankie, Single Parents, American Horror Stories, How to Get Away with Murder, Private Practice, CSI, Arrested Development, The Mentalist, CONAN, General Hospital, Hulu's Into The Dark and The Orville. In Early 2020, he can be seen in the new series Little Fires Everywhere and the feature film Call of the Wild. All of which would not be possible without the support and hard work of his amazingly talented wife, Julie Dolan.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! I’m Scott Palmer, Producing Artistic Director of Company of Fools, and on this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form. Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with TV and Film star Scott MacDonald!

Scott MacDonald is a veteran professional actor who has enjoyed an eclectic 35 year career with extensive credits in film, television, as well as on the legit stage. His film credits include big studio films and indies, most recently “Call of the Wild”, with other film work including leading roles in “Jarhead”, “Water for Elephants”, “Fire in the Sky” and the campy cult favorite horror film “Jack Frost” among others. Mac’s television guest star credits include “Dexter”, “The West Wing”, “Boston Legal”, “ER” and recurring roles on HBO’s “Carnivale” and Showtime’s “United States of Tara”. MacDonald has appeared in a lot of sci/fi, guest starring and recurring on 4 separate Star Trek series as various aliens, “Enterprise”, “The Next Generation”, “Deep Space Nine”, “Voyager” as well as in the universes of “Stargate”, “The X-Files”, “Babylon 5”, and "Threshold" among many others.

He holds and MFA from California Institute of the Arts, as well as 2 BA’s from Washington State University, one in Speech/Theatre and the other in Broadcast/Communication.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! I’m Scott Palmer, Producing Artistic Director of Company of Fools, and on this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form. Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with the one, the only, the living legend, Jana Arnold!

Jana Arnold graduated with a degree in theater from Baylor University and went from there to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. It is in small Equity Waiver theaters that she “cut her teeth” on stage and where she earned two Los Angeles DramaLogue Awards for excellence in theater.

Jana has over 40 guest starring roles in film and TV, but the roller coaster life of an actor in L.A. was hard. She had an opportunity to go to the Sun Valley area of Idaho to do a play. 15 years and over 40 productions later, she is still there and has worked non-stop ever since with several regional production companies including nexStage Theater, Laughing Stock, Off Center Stage, St. Thomas Playhouse, The Spot, Sun Valley Shakespeare Festival, and Company of Fools, where she is a resident actor.

Jana has had the opportunity to perform in roles most actors only dream about, Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, the nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Sister Aloysius in Doubt, Vera in 5000 Miles, and Edith Bouvier Beale in Grey Gardens to mention only a few.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form. Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with Michelle Milne!

Michelle Milne has worked as a director, performer, writer, and educator across the US. She recently directed highly physical and immersive productions of The Light Princess, Every Brilliant Thing, Brontë (Drammy Award for Best Production, Portland), Eurydice, Macbeth (at a prison in Oregon), Julius Caesar, Romeo & Juliet (SB Tribune Regional Best Production), and several ensemble-devised productions.

She tours her original writing with musician Heather Kropf in We Know There Are Oceans: A Travelogue; has performed her poetry as “Carmelina du Jour” in Chicago’s Poetry Bordello; and was part of the ensemble for Palissimo’s The Painted Bird at La Mama in NYC. Her original piece about borders and walls, For Those Who Cannot Fly, premiered in Chicago and San Francisco; she is expanding that piece for touring under the title Edge Effects.

Michelle is a Feldenkrais Method practitioner, and for the past 6 ½ years she has been navigating three geographic homes and life on the road as part of her ongoing writing project, Traveling Home.

You can read some of her writing at https://mappingtheterrain.wordpress.com/ and can contact her or contribute to her work via PayPal at mmilne@gmail.com

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we chat with COF resident scenic designer, Joe Lavigne!

Joe has been a resident of the valley since 1995. He started his life in theatre with COF 25 years ago by taking an acting class led by COF co-founder Rusty Wilson. This led to performing in a couple of plays which led to the desire to continue learning theatre which led to Joe going back to college at 40. He achieved a degree in Theatre Design from Boise State University in 2006. While at BSU, Joe’s first realized set design, Dante, earned a regional KCACTF scenic design award. About to apply to Grad schools, Joe was offered a job to work with COF by the late John Glen, that was to last a year but instead turned into 14. Since 2006, Joe has designed numerous plays for each season at COF. Highlights include: K2, Doubt, God of Carnage, Other Desert Cities, Enchanted April, Peter and the Starcatcher, Proof and 4000 Miles.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with the academically delightful Daniel Pollack-Pelzner!

Daniel is the Ronni Lacroute Chair in Shakespeare Studies at Linfield College in Oregon. His articles about Shakespeare and contemporary culture have appeared recently in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The New York Times. He is the scholar-in-residence at the Portland Shakespeare Project, and he lectures frequently at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He met his wife in a fifth-grade production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and is currently working with his son on a Hamilton/Harry Potter mashup called “Halexander Potterton.”

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with a founding member of the Fools family, Robert Throckmorton!

Robert is an actor and director living in Richmond, Virginia. His twenty-five plus years of theatrical experience include a diverse range of credits including Tom Wingfield (“The Glass Menagerie”), Prior Walter (“Angels in America: Millennium Approaches”), John/James (“Love! Valour! Compassion”), Cornelius Hackl (“Hello, Dolly!), and Helena (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”), and the tour-de-force one-man shows “The Santaland Diaries” by David Sedaris and Fred Barton’s “Miss Gulch Returns.” Robert is an alumnus of Wesleyan University, the National Theatre Institute and the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts and a founding member of Company of Fools. He flexes his creative muscles daily in his role as Principal with Prophet Brand Strategy which is dedicated to creatively-inspired, digitally powered business transformations

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we talk with the first fool of them all, Rusty Wilson!

Rusty is a free-lance theatre artist based in Richmond, VA. Since moving to Richmond in 2005 he has directed a number of critically acclaimed productions including Cadence Theatre’s John, (RTCC Best Director, 2017), Sight Unseen, and In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play). Other Richmond directing credits include Firehouse Theatre’s Death of a Salesman, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (RTCC Best Director, 2011), Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice (RTCC Best Director, 2009), and Noah Haidle’s Mr. Marmalade. Rusty also directed Virginia Rep’s To Kill A Mockingbird, and Richmond Triangle Players’ Cloud 9.

Prior to moving to Richmond, Rusty spent ten years serving as the Founding Artistic Director for Company of Fools, an award winning theatre company located in Sun Valley, Idaho. Favorite directing credits there include Uncle Vanya, James Joyce’s The Dead, Waiting for Godot, How I Learned to Drive, The Tempest, Death and the Maiden, Buried Child, and Other Desert Cities. The company received the Idaho Governor’s Award in 2004, and continues to be one of Idaho’s leading arts institutions.

Rusty has been a guest director and teacher at various colleges and universities around the country, received a fellowship in directing in 2003, and was featured in the March 2002 issue of American Theatre Magazine. He currently serves as the Director of Theatre and Arts Chair at St. Christopher’s School and is an Associate Artist and Teacher for Cadence Theatre.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we talk with internationally acclaimed playwright James Still!

James' plays have been produced throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa, China and Japan. His new plays include DINOSAUR(s); (A) NEW WORLD; and BLACK BEAUTY (premiering recently at Seattle Children’s Theatre). Recent work includes a trilogy of linked-plays: THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT (Indiana Repertory Theatre), APPOGGIATURA (Denver Center Theatre), and MIRANDA (Illusion Theater, Minneapolis). Also: APRIL 4, 1968: BEFORE WE FORGOT HOW TO DREAM (Indiana Repertory Theatre); two plays about the Lincolns: THE WIDOW LINCOLN and THE HEAVENS ARE HUNG IN BLACK ( both premiering at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.); a play for one actor about culinary icon James Beard called I LOVE TO EAT (Portland Center Stage); a play for 57 actors called A LONG BRIDGE OVER DEEP WATERS (Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles); LOOKING OVER THE PRESIDENT’S SHOULDER at theaters across the country; and AND THEN THEY CAME FOR ME at theaters around the world (most recently at Alabama Shakespeare Festival). His short play WHEN MISS LYDIA HINKLEY GIVES A BIRD THE BIRD was a winner of Red Bull Theater’s Short New Play Festival in New York and performed at many festivals. Still is an elected member of both the National Theatre Conference in New York and the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center. He received the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award from the William Inge Festival and the Todd McNerney New Play Prize from Spoleto. His plays have been developed at the New Harmony Project, the O’Neill Conference, Sundance, Seven Devils, the Colorado New Play Summit, Launch Pad, and many others. He is a four-time Pulitzer nominee for his work in the theater, and a five-time nominee for his work in television. He is the Playwright in Residence at Indiana Repertory Theatre, Artistic Affiliate at American Blues in Chicago, and lives in Los Angeles.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we chat with Orion Bradshaw!

Orion is an Actor, Licensed Teacher, and Social Justice Advocate; he is a proud member of both the Actors’ Equity and National Education Associations. He earned his Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Southern Oregon University in the summer of 2019, while also training with Southern Oregon's Racial Equity Coalition. Orion was an actor for 3 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, before going on to co-found Post5 Theatre in Portland, Oregon - as well as perform with numerous Portland and Seattle area theaters. He’s been a Theatre/ Drama educator for 13+ years, and has collaborated in this capacity with such companies as the aforementioned OSF, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and PlayWrite Inc. - among many others. He is also the resident Shakespeare script adapter for The Drama Notebook. Orion wholeheartedly believes that the Performing Arts, Education, and Social Justice make a powerful trio; they are vital to building and fostering empathy and awareness in our citizens. He hopes that we emerge from this time of great uncertainty with a renewed sense of unity, equity, awareness, giving, and citizenship.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with Cassandra Bissell! Cassie is a freelance actor based in Wisconsin. She was first introduced to the wonder that is Company of Fools and the incredible Wood River Valley community through her partner, Neil Brookshire. She has appeared alongside him at Company of Fools in Proof, Constellations, and Mary Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. She pieces together a living as a freelance actor by appearing anywhere that will hire her which thus far includes stages from Vermont to Utah. Cassandra holds a degree in Gender Studies from the University of Chicago, is very fond of cats, tea, solitaire and writing the occasional haiku. (Yes, she is in fact, an 80-year-old soul in a 42-year-old skin.)

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.


In this episode, we are talking with a perennial Company of Fools favorite, Neil Brookshire! Neil is an actor, visual artist, and filmmaker who has appeared on The Liberty Stage in productions of Constellations, Proof, Peter and the Starcatcher, Enchanted April, The Woman in Black, and most recently, as Mr. Darcy in MISS BENNET: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLY. He is also the founder of Dirt Hills Productions, which produces short films and audio. He has a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Boise State and an MFA in Acting from Northern Illinois University. He lives in Wisconsin.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with Melory Mirashrafi. Melory is a dramaturg, actor, and director from Hillsboro, Oregon. This year, after an internship with the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, Melory moved to Boston to work as the Huntington Theatre Company's 2019-2020 Literary Apprentice, where she is also a dramaturg for Speakeasy Stage's "The Boston Project" on J. Sebastián Alberdi's new play VIEJITX. In Oregon, Melory has worked recently as a dramaturg and cultural consultant for Octavio Solis on Mary Zimmerman's THE ARABIAN NIGHTS at Southern Oregon University, directed THE LITTLE PRINCE with Opera Theater Oregon in downtown Portland, and performed as Veronica in HEATHERS: THE MUSICAL at the Funhouse Lounge and in Heather Raffo's one-woman show, NINE PARTS OF DESIRE at Linfield College. Melory’s writing has been featured in Oregon Artswatch, Public Books, and at the ATHE 2019 National Conference. 

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with the one, the only, the living legend: David Janeski! Welcome to Foolish Voices! David is a Theatre Artist and Database Administrator for Sun Valley Museum of Art. His most recent stage endeavor was a reading of a play in progress with American playwright Samuel Hunter.  David has lived in the Wood River Valley for 5 years and been visiting since 2007. Company of Fools brought him out west from his home state of Virginia. When not working on stage or in the database David enjoys woodworking. He has so far created functional items for the home including a dining table, coffee table, benches, built-in storage cabinets, oh yes, and a spice rack. 

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, we are talking with the most Foolish of all the Fools, Denise Simone. Denise came to Hailey, Idaho in 1996 and, until 2016, she served as COF’s Co-Producing Artistic Director. She was awarded the Governor’s Award in 2014 for Excellence In The Arts. Denise has performed in gazillions of shows for the Fools, including August: Osage County, God of Carnage, Good People, Other Desert Cities, Shirley Valentine, and with Bruce Willis in Fool For Love, among many many more. She has also directed numerous shows for the Fools, including Cry It Out, Proof, Constellations, among many more. Denise also created COF’s innovative theatre in schools program, Stages of Wonder, and served as a commissioner for the Idaho Commission on the Arts, as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and is a proud member of Actors Equity and the Screen Actors Guild.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with Aly Wepplo! Aly is a Company Artist with Company of Fools. She first came to Idaho for the Fools’ 2007 production of The Spitfire Grill and finally made Idaho her home in 2015. Aly is so grateful to live in a community with such a vibrant theatre scene, and she’s happy to work with The Spot, Sawtooth Productions, St. Thomas Playhouse, and the musical duo The Beverly Lovers. A proud member of “The Loud Family,” in the words of her father, Aly grew up on inside jokes about potatoes and trapping ideas in tupperware.  

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with a Hanna Cheek, a Company of Fools performer and rising New York star! Hanna was described by Time Out New York as "a future legend of New York theatre," and is a member of the Drama Desk nominated theatre company Waterwell. Hanna has performed, for Company of Fools, in Grounded, Heisenberg, Other Desert Cities, and Proof. 

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with a dynamically foolish duo, Sharon Barto-Gouran and Tim Gouran. Sharon began working with Company of Fools nearly 20 years ago and has performed with the Fools in Almost Main, Bus Stop, Crimes of the Heart, and many more. Tim has performed with a number of Seattle-area theatres, including Seattle Rep, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Children's Theatre, and (with Sharon) here at Company of Fools in Crimes of the Heart. 

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with Page Klune! Page worked in commerical acting in Los Angeles before moving to the Wood River Valley 25 years ago - just about the same time as Company of Fools. She has performed with a wide range of theatre companies here in the Valley, including performances in Our Town, You Can't Take It With You, This Day and Age, Seagull, All's Well That End's Well, and many, many more. 

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with Dr. Elizabeth Tavares! Elizabeth is an assistant professor in the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies at the University of Alabama. Her research specialties include early English drama, Renaissance-era playing companies, theatre history, and Shakespeare In Performance. She is also currently completing work on her book The Elizabethan Repertory System Before Shakespeare: Playing The Stock Market. Her scholarship has appeared in Shakespeare Studies, Shakespeare Bulletin, and she is a three-time Mellon Foundation Fellow. Elizabeth has also received grants from the National Endowment For The Humanities, Society for Theatre Research, and the Newberry, Folger, and Huntington libraries.  

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with Carlos-zenen Trujillo. Carlos has his BFA in performance from Southern Oregon University and is currently an Acting Apprentice with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. As an actor, Carlos has appeared, for Oregon Center For The Arts, in A Man Of No Importance, The Arabian Nights, Angels In America, and Small Mouth Sounds. Carlos was also commissioned to adapted Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale as the inaugural playwright in the nationally acclaimed "Problem Play Project," resulting in a new work entitled The Island In Winter, or La Isla En Invierno. Carlos is also a KCACTF Aspire Leadership Fellow. 

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with the dashing and delightful Matt Musgrove. Matt is a television, film, stage, and voice actor living in Hollywood, but he was born in Eugene, Oregon. Matt's work ranges from roles on the Oxygen Network, in the fantasy film The Zodiac Fighters, and on Parks and Recreation, Grimm, and dozens of national commercials and ads. For the Fools, Matt played the title role in Woody Guthrie's American Song. 

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with one of the most foolish of all the Fools, Tess Makena! Tess has performed with Company of Fools in Crimes of the Heart, Wood Guthrie's American Song, and Grey Gardens. She has also performed with our friends at Boise Contemporary Theatre and Alley Repertory Theatre. 

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with star of stage and screen, Danielle Kennedy! Dani was first connected to Company of Fools when she moved to Sun Valley from LA in 1995. She has starred in a wide range of shows for CoF, including Elemosynary, Our Town, Side Man, You Can't Take It With You, and August: Osage County. Dani's television credits include Narcos, among many, many more.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with Broadway star and Company of Fools performer (in Striking Twelve), DeAnne Stewart! DeAnne has most recently been seen on Broadway in the new musical, Jagged Little Pill. She is originally from Rochester, NY and is a proud alumnae of Ithaca College. Last summer DeAnne closed out the 2nd National Tour of BEAUTIFUL: The Carole King Musical, as one of the Shirelles and the 'Uptown’ Singer. Other performance credits have allowed DeAnne to perform on stages ranging from Off-Broadway to outdoors in Sonoma, CA, across the high seas from the Mediterranean to Japan, and to Sun Valley’s own Liberty Theatre!

You can learn more at DeAnne-Stewart.com and follow her adventures on instagram @deannestewart.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with Professor Freddie Harris of Bloomfield College in New Jersey! Freddie is a longtime resident of the Wood River Valley, with a long history of connection to the arts here. Scott and Freddie get academic in this discussion, touching on Shakespeare, the ancient Greeks, dystopian philosophy and literature, and, of course, reisling.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer talks with the Toad himself, Andrew Alburger! Andrew has performed in nearly 50 productions with Company of Fools, including an iconic 4 turns as Toad in A Year With Frog and Toad: a favorite among our patrons! In addition, Andrew has performed in August: Osage County, Peter and the Starcatcher, Enchanted April, Noises Off and many, many more.

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director talks with the quirkiest, coolest, geekiest Fool of them all: Audra Honaker! Audra is an actor, reader, writer, teacher, and (as she says), "a lover of Chicken and Broccoli Combination Dinner #17." She has appeared in shows throughout the country, including with Virginia Repertory Theatre, Swift Creek Mill Theatre, Richmond Triangle Players, and right here at The Liberty Theatre for Company of Fools. Fools productions include Crimes of the Heart, and A Day In Hollywood/A Night In Ukraine. 

If you enjoy this episode, please consider donating to Audra's VENMO account during these challenging economic times for artists:
@Audra-Honaker

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.  

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.  

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director talks with Sun Valley artistic legend Patsy Wygle! Patsy has been creating memorable characters, on stage and on screen, for years - including in Company of Fools' productions like Vanya, Sonia, Masha, and Spike, and God Of Carnage. Patsy has also had a remarkable career on screen, including featuring on such popular television shows as Law and Order: SVU, One Life To Live, and All My Children. Feature film work includes Cotton Club, Moscow on the Hudson, and The Amaranth.

NOTE: There are a few recording issues with this episode, but please be patient! It is worth the listen!

Welcome to Foolish Voices! On this show we talk to a wide range of theatre artists, both here in Sun Valley and all across the world, about how the current global health crisis is impacting their work, about their creative lives, and about their hopes for the future of our art form.

Please consider supporting Company of Fools by making a donation, in any amount, via our podcast platform or online at svmoa.org.

In this episode, Producing Artistic Director talks with Melodie Taylor-Mauldin: Melody is a graduate in Music/Theatre/Dance from Weber State University, and is an actor, singer, choreographer, director, and costume designer. Melody is beloved of parents and kids throughout the Wood River Valley for her energy, thoughtfulness, enthusiasm, and kindness!