TRISH BROWN | DIRECTOR, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, CO-CREATOR
I have been a director for the past 20 years, directing plays, musicals, TYA productions, and educational theatre. I hold a BA in Theatre from Principia College and an MFA in Directing from the Chicago College for the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Though I now call St. Louis home, much of my early professional work took place in Chicago where I worked as a director, an actress, and an educator for a variety of companies including Wisdom Bridge Theatre, Northbrook Theatre, Ivanhoe Theatre, and Hinsdale Center for the Arts. I have also taken directing seminars with Robert Falls at the Goodman Theatre, Gary Sinise at Steppenwolf Theatre, JoAnne Akalaitis at The Court Theatre, and Mary Zimmerman at Northwestern University. I am a process-based, ensemble director and utilize a number of acting methods in my work. I am also a founding member of The Moving Dock Theatre Company, a Chicago-based company dedicated to the actor’s creative process through the use of the Chekhov technique.
I have a passion for education which prompted me to return to the St. Louis area to assume the role of Associate Professor of Theatre at Principia College in 2000. I redesigned and built the College’s Theatre program there and my educational productions won numerous recognitions, including two Best Production for State of Illinois awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Under my tutelage and direction, several students were admitted to professional training programs including the Neighborhood Playhouse Acting Program and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. I also have students who are now AEA members. I have been an Illinois Arts Council Artist in Residence, a Wise Write judge for the St. Louis Repertory Theatre, and a respondent for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
Most recently I resigned my full-time professorship to pursue my professional directing career and I'm now a freelance theatre director, as well as a private acting coach preparing actors for theatre, commercial, and film auditions. I am a member of The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, MICHA, ATHE, St. Charles Filmmakers, and the College Theatre Council of Greater St. Louis. I am also the director and co-producer of two new projects – Petalwink: the Musical, a new TYA production currently in development, and, of course, Bottom Little Theatre.
I have been a director for the past 20 years, directing plays, musicals, TYA productions, and educational theatre. I hold a BA in Theatre from Principia College and an MFA in Directing from the Chicago College for the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Though I now call St. Louis home, much of my early professional work took place in Chicago where I worked as a director, an actress, and an educator for a variety of companies including Wisdom Bridge Theatre, Northbrook Theatre, Ivanhoe Theatre, and Hinsdale Center for the Arts. I have also taken directing seminars with Robert Falls at the Goodman Theatre, Gary Sinise at Steppenwolf Theatre, JoAnne Akalaitis at The Court Theatre, and Mary Zimmerman at Northwestern University. I am a process-based, ensemble director and utilize a number of acting methods in my work. I am also a founding member of The Moving Dock Theatre Company, a Chicago-based company dedicated to the actor’s creative process through the use of the Chekhov technique.
I have a passion for education which prompted me to return to the St. Louis area to assume the role of Associate Professor of Theatre at Principia College in 2000. I redesigned and built the College’s Theatre program there and my educational productions won numerous recognitions, including two Best Production for State of Illinois awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Under my tutelage and direction, several students were admitted to professional training programs including the Neighborhood Playhouse Acting Program and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. I also have students who are now AEA members. I have been an Illinois Arts Council Artist in Residence, a Wise Write judge for the St. Louis Repertory Theatre, and a respondent for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
Most recently I resigned my full-time professorship to pursue my professional directing career and I'm now a freelance theatre director, as well as a private acting coach preparing actors for theatre, commercial, and film auditions. I am a member of The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, MICHA, ATHE, St. Charles Filmmakers, and the College Theatre Council of Greater St. Louis. I am also the director and co-producer of two new projects – Petalwink: the Musical, a new TYA production currently in development, and, of course, Bottom Little Theatre.
ANGELA SAGE LARSEN | WRITER, CO-CREATOR, CO-PRODUCER
I am the bestselling author of twelve books: the Fifties Chix series for young teens about five time traveling friends, and the author/illustrator of the the Petalwink the Fairy storybook series. As a writer, artist, speaker, and educator and coach, my mission is to create content that is entertaining, inspiring, and empowering to both genders, through art, literature, theatre and film. The seven Petalwink books especially for readers aged 3-6 is now being developed into a flying musical stage production for young and family audiences. I'm writing the book, adapted from the series, and Deborah Hurwitz is writing the music and lyrics. The initial creation of the Petalwink the Fairy concept ignited my passion for creating positive content for children, particularly girls who are being hyper-sexualized by the popular media. As part of my “Strong Girls x Good Books” campaign, I create fascinating female protagonists with a focus on character education. The first book in the Fifties Chix series, Travel to Tomorrow, was a 2011 Goodreads Readers Choice Nominee and a #1 Amazon Bestseller.
While running my own mural painting business in St. Louis (A. Sage Designs), I was featured twice in the Design Section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and painted murals in two ASID showcase homes and at the upscale Plaza Frontenac mall. I then moved to California and started Jubilee Studio & Gallery and sold my own artwork, in what was to become the first business with my husband and business partner Whit Larsen. Gallery inventory consisted of my watercolors and handpainted home décor – furniture, glassware, lamps, and accessories. Upon our return to St. Louis years later, I founded another art and design business – A.L.L. or Nothin’ – contracting out large scale mural work & over-sized scenery flats for well-known event-planning companies and private residences.
I maintain Lit Guides, wikis, and provide author coaching, workshops, classes, and visits book clubs to inspire and encourage creative writing. More projects with positive content for teens and adults are in the works, and I'm delighted to be working with my BFF Trish, a wonderfully talented cast, and hardworking crew on Bottom Little Theatre, a dream twenty years in the making!
I am the bestselling author of twelve books: the Fifties Chix series for young teens about five time traveling friends, and the author/illustrator of the the Petalwink the Fairy storybook series. As a writer, artist, speaker, and educator and coach, my mission is to create content that is entertaining, inspiring, and empowering to both genders, through art, literature, theatre and film. The seven Petalwink books especially for readers aged 3-6 is now being developed into a flying musical stage production for young and family audiences. I'm writing the book, adapted from the series, and Deborah Hurwitz is writing the music and lyrics. The initial creation of the Petalwink the Fairy concept ignited my passion for creating positive content for children, particularly girls who are being hyper-sexualized by the popular media. As part of my “Strong Girls x Good Books” campaign, I create fascinating female protagonists with a focus on character education. The first book in the Fifties Chix series, Travel to Tomorrow, was a 2011 Goodreads Readers Choice Nominee and a #1 Amazon Bestseller.
While running my own mural painting business in St. Louis (A. Sage Designs), I was featured twice in the Design Section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and painted murals in two ASID showcase homes and at the upscale Plaza Frontenac mall. I then moved to California and started Jubilee Studio & Gallery and sold my own artwork, in what was to become the first business with my husband and business partner Whit Larsen. Gallery inventory consisted of my watercolors and handpainted home décor – furniture, glassware, lamps, and accessories. Upon our return to St. Louis years later, I founded another art and design business – A.L.L. or Nothin’ – contracting out large scale mural work & over-sized scenery flats for well-known event-planning companies and private residences.
I maintain Lit Guides, wikis, and provide author coaching, workshops, classes, and visits book clubs to inspire and encourage creative writing. More projects with positive content for teens and adults are in the works, and I'm delighted to be working with my BFF Trish, a wonderfully talented cast, and hardworking crew on Bottom Little Theatre, a dream twenty years in the making!