Milagro begins Season 34 with Éxodo, our 22nd Día de Muertos production, a new, company devised espectáculo built around the theme of diaspora. We have gathered an outstanding cast and creative team to create and bring this original Day of the Dead production to life in true Milagro fashion. Visit the Éxodo production page for more information and to get your tickets.
COMPANY
Patricia Alvitez
This is Patricia’s 4th Day of the Dead show. In the US since the late 80s, she worked with The Peninsula Ballet in San Francisco. She started training in ballroom dancing in 2008 and has competed in Portland, Seattle and Los Angeles. Recent credits include Bolero dancer in Grand Hotel and ensemble in Young Frankenstein (Lakewood Theatre Company); and Florencia and Aunt Flaca in Corrido Calavera and the ensembles of La Muerta Baila and El Muerto Vagabundo (Milagro). I’m very thankful and humbled to be part of this wonderful experience.
Robi Arce
Robi is a physical theatre actor, director, clown, mime and fool that holds an MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre from Dell’Arte International and a BA in Drama from the University of Puerto Rico. Robi has performed, toured, and lead workshops in Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and several cities the U.S. His work is diverse, created through fusion of styles fueled by social justice and change. His passion is to create a physical, dynamic and poetic theatre that connects with people as sports connect with fans.
Kushi Beauchamp
Kushi is thrilled to be making her Milagro debut! She most recently performed in Savage Love (Imago) and has worked onstage and backstage with Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble (PETE) doing research on the devising process and performing in The Three Sisters. She received her training from Lewis & Clark College where she wrote, produced and starred in her original thesis performance, Tidal. Kushi is a proud member of local a cappella group B-Side Book Club, and the facilitator of a new work collective, The Portland Artists Salon.
Jean-Luc Boucherot
Jean-Luc is a French actor based in Portland. He was seen in Love’s Labour’s Lost with Post5 Theater, The Other Place with Portland Play House, Time, a Fair Hustler with Hand2Mouth, Remme’s Run a COHO production, Twelve Angry Juror’s with Voice for the Voiceless. Jean-Luc works also for cinema, television and radio. In Portland he has appeared in Z Nation, The Librarians, Portlandia, Grimm and Leverage. Jean-Luc is thrilled to be part of Exodo and excited to be working with Milagro.
Tonea Lolin
Tonea has recently performed in Snow White at Broadway Rose Theater Co. and in Pen/Man/Ship and A Christmas Carol with Portland Playhouse as a 2016-17 Acting Apprentice. Art, emotion, and expression fill her soul. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BFA in Acting in 2016. Favorite credits include the title character in Venus and Aunt Elegua in In the Red and Brown Water at UCSB. She is grateful to be involved in this show and thanks the cast, crew, and her family for making it all possible!
Samson Syharath
Samson received a Bachelor’s Degree in theatre with a focus on acting and directing in Fort Smith, AR and is now Artistic Associate and instructor at Portland Actors Conservatory. He worked at Portland Actors Ensemble, Salt and Sage Productions, defunkt theatre, Action/Adventure Theatre, Broadway Rose, Lakewood, Post5, Milagro, Theatre Diaspora, and Artists Repertory Theatre. He is a company member of Theatre Vertigo and Theatre Diaspora, received the Mary Fulton Fellowship from the Portland Civic Theatre Guild and is part of the Theatre Communication Group’s Rising Leaders of Color 2017 cohort.
CREATIVE TEAM
Tracy Cameron Francis, Director
Tracy’s work has been seen in New York at HERE Arts Center, NY International Fringe Festival, Manhattan Shakespeare Project, NY Arab Comedy Festival, Center for Performance Research, Brooklyn Lyceum, PEN World Voices Festival. Regionally with Boom Arts (Portland,OR) and Williamstown Theatre Festival, and internationally at the Falaki Theatre (Egypt), Ubumuntu Festival (Rwanda), and LaMama Umbria (Italy). Cameron has created original performances for Bushwick Open Studios Performance Art Showcase, Brooklyn Fireproof Gallery, the W Hotel, Alwan Center for the Arts, JAW at Portland Center Stage, and Hybrid Theatre Works. She is a core member of Theatre Without Borders, a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, an associate member of SDC, and former artistic director of Hybrid Theatre Works. She was named a Theatre Communications Group 2017 Rising Leader of Color.
Roy Antonio Arauz, Co-Director
Roy is thrilled to be collaborating with Tracy in his first piece of devised theatre. He first got involved in theatre through choreography in Washington DC, where his work for Female Hitchhikers (Consenting Adults) received a 1993 Helen Hayes Award Nomination. Later Seattle directing credits include The Temperamentals (Arouet), The Hen Night Epiphany (Arouet/Driftwood), La Mariposa (Book-It, touring), Anna in the Tropics (Latino Theatre Projects), and Annie (Driftwood). Next he will be assistant directing The Humans at ART. He is a member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Directors Lab West, and the Steering Committee of the Latinx Theatre Commons.
Emily Wilken—Scenic Design
Emily works with a variety of materials and organizations. She enjoyed three seasons with Illinois Shakespeare Festival and has spearheaded puppetry workshops at public schools, libraries, and the Children’s Discovery Museum. This is her third show with Milagro, including properties for El Muerto Vagabundo and scenic design for Swimming While Drowning. Locally she has also worked with Artists Repertory Theatre, Action/Adventure, Lincoln High School, Profile Theatre, Valley Repertory, Enlightened Theatrics, Theatre Vertigo, Portland Playhouse, Third Rail Repertory, Coho, Broadway Rose, and is Oregon Children’s Theatre’s resident Scenic Artist and Crafter!
Carrie Anne Huneycutt—Costume Design
Carrie Anne is an award winning Costume Designer and Performer in Portland, OR. She received her BFA: Acting in Los Angeles. Stage credits include The Laramie Project, Balm in Gilead, Sueños de Futbol, and El Muerto Vagabundo. Costume Design credits include Post5’s Desdemona and Richard III, Defunkt’s On the Edge, Centralia College’s Fiddler on the Roof, and Fox & Beggar Theatre’s Angamazad. Her work on Desdemona earned her Broadway World’s Award “Best Costume Design in Portland”. This show is dedicated to her ancestors who were forced into Exodus, and for those who perished along the way.
Kim Williams—Lighting Design
Kim is a local designer who has been working in/around Portland for around 3 years. She has worked in various capacities for local companies including: ART, Beirut Wedding, Jewish Theatre Collaborative, Milagro, and Enlightened Theatrics in Salem. Kim received training in lighting design and related skills from the Broadway Master Classes in New York and has had the privilege of learning from some of Broadway’s greatest designers through the KCACTF theatre program in Washington D.C. In 2014, she received 1st place in scenic design at the KCACTF national festival.
Ryan Francis—Composer/Sound Design
American composer Ryan Francis’s music has been described as “shimmering”, “focused” and “warmly lyrical” (New York Times). Projects from 2017 include The Living Fabric, a collaboration with Emily Wells, Prophet Cycle with pianist Conor Hanick, and Pocket Studies for synthesizers and diverse instruments. Francis’s works for dance include two collaborations with Swedish choreographer Pontus Lidberg, SNOW (2015), and Stream (2013). A native of Portland, Oregon, Francis holds a doctorate in composition from the Juilliard School.
Sarah Andrews—Properties Master
Sarah earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting in 2014. She wrote, produced and directed an original adaptation of Life is a Dream and the children’s show Pearl and the Five-Headed Dragon. She has worked with many theatre companies including Tears of Joy, Staged!, Post 5 Theatre, Milagro, Lakewood, Oregon Children’s Theatre and defunkt theatre. She also works with projects such as Buskers In The Burg in Ellensburg, WA and the Summer Solstice in Seattle. Recently she directed Thom Pain (based on nothing) for Crave Theatre.
Shira Goldeen—Stage Manager
Shira Goldeen (Stage Manager) is a recent transplant to Portland From Charlottesville, VA. She studied Theatre (design/tech) at Virginia Tech. Recent stage management/production credits include; Guys and Dolls (Live Arts), Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (UVA Drama), Mary Poppins (PacRep), and Putnam County Spelling Bee (Virginia Tech). Shira has a love for all dogs, brussels sprouts, and Salsa Dancing. She is thrilled to be working with Milagro for her first experience in Portland theatre.
Michael Cavazos—Board Operator
Michael is the author of the play Gritos y Chismesitos and co-author of Chic and Sassy and Chic and Sassy: The Higher the Hair, the Closer to God. A founding member of the sketch comedy troupe Gender Offenders, he has performed mainly on the East coast. In Portland, he has stage managed several shows including La Belle, Savage/Love, and Medea at Imago Theatre. A member of Latinx Pride, he has produced the festival line-up for the last two years. You can hear Michael deejaying every Wednesday on opbmusic.