all photos by Ryan Reynolds
Run Time: 90 minutes, no intermission
Director: Lezlie Cross
Assistant Director: Aria Hroma
Stage Manager: Joe Koppy
Scenic Design: Larry Larsen
Costume, Hair, and Makeup Design: Aurora Hernandez
Lighting Design: Eric Lyness
Sound Design: Judah Juarez
Intimacy Choreographer: Andy Christensen
Catherine: Makenzie Binsacca
Francis: Charlotte Smith
Charlotte: Moon Santos
Pearl: Amber Beeks
Tom Donohue: Joshua Mager
Mr. Reed: Am Blank
Assistant Stage Manager: Sydney Gannon
Light Board Operator: Mollie Goldberg
Sound Board Operator: Ricardo Guevara
Hair and Makeup Assistant: Eny’ssence Blair
Wardrobe: Nick Hailer, Chase Keelin, Branna Sundy
Theatrical Support Dog: Archie
Production Manager: Andy Christensen
Scene Shop Supervisor: Eric Adams
Costume Shop Supervisor: Sue Bonde
Primary Electrician: Lili Gudgel
Scene Shop Technicians and Electricians: Fin Bagshaw, Hilario Corral Flores, Casey James, Judah Juarez, Rowan Lowery, Julia Moran, Kai Sapp, Audrey Stineman
Costume Construction: Amber Beeks, Claire Hadley, Nick Hailer, Aria Hroma, Zora Richardson, Lilly Grey Rudge
Costume Shop Volunteer: Janet Bemis
Marketing Director: Lezlie Cross
Marketing Assistant: Ashwini Chandrakanth
Box Office Manager: Tre Shearer
Front of House Manager: Mindi Logan
Ushers: Sarai Bunting, Itzayana Chavez-Paniagua, Ysabelle Pobre
Special Thanks to the class of HON 391C for designing the lobby display.
This production contains descriptions of extreme radium poisoning, dialogue containing sexual innuendos, and discussions of war and death.
THESE SHINING LIVES received its World Premiere at Baltimore Center Stage in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 30, 2008, Irene Lewis, Artistic Director; Michael Ross, Managing Director.
It was developed at Baltimore Center Stage in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of their First Look Festival; The History Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, as part of their Raw Stages Festival; Northlight Theatre in Skokie, Illinois; Primary Stages as part of their Primetime Reading Series; and TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, California, as part of their New Works Festival. It was commissioned by Northlight Theatre in Skokie, Illinois.
Facts from the book Deadly Glow by Ross Mullner were used with permission of the author.
The act of gathering together in a theatre has a special energy. We agree to sit in the dark for a period of time and bear witness to a story in community with others. Witnessing is one of the superpowers of live theatre.
The women in this play all breathed and laughed and cried less than 100 years ago. Radium has a half-life of 1,600 years. This means that, in their graves in Ottowa, Illinois, Catherine, Charlotte, Pearl, Francis, and all their friends are still shining. And while we bear witness to their story, they are still living.
We hope you leave the theatre moved by what you witnessed. We hope you leave furious about callous capitalistic practices which harm workers without protections across America. But most of all, we hope you leave reminded of the amazing gift each of us are given, the simple grace in having this time together in these shining lives of ours.
If you have enjoyed the show, we invite you to support our program by making a donation to the Theater Patrons Fund. You can donate online at giving.up.edu/pfa (select Theater Patrons Fund) or by contacting the University’s Development Office (503.943.8003)
Eric Adams, Scene Shop Manager
Eric Adams (class of '12) has had the pleasure of working here at his alma mater since 2015. Favorite UP credits include crafting sound designs for Good Kids and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and scenic designs for 1959 Pink Thunderbird. He has worked as a director, designer, and technician at various theatres across Portland including Third Rail Repertory, Portland Opera, Northwest Theatre Workshop, and Artists Rep.
Susan Bonde, Costume Shop Manager
Sue Bonde is the costume shop manager for the University of Portland. She worked in Chicago as a freelance costume designer and technician for the Goodman Theater and Light Opera Works prior to moving to Portland. She has designed for A.R.T., New Rose Theatre, and Portland Repertory Theatre, and the Wee Sing children’s videos before joining Michael Curry Design and working on The Lion King on Broadway. Bonde has designed costumes for Portland Opera’s The Return of Ulysses, Albert Herring, La Calisto, Il Ballo delle Ingrate/Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda/Trouble in Tahiti, Galileo, Postcards from Morocco, L’heure Espanogle / L’enfant et les Sortileges, and La Cenerentola. She is the recipient of two Willamette Week Excellence in Theater Awards and two Portland Drammy Awards. Mock’s Crest Opera costume design credits include Iolanthe, Ruddigore, The Pirates of Penzance, Light in the Piazza, and Yeoman of the Guard. Past designs for UP include Tartuffe, Pippin,The Moors, and Twelfth Night.
Andy Christensen, Instructor, Directing and Acting
Andy Christensen is a fiercely curious artist-educator who specializes in emergent forms of immersive and site-informed theatre that explore the intersection of place and time. In his practice, he builds egalitarian ensembles that create interdisciplinary, research-driven, and process-shaped performances that put audiences at the center of artistic experiences and contextualize performance within community. After receiving his M.F.A. in theatre directing from the Lir Academy of Trinity College in Dublin and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Andy returned to the United States to invest in emerging artists in the Pacific Northwest. He is a founder of Cascadia Art Project and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. He has mentored artists in many regional high schools, George Fox University, Pacific University, and most recently at Whitworth University where he was recognized for outstanding integration of vocation in the classroom.
Lezlie C. Cross, PhD, Associate Professor, Theatre History and Dramaturgy
Dr. Cross’s directing credits at UP include Twelfth Night, House of Desires, Where is Home: a Digital Living Newspaper, and As You Like It. At UP, she teaches courses in theatre history, dramaturgy, and playwriting. She is also a professional dramaturg who has worked at regional theatres across America including the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Shakespeare, Classic Stage Company, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she was the Literary Assistant for five years, and Nevada Conservatory Theatre where she was the Associate Artistic Director. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington, her M.A. from the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, and her B.A. from Whitman College. See more at lezliecross.com
Larry Larsen, M.F.A., Professor, Lighting and Scenic Design
This is Larry’s 30th year of teaching at the University. He has been involved with theater since 5th grade when he played Schroder in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He teaches courses in Scenic and Lighting Design, Scenic Painting, Film Studies and Visual Art. He has served the department as theater program director and chair, and just completed 6 years of service as an Academic Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences. Recent shows he has designed at the University include last year’s productions of Everybody, The Wolves and Twelfth Night. He has designed over 100 shows in his time at UP. Larry also works as a professional designer for many local theaters. Recent shows include Arsenic and Old Lace and Blithe Spirit for Lakewood Theatre Company, Snapshots and Don’t Hug Me for Broadway Rose Theatre Company. He is the resident scenic designer for the Portland Revels a post he has held since 2001. He has also designed shows for Artists Repertory Theatre, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Northwest Children’s Theatre, Third Rail Repertory Theatre, Portland State’s Opera Program, and Summer Repertory Theatre in Santa Rosa CA. He served as the producer for Mock’s Crest Productions which presented a summer operetta on campus every June until 2020. Prior to his work at the University he was the design associate for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival – Portland. He has an MFA in Theater Design from University of Washington, and when not at UP he is hanging with his wife Caren, his son Mac and his puppy Milo in lovely Northeast Portland.
Mindi Logan, M.F.A., Associate Professor, Acting Instructor
Mindi is beginning her 24th year teaching for the University of Portland. Her artistic work at the University includes acting and dialect coaching for productions. Mindi received her MFA from the Professional Actors Training Program at Rutgers University and then worked professionally as an actor in New York and Los Angeles, appearing off-Broadway, in soap operas, sitcoms, and film. Continuing her professional acting career, Mindi has appeared locally with Artists Repertory Theatre, Theater Vertigo, Willamette Shakespeare, Quintessence Theater, Stark Raving Theatre, in commercials, industrials, and voiceovers. Mindi was awarded the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion for her service as the Regional Chair of the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival. Mindi’s husband Hal is a professional musician and composer who also works locally and teaches at the University of Portland.
Gregory Pulver, M.F.A., Associate Professor, Costume and Makeup Design
Professor Gregory Pulver, Theater Program Director, teaches courses in The Creative Process in Visual Arts, Intro to the Art of Theater, Beginning Costume Development and Analysis, Advanced Costume Design and Research, Theater Makeup Techniques. He is also a director and choreographer for plays and musicals for the UP Theater season annually. Gregory holds an MFA in costume design and choreography from Humboldt State University, CA. He is the 1993 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) National Costume Design Winner for his work on Three Penny Opera at Humboldt State. Gregory is currently a Resident Artist at Artist Repertory Theater in Portland where his favorite of many designs include: The Hombres, Broomstick, Cuba Libre, and Foxfinder. He has been a member of the international board of advisors for The Valdez Theatre Conference in Valdez, AK for 15 years and participates as a featured artist mentoring new American playwrights by participating on response panels, providing workshops in design and writing, and by individual mentorship during each festival. In Portland, Gregory has designed both sets and costumes for Bag and Baggage Theatre in Hillsboro, and costumes for Broadway Rose Theatre in Portland.
University of Portland
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.,
Portland, Oregon 97203-5798
503.943.8000
