Blue Mountain Entertainment brings Shakespeare to Monticello

The Utah Shakespeare Festival  is hitting the road with  one of the world’s most popular and tragic love stories, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Blue Mountain Entertainment will present the show on Wednesday, March 4, at 7 p.m. in the Monticello High School Auditorium. Admission will be by BME season memberships or tickets at the door       

Jason Michael Spelbring, familiar to Festival audiences through his many acting and directing stints for Festival plays, is directing this production.

He is associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts at Utah State University – Caine College of the Arts and associate artistic director for Lyric Repertory Company.

“For many of our audiences this will be the first time they have seen a professional Shakespeare production,” said Michael Bahr, Festival education director.

Actors in the touring company include a number who have worked at the Festival, as well as professionally across the country.

Ian Allred (Benvolio, Paris) recently received his BFA from Southern Utah University. He has appeared at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Big River, and The Greenshow.

Dane Michael Braddy (Romeo) is from Logan, Utah, where he also earned his BFA from Utah State University in 2019.

Favorite credits include Levin in Anna Karenina, Paul in The (Obsolete) Unkindness of Ravens, Will Bloom in Big Fish, and Henry in Next to Normal. 

Kenna Funk (Tybalt, Lady Capulet, Peter, Friar John) is attending Southern Utah University for her BFA in acting. SUU credits include Private Lives, Richard III, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

She has appeared at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Hamlet and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. 

Rachael Hodge (Nurse, Prince) is a recent graduate of Utah State University with a BFA in acting. Favorite credits include Mamma Mia! (Lyric Rep), Anna Karenina, Xanadu, Much Ado about Nothing (Utah State University), and Oklahoma!, Romeo and Juliet, The Drowsy Chaperone (MiraCosta Theatre).

Marena Kleinpeter (Juliet, Sampson) earned her B.A. in theatre arts from the University of Northern Colorado then relocated to Seattle to work with Intiman Theatre.

She has worked at Seattle Public Theater, 5th Avenue Theatre, Edmonds Driftwood Players, LG! Theater, and GreenStage: Shakespeare in the Park. 

Trey Plutnicki (Mercutio, Montague, Friar Lawrence) recently graduated from Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio with a BFA in musical theatre.

He has appeared at the Festival in The Greenshow and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Other credits include Otterbein Summer Theatre, Weathervane Playhouse, and Franklin Theatre Works.

Bailey Savage (Capulet, Balthasar) has worked in several roles with the Festival Education Department. She holds a BIS degree from Southern Utah University.

She is a member of Jacaranda Collective, and previous credits include The Shakespeare Project of Chicago, Midsommer Flight, Intrinsic Theatre Company, and Lyric Repertory Theatre Company.

In addition, the tour company includes three technical and administrative artists:

Emily Cacho (Company Manager) is returning to the Festival for her fifth year. She has previously worked in the Festival’s Ticket Office as a ticket office supervisor.

She is a recent graduate of Southern Utah University’s theatre arts program with a minor in arts administration 

Collin Hall (Technical Director) is a lighting designer and technician from Tennessee.

She has worked for the Utah Shakespeare Festival for the past two summers as an electrician and has designed at such theatres as the Clarence Brown Theatre, Flying Anvil Theatre, Theatre Aspen, and Maples Repertory Theatre.

Jaclyn Pageau (Stage Manager) earned her BA in Theatre from Dartmouth College. Based in New York City, some of her favorite recent credits include BrandoCapote, Raylynmor Opera (Die Fledermaus and Barber of Seville), and Sigh No More, as well as her work with Northern Stage’s education program.

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