the BG team
Chelsie Newhard, Director/Co-Creator (any pronouns)
Chelsie is a theater maker, musician, and aspiring horticulturist lurking in and around the Twin Cities. After obtaining a B.F.A in acting from the Guthrie B.F.A Actor Training program, Chelsie has worked with Frank Theater, Artistry, Live Action Set, Gremlin Theater, Guthrie Dowling Studio, Bedlam, Walking Shadow, etc. etc. You can also sometimes find Chelsie screaming 70’s rock music into a hot mic alongside various local cover bands. Chelsie is deeply committed to the study of horticulture and works with plants, covered head to toe in soil most days. She hopes to one day run a small scale urban farm so you can expect to receive a bushel of tomatoes with future WAM ticket purchases! Creating this show with Shelby, Jay, and Victoria has been a wild dream come true. A dream that has led to the dreaming of so many more dreams! Here’s to making theater hardcore. Thank you for joining us, it truly means everything.
Victoria Carpenter, Videographer/Co-Creator (any pronouns)
Victoria is a creator and adventurer. You can consistently find them waddling through different creative mediums, playing Core Keeper or eating eggs in different forms. Victoria is Co-Founder of Twin Cities based, Queer, film organization Flip the Script and produces media projects through PLQ Productions. They have received recognition for their documentary filmmaking as well as music video production. In 2016, they spent 7 months filming a canoe expedition of the 4th longest river system in the world. This was where their love for adventuring took on new heights and they started to understand the thrill of pursuing…BIGGAME. Their latest affair with WAM has been obsessive, passionate and weird and they might just leave everything else behind for it.
Shelby Richardson, Performer/Co-Creator (they/them)
Shelby is a trans theater maker and actor in the twin cities. They obtained a BFA from the Guthrie Theater actor training program in 2013 and have since been an “actress” at the jungle theater, live action set, theater noviMost, heart of the beast, open eye figure theater, and park square theater, and has self-produced six full shows in that time. They were even declared “best actress in the twin cities” in 2017, but all of these facts have been no help in securing a living wage for them as an artist and actor. Shelby is the co-founder of WeAreMarried performance group, a trans family of theater makers who are committed to paying artists living wages. Shelby really didn’t want to write a bio for this piece because they hope the work speaks for itself, and hopes you can enjoy it on its own terms even without knowing who they are.
Jay Eisenberg, Performer/Co-Creator (he/him)
Jay is an actor, writer, teaching artist, and one of the co-founders of WeAreMarried (WAM). Regional acting credits include work with Theater Latte Da, Penumbra Theatre Company, Jungle Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre, Pillsbury House + Theatre, Open Eye Figure Theatre, and more. As an actor and dramaturg, Jay has helped develop countless new plays with theaters and arts incubators around the country, including the Playwrights' Center, the Guthrie Theater, 600HIGHWAYMEN, New York Theatre Workshop, Ars Nova, and The Lark. He is still receiving residuals of $2.00 or less for an ABC rom-com he shot in 2013, back when he knew only one other openly trans actor and his agent was sending him out for sad lesbian roles. Ten years into his career, many institutions are still hesitant to put Jay’s body on stage, but according to several cisgender actors he has shared dressing rooms with he is lucky to get work as a “diversity hire.” He was the recipient of a 2017 MSAB Artist Initiative Grant and he holds a BFA in Acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts (Experimental Theater Wing).
Alex Pears, Set Designer (any pronouns)
Alex is a Gay Woman in the Trades. Alex’s artistic training comes from the School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan, and Alex's theater training comes from the 2003 musical theater summer camp at Chanhassen Dinner Theater. Stay in touch to see if Alex fulfills the goal of spending a lifetime in a model railroad town and mass-producing papasan chairs that resemble baked potatoes.