Left Coast Theatre Co. and Pink Spots Present

HEAR OUR VOICES:

Stories of Underrepresented Queer Identities

Ace of Dates by Kayla Hambeck

Directed by Kieran Beccia

Kate........ Jeffrie Givens

RSVP by Diego Rios Brady

Directed by Tessa Corrie

Alex........ Omar Stewart

Drew........ Kaz Valtchev

Pivot by Deidre Bagdasarian

Directed by Tessa Corrie

Quinn........ Puja Tolton

Toni........ Jeffrie Givens

Daidy, or Daddy with an I by Louis DeVaughn Nelson

Directed by Michael Conner

Junior....... Omar Stewart

The Routine by Cedar Schwab

Directed by Kieran Beccia

Vic........ Kaz Valtchev

Maureen....... AJ Davenport

Lauren........ Puja Tolton

THE PRODUCERS AND CREW

Executive Director..... Erica Andracchio

Artistic Director...... Neil Higgins

PR Manager....... Chris Maltby

Stage Manager...... Chloe Barrs

Set/Props Designer..... Ryan Mannequin

Lighting Designer...... Beth Cockrell

Sound Designer...... Neil Higgins

Webmaster....... Don Savoie

THE CAST

AJ DAVENPORT (Maureen, “The Routine”)
AJ is happy once again be joining her LCTC family for another queer theatrical anthology. Being able to breathe life into a newly written character is one of her favorite endeavors.   A veteran of almost 40 years on Bay Area Stages, she looks forward to more opportunities  to charm and entertain herself and the many fans of small theater.  Thanks for joining us to hear unsung stories of love, family, drama and community.  Though her performances will never make her wealthy, theater makes her life rich.  Love to SMC - ILY2TM&B.

JEFFRIE GIVENS (Kate, ”Ace of Dates”; Toni, “Pivot”)
Jeffrie has been performing in Bay Area theatre since 2009, primarily in musical theatre. Her favorite shows include You're A Good Man Charlie Brown (Snoopy), The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff) and Jesus Christ Superstar (Jesus). She was last seen at Left Coast last year as part of the Between The Sheets anthology, and she is happy to return with Hear Our Voices.

OMAR STEWART (Junior, “Daidy, or Daddy with an I”; Alex, “RSVP”)
Omar Stewart, a Michigan native, recently moved from Beijing, China, where he performed with an improv troupe. Now in San Francisco, he looks forward to immersing himself in the vibrant theater scene, bringing his unique background and passion for storytelling to the stage.

Puja Tolton (Quinn, “Pivot”; Lauren, “The Routine”)
Puja (She/They) is a multi-disciplinary theatre artisan and visual artist based in the Bay Area. She has worked with local theatre companies such as Awesome Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, Three Girls Theatre, Ragged Wing Ensemble, Liar Liar Theater, and the Moonrisers. Her art has been featured in Thirdspace SF, the Flight Deck Gallery, and the Lottie Rose Art Gallery. They also live stream TTRPGs with Quests & Chaos. You can check out their fantasy drama/comedy short film I Broke the Looking Glass on Awesome Theatre’s YouTube channel as well as samples of her art on Instagram.

KAZ VALTCHEV (Drew, “RSVP”; Vic, “The Routine”)
This is Kaz’s (He/They) first fully produced, in person performance since before the pandemic! He’s so excited to be acting again with the amazing queer artists at LCTC. Kaz has spent the last couple years focused on his playwriting, having works read and performed with Monday Night Playground, the Pear Theater, Queer AF, and even LCTC! In the past he has also worked onstage, back stage, and front of stage for many theaters around the Bay Area, including Cal Shakes, Bay Area Children's Theatre, and Dragon Theater, to name a few.

THE DIRECTORS

Kieran Beccia (“Ace of Dates”, “The Routine”)
Kieran is a Bay Area director and dramaturg focused on devised performance and the development of new works. Their work has been produced at The Forum Collective, Cutting Ball Theater, Quantum Dragon Theater, FaultLine Theater, Fuse Theater, Dragon Theater, Utopia Theater Project, and more. A TITAN Award winner and two-time CA$H Grant recipient, Kieran is also a company member at the Oakland Theater Project, a former artistic director of the U.C. Santa Cruz poor theatre performance lab, Barnstorm, and a founding member of The Forum Collective. Kieran is also a Casting Director with the Casting Collective.

Michael Conner (“Daidy, or Daddy with an I”)
Michael (He/She/Him/Her) is an actor, writer, an)d director who has enjoyed living and breathing in San Francisco for over a decade and is thrilled to be returning to direct with his Left Coast family. His previous work with LCTC includes turns as Steve in The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and CB in Dog Sees God, as well as several roles in LCTC’s anthology, San Francisco, Here I Come!

Tessa Corrie (“Pivot”, “RSVP”)
Tessa (She/Her) is a Queer, Latinx, and Neurodivergent Theater Director homegrown from the Bay Area. She specializes in new play development that amplifies underrepresented narratives. She is a company member and casting associate at PlayGround SF. Her credits include work at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Palo Alto Players, The Pear Theatre, Cutting Ball Theatre, The Playwrights' Center of San Francisco, PlayGround SF, More Más Marami Arts, and Poltergeist Theatre Project.

THE CREW

ERICA ANDRACCHIO, Executive Director/Producer
Erica (She/Her) has had many different roles in LCTC that included actor (San Francisco, Here I Come!, Left Coast News, Twisted Hitchcock, The Laramie Project), writer (Left Coast News, Come Here Often?, Besties), director (The Morning After), stage manager and production manager for numerous others. She is also the General Manager of Awesome Theatre. During the day, she runs Admin at Ambassadors Theatre Group. Erica couldn’t be more proud of LCTC and all who have been involved, past and present.

CHLOE BARRS, Stage Manager
Chloe is a San Francisco native who has loved theater since childhood. After exploring both onstage and backstage aspects of live theater in both high school and university, they have found an enjoyable place in partaking in production assistance, board operation, and stage management. Having first worked with LCTC in 2019 for The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Chloe has come back to work for every LCTC production since reopening, and hopes to keep being a part of their productions for many years to come.

BETH COCKRELL, Lighting Design
Beth has been working in the Bay Area theater community for over 20 years. Her credits include the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, New Conservatory Theater Company, and the SF Fringe Festival. She is happy to have this opportunity to work with LCTC on Hear Our Voices.

NEIL HIGGINS , Artistic Director/Producer
Neil (He/Him)has been making theatre in San Francisco for over a decade as an actor, writer, director, producer, and, now, Artistic Director of LCTC. He's so thrilled for LCTC to be back and is so grateful to our audiences for coming.

CHRIS MALTBY, PR Manager/Producer
Chris has been acting, writing and directing for LCTC since its first production in 2012. He co-wrote and and directed Come Here Often?, LCTC’s first original full-length work. He’s also been lucky enough to play Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice, the Musical at IAM and Florence Wexler in Devil Boys from Beyond at NCTC. In 2021, he published a collection of his photographs, Challenge Accepted. You can check out the book and some of his photos at www.chrismaltby.gallery

RYAN MANNEQUIN, Set/Props Design
Ryan (She/Him)  is an artist, actor, and jack of all trades native to Minnesota and entering the SF scene. He has designed sets & props all throughout high school but is new to the professional level. Being a trained actor and creative extraordinaire, she loves to work in the theatre space and has had a blast working with the LCTC family again since performing in their "Queerstory" anthology last year."

DON SAVOIE, Webmaster
Don has lived in San Francisco for 20 years. He joined LCTC in 2016 as a volunteer web designer. Since then, he has laughed and cried during many LCTC productions and has assisted the steering committee with software and new website designs.

SPECIAL THANKS

Linda B. Ayres-Frederick, Kristy Lin Billuni, Riley Chapman, Anthony Grigsby, Alandra Hileman, Trevor Hlawatschek, Z Space and Shafer Mazow & Nikki Meñez

OUR DONORS

Erica Andracchio, Linda B. Ayres-Frederick, Kristy Lin Billuni, David Boyll, Elizabeth Carrillo, Mark Chimsky, Debi Durst, Joshua Gilstein, Matthew Gunnison, Dennis W. Henkelman, Neil Higgins, Meghan Jolliffe, Carl Lucania, Chris Maltby, Sueann Mark, James Martin, Ryan Merkler, Emanuel Morales, Brian Newman, Marina Peterson, Richard Sargent, Don Savoie, John Simpson, Alejandro Torres, Jennifer Waggoner, Steven Werner, William and Shireen Wetmore, Katie Whitcraft