Just a couple of days until Portland’s most renowned celebration of the Day of the Dead: Corrido Calvera! The director, designers and all the rest of the crew, together with the actors, are working night and day in making of this great production reality!

Lakin Valdez, during a rehearsal on 10/3/2013. Photo by Russell Young

Lakin Valdez (Director / Composer/ choreographer) is a director, writer and performing artist. Born and raised in the extended family of El Teatro Campesino, he served as the company’s Associate Artistic Director from the years 2000 to 2005. He is currently the resident playwright/director of E.T.C. and primary deviser and director of headrusH in Oakland, CA. Since 2004, Lakin has written, directed and performed in more than a dozen plays, culminating in work that reflects the rich history and vibrant culture of the Latino/Chicano community. His body of work has been described as “Powerful” (L.A. Times), “Consummately engaging” (Variety), and “Hauntingly intense” (San Francisco Chronicle). He is the recipient of two NPN Creation Fund Awards, a Zellerbach Emerging Playwright Award and an NEA Access to Excellence Award for his generative work. His next directorial project is the dynastic Mayan dance drama “Rabinal Achi,” which he will develop with Cutting Ball Theatre in 2014 -15. Thank to everyone at Milagro and this wonderful cast! 

Megan Wilkerson (Set Designer) is a professional scenic designer based in Portland. In 2008 she was a Recipient of Chicago’s After Dark Award in Scenic Design for her “thoroughly creepy” set for Marisa Wegrzyn’s Psalms of a Questionable Nature with the Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. Her design work has also been recognized by The Austin Critics Circle, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Southeastern Theatre Conference, The United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Oregon Live, and Artsladia Magazine. Regionally she’s worked with The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The New Conservatory, Renaissance Theaterworks, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Bag & Baggage Productions, Broadway Rose, Next Act Theatre, The Skylight Opera, First Stage Children’s Theatre, The Michigan Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Public, Theatre Vertigo, deFunkt Theatre, Portland Center Stage and the Portland Opera. Megan is a founding member of the artistic collective Bad Soviet Habits and a member of the Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. She holds an MFA in Design for the Theatre from the University of Texas at Austin and has taught Theatre, Design and Art courses at Michigan State University, The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, St. Norbert College, Randolph-Macon Women’s College, Carroll University, Central Michigan University, the Milwaukee High School for the Arts, and The University of Minnesota in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Peter West (Lighting Designer) is Milagro’s Resident Lighting Designer. He designed seven seasons of lighting for the groundbreaking modern dance companies Cirque/Portland Dance Theatre and The Company We Keep/PSU Dance. He designed eight seasons for The Jefferson Dancers. For Oregon Ballet Theatre, he lit Equinoxe, Crayola, Rodeo, Mysterious Mountain, Gloria, Schéhérazade and Frauenliebe und Leben. Portland Opera credits include Carmen, Martha, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Der Rosenkavalier, Andrea Chénier and Don Pasquale. In the past eight years he lit nearly a dozen productions for Milagro, winning Drammy awards for Barrio Hollywood, Lorca in a Green Dress, Men on the Verge and El Grito del Bronx. He is an adjunct instructor in the theatre departments of PCC and Lewis & Clark College

Left to Rigth: Patricia Alvitez, Nelda Reyes, Sarah Peters, Daniel Moreno Mariel Sierra, Edwin Alvelo, Enrique E. Andrade & Tricia Castañeda- Gonzales. Photo by Russell Young

Alissa Warren (Costume Designer) Born and raised in northern California, Alissa moved to Portland in 2005. She has degrees in Costume Design, Illustration and Arts Education. Her professional career includes work with Oberlin Dance Collective, San Francisco Opera, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe Theatre, and La Jolla Playhouse. Currently she is an adjunct faculty member in the Apparel Department at The Art Institute of Portland and a Young Audiences Artist in Residence in partnership with Portland Public Schools Run for the Arts program. This is her first show with Milagro Theatre.

 Molly  Irelan (Costume Assistant) is currently attending UCLA’s graduate program in Costume Design for Theater, Film, and Television. She has an Associate’s in Apparel Design from The Art Institute of Portland, and a Bachelor’s in “From the Visual to the Sartorial: Exploring Art and Costume through History and Design” from the University of Redlands. She has worked on previous productions for the Portland Opera and Quintessence Theater and has enjoyed her first experience with Milagro.

Gerardo Calderón (Composer), is the Musical Director of Grupo Condor and Nuestro Canto, studied classical guitar at the Escuela Superior de Música in Mexico City and music theory at the Portland Community College. As a professional musician, Gerardo has pursued traditional Mexican music, Latin American folk music and pre-Columbian music by performing with folk ensembles in Mexico, Canada, New England and the Pacific Northwest. Gerardo also makes custom panflutes, rain-sticks, water drums, bombos (bass drum), and his own creation the “Turtle Box”. His recent work at Milagro includes Jardín de sueños, The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa and ¡Viva la Revolución!. Gerardo is currently studying Music Therapy at Marylhurst University. Gerardo would like to thank Paul Engler for playing violin on Te Recuerdo Amanda, Sherman Floyd for letting him use some of his instruments and Lakin Valdez for sharing his great and fresh ideas.

Caitlin Nolan and Gerardo Calderon on rehearsal 10/04/2013. Photo by Rusell Young

Nicki D’Amico (Prop Master) is a native New Yorker who drove to Portland five years ago on a whim and stayed. She now owns her first home, and appreciates living in the Woodstock neighborhood. She studied theater at SUNY-Purchase and enjoys nearly all aspects of “puttin’ on a show”. She is grateful to be Prop Master for Corrido Calavera and to be working with talented and dedicated people at Milagro. 

Caitlin Nolan (Stage Manager) is pleased to be returning to the Miracle Theatre for her first Día de los Muertos production. A freelance theatre artist, she has also stage managed for Badass Theatre Company, Northwest Classical, and Factory Theatre and has held assorted jobs with Lakewood Center for the Arts, Circle Theatre Project, CoHo Productions, and Portland Actors Ensemble. By day she is the box office lead at Oregon Ballet Theatre.

Julie Rosequist (Sound Board Operator) is from Las Vegas and is a pre-law student at Mt. Hood Community College and actively pursuing her private pilot’s license at Gorge Winds Aviation in the Troutdale Airport. She works full-time with Mentor Oregon and sings 2nd soprano in the Beati Chorum Choir in NW Portland.

Opening this weekend! get ready to have fun with Milagro y los muertitos. Don’t wait and buy your tickets today!