Membership Spotlight – May 2025

I’m currently working on producing our 42nd Annual Young Audience Outreach Tour production, Raquel’s Purple Pineapple Adventures with Book and Lyrics by Noemi de la Puente, Music by Fernanda Douglas. This program provides equitable access to theatre education and performances to rural and remote communities throughout the Southwest, and I’m incredibly proud of this year’s production!

Every year, we commission a bilingual musical that is in alignment with National Core Arts Standards and creates connections to core curriculum; we’ve had shows about anatomy, biodiversity, water conservation, fractions…the list goes on! Raquel’s Purple Pineapple Adventures creates connections between mindfulness and literacy core curriculum, while letting the power of imagination be the heart of the storytelling. I can’t wait for the show to hit the road this Fall!

Part of my duties at Creede Repertory Theatre is overseeing Audience Engagement and Enrichment. We’re celebrating our 60th Anniversary season and I’m working with founders, alums, and current staff to create a timeline of our first 60 years for an interactive lobby display.

I’m inspired by the ambitious group of KU Theatre students who said “Yes!” to starting a theatre in a tiny, mining town at 9,000 ft. elevation. I’m inspired by the growth of the organization and the commitment to new play development in TYA and beyond. I’m fueled by the commitment of this organization to continue to evolve and change for the next 60 years.

Our annual KID Show program is my favorite project to work on in the summer months. Every summer, students ages 10-18 work alongside professional theatre artists to produce an all-original show in just three weeks!

Since starting work on this program in 2020, I’ve been continuously inspired by the resiliency of students that live in our rural community. Every creative challenge that we have thrown at them has been met with creativity, collaboration, and curiosity.

This year, I’ll be directing our students in an adaptation of The Tempest. My TYA journey started at a Shakespeare festival, and I’m passionate about facilitating ownership of classic text with students of all ages.

This will also be the first year that this program is performing in our Mainstage Theatre, rather than our intimate black box space, the Ruth Humphreys Brown Theatre. The students are excited to fill the larger stage with magic, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with this awesome group of young theatremakers!

I took a rambling, round-about journey before landing in TYA. I always knew I wanted to be an educator, but I thought I had to choose between education and theatre. When I was invited in to artistically fulfilling TYA spaces, I realized I could create a career that combined all of my passions and values.

I believe in the transformational power of Theatre for Young Audiences; to inspire change, promote empathy, and create space for imagination and growth. Celebrating students’ strengths and artistry in a public way in our small community is a responsibility that I cherish. I radiate joy when I am in creative spaces with young people–they are the most collaborative and exciting spaces to work in!

Everyone who has ever done a Young Audience Outreach Tour at Creede Rep. I’m continuously inspired by the incredible artists who help write, direct, design and perform these pieces every year! If you’re looking for some awesome TYA collaborators; we’ve got a long list! 🙂

I got my start working in TYA at some amazing organizations: Great River Shakespeare Festival, National Center for Children’s Literature and Young Audiences of Abilene to name a few! So grateful for the expertise of folks like Leslie Brott, Tarah Flanagan, and Diane Hunt who shaped my philosophy around teaching and programming.

www.creederep.org/jenni@creederep.com/@creederep on socials!

We recently piloted a partnership with NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) where we get to give away lots of free tickets and join many of their community events!  After years of trying to figure out how to do a program like this AND be able to scale it sustainable…I think we have finally cracked something!!!  I am excited to keep expanding it!

I continue to have such a theater crush on NIE (New International Encounters) and the way they devise TYA pieces with artists from many countries.  I am also really inspired by Monique Martin – after years and years of being a keen-eyed presenter, watching her build the show (Minty Fresh) that she wanted to see in the American circus landscape is truly awe inspiring!

I spent SOOO many years of my life collecting data for our New Victory Impact Research (SPARK). It was the project of a lifetime – and now we are hoping to do a part 2 in the next few years specifically looking at the impact of performing arts on families. I am excited (and appropriately daunted).

I mean, grown up audiences are nowhere near as much fun as young audiences!

The New Victory Teaching Artist ensemble are my favorite collaborators in the whole world. Rigorous but joyful. Generous and over-the-top creative. It is a gift to get to work with every single one of them (past and present).

Chris Vine who runs the Applied Theatre program at CUNY. His way of framing working with art and young people lives in my head as the absolute gold standard of how to use quality work to engage young people in deep and nuanced ways while respecting them as audience and participants.

lbuller@new42.org (but I am drowning in in emails so please be patient!).

I had the incredible opportunity to choreograph Shrek the Musical for Childsplay Theatre’s Summer Academy, a high-energy 3-week musical theatre intensive for kids aged 7 to 13. Watching these talented young performers—coming from all different age groups—unite and create a spectacular production was truly inspiring. The enthusiasm and creativity they brought to the stage made this experience unforgettable!

Right now, I’m deeply inspired by A Chorus Line, which I’m currently choreographing at Mesa Encore Theatre—Arizona’s longest-running community theatre. It’s one of the most challenging pieces I’ve ever worked on, demanding both precision and vulnerability to honor the stories being told. But witnessing the dancers pour their hearts into every step and seeing the pieces come together has been nothing short of magical. I’m incredibly proud of this work and can’t wait for the Metro Phoenix community to experience it. It’s a beautiful reminder of why we do what we do.

I’m thrilled to be part of the IDEA Committee for Childsplay’s upcoming TYA production of JSonic and the Unknown by the incredible Idris Goodwin. This show is part of The BIPOC Superhero Project, which makes it even more meaningful. I’ve had the privilege of sitting in on development workshops over the past year and helping craft marketing initiatives to support the production. Being involved in bringing a powerful, culturally rich superhero story to young audiences has been an incredibly fulfilling experience—and I can’t wait for Arizona’s youth the experience the magic of JSonic

Because theatre has the power to transform our youth! TYA creates space for young people to see themselves, their struggles, and their dreams reflected on stage. It sparks empathy, fuels imagination, and helps build a more compassionate, curious, and connected generation. There’s nothing more rewarding than watching a young audience light up with discovery and joy.

I’d love to shout out Jessica Espinoza, founder of Partner Learning, whom I had the absolute joy of collaborating with on an original musical adaptation of HER Story for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s family and school concert series. One of the most memorable parts of this project was performing for hundreds of elementary students from Atlanta, Georgia, backed by the incredible live music of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The production highlighted groundbreaking women composers, including Stacy Garrop—whose The Battle for the Ballot honored the Suffragist movement—and Margaret Bonds, whose Montgomery Variations paid tribute to the Civil Rights Movement. It was such a powerful and creative blend of history, storytelling, and live symphonic music—truly a one-of-a-kind experience!

Freddie Ashley, Artistic Director at Actor’s Express Theatre! You saw something in me and gave me a chance and the rest has been history. Together we have created the best musical productions to hit Atlanta and I cannot be where I am today without your love and constant guidance.

You can keep up with my theatrical journey on IG @gangstapresh, or www.preciouswest.com.