Creative Team
Dr. Michelle Alexander
A native of San Diego, California,
Dr. Michelle Alexander is currently assistant
chorus master/rehearsal pianist for the Boston
Lyric Opera and is a member of the collaborative
faculty of Boston University, where she teaches
song literature as well as Italian and German Diction.
She returns to Creede after making her debut in Harbledown in
the summer of 2005. Dr. Alexander was the conductor/music
director for the Boston Opera Project’s 2004
inaugural opera, Regina, and the 2005 spring
production of Little Women. Dr. Alexander
conducted the spring production of H.M.S. Pinafore in
2001 as well as South Pacific in 2005 with
Fiddlehead Theater in Norwood, Massachusetts. Dr.
Alexander has been on the coaching staff of Florida
Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, Gold Coast Opera, and
Glimmerglass Opera. Before moving to Boston in 1999,
she was on the opera faculty at the New World School
of the Arts in Miami, Florida. Dr. Alexander holds
a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from
the University of Michigan, a Master’s degree
in Coaching/Accompanying from the New England Conservatory
of Music, and a Doctorate in Coaching/Accompanying
from the University of Minnesota.
John Gary Brown
Company Photographer
For the past thirty-three years
John Gary Brown has been photographing all
aspects of the life of the summer repertory
theatre companies. The resulting voluminous
body of work is magnificent. To have this visual
history is rare indeed and represents one of the
great treasures of CRT. Brown’s
photographic study of tombstones, The
Soul in the Stone, published by Kansas University
Press, is a best seller. Widely acclaimed as an abstract
landscape painter, Brown has sold 500 paintings since
1973. His work has been featured on the cover of "Architectural
Digest” and in "Smithsonian”. Brown
won "first prize, regardless of medium," in
the Nelson Gallery 's "Mid America" exhibition,
which had three thousand entries. Shortly after that
one of his canvases was purchased by Omaha 's Joslyn
Art Museum. Brownie is also an accomplished actor
who has appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace, Pajama
Game, Paint Your Wagon, and last year
as Sven in Light Up the Sky. Brown, who is
married to actress Christy Brandt, has a BA in Art
from Wichita State and an MFA in Painting from the
University of Washington. He and Chris ty live in
both Creede and Lawrence, KS.
Dede
Dresser
Dede has choreographed many
productions at CRT, including Lumberjacks in
Love, Forever Plaid, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Nunsense,
Gold Dust and Destry Rides Again.
She choreographed musicals for past company member
Kathy Simon in Tucson including The Music Man,
Carousel, Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and
Dolls, Brigadoon, and My Fair Lady. Dede
owned and operated a dance studio with her
sister Barbara, another past company member, for
fifteen years. She makes her home in Lawrence,
Kansas, and she is a graduate of the University
of Kansas.
Renée Prince
Renée is a graduate
of Northwestern University and has been splitting
her time between Chicago and Creede for four years.
In Chicago, she performed in various productions
with the Remy Bumppo Theatre Company at The
Victory Gardens Theatre. Her CRT credits
include The
Fantasticks, Rumors, The Philadelphia Story,
Hamlet, I Hate Hamlet, Noises Off, and Slabtown.
Renee also toured with Montana Shakespeare
in the Parks playing the Nurse in Romeo and
Juliet and
Dorine in Tartuffe. Her work with the
Northwestern University Mime Company inspired
her to direct the first Creede Initiative
Children's Show, An Afternoon of Mime, in
2003. Since then, her love for collaborative
creative work with young people has changed her
life. She directed The
Magic of Roald Dahl: A Puppet Show and The
Rainbow Goblins for CRT, taught at the Creede
and Lake City Theatre Camps, and hosted a
number of “Story Times” in Creede.
She also directed An Old West Chris tmasCarol for
CRT in 2005. Renée loves these mountains,
CRT, and Creede's kids.
Evangelos Spanos
Evangelos Spanos was born in
Larissa, Greece. Evangelos has studied and
performed in Greece, the Czech Republic and
the United States. Notable schools include his
work with the Larissa Conservatory, the Volos Public
Conservatory, the Volos Youth Symphony Orchestra,
and the National Conservatory of Athens.
Evangelos recently completed a master's degree
in music performance at the University of Kansas
and is pursuing a doctorate piano performance.
