The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (A Staged Reading)
Season 18
Adapted by Branden Smith
January 7 and 10
Grace Gamm Theater, Dairy Arts Center
As a thank you to our wonderful Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company community, and all those donors who gave during Colorado Gives Day, BETC offers four staged readings of Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy The Importance of Being Earnest (adapted by Branden Smith) — A deliciously British lampooning of Victorian sensibilities in which two bachelors create alter egos to escape their tiresome lives but find themselves struggling to keep up with the women they adore and the stories they’ve concocted.
CAST
Casey Andree’s** (Dr. Frederick Chasuble) heart swells to be back onstage with BETC, where he has had many of his favorite theatrical experiences. BETC credits include Pride and Prejudice, FULL CODE, The Aliens, Ambition Facing West, Cyrano, The Realistic Joneses, and Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some). Offstage, he enjoys his work as an Instructional Designer and an educator.
Kelsey Colwell (Gwendolyn Fairfax) is originally from Stanton, NE. She moved to Summit County in 2018 and now works as an Associate Designer for Collective Design in Frisco. After receiving her BA in Theatre from Loyola University Chicago, Kelsey worked as a scenic artist and actor. Her involvement with the Breckenridge Backstage Theatre started in 2019. Her favorite roles were playing Daisy in The Great Gatsby, Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest and experimenting with the many roles in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). Kelsey most recently earned a Henry award for her set design of It’s a Wonderful Life at BBT.
Jacob Dresch (Algernon Moncrieff), a classical clown who revels in repertory, has many favorite credits, including “The School for Scandal” (Off-Broadway); “It’s A Wonderful Life” (2022 Henry Award Winner), “The Importance of Being Earnest” (where he first played Algernon!) and “Rumors” (Breckenridge Backstage Theatre); “A Christmas Carol” (Denver Center for the Performing Arts); “One Man, Two Guvnors”, “The Book of Will,” “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” “The Odyssey,” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); “Lend Me a Tenor,” “The Foreigner,” “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” “The Playboy of the Western World,” “Julius Caesar” and “Macbeth” (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival); “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “Measure for Measure” (Texas Shakespeare Festival); “The Comedy of Errors” (Chautauqua Theater Company); and “Twelfth Night,” “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Great Gatsby” (Orlando Shakespeare Theater).
Jacob currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at both CU Boulder and MSU Denver. He received his B.A. in Acting and Directing from DeSales University and his M.F.A. in Acting from the University of California, Irvine.
www.jacobdresch.com
Seth Palmer Harris (Lane and Merriman) is a Colorado Springs-based actor, director, and producer. He’s previously appeared up and down the Front Range and the mountains, from Breckenridge to Aurora, and from Ft. Collins to the Springs. Seth is currently primarily engaged in working in communication and empathy training for law enforcement and social workers, as well as running his own business, Mad Rush Productions, which puts on interactive performances including murder mysteries and evenings with beloved dead writers. Seth grew up in Minnesota, but has called Colorado home for 18 years.
Leslie O’Carroll (Lady Augusta Bracknell) is delighted to revisit this classic play. She was most recently seen as Genie Klein in Beautiful at the Arvada Center. Other favorite credits include: A Christmas Carol, A Doll’s House, A Doll’s House Part 2 (DCPA Theatre Company), Into the Woods, Tartuffe, Mrs. Mannerly, Blithe Spirit, The Crucible (Arvada Center); One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Vintage); The Half-Life of Marie Curie, Much Ado About Nothing, Our Town and Grapes of Wrath (Theatreworks); Parallel Lives (Fine Arts Center); Importance of Being Earnest (Breckenridge Backstage Theatre); One Man Two Guvnors, The Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, You Can’t Take it With You (CSF). TV/ Film: “Breaking Bad”, “Longmire”, “Footloose”. Awards/Training: 2022 Marlowe Award, Best of Westword, Denver Post Ovation Award; M.F.A. (National Theatre Conservatory).
Lindsey Pierce** (Miss Letitia Prism) has been acting on Colorado stages for over 20 years and is delighted to be back in the BETC sandbox playing with these inspiring and talented folks. She was most recently seen playing “Mindi” in BETC’s Coal Country. A few of her other BETC credits include “Caitlin” in Birds of North America, “Mr. Bennet” and “Charlotte” in Pride and Prejudice, “Mary Cassatt” in Morisot Reclining and “QZ” in The Few. She was also recently seen as “Annette” in God of Carnage and in the one-woman show The Amish Project, produced by Ouray’s UpstART Theatre. When not on stage, she can be found narrating audiobooks for the National Library Service or dreaming about next season’s garden.
Stephanie Saltis (Cecily Cardew) is excited to be making her debut with BETC. Other credits include: Jaimie in None of the Above (Bailey Theatre), Cris in Cris Leaves Queens (Local Lab), Goose/Ensemble in Charlotte’s Web (performed U/S as Wilbur) and Belmira in The River Bride (The Arvada Center), Georgia in Blackademics (Vintage Theatre), Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest (Breckenridge Backstage Theatre & Clover and Bee Productions), Viola/Feste in Twelfth Night and Cassius/Ensemble in Julius Caesar (CSF Education Tour), Cobweb in A Midsummer Nights Dream, Nausicaa/Ensemble in The Odyssey, and the original practice performance of Pericles (CSF). She is a recent graduate with a BFA in Acting.
StephanieSaltis.com
Aaron Vega (Jack Worthing) has performed across the world and in 2017 moved to CO from NYC. In addition to acting and singing, he has adapted and directed Shakespeare; staged rock and symphony concerts; is a founding artist of a puppet and mask ensemble; plays with the Irish band Banthom House (@BanthomHouse); and curates The People’s Building (@PeoplesBuilding) which provides access to affordable event and performance space to creatives in the metro area. In the Denver metro region, he has worked with the DCPA, The Arvada Center, Miners Alley Playhouse, The Catamounts, & Lake Dillon Theatre Company (SilCo). BFA Wright State University. AaronVega.com | @bardgeek
** BETC Ensemble Member
This adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest was developed by Branden Smith at the Breckenridge Backstage Theatre, where he directed its full production with a cast including Kelsey Colwell, Jacob Dresch, Seth Palmer Harris, Robert Jones, Leslie O’Carroll, Christian Robinson, and Stephanie Saltis.
Event Details
Schedule
Sunday, January 7, 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 7, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 10, 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, January 10, 7:30 p.m.
The show runs approximately 2.5 hours, with one 15-minute intermission.
Venue
Grace Gamm Theater, Dairy Arts Center
2590 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80302
COVID Precautions
BETC follows CDC, federal, state, and local guidelines with regards to COVID safety. At this time, patrons will not be required to be masked or to show proof of vaccination at the theater.
Tickets
Admission is free, but space is limited, so please do reserve your seats today.
