Kelsey Milbourn and Garret Storms Join THE GREAT DISTANCE HOME Premiere at WaterTower Theatre

WaterTower Theatre Artistic Director Joanie Schultz today announced casting and creative team details and updates for the World Premiere theatrical event, The Great Distance Home, conceived and directed by Kelsey Leigh Ervi.

WaterTower Theatre welcomes Kelsey Milbourn and Garret Storms to the previously announced cast.

The Great Distance Home will run December 1st - 17th, 2017, in the Karol Omlor Studio Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre. The ensemble cast features Kelsey Milbourn, Carissa Jade Olsen, Christopher Llewyn Ramirez, Mitchell Stephens, and Garret Storms.

Making their WaterTower Theatre debuts in The Great Distance Home will be Kelsey Milbourn, Carissa Jade Olsen, and Christopher Llewyn Ramirez.

The creative team, in addition to Director Kelsey Leigh Ervi, includes Scenic Design by Bradley Gray and Lighting Design by Jack Piland.

Boy, like all of us, is searching for something, but he's not sure what. He's certain it's not in his home. He's certain it's not in his town. But beyond that, he's not sure where it is. Nevertheless, he goes looking for it, and in the end what he finds is the last thing he expected. In a limited engagement, multidisciplinary theatrical event audiences will be immersed in a story of love, joy, and discovery as an ensemble of five actors take you on a heartwarming adventure. This holiday season at WaterTower Theatre, home really is where the heart is.

Individual tickets to The Great Distance Home are on sale now, and are available by calling the WaterTower Theatre Box Office at 972.450.6232 or online at www.watertowertheatre.org.

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IF YOU GO:

THE GREAT DISTANCE HOME

In the Karol Omlor Studio Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre

Running: December 1 - 17, 2017
Previews: Friday, December 1 and Saturday, December 2 at 8pm & Sunday, December 3 at 2pm
Opening: Monday, December 4 at 7:30pm
Schedule: Thursdays: 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays: 8:00 p.m.; Sundays: 2:00 p.m.

Single Tickets: $25
Group discounts are available, contact the Box Office for details.

Purchase:
Online at www.watertowertheatre.org
By Phone at 972.450.6232
Or In-person at WaterTower Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre, 15650 Addison Road, Addison, TX 75001

Please note: The Box Office opens one hour before show time on performance days and remains open through intermission.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Kelsey Leigh Ervi, Conceiver/Director

Kelsey is excited to be conceiving another piece for WaterTower, after co-conceiving the critically-acclaimed The Spark in 2015 with friend and fellow artist Kyle Igneczi. Other directing credits include Parade in Concert, Silent Sky, Lord of the Flies, The Santaland Diaries, The Tom Sawyer Project, Honky (WaterTower Theatre); Precious Little (Echo Theatre); Love Me, Tinder (FIT Festival, World Premiere); Ask Questions Later (Rite of Passage Theatre, World Premiere); and Dani Girl (Greyman Theatre Company). Kelsey is also an accomplished actor, having worked with many area theatre companies including WaterTower Theatre, Stage West, Shakespeare Dallas, Uptown Players, Echo Theatre, Shakespeare in the Bar, and was most recently seen in Dallas Theater Center's production of Hair. Kelsey is a co-founder and producer of Little Big Scene Podcast, a podcast which serves to promote the past, present, and future of the DFW theatre community, and currently serves as Associate Artistic Director for WaterTower Theatre. www.kelseyleighervi.com

Kelsey Milbourn

Kelsey is a native of Overland Park Kansas and a graduate from TCU with a B.F.A. in musical theatre and independent study in modern dance. She teaches a variety of dance classes for the B.F.A. theatre program at TCU and is a professional choreographer in the area. Some of her recent work includes fight choreographer for Miller Mississippi (Dallas Theater Center); Jonah, 10 out of 12 (Undermain Theatre); Choreography for The Royal Society of Antarctica, Asst. Director for Deer, Stupid F*cking Bird, Bad Jews, The Rivals (Stage West); Clever Little Lies, Fellowship! (Circle Theatre); A Lost Leonardo, Crossing The Line, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, Time Stands Still (Amphibian Stage Productions); Nudis Animus (Danspiek NYC); Cats (Casa Mañana). Kelsey has been a member of the Trinity Shakespeare Festival since its inception, appearing in Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, As You Like It, Merchant of Venice, Merry Wives of Windsor, Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, Love's Labour's Lost, King Lear, Measure for Measure, Richard III, Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Winter's Tale.

CARISSA JADE OLSEN

Carissa's stage credits include Bruises: Animal vs. Machine (PrismCo); Around the World in 80 Days, The Crucible (Abridged) (Stage West); The Lucky Chance (Echo Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (The Firehouse Theatre). Carissa has appeared in WTT's Out of the Loop Fringe Festival in With My Eyes Shut (Goat Song Theatre Collective); and Nomad Americana (Silver Triangle Productions). Staged Readings include Redeemer Mine (Kitchen Dog Theatre's New Work Play Festival). Carissa is Co-Founder of Goat Song Theatre Collective and a member of The Aviary, a new play development organization. She earned her B.F.A. in Theatre Performance from Baylor University.

CHRISTOPHER LLEWYN RAMIREZ

Christopher is thrilled to make his WaterTower Theatre debut in The Great Distance Home! Other credits include Hair, Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure, Public Works: The Tempest (Dallas Theater Center); It Shoulda Been You, Titanic (Uptown Players); Hands on a Hardbody (Theatre Three); The Winter's Tale, Pericles, The King's Face (Shakespeare Dallas); South Pacific (Lyric Stage); Zoot Suit, blu, Crystal City 1969 (Cara Mía Theatre Co.); and assistant director of Rent (Junior Players). Chris received his B.F.A. from Baylor University and would like to thank his family, friends, and students for their support. @cramirez90

Mitchell Stephens

Mitchell is happy to return to WaterTower Theatre. Other WTT credits include Silent Sky, One Man, Two Guvnors and Lord of the Flies. Area credits include Undermain Theatre, Shakespeare Dallas, Trinity Shakespeare Festival, and Stage West. This past August, Mitchell completed the Acrobat of the Heart performer training program with Stephen Wangh, and is a proud graduate of TCU.

Garret Storms

Garret is thrilled to return to WaterTower Theatre. Acting credits include productions at Stage West, WaterTower Theatre, Stages Repertory Theatre, Uptown Players, Trinity Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Three, Amphibian Stage Productions, Shakespeare Dallas, and RADA among others. He has directed The Nether, Deer, Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play, International Falls, and Orlando for Stage West and Bright Half Life for WaterTower Theatre. Garret has a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from Sam Houston State University.

Founded in 1996, WaterTower Theatre (WTT) is one of Texas' leading professional theatre companies and a flagship arts institution in North Texas, having played an important role as a leader in developing new talent, new work, and encouraging the growth of the DFW artistic community through its commitment to hiring local artists.

WTT traces its origins back to Addison Community Theater (ACT) of the 1970's which began performing at the Old Stone Cottage, a 1930's WPA project which still stands adjacent to WTT's current home at the Addison Theatre Centre. Addison Theatre Centre, completed in 1992, is an award-winning 32,000-square-foot space, including a Main Stage - a flexible black box space with seating for approximately 200 - and a smaller Studio Theatre. WTT is the resident theatre company of the Addison Theatre Centre, which also houses WTT's administrative, artistic, and production offices.

Throughout its history, WaterTower's artistic vision, service to the community and growing audience has led to a unique partnership with the Town of Addison, one aimed at the development of an exciting destination for residents and non-residents to experience the best in theatrical arts.

Building on its reputation for being an intrepid producer of new works, WTT has garnered countless accolades through the years. WTT's commitment to new work is reflected in its history of world premieres including Song of Motherhood (1998), Blind Lemon: Prince of Country Blues (2001), A Country Life (2005), Creep (2015), The Spark (2015), The Great Distance Home (2017), Bread (2018), WTT's Out of the Loop Festival (2002-2016), and DETOUR: a Festival of New Work, beginning in 2018. At the conclusion of the 2017-2018 Season, WTT will have produced 170 plays and musicals, including 9 World Premieres and 36 Regional Premieres.

WTT is proud to include in its alumni many actors whose careers include Broadway, national tours, film, and television credits, including Major Attaway (Broadway: Disney's Aladdin); John Campione (First National Tour: School of Rock; The Bridges of Madison County); Anthony Fortino (First National Tour: Fun Home); Brian Gonzales (Broadway: One Man, Two Guvnors; Disney's Aladdin); Clinton Greenspan (First National Tour: Disney's Aladdin); Traci Lee (First National Tour: Beautiful); Liz Mikel (Broadway: Lysistrata Jones; TV: Friday Night Lights; Sordid Lives); Cedric Neal (Broadway: Gershwin's Porgy & Bess; After Midnight); Stacey Oristano (TV: Friday Night Lights; Bunheads; Shameless); and Akron Watson (Broadway: The Color Purple; The Play that Goes Wrong). Popular local artists such as Patty Breckenridge, Clare Floyd Devries, Pam Dougherty, Gary Lynn Floyd, Kyle Igneczi, Denise Lee, Walter Lee, René Moreno, Calvin Scott Roberts, Emily Scott Banks, Diana Sheehan, and Garret Storms have proudly called WTT home.

WaterTower Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre organization, proudly operating under an SPT6 license with Actors' Equity Association.

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