Our Productions to present New Work by Bruce R. Coleman

Our Productions Theatre Co. Producting Artistic Director, Stephanie Riggs announces the exciting presentation of a new script, Haunted, by award winning Dallas Playwright Bruce R. Coleman, coming to the MCL Grand in October 2017.

This mystery ghost story will be presented for the first time in the black box space at the MCL Grand located at 100 North Charles St., Lewisville, Texas. Tickets will go on sale in June at www.ourproductionstheatreco.org.

Our Productions is sponsored in part by The Texas Commission on the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Town of Flower Mound and The City of Lewisville.

Haunted revolves around Barry, who has been living in the shadow of his parents murder for 30 years. Now at a breaking point, Barry and his partner Kevin travel to the scene of the crime, the once glamorous La Hacienda Hotel in Austin, Texas. There, along with an Evangelical Psychic of dubious talents, Barry seeks a resolution to the mystery that has haunted his entire life.

Mr. Coleman's piece was one of the first scripts booked to be read at Our Productions Theatre Co.'s new Play Readers Club this past winter, taking the February slot. Play Readers Club gathered three times over the winter to allow new and classic works to be read and discussed in a book club style format. Haunted got the attention of the Board at the reading.

"Haunted really mesmerized the group," Artistic Director Stephanie Riggs said. "The patrons and artists in attendance at Play Readers Club that night couldn't stop discussing it, and the discussion went on for more than an hour at the conclusion of the read. I am sure it didn't end there. I know the show stuck in my mind, and I wanted to do whatever I could to bring it to life for a wider audience."

Haunted is dubbed by Coleman as a "Mystery Wrapped in a Ghost Story" and will be his fourteenth play to be produced in the area after having works presented by companies including Uptown Players, Theatre Three, Upstart, Kitchen Dog, and several scripts being presented by Collin College next spring.

Coleman is an award winning playwright, whose script Daylight, a civil war drama, won the Grand Prize at the Southwest Playwriting Festival sponsored by Stage West. His script Boomer Tyro is Coming Home, was written for the Inaugural Pride Write New Play Festival at Uptown Players and won both the Grand Prize AND audience favorite.

About the creation of HaunTEd Coleman says, "It did start out as an idea for a screen play around three years ago. It was very ambitious in what I was trying to produce." The mystery ghost story of Haunted takes place simultaneously in 1990 and 1962. Coleman continues,"Since then, it has now become a stage play and fairly different from the original but the main mystery has stayed the same. The main storyline has solidified. This particular story has been sitting on my computer for three years. Our Productions Play Readers Club came up, and it was a good motivation to get it back up and do a second draft. I started back up in January. The rest is history."

The performances will be held for a limited engagement October 26, 27, 28, 29, 2017 at the MCL Grand Black Box.

Riggs says, "The MCL Grand is now a part of a burgeoning arts district in Lewisville. The newly opened restaurants directly across the street from the center make it a destination. Enjoy a great meal, walk to the theatre, and enjoy a stroll in the beautiful flower and water gardens after the show...if you are brave enough after hearing this chilling mystery tale."

Artists in town are already getting excited behind the scenes. In fact, Coleman, has already assembled his dream cast. "I've been pretty lucky in that I write for voices and people I know - I've been pretty lucky over the years to use those people. There were five people that I had in mind when I wrote this and four are in this company of actors," says Coleman.

Joining the cast includes Billy Betsill as Barry, Blake Lee as Kevin, Edward Treminio as Paco, LisaAnne Haram as Myrna, Kim Swarner as Lois, Jacob Lewis as Kyle, Rafael Villegas as Carlos, and Mikey Abrams as Franklin.

Performances will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and a Sunday matinee performance at 2:00 p.m., October 26-29, 2017 at the black box space of the Medical Center of Lewisville Grand Theater. Tickets are $25 with a $5 discount for Seniors (55+) and Students (with ID). VIP reserved seating available for member donors. Annual Donor VIP Memberships start at $25. Donor memberships available at the web site, click 'Support.'

All other seating general admission. Handicap/wheelchair seating is available. Tickets may be purchased at www.ourproductionstheatreco.org beginning in June, or by calling the Our Productions Box Office at 972-724-2147.

Haunted

Show Run Dates: Thursday, October 26 - Sunday, October 29, 2017.

Performances: October 26, 27, and 28 at 8:00 p.m., and March 29 at 2:00 p.m.

Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Ticket Prices and Box Office Information:

Single Tickets: $25 General Admission. VIP Reserved seating available for member donors of Our Productions Theatre Co.

How to buy tickets(on-sale in June): www.ourproductionstheatreco.org or by phone at 972-724-2147, or in person at the door beginning one hour prior to performance time.

Our Productions Theatre Co.
P.O. Box 271483
Flower Mound, TX 75027

MCL Grand
100 North Charles Street
Lewisville, TX 75027

www.ourproductionstheatreco.org
972-724-2147

About the Playwright
Bruce R. Coleman has been writing plays for twenty years. His first works A History Lesson, Given Away and Night and Day were all created for his own theatre group, New Theatre Company, back in the 1990s. For Theatre Three, Bruce created Look What's Happened to Pixie De Costa (Column Award Best New Play - The Column Awards, Top Ten Plays of the Year- The Dallas Voice ) Tales From Mount Olympus ( Nominated - Best New Play - The Column Awards.) and Day Light ( Grand Prize Winner South West Playwriting Festival, Nominated - Best New Play - The Column Awards, Nominated - American Theatre Critics Assoc. - Nominated - Best New Play.) Other local works include Asher Texas,'82., Mythical Beastie, and Boomer Tyro Is Coming Home ( Grand Prize Winner and Audience Favorite Uptown Players Pride Write Play Writing Festival ) all for Uptown Players, and A Conversation with a Potentially Naked Man and Larry Kramer Hates Me ( Nominated Best New Play- The Column Awards.) for Upstart Productions. Bruce has also had two pieces in the Kitchen Dog Theatre One Minute Play Festival, which is harder than it sounds!! Bruce will have two play produced by Collin College Theatre this fall and a play produced by Abilene Live Theatre in the spring.

About the Producing Artistic Director for Our Productions Theatre Co.

Stephanie Riggs holds a B.F.A. from Texas Christian University, where she studied under scholarship for theatre, musical theatre and radio/television/film. She is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association (AEA) and an award nominated and winning, critically acclaimed actress & director in the D-FW Metroplex. She is the founder and a current Producing Artistic Director of Our Productions Theatre Co. as well as the Educational Director of Our Productions Young Artist Training Program, the educational outreach of the theater. She is the author of the musical, Project Youth, with composer Jeff Kinman and lyricist Adam C. Wright. Stephanie has directed, choreographed and/or produced over 100 productions since Our Productions was started in 1993 including the multi-award Leon Rabin nominated 2007 production of Honk!, where she was honored with a Best Director nomination. Under her leadership, Our Productions Theatre Co. is the only professional theatre company in Denton County and has been named to multiple "Top Ten Best of" lists in D-FW including WFAA "Top 5 Best Theatres in North Texas" in 2009, "DFW's Ultimate Best List" for Pegasus News 2010, BroadwayWorld.com Top Ten Dallas Theater 2009, Nickelodeon's Parent Pick "Best Theatre Group for Kids" in 2010 as well as having the Dallas production of the musical Ordinary Days noted by both D-FW Culture Map and the Dallas Observer as one of the top productions in Dallas for 2015.

About the Executive Producer of Our Productions Theatre Co.

Scott Kirkham has been a staple at Our Productions for close to fifteen years now, and serves as both Executive Producer and Technical Director. Scott holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Texas A&M University and received his M.F.A. in Scenic Design from Florida State University's School of Theatre. A Dallas native, he has worked in Texas, Florida, New York, Ohio and California. In 2003, Scott joined the staff of Theatre FMPAT (now Our Productions) where he now serves as Executive Producer and Production Designer after serving as the Resident Designer/Technical Director for the Weathervane Theatre Company in Akron, Ohio, the Technical Director for the Player's Guild in Canton, Ohio and three seasons as props and scenic designer for the Texas Shakespeare Festival. He has been nominated in Dallas for multiple Leon Rabin Awards for Scenic and Lighting Design. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member at Brookhaven College in Dallas, and is the current Tech Director at Rockwall High School. Some favorite credits include: Marvin's Room and Pump Boys and Dinettes(Leon Rabin Nomination) for Contemporary Theatre of Dallas (Scenic Designer), Mind Over Murder for Pegasus Theatre (Scenic Design), and for Our Productions: Barefoot In The Park, Little Shop of Horrors, The Effects of Gamma Rays, Honk!, The Last Five Years, Adventures in Love, Forever Plaid, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Art, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Angel Street (Leon Rabin Nomination) (Scenic, Lighting Designer, Technical Director, Stage Manager, Producer). Favorite National Credits include: Grease for Sierra Repertory Theatre, California (Scenic Design).

About Our Productions Theatre Co. Flower Mound-Lewisville-Dallas

Small shows with BIG impact.
Be moved. Be inspired. Be excited.
Yours. Mine. OURS. Together we can make magic.
Our Productions Theatre Co.

Our Productions Theatre Co. Flower Mound - Lewisville - Dallas is a professional theatre company, under the umbrella of non-profit, IRS recognized 501 (c) 3 charitable organization, Expressions Performing Arts, whose mission is to develop cultural growth in North Texas.

Originally founded in Denton County in 1993, Our Productions Theatre Co. Executive Producer, Scott Kirkham & Artistic Director, Stephanie Riggs bring live, professional productions and performers to Denton County to perform for area residents including new works, little known shows and re-imaginings of hit productions with BIG heart.

About The Young Artist Training Program (YATP)

YATP students make a big impact wherever they go as talented youth and young professionals, working together to reach their performance goals. Under the direction of Stephanie Riggs, Educational Director, YATP is our world class musical theatre training program. Established in 1993 in Flower Mound, YATP is now in it's 25th year and has trained students with careers on both stage and screen, that span across the United States and Europe, from London to Los Angeles, New York to Chicago, and right here at home in Big D.

The small, conservatory style program admits the best and the brightest students by audition each year for the openings available, most of whom train with the program for more than five years until graduation, when they move on to both professional careers and outstanding university programs. Many of our alumni, that are working professionals today, credit YATP with giving them the strong foundations for the work they do today.

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