Shakespeare in the Bar Announces New Leadership

Shakespeare in the Bar is proud to announce a new leadership team of artists which will allow the group to continue producing work in the years ahead. Co-founders Katherine Bourne and Dylan Key are thrilled to announce that Kevin Butler, Jeffrey Colangelo, Janielle Kastner, Marcus Stimac, and Katy Tye will take over as producers of Shakespeare in the Bar. Bourne and Key are departing to pursue opportunities in Chicago and San Diego respectively, but will continue to be involved in an advisory capacity.

"Katherine and I were thrilled to hear that so many people felt such a strong connection to the work of Shakespeare in the Bar, both among the audiences and our close collaborators. Shakespeare in the Bar's success and continued life is a credit to the ever-more vibrant cultural and urban community of Dallas and I'm eager to see how it continues to reach new audiences under the leadership of such exemplary artists as as Kevin, Jeff, Janielle, Marcus, and Katy." says Dylan Key, while Katherine Bourne said, "Shakespeare in the Bar brings together many artists from different "artistic families" across the metroplex and engages people who didn't think of themselves as theatre-goers before seeing a SITB show. After a lot of thought, Dylan and I realized that Shakespeare in the Bar belongs to the community- the theatre community as well as the greater community of Dallas. If there is still a need for Shakespeare in the Bar and if there are people willing to do it justice, then it should absolutely live on. Some of the values Shakespeare in the Bar stands on are inclusion, bravery and pluck. The new leaders we have going forward represent those values and are going to be great!"

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, multi-instrumentalist Kevin Butler earned degrees from Baylor and SMU and is currently based in Dallas. He has held tuba positions in the Eastern, Round Top and Aspen Festival orchestras, and shared the stage with a number of artists including Mike Block, The Dallas Symphony Brass Quintet and Chicago. He performs regularly in the DFW area and maintains a teaching studio for talented young music students. A highly versatile musician, Butler plays with such diverse groups as The Free Loaders, The Brazen Brass 5, The 8th St. Orkestar, The End of the World Parade and the Sandaga Jazz Band, and he is a founding member of the Dallas-based world-fusion quartet The Obscure Dignitaries.

Jeffrey Colangelo is a writer, director, actor, fight director and cofounder of PrismCo. He has been working in the DFW area for the last four years for theatre companies like Cara Mía Theatre Co., Undermain Theatre, Trinity Shakespeare, Water Tower, Dallas Shakespeare, and the Dallas Theater Center. With PrismCo he has helped a number of original productions come to life like Galatea, Animal vs Machine, and Gog and Magog. Jeffrey is also a graduate of the Southern Methodist University theatre program and earned his B.F.A. in Theatre in 2013.

Janielle Kastner is an actress and playwright based in Dallas, TX. Believing art­making to be an efficient means of changing the world, she considers herself an artist + activist, or "artivist" with particular interest in gauging the success of a community by the stories and experiences of its young women. Recent projects include Ophelia Underwater, Project: Girl, and the one­woman show GIRL: andotherbeautifulworksoffiction. You may have seen her appear locally in Decline of Ballooning with The­In Laws, The Firestorm at Kitchen Dog Theatre, A Midsummer Nights' Dream with Shakespeare in the Bar, Uncle Vanya with Dallas Actors' Lab, Seminar at Theatre Three, Romeo and Julieta at Cara Mia Theatre, and Pericles at Shakespeare Dallas. Janielle was also an inaugural member of the Dallas Playwrights' Workshop at Dallas Theatre Center. Janielle received her BFA from SMU Meadows School of the Arts.

Marcus Stimac is an actor and performer who can be seen onstage in many theaters around Dallas. His credits include: Undermain Theatre- The Night Alive, Abraham Zobell's Home Movie: Final Reel..., and The Birthday Party; Shakespeare Dallas- Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Cymbeline, Cyrano, and many more; Dallas Theater Center- Pride and Prejudice, In the Beginning. Shakespeare in the Bar- A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labours Lost, Twelfth Night, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, and As You Like It; Upstart Productions- Apartment Plays, The Violet Hour, and Boy. Marcus does voice acting for several shows at Funimation Studios most notably Adult Swim's One Piece as Dr.Hogback and Ghost in the Shell Arise as Saito.

Katy Tye is a choreographer, acrobat, and actor in the Dallas area. She has performed at multiple theaters in Dallas including Undermain, Theatre Three, Shakespeare Dallas, and Dallas Children's Theater. In 2012, Katy began creating original movement-theater pieces with Jeff Colangelo involving aerial silks and hand-to-hand balancing. In addition to her work with PrismCo, Katy has worked with Pilobolus Dance Theater, and has written original plays such as I'm A Girl But My Favorite Color is Blue and Point. Katy received her BFA in Theater Studies from Southern Methodist University in 2015.

The new leadership team is currently in pre-production for Shakespeare in the Bar's next performance which will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

Shakespeare in the Bar was founded by Katherine Bourne, Dylan Key, and Alia Tavakolian in 2014 and produces live, under-rehearsed performances of classical plays at bars and non-traditional spaces throughout the metroplex. Always, surprising, affordable, and unexpected, Shakespeare in the Bar regularly draws crowds in the hundreds, features a rotating company of performers and raises thousands of dollars for local charities each year. Shakespeare in the Bar was named Best of Big D in 2015 by DMagazine, Best Shakespeare in 2015 by the Dallas Observer and has been featured in The Guardian, The Dallas Morning News, and KERA. Learn more at facebook.com/shakespeareinthebar.

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