American Night: Meet the folks behind the scenes

Milagro's 32nd season is coming to a close with the wild odyssey through US history by the pen of Richard Montoya, a madcap romp titled American Night: the Ballad of Juan José! The production for this Portland premiere is helmed by the award-winning director of Oedipus El Rey, Elizabeth Huffman! 

Read on to meet her and the rest of the creative team, get ready to laugh and think with this sharp-witted take on the land of the free, and get your tickets today! (You can read about the cast here).

ELIZABETH HUFFMAN (Director)   returns to Milagro for the second time, having directed the Drammy award winning production of Oedipus El Rey. She most recently directed Mary Stuart for Northwest Classical Theater Company having directed two other productions: King John and The Lion in Winter.  Other Portland directing projects include Bon Ton Roulet at the Shakespeare Cafe for the Fertile Ground Festival at Post 5, Ladies Man for Clackamas Rep, November for Jane, A Theatre Collaborative, and Trojan Women and Oedipus the King for Classical Greek Theatre. She has been an Artistic Director for four classical theatre companies, and is currently developing her own production company, Chain Reaction Theatre. She also is an Equity actress (recently performed in Year of the Rooster at Fusion Theatre in New Mexico and also works as a professional costume designer (most recently for Jewish Theatre Collaborative’s production of Ministry of Special Cases).

MEGAN WILKERSON (Scenic and Lighting Designer) is an award winning scenic designer based in Portland. Her designs have been recognized by The Chicago Tribune, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Oregonian. This year her work has been produced professionally in Portland by Artists Repertory Theatre, Bag&Baggage, and Theatre Vertigo. Megan is a member of The Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago, The Resident Scenic Designer at Bag&Baggage Productions in Hillsboro, and a new Resident Artist at Artists Repertory Theatre here in Portland.  She holds an MFA in Design for Theatre from the University of Texas at Austin.

SARA LUDEMAN (Costume Designer) is excited to be making her debut with Milagro as the costumer for American Night. Born and raised in Portland Oregon, she graduated from Portland State with her BA in 2012. Since graduation Sara has work primarily with Profile theater where she trained under mentor and close friend Jessica Bobillot. Recent work includes Profiles Sam Shepard Festival of Ones Acts, True West and High School the Musical with Enlightened Theatrics in Salem Oregon. Sara also works for Profile as part of their education outreach program in the public schools. Outside of theater Sara is an outdoor enthusiast and can often be found hiking the trails of Mt. Hood.

SHARATH PATEL (Sound Designer) is excited to be back for his second design at Milagro. He grew up splitting his time between Appalachia and India while spending the following years studying across Europe and New England. Before finding a new home in Portland, he cut his teeth as a lead sound designer in New York City. Portland design highlights include Oedipus el Rey, (Milagro), Tribes, The Price (Artists Rep); Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Profile Theatre); The Piano Lesson (Portland Playhouse); Mary Stewart, Wait Until Dark (Northwest Classical).  Sharath holds a BFA from Ohio University and he earned his MFA in Sound Design from the Yale School of Drama.   He is currently a Resident Artist at Artists Repertory Theater.

HAL LOGAN (Music Director)is a composer, musician, music director, and sound designer in southeast Portland, where he operates Hal Logan Music, a music production studio.  His work has been heard at Milagro, Portland Center Stage, Artists’ Repertory, Vertigo, CoHo, Milagro, Stumptown, Oregon Children’s Theater, Northwest Classical, and Broadway Rose, among others.  He is the resident sound designer for Portland Actor’s Conservatory, and teaches Music Technology and Sound Design at the University of Portland.  

CLARA LIIS HILLIER (Choreographer) Making her debut working with Milagro, Clara-Liis is a graduate of Reed College. A proud new Bag&Baggage Resident Actor and company member at Northwest Classical Theatre Co (NWCTC),  she was last seen in The Six Gentlepersons of Verona (Valentine), and Miracle on 43rd Street (Felicity Fay Fitzpatrick) with Bag&Baggage, Wait Until Dark (Susan Hendrix) with NW Classical, The Tempest with Portland Shakespeare Project, King Lear (Cordelia) and The Lion in Winter  (Alais) directed by Elizabeth Huffman, both with NWCTC. Favorite roles: Julius Caesar  (Casca) with Bag&Baggage; The Seagull (Masha) NWCTC;  Othello (Bianca) NWCTC. Next up you can see her on the Venetian in Our Country’s Good.

ERIC LYNESS (Technical Director) Eric is pleased to return for a second season as Technical Director for Milagro and thrilled to be working with such a talented team of artists. In addition to serving as Technical Director. Eric works as a freelance designer, stage manager, and director in and around Portland. He is a member of the Third Rail Mentorship Company, and a membership candidate with AEA. He received his training at The University of Portland.

NICKI D'AMICO (Resident Property Mistress) is a native New Yorker who received a B.A. in Theatre from SUNY Purchase. Having worked in theaters around NY, CT and MA she now happily resides and designs in beautiful Portland.  Nicki is pleased to continue her collaboration with Milagro, on American Night: The Ballad of Juan José.

LAWRENCE SIULAGI (Video Projection) returns to Milagro following his sound design work in El Tesoro/The Treasure and Searching for Aztlán. As an actor, he recently played Alexas in Portland Actor’s Ensemble’s Antony & Cleopatra and Roberti in Portland Opera’s Tosca. He played a variety of roles including King Agamemnon in Iphigenia in Aulis, The Mikado, Pozzo in Waiting for Godot and Carlos Homenides in A Flea In Her Ear while pursuing a Theatre degree (directing emphasis) at San Diego State University.

MICHAEL DEMAIO (Stage Manager) hails from New York City where he participated in the B.F.A. programs at both Adelphi University and Mary Mount Manhattan College majoring in Theatre Arts. He has been a part of the Portland Oregon theatre community for over fifteen years working primarily as a production stage manager. Some of his more recent favorite productions include Young Frankenstein with The Lakewood Theatre Company and Avenue Q with triangle productions!

JULIE ROSEQUIST (Board operator) is proud to be back for her 5th season with Milagro. She has worked with several other local theatres as stage manager, props and costume designer and assistant stage manager. 

Don't miss your chance to see the amazing production this team has prepared for the Portland premiere of American Night: the Ballad of Juan José, playing at Milagro April 30 - May 23, 2015!