nimbus presents: A count up to Christmas

by josh cragun

Dramatis personae

The production runs 90 minutes with no intermission.
(But there are commercials)

Is this show appropriate for children?
Sure, if your kids are into parody! It’s pretty PG - no real swearing; some double entendre; chaste romance. The most inappropriate character in the show is the 8-year-old.

Biographies

Ursula K Bowden (she/her) is a freelance set and properties designer and scenic charge in the Upper Midwest. A BFA Technical Theater and Theatrical Design degree holder from Drake University, Bowden has been a full time theater artist for over a decade. In addition to ~30 shows with nimbus, her work has been seen in various incarnations on the stages of Park Square Theater, New Native Theatre, Chameleon Theatre Circle, Theatre Pro Rata, Swandive Theatre, Fortune's Fool Theatre, Freshwater Theatre, Theatre Unbound, Frank Theatre, Theatre Latte Da, the Guthrie Theater, and others. She also works as a theater educator around the Twin Cities. Ursula’s eye for detail was featured in American Theatre Magazine in 2014 for her scenic design for Swandive Theatre’s An Outopia for Pigeons. At home she enjoys spending time with her husband and young sons.

Josh Cragun (he/him) is a writer who fell into the company of theater artists at a young and impressionable age, and fortunately, has never been quite the same. This led to a series of questionable decisions, one of which took place in 2001 when he formed nimbus with a fellow writer known as Cockroach. He has been creating new theater with the company ever since. In that time he has written thirteen original works of theater for the company. In addition he has directed, as well as designed video, costumes, properties and sets for the company over the years. In one way or another, he has contributed to all of the company’s productions.

Gaea Dill-D’Ascoli (she/her) is a freelance theater and teaching artist in the Twin Cities. She has been a Technical Director, Stage Manager, Production Manager, Carpenter, and Run Crew all around the Cities. In addition to theatrical arts, Gaea has hung several photography shows and has published creative nonfiction and fiction writing pieces. She holds a master’s degree in Arts and Cultural Management from St. Mary’s University and is working on a second degree in science writing. Her work can be found at GaeaDD.com.

Derek Dirlam (he/him)has performed with various Twin Cities theater companies including Park Square, Lakeshore Players, Theater in the Round, Green T, and Lex-Ham. Recently he co-directed Maximum Verbosity’s fringe show Stages and performed in Lakeshore Player’s Clue. He also manages Conundrum Collective, which specializes in producing radio theater. You can find some of their recordings online at:
https://conundrumcollective.bandcamp.com
Boom boom!

Annick Dall-Desbois (she/her)holds a BFA in Acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and has worked on stages and in classrooms in New York, Chicago, and the Twin Cities to bring theatre to audiences of all ages. She has worked with American Theater Company, Redmoon, Children’s Theatre Company, Stages, and History Theater as a performer and teaching artist. This is her first time appearing with nimbus.

Jacob Davis is a freelance sound designer and engineer based in Minneapolis. His recent sound designs include: The Minotaur, Up: The Man in the Flying Chair (Theatre Pro Rata); Ludlow, The Kalevala (nimbus); Henry and Alice: Into the Wild, Nina Simone: Four Women, Flower Drum Song, The Soul of Gershwin (Park Square Theater); Sweeney Todd (Theatre Latté Da). His regional and international work includes companies such as Cirque du Soleil, Mark Taper Forum, Universal Studios, Ahmanson Theater, Pasadena Playhouse, Goodman Theater. Jacob holds a MFA in Sound Design from the California Institute of the Arts and a BFA in Theatre Design from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He is a member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association and United Scenic Artists. He is also a member of the Theatre Pro Rata Artistic Company.

Jeffery Goodson (he/him) has performed on stages in the TwinCcities including three shows at nimbus (The Balcony, Babel, In The Age of Paint and Bone) and at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, The Brave New Workshop, Park Square and Lyric Arts. Some of his favorite roles: Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Brad in Rocky Horror Show, Arthur P in Superior Donuts, Cromwell in A Man For All Seasons and his time as an improver-writer-cast member of the Brave New Work Shop. He has a published play - Shakespeare Ate My Brain, writes and records his own songs and has co-created a science fiction storytelling podcast called “Space Croutons” which is in it’s third season. Find out more about him at jefferygoodson.com

Jane Hammill (she/her) last graced the nimbus stage in 2012, as Eileen in The Cripple of Inishmaan. She has three movies currently in post production, with more to come. When not starring on stage or screen, Jane is retired and enjoying life. She hopes you enjoy this little nugget we had a great time creating.

Christy Johnson (she/her) is originally from Rochester, MN, and has an MBA from the University of St Thomas. This is her nimbus debut and she is excited to spend it in the Heartland.
Christy is a freelance actor, singer, and sound designer and has appeared in several productions across the Twin Cities. Some theatres include Guthrie, Minnesota Opera, Minneapolis Musical Theatre, History Theatre, Theatre Pro Rata, 4CT Community Theatre, Lakeshore Players, Lyric Arts, and Theatre Unbound, among others. She would like to thank her husband, family, and friends for all their support and love.

Jon Kirchhofer (he/him) is a human and a lighting designer.

Tara Lucchino (she/her) is a theatre artist, vocalist and musician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tara graduated from Penn State University with a theatre degree and after various gigs found her way to the Twin Cities in 2009. This is Tara’s 5th production with nimbus: previously seen in Ludlow, From Darkness, The Lower Depths and Woyzeck.
Other local theatre credits include Sheep Theater, Special When Lit, Freshwater Theatre, 20% Theatre Company, Theatre Unbound, Theatre in the Round and Chameleon Theatre Circle to name a few. As a company member of Sheep Theater, Tara was a recipient of City Pages’ 2018 “Best Theater Troupe,” and has participated in many Fringe Festival productions including Michael Rogers’ Developers (2022) and Chorus (2019) & Sheep Theater’s Kaboom! (2018). Tara was most recently seen in The Abortion Chronicles at The Haus Of Loring in October-November of 2022.

Liz Neerland (she/her) is a native of Minneapolis and a graduate of Grinnell College. Since 2002, she has had a hand in writing, directing, designing, or producing every nimbus show. In addition to her co-Artistic Director Duties, she also serves as the company's Managing Director. In her "spare time" she enjoys cooking, motorcyling, spending time on the North Shore, and managing her dog’s Instagram account.

Rubble&Ash is the name that captures the collaborative design and production work of Andrea M Gross and Barb Portinga. For the past dozen years they have challenged and supported one another as costume designers, pattern makers, and storytellers. As Rubble&Ash, their work has been seen at nimbus in A Life of Days, The Pathetic Life and Remarkable Afterlife of Elmer McCurdy the Worst Robber in the West, The River Becomes Sea, and The Kalevala; at Park Square Theatre in Jefferson Township Sparkling Junior Talent Pageant; and the History Theater with Superman Becomes Lois Lane.
Barb (she/her) has been making her living solely via her varied costume skills since graduating from Augsburg College in 1990. Her design work has been seen throughout the Midwest, from Utah to Door County, WI.
Andrea (she/her) made her Twin Cities debut with nimbus (Propaganda for the Converted in 2005) and has collaborated on nearly 100 productions with companies and directors all over Minnesota since.
Rubble&Ash melds pieces from existing stocks of costumes; thrift, antique, and fabric stores; and purpose builds garments to combine elements in unexpected ways. The intention is always to support the story and creation of character with skill and ingenuity.

Alex Stokes (he/him) is thrilled to be joining nimbus for his first production with the company! A native of Minneapolis, Alex has previously worked with such companies as Lyric Arts, Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company, and the MN Opera as a part of their Apprentice program. When he's not having a blast onstage, he's probably snuggled up with some coffee and a cheesy holiday movie, as well as his cat, Pippin.

Alyssa Thompson has been working as a Stage Manager/ASM around the Twin Cities for the past six years. She is the Company Stage Manager for nimbus, and loves the devising process and creating new work. She spends her days marketing travel to Scandinavia, Africa, and (her favorite) Antarctica. Her stage management credits include River Becomes Sea, Ludlow, The Kalevala, and Storms of November, with nimbus and Pioneer Suite and Mrs. Charles with Freshwater Theatre.

This is Kelley Yount’s first show with nimbus. She has worked as a technician and SM/ASM with Lyric Arts, Aethem, Park Square, and Old World New World. Kelley wants to bring theatre to all people by collaborating with artists and bridging the gap between the Hearing and Deaf world.

Director’s notes

A very long time ago, in our younger days when our Art was insufferable, my parents dutifully attended a production of ours. After sitting through what was likely 3 hours of whatever it was we subjected them to, my father emerged from the theater and said to me, “Why can’t you just do White Christmas?”

“You don’t want to see what I’d do to White Christmas,” was my reply.

It became a joke, and for years we would threaten to do a Christmas show, nimbus-style.

And so this fall, after surviving the pandemic and everything else of the last 2+ years, we needed to figure out our December show. We knew we wanted to do a comedy. And then Josh suggested that we finally make good on the threat, and do a Christmas show, nimbus-style.

The result is what you’re about to watch tonight. I hope I’ve done Bing Crosby proud. Or not.

Playwright’s notes

When I was a child, my family had a board book: Richard Scarry’s The Country Mouse and The City Mouse. The story of two furry relatives with incompatible ways has somehow found itself into the modern zeitgeist in the form of the holiday television movie. It’s a comfortable story that plays well with larger narratives in the media about how different we all are and how that is a problem.

I’ve got bona fides on both sides of the country city divide. I was born in the third largest city in the country, and transported shortly thereafter to a small farm town of 300 people. All things told, I’ve lived in ten different municipalities around The Heartland and been fortunate to spend time in over forty states. In that time I’ve met a lot of people, and I’ve come to believe that when it comes to the things that really matter, folks aren’t as different as the Scarry’s story would suggest. I’ve also learned, for what it is worth, that we are not mice.

Like our protagonist, I ran away from the country early in my life, seeking culture and a place where I fit in. I was a long haired guy into weird art and with a fondness for culture I couldn’t find where I came from. 22 years ago some guy named Cockroach convinced me to come to Minneapolis, and I’ve been here ever since. But recently, I’ve been spending more time in the country, a few miles from where I lived in fifth grade. I’m getting to know the land and the people on it, and finding plenty of like-minded friends, old and new, along the way. Oh, and Cockroach? He’s doing weird theater in a small farm town in The Heartland.

Special thanks

Joe Herman, Sarah Sanford, Larisa & Nick Bried, Courtney Rudoy, Alex Meyer, Ariel Leaf
Zeb McInerny, UMTAD, Next Stage Rental & Market, Costume Collective, Sharon Dill

About nimbus

nim-bus, n.

1. a : A bright cloud, or cloudlike splendor, imagined as investing deities when they appeared on earth.
b : a cloud or atmosphere about a person or thing

2 : A bright or golden disk surrounding the head of a drawn or sculptured divinity, saint, or sovereign

3 : a rain cloud

nimbus has been creating original theater in the Twin Cities since 2001. Their unique process for the creation of playwright-led collaborative work combined with their passion for creating bold, eclectic theater has been dazzling audiences for over 15 years. A company founded and led by playwrights and run by the artists themselves, we are dedicated to creating theatre that crosses boundaries, promotes imagination, and ignites new conversations.

How we create our work

All of our work is created collaboratively using a process we have been refining since 2001. Our casts and design teams work with a director, dramaturg, and playwright to create original theater together. Often starting with a simple idea or concept, the entire team participates in researching and discussing the ideas, characters, and locations the play will focus on.

After several weeks of intensive research, the team enters a period we call ‘script work.’ During this time, the cast and director improvise and work with text provided by the playwright. Over time, a script takes form. After a staged reading as well as editing and finishing work by the playwright, rehearsal begins.

Unlike traditional American theater, our process allows the design concepts, characters, and narrative to develop together. Although our process is new, it is not extremely different from the way that Shakespeare or Moliere created their work. Our work is always evolving and changing, and we welcome your input in improving it.

nimbus Company members

Josh Cragun – Artistic Director
Liz Neerland – Artistic Director
Mitchell Frazier – Master Electrician
Andrea Gross – Company Manager
Brian Hesser – Technical Director
Monique Lindquist - Production Manager
Alyssa Thompson - Company Stage Manager
Alex Meyer - Volunteer Coordinator

nimbus Board of Directors

Jill Hoeft Mat Lindquist G.W. Gant Luxton Heidi Berg

Thank you to all of our 2021-2022 financial contributors:

FY 2023:

As of December 1, 2022

Anonymous
Cora Mae Berg
David & Suellen Buck
Josh Cragun & Liz Neerland
Meri Golden
Laura Mays
Scott Pakudaitas
Daniel Pinkerton
Boo Segersin
I-Ming Shih
Andrew Troth

FY 2022:

Bruce Abas
Linda Sue Anderson
Anonymous
Cora M. Berg
Barbra Berlovitz
Boston Scientific
Florence Brammer
David and Suellen Buck
Ray & Mary Ann Campbell
Brook D. Carl
Doug Carlson
Robert Christensen
Carol Clarke
Patty Connelly
Penny Cragun
Josh Cragun & Liz Neerland
Irma & Dutch Cragun
Karen Crouch
Walter Duffy
Doran Edwards
Nancy Feldman
David and Mary Grace Flannery
Rachel Flynn & Sean McArdle
Barbara and Bob Gaertner
Robert Gardner
Meri Golden
Susan & Doug Greenberg
Emer Griffin
Andrea Gross & Liam McNerney
Caitlin Hammel
Dr. Daniel C. Hartnett Family Foundation
George Gardner Healy
Ken & Patty Hepburn
Lucie Holzemer & Wally Mattson
Shell Jiang
Pam Kaufman and Dennis Keierleber
Diane Kepner
Warren & Carolyn Kime
Glenn Klapperich
Heidi Klukas
Frank & Margot Knoll
Michael F. Koch, M.D.
Karen & Andy Krenik
Kathy Krenik-Minkler
Sarah Lanners
Jim Larson
Melissa & Marcus Lienhard
Mat & Monique Lindquist
Nora Lonnquist
Fionn Mallon
Ron & Mary Mattson
Marcia Miller
Fran & Jim Mullin
Dave & Mary Moehring
Jane Murphy
Charles Neerland & Maureen Kelly Neerland
Mary B & Jay Newcomb
Vincent & Sarah Olivieri
Mark Oyaas
Scott Pakudaitis
Daniel Pinkerton
Jim Rustad and Kay Thomas
Mary Sandberg
Pat Schaffer
Evan Schnell
Boo Segersin
Mickaylee Shaughnessy
Bill & Sara Stout
Tamra & Mike Thompson
Alyssa Thompson
Andrew Troth
John W. and Suzanne Ursu
Ruth Virkus
Marsha Wagner
Donovan & Rachel Walsh
John Ward