Endurance and Faith
Most people who know me or who have ever worked with me know that Anton Chekhov's writing has been a foundation for my life in the...
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OUR VISION
To advance the overall level of theatre arts in Colorado.
OUR MISSION
To provide student and professional theatre artists with training rooted in graduate-level curriculum, taught by theatre professionals; and to integrate this training into the development of new intermedia performance work that engages audiences in the social and human issues of our time.
A NOTE FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Jennifer McCray Rincón
Former DCPA Head of Acting at the National Theatre Conservatory and MFA graduate in Directing from the Yale School of Drama
Throughout history, great theatre has been defined by great writers. One of the cofounders of Juilliard, Michel Saint-Denis, wrote a book called The Rediscovery of Style, in which he makes this statement: “Style is the man himself.” He is describing great playwriting as deeply personal and deeply autobiographical. Playwrights such as Tennessee Williams and Anton Chekhov wrote about people and experiences from their own lives. And it is through these deeply personal stories that we as audience members connect to the more universal truths of the human condition. This paradox defines the power of great theatre; the more personal the story, the more universal it becomes.
We are living in a time defined by social change and conflict. Theatre focuses on the social issues of our time by exploring our differences. But as we focus on what makes us different from each other, we must also explore what makes us the same. Live theatre has the power not only to create social change, but also to bring us closer together.
AS WE PLAN SEASON 14
I want to focus more on the development of new plays and playwrights in our community and nationally. We will continue to provide professional training to actors and theatre artists in Colorado while developing new performance work. Some of the projects in development include:
The Queer Theatre Project - A series of three gay plays endorsed with a grant from Bonfils-Stanton.
American Addict - A devised piece based on interviews with addicts in recovery by Jennifer McCray Rincón and the Visionbox Ensemble. This piece premiered in 2023 as part of the Denver Fringe Festival and will be redeveloped with a production and tour.
The Othello Project - An adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello. This was the founding production of Visionbox Studio in 2011. The production intercuts Shakespeare’s play with contemporary scenes of domestic violence.
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui - By Bertolt Brecht, chronicling the rise of a fictional 1930s Chicago gangster; a highly satirical allegory of Hitler’s rise to power.
Finally, I personally am very excited to welcome NYC/Hollywood actor and former
classmate David Hyde Pierce to Denver on October 26th to help us launch Season 14
with a conversation on why theatre matters today. Please join us as the work continues...
- Jennifer McCray Rincón
Visionbox Studio invites you to a conversation with
David Hyde Pierce
on
Why Theatre Matters Today
David Hyde Pierce
October 26th
DAVID HYDE PIERCE is an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor and director who most recently appeared on the New York stage in Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, Here We Are. His Broadway acting credits include Hello, Dolly! (Tony nomination), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Tony nomination), La Bête, Curtains (Tony Award), Spamalot, The Heidi Chronicles and Beyond Therapy. Along with originating numerous roles Off-Broadway, he has appeared in productions of Shakespeare, Shaw, Chekov, Moliere and Philip Barry at the Guthrie, Goodman, and Long Wharf theaters. He directed Brian Hargrove and Barbara Anselmi’s musical It Shoulda Been You on Broadway, Vanya and Sonia at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum, David Lindsay-Abaire’s Ripcord at the Manhattan Theater Club, and a gangster-themed Importance of Being Earnest at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. His film credits include Bright Lights, Big City, Crossing Delancey, Little Man Tate, Sleepless in Seattle, Wolf, Nixon, Isn't She Great, Wet Hot American Summer, Down With Love, A Bug's Life, Osmosis Jones, Treasure Planet, and The Perfect Host. Television roles include playing a suicidal congressman on Norman Lear's political satire "The Powers That Be," 11 seasons as Dr. Niles Crane on "Frasier” (Emmy, SAG Awards), and most recently Julia Child’s devoted husband Paul on Julia. David returns to Broadway this coming spring, starring in a reimagining of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance.
The Elaine Wolf Theatre
at the JCC Mizel Arts & Culture Center 350 S Dahlia St, Denver, CO 80246
WHAT WE DO
Visionbox Studio was founded in 2010 by director and acting teacher Jennifer McCray Rincón and NYC/Hollywood actor Bill Pullman. Their mission was to provide student and professional actors in Colorado with graduate-level training based in Earle Gister’s teaching at the Yale School of Drama while also creating new performance work of social relevance. Jennifer came to Denver in 1991 to be the Head of Acting at the National Theatre Conservatory at the DCPA, the only three-year MFA acting program in the state of Colorado. Visionbox was founded, in part, due to the closing of the National Theatre Conservatory which left Colorado with no graduate actor training programs to this day. Visionbox Studio continues to be the only professional actors studio in Denver, founded in the techniques and principles of the Yale School of Drama.
Students and professional theatre artists train at Visionbox at any stage of their professional development. High school students receive high-level preparation in order to be admitted to national and international undergraduate programs and college graduates work to prepare for graduate school admission. Working theatre professionals continue to study technique at Visionbox, having a direct impact on their work in local professional theatre.
The other important application of Visionbox training is the development and production of new performance work. Jennifer and Bill have a long history of creating and producing new works that they developed in Denver and later toured nationally. The company emulates the principles of the Group Theatre, directed by Harold Clurman in the 1930s. Harold Clurman introduced American actors, playwrights, and directors to the teachings of Stanislavski. Stanislavski’s “method” has continued to be the foundation for professional acting technique to this day. The Group Theatre’s performance work focused on the “social and moral preoccupations” of their time and Visionbox continues these traditions today with our commitment to the development of new works by local and national playwrights.
SIGN UP FOR A CLASS
All new applicants must audition/interview with Visionbox staff.
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VISIONBOX STUDIO THEATRE
Professional actor training classes in Colorado.
We offer 5 week scene study classes for actors of all ages, levels and backgrounds that culminate in a performance. While the focus of the class is on acting technique, each sequence can also be taken as a playwright or director with assignments and work tailored to these disciplines. We also offer ongoing audition classes on Saturday mornings and a Directors Lab on Saturday afternoons.
As an extension of the training program, Visionbox Studio Theatre has produced workshops of new performance work by nationally and internationally acclaimed writers, directors, designers and actors. These public performances of new work featuring multi-media design have included The Othello Project by Visionbox, Commedia D'amore, a new play by British Actor Daniel Gerroll, The Wild Hunt by Bill Pullman, a world premiere of Seeking Charlie Russell written and performed by Bill Pullman and A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas with Broadway Actor Bill Youmans and most recently American Addict a devised piece by Jennifer McCray Rincón and Visionbox. Visionbox is a Tier III project of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) and part of the McNichols Civic Center Building Cultural Partnership Program.