A Twisty Intergalactic Spectacle

Ken Ard

Ken Ard has originated roles in some of the biggest hit shows in Broadway’s history. Two of which he holds Grammy Award Certifications for best cast album. Macavity in Cats and Ken in Smokey Joe’s Cafe. Other notable roles include ELECTRA in Starlight Express, Pluton in Dangerous Games, and The Chimney Man starring opposite Gregory Hines in Jelly’s Last Jam. Ken was honored to standby for Tony Award winning legend André De Shields in the Musical Half Time at the Papermill Playhouse and was subsequently chosen by Mr. DeShields to lead his multi-talented cast in Sophisticated Ladies at NJPAC. Ken was featured in Taylor Mac’s
critically acclaimed limited run sold-out Off Broadway opera, The Hang. Most recently Ken played Duke Ellington in the Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker, Suite at the auditorium Theatre in Chicago He also appears as Wilbur in the 2001 Academy Award winning film Chicago. Beyond Broadway Ken is an award winning chef, visual artist, and an accomplished jazz singer/cabaret performer.

Tyler Dorney

Tyler Dorney is excited to be back at the Hip Pocket Theatre! He has previously performed at the Hip Pocket in Curmudgeon Boogie (Into the Shadows), Pinocchio Commedia, When We Were Very Young, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Riders of the Purple Sage and, El Maleficio de Mariposa, and The Fly.

Shelby Griffin

Shelby Griffin is a Ft Worth based poet and performance artist. She has been working with Hip Pocket since 2018. Shelby produces independent theatrical work under the title Living Room Theatre. Original and co-devised works include Mama Dance and Judith.

Paul Heyduck
Paul Heyduck has been performing with Hip Pocket Theatre since 2016. Among many other characters, he has previously appeared as a mailman, a washing machine, and an ape man. He is very excited to work with Basil and Ken in their new show and to unleash his inner alien.

Amanda Merrill

Amanda Merrill (performer/Dance Captain) is thrilled to be performing in her 17th show at Hip Pocket. She majored in dance at Marymount Manhattan College in NYC. In addition to Hip Pocket, Amanda has performed and choreographed locally with Ballet Concerto, Artisan Center Theater, Stolen Shakespeare Guild, and Va Va Voom Cabaret. Many thanks to the Simons family, Basil and Ken!

Sara Rashelle

Sara Rashelle has dreamt longingly of once again playing the pawn to the poppets of Hip Pocket Theatre. This season her dreams have come true! Previous to this twisted production, Sara performed in Hip Pocket’s adaptation of Lili as a puppeteer/acrobat, 2014 Pinocchio Commedia as Arlechino/the cricket, and last season as Scorpi in El Maleficio de la Mariposa. “Thank God for my family. They make me whole”.

Jeffrey Stanfield
Jeffrey Stanfield is a movement theater artist and puppeteer trained in Czech black rod and object puppetry. A graduate of Texas Christian University Theatre program, he has worked as a scenic carpenter,  scenic designer, and technical director across DFW, and is the Technical Director at Amphibian Stage. He has been with Hip Pocket Theatre since 2010 and has been seen in such favorites as The Hawkline Monster, Don Quixote, The Lake Worth Monster and Loop the Loop. 

Ash Vance

Ash Vance is ecstatic to be a part of his first production with Hip Pocket! Ash is a student at Texas Woman’s University and has previously been seen in Hamlet as Bernardo/Osric there, as well as portraying Shakespeare in Something Rotten at Butterfield Stage. He would like to thank his amazing wife, Mercedes, as well as his daughter Clementine for their constant support. He would also like to thank Lake Simons and Basil Twist for this spectacular opportunity.

James White
James Rayburne White, is a bureaucrat with a love for object theatre and all forms of puppetry. This is his first show with the Hip Pocket, although he was delighted to participate in last fall's Twilight Soirée. He studied ceramics and theater at Stephen F Austin. His love for puppetry led him to design puppets as well as perform in the Second Shepherd's Play in Waco. He created parade puppets and taught a workshop with Creative Waco for a Mid-America Arts Alliance grant. Some favorite roles were Luke Bentley in The Rope, John Merrick in Elephant man, Ken De La Maize in Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, Fagan in Oliver, and Henry in the Fantasticks.

Bronwyn Wright
Bronwyn Wright is ecstatic to take part in A Twisty Intergalactic Spectacle, his first production at Hip Pocket theatre! He is a junior at Brewer High School, an active member of the school's theatre department, and has performed as Grandma in The Addams Family, and Mrs. Gloop in Willy Wonka. In addition, he acted as Stage Manager for Antigone. After high school, Bronwyn plans to attend university in Chicago to pursue a degree in English. For fun, he enjoys playing guitar, jewelry making, drawing, singing, and writing. Bronwyn would like to thank Aja Jones, his second backbone, after his own.

Basil Twist, Creator, Director, Puppetry and Scenic Design

Originally from San Francisco, Mr. Twist is a third-generation puppeteer. Since coming to New York over 25 years ago, Twist has garnered an international reputation as a designer, director and performer. His creations have a remarkable range of style and scope and he is a sought-after collaborator for theater, ballet, opera, dance and film. Basil received a degree from the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette (ESNAM) in Charleville-Mézières, France, where he was trained in set design, costume design, dramaturgy, music and acting. Basil’s original work includes "Symphonie Fantastique" (1998) which featured abstract materials in a tank of water to simulate imagery & characters to music. He contributed to the magic of Alfonso Cuarón's "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” creating the Dementors. Highlights of his original shows include “Petrushka," "Doguagaeshi",“Rite of Spring,” "Hansel & Gretel,”, "Arias with a Twist", "La Bella Dormente nel Bosco.” and “Sisters Follies”,“A Streetcar named Desire” (La Comédie Française, also co-director), and most recently the two operas “TITON et l'AURORE” Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville's Titon et l'Aurore- Basil Twist (stage director) William Christie (conductor) at The Opera Comique, Versailles & Festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie, and “The Book of Mountains and Seas” by composer Huang Ruo and designer/director Basil Twist, premiered in Copenhagen, New York, Hong Kong, Chicago, Boston,Los Angeles, Stanford and at Koorbiennale in Amsterdam. He is the puppetry designer and director for the Olivier Award's winning “My Neighbor Totoro” which is set to transfer in March 2025 to London's West-End Gillian Lynne Theatre. His past honors include an Obie, Henry Hewes and Doris Duke Performing Artist Awards, Creative Capital Award, multiple UNIMA and Bessie Awards, multiple Jim Henson Foundation awards, a Guggenheim fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship. Since 1999 he has served as Artistic director of the Dream Music Puppetry Program at HERE in New York City. basiltwist.com

Susan Austin, Costume Designer and Stage Manager

Susan recently retired from being the costume shop supervisor for TCU School of Classical and Contemporary Dance for the last ten years, designing and constructing hundreds of costumes. She has been designing costumes for hip Pocket since 2021 and is excited to be back for the 48th season. She is a Fort Worth native, growing up in the local dance/theatre community. She has also worked on costumes for Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, Bruce Wood Dance, Pegasus Contemporary Ballet, Avant Chamber Ballet, Tarrant County College NE Dance, Amphibian Stage Productions, Fort Worth Opera, Richardson High School Theatre Magnet, Gayle Corkery School of Ballet, Fort Worth Country Day Theatre Department and Ballet Department, Festival Ballet of North Texas, Taps N Tunes, Midland Ballet and individual dancers. She has performed in multiple shows at Hip Pocket Theatre, her favorite being “A Wisepecker Christmas.” She also enjoys stage managing and toured with Basil Twist's puppet production of "Petruska" along with Lake Simons, which performed with the Fort Worth Symphony and the Phoenix Symphony. She is eternally grateful for the friendship and mentorship of Diane Simons and aspires to reflect her talent in current Hip Pocket costume designs.

Grace Hays, Props and assistant puppet builder

Grace Hays is so excited to be bringing assistant puppet designs and props to the stage for the first time after spending many years acting. She has previously played Grace Ferrel in “Annie” and been in ensembles of "When We Were Very Young" and “Riders of The Purple Sage” at Hip Pocket. She loves being cast on the stage but is very excited to officially try her hand at crew work, as she dreams to one day work making puppets and props in the Creature Lab for Henson Productions.

Gianina Lambert, Stage Manager

Gianina Lambert is excited to be back for her 3rd season out at Hip Pocket! When she is not performing onstage, Gianina is a multi-faceted theater artist exploring Stage and Production Management. Most recent credits include: Wizard of Oz (Stage West Theatre), POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass is Seven Women Trying to Keep him Alive (Stage West Theatre), Seussical Jr. (Casa Manana) and The Tragedy of Carmen (Fort Worth Opera). To explore more, go to www.gianinalambert.com.

Lauren Elizabeth Moreau, Social Media Manager

Lauren Riley (Social Media Manager) has been with Hip Pocket Theatre for almost 10 years. She has a BFA in Performance from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a profound enthusiasm for theatre in all its forms. Lauren has performed on the Hip Pocket stage in roles such as Anne Craigis from Killer Shrews (2015), Angelic Being from "The Distant Echo of Ancient Youth" (2016), and Jane Withersteen from "Riders of the Purple Sage"(2023). She has been the Hip Pocket social media manager since 2022, as well as filling the occasional wardrobe and stage management position. You can see her work on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok: "@hippockettheatre". Other local credits include production manager and actor at Arts Fort Worth, "Festival of the Kid" Assistant Director at Stage West, Doxology Bible Church skit writer, and actor for Artes de la Rosa at the Rose Marine Theater. Lauren would like to thank JoAnn Gracey, Quentin McGown, and Molemo!

Joe Rogers, Music Director
A native of Fort Worth, Joe began playing piano and guitar at an early age, and earned Bachelor and Master degrees in Music Composition at the University of North Texas. He has written music and lyrics for more than 40 theatrical plays for theaters in Fort Worth and Dallas, more than 800 theater songs and more than 500 jazz compositions. He has also composed the music for several movies and radio and TV commercials. Joe was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Tarrant County Live Theater League. At Jubilee Theater he was resident composer and music director for 20 years. He performed in many Hip Pocket plays alongside Douglas Balentine, and has composed the music and/or been musical director for many plays at HPT. Theater shows he has written include The Book of Job, Alice Wonder, and Rhythm A Myth for Jubilee, and at Hip Pocket - The Mandrake (1986), The Tempest, Origins Of The Specifics, The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow, and Riders Of The Purple Sage. Joe was music director for the HPT revival of Lake Worth Monster in 2016. He was a founder of the infamous jazz fusion band Master Cylinder in the 1970’s. He has performed countless jazz and tap dance concerts at Arts 5th Avenue over the last 20 years, and has performed with world-class tap dancers like Tommy Tune, Sarah Petronio, and Ron Young. Fluent in jazz, theater, blues, rock, rap, hip-hop, gospel and other music genres, he has performed in New York, Los Angeles, Europe, and South America. Joe currently performs at various venues throughout the DFW area, including a recent concert of original compositions for jazz quartet and orchestra with the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra.

Nikki DeShea Smith- Lighting Designer and Production Manager

Nikki DeShea Smith has over 30 years of experience in the entertainment lighting  industry. She has a degree in theatre and accounting from William Woods  University. In 2001 Nikki formed DeShea Designs, LLC where she designs, sells,  installs, and consults for all types of stage and specialty lighting. She designs  shows and permanent lighting systems for churches, schools, theatres,  architectural and specialty applications. She has been a guest designer for area  theatres and groups including African American Repertory Theater, Ballet  Concerto, Contemporary Theatre of Dallas, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance,  Mountain View College Dance and Theatre, OnStage, Pocket Sandwich Theatre,  Stolen Shakespeare, TWU and a number of High Schools. She has previously  served as the resident designer for DVA Productions, Jubilee Theatre, and TCC  Northwest Dance(Mosaic Dance Project). Other productions she has designed  for include collaborations between various arts groups including artists, dance  companies, museums, productions companies, symphonies, and theatres. Nikki  currently enjoys being the resident lighting designer for Contemporary Dance  Fort Worth, Hip Pocket Theatre, and Theatre Northwest, giving her the  opportunity to create lighting for original artistic productions.