Steve Bailey is the education director and a founder of Jump-Start Performance Co. He was the founder and director of 24th Street Experiment Theater Company, research coordinator for Theater Communications Group, and artist-in-residence with Teatro del Sol in Lima, Peru. Over the past thirty years, Steve Bailey has created and/or directed over fifty original productions that have been presented in the U.S. and Latin America. He is also an arts educator who has worked with numerous youth and adult groups in a variety of community settings.
Kim Corbin has gotten over her childhood dream of being a movie star, and she owes it all to having been a founding Jump-Start company member for the last 21 years.
Many of her urges have been satisfied at Jump-Start – why, just imagine – acting, costuming, event-planning, bossing people around without authority, irritating them by being late for absolutely everything, etc. Admittedly she does all these things elsewhere too, but she love-love-loves her Jump-Start family best.
Sandy Dunn is a founding member of Jump-Start. Before that, she performed with DanceArt/SA, Urban-15 and 24th Street Theater. Sandy has performed in, choreographed and developed many works at Jump-Start including Macbeth in Flames, Near This Town, Visions & Voices, Illusions, Epcot El Alamall and The Watermark Project, to name just a few. Her dance background developed at Ohio State University Dance Dept. (BFA). Her claim to fame is that she is on a poster from 1979, performing in the same event with Maya Angelou and Laurie Anderson. Sandy faithfully commutes from Austin frequently to attend rehearsals, performances and meetings.
“Jump-Start is like a big playground with lots of great playmates…”
Monessa Maria Esquivel was born in Harlingen TX and raised in San Antonio TX. She attended Palo Alto College and Texas Tech University, studying theater. Monessa has been a company member with Jump-Start since 2002, acting in original works such as Otherwise Occupied, by Dianne Monroe, Something Else, Watermark 1.5, and Epcot El Alamall, a collaboration with Guillermo Gomez-Péna. and her collaboration with Annele Spector, As Filthy As it Gets. Esquivel is also an active member of Jump-Start’s Arts-Education initiative, teaching in after-school programs as well as projects with special populations.
Kevin Evans joined Jump-Start Performance Co. in the early 1990’s. Kevin is an actor and singer, specializing in jazz, Broadway and gospel. He has appeared in numerous original Jump-Start productions and special events, including On the Pulse of Morning with Maya Angelou, and Sterling Houston’s plays Isis in Nubia, Santo Negro, Cameoland and Cabaret de Caramelo. He has also been seen in other theatre productions around town, as well as performing at local restaurants like Luigi’s and Dolores Del Rio.
Dino Foxx is a Xicano, actor, singer, dancer, writer, spoken word poet and activist. He is a co-creator of the Tragic Bitches theatrical poetry project which has performed at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkley, The Village in Hollywood, MACLA in San Jose and The historic Victory Grill in Austin, Tejas. Dino is one of Jump-Start’s newest company members, and has performed and written for such Jump-Start performances as Finding Love in Wartime (2008) Jump-Start: The remiXX (2006) Epcot El Alamo created with Guillermo Gomez-Pena (2004), Calor de Amor: The Temperatures of Love directed by Raquel Araujo for the Festival de Libre Enganche (2003). Dino is also the creator of Memoirs of a Jota – Part I (2008).
Felice Garcia’s roots stem from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She studied theater arts at the University of New Mexico and had the distinct pleasure of performing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. After graduating she moved to San Antonio and began her career at The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. She started as Assistant Theater Manager for the newly renovated historical Guadalupe Theater. Within a year she became Technical Director, and then went on to become Theater Manager. In 1992 Felice was cast in Sterling Houston’s “High Yello’ Rose,” hence began her love affair with Jump-Start. In 1995 she became Technical Director for Jump-Start and a short time later a company member. While at Jump-Start she has designed lights for several productions while performing in a few others. She also does set and lighting designs for Palo Alto Collage, Our Lady of The Lake University, Burras Finas Productions, and other individuals performance artists in south Texas. Although her heart will always be in design work, and she continues to enjoy acting, she will be doing more directing in the near future.
Sterling Houston (1945 – 2006)(Writer/Composer) worked in professional theater for more than forty years as a performer, playwright, composer and arts administrator. He wrote 30 produced plays since 1989. His plays are known for their biting social commentary, burlesque humor, and intensive musical ideas. His first novel, Le Griffon, was published by Pecan Grove Press in 2000. His most recent book, an anthology entitled Myth Magic and Farce, was published in 2006 by NTS BOOKS, an imprint of Texas A&M Press. Mr. Houston joined Jump-Start Performance Co. in 1988 and served as Artistic Director for several years.
Dianne Monroe is a writer, photographer and arts educator. Her writing credits include plays, fiction, literary non-fiction, journalism and feature writing. Her literary work often involves the excavation of hidden, silenced or forgotten stories. The San Antonio Express-News named Dianne’s most recent play, Otherwise Occupied, one of the best plays of 2005. This work, built out of interviews with women living in occupied Palestine, will return to Jump-Start, in a revised and updated form, in March of 2007. It will then be available for tour. Check out her website here.
Billy Muñoz is a performer/artist/educator from the Southside. As a graduate from Harlandale High and then as a student from Palo Alto College, he has been involved in theatre for 11 years. Billy joined the staff as an apprentice at Jump-Start Performance Co. in 2002 and has since become Asst. Technical Director, a company member, and part of the education staff. His performance work includes Calor de Amor, Trippin’ to Momma’s, and The Living Graves. Also in that time, he has been very involved in the technical aspects of theatre. Billy has run boards many shows, and designed lights for Disconnected Dreams, On The Island, and Watermark 1.5. In the future, he hopes to complete his graphic novel and have an original show presented at Jump-Start.
Max Parrilla graduated from Incarnate Word College in 1986 with a Bachelors Degree in Technical Theater. He has been Technical Director of San Antonio Opera, San Pedro Playhouse, Jump-Start Performance Co., The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, The Urban-15 Group, The Magik Children’s Theatre, The Sol/Sun Experimental Theater Company and Palo Alto College. He has directed Latino Odyssey, Latin’s Anonymous, La Pastorela, Pocho/a, La Frontera, Poet’s Pyre. He was the Production Manager/Technical Director of Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit, Urban-15, Ruby Nelda Perez, Tim Walsh, The Guadalupe Dance Company and George Cisneros. He has designed lights for almost every theatre company in San Antonio and the Paramount Theater in Austin.
Theatre artist, educator and graphic artist Robert Rehm has been a Jump-Start company member since 1990. He has designed numerous J-S productions including Sterling Houston’s La Frontera, Isis in Nubia, Womandingo, and High Yello’ Rose. In 1996, he was the recipient of SATCO’s Globe Award for Best Set Design. In that same year, Rehm began teaching theatre at Thomas Jefferson Fine Arts Magnet Academy where he directed over 40 productions. He taught at Jefferson until the spring of 2005 when a fall from the stage rendered him paralyzed from the neck down. Despite this misfortune, Rehm remains very active in the arts today, painting with his mouth and designing on computer. In June of 2006, he directed and designed for Jump-Start’s production of Chuck Squier’s Trippin’ to Momma’s.
S.T. Shimi joined the Company in 1996 and is currently Artistic Director for Company Programming She is a writer, dancer and performer specializing in solo work. Her most recent works and collaborations include Southern Discomfort (2001), Something Else (2005), On the Island (2006) and Watermark 1.5 (2006). Her movement skills include belly dance and aerial. She is an artist-educator with over ten years of experience in socially conscious, multi-disciplinary community projects with youth and adults. S.T. Shimi received a B.A. in Theater and Women’s Studies from Dartmouth College and currently serves on the Executive Committee of Alternate ROOTS. Check out her website here.
Annele Spector has been a company member of Jump-Start since 2000 and has performed in Katherine’s Joint, Illusions, Epcot el Alamall and These Women. She is the creator of the Young Tongues Performance Festival and co-creator of the infamous Methane Sisters in As Filthy As it Gets. Annele loves to do sound design and has been known to fire dance on special occasions. She is an instructor for six sites within the Jump-Start pantheon of arts education. Annele has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from The University of Texas at San Antonio and an Associate degree in Radio-TV-Film from San Antonio College.
Chuck Squier is a founding member of Jump-Start Performance Co. He has performed and collaborated on many different Jump-Start shows over the past twenty years, including Bloodletting, Illusions, Something Else, El Calor de Amor and Epcot el Alamall. He has also stage -managed and directed several shows. His first play Trippin’ To Momma’s premiered on the Jump-Start stage in 2006. Chuck is also an active board member of Celebration Circle, an open and inclusive interfaith community based in San Antonio. He teaches speech at Palo Alto College.
Lisa Suarez, a Communication Arts graduate of Incarnate Word College (San Antonio, TX), has been with Jump-Start Performance Co. since 1994 and currently serves as Artistic Director for Guest Artists Programming. Suarez is a multi-disciplinary performing artist with more than 15 years of acclaimed experience. Her credits include Josephina Lopez’s Real Women Have Curves, Sandra Cisneros’ House on Mango Street, Joe Menjares’s Minnecanos, Sterling Houston’s High Yello’ Rose, Alicia Mena’s Las Nuevas Tamaleras and John Sayles’ film Lonestar. Suarez has also collaborated with various artists including Raquel Araujo /Teatro La Rendija, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, and madmedia. Suarez is also an experienced arts educator and has created many performances with youth and special interest populations.
Michael Verdi: I could put a bunch of stuff here about who I think I am but it’s probably easier for you to just watch some of my videos. If you’re interested, I suggest starting here.
I think it’ll give you a pretty good idea of who you’re dealing with. If that doesn’t satisfy your curosity, take a look at some of the projects I’m involved in:
Freevlog
Secrets Of Videoblogging
NODE101
Alive In Baghdad
When We Were Robots
K. Kitty A. Williams studied dance, speech and theatre at St. Philips College and Trinity University. She is has been a company member of Jump-Start since the early 1990’s. Kitty has performed in multiple company works and with Jump-Start’s touring group in Sterling Houston’s Santo Negro and La Frontera. Kitty is a co-author of The Great Chitlin’ Debate and Katherine’s Joint, along with Paul Bonin-Rodriguez. She has won numerous awards, most recently the 2005 Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. Kitty is also a member of Storytellers 3 + 1.