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Project Summary
This page outlines the parameters and production details of the different projects documented in my Directing Portfolio.
A nearly-fully-staged production, this "reading" saw the actors perform with scripts in hand, but other important tech elements were in place. Stomping Grounds Arthouse produced this very staged reading as part of its 2023 season and playwright Emily Yuko Walborn flew into Portland to see the production.
Director: Chelsea Curto
Stage Manager: Clem Dorsey
Technical Director: Kyle Perren
Madison: Monica Dailey
Gwen: Jayna Sweet
Claire: Zoe Flach
Stacey: Jurnee Neeko
Produced by LineStorm Playwrights as part of the 2024 Fertile Ground Festival, this staged reading of Act I of the new musical Cessair by Holly Richards and Lolly Ward was a sold out one-day-only engagement at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon.
Director: Chelsea Curto
Music Director/Accompanist: Holly Richards
Cessair: Katie Cooper
Fire: Maddie Tran
Blood: Becca Baugh
Night: Mary McCarty
Eva: Jayna Sweet
Fintan: Sam Gordon
Ladra/Dagda: Rae Davis
Noah/Manaan: Jeff Donaldson-Forbes
Birren: Evelyn Jane Wohlbier
A fully supported mainstage production at Baylor University of the play originally devised by Sally Cookson, Adam Peck and the Old Vic Company, conceived from the novel by Patrick Ness based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd. My direction was inspired by biological neural networks. This project was completed in twelve weeks and is accompanied by a 200 page thesis paper.
For full credits, please refer to the A Monster Calls program.
Director: Chelsea Curto
Directing Mentor: Steven Pounders
Stage Manager: Hannah Early
Scenic Design, Costume Design & Artistic Mental Health Practitioner (AMHP): Sarah Mosher
Fight Director: Brandon Sterrett
Intimacy Choreographer: Chelsea Curto
Choreographer: Maddie Cendrick
Lighting Designer: Emma Smith
Sound Designer: Brian Do
Props Supervisor: Shelby Adams
Projection Designer: Lindsey Hartgroves
Technical Director & Lead Rigger: Jordan Rousseau
Scenic Charge Artist: Izzy Poehlmann
“Please Give Me” Composer: Chelsea Curto
“Please Give Me” Composition Mentor & Accompanist: Guilherme Feitosa de Almeida
Produced by Broadway Rose Theatre Company as part of the 2023 Season of Fresh Possibilities, Chelsea assisted director/choreographer Dan Murphy to stage the original musical. For full credits, please refer to the Broadway Rose Theatre Company website.
Director/Choreographer: Dan Murphy
Assistant Director: Chelsea Curto
Music Director: Wendy Vece
Scenic Designer: Bryan Boyd
Costume Designer: Allie Schluchter-Cox
Lighting Designer: Phil McBeth
Sound Designer: Brian Karl Moen
Prop Designer: Sam Manilla
Stage Manager: Jessica Junor
Chelsea assisted director Jerry MacLauchlin and creator/designer Michael Sullivan to stage the May 2022 production of Leonardo and the Flying Machine for the Young Festival Stage. Chelsea directed and produced the voiceovers used in the puppet portions of the joint human actor/marionette production.
For full credits, please refer to the Young Festival Stage website.
Director: Jerry MacLauchlin
Creator/Designer: Michael Sullivan
Assistant Director: Chelsea Curto
Stage Manager: Amanda Slamcik Lassetter
Costume Designer: Lloyd Cracknell
Projections Designer: Ryan Swift Joyner
Lighting Designer: JoJo Jones
A summer series mainstage production at Baylor University of Eleanor Wong's Singaporean play about a queer lawyer and her spouse that is dying of cancer. This project was completed in six weeks with a $1000 budget.
For full credits, please refer to the Wills & Secession program.
Director: Chelsea Curto
Stage Manager: Madelyn Fritz
Lighting Design: Chelsea Curto
Sound Design: Chelsea Curto
Costume Design: Chelsea Curto
Intimacy Choreographer: Chelsea Curto
Intimacy Mentor: Felicia Bertch
Dramaturg: Suzi Elnaggar
Front of House: Cassie Nordgren
A full-length Workshop production of Bertolt Brecht's lehrstück at Baylor University. The full program was 20 minutes long and costume shop support was provided by the university. Stage management and monetary support were not provided.
Director: Chelsea Curto
Scenic & Costume Design: Chelsea Curto
Lighting Design: Willow Keith
CAST
Boy: Meredith Villarreal
Teacher: Lauren Meece
Mother: Hannah Abraham
Pupils: Macie Davis, Sonny Mauldin, Maddie Smith
Ensemble: Caleb Speights, Logan Allen, Riley Taff
A Workshop production of a single scene from Tennessee Williams' modern classic directed in a traditional style at Baylor University. There was no monetary support for this project and costumes, props, and set pieces were pulled or crafted from available stock.
Director: Chelsea Curto
Stage Manager: Zane Arterburn
Lighting Designer: Winston Ross
Scenic & Costume Design: Chelsea Curto
Rigger: Chelsea Curto
CAST
Margaret: Asia Richards
Brick: Joseph Tully
A full-length Workshop production co-directed with three members of the MFA in Directing cohort at Baylor University. Each director took on 1/4 of the full musical with a different cast. Chelsea directed Act II, Part 1 and their cast featured all women in a genderqueered approach to the musical.
There was no stage management, costume shop, or monetary support for this project.
Director: Chelsea Curto
Music Director: Cat Richard
Lighting Designer: Willow Keith
Accompanist: Guilherme Feitosa de Almeida
Scenic, Costume, Projection and Sound Design: 2023-2024 MFA in Directing Cohort (Chelsea Curto, Cassie Nordgren, Marian Barshinger, Lucas Skjaret)
CAST
Calvin: Cat Richard
Matt: Stella Pozzuoli
Rosana: Melia Messer
Bret: Kennedy Boehning
A Workshop production of Act III from Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, translated by Carol Rocamora. In this recontextualization, it is 1978 and Renevskaya waits in the lounge of her Studio 54-inspired nightclub, The Cherry Orchard, to find out whether the beloved institution will remain in her family or be sold to self-made broker Lopakhin.
There was no monetary support for this project; costumes, props, and set pieces were pulled from available stock.
Director: Chelsea Curto
Stage Manager: Sarah Grace Seggerman
Lighting Designer: Brian Do
Sound, Costume, and Scenic Design: Chelsea Curto
Board Ops: Aaliyah Carter & Mack Wright
CAST
Madame Lyubov Andreevna Ranevskaya: Lauryn Bedford
Petya Trofimov: Megan Turpin
Boris Borisovich Simeonov-Pishchik: Sonny Mauldin
Charlotta Ivanovna: Emily Barnett
Anya: Kennedy Boehning
Varya: Katie Lester
Yermolai Alexeievitch Lopakhin: Griffin Quinn
This piece was an unscripted, devised work inspired by a piece of art by Senga Nengudi with the same title. The piece included five movements, each inspired the parts of a one night stand.
There was no stage management or monetary support for this project. Cotumes, props, and set pieces were pulled from avaialble stock or provided by the director.
Director/Deviser: Chelsea Curto & the Company
Sound Design: Chelsea Curto
CAST:
Emilia Getzinger
Kayla Jou
Khayla Maywhether
Melia Messer
Krishna Nair
Abigail Rondey
Joseph Sherer
Elizabeth Walker
A Baylor Theatre Workshop scene of Act I Scene IV of Shakespeare's history, where two murderers attack Clarence in his cell.
There was no stage management, costume, or monetary support for this project.
Director: Chelsea Curto
Fight Director: Shane Cearnal
Lighting Design: Lindsey Hartgroves
CAST
Clarence: Cat Richard
Brakenbury: Isaac Sutton
First Murderer: Lauren Meece
Second Murderer: Addie Ross
A Baylor Theatre Workshop scene of Moliere's short farce about a case of mistaken identity. Drawing inspiration from commedia dell'Arte, TikTok, and the work of Ranjit Bolt, this high-energy scene featuring student actors explored the relationship between perception and reality.
There was no stage management, costume, or monetary support for this project.
Director: Chelsea Curto
Projection, Sound Designer and Rigger: Chelsea Curto
Lighting Designer: Nathan Perez
CAST
Sganarelle: Basti Allman
Wife: Liz Honigmann
Celie: Sophie Dryden
Lelie: Krishna Nair
Zombie Prom
This was one of the most ambitious projects we undertook at KISJ Theatre. The costumes, makeup, scenic elements, lighting, props and sound were entirely executed by students. Nearly twenty students worked on the promotions team, advertising the show to the greater Jeju community, and the live music was directed by the KISJ Band Director and performed by High School Students.
