Spotlight on ON THE MANGLED BEAM

Written by Dawn Jamieson (Cayuga)

Directed by Stephen Metcalfe

Dramaturgy by Julie Jensen

@ La Jolla Playhouse on Sunday, June 6 from 4p - 6p

@ Autry National Center on Sunday, June 27 from 4p - 6p

Before and beyond the building of the World Trade Center, the contributions Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) ironworkers made to the building and rebuilding of New York City is legendary. This is the story of the heroic efforts they made in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. Staged reading.

About the Playwright

Dawn Jamieson (Cayuga) is an educator, actor and playwright. Acting credits: Broadway shows Inherit the Wind (George C. Scott, Charles Durning) and The Price (Eli Wallach, Hector Elizondo). Film credits: The Reawakening (Michael Greyeyes, Gordon Tootoosis) and Ivory (Martin Landau, Peter Stormare). Plays written: Silent Quest (a drama about the hunt for a sexually abusive priest) and The Escape of the Potted Plant (a comedic adventure about an FBI undercover operation). BA: Psychology, Michigan State University. MA: Education, Columbia University. Proud member of American Indian Artists, Inc. (AMERINDA), Times Square Playwrights. AEA/ SAG/ AFTRA

About the Director

Stephen Metcalfe's stage plays include Loves & Hours, Vikings, Strange Snow, Sorrows and Sons, Pilgrims, Half a Lifetime, Emily, White Linen, The Incredibly Famous Willy Rivers, White Man Dancing, A World of Their Own, and The Gift Teller. He's been produced in New York and at regional theaters through the United States as well as in Europe and Japan. A new play, The Commons, will have its premier at San Diego's Cygnet Theatre this coming year. Screen credits include Half a Lifetime, Cousins, Jacknife, Roommates, and Beautiful Joe. He was a contributing writer on Pretty Woman, Arachnophobia, It Could Happen To You, and Mr. Holland's Opus. He's been a guest teacher in dramatic writing at University of California at San Diego, University of San Diego and San Diego State University.

About the Dramaturg

Julie Jensen is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Award for New American Plays for White Money, the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work for The Lost Vegas Series, and the LA Weekly Award for Best New Play for Two-Headed. She's received the McKnight National Playwriting Fellowship for Wait!, the TCG/NEA Playwriting Residency for Wait!, a major grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts for Dust Eaters, and the Edgerton Foundation Grant for Billion Dollar Baby. Her work has been produced in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as in New York and theatres nationwide. She's received numerous commissions and her work is published by Dramatic Publishing, Dramatists Play Service, and Playscripts, Inc. Her book Playwriting: Brief and Brilliant has just been published by Smith and Kraus. Her play She Was My Brother just finished a successful run at Borderlands Theatre and it will be produced by Plan-B Theatre next fall. She's currently the Resident Playwright at Salt Lake Acting Company.

Playing Greg Linden

Scott Andrew Amiotte (Omaha) is the founder and Executive Director of Triad Productions. Theatre credits in San Diego: Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Danny), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Satan), The Glory of Living (Clint), Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (Edward), Corpus Christi (James the Less), Troilus and Cressida (Hector/Diomedies), My Three Angles (Alfred), The Skulls Eye (Cpt Dreadbeard), Pirates of Point Loma (Cpt. Arbaez). Tours: Macbeth (Macduff), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Oberon). Film: The Laundromat (Armando), Streets (Ace), The Badlands (Ahsik), Derek (Branco) The American Dream (Latin Fever Rodriguez). Commercials: Table Mountain Casino (Adventure Mike). Voice Overs: Shawl Dancer (Arena Director), Treasure Falls & Splashbattle (Cpt Dreadbeard). Director: Red Light Winter, Diviners. Fight Choreography: The Lonesome West, Troilus and Cressida, MacBeth, Pirates of Point Loma, Skulls Eye.

Playing Becky Davis

Elena Finney (Mescalero Apache) has performed with several multi-ethnic theater companies and was awarded a 2006 "First Americans in the Arts" award for her outstanding performance as Teresa in the Native Voices production Kino and Teresa. She was also featured in the London debut of Diane Glancy's Salvage. Well versed in comedy, she has performed at the Second City and The Upright Citizen's Brigade in Los Angeles. She can also be heard as the voices of several characters in comedian Mike Hollingsworth's animated short films. TV credits include: Love Inc., Charmed, Mind of Mencia, Medical Investigation, and Popular. Film credits include: PowWow Dreams and Cantina. She developed her craft while earning her degree at UCLA's School of Theater, Film and TV. Represented by Tom Parziale, Visionary Talent Management. SAG/ AFTRA/ AEA

Playing Brad Martin

Gregory Zaragoza (Pima) most recently portrayed the leading role of Native Sheriff Gil Lujan in the movie Jordan. He was the Croupier in the final season of The Sopranos, the Abenaki Chief in The Last of the Mohicans, and Tanaghrisson in The War That Made America. He's been in many commercials and television shows including Law & Order, The Jury, North & South, and Grace and Glorie. On Broadway, he was Chief Sitting Bull in Annie Get Your Gun alongside Bernadette Peters and the Apparition in Macbeth alongside Christopher Plummer. A licensed lawyer in New York and California, he is the proud father of three talented children and is incredibly thankful to his wife Shiuga for her decades of support. He is most appreciative of Randy and Jean for their work and continued commitment with Native Voices.

Playing Dave Martin

Jason Grasl (Blackfeet) is a veteran of stage, film and commercial. His Native Voices acting credits include Teaching Disco Square Dancing to Our Elders and The Further Adventures of Super Indian, as well as an assistant director credit for Salvage. Other stage credits include The Blame of Love (which he also co-wrote), From Little Seeds, Be the Hunter, Boomtown 1925, Tony n Tina’s Wedding, and Smell of the Kill. Film credits include Fantasy Football: The Movie, The Seminarian, April’s Fools, and Banking. He voiced eight different characters, including the lead, in the Barcid Foundation stop-animation piece Crazy Ind’n: The Sequel. This spring he wrapped production for the soon to be released webseries End Result. Represented theatrically by Storm Talent. SAG/ AFTRA

Playing Jess Sharp

Zahn McClarnon (Hunkpapa Lakota) was raised in Montana, Wyoming, and Nebraska and has been acting for over eighteen years. He's guest starred on multiple TV shows including Saving Grace, Life, The Shield, and NYPD Blue. He's also had the pleasure of a starring role in Spielberg's Into The West and has worked with award-winning directors John Irving, Bruce Beresford, Alex Cox, and Chris Eyre. He recently concluded a run of So Far From Scioto, wrapped the film Blood Line, and will begin filming I'm in Love with a Church Girl next month.

Playing the clerk and additional characters

Adam Parker graduated from San Diego State University with a BA in Theatre Arts with Special Distinction. He is the Artistic Director and a founder of Triad Productions. Directing credits: Shopping & Fucking (San Diego Premiere 2009), The Lonesome West (2009), Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (2008), Kindertransport (2005), A Stye of the Eye (2005), Stop Kiss (2004), Lysistrata (2004). Acting credits: Debut (Native Voices);  Troilus & Cressida (Compass Theatre); Macbeth (XMO Shakespeare); A Midsummer Nights Dream (Poor Players); Sideman, Othello, The Waiting Room, The Boundary (SDSU).

This team is completed by Stage Manager Pamela Sevilla who also serves as Native Voices Literary Associate and this year's Retreat and Festival Assistant.

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