Pesha Rudnick, Founding Artistic Director
Local Lab
Misha S. Zimmerman
Executive Director
She/Her
misha@localtheaterco.org
Misha S. Zimmerman has worked with Local since 2017 in various roles before becoming the Executive Director. She previously served as Executive Producer, Associate Producer, and Resident Stage Manager. In addition to her work at Local she is currently an Adjunct Professor at Fort Lewis College teaching Stage Managment and stage manages for other Colorado companies.
Misha's stage management credits with Local include Discount Ghost Stories: Songs from the Rockies, Paper Cut, Wisdom from Everything and Pop the Holidays as well as numerous Local Lab play readings. Other stage management credits include staged readings at Durango PlayFest, The Secretary (Curious Theatre Company), After the End (The Catamounts), The Year of Magical Thinking (The Aurora Fox), Sisters in Law (Theater Or), The Headliners (Cherry Creek Theatre), Florencia en el Amazonas (Opera Steamboat) and The Enchanted Pig (Opera Steamboat). Misha holds a BA in Theater and Literature from the University of Colorado and participated in the Semester at Sea study abroad program. She enjoys curling, skiing, going to concerts, and spending time with her family.
Nick Chase
Co-Artistic Director, Production & Education
He/Him
nick@localtheaterco.org
Nick Chase is a writer/director who began his career staging productions at a number of celebrated downtown New York venues including The Ohio, Galapagos, Mo Pitkins, Fez, The Upright Citizens Brigade and The Public Theater/Joe’s Pub where his critically-acclaimed theatrical series SHELLS ran for 3 years. SHELLS was subsequently presented in Los Angeles (Show at Barre) and on Virgin Voyages.
Additional selected credits:
Burtka, David (book, dir. Neil Patrick Harris, 54 Below, NYC)
Becky and Her Lung Transplant (director, Durango PlayFest; playwrights William Missouri Downs and Lucy Wright)
Drake (screenplay, dir. Chiemi Karasawa)
Blue (screenplay, producer Karen Tenkhoff)
With Local:
Pop the Holidays (writer/director)
We the People: The Democracy Cycle (co-director)
Stockade (director, Local Lab 13 workshop; playwright Andrew Rosendorf with Carlyn Aquiline)
237 Virginia Avenue (co-director, world premiere; playwright David Myers)
Bats#!t (director, Local Lab 14 workshop; playwright Steven J. Burge)
Local Listens: Queer Lineage (director, Works-in-Progress Celebration)
Nick is proud to serve Local in collaboration with small and fierce team responsible for the discovery, development, and production of 70+ new plays.
Betty Hart
Co-Artistic Director, New Plays & Community Engagement
She/Her
Betty Hart is an actor, director, and facilitator who moved from Atlanta to Denver in fall of 2013. Betty has acted in Local Lab, and has facilitated audience conversations and salons for Local Theater Company since 2015. In 2020, Betty directed Josh Kroenig’s Vroom Vroom for Local Lab, which audiences never saw due to the theatre wide shut down. In Spring of 2022, Betty directed You Enjoy Myself and co-directed Local Lab 11, Local Theater Company’s new play festival alongside Nick Chase. In the summer of 2022, Betty became one of the Co-Artistic Directors of Local Theater Company. She helmed the exciting Local Lab 12 in 2023.
Recent directing credits include the world premieres of Mountain Octopus and the online production of To The Moon by Beth Kander for Creede Repertory Theatre. Betty assistant directed the world premiere of co-creators David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar’s Theater of the Mind in collaboration with and co-produced by the Denver Center’s Off-Center.
Additional credits include Blackademics (Vintage Theatre), Once on this Island (Town Hall Arts Center), By the way, Meet Vera Stark (Fine Arts Center at Colorado College), Polaroid Stories (Metropolitan State University), and the one person play, An Iliad (Creede Repertory Theatre), an original devised theatrical film for the University of Northern Colorado called 2020 Speaks, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (DCPA Cabaret & Vintage Theatre); The Scottsboro Boys and Crowns (Vintage Theatre); Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies (Aurora Fox); The Darker Face of the Earth; Evelyn in Purgatory; A Thousand Circlets; Jim Crow and the Rhythm Darlings (Essential Theatre).
Recognition: 2022 Henry Award nominee for outstanding direction of a musical (Once on this Island), 2018 & 2021 True West Award winner and 2021 BroadwayWorld Denver Award for Best direction of a stream for Creede Repertory’s online production of Beth Kander’s To the Moon.
In November of 2020, Betty gave a Ted Talk on compassion culture instead of cancel culture. You can view the talk here: go.ted.com/bettyhart
Levi Franklin
Production Manager
He/They
levi@localtheaterco.org
Levi Franklin will be a graduate in May of 2023 from MSU Denver with a double major in Theatre and Sociology. His studies have focused on directorial, arts administration, devised theatre, and arts advocate work; he is currently the Associate Producer here at Local Theater Company and a teacher and director at the Actor’s Academy for the Performing Arts. His recent credits include Assistant Director at MSU Denver for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Teacher, and Director for three devised pieces with the Actor’s Academy for the Performing Arts focusing on Memory, Heaven’s Gate, and the Russian Revolution. Levi is passionate about fostering a collaborative, supportive, and growth-oriented community through theatre making with all members of the art form, including the audience, production team, and performers. Levi enjoys dismantling systems in order to create a more inclusive, diverse, equitable, and inspirational world. He has accomplished starting this never ending process by starting MSU Denver’s FOUND Theatre, and by creating programs for students at MSU Denver to get certified in Stage Combat at no expense to the students. They are excited to immerse themselves into more work at Local as a soon to be college graduate.
Shayla Riggle
Education & Outreach Coordinator
She/Her
Shayla@localtheaterco.org
Shayla Riggle has experienced 30 years of success in the entertainment industry both in front of the camera, and behind it. She also has a background in Non-Profit Development and Business Management. Shayla started on Network television working for BET, Universal NBC, Oxygen, UPN, and the CW. She is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts where she trained in classical theater and writing. When she graduated, she performed classical theater internationally. She saw a lack of diversity in the classical space. So, she started her production company ShayTime Features to produce content with a classical feel for actors of color. Her first works, Gods of Empires is an action adventure Afrofuturistic sci-fi fantasy rooted in ancient Africa history. Gods of Empires is complete with graphic novels, plays, films, and a series. Shayla has dedicated 26 years of study and research to create the Gods of Empires universe. In 2022 Shayla expanded the universe by creating a futuristic sci-fi fantasy called REYVN 6 and a western fantasy film called, “Dragon in the West." In the interim of developing these high concepts, Shayla has produced and written on several scripts including an action thriller that was shot in Australia entitled, “Trimester.” Her versatility as writer was cemented when she and her cowriter won best comedy script in the 2023 California Women’s Film Festival, and the 2023 Marina del Rey Film Festival. Shayla is currently developing a coming of age drama entitled, “Leavening,” with award winning and critically acclaimed, Schitts Creek Director and Producer, Jerry Ciccoritti. Despite Shayla’s talents creatively, she was determined to conquer the business side of entertainment. While honing her craft as a writer and actor, Shayla interned and became a full-time sales and acquisitions agent for Echelon Studios. After her time with Echelon, She started a distribution company called The Hudson Sterling Firm where they sold 6000 films in 80 countries, managed a ROKU channel called GENRE TV, and raised over $7 million in financing for independent artists. Arts advocacy is another area that Shayla is passionate about. She started a 501(c)3 or organization in 2021 called Riggle Me That Production. Through the organization Shayla has run several classical theater programs in elementary and middle schools throughout the Denver metro area. The organization has assisted with producing a podcast for the Center for African American Health called, “Pearls of Wellness.” Shayla considers herself a tech head and gamer. So, to combine her love of the arts and tech, Shayla has partnered with a lifelong friend to start Tenth Wonder Studios. The company focuses on immersive technology and exhibitions. Shayla has always known what her purpose is, and it is to inspire the world with her art and help others do the same. Her life and accomplishments continue to be aligned with that purpose.
Kate Roselle
Grant Manager
She/They
kate@localtheaterco.org
Kate Roselle is the Grant Manager at Local Theater Company. In addition to a career in non-profit and arts leadership, she is a theatre-maker and educator. Select previous directing credits across the front range include work at Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (The Few, Silent Sky), University of Denver (Savage in Limbo), Denver School of the Arts (Juicy and Delicious), Edge Theatre (Exit Strategies World Premier), Curious Theatre Company (The Whipping Man), and Kaiser Permanente where she wrote and directed the touring production, 5210 Main Street. She was the co-producer of the Colorado Creative Careers Festival in 2019, produced After Orlando and the Women's Voices Summit as a company member at Benchmark Theatre. Kate previously served as Associate Artistic Director at Curious Theatre Company, Manager of Youth Workforce Development at Goodwill Denver, Director of Strategic Imperatives at Fund for the Arts (Louisville, KY) and General Manager at StageOne Family Theatre (Louisville, KY). Kate graduated summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis with a BA in theatre.
Jordan Lichtenheld
Resident Dramaturg/Copy Editor
She/Her
jordan@localtheaterco.org
Jordan is a dramaturg, director, and actor currently based in North Carolina. She is a Colorado native who graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature, as well as two Minor degrees in Business and Theatre. Since graduating, Jordan has directed (Forever, 2021; Nine Lives, 2021), dramaturged (Mlima’s Tale, 2023), and acted (The Cherry Orchard, 2023) at Burning Coal Theater Company in Raleigh, North Carolina. Additionally, she is a member of the Board of Directors for Burning Coal Theater Company. In addition to being part of Local’s staff, Jordan is also an Associate Artist with Local. Before being brought onto Local’s staff in the fall of 2020, Jordan had previously interned with Local as an artistic researcher. Jordan has undertaken the role of dramaturg over much of her time in college and beyond, working primarily with scripts or on staged readings and productions of new plays. Jordan is passionate about working with emerging playwrights and invigorating new works of theater and aligns deeply with Local’s mission to bring original works of exceptional quality that spark camaraderie, learning, and contemplation to audiences.
