The Company
Pillsbury House Theatre Key Staff
Faye Price, Co-Artistic Producing Director
Faye has served as the co-producer of PHT mainstage productions since 2000. As an actress, she most recently appeared in the PHT productions of The Story, Bel Canto, Boesman and Lena and [sic] and served as co-director of the PHT production of Mr. Bundy. From 1995 through 1999, she served as dramaturg for the Guthrie Theater working on over a dozen productions including Crowns directed by Tim Bond, Summer and Smoke directed by David Esbjornson, The Magic Fire directed by Libby Appel, and Thunder Knocking on the Door, directed by Marion McClinton. As an actor, Faye has worked extensively at the Guthrie Theater, Penumbra, Mixed Blood Theater, and Illusion Theater. Nationally, some of the many stages on which Faye has appeared include: Circle in the Square in NYC, Center Stage in Baltimore, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Faye is an alumnus of the Salzburg Seminar. She has also served as a panelist for the McKnight Fellowships for Theater Artists and as a literary reviewer for the NEA/TCG Theater Residency Program for Playwrights in 1997. Awarded the August Wilson Fellowship to study Dramaturgy and Literary Criticism, Faye received her graduate degree from the University of Minnesota.
Noël Raymond, Co-Artistic Managing Director
Noël has helped make theatre for over 13 years. She holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota and a BFA from Ithaca College in New York. Noël currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Multicultural Development Center and the Burning House Group Theatre Company which she co-founded in 1993. She is also a company member of Carlyle Brown and Company. She has taught acting classes and theatre movement in multiple settings to children, college students and adults with developmental disabilities. She is an Equity actor who has performed with Pillsbury House Theatre, the Burning House Group, the Guthrie Theater, Penumbra Theatre, Bryant Lake Bowl, and Minnesota Festival Theatres in Minnesota as well as the Hangar Theatre in New York. Noël’s directing credits include Underneath the Lintel, An Almost Holy Picture, Far Away, Angels in America: Parts I and II, and [sic] at Pillsbury House Theatre, From Shadows to Light at Theatre Mu, The BI Show with MaMa mOsAiC, and multiple staged readings and workshops through the Playwrights’ Center, among others. Noël has served on numerous panels including TCG/American Theatre, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Playwright’s Center and United Arts to name a few.
Heidi Hunter Batz, Director of Community Programs
Heidi received her professional actor training from the National Theatre Conservatory and Saratoga International Theatre Institute (SITI) and has found her artistic role in creating collaborative community based work. In her eleven year history with Pillsbury House Theatre, she has shepherded a host of twin cities actors through the creation of over 100 original shows including Where I’m At—voices of Minneapolis urban and surburban youth around teen identity issues; Black Like Me –being African-American and Male in America; BaadBaado—a bilingual play around affordable housing issues in the Somali community; Heart to Heart—racial and cultural disparities in the healthcare system; El Ritmo Central—teens and gang violence; and Be the Bridge—youth leadership in an intergenerational experience of recovering from natural disaster. As a teaching artist Heidi has worked with students in public, private and charter schools as well as community programs to develop self awareness and expression through creative movement, writing, improvisational theatre skills, and an understanding of cultural identity. She is a recognized leader in diversity by the Multicultural Development Center. Locally she has performed, designed and directed for Pillsbury House Theatre, Stages Theatre Company, The Southern Theatre, Mama Mosaic, Theatre Mu, and The Burning House Group. She is a member of the Guthrie Theatre Community Advisor Group.
Neal Spinler, Director of Marketing and External Relations
A lifelong theatre enthusiast, Neal received his BFA in theatre direction from U of WI- Superior. His experiences include new experimental works, multimedia, cultural productions, and innovative children’s programming. In 2006, Neal received his MBA from the Bolz Center for Arts Administration at the U of WI-Madison. He has worked with the marketing departments of many nationally renowned performance organizations including Overture Center for the Arts, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, and The Children’s Theatre Company. Neal is constantly exploring new forms of grassroots marketing and new ways to integrate the arts and technology.
Ellen Fenster, Artistic Programs Associate
Ellen has been a performer and teaching artist with Pillsbury House Theatre since 2001. As a PHT artist she has collaborated in creating numerous original theatre pieces around issues of diversity with Twin Cities’ businesses, organizations and youth. Ellen has participated as a director in many Chicago Avenue Projects and recently became the CAP program coordinator. She is an Artistic Associate at Illusion Theatre where she facilitates The Lighthouse Group, a collective of artists committed to creating new work. For the last three years she has produced Lights Up! a new works series by emerging Twin Cities’ artists hosted by the Lighthouse Group and Illusion Theater. Ellen’s recent directing credits include Hmong! The CIA’s Secret Army with the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (CHAT), Agatha Christie’s The Hollow at Starting Gate Theater and she was the assistant director for Vigil at the Westport Country Playhouse in CT. As a teaching artist Ellen has directed at South High Theatre and in 2007 Ellen collaborated with CHAT on Hmong Dawning, a series of workshops that culminated in an evening of theatre featuring all new work by Hmong artists. This summer will mark her eighth year as a teaching artist at theatre e3, a summer theatre institute for children, where she choreographs and teaches creative movement.
Kurt Kwan, Artistic Programs Associate
Kurt has been with Pillsbury House Theatre since 2001 where he has created and performed upwards of 50 original shows around issues of diversity. He has worked creatively and collaboratively as an actor, director and teaching artist at various schools around the metro area including: Jennings High School, St Paul Area Learning Center, Southside Family School, and Richard Green Central Middle School. Kurt is a spoken word artist and performs with Ed Bok Lee. Other Theater Credits include acting with Ten Thousand Things Theatre, The History Theatre, Theatre Mu, Illusion Theater, The Playwrights Center, and Stages Theatre.
James A. Williams, Artistic Associate
James (J-Dub) serves as Co-director and acting coach for the Seeds of Change program at Central High School, Central Touring Theatre, and The Hennepin County Home School Theatre Project. He has conducted workshops at Brown University, Colby College, Macalester College, University of Minnesota, the International School of Kenya, Nshupu School, Tanzania and Penumbra Theatre Summer Institute, Shangalia School in Nairobi. He is a recipient of the St. Paul Companies Leadership Initiative in the Neighborhoods Grant, a 2005 NAACP Image Award Nominee, and a 2008 Ivey Award Recipient.
Associate Company Members
Jamila Anderson
Laurie Carlos
Paul de Cordova
Stephen DiMenna
Brian Goranson
Signe Harriday
Daniel Alexander Jones
Blayn Lemke
Marion McClinton
Kimberly Joy Morgan
James A. Williams
Payton J. Woodson
Founder
Ralph Remington
Advisory Board
Norah Shapiro, Chair
Cordelia Anderson
Melodie Bahan
John Humleker
Sarah Milligan-Toffler
Eric Mueller
Julie Sand
Anthony R. Wagner
