Note: At the Denver Actors Fund, anonymity of aid recipients is presumed and fully protected, unless and until the recipient chooses to have his or her story told. Financial-aid recipient: Actor, director and playwright Sheila Ivy Traister has been performing in Denver since 2000. Her first year in Denver, […]
Success Stories
193 posts
Here’s how The Denver Actors Fund helped a sick mother to keep her son in pre-school.
Actor, teacher and mother’s long and defiant battle galvanized the Colorado theatre community Financial-aid recipient: Shelly Bordas was a Denver actor and teacher who appeared in dozens of plays all around Colorado, including memorable turns in Theatre Group’s “Cell Block Sirens of 1953,” “Bat Boy, the Musical” and “Debbie Does […]
Marq Del Monte, second from right, appeared in John Moore’s play, “Maureen Dowd’s Dark, Delicious Descent into Denver Hell, An Edible Cautionary Tale,” as part of The Mile High 24 Play Festival on June 2 at the Spark Theatre. From left: Lindsey I. Benge, Deb Flomberg, Karen Kargel, Del […]
Russell Costen as Big Daddy in The Edge Theatre’s 2013 production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Photo by Rachel D Graham / RDGPhotography. Financial-aid recipient No. 9: Russell Costen, a 69-year-old veteran of stage, screen and the U.S. Army, appeared in many local productions after moving […]
Financial-aid recipient No. 8: Veteran Denver actor Tom Borrillo, a graduate of Mullen High School, has performed as the hot-tempered patriarch Chet in the 1950s family vignette Over the Tavern everywhere from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival to the Arvada Center to the Bas Bleu Theatre in Fort Collins. He won […]
Financial aid recipient No. 7: Longtime actor and 17-year vocal coach Traci J. Kern has appeared in many productions for many local theatre companies, including recently in “Swing!” for the Town Hall Arts Center and “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” for Ben Dicke Productions at the Aurora Fox. Next she will […]
Aid recipient No. 6: Meghan Ralph has been heavily involved in the Denver theatre community since 2004, working as actor, stage manager, assistant director, run crew, box office, photographer and anything in-between. She is one of the founders of Equinox Theatre Company and has worked with The E Project (now […]
Aid recipient No. 5: Chad Afanador has amassed an impressive resume over his 11 seasons with the Creede Repertory Theatre, highlighted by his 2010 Denver Post Ovation Award nomination for “best year by an actor.” His roles that season included “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (Panch); “The Ladies […]
Note: At the Denver Actors Fund, anonymity of aid recipients is presumed and fully protected, unless and until the recipient chooses to have his or her story told. Aid recipient: Back in 2014, Twanna LaTrice Hill became just the fifth aid recipient in The Denver Actors Fund’s young history. Twanna […]
Aid recipient No. 3: For years, Becky Toma has been a busy props designer and P.R. freelancer for clients that include schools, local theatre companies and Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret. In 2013 alone, Becky designed props (and did some wardrobe supervision) on the Town Hall Arts Center’s “Forever Plaid,” “Hair” and […]
Aid recipient No. 2: Maggie Stillman is the artistic director and founder of the Byers-Evans House Theatre Company, which is in the process of becoming the Ripple Effect Theatre Company that this year will move into residence at the Laundry on Lawrence (home of the LIDA Project). Her story: Maggie […]
Brock Benson: Actor Brock Benson was hit by a car while legally entering a Broadway crosswalk, and the work he missed in the days after the accident made making his January rent a precarious proposition. So as the inaugural recipient of Denver Actors Fund, we gave Brock the $240 he […]