David Grapes II (Co-Creator) is currently a Professor of Theatre and the Director of the School of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Here he administers one of the country’s largest undergraduate theatre programs (340 majors) and serves as the Producer for UNC’s 72 year-old professional summer stock company the Little Theatre of the Rockies. Prior to joining the faculty at UNC, David served for six years as the Producing Artistic Director of the Tennessee Repertory Theatre a LORT C&D regional theatre located in Nashville, TN. There he produced 36 productions including three world premieres, established an “off-Broadway season” of contemporary plays, worked with numerous guest stars, expanded the Rep’s education department, forged new relationships with local academic and cultural institutions, initiated two co-productions with sister theatre Arkansas Rep and was the recipient of 8 “Tennie Awards” for Best Direction. David’s 2001 production of West Side Story featuring the late Kenneth Schermerhorn and the Nashville Symphony was recorded for Naxos International and has received numerous national and inter-national awards for excellence. An award-winning director, actor and playwright, David has provided administrative, financial, and artistic leadership for a wide variety of theatrical institutions including two professional regional theatres, 3D productions - a commercial bus & truck touring company, two nationally recognized university theatre departments, a variety of summer stock companies, and a number of large professional not-for-profit regional and civic theatres. During his 29-year career in the theatre, David has produced over 800 major productions that span nearly every genre of dramatic literature. His work as a director (150+ productions) has been seen from coast to coast. David is the creator/co-author (with Todd Olson) of four musical revues; My Way – A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, Christmas My Way – A Sinatra Holiday Bash, Moon River – Johnny Mercer’s American Songbook, and I Left My Heart – A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett, which have been performed at over 200 theatres world wide. His most recent play Dracula: The Case of the Silver Scream (with Robert Neblett) had its world premiere at Tennessee Repertory Theatre and has received six additional productions since 2003. Born and raised in Parkersburg West Virginia, David is a graduate of the MFA Theatre Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is an active member of the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers, the Dramatists Guild of America and Actors' Equity Association. David’s recent directorial credits include productions for Denver Theatre Center Attractions, Muhlenburg Summer Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Seven Angels Theatre, Little Theatre of the Rockies and Dollywood. For UNC David’s directorial credits include: Candida, Dracula: The Case of the Silver Scream, Bleacher Bums, Rounding Third, The Tempest, Tuesday’s With Morrie, The Drawer Boy, and Titanic – The Musical. David’s recent guest directorial credits include productions for Denver Theatre Center Attractions, Asolo Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Seven Angels Theatre, American Stage Company, Barter Theatre, Flatrock Playhouse, Little Theatre on the Square, Muhlenburg Summer Theatre and Dollywood.
Todd Olson (Co-Creator) is currently the Producing Artistic Director for American Stage Company in St. Petersburg, Florida, Prior to that he spent three seasons as the Associate Artistic Director at Tennessee Repertory Theatre in Nashville. While at the Rep, he directed critically-acclaimed productions of Wit, Cyrano de Bergerac, An Ideal Husband, How I Learned to Drive, Dinner with Friends, The Miracle Worker, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, and Francis of Guernica, winning a dozen annual Nashville "Tennie" Awards for "Best Production" and "Best Director". He received his M.F.A. from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and is a graduate from the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard where he took classes with David Mamet, Peter Sellars, Andrei Serban, Robert Scanlan, Robert Woodruff, Anna Deveare Smith, and Robert Brustein, among others. He has taught theatre at Harvard, Vanderbilt, and Boston University, among others. Mr. Olson has directed over 100 plays, musicals, and operas, including Hamlet (Boston Theatre Works), The Winter's Tale, The Seagull, Marie and Bruce, Betrayal, and Coriolanus (A.R.T. Institute/Harvard), and the Hungarian premiere of Sam Shepard's Buried Child. His opera credits include work on Vanessa (Des Moines Metro Opera), Tosca (Opera Southwest), Seven Deadly Sins (Huntington Studio), The Elixir of Love (Harvard), and an upcoming Carmen (Opera Southwest). Mr Grapes and Mr. Olson will premiere their latest musical revue - I Left My Heart – A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett in February of 2005 at American Stage. Todd lives in Seminole, Florida with his wife Charlotte and their children Jonas, Corinna and May.
Maria Petrella-Ackley (Director) Whether Acting or Directing, Maria ‘s second home is the stage. Earlier this season she was seen as Clairee in GACT’s production of Steel Magnolias and prior to that as Silda in Other Desert Cities at the New Castle Playhouse. She is delighted to return to the ACC again, directing her second Sinatra Musical. She hopes you will enjoy what she has created for your holiday entertainment.
