Pride and Prejudice

HEATHER OSTBERG JOHNSON is pumped for the 2024/2025 OST season. Heather wears many hats as a theatre maker and movement artist in Colorado. She is a director, improv comedian, writer, performer, teacher, clown, and dancer. She can be found performing with The Comedy Brewers, The Band of Toughs (Denver), Full Expression Dance Collective and The Story Bakers. Heather’s passion for movement, devised plays, and physical theatre has led her to train with SITI Company members, Frantic Assembly, Michael Chekhov Acting Studio, NIPIA, and Double Edge Theatre. She is grateful for her husband and toddler who help her keep all these plates spinning!

MYA COCA is currently a senior at Colorado State University majoring in Theatre Design as well as Food Science and Nutrition. While at CSU, she worked on various scenic and prop aspects for The Rocky Horror Show, Cabaret, She Kills Monsters, Cosi Fan Tutte, These 7 Sicknesses, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, How I Learned to Drive, A Man of No Importance, and Lysistrata. Most recently, she was the assistant scenic charge artist for CSU’s production of Spring Awakening and will be the scenic charge artist for the upcoming production of Machinal.

DAVID GRINNELL has been continuously involved with OpenStage for the last 10 years. David originally worked in the Saint Paul/Minneapolis area, with companies such as The Great American History Theater, Cricket Theater, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, and The Guthrie Theater. For OpenStage, he has served as the Master Electrician for Moonlight and Magnolias, Unnecessary Farce, North Plan, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Avenue Q, and Men On Boats. David was the Lighting Designer for this season’s CABARET and Don’t Dress for Dinner in 2017. Since the 2015 relaunch of OpenStage etcetera, he has served as Lighting Designer and Master Electrician for their productions of The Submission, A Bright New Boise, Ultimate Beauty Bible, H2O, Ideation, The Mystery of Love and Sex, Fool For Love, Every Brilliant Thing, Tiny Beautiful Things, Cry It Out, and A Doll’s House Part 2.

SYDNEY PARKS SMITH has worked with OpenStage since 1997 and serves as Producing Artistic Director for the Company. She received the 2019 OpenStage OPUS Award for Outstanding Director for Avenue Q; the OPUS for Outstanding Actress for her role as M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias; the 2018 OPUS for Outstanding Director for And Then There Were None; and the 2017 Colorado Theatre Guild’s Henry Award, a True West Award and the OPUS Award for Outstanding Actress for her role as Barbara in August: Osage County. Recent roles include Marie-Antoinette in The Revolutionists and Sir John Middleton in Sense and Sensibility. Recent directing credits include the upcoming Hedwig And The Angry Inch, Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood, and Every Brilliant Thing. Sydney has designed hair for several productions and received OPUS Awards for her designs for Macbeth and The Tempest. She received the 2016 Founders’ Award for her outstanding contributions to the Company.

CALEB GILBERT started his career in 2008 with a degree in Fine Arts, specializing in sculpture awarded by Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. In 2012 Caleb graduated from Cranbrook Academy of Art based just outside Detroit, MI., specializing in sculpture. After graduating he started at 11th Street Workshop (Brooklyn, NY) as a Carpenter. 11th Street Workshop is a full-service design and production facility specializing in the set world. They design and build sets for events, commercials, photo shoots and short films. While working there Caleb was a project manager, designer, and production coordinator. By 2020 Caleb was the Head Production Designer, running upwards of five million dollars in projects. Some of his favorite clients/projects included Google, Nike, Saturday Night Live, and Refinery 29. Caleb is now excited to use his skills and talents as the first (paid) Technical Director for OpenStage Theater. OpenStage has always been a home for Caleb ever since his first show over 20 years ago.