Wendy Ishii, Artistic Director, Founder, Ex-Officio, Voting Board Member
Wendy Ishii is founding artistic director of Bas Bleu Theatre Company and a retired Teacher of Acting at Colorado State University. She moved to Fort Collins from NYC, where she performed principal roles in theatre, film, commercials, and daytime television. Her resume encompasses over 250 roles from the classical and contemporary repertories. Ishii has been the recipient of numerous acting awards including top honors from The Denver Post Ovation Awards, True West, Westword, Fort Collins Coloradoan, Colorado Community Theatre Coalition, American Association of Community Theatre, International Telly Awards, BIZ WEST, Notable Non-Profit Women, and the Colorado Theatre Guild’s 2018 Henry Award for Lifetime Achievement.
By invitation, performances at international festivals and conferences have taken Ishii to Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Israel, South Africa, and Northern Ireland, and nationally to theatres in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Arizona. Her work in Samuel Beckett’s plays has been noted in several books, articles, journals, academic papers, and international media, and is included in the Beckett Archives in Reading, UK. Under Ishii’s leadership, in 2012 Bas Bleu, became the pioneer of what is now the burgeoning Fort Collins River District, and completed a $1.5M phase one capital campaign to purchase and renovate the historic Giddings Building as its permanent home. wendy@basbleu.orgrt Collins River District, and completed a $1.5M phase one capital campaign to purchase and renovate the historic Giddings Building as its permanent home. wendy@basbleu.org
Steve Keim, Production Manager
Steve spent twenty-two seasons as a program coordinator for student choral and instrumental concerts at Carnegie Hall, working with young musicians, educators, and conductors from all fifty states.
He is also the founder of the Perkasie Theatre Company who helped revitalize the Kraine Theater in Manhattan’s East Village and was a resident company at the Sanford Meisner Theatre in pre-Highline Chelsea. productionmanager@basbleu.org
Colton Thompson, Box Office Manager
Brian Miller, Technical Director, Board Treasurer
Brian is delighted to join the staff at Bas Bleu’s Theatre Company as Technical Director. With more than 350 productions done in the last 22 years in Colorado, and more than twenty at Bas Bleu, he considers this company to be one of his homes.
Brian is a Henry Award-winning set and lighting designer, including for the set for Bas Bleu’s production of The Waverly Gallery in 2018. Recent work elsewhere includes 2xTenn and Danny and the Deep Blue Sea for Visionbox in Denver, lighting for Ann for Cherry Creek Theatre, and lighting for Sense & Sensibility for OpenStage.
He is a certified AACT Theater Adjudicator, is a graduate of Cornell University and New York University, and proudly serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Theatre Guild. brian@basbleu.org
Robyn Cuthbertson, Development Director
Robyn began her long history with Bas Bleu in the winter of 2003, when she appeared onstage in Lives of the Saints. She has had her hand in many Fort Collins theatrical productions over the years, as both a technician and a performer.
She is a CSU Magna Cum Laude graduate with a degree in Theatre Performance. While at CSU, she spent a summer studying abroad in London where her passion for theatre grew in leaps and bounds.
Robyn spent the last eleven years teaching children “how to act,” and continues to share her expertise with youngsters. She has worn many hats in the theatre community, and is ecstatic to add Development Director to her repertoire. robyn@basbleu.org
Tricia Navarre, Rentals/Special Events Manager
Tricia Navarre began her theater career in North Carolina in the 1970’s, did Summer Stock with the Green Mountain Guild in Vermont and toured with the Frank Holder Dance Company.
In 1980, Tricia continued her career in Ohio as a Stage Manager for the Toledo Repertoire Theatre. In 1992, Tricia and her husband Paul, moved to Colorado where they owned and operated a B&B lodge just outside the Rocky Mountain National Park — as Tricia says, “A whole different type of production!”
A move to Fort Collins in 2002, led to her employment at Bas Bleu Theatre where she served as its Production Manager until her retirement in 2017. Although technically retired, Tricia continues to be involved in the local performing arts community as a Production Manager and Stage Manager as well as occasionally being on the staff for Lincoln Center productions.
Elizabeth Morisette, Gallery Bleu Manager
Elizabeth Morisette is a graduate of NCSU College of Design and received a master’s from Maryland Institute College of Art. She has been exhibiting her weavings and sculptures for 25 years.
In Fall 2020, she was featured in Hyperallergic for her work at the University of Denver’s Mask Exhibition. She has also been featured in American Craft Magazine, The Denver Post, and the New York Times. Currently, she has a piece in the “Art of the State” at the Arvada Center.
Bringing art to the community is an important part of Morisette’s career. She has worked as an artist-in-residence for the Maryland State Arts Council, The JCC of Greater Baltimore, Elderhaus Adult Care, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, and The Denver Art Museum.
Tanya Bergstrom, Contract Bookkeeper
Tanya Bergstrom specializes in helping small businesses thrive by assuring quality bookkeeping. She is the owner of In the Black Bookkeeping, click here to read more
Board of Directors
Jeffrey Bigger, Board President
Jeffrey Bigger comes to the Bas Bleu Board with many years of experience in arts boards in the Atlanta Area. Prior to his move to Colorado, he served as the Artistic Director for CenterStage North Theatre in Marietta, Georgia, and also was Treasurer of The Mountainview Arts Alliance.
In addition to his board world, he has an extensive performing background and continues to appear on stage as an actor; Jeffrey also takes hold of the directing reins when something catches his eye. He is looking forward to serving the Bas Bleu family for many years to come.
Lynn Bogner, Board Vice President
Lynn Bogner fell in love with the theater at age six when her mother took her to her first musical, and that passion led to a career spent sharing that love with others.
A graduate of the Rollins College theater program, she worked in all aspects of the theater all over the country – the costume shop at the Mac-Hayden Theater in upstate New York, props crew at the Santa Fe Opera, office assistant for the Broadway producers behind the musical Chicago, directing productions in New York City – before taking time off to start a family and move west to Fort Collins.
In her spare time, she enjoys cooking and baking, as well as spending time with her husband and two sons.
Frank Boring, Board Member
Frank Boring, is a documentary film producer, writer, actor, and interviewer. Credits include National and International PBS, Discovery Wings, History Channel, and The Library of Congress Veterans History Project.
As a playwright, he founded and produced five seasons at the Boring Theater in Ocean Beach, California. He was invited to Colorado State University in 2017 to produce the CSU 150-year sesquicentennial for Rocky Mountain PBS.
The Great Experiment, CSU at 150 aired on Rocky Mountain PBS in 2020 and won the 2020 Silver Telly Award.
He is currently the documentary film advisor for Rocky Mountain Student Media at CSU, creating student films for Rocky Mountain PBS.
Jack Krause, Board Member
Jack Krause is a director, actor, visual designer, and audio engineer from Fountain, CO. He graduated with a degree in theatre from CSU specializing in direction and playwriting. In his free time, he likes to hang out with his munchkin cat Rover and work on puzzles.
