Welcome to the Renaissance!
A Note from Donald Rupe, Co-Founder of the Ren
Welcome to the Renaissance! And welcome to Oscar Wilde and Jesus Christ Walk Into a Gay Bar!
Renaissance Theatre Company was founded in 2021 with a mission to create new and original Theatre in Central Florida and beyond. We are focused on fair pay for artists, sustainability, supporting creators/playwrights with diverse voices, and we also want to grow a new audience for live Theatre in Orlando. In September, Co-Founder and board member Chris Kampmeier purchased 415 East Princeton Street as a home for us, and we’ve already produced three wonderful and successful productions here: Nosferatu, The Office Holiday Party Musical Extravaganza Show, and La Medéa. We are so excited about Oscar Wilde… and our upcoming shows Gorgeous and Ain’t Done Bad!
If you're the type who likes to support Non-profit organizations, I hope you'll consider joining the Founders, the elite group of donors who are helping to get us started. We have a goal of raising $100,000 in our first year from 500 new donors, so any gift big or small is truly appreciated: rentheatre.com/giveusmoney. So far, we have already raised over $60,000 from more than 200 donors, so we are off to a good start but we have a ways to go!
Take care, y'all, and I hope you enjoy Oscar Wilde and Jesus Christ Walk into a Gay Bar!
Donald Rupe
rupedon@gmail.com
Oscar Wilde and Jesus Christ Walk Into a Gay Bar
The Cast
Trevor Southworth …… Oscar
Devin Skorupski …… Bosie
The Crew
Writer/Composer/Director …… Donald Rupe
Arrangements and Orchestrations …… Jason M. Bailey
Costumes …… Adam Ledo
Hair …… Justin Lore
Lighting …… Jake Teixeira
Sound …… Stephen Jones
Makeup …… Justin Jimenez
Flag Design …… Breanna Roberts
Music Director/Piano …… Jason M. Bailey
Drums …… Chris Kampmeier
Bass Guitar …… Bryce Hayes
Bass Guitar …… Carlos Barreto (April 10)
Violin …… Joseph Quintana
Social Media & Marketing Director/Graphic Design …… Landon St. Gordon
Program Design …… Landon St. Gordon
T-shirt Design …… Landon St. Gordon
Publicity and Production Photos …… Ashleigh Ann Gardner
Bartender …… Devin Skorupski
Administration Manager …… Rebekah Lugo
Renaissance Theatre Company Staff (we don’t really do titles)
The One In Charge …… Donald Rupe
The One Who Does A Lot of Admin/Computer/Owner of the Building/Misc. …… Chris Kampmeier
The Admin Boss Lady …… Rebekah Lugo
The Bar Guy/Production Guy …… Chris Fahmie
The Sound Guy …… Stephen Jones
The Music Guy …… Jason M. Bailey
The Marketing Guy …… Landon St. Gordon
Renaissance Theatre Company Board of Directors
Jason M. Bailey, Debbie Fahmie, Chris Kampmeier, Rebekah Lugo, Donald Rupe, Jake Teixeira, Madison Gomez Teixeira
A Very Special Thanks
(you know what you did for us, and so do we)
Meet the Cast
Trevor Southworth (Oscar Wilde) is thrilled to be stepping back in to the shoes of Oscar Wilde! Trevor was awarded Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Oscar at last year’s Orlando Fringe Festival. Trevor is an actor, director and teacher. He is currently co-director of Theatre at Lake Mary High School. Favorite roles include Max Bialystok in The Producers (The Athens Theatre), Bobby in Company (CFCArts), Anatoly in Chess: In Concert (Florida Theatrical Association), and Valjean in Les Misérables (The Athens Theatre).
All my love to my wife Becca and two amazing daughters, Lila and Rowan. This one is for Lester!
Devin Skorupski (Bosie) is excited to step out from behind the bar and make his *on stage* Renaissance Theatre Company debut. He is humbled to be starring alongside Trevor Southworth, who directed him in his first professional musical back in 2017. A recent graduate of the University of Central Florida, he has been seen performing around town with Orlando Repertory Theatre, Orlando Fringe, CFC Arts, Celebration Theatre Co, Theatre at St. Luke’s, and Footlight Theatre at Parliament House, among others. Highlights include Be More Chill (Jeremy Heere), Next to Normal (Henry), Mean Gays (Reginald), and Donald Rupe’s original musical From Here (Jason). Next up, he will be seen in Disney’s Freaky Friday at Orlando Repertory Theatre running April 1-May 8. Thanks to Donald and Chris for creating a space to truly call home. All my love to Blake, the fam, my girls and gays, and my sweet angel kitties. @devin.s
The Crew
Donald Rupe (Artistic Director) is the co-founder of Renaissance Theatre Company (with a lot of help from his friends). An accomplished theatre-maker based in Orlando, Donald has written a number of successful theatrical productions (mostly musicals with Jason M. Bailey), including: Bright Young Things; From Here (fromhere.com); Flying Lessons (featured in the New York Musical Festival in 2019); Oscar Wilde and Jesus Christ Walk into a Gay Bar; Once I Laughed; and others. Donald was also the founder of a community theatre program for Central Florida Community Arts, where for five years he ran a traditional season of productions with much success. Donald's numerous directing credits span the better part of twenty years and many wonderful companies throughout Central Florida. Rupe is also an accomplished educator, having served on the part-time faculty of Valencia College for over a decade and as an award-winning high school educator. Donald received his degrees in Theatre from New York University and Florida State University.
Jason M. Bailey (Music Director), aka The Bearded Maestro, is a Musician/Performer/Composer in Orlando. Jason teaches private voice, is an accompanist and music director for UCF and Rollins College, and works as a freelance musician. His original show credits include arranger/orchestrator/music director for Oscar Wilde and Jesus Christ Walk Into a Gay Bar, Bright Young Things (winning Critics Choice for Music Direction), From Here, and Flying Lessons, which played Off-Broadway. Jason has music directed for many theatres and schools including Osceola Arts, CFCArts, Wayne Densch, WPHS, and Trinity Preparatory School. He has taught musical theatre for DPAC, Orlando Rep, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Missoula Children’s Theatre, and CFCArts. Jason has also performed with theatres around the country including Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, American Family Theatre, Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, Salem Repertory Theatre, and CFCArts. www.thebeardedmaestro.com
Chris Kampmeier (credits go here) is the co-founder of Renaissance Theatre Company as well as a computer and sound engineer. He had the incredible fortune to be A Nearby Guitar Player just as Donald and Jason began their songwriting relationship with From Here at the Orlando Fringe Festival in 2019, then Flying Lessons at the New York Musical Festival (drums and percussion) and an expanded run of From Here.
His many pandemic projects have included 1. Playing a new show called Oscar Wilde and Jesus Christ Walk Into a Gay Bar, while secretly 2. Establishing a new Gay Bar (sorta?) so we could just play the show again whenever we wanted, and 3. Sourdough bread. The starter is back in the fridge for now, and “whenever we wanted“ turned out to be tonight. Welcome to the show!
Bryce Hayes (Bass) is a professional bassist operating in Central Florida. Native to Orlando, he takes pride in the local arts, and will be graduating from Rollins College with a bachelors in Music this Spring. No stranger to musical theatre, Bryce is proud to bring his skills to this fantastic production, and glad to work with Donald Rupe and Jason Bailey once again. He has played in productions such as Next to Normal, Disenchanted, Spring Awakening and Songs for a New World. However this is his first time playing at the new Renaissance Theatre, and is very honored to help break in the new space!
Joseph Quintana (Violin) is an actor-musician, singer, and performance artist. Joseph has appeared as a fiddle playing Templeton in Charlotte’s Web with Zach Theatre, Dr. Norquist and featured fiddle in Bright Star with Mountain Movers Theatre Co., and Emcee and cello in Once with Theater Westend. Other work includes In the Heights and Esperanza Rising with the University of Texas at Austin, Atlantis: A Puppet Opera and Dog Magic with Vortex Repertory Theatre, Pagliacci with Austin Opera, he appeared with the Chicago Lyric Opera chorus in Götterdämmerung, and Don Curzio with El Paso Opera in Le Nozze di Figaro. New and devised projects include Carmen with Generic Ensemble Co., ensemble and fiddle player in The Girl Who Was Legend with Zach Theatre, Good Country: A Chamber Opera with the Cohen New Works Festival, and The Office Holiday Party Musical Extravaganza Show with The Renaissance Theatre Company. You may have also seen him in the Ren’s production of La Medéa. Keep up with Joseph on Instagram, @jmqactor
Thank you to The Founders!
The special group of donors to Renaissance Theatre Company who gave from the start through our first year in the building.
