Photo credit: Martha Wirth Photography
Welcome to Bite
Greetings, mortals. I’m so pleased you have come to hear my story. The arts are something that humans tend to forget about but vampires know the true importance of keeping them alive, for they do give us all a reason to live. I’m very impressed by your support of this art form and of local artists. I shall keep that in mind the next time I get a little hungry… While my story is very fascinating, I know how you humans have such short attention spans and need to stretch out your mortal bodies so the performance is broken into two acts with a 15 minute intermission for you. The coven will be in the lobby after the show and are dying to meet you. I do hope you enjoy this tale of how I came to be.
Your host,
Program
ACT ONE
“Rise of Lilith”
Performers: Christine Jackson, Nicole Londraville, Katherine Mechler, Anastasia Timina, Fallon Voorheis
Choreography: Nicole Londraville
Music: Eclipse Phase Overture by And Void
Apparatus: Multicorde
“A Murmuring”
Performers: Miranda Domico, Kim Freedman, Christine Jackson, Devon Lainie, Kendra Levy, Krista Lockwood, Nicole Londraville, Emily Scott Alea
Choreography: Fallon Voorheis
Music: A Blackened Heart by Peter Gundry
Apparatus: Lyra
“Wings of the Wicked”
Performers: Kim Freedman, Nicole Londraville, Anastasia Timina
Choreography: Kim Freedman, Nicole Londraville, Anastasia Timina
Music: Hide and Seek by Klergy, Mindy Jones & Dark Outside by Klergy, Marie Gallo Edited by Nicole Londraville
Apparatus: Corde Lisse
“Wicked”
Performers: Miranda Domico, Kim Freedman, Christine Jackson, Devon Lainie, Nicole Londraville, Emily Scott Alea, Fallon Voorheis
Choreography: Ground Dance by Ashley Sonnier, Aerial by Nicole Londraville
Music: A Little Wicked by Valerie Broussard
Apparatus: Straps
“The Hunt”
Performers: Keegan Dunn, Christine Jackson, Leia Kaprov, Krista Lockwood, Nicole Londraville, Tess Lozensky, Cressie Mae, Katherine Mechler, Jaime Shpikula, Anastasia Timina, Fallon Voorheis
Choreography: Ground Dance by Ashley Sonnier, Aerial by Fallon Voorheis
Music: Kill of the Night by Gin Wigmore
Apparatus: Lyra
“Face Off”
Performers: Christine Jackson & Nicole Londraville
Choreography: Christine Jackson & Nicole Londraville
Music: Cleric Beast by SIE Sound Team
Apparatus: Straps
“Ashes to Ashes”
Performers: Miranda Domico, Kim Freedman, Christine Jackson, Nicole Londraville, Tess Lozensky, Cressie Mae, Katherine Mechler, Fallon Voorheis
Choreography: Fallon Voorheis
Music: Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Lorde
Apparatus: Lyra
Intermission - 15 minutes
ACT TWO
“A Bloody Good Time”
Performers: Christine Jackson, Cressie Mae, Michelle Randolph, Jaime Shpikula, Anastasia Timina, Fallon Voorheis
Choreography: Fallon Voorheis
Music: Blood // Water by grandson
Apparatus: Silks & Slings
“Follow Me”
Performers: Christine Jackson & Cressie Mae
Choreography: Christine Jackson & Cressie Mae
Music: Playground(from the series Arcane League of Legends) by Bea Miller, Arcane, League of Legends
Apparatus: Tippy Coffin
“Blood Awakening”
Performers: Cressie Mae
Choreography: Cressie Mae
Music: Game of Survival by Ruelle
Apparatus: Slingish
“The New Queen”
Performers: Kim Freedman, Devon Lainie, Kendra Levy, Krista Lockwood, Cressie Mae, Emily Scott Alea, Fallon Voorheis
Choreography: Fallon Voorheis
Music: you should see me in a crown by Billie Eilish
Apparatus: Dance trapeze
“The Killing”
Performers: Leah Casper, Ana Cruz, Miranda Domico, Keegan Dunn, Kim Freedman, Christine Jackson, Leia Kaprov, Devon Lainie, Kendra Levy, Krista Lockwood, Tess Lozensky, Cressie Mae, Chris Mechler, Katherine Mechler, Emilee Mickaliger, Michelle Randolph, Emily Scott Alea, Jaime Shpikula, Anastasia Timina, Fallon Voorheis
Choreography: Fallon Voorheis
Music: Drumming Circle by Professor Trance And The Energizers
Apparatus: Silks & Slings
“Dust to Dust”
Performers: Miranda Domico, Christine Jackson, Devon Lainie, Krista Lockwood, Tess Lozensky, Cressie Mae, Emily Scott Alea, Jaime Shpikula, Fallon Voorheis
Choreography: Ashley Sonnier
Music: Toxic by 2WEI
Apparatus: Silks
Special thanks to:
Quinn Suda, Stage Manager
Adelaide Kuehn, Lighting Designer
Kevin McVeigh, Sound Board Operator
Christian Szczepanski, Projections
Jeff Rusnak, Rigger
Keegan Dunn, Lead Puller
Chris Mechler, Assistant Puller
Lisa J. Peterson, Costuming
Tim Hill, Videography
Martha Wirth Photography, Photography
Tiny Planet Ink, Custom Apparel
Jared Brewer, Concessions
Daxx Floyd, Leah Grandstaff, Amy Haderer, Brad Mikolajczyk, Bayard Wenzel, Ushers
The Elaine Wolf Theatre
Our victims: Cambria J. Borgmann, Leah Casper, Ana Cruz, Keegan Dunn, Leia Kaprov, Chris Mechler, & Emilee Mickaliger
The Vampire Coven
Your Host, played by Andria Rabenold
Your host has witnessed enough history to know that the most interesting details rarely make it into the books. An elegant hostess with a sharp wit and a somewhat unsettling interest in her guests, she delights in sharing stories of the vampire underworld with curious mortals. She has watched fortunes accumulate, loyalties shift, and entire lifetimes pass in what now feels like an evening. Beautiful manners remain one of her favorite indulgences, though she has never confused politeness with kindness. Tonight, she invites you into a story she knows intimately. How intimately? Some introductions are best saved for later.
Nyx played by Fallon Voorheis, Mistress of Chaos
Once a healer in Sainte-Claude, France, she was betrayed by the very people she devoted her life to saving. Accused of witchcraft, she turned to Lilith, who saved her from the flames and offered her immortality. She has spent the centuries since perfecting the art of seduction, manipulation, and quiet vengeance. Elegant, calculating, and dangerously still, she knows the power of being desired and the pleasure of being feared. She answers to no one lightly, forgives nothing easily, and has no intention of ever being powerless again.
Lilith played by Nicole Londraville, High Coven
Born in Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago, Lilith was a sex worker in her human life, where she learned early that boldness and intimidation could get her far.
Relatively short in stature, Lilith is easy to underestimate—until the darkness and brutality lurking beneath the surface are revealed. Her aggression and ruthlessness propelled her quickly through the vampire ranks until she claimed the crown.
She enjoys every vice imaginable, especially big-game hunting—humans, mostly. Politics, diplomacy, and compromise are not her strengths. She doesn’t negotiate or reason. She rules through fear, violence, and intimidation.
Thana played by Christine Jackson, High Coven
At 642 years old, Thana is the oldest vampire in the coven. She grew up in poverty near Bordeaux, France and took care of her younger sisters. After she was bitten and entered the vampire underworld, Thana taught herself how to read and write and has spent the many centuries since then continuing to absorb as much knowledge as she can. She is known to be a studious observer of everything and everyone around her… Nothing goes unnoticed when Thana is around. Her highest priority is providing for the coven, and she is quiet and calculated when hunting for her next victim. In her free time, Thana repairs old pocket watches and listens to them tick to remind herself that good things come to those who wait calmly in the shadows.
Celeste Harper played by Cressie Mae, Coven
Not long ago, Celeste Harper was a brilliant young Manhattan woman with impeccable taste and a boundless imagination. Raised by distant parents, she found comfort in disappearing into worlds of her own creation. By 18, she had secretly written five novels! Though she seemed confident and social, few people ever knew the tender, private person beneath the surface. Turned at just 19, Celeste awakens to an intoxicating thirst for blood and power. But as the vampire in her hungers for more, something stubbornly human still beats beneath it all.
Camille, played by Kim Freedman, Coven
Born in 1920s Paris, Camille was a captivating cabaret dancer immersed in the glamour of the Années folles, when Parisian nightlife flourished with music, dance, and artistic excess. After her immortal transition, she perfected her deadly art using flirtation, movement, and a lingering gaze to draw unsuspecting patrons away from the crowd and into the shadows. Decades later, Camille remains an elegant and dangerously magnetic creature of the night, forever moving as though the cabaret has never ended. For Camille, seduction is an art and every dance may be her victim’s last.
Amara, played by Anastasia Timina, Coven
Amara was a medicine woman and herbalist from a small village in the Carpathian mountains before her life in the coven almost 300 years ago. The knowledge of various tinctures, remedies, and even anatomy was passed down to her by her grandmother. She was almost a grown woman when her visions began. Like quick shadows at the edge of the periphery, Amara was never sure if what she saw was past, future, or an alternative reality. Because of this, she was aware that something incredible would happen when they brought the sick man to her healing house. What they thought was a dying man turned out to be a recently turned vampire still unsure on how to sustain his new self. Amara offered her blood, and in exchange, he offered to turn her as well. He had disappeared the next morning and in his absence Amara had one final vision: she saw with full and finite clarity the end of the world, the rising and falling of human civilizations, and the eventual ending of all life. She also knew with a sudden jolt of terror, that as an immortal being, she would bear witness to it. Her mind began to fracture. She was pulled between her human emotions and her vampire desires, between the knowledge of the end and the jubilation of her immortality. Her journey to the coven was one of searching for others like her, who could share her fears of the end and to keep her entertained and busy in the meantime.
Triss, played by Emily Scott Alea, Coven
Triss hails from Santa Cruz, the daughter of a fisherman's family whose name she no longer speaks aloud. She spent her human years as a ballet dancer, and carries a worn, but strong frame. A lover of the hunt, she spends her free time prospecting for gold... and blood. The last thing she recalls of her mortal life is the ocean at dawn, salt air on her skin, before everything after became something else entirely. She carries her secrets close to the chest and grieves in solitude, her eyes unable to hide the torment within. After two centuries, has never forgiven herself for leaving the shores of California.
Rosemary (AKA Rosie), played by Devon Lainie, Coven
Rosie’s childhood was a slog. Born in 1909 as the youngest of six siblings, she was deeply unsatisfied with her life before running away to Chicago at age 17 to indulge in the pleasures of newfound liberation and libation. When the Great Depression hit, food and work became scarce and Rosie thought it a rather economical decision to transition to a strictly blood-based diet. After years of only engaging with the mortal world in underground nightclubs, she found the coven and thought limiting her hedonistic ways would afford her more comfort, though she’ll always long for the taste of absinthe and tobacco that she once adored.
Luxera played by Miranda Domico, Coven
This renaissance era cortigiana onesta comes to us from 16th century Venice, where she made a name for herself through her confident wit and evocative poetry. Being turned against her will gave her a certain bitterness that she uses to her advantage during a hunt. She revels in the finer things, like herbal liqueurs and decadently spiced pastries. Her real name will be the last thing one hears before they die.
Rose, played by Katherine Mechler, Coven
Rose was a maid in a wealthy London household in the 1500s and has spent the last 500 years or so perfecting the art of staying out of the way. She speaks six languages, collects very expensive wine, and would rather visit a vineyard on the other side of the world than face a conflict. Elegant, observant, and never caught behind the curve, she's starting to wonder if she should care a little more.
Pique played by Jaime Shpikula, Coven
Pique was turned almost a century ago and has spent most of the intervening years researching how to turn animals for eternal-life-long companionship. (No, they don’t want to hear, “Have you considered a werewolf?”) They’ve traveled far and wide living amongst creatures of this world and others, and it takes a mandate from the queen to get them out of their cave. They might still show up with a bear.
Astree, played by Tess Lozensky, Coven
Astree was born and raised in the French Alps, where she learned how to hunt and defend herself. When she was 19, she moved to Paris and made ends meet as a con woman. Now, as a vampire, she pursues a very different kind of mark. She is cold-hearted and loves nothing more than toying with her prey.
Vivien, played by Krista Lockwood, Coven
Vivien, whose name comes from the word alive, is a secretive vampire. Her human history began in 19th century Germany, born the youngest of all her sisters. Her young adult life abruptly ended when society deemed her dangerous for her innate ability to communicate with animals. Rumor has it that a shadow of her childhood black dog leapt over her dead body, rising her soul into immortal vampirism.
Aurelia Vale played by Kendra Levy, Coven
Aurelia Vale was once a cabaret singer and dancer at the Moulin Rouge in late 1800s Paris, until immortality interrupted her promising career at the age of 33. Warm, playful, and endlessly enchanted by beautiful things, Aurelia has held onto more of her humanity than most vampires would care to admit. She has little interest in chasing her prey...why chase someone when you can charm them into coming closer? More than a century later, she still dances whenever she can and remains in pursuit of the one thing she has never quite been able to capture: freedom.
Nox, played by Michelle Randolph, Coven
Nox has been a vampire for centuries, though she rarely says exactly how many. Even as a human, she was drawn to strange stories, overlooked people, and questions better left unanswered. She was turned while investigating something she should have left alone—and has been collecting secrets ever since.
When she's not hunting, she spends her nights somewhere above the city, contemplating the universe, reading obscure books and occasionally disappearing on unexplained adventures. After centuries of watching the world change, she believes immortality should be used to make the world a little stranger.
Lenore played by Ana Cruz, Baby Bat
There are secrets buried in every shadow, and Lenore has made a lifetime of learning how to find them. A quiet observer with a taste for danger, she knows that the most powerful weapon is often the one no one sees coming. In a world of ancient covens, restless nightmares, and unquenchable hunger, she moves carefully, watches closely, and never strikes without reason. Underestimate her at your own peril.
Ann Hedonia played by Leia Kaprov, Baby Bat
Ann Hedonia has been performing, in one sense or another, since 1887. A concert pianist and composer of renown in her native Köln, she was turned at the height of her career and has spent the intervening centuries attending every party she wasn't invited to and leaving before anyone could get too close.
She has since developed strong opinions about Weimar-era jazz, the correct way to host a dinner party, and the specific loneliness of outliving everyone interesting.
Vesper played by Emilee Mickaliger, Baby Bat
A creature of the shadows, this enigmatic presence moves between worlds of darkness and desire. Neither fully predator nor prey, they thrive in the spaces where fear takes hold and temptation begins. In a world ruled by ancient power and insatiable hunger, survival belongs to those who know when to strike—and when to disappear.