I am returning to Ground Floor Theatre this year! I will be directing William Finn and James Lapine’s LGBTQ+ musical Falsettos! Falsettos is a contemporary musical about family, relationships, bar mitzvahs, baseball and AIDS. When Marvin leaves his wife Trina and son Jason to be with his lover Whizzer, tempers flare, problems escalate and everyone learns to grow up.

Produced by Lisa Scheps with Musical Direction by Trey Shonkwiler. More information can be found on GFT’s website. See you there!

Written by Kathleen Fletcher and produced by Archive Theatre comes a new play about Moll Cutpurse an oft’ forgotten historical character and actor from Elizabethan England. This world premier play hopes to celebrate and solidify Moll’s legacy and influence in the cannon of western theatre. This production is a workshop ahead of a full production slated for 2025. Visit Archive theatre’s website for more information!

Aurora is a starseed who yearns for a celestial voyage back to her home planet. On the eve of her thirtieth birthday she treks out to a field and puts out a signal, hoping to finally catch that ride. Inspired by the legendary UFO crash in Aurora, Texas, this captivating play intertwines themes of cosmic wonder, familial bonds, and the quest for belonging amidst the vastness of space.

With nods to T.S. Eliot and infused with the sweetness of donuts, fireworks, and the mysteries of the cosmos, 'Aurora' is a transcendent theatrical experience unlike any other. Let the cosmic journey begin…

Written by Chris Fontanes

Directed by Trace Turner

Stage Managed by Jessika Land

Starring Rosemary McGraw as Aurora, Cassandra DeFreitas as Andi, Bonnie Lambert as Anne

Poster artwork designed by SJ Anderson

Lighting Design by Patrick W Anthony

Scenic Design by Lilly Percifeld

I am playing Tucker in the upcoming world premier of ALWAYS A BOY by Jo and Jeremy Ivester based on the memoir “Never a Girl, Always a Boy” by Jo Ivester. Performances will be in Austin, Texas at Groundfloor Theatre beginning in February.

Always a Boy centers on a boy named Joshua and his mother, Rachel, as they prepare for another big family wedding day. They reminisce about the last family wedding, when Joshua began his gender journey alongside his sister’s matrimony journey. Gender, binary thinking, and previously unspoken pain come to a head as the pair face the blunt truth of Joshua's struggle.

As part of the Short Fringe of Frontera Fest 2024, we present a newly devised interactive piece ‘oracle.ai’.

…this piece examines the place of oracles in an increasingly digital world by combining practiced divination with AI programs. While inside the temple's chambers, brave audience members will have the chance to ask one of the oracles to discern their future. We watch each oracle in turn consult and generate prophecies right before our very eyes in a multimedia phantasmagoria that harkens back to a distant age.

Come check us out and vote for us to advance further in the festival! Artwork by SJ Anderson.

I am thrilled to be making my GFT debut in Austin with the brand new musical JACK & AIDEN! Book by Lane Michael Stanley and Music and Lyrics by Tova Katz.

When Aiden first meets Jack, it’s through the transactional world of gay male hookup apps– Aiden’s first exploration since transitioning. But as the two spend more time together, things get complicated - they must navigate their grief, recovery and trauma and find out if they can hold one another’s human messiness. Jack & Aiden asks what it takes to open ourselves up to the profound joy and pain that come with truly being known.

I am reimaging, adapting, and directing an old Bottle Alley favorite, ‘Wraith Radio’, for their 10th anniversary season. This play was originally written by Bottle Alley founder Chris Fontanes. We are performing this summer in Austin, TX at Pink Flamingo Plant Co.

“Two wounded soldiers have been abandoned on the battlefield and are trying their best to stay alive, if they’re not dead already. They keep each other company with games, stories, music, and care for each other all the while broadcasting out to a world that might not even be there anymore. Welcome to Wraith Radio.”

CAST:
Cassandra DeFreitas as Wraith
Rosemary McGraw as Star
Devin Finn as Jessie
Todd Clark as Death

Amber Wilson - Producer/Artistic Director
Jessika Land - Stage Manager
Joe Kelly - Scenic Consultant

I was a director for the Austin, TX production of the 14/48 festival. 14 scripts over two days are written, cast, directed, and teched in 48 hours. This was such a joy and delight to do with some really fun artists!

I am directing Allan Baker’s solo piece “Miss Lotta Chanel Explains It” for the 2023 Frontera Fringe Festival in Austin at the Hyde Park Theatre. The show is a queer monologue from a drag performer as he chastises the concept of masculinity in our modern context. The piece stars Cameron O’Neil in his Austin debut. Come check us out!

I will be stage managing this new adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same title with Bottle Alley Theatre company in Austin, Texas. The show will be performed site-specifically in the historic Neill-Cochran House just outside of downtown Austin.

I will be directing the remount of the tour of TheatreWorksUSA’s production of Junie B. Jones’s Essential Guide to School. A raucous TYA musical about the beloved first grader Junie B. Jones and her friends compiling a book on how to survive the first grade. This show will tour all over the US. Marissa Beccard will be Choreographing.

The Alchemy Theatre in Austin, TX presents Kate Henning’s 2017 play The Virgin Trial about the ascension of Queen Elizabeth the first. I am the Assistant Director to Michael Cooper and am also the Intimacy Director of the play. Rehearsing in August and opening on September 1st.

I will be Intimacy Coordinating the short film NOVA OVUM written and directed by Rob Riordan. This is a statement from Rob about the film: “Queerness and sci-fi go hand in hand; growing up as queer people, we often feel alienated. Oftentimes, alien abduction is portrayed as a negative occurrence, but we're flipping that narrative. Our main characters EARN their alien abduction because of their queer love and acceptance of each other.”

LINK TO DONATE AND SUPPORT QUEER CINEMA: https://seedandspark.com/fund/nova-ovum#story

Follow NOVA OVUM IG: https://www.instagram.com/novaovumfilm/ @novaovum_film

I will be returning to Grandstreet theatre to direct Rogers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. This production was originally scheduled for last summer but had to be postponed due to COVID-19. Come join us in the park for an outdoor production of Rogers’ and Hammerstein’s final show together. All CDC recommended safety guidelines will be observed.

Trace attended a two day intensive about the practices, teachings, and applications of Intimacy Choreography on the stage and in film. It was held at the University of Texas at Arlington by Theatrical Intimacy Education