BACKSTORY THEATRE.

Mary Wilkie (Executive Director & BYLP Mentor) attended University of Northern Colorado with a focus in Theatre Arts and has a BA in Communications from MSU Denver. Mary was among the founding troupe of the Broomfield Summer Youth Players, an entirely youth-led theatre company and has over twenty years’ experience instructing youth theatre, visual arts, and STEM curriculum. When she’s not herding proverbial cats and delighting in the challenges and excitement of her role with BackStory, she provides private acting lessons and tutoring to all ages, specializing in learning support and strategies for youth with special needs and learning difficulties, and is a strong advocate for inclusive and adaptive education in public schools and all enrichment programming. Additionally, she enjoys lending a voice for arts engagement and learning with various boards and committees throughout the community, including as Chair of the Broomfield County Cultural Council. Mary is very proud to be the parent of two amazing teens in a family which constantly keeps her learning, growing, and laughing.

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P-Jay Adams (BSTA Artistic Instructor, BSYT Co-Music Director) is a graduate from the University of Northern Colorado with their Bachelor of Music in Opera Performance. They spent two summers performing opera in Germany, performing Monostatos in Mozart's The Magic Flute the first time and then performing the role of Gaston in La Traviata and singing excerpts from Les Miserables as Valjean while being Chorus Master/Music Coordinator. Since graduating, they have performed such roles as Ronnette in Little Shop of Horrors, Eddie in Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dupree in Cry-baby, and Hud in Hair. Other credits include Seaweed in Hairspray, MC in Chicago, & Preacher in Bonnie and Clyde. They are excited to share their love of performance and music with BackStory's students! 

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Felicia Bredenberg (BSYT Stage Director, BSTA Teaching Artist, BYLP Mentor) received her BA in English and minored in Theatre Education at the University of Northern Colorado.  She taught both language arts, theatre classes, and became the theatre co-director at Lakewood High School.  In addition to directing the dramas and choreographing the musicals, she also helped create the school’s improv troop and run their Shakespeare festivals.  In 2006, she became a stay at home mom.  She is currently working as preschool director and teacher for the City of Westminster Swim & Fitness Center Preschool.  She has taught countless classes and directed the following shows for BackStory Theatre: Music Man, Hello, Shakespeare!, Singin’ in the Rain, Romeo & Winifred, and Mary Poppins.  She has an amazingly supportive husband and three children who she loves very much. 

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Kelly Bidstrup Graham (BSYT Music Director & Artistic Instructor) graduated from MSU Denver with a B.A. in music and a minor in marketing. After college she turned that tutoring career into a full time position at the Early College of Arvada, teaching music and drama. Over the course of her tenure there she built a thriving theater program and fostered a culture of arts appreciation supported by an unconventional instrumental music ensemble, a High school honor Chorale, and comprehensive choir and drama classes for middle school students. She completed her masters in theater from CU Boulder in Spring 2022. She brings passion and dedication to every project she takes on whether she's teaching, directing, or performing. She makes making art a priority and is so excited to make art with BackStory! 

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Kendle Butterworth (BSTA Artistic Instructor) received a MA in Geography at CU Boulder in 2010 in which she did research on using theatre as a means of community development in Kenya. She earned a MS in Education from the State University of New York at Albany in 2016, specializing in teaching literacy, curriculum development, social studies, and theatre. She has worked as an educator for over a decade in a variety of K-12 settings, including teaching undergraduates and working professionals. She served as the Director of Professional Development for STEM Learning Lab in Canada where she developed programming to incorporate the arts into STEM curriculum. She has been a professional improvisor and also served as the Assistant Director at Camp Shakespeare at Winedale for 12 years. She is a firm believer in the power of theatre to empower individuals and communities. She enjoys spending time outside with her two children, husband, dog, and riding horses! 

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Paola Osma-Behning (BSTA Teaching Artist) was born in Bogota, Colombia. She started to train in Dance and acting at a very young age. Went to school to get her master degree in Dramatic arts and Movement from the A.S.A.B in Bogota. She moved in 2003 to the States to work  with C.U Boulder as an exchange dance teacher. Started her performing production company called “ En Fuego Productions” were she produced, directed and choreographed different shows accomplishing a great success combining professional and community dancers in big dance, aerial, theater experiences. Now she is a mother of two young kids, who love theater and movement as much as she does. She loves working with kids and the community. And is eager to share her music, traditions and artistic roots.

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Jessica Jewell (BSTA Teaching Artist) is a sound engineer who has worked in live sound for 6 years and theatre for 3. They graduated from CU Denver with a Bachelor's of Science in Music with a Recording Arts Emphasis in 2020. While in school, they ran sound for various  events in Denver and many of the events at the school. In 2019 they began working with Equinox Theatre Company, mixing shows such as I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, Heathers: The Musical, and Be More Chill. In 2019 they won the BroadwayWorld Denver's award for Best Sound Design of a Musical for their work on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. In June of 2021 Jess started working at Tenderdyn Arts, one of the few Dolby Atmos studios in Colorado, as the assistant engineer/producer. Jess is passionate about creating meaningful experiences between performers and audiences through sound. They also aim to bring up a diverse next generation of sound engineers through teaching live sound and podcasting with Backstory, and future spatial masterclasses with Tenderdyn."

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Nellie Speers (Artistic Instructor) studied at Ithaca College where she earned a BA in Theatre Studies and a minor in Literatures in English. Since graduating, she has enjoyed working with children aged 9 months to 5 years as an assistant head start teacher in upstate New York. Nellie's theatrical passions include dramaturgy, performance, stage management, and directing. She is especially interested in devised work and has participated in devised performances with the Ithaca College Senior Ensemble and the Bryn Mawr College theatre department. Nellie is an avid hiker and found her way to Colorado through her seasonal trail maintenance work in Rocky Mountain National Park. She is looking forward to meeting our wonderful students and their families in person beginning in fall 2022!

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Payce English (Technical and Administrative Support) battles the imps of information technology to keep our software soft and friendly for all us theatre folks who'd rather make an artistic mess than connect a web domain. Her experience running IT for the Arvada Center is much appreciated as she helps us navigate needs as a growing organization.

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Zoe Dilts (BSTA Teaching Artist) is a BackStory alumna and we're thrilled to welcome her to the team for our summer season! Zoe participated in our Youth Leadership Program for many years, and was a steering team member of that team for two years. Zoe has been seen on stage with BackStory (amongst many other performances with other groups) as Lena Lamont in Singin' In The Rain, Gertrude in Seussical the musical, and roles in Guys & Dolls, Annie, Mary Poppins, and The Music Man. Zoe is currently pursuing a BA in Musical Studies and Cinema Studies at Oberlin College and Conservatory

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