The Empty Space

DIRECTOR’S NOTES

CAST AND CREW BIOGRAPHIES

Naomi Aguilar-Lopez (Tech)

Naomi is so overjoyed to have the opportunity to work on this brand new and honestly amazing show with this cast and crew! Mainly a backstage tech, painter for set, and prop master she's also appeared in From The Mechanicals With Love as Demetrius and in The 39 Steps as Superintendent Chief Albright, both at Mira Monte High School. She's excited to continue doing theater-be it at school or community- until she's off to college. Naomi would like to thank both directors Mariah and Bethany for giving her an opportunity to work on something in the community! She'd also like to thank her boyfriend Kolby for always encouraging her to be more open and extroverted.

JuanCarlos Arellano (Choreographer)

JuanCarlos is excited to work on this new show as a new choreographer! Recent credits include Fiddler on the Roof (Motel) at The Ovation Theatre, Cabaret (Victor) at Fullerton College, and The Earth is Flat (Ethan) at The Empty Space! He is a current BFA Devised/Physical Theatre student at CSUF and is excited to continue his journey and grow his knowledge of acting!

Vicky Carrillo (Costume/Backstage Crew)

Vicky is thrilled to be in their first show with The Empty Space. They are currently an incoming freshman at UC Irvine with a B.A Drama major. Before this show, their previous work included performing as Juliet in R+J: A Modern Romeo and Juliet as well as Cady Heron in Mean Girls, both at Golden Valley High School. They want to thank the cast and crew for being as welcoming and encouraging as they are, as well as Mariah and Bethany for trusting them with their vision. To their pearls, you are always, always worth the time.

Eli Castillo (Co-Choreographer)

Eli is grateful he was approached by this amazing team of Mariah, Keira, and Bethany to join in on such a wonderfully crazy show written by one of Bakersfield’s own, Taylor Lozano. Getting to workshop it for him has been a blast! You can see Eli next fall choreographing Little Shop at Mira Monte. He hopes you enjoy what the cast and crew have created.

Cynthia Cerda (Tech/Set Construction)

Cyndi has relished the opportunity of working with The Empty Space in spotlighting Taylor Wendell Lozano’s new musical! Cyndi’s recent credits include tech for The Scarlet Pimpernel at Bakersfield College, where she’s excited to hit the stage in Much Ado About Nothing and stage managing  All’s Well That Ends Well. She is currently working towards an AA degree in communication and a Multi Media Arts certificate at BC. Cyndi would like to thank everyone in her life who has shown her the art of theater and how emotionally invested one can be!

Keira Dempsey (Stage Manager)

Keira is a first time Stage Manager who is thrilled to be a part of Taylor's original piece. Keira's latest performance was an adaptation of Medea, created by its director Mariah, at the Edinburgh and Hollywood Fringe Festivals. They discovered their love of theatre at 16 years old during their northern California production of The Laramie Project. Keira is excited to be a part of this original piece and a big shout out to Mariah, Bethany, and Taylor for giving them this opportunity to be involved.

Loe Eoff (Dance Ensemble)

Loe is ecstatic to be back in the Space for her first musical! You may have previously seen her as ensemble in The Earth is Flat and Boy #2 in Luchadora! Loe is a CSUB senior majoring in liberal studies with a newly declared theatre minor. She would like to especially thank JuanCarlos and Sav for all their dance help, the wonderful cast and crew for their hard work and support, and her friends and family.

Marina Gradowitz (Oomba)

Marina is pleased to be here living out her lifelong dream of being a mobile household appliance! Recent credits include Frieda in Carrie, Lydia in Pride and Prejudice, and Annelle in Steel Magnolias. When she’s not busy having robotic cleaning-induced panic attacks onstage, she’s working on her bachelor’s in accounting/business administration and serving as the Facilities Director at The Empty Space. She would like to thank this show’s cast and team for making the creation of this performance such a memorable and silly experience as well as Kristina Saldaña for bullying her into memorizing her lines. She hopes you enjoy our post-apocalypse!

Mariah Jordan (Director)

Mariah is the technical theater director at Mira Monte High School. She has directed a handful of local productions including: The Shape of Things and the Flowers for Algernon living museum at the former Playhouse West. Most recently she participated in the 2024 Hollywood and Edinburgh Fringe festivals with an original adaptation of Euripides' Medea alongside Keira Dempsey and Bethany Lahammer. Mariah is very excited to be a part of bringing this new and ambitious story to the stage. She thanks Taylor for trusting her with his script and thanks to the cast and crew for their enthusiasm and support. Also, a huge thanks to Keira and Bethany for being the strongest team a director could ask for.

Bethany Lahammer (Director)

Bethany was most recently on TES stage as the mom in Carrie but met Taylor and Shawn in her first show in this community playing Diana in Next To Normal. She is delighted to be working with them again to bring Taylor’s new work to life and is super proud to have been able to support his journey to this moment. Bethany served nationally on the Board of Directors for the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, and locally for the amazing theatre students at Mira Monte High School. Thanks to Mariah & Keira for joining the ride and break legs to all the playwrights bringing new art into the world!

Callan Lahammer (Billy)

Callan is very excited to make his debut at The Empty Space with so many amazing people. The last show he was a part of was The Heavens Favorite Murderess at Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival directed by Mariah Bathe. Other things he enjoys are playing music on his guitar and saxophone, reading, learning new flips, and writing. He would like to give a huge thank you to the creative team and the rest of the cast.

Geovanni Lopez (Tech)

Geovanni is very excited to be able to work on this wonderful show with all the brilliant cast. He is the head tech at Mira Monte high school and also builds mechanical art pieces which he is showcasing at the Kern County Fair

Oliver Love (Vocal Director)

Oliver has been an active member of the Bakersfield theatre community for almost four years now. They've been on stage, backstage, and on the creative team for many shows. They started vocal directing in November of last year for the Spotlight Academy of the Arts and haven't stopped making this the fifth show they've done vocals for. They are very grateful to the cast for making their job fun and to Bethany and Mariah for trusting them with this project.

Taylor Wendell Lozano (Playwright/Composer)

Taylor is a composer-lyricist who recently completed a BA in Theatre Arts from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and an MFA in Musical Theater Writing from NYU Tisch. Taylor first performed with The Empty Space at 16 in Reefer Madness, followed by Bare, a pop opera, and has called the theater home since. While he enjoys writing comedy, his career focus is to find more ways to incorporate science fiction into empathetic stories to encourage theater fans to explore STEM sciences. Taylor is honored to be back home to see his musical performed and hopes you enjoy the story and score he has to offer.

Jorge Morales (W.E.B.S.T.E.R.)

Jorge is excited to be a part of this brand new musical! You may have last seen him at The Empty Space as Ted from Peter and The Starcatcher. Some of his other roles include Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps and The Baker from Into The Woods, both at Mira Monte High School. He is an aspiring playwright and is currently adapting “Zorro” for Mira Monte High School. He would like to thank his family and friends, Marina and JuanCarlos for the constant rides (and Starbucks), his girlfriend, Lily, and both of his directors, Bethany and Mariah, for their help and support!

Romello Nolbert (Sound Operator)

This is Romello’s first-time doing sound in a production and he is happy to learn! He would like to thank Bethany Lahammer, Keira Dempsey, and Mariah for giving him a chance to do something new. Have fun and enjoy the show!

Stephen Overstreet (Lighting Design)

Stephen is excited for the opportunity to work with such a talented cast and creative team in the development of an original musical.  Previous lighting designs have included Anastasia, SpongeBob the Musical, The Crucible, and The Light in the Piazza.  He would like to thank The Empty Space for providing a supportive venue for projects like this.

Anton “Peak” Peaker (Dance Ensemble)

Anton enjoys karaoke and making dance TikToks. While they’ve never been in a show, they have many theater savvy family members. They hope to participate in more shows in the future, but for now, they’re excited to be a part of this show and honored to work with this incredibly talented cast, crew, and creative team in this show written by their insanely talented nephew, Taylor Lozano.

Shawn Rader (Andy)

Shawn is technologically programmed to be excited to perform at The Empty Space. No stranger to TES, Shawn has choreographed and performed in many a show. At TES 1.0, you may have seen him portray Squidward in the SpongeBob Musical, (throwin’ it way back) Moritz in Spring Awakening, and most recently as Kerchak in Tarzan. Shawn spends his (work?) days sharing the wonders of fine arts as an Arts Integration Teacher. He sends warm love and thanks to his brother, Taylor Lozano. Thank you to the hardworking directorial team, board, cast and crew, and to the loves of his life, Chase, Lemon, and Nova

Zoey Raguindin (Dance Ensemble)

Zoey is thrilled to be a part of this amazing original production! While this is her first production in any local theater, you may have seen her in productions of Shrek and She Kills Monsters at Stockdale High School. She would like to thank her parents for the support (and the rides!) as well as her friends and fellow cast/crew members! She hopes that you enjoy the show!

Dylan Rogge (Tito)

Dylan is so excited to be bringing this original work to life. He has recently been seen at Stars Theater Restaurant in Rock of Ages as Drew Foley. He has also been at the Ovation Theater as Dewey Finn in School of Rock. He would like to thank his family and friends for supporting him and thanks you for supporting local theater!

Avan Seals (Co-Choreographer)

Avan is pleased to be a part of this unique and futuristic show. They’re a graduate of Mira Monte HS and currently a junior at the AMDA College of Performing Arts with a BFA Musical Theatre major. Before heading off to school, they performed in various shows around town, including The Addams Family, Freaky Friday, and Memphis at Bakersfield College and Stars Dinner Theatre. Lastly, they would like to thank Mariah for letting them help each time they come back to Bakersfield, and Bethany for being the best theatre teacher ever! It’s loving people like Bethany that make the world a better and sillier place to live in. Much love and break a leg everyone!!