Producer/Production Designer, Daphne Vega is an artist and designer originally from Portland, Maine. She is an accomplished studio ceramics artist. Since coming to L.A. she has focused on created a public arts community center with the renovation of a large DTLA loft space now called Syrup. One of her original visions for Syrup was to create a space for not only visual arts but for the performing arts as well. Meeting and working with the creators of the Burning Opera has allowed this vision to become a reality.

Producer/Production Designer, Yehonatan (Yoni) Koenig is thrilled to be returning to the theater with all these beautiful freaks as a producer and co-designer after enjoying a 19 year career as an art director and producer in the entertainment and game industries. Yoni is recognized as an industry leader in the art and science of CG production. He is an expert at bridging the gap between technology, art and creative development and is recognized for the creation of several game changing technology patents. Yoni believes that no ship is built by contemplating it's sinking and brings this enthusiasm and creativity in the spirit of service to this endeavor, our collective celebration, our Burning Opera."
www.studiogpu.com
www.extralargetech.com

Producer/Composer/Co-director, Mark Nichols, as a kid, formed a number of bands, including The Fantastic Four, Dry Ice, Atlantis, and finally Oasis(!) and didn't seriously consider writing original theater work until winning a poetry competition at age 20. He began writing Little Boy Goes to Hell, which eventually became a "4-Record Set with Book" on Pop Llama Records and finally a stage musical hit at Seattle's infamous Annex Theater. With his new friends Mark went on to work in film, producing the 8mm Flared Pants, starring a then unknown, Paul Giamatti. During this time Mark arranged on many Northwest rock albums including the very popular, "Return of the Frog Queen" by Jeremy Enigk and the grammy-winning, "Amsterdam Stranded", by Norway's Midnight Choir. Mark toured both Western and Eastern Europe with The Walkabout’s rock orchestra. Lately Mark moved from Seattle to Sebastopol, CA to LA to direct musical movies. Mark’s Caucasian Chalk Circle score is performed up to a dozen times per year around the world. Mark is a co-founder of the Hindi Grunge band, Manooghi Hi. He currently works as a Director of Photography and recently filmed Lady Gaga, Yoko Ono, Val Kilmer, Owen Wilson and some guy named Jimmy. www.thereallybig.com

Vocalist/Instrumentalist/Audience Wrangler, Mitchel Evans has most recently performed with Cirque du Soleil. Evans incorporates Corporeal Mime, Tai Qi, Yoga and Aikido in his work. He was a founder and co-director of the L.A. Mime Co from 1974 to 1984, performed with Dick Van Dyke, played the dinosaur mom, Fran, on the ABC series “Dinosaurs”, starred as Maurice the Mime on Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody”, and the Clown, Boom, in Dima Bogatirev’s “Aga-Boom!”, and co-wrote the ‘80‘s hit, “Mad About You”. From busking as a street mime to the Hollywood Bowl to the Romanian National Theatre, Evans has presented his solo mime all over the world. Mitchel formed the Mitchel Evans Mime Project, to bring together the arts of Corporeal Mime, Theatrical Clown and Dance. The premiere work, “Small Things”, was presented at Sacred Fools theater in 2009. Currently, Mitchel is training in Aikido at North Valley Aikikai.

Vocalist/Puppeteer, Troy Guthrie is a Virgin! ... ”Do I have your attention?”...Yes a virgin, No not in the most poetical sense of the word, but a virgin to the Playa nonetheless. “It’s not like I have chosen to avoid the desert or even had the opportunity to go, it’s just that my path hasn’t taken me there...yet”. From the early age of 10 Troy has found a home on the stage, performing in musicals and at the time struggling to be a child actor in LA. Now, after 14 years of experience singing & acting, a B.A. in Vocal Performance from Chapman University, classical operatic training, more musicals, some operas, and Troy finds himself as a struggling actor in LA, “I wouldn’t change a thing!”. If you are reading this bio and asking yourself where have I seen this guy before, let me tell you.... You might have seen Troy as Brad Majors in Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show, or his most recent performance of Sweet Charity as the claustrophobic and goofy Oscar Lindquist. If you fancy the moving pictures you can look for Troy in the upcoming new releases; a Paranormal Activity-esque horror film Hunting Grounds, or the classic 80’s campy (and Pope’s favorite) Bloody Bloody Bible Camp, and the hot Hot HOT Agua Caliente. Two years ago Troy gave up whatever bit of a social life he had left to don a producers cap. It started with the feature length film Hunting Grounds, and this summer continues with a complete 180-degree genre change, a family adventure film called David’s Dinosaur. Thank you for coming out tonight, for supporting our production, and for unshackling the burner within so they could come party with us!

Vocalist/Puppeteer, Aryiel Hartman is a silly bitch who clowns around with the likes of Lucent Dossier and Sypher Court Studios. Most recently she was seen in the movie "Water for Elephants" with a certain teen heartthrob between her legs (anything for a role, I tell ya). On a more personal note, this year will be her very first year attending Burning Man. She is so very grateful for this whole process and most importantly for the blinky, blinky stars involved with it. (Why do we all write these like we have our own private secretaries?).