SARAH LIANE FOSTER
Heather Pearl graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Inter-disciplinary Arts. While living in SF, Pearl performed with Clown Conspiracy, Women Walking Tall, Make*A*Circus, The SF Women’s Circus, and the Prescott Clowns. As a California Arts Council Artist, through Make*A*Circus, Pearl taught clowning and circus skills to special populations. She was instrumental in starting the Funny Bone Doctor program through Make*A*Circus, performing clowns rounds to pediatric wards and clinics twice a week.
In 1997, Pearl graduated from Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, CA. She performed with the company the next year in The Weave, a Dell’Arte Mad River Production, directed by Joan Schirle. From 1998-2001, Pearl performed with Do Jump! Extremely Physical Theatre in Portland, Oregon and on tour.
In 2002, Pearl began working with Michael O’Neill as the Nomadic Theatre Co. Together they created The View From Here and Two Clowns Flex, appearing in Oregon, Idaho and California. She has continued to teach and perform regularly with the Nomadic Theatre Co, DoJump! and in Clowns Without Borders benefits. In April of 2003, Pearl went to Chiapas, Mexico on a Clowns Without Borders Expedition.
In 2004, Pearl with Sarah Liane Foster created and began performing The See-Saw Project: 2 Clowns, 1 Mat, No Exit. Since then they have created, with the direction of Michael O’Neill, two other shows: How to Fly and Written in a Letter.
Pearl will forever be grateful for meeting the red nose 16 years ago and for all the adventures working in it has brought her on—and all the ones yet to come.
is a teacher, director, and performer who works in a wide range of styles, including clown, commedia dell'arte, new vaudeville, musical theatre, Shakespeare, and devised theatre.
Michael brings a rich educational background to his work: he received his BA from Castleton State College, is a graduate of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre and completed his graduate work at the University of Portland, receiving a Masters in Fine Arts in Directing in 2010.
Michael has performed in all fifty states and more than a dozen countries over the last 20 years, from clown to vaudeville to puppeteering. Recently, Michael directed and performed in The Spirit of Magic, which had a sixteen-week run on the Portland Spirit in Portland Oregon. Portland has also seen Michael's directing work the Commedia dell’Arte show "A Servant of Two Masters" at the University of Portland, a production of "The Taming of the Shrew" at George Fox University, and vaudeville/variety shows such as Portland's highly-successful annual Clowns Without Borders benefit shows. A co-founder of the Nomadic Theatre Company, Michael has directed and performed in several Nomadic productions. As an educator, he has written curriculum and taught students in public and private schools, from pre-kindergarten through university levels.
You may learn more about Michael through Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Art Beat feature.
Tony grew up in his hometown of West Phillidelphia, spending most days goofing around with the other kids on the playground, eventually winning a scholarship to Fancy Dancy Latin College of Ohio with his basketball talent
The passage from his dissertation "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." angered his professors so much he was threatend with expulsion. This altercation terrified his poor mother who immediately had him transfered to the Clown College of Bel-Air, from which his aunt and uncle are alumni.
