THE DAY THE SKY TURNED ORANGE

Julius Ernesto is a Bay Area-based playwright, journalist, producer, grant writer and conflict resolution facilitator. With a degree in Philosophy from SFSU, Rea co-founded journalism theatre company The Forum Collective in 2018 and cooperatively-owned arts magazine Substrate Arts in 2022. He is also a previous Theatre Bay Area Arts Leadership Residency artist, which allowed him to work with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Dedicated to holistic healing and equity, they create new projects on underrepresented narratives based on deeply-rooted research, interviews, and dramaturgy. Rea received a 2023-24 Creative Corps Initiative grantee to further develop The Day the Sky Turned Orange.

Aidaa Peerzada is the Literary & Outreach Manager at SFBATCO. She is an actor and writer who grew up between the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland and Lahore, Pakistan. She is currently a recipient of the Theatre Bay Area’s Director’s Residency and is SFBATCO’s Artistic Development Director. Aidaa studied at the Baltimore School for the Arts and went on to receive her BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University.She debuted her voice as a writer in CMU’s "Playground" Festival with her play “Scheherazade” which went on to the NYC Fringe Festival. Workshops of her original plays include: One Googol and One (SFBATCO), Grandma Science,(The Greenhouse Theatre Solo Lab), Shining, (The Ground and Field Theatre Festival at UC: Davis.) She is currently co-writing the book of an original musical Sunflowered, in development with Northern Sky Theatre. Regional performance credits include: The Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Steppenwolf Theatre Co, American Players Theatre, Theatre Lila and Quantum Theatre. Her on-camera credits include the HBO series Girls, the web series Blank My Life, as well as the independent films Gorenos, and Stay Home.

Olivia Kuper Harris is a musical artist, writer, and producer from Dallas, Texas, with influences in jazz and soul. Harris’s career has spanned from acting, having starred in productions on the Vegas Strip and Broadway in Chicago, to music, having toured the world as a frontline vocalist for Postmodern Jukebox and featured vocalist for Teddy Swims, to writing and producing, having independently released 3 studio albums and 3 EP’s worth of original music. While Harris has an extensive career as a performer, Harris considers herself to be an artist of a fuller scope, and is honored to have had the opportunity to be part of the creative team for “The Day The Sky Turned Orange”. Visit www.OliviaKuperHarris.com to join Harris’s newsletter community and journey. Catch Harris on Season 27 of The Voice on NBC, currently streaming on Peacock. Instagram: @olivia.kuper.harris

David Michael Ott, based in Los Angeles, California, is the proverbial triple threat in music: A Grammy-nominated producer, a talented multi-instrumentalist, and a sought-after mixing engineer.

David developed his natural gift at a young age, mastering several instruments, including violin, saxophone, bass, guitar, drums and piano. He showcased an incredible versatility and deftness with each of the aforementioned instruments, and it didn't take long before he began creating his own seminal work.

David produced and mixed several songs across four seasons of the Fox hit series Empire, which received Emmy nominations for “Hemingway” and “Come Undone”. David was also an integral part of the Grammy-nominated Empire album that beat out Madonna’s Rebel Heart to earn the #1 slot on the Billboard 200 album charts. David also recently played keys and added additional production for A Tribe Called Quest, "Footprints" ft. CeeLo Green: A particular honor for him to collaborate with childhood musical heroes, as well as his longtime mixing mentor, Neal Pogue of Outkast fame.

David prides himself on working with a wide variety of artists. As a result, his musical style is always evolving, as he delves deeper into the possibilities of composition, producing, and mixing.  The one constant over time and across genres, is his creation of dynamic, visceral and engaging music.

Rodney Earl Jackson Jr. is the Artistic Director & Co-Founder of The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO), now in its 10th year! He made his Broadway debut in “The Book of Mormon” the same summer he began the venture of SFBATCO. In his 33 years of life, he has been blessed to grace international stages, participate in workshop/development processes for major plays and pre-Broadway shows (such as Toni Stone and Ain’t Too Proud), and bring his artistic insights, creative experiences, and fresh ideas to his home theatre company: SFBATCO. A native of San Francisco, he cultivated his love and foundation for the performing arts, particularly theatre, through public city organizations such as SFartsEd, San Francisco Recreation & Park’s YPTMTC, and the Ruth Asawa SF School of the Arts, where he graduated from the theatre department. He proudly holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama, and he acknowledges the incredible support of the SFBATCO staff and board, who champion his vision and creative voice in the Bay Area. Additional theatre credits include Berkeley Repertory "Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations", SFBATCO's "I, Too, Sing America" & "Toni Stone" co-produced by Arena Stage and American Conservatory Theatre.

Nikki Meñez is a director, movement artist, and arts administrator based in the San Francisco Bay Area who is moved to challenge what performing arts look like and how stories are told. Nikki is the Curatorial Director at Z Space where they curate and cultivate the rental partnerships that populate the venue side of the organization and coordinate Z Space's various residency programs in order to make the venue more accessible to the local arts community. When not at Z Space or directing, Nikki works in casting and artist outreach, theater education, and arts advocacy for a more equitable, sustainable, and humane creative ecosystem.

Vince Chan, a proud Bay Area native from Daly City, CA, has been immersed in the dance community for over 17 years. He currently dances with The Company, a renowned team based out of Westlake School for the Performing Arts. Throughout his career, Vince has taught and performed on stages around the world, and has collaborated with prominent Bay Area artists including P-Lo and E-40.

In 2022, he served as associate choreographer for The Day the Sky Turned Orange, and he’s thrilled to return—this time making his choreographic debut for his first musical. Beyond the stage, Vince teaches weekly at City Dance Studios and works in Marketing Operations at a San Francisco tech company.