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Island of Flightless Birds creatives
Dana Buschmann
Book, Music, and Lyrics
I grew up in Houston, Texas and experienced my first hurricane in 1983, when I slept through Hurricane Alicia (Category 3) even as lightning struck the tree outside my bedroom window. I studied classical ballet from age 3 to 18 before yielding to my dominant left brain to study biochemistry, then patent law. After a stint on the East Coast, I returned as an Islander-By-Choice, residing in Galveston, an island off the coast of Texas, nothing more than a sandbar really. My residency in Galveston was bookended by Hurricane Ike (Category 4, 2008) and Hurricane Harvey (Category 4, 2017) before I flew the coop to Edmonton, Alberta.
This isn’t my first rodeo, but it is my first original musical. What else can you do when your neglected artistic alter ego becomes an ostrich, grabs you by the shoulders, and snickers in your ear until you finish writing the damn thing?
Tyson Kerr
Music Arrangement and Direction
Tyson Kerr is a stylistically diverse composer, arranger, pianist, organist, singer, and accordionist. Tyson has collaborated with and written commissions for Citie Ballet, Musango, 6 Minute Warning, Pro Coro Canada, and Cosmopolitan Music Society. An award-winning graduate of the University of Toronto, Grant MacEwan, and Banff Centre for the Arts music programs, Tyson has released several albums as leader/co-leader with free improvised classical folk quartet Myrtle's Turtle and jazz collective The Writers' Guild. Tyson teaches through the Sarah McLachlan School of Music and the Winspear Conservatory of Music, using a degree in social work to help build more inclusive environments for artists and youth. Tyson has collaborated with Laura Raboud to present “Vern’s Diary”, a new musical setting of a WWII vet’s prisoner of war diary.
The Performers
Franck Armel Talla Konchou
Franck Armel Talla Konchou
Franck Armel Talla Konchou
Pelican
The Team
Jenn Galm
Dana Tanner-Kennedy
Dana Tanner-Kennedy
Communications & Marketing Director
Jenn Galm (she/they) is a multidisciplinary creator proudly based in amiskwacîwâskahikan, colonially known as Edmonton. They are a ‘wearer of many hats,’ including as an intimacy director, photographer, theatre-goer, cosplayer, and lifelong student. She primarily works as a freelance communication specia
Communications & Marketing Director
Jenn Galm (she/they) is a multidisciplinary creator proudly based in amiskwacîwâskahikan, colonially known as Edmonton. They are a ‘wearer of many hats,’ including as an intimacy director, photographer, theatre-goer, cosplayer, and lifelong student. She primarily works as a freelance communication specialist, with a focus on supporting the arts. They are excited to be on this island (well, more of a sandbar really) with you all.
Dana Tanner-Kennedy
Dana Tanner-Kennedy
Dana Tanner-Kennedy
Dramaturg
Dana Tanner-Kennedy is a dramaturg, scholar, and educator who teaches at the University of Alberta and St. Joseph’s College. Dana’s dramaturgy credits include among men (Theatre Projects Manitoba); The Soldier’s Tale (Carnegie Hall, NY); Hamlet (Yale Repertory Theatre, CT); Urge for Going (The Public Theater, NY); Suddenly Last S
Dramaturg
Dana Tanner-Kennedy is a dramaturg, scholar, and educator who teaches at the University of Alberta and St. Joseph’s College. Dana’s dramaturgy credits include among men (Theatre Projects Manitoba); The Soldier’s Tale (Carnegie Hall, NY); Hamlet (Yale Repertory Theatre, CT); Urge for Going (The Public Theater, NY); Suddenly Last Summer, Loot, Nora, Appropriate, Doubt, and Don Juan (Westport Country Playhouse, CT). Her writing has appeared in Theatre Journal, Theater, Ecumenica, and Religions, and she was a Contributing Editor to PAJ. Formerly, she served as Associate Director of Education at Dallas Theater Center and worked in the literary offices of the Public, Atlantic Theater Company, and Yale Repertory Theatre. Training: MFA and Doctor of Fine Arts, Yale School of Drama.
Selina Painchaud
Dana Tanner-Kennedy
Selina Painchaud
Production Manager/Designer
Selina (she/her) is an Edmonton-based theatre technician, technical operator, arts administrator, and designer. She is also a member of MacEwan University’s Theatre Operations Department and most days can be found helping facilitate incredible live events, with a cup of coffee in her hand. She is honoured to be
Production Manager/Designer
Selina (she/her) is an Edmonton-based theatre technician, technical operator, arts administrator, and designer. She is also a member of MacEwan University’s Theatre Operations Department and most days can be found helping facilitate incredible live events, with a cup of coffee in her hand. She is honoured to be supporting this project as it begins to take flight, pun absolutely intended.