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Join us at the Dove Underground on Saturday, December 19th for a heartwarming holiday classic that has become a beloved Visionbox tradition!
On a chilly Christmas Eve, a company of radio actors come together to bring the story of George Bailey and Bedford to life. Each actor plays their own cast of characters while a Foley artists creates live sound effects that add to the magic.
George Bailey is the epitome of a man who has spent his life putting the needs of others before his own. His melancholy gets the better of him on Christmas Eve, and Clarence, an “angel, second class,” arrives to show him just what an incredible effect he has had on the lives of others. This retelling by Joe Landry blends the beauty of music and voices, the nostalgia of the golden age of radio, and the humor, romance, heartbreak and hope of the original tale to form a story that has become a staple in homes across the world. Since its premiere, the play has become a holiday favorite at theaters across the country, sharing the everlasting theme that one life can have an extraordinary effect on an entire community. "No man is a failure who has friends."
New York City actor, writer, audition coach, and former Visionbox Ensemble member Trevor Lyons is returning to reprise his role as George Bailey in this year's production. Credits include Law & Order: SVU, several Lifetime movies, The Wild Hunt (directed by Bill Pullman), Un$uited (starring Dan Lauria and Tony Denison; nominated Best Actor Garden State FF), Orpheus Descending and Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Visionbox Studio Theatre), and The Great Gatsby (Constellations Stage & Screen). Trevor studied at the Atlantic Theatre Company's Conservatory program and also holds an MFA in Screenwriting from UC-Riverside.
OUR VISION
That live theatre thrives as a catalyst for social change and healing in our world.
OUR MISSION
To provide students and professional theatre artists with training rooted in graduate-level curriculum, taught by theatre professionals; and to integrate this training into the development of new inter-media performance work that focuses on the social and human issues of our time.
A Note From Jennifer McCray Rincon:
Dear friends,
As we come to the end of 2026, I am very excited and proud to announce that we will be performing one of my favorite projects, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry at the new Dove Underground (formerly the Soiled Dove). This venue has great sentimental value to me; we performed this particular project there 4 years ago, and I'm so glad we have the opportunity to do so again. My son, Carlo Andrea Rincon, AKA Wilonia, will be performing for an hour before the show, and Trevor Lyons, a former ensemble member and now successful actor in New York City will be returning to play the role of George Bailey. When I asked Carlo to perform and design the poster, he immediately pulled the phrase "no man is a failure who has friends" from the play, and it made me stop and think.
I have been working in theatre in Colorado for 35 years now, and for many years before that in NYC, at the Yale Drama School and in Bogota, Colombia. For me, theatre has never been about fame and fortune, but as Chekhov says "it is about the ability to endure, and to have faith". My faith in this calling, my faith in the power of theatre to heal us all and to find hope has never left me.
Most of you know that on December 26th, 2024 my 3 adult children and 2 sons-in-law were in a fatal car crash in Winter Park. My son in law, Williams Herrera age 29, was killed instantly. My daughter Sonia, also age 29, was in a coma and passed away January 4th, 2025. I have been able to find strength and meaning in theatre over these past two very difficult years. I would say most of all, it is through theatre that I have found friendships that have lasted all my life. I thank Bill Pullman for always supporting me and for co-founding this company, my board, all of the actors who show up every day to do the work (without fame or fortune), and most of all, my two surviving children, Catalina and Carlo, and Catalina's husband Jack. Their first child will be born in January of 2027, possibly on the day Sonia died. My family, my calling in theatre, and all of you are the meaning of my life.
Please help us sell out our last show of 2026 on December 19th, and please consider an end of year donation. No donation is too small, or too big!
I am so proud of this company, and more grateful for my education and calling in theatre than I ever have been before.
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays!
Gratefully,
- Jennifer McCray Rincon
Meet Our Founding Artistic Director
Jennifer McCray Rincón received her BA in Theatre Studies from Yale University and an MFA in Directing from the Yale School of Drama. She was recipient of an NEA Directing Fellowship at Playwright’s Horizons in NYC and a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship in Bogota, Colombia. After many years in New York, Ms. Rincón came to Denver as the Head of Acting at the National Theatre Conservatory, where she remained from 1991 through 2008. At the DCPA Ms. Rincón taught acting in the 3-year MFA Acting program and directed over 100 productions including Equus, Othello, The Laramie Project, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, The 365 Project, Monte Carlo, and Expedition 6 by Bill Pullman. Locally, Ms. Rincón has directed for El Centro Su Teatro, Shadow Theatre, The Historic Old Elitches Theatre, and was Founding Artistic Director of the Lizard Head Theatre Company in Telluride.
Since founding Visionbox Studio Theatre in 2010 Jennifer McCray Rincón has taught acting to Denver student and professional actors in five week sequences culminating in performances. She has also developed and directed a number of workshops and productions for Visionbox including: The Wild Hunt by Bill Pullman, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea by John Patrick Shanley, Lydie Breeze by John Guare, After the Fall by Arthur Miller, 2xTENN by Tennessee Williams, A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas with William Youmans, The Othello Project, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello, My Two Sisters, an adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters, and Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams.
Take a moment to listen to this inspiring short message from Bill Pullman on his collaboration with Jennifer and the team at Visionbox Studio.
Bill Pullman has film credits that span ninety features including - Independence Day, Spaceballs, Lost Highway, Casper, Sleepless in Seattle, and more.
Please consider supporting us in our Vision for the Advancing the Level of Theatre Arts here in the Denver area, and supporting this most important work.
Message from Co-Founder & Resident Artist
Actor Bill Pullman
Why Theatre Training Matters
"Like most theatre artists I knew from a very young age that theatre was going to be my life. We talk a lot in theatre about how theatre is a ‘calling,’ and to me what this means is that most young emerging artists know from a pretty young age that this is what they want to do with their lives. Everyone and everything will fight against it, but real artists ultimately are not influenced by what other people think. It’s a strange paradox that as artists we..."
We All Want To Be Part Of Something Bigger Than Ourselves
Are you a fellow lover and supporter of the arts? There are many more ways in which you can become an integral part of the preservation of, and more so the elevation of the visions of so many talented artists in your local communities.
One such way is by Peer-To-Peer campaigns. A peer-to-peer campaign is a fundraising approach where individuals or supporters of a cause (that's you!) are empowered to create their own fundraising pages or campaigns on behalf of a nonprofit organization or cause they support (that's us!).
What does this mean to you? By creating your own fundraising page, you can encourage others to give to our cause and maximize the support of our mission.
Visionbox Studio Theatre is 501(c)3 non-profit and all donations are fully tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.