Shannon Altner (she/her) is a multi-passionate creative; performer and arts & culture marketing specialist. Select credits include Maggie Harris-Witt in A Town Called Harris with The Catamounts; Courtier and U/S in Hamlet at Denver Center; Shakespeare In The Parking Lot with DCPA Education; Rosalind in As You Like It and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Shakespeare In The Wild; Ensemble in Our American Cousin: A Nation Divided with Benchmark Theatre (2022 Henry Award Nominee); Annelle in Steel Magnolias with Cherry Creek Theatre; Lydia in Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley with BETC; Sonya in Uncle Vanya with DCPA Education. She is the Associate Artistic Director of Shakespeare In The Wild and is dedicated to creating theatre for all. For commercial, marketing, and film work visit shannonaltner.com.

Leah Cardenas (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist from Denver, Colorado. She graduated with a BFA in Acting from Nebraska Wesleyan University, and specializes in theatrical experience design, directing, and occasionally designing. Selected credits include Assistant Directing with the Catamounts for their shows Impossible Things and After the End, Experience Designing for Creative Endeavor Office’s Reunion 85' Tour, performing in DCPA Off Center’s Bright Lights of Denver, fellowship with Odyssey Works, and acting/costume designing for Shakespeare in the Wild. She and her husband run a local immersive company, Opia House which has produced & directed an immersive Christmas Carol with Four Mile Historic Parks, produced two pieces for the Denver Fringe Festival, each winning “Most Immersive” in their consecutive years and Most recently Opia House won the Audience Choice and Grand Prize at the inaugural Denver Immersive Invitational.

This is Rachel’s debut with Shakespeare in the Wild. Her regional credits include, The Giver, Murder on the Orient Express, Trouble in Mind, and A Christmas Carol (Clarence Brown Theatre). Local credits include, The Mousetrap (Lone Tree Arts Center), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company), Dinner With Friends (Bas Bleu Theatre), and Lend Me a Tenor (Miners Alley Playhouse). Rachel is currently serving as Assistant Professor of Acting at the University of Northern Colorado. Education: MFA Acting, University of Tennessee.
More at RachelDarden.com.  

Bussy Gower (she/her) is excited to be back in the wild this season after appearing last season as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. Some Colorado credits include: Hair (Jeanie) at Miners Alley Playhouse, Pete the Cat Musical (Jimmy), Memphis (Ensemble), First Date (Casey), Baby! (Lizzie), Footloose (Urleen), The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Pippi) – 2019 True West Award, and South Pacific (Nellie). Some Regional credits: Into the Woods (Little Red), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia), Legally Blonde (Margot), The Hot l Baltimore (The Girl). National tour: A Christmas Carol (Lucy). Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, Bussy studied acting at Radford University. She is a founder and Artistic Director of Mile High Youth Theatre in Denver.
While she has been fully focused on MHYT since its launch in August 2023, she’s so thrilled to be spending her summer nights with this extraordinary group of artists and humans at Shakespeare in the Wild. Love to her friends who continually lift her up. As always, this is for G.

 Leigh (he/him) has played many roles over the years (D’Artangan from Three Musketeers, Lysander from A Midsummer Nights Dream, and Happy from A Death of a Salesman), his favorite role has been as founder and Executive Artistic Director of Shakespeare in the Wild.  Over the last 4 seasons, Leigh has performed as Oberon and Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Touchstone in As You Like It, Antonio in Twelfth Night, and the Friar in Romeo and Juliet.  Without the tireless support of his wife, kids, mother, in-laws, friends, and community, Shakespeare in the Wild would never happen.  For this, he is grateful beyond words.  

Dallas is overjoyed to be back in the Wild this summer! She was last seen with us as Olivia in Twelfth Night back in 2024. Some previous favorites include: Midsummer Night's Dream (Helena), First Date (Casey), Boeing Boeing (Gretchen) and Legally Blonde (Brooke Wyndham). You might've also seen her choreography in various productions around town. A huge thank you to Leigh and Aaron for this opportunity, and to my circle of support for everything else. 

In addition to his acting career which gave him the opportunity to perform in NYC and around the world, Aaron has adapted and directed Shakespeare; staged rock and symphony concerts; was a founding artist of the puppet and mask ensemble The Zoot Theatre Company; and plays in the Celtgrass band Banthom House (@BanthomHouse). As Project Manager for the city of Aurora’s Library and Cultural Services division, he manages The People’s Building (@PeoplesBuilding) and 1400 Dallas Arts, which provide access to affordable performance and rehearsal space to creatives in the Denver-metro area. He also manages the Creative Alliance of Downtown Aurora, the non-profit tasked with overseeing the Aurora Cultural Arts District; assists in the creative development in the Aurora Cultural Arts District; and is a founder of Colfax Canvas Mural Festival (ColfaxCanvas.com).

Steve Wilson (Duke) is a respected director, actor, teacher, and administrator – currently serving as Executive Artistic Director at CenterStage Theatre Company in Louisville. For Shakespeare in the Wild, Steve played Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Duke Senior/Duke Frederick in As You Like It, directed the 2024 production of Twelfth Night and was seen as Lord Capulet in last year’s Romeo & Juliet. Other select acting credits include Midsummer, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet (Colorado Shakespeare); Comedy of Errors, Midsummer (Utah Shakespeare); Much Ado, Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, Othello, Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver! (Compass Theatre Company); Christie Con, The Family Tree, Tartuffe, West Side Story, Girl Crazy, Robinson Crusoe (Arvada Center); Pippin, Picnic (Creede Repertory Theatre); The Birthday Party (Aspen Theatre Company); Gross Indecency (The Theatre Group); Hamlet (Denver Civic Theatre). Select directing credits include: Matilda, Bright Star, Crazy for You, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sound of Music (Candlelight Dinner Playhouse); The Book Club Play (Theatre SilCo); Matilda, Newsies (Town Hall Arts Center), The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Vintage); Fiddler on the Roof (Ovation West); An Ideal Husband (The Naples Players); Urinetown, Man of La Mancha, Beauty & the Beast, Joseph… (PHAMALY). He is married to professional actress Leslie O’Carroll and a proud dad of their talented daughter, Olivia – a recent musical theatre graduate from the University of Northern Colorado. Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Denver Post Ovation); Best Direction/Musical (4 Henry Awards, Best of Westword, OnStage Colorado OSCA); Theatre Person of the Year (True West Award). Training: MFA, Acting, National Theatre Conservatory; BFA, Drama, USC. www.stevewilsonarts4all.com 

MacKenzie Beyer is thrilled to join Shakespeare in the Wild this summer. She recently appeared in "Cry It Out" at Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company & "POTUS or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive" at Curious Theatre Company. She is grateful to have worked with many wonderful companies and theatre professionals across the state, including the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Stories on Stage, TheatreWorks, Miners Alley Playhouse, The Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and BETC. MacKenzie is an audiobook narrator with the Library of Congress National Library Service. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Classical Acting from The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C. 

Matthew Combs is excited to be a part of this unique process! BFA in Musical Theatre (Nazareth College of Rochester). Select recent theatre credits include: Divine Bull Transformation (Veritas Productions), Assassins, Diva Royale, It’s a Wonderful Life (MAPAC), Perfect Arrangement (Firehouse Theatre), The Legend of Georgia McBride, Guys & Dolls, 9 to 5 (Vintage Theatre), A Gentleman’s Guide… Murder (Breckenridge Backstage), Constellations, Godspell, The Rocky Horror Show (Roxy Regional Theatre), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Church & State (JCC CenterStage). TD for over 12 shows at the Roxy Regional Theatre in Clarksville, TN.

Beau Fisher is a Denver based actor, dancer, and educator. Recent roles include the OddKnock and Fictive collaborative show, Cryptic, as well as appearing in last year's Shakespeare in the Wild's Romeo and Juliet. Recently he collaborated with the immersive horror company Paralysis to perform in their extreme show, Site 2. He frequently writes scripts for the immersive experience company, Opia House, which he co-founded with his wife, Leah Cardenas. Beau is a passionate educator and has a particular soft spot for Shakespeare. Shakespeare in the Wild is one of his favorite companies in Colorado, both as an audience member and performer. 

Ellie Griffin (she/her) works as a stage manager, director, intimacy director, and theatre educator. Ellie couldn’t help but return to the Wild for their latest joyful, outdoor adventure, after SMing/TDing Twelfth Night last year. She holds a degree in theatre and film from Pitzer College. Other select stage management credits include Big Fish, Reunion ‘85 (‘24 tour), Ten Things I Love about Shakespeare, She Kills Monsters. Select directing & intimacy credits include Nana’s Naughty Knickers, The Prom, Machinal, Stupid F##king Bird, Legally Blonde. Additionally, Ellie teaches theatre in youth detention centers and schools with a youth advocacy nonprofit working to disrupt the school to prison pipeline through Restorative Theatre™. Much love to Oz, Rem & all her people.

AbdulKarim is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter actor-musician, music director & producer, multi-hyphenate performer-creative. Above all these, he is most proud to be a revert to the religion of Islam & would like to thank God for every opportunity and circumstance.

Shanna is delighted to be making her SIW debut! Originally from WI, she received her BFA in Acting from Oklahoma City University, and then called Chicago home for almost 10 years before moving to Denver. She has trained at Second City and MINT music improv in Chicago, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. When not on stage Shanna enjoys her work as a nurse, and spoiling her dog, Chipper. Thanks to the wonderful team for this opportunity, and to family and friends near and far for all the love and support!

Nick Trotter has been Clowning for over twenty-five years, in theaters across America and in Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. His Clown Ferdinand the Magnificent played at the Boulder and Victoria Fringe Festivals, and the New York Clown Theater Festival, and he performed a Butoh-inspired Clown piece, Idiopathic, at the People’s Building in Aurora in 2019. He has taught mask work, Commedia dell’Arte, Bouffon, and puppetry in California, Utah, and all over the Front Range, and has been teaching and playing in the improv comedy scene around Denver since 2010. He has an MFA in physical theater from Dell’Arte International.​