Meet the Magpies
James T. Washburn
James T. Washburn (he/him) is a gay, trans, and disabled Storyteller-Activist born and raised in Seattle. A highly collaborative artist, his work is predicated on the idea that a story is best told with many voices. He is deeply inspired by his Queer, artistic, and Polish communities, and his experiences at the intersection of marginalized identities.
Washburn is a multi-hyphenate artist, with works spanning from the immersive epistolary novella Sealed with Honey to Achilles + Patroclus, a chamber opera commissioned by the Seattle Opera. He takes inspiration from folklore, mythology, and queer history; his work focuses on discovering queerness in traditional stories and reimagining familiar tropes and archetypes through a queer lens.
Washburn is the Founding Artistic Director of Magpie Artists’ Ensemble, an artistic collective focused on innovative cross-disciplinary storytelling. His work at Magpie allows him to collaborate with other artists in new ways, pushing genre boundaries and experimenting with how form and story serve each other.
Recent credits include the one-night-only immersive worldbuilding project FABLE (Magpie and Theatre Off Jackson) and Briar/Rose: A Queer Fairytale Musical (Magpie and Theatre Off Jackson).
Upcoming projects: Q3: The Third (sort-of) Annual Qabaret (Magpie at Dom Polski); a graphic novel adaptation of Achilles + Patroclus (ill. Chess Albaneze); and a film adaptation of Persephonai (Magpie). His work is currently streaming on the Seattle Opera and Magpie Artists’ Ensemble websites.
When he's not playing with actors, you can usually find him in his office taping drafts to the wall conspiracy board-style, or dancing with Syrena Seattle Polish folk dance ensemble on stages around the country.
Jae Kinsman
Jae Kinsman (they/them) is a Seattle-based jack-of-all-trades.
Graduating from Cornish College of the Arts in 2020 with a BFA in musical theatre, they helped found Magpie Artists' Ensemble amidst the artistic chaos of the pandemic. Their work at Magpie and with other collaborators has found them onstage, on both sides of the camera, and folding and shipping hundreds of Victorian-style handwritten letters every month.
Jae is a Founding Core Company Member, fulfillment coordinator, and resident DP at Magpie.
Alexandra Angelova
Alexandra Angelova (she/her) is a Bulgarian American stage manager and event coordinator based in Seattle. She has been stage managing James' crazy ideas since 2016, when she co-founded their first company, Bellevue Teen Productions.
Favorite projects include the NYE festivities at the Space Needle and FABLE: tales from another world (Magpie and Theatre Off Jackson).
Alexandra is a Founding Member and resident stage manager at Magpie.
Michelle Marais
Michelle Marais (she/they) is a Native American (Ojibwe) actor, painter, and costume designer. Originally from the rural Midwest, she studied theater and visual art at the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, MN, graduating in 2016. In 2020, Michelle received her BFA in Theater from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA, where she presently resides.
Michelle is a Founding Core Company Member, resident costumer, and visual artist at Magpie.
Rowan Gallagher
Rowan Gallagher (they/them) is a graduate of Cornish College of the Arts where they majored in Original Works with a focus on Directing. They wear many hats in the Seattle theatre community as an actor, dramaturg, fight choreographer, dialect coach, writer, and director.
Rowan has been involved with Magpie since before its official formation, as they participated in several generative theatre projects which would help lay the groundwork for what Magpie would become. Rowan is overjoyed to be an official Core Ensemble member of Magpie Artists’ Ensemble and looks forward to creating amazing art with exceptional people moving forward with the company.
Kyle Morrow
From Las Vegas, Kyle Morrow (he/they) is a composer, percussionist, and pianist. In his compositional work, Morrow examines taboo social dynamics that are typically avoided in everyday conversation, such as mental health and the fluid nature of identity. Morrow is also an avid performer of electronic and experimental music, often collaborating with choreographers and visual artists to create multimedia art.
Stepping away from the sheet music and sound, Kyle Morrow has a deep love for storytelling. His main medium being generative theater. There he is able to convey and explore another, less abstract, side of storytelling compared to his music. Through these sculpted tales, he exercises a different aspect of creativity, and over time the practice of both music and storytelling have influenced and pushed each other in unexpected direction.
Kyle Morrow holds a Bachelors of Music, with a Composer/Performer concentration, from Cornish College of the Arts. His primary instructors have been Kaley Lane Eaton, Kerry O'Brien, Anne Goldberg-Baldwin, and Peter Mack.
Kyle is Magpie’s resident Music Director.
Tony Holzwarth
Originally growing up in the suburbs of the Chicago-land area, Tony Holzwarth (They/He) is a long time appreciator and seldom participant of the arts. Their acting history started off with Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Roger in Rent, and Emmet in Legally Blonde The Musical.
Recently relocated to the PNW, they are excited to explore what the local theatre scene has to offer.
Tony is the very first Technical Apprentice at Magpie Artists' Ensemble.