Carlyle Brown is a playwright/performer, curator and artistic director of Carlyle Brown & Company based in Minneapolis. He is an alumnus of New Dramatists, a Lifetime Core Writer at the Playwrights’ Center. His plays have been produced at theaters across the country and internationally, he has received numerous commissions, fellowships and awards. A scholar and historian, Brown has been an artist -in -residence or visiting professor at various colleges and universities and has worked as a museum exhibit writer and story consultant. Illusion Theater has supported his work producing his plays Finding Fish, Acting Black, Down in Mississippi and A PLAY by Barb and Carl. Recently the Mellon Foundation awarded Brown a National Playwright in Residence grant to work with Illusion Theater for three years.

Victor Zupanc began his musical career studying violin and piano at the age of six at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Victoria, British Columbia. After receiving his Bachelor of Music Degree at the University of Victoria he went on to earn his Master’s Degree in Music Composition at the University of California at San Diego in 1983. Since 1989 he has held the position of Resident Music Director/Composer at the Tony Award winning Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis (CTC). At CTC, Mr. Zupanc composes scores and conducts orchestras comprised of the finest professional musicians in the country. From members of the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra to members of Prince's New Power Generation, Victor has the trust of the best musicians in the business. Not to mention the finest playwrights, directors, theater artists and actors in the country.

Hailing from a small village called Cedros in the southern tip of the eastern Caribbean island of Trinidad, Tony Paul made his way to Minneapolis as a student attending Augsburg College in the 70’s. Since his arrival he established himself as a pillar in the twin cities Caribbean music scene. His musical interests are far reaching from American folk to Caribbean music and funk. Playing with a number of bands over the years including Simba, Ipso Facto, and Shangoya, Tony currently plays weekly with the Liquor Pigs and The International Reggae Allstars.

Guitarist Deevo brings a wide array of musical background to any gig he's on, with performance experience ranging from R&B, jazz, reggae, funk, rock, gospel, and blues. Born and raised in Chicago, he has come along way from the boy who used to walk to his music lessons a mile and half away while carrying his guitar in a Hefty bag. He is now based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Currently he is performing with his band The BluPrint. Also he has performed with Grammy award winning The Sounds of Blackness, Grammy Award winning group The Commodores, The Steeles, Sara Renner, TKO, AGAPE, Dan Kusz, Big Walter Smith, R-Factor, Fred Steele, JD Steele, Mallia Franklin, PKG, Wain McFarland(IPSO FACTO), Smokey Joes Cafe Musical, Always & Forever Musical, Birmingham Musical, Bella Diva, Diane Martinson, Rebekka Fisher, The Fonky Baldheads, GeVonne Ford, Gwen Matthews, Les Exodus, Innocent, Jodie Sellers, Best Kept Secret, The Kenni Holmen Quintet, Yolanda Bruce, NorthCoast, Ryan & The Rule, Woodland Hills Church, Calvary Lutheran, New Hope Evangelical, Speak the Word Church, Barbara Leshore, Best Kept Secret, as well as Producers Ben Obi, Kirk Johnson, Matt"Dr" Fink, and Ricky Peterson.

Deevo also works as a producer and songwriter.

His career highlights include performances with Prince, Tramaine Hawkins, Tab Benoit, Alex Acuna, Abraham Laboriel and Cap..n Jack McDuff.

Among his awards and honors are the 2012 NAACP IMAGE AWARDS with The Sounds of Blackness, 2006 LA Music Awards for Best Smooth Jazz Group and Best Smooth Jazz Single (with The Dan Kusz Band), Black Music Award..s Best R&B Group in 1996 (with The KAJ Orchestra); nominations by the Minnesota Music Awards for The KAJ Orchestra also in 1996; Les Exodus (Best Reggae Band Category in 2000); as well as for Big Walter Smith for Best Blues Band in 1992 and 1996.

Noël Raymond is the Co-Artistic Director of Pillsbury House + Theatre where she has helped lead, develop and implement theatre and arts programming to promote community vitality since 1995. Ms. Raymond has worked extensively as an actor and director in theaters locally and nationally and is currently a core member of Carlyle Brown & Company. Her directing credits include The Children, Prep, Gidion’s Knot, The Pride, No Child…, Underneath the Lintel, An Almost Holy Picture, Far Away, Angels in America: Parts I and II, and [sic] at Pillsbury House Theatre; Are You Now…, Therapy and Resistance, and Acting Black for Carlyle Brown & Company, From Shadows to Light at Theatre Mu, The BI Show with MaMa mOsAiC, and multiple staged readings and workshops through the Playwrights’ Center. She served on the Minneapolis Arts Commission from 2011-2014 and has been on the Boards of Directors for the Multicultural Development Center; the Burning House Group Theatre Company, which she also co-founded; and the South Minneapolis Arts Business Association (SMARTS). Ms. Raymond co-authored, with Denise Kulawik, a case study of Pillsbury House Theatre for the book Building Communities Not Audiences published in 2012. She has presented at numerous convenings including the National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture, the American Swedish Institute’s ‘Night of Social Wonder’; and the National Innovation Summit for Arts & Culture.