BIOGRAPHIES

Death on The Downbeat

Sara Mountjoy-Pepka

MAGIC CIRCLE MIME Co. is regarded as one of today’s premier family attractions. Their highly acclaimed performances, which unite the concert orchestra with visual theater, are consistently praised for imaginative and innovative content.

Magic Circle Mime Co. performs with virtually every major orchestra in North America and has performed on numerous occasions with the Symphony Orchestras of Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Montreal, Saint Louis, Seattle and Toronto; Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra; and on more than half a dozen occasions at The Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Magic Circle Mime Co. also has a growing reputation outside North America. In the Pacific Rim and Far East they have performed at festivals and with major orchestras in Australia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan. Appearances include the Beijing Music Festival, Shanghai International Children’s Festival, Taiwan International Children’s Festival, the Hong Kong Philharmonic (six times), the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, the West Australia Symphony Orchestra and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. They made their European debut with the Palau de la Música de Valencia in April of 2007.

Magic Circle Mime Co. is the creative partnership of Maggie Petersen and Douglas MacIntyre. Both artists have backgrounds in theatre and instrumental music, and have utilized that training to create their highly regarded programs. Their newest production, "Orchestra from Planet X", explores the music of the orchestra in the New World.

Individual Biographies:

Sara Mountjoy-Pepka

Sara Mountjoy-Pepka became the first associate member of the Magic Circle Mime Company in 2007, the same year she graduated from Northwestern University with a double major in Bassoon Studies and Social Policy. While at Northwestern she performed in numerous musical ensembles and as a member of The Mime Company, a semi-professional theatre affiliated with the University.

Since joining the Magic Circle Mime Company and returning to her native Pacific Northwest, Sara has performed in Magic Circle productions with the Indianapolis Symphony, Utah Symphony, Delaware Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Orquesta da Valencia and twice with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. In addition to her work with Magic Circle Mime Company, Sara performs regularly in regional theatre productions and is a member of the Seattle improv comedy group, Unexpected Productions.

Gordon Carpenter

In addition to his work with the Magic Circle Mime Company, Gordon Carpenter is an actor and stage fight choreographer. He has performed numerous roles with The Seattle Shakespeare Company, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, and the Georgia Shakespeare Festival as well as many Seattle area theaters. In addition to acting he has worked as a fight choreographer for Shakespeare productions including MACBETH, OTHELLO, and ROMEO AND JULIET. He has also performed as a sword fighter in a Seattle Opera production of RIGOLETTO and has served as fight choreographer and movement specialist for the Young Artist Program also at Seattle Opera. His performances with the Magic Circle Mime Company include the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

K. Brian Neel

K. Brian Neel comes to the Magic Circle Mime Company with more than twenty years of experience in professional theatre. While a student at the University of New Mexico Brian began working with a physical improvisation company. This eventually led to his moving to Seattle, Washington in 1989 where he completed his studies at the University of Washington. Since then he has worked in numerous Seattle area theatres and toured throughout the U.S. for eight years with the Seattle Mime Theatre. Brian's eclectic resume includes musical performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, stage directing Verdi's "Louisa Miller" for Puget Sound Opera, clown work for Teatro Zinzanni and performing in the web based science fiction series, "The Coffee Table." He has also created six solo theatre pieces, including a one man ukulele opera, with which he has toured the US, Canada and Australia. Brian resides in Seattle with his wife and two daughters in a house that he largely designed and built himself - a holdover activity from his days as an architecture student in New Mexico.