Ashley Bazer

Lead Director - Elf Jr. 

Lead Director - Newsies

Musical theatre has been part of Ashley Bazer’s life for as long as she can remember. She started doing backstage work in high school and college, earning her B.A. in Theatre with an emphasis in Stage Management from Arizona State University. From there, she became a stage manager for Disneyland’s Entertainment Department, working on shows like Fantasmic! and The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Festival of Fools. Although she aspired to go to Broadway, life took her a different way. After marrying a pastor and having three children, she discovered a love of creative writing and performance. She’s written a few melodramas and a murder-mystery play, produced by a troupe in eastern Colorado. Here in Colorado Springs, you may have seen her as Donna in Mamma Mia! (earning a 2019 Best of the Springs award) and Morticia in The Addams Family: A New Musical (2022). By day, she’s a senior content producer for an international Christian daily radio program and multiple podcasts. And in her spare time, she’s written and published twelve science-fiction novels.

Lead Director - Frozen Kids

Assistant Dir. - Newsies

Nancy Holaday has always been known as a purveyor of the dramatic! She has been involved with theatre in Colorado Springs for years as a teacher, acting coach, director, and producer, working with both students and adults. A graduate of Cal State University in Fullerton, she has resided in Colorado for the last several years, producing and directing hundreds of shows and musicals, and winning local and national awards for her work. Nancy currently teaches theater and music at the Academy for Advanced and Creative Learning, and looks forward to seeing RISE grow and become a force for Christ in this performing arts community.