(September 8, 2023 - Los Angeles, CA)— The Autry Museum of the American West presents the only Equity theatre company dedicated exclusively to developing and producing new work by Native artists, Native Voices and its premiere of Where the Summit Meets the Stars by Frank Henry Kaash Katasse.

When a near-death experience derails her flight through Southeast Alaska, Rose awakens to find herself in the care of the kind stranger who pulled her to safety. As they journey by boat through the darkness and fog, Rose untangles the mysteries of her past, questions the world around her and comes to an inescapable crossroads. Where the Summit Meets the Stars is an ethereal Alaska Native story driven by music, dance and the culture of the Tlingit people.

Artistic Director DeLanna Studi knows the immense value of Native Voices thanks to the theater company, Southern Californians are offered an intimate audience experience with the exciting voices and rich stories of Native artists, stories which are often complex and layered. "Native stories are often not linear," Studi says, "containing multiple planes, multiple beginnings and endings, multiple ancestral, environmental or cosmological characters, all existing, interweaving and overlapping simultaneously." 

Where the Summit Meets the Stars places the audience as passengers aboard a spiritual vessel on a journey in which one Alaskan woman must decide the fates of herself and her family. An open and honest exploration of love and autonomy, Where the Summit Meets the Stars asks us to consider: would we make one choice that could determine everything, or would we risk it all for the opportunity to make a thousand more choices? 

For reservations and more information, please visit TheAutry.org/NativeVoices. 

SPECIAL EVENTS 

OPENING NIGHT | Friday, September 29, 2023 | Reception: 7 p.m. | Performance: 8 p.m. 
Join Native Voices for a pre-performance reception with complimentary beer, wine, soda and appetizers. 

STUDENT MATINEES | Friday, October 6, 2023 and Friday, October 13, 2023 | 11 a.m. 
High school teachers and college professors, contact eblandford@theautry.org to learn how you and your students can attend these performances during the school day for $2 per ticket. 

 
LEAD CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM 

PLAYWRIGHT | Frank Henry Kaash Katasse [he/him] is Tlingít from the Tsaagweidí clan. He is an Emmy Nominated writer as well as an actor, author, director, producer, improviser, educator and playwright. He received his bachelor's degree in theatre arts from the University of Hawaii: Mānoa. Katasse lives and works in Douglas, Alaska and has worked on numerous productions at Perseverance Theatre. He made his professional playwriting debut with Native Voices in 2016 with They Don’t Talk Back, which premiered at the Autry, La Jolla Playhouse and Perseverance.

DIRECTOR | DeLanna Studi [she/her] is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation and has more than 25 years of experience as a performer, storyteller, educator, facilitator, advocate and activist. Her theatre credits include the first national Broadway tour of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play August: Osage County, off-Broadway’s Gloria: A Life (Daryl Roth Theatre), Informed Consent (the Duke on 42nd Street) and regional theatres (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage, Cornerstone and Indiana Repertory Theatre). Studi originated roles in more than 18 world premieres including 14 Native productions. A pivotal moment in her career was writing and performing And So We Walked: An Artist’s Journey Along the Trail of Tears, based on retracing her family’s footsteps along the Trail of Tears with her father. And So We Walked has been produced throughout the country and was the first American play chosen for the Journées Théâtrales de Carthage in Tunisia, Africa. Last year, it made its Off-Broadway debut at Minetta Lane where it was recorded for Audible. In film and television, Studi stars in the Peabody award–winning Edge of America; Hallmark’s Dreamkeeper, Goliath, Shameless and General Hospital. She is a 2022 USA Fellow, a recipient of the Butcher Scholar Award, a MAP Fund Grant, a Cherokee Preservation Grant and the Doris Duke Performing Artist Fund. Since 2007, she has served as chair of the SAG-AFTRA National Native Americans Committee.

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