Dan Spurgeon (Founder, Artistic Director) spent his childhood in Norman, Oklahoma devouring late-night horror movies and local theatre productions. The Visceral Company is the natural result of this misspent youth.
Dan studied theatre at Oklahoma City University and the University of Oklahoma, working as an actor in far too many videos, plays, musicals, and drag shows to remember them all. Finally escaping west to California, Dan earned a BFA in Motion Pictures from the Academy of Art in San Francisco, where he also met his husband and producing partner Drew.
Previously the Artistic Director of Cobblestone Productions in New York City, Dan produced the NYC premiere of Mary Hanes' The Crimson Thread and directed the world premiere of Jorjeana Marie's Ally, Mary Jane, and Me. He also wrote and directed original adaptations for the company, one based on Evelyn Piper's novel Bunny Lake is Missing. During his time in New York, he also worked for The Shubert Organization for several years, and studied playwriting with Pulitzer and Tony nominee Tina Howe.
Since arriving in Los Angeles six years ago, Dan has directed and written for a number of venues in a variety of projects. For The Visceral Company, Dan works in a number of capacities. His original play Ghost Light brought in sold-out crowds for Halloween 2012. In 2013, he won an LA Weekly Award for his direction of The Turn of the Screw, his staging of 70s cult film The Baby won a Best Of Hollywood Fringe award, and his original adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft stories played to standing-room crowds and garnered several nods from the 23rd Annual Ticketholder Awards. danspurgeon.com
Contact: dan@thevisceralcompany.com
The theatre bug inevitably bit again, and Drew worked with his husband Dan to produce shows in San Francisco (Some Things You Need to Know Before the World Ends), New York (Ally, Mary Jane, and Me; Bunny Lake is Missing; and Lovecraft: Nightmare Suite), and Los Angeles (The Importance of Being Earnest, and all The Visceral Company's productions so far). He is also the Executive Producer of The Visceral Company's award-winning short film "Bugbaby."
Pam Noles is a former cop reporter with a love for building period and fantasy-inspired costumes. She has stitched for heavy metal videos, carnival performers and Renaissance faire participants. She knows quite a lot about giant robots, giant monsters and H.P. Lovecraft's favorite cat.
Drew Blakeman (Founder, Managing Producer) has been a proud sci-fi/horror geek as far back as he can remember. At various points in his youth, Drew fantasized about being Will Robinson; saw all five Planet of the Apes movies in a single sitting; snuck into The Exorcist (and was disappointed that it didn't make him get sick); wrote and starred in Star Trek fanboy videos (as Spock, of course); and wished he really could have taken Carrie to the prom.
Although frankly not a particularly talented actor, Drew still managed to get cast in numerous school and community theatre productions before heading off to college. After graduating from Boston University with a B.S. in Film, he found himself playing bass in a series of punk bands that probably weren't very good but were a lot of fun anyway.
