Maria and the Mouse Deer

Patrick and Holly Crowley / DDP Productions – Fabrication and Design Company
These two Austinites have graced many stages together designing and building sets for more than fifty companies over the past 17 years. Known for their professionalism and perseverance, this dynamic duo will leave you awestruck with their grace and simplicity. They have been nominated for several B. Iden Payne and Austin Critics Table Awards over the years for Set Design and Prop Design. Their selected credits include- Ballet Austin: The Nutcrackers (Fabrication), Grimm Tales (Fabrication/Scenic Art Supervisor), Exit Wounds (Fabrication/Scenic Art Supervisor), The Sleeping Beauty (Caraboose Sleigh), POE/A Tale of Madness (Design/build of the pendulum) Ballet Austin TWO: Donde van las Mariposas (Set Fabrication); Maria and the Mouse Deer (Set Designers/Fabrication) Long Center for The Performing Arts: Greater Austin High School Musical Theatre Awards 2014 (Grand Staircase/Podiums/Step & Repeat); Summer Stock Austin 2016 /Set Fabrication- The Addams Family Musical, Carnival!, and The Steadfast Tin Soldier Austin Opera: Fidelio (Backdrops and Portal); Sweeney Todd – (Passerelle/Scenic Charge) Austin Symphony: Leonard Bernstein’s Mass 100th Celebration (Technical Director/Fabrication/Painting Supervisor). Other companies/clients: Beyond Exhibitions/Paquin Entertainment USA – Beyond Van Gogh USA Tour/The Normal Studio (Turn-key build/ 9 Sets), The Alchemy Theatre, Penfold Theatre, The Aurora Arts Theatre, The Frank Erwin Center, Austin Playhouse, Southwestern University (The Outdoor Stage 2021 build out), The Fairmont Hotel, Theatre en Bloc, Salvage Vanguard Theater, Pollyanna Theatre Co., Street Corner Arts, KLRU, PSAV, Corpus Christi Ballet, and more.

In the nineties, Holly spent her summers up north working for Maine State Music Theatre as a carpenter and doing internships for Broadway tours. During the year, she performed at Fort Worth Opera as a chorus member. By 1999, she transferred to Southwest Texas State University, graduated, and moved to Austin. Over the years, she lived and worked in many cities throughout the United States auditioning at Austin Musical Theatre, teaching high school, working as a lighting technician, scenic charge, carpenter, and dresser for Broadway tours, Rock and Roll, Ballet, and Opera companies. In 2009, she met the love of her life, Patrick, and the DDP venture began. Holly holds a BA in Music-Vocal Performance and a BA in Theatre-Design. Holly is a member and trainer with I.A.T.S.E. #205, USITT, and has served as a member of The B. Iden Payne Council. Holly is currently CEO/Director of Production for DDP Production Services.

Born and raised in Austin, Patrick started his career at Zach Scott Theatre in 1976 taking his first theatre class at 9 years old with Don Day. By the time he was 19, he was hired as Master Carpenter for Zilker Summer Musicals and Props Construction for Austin Lyric Opera under the tutelage of Steve Parks at the University of Texas. In his free time, Patrick taught Technical Lab for Theatre at the ACC Rio Grande Campus. In 1989, he started rigging at the Frank Erwin Center, and within a year hired on as the Touring Manager with a local Austin band named Near Dark, moving him to New York City and living on St. Mark’s Place. In 1992 he started touring professionally with Adam Ant. Other tours included ZZ TOP, Bob Dylan, The Wallflowers, Slipknot, Jay-Z, Smoke Out Festival w/Snoop Dogg and Cypress Hill, and many more artists. In 2003 he was hired as General Manager for Spectrum Production Services and both toured and oversaw the Rental and Touring branches of the company. Over the years he traveled coast to coast setting up both hydraulic and conventional staging, managing logistics and maintenance of the trucks, and overseeing all production riders for both the Minnesota and the Las Vegas offices. After touring, Patrick returned to Texas to finish his degree. While attending classes, he was hired on as the Technical Director/Shop Foreman/Lab Instructor for the Department of Theatre and Dance at SWT. In 2009, he met the love of his life, Holly, and they started DDP at The Aurora Arts Theatre. Patrick holds a BFA in Directing-Summa Cum Laude. Patrick is currently a Production Supervisor at The Long Center for The Performing Arts. He is also a member and trainer with I.A.T.S.E. #205, and Artistic Director/Technical Director for DDP Production Services.

Miriam Jurgensen is a native Austinite with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts Technology and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from St. Edward’s University. She has an Master of Fine Arts degree in Costume Technology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also completed the Costume Intensive Course at the Northern College of Costume in York, England. She has spent her career thus far working in theater, dance, film, and television as a stitcher, draper, crafts person, dresser, and costume shop manager. Most recently, Miriam was a draper for the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, IL and Hope Summer Repertory Theatre in Holland, MI as well as the Costume Shop Manager for the Summer Repertory Theatre Festival in Santa Rosa, California. She was previously a stitcher and dresser for Ballet Austin from 2013-2016. She has been the Head of Wardrobe for Ballet Austin TWO and the Company shoe manager since 2019.

Steven Myers joined Ballet Austin in 2010 and worked with Ballet Austin’s main company as well as Ballet Austin TWO and the Butler Fellowship program until his passing on March 8^th, 2025. Myers worked with many local performing arts organizations, such as Kathy Dunn Hamrick, Cheryl Chaddick, and SoCo Women’s Chorus and served as the resident lighting designer for Performa/Dance.

Prior to joining Ballet Austin, Myers spent 12 years as the production stage manager for the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. While in Aspen, he toured the world as well as theaters both big and small. Highlights included tours of Israel, Italy, Greece, and France, as well as working with notable choreographers, such as Jorma Elo, Nicolo Fonte, Cayetano Soto, Helen Pickett, Twyla Tharp, David Parsons, Moses Pendleton, and Trey McIntyre.

Benjamin now lives and works in Boston Massachusetts but comes from Austin, Texas where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree (2007) in Theatre Arts from St. Edwards University. He designed for various theaters such as Ballet Austin, Austin Opera, and Austin Shakespeare. His most notable designs have been seen in: Much ado About Nothing, MacBeth, and The Merry Wives of Windsor for Austin Shakespeare, and Mr.Burns a Post Electric Play, Mouthful, Rhinoceros and Violet for St.Edwards University.

Steven Myers joined Ballet Austin in 2010 and worked with Ballet Austin’s main company as well as Ballet Austin TWO and the Butler Fellowship program until his passing on March 8^th, 2025. Myers worked with many local performing arts organizations, such as Kathy Dunn Hamrick, Cheryl Chaddick, and SoCo Women’s Chorus and served as the resident lighting designer for Performa/Dance.

Prior to joining Ballet Austin, Myers spent 12 years as the production stage manager for the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. While in Aspen, he toured the world as well as theaters both big and small. Highlights included tours of Israel, Italy, Greece, and France, as well as working with notable choreographers, such as Jorma Elo, Nicolo Fonte, Cayetano Soto, Helen Pickett, Twyla Tharp, David Parsons, Moses Pendleton, and Trey McIntyre.

I was born and raised in the Philippines, in the town of Los Baños, Laguna located at the foothills of Mount Makiling (mah-kee-ling), an inactive volcano home to hot springs and a dense forest of trees. The shape of this mountain is said to resemble the profile of a woman lying down — the peaks forming her chest, face, and long hair cascading in a gentle slope. According to legend, its forest is inhabited by the fairy or guardian spirit, Maria Makiling. As a child, I was fascinated by the legend of Maria Makiling – stories of Maria protecting the mountain’s animals and plants and watching over the townspeople below, stopping deluges, storms, and earthquakes. The enchanting ‘diwata’ (dee-wah-tah) or nature spirit of oral tradition was a source of inspiration for many stories, superstitions, and works of art. Like many Filipinos, I was instilled with deep respect for nature and its power.

In my career of watching, performing, and staging story ballets I have been fascinated by the commonalities in the tales from cultures the world over — from the animal characters that take on human qualities to the morals, lessons, and values these stories teach. Maria and the Mouse Deer combines the lore of Maria Makiling with the Southeast Asian ‘trickster tales’ of the clever Mouse Deer. This ballet, with traditional Philippine music and glimpses of Philippine folk dance integrated with ballet steps, has the universal message of caring for the earth and its creatures.

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