David Ortolano is a founding ensemble member of the Band of Toughs, a theater collaboratory, based in Boulder, Colorado and a local Theater Teacher with several programs, including Creative Dance Kids, Rocky Mountain Theater for Kids and Mirror Image Arts. He is a director, designer and producer of live events, former Director of the Performing Arts Center and Contemporary Arts Faculty at Naropa University in Boulder, CO and has served all over the world as guest instructor, teaching courses in performance, event production and design. He is also the founder and Executive Director of the Boulder International Fringe Festival, 501c3 and Executive Producer of the Blind Café Experience, national tours, dinner and live music in the dark, hosted by blind staff, bringing audiences into 100% total darkness for an immersive experience.David is a multi-disciplined performer, producer, designer and director with formal training and degrees in Contemporary Performance, Balinese Arts & Culture, Lighting, Set & Sound Design, Nonprofit Arts Management, Red Nose Clown, Dharma Art and Lecoq Physical Theater. Mr. Ortolano has collaborated with a variety of world-renowned contemporary performers including: Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Barbara Dilley, Katsura Kan, Steven Segal, Katy Perry, Pink, Tin Hat Trio, Asylum Street Spankers, Tectonic Theater, Steve Wangh, Leigh Fondakowski, Michelle Mehri-Mousavi, Betsy Tobin, Ruth Zaporah, Bessie Schoenberg, Jean Claude Van Itallie and many others. Recent credits include, Producer, Performer, Light & Sound Design, with Band of Toughs, for the award winning Nirvamlet at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, DCPA, summer of 2019. From 2020-2023, David and the Band of Toughs worked in collaboration with Kamara Thomas, developing, writing and creating an immersive theatrical score for Tularosa: An American Dreamtime in residence at the Santa Fe Art Institute and taught in residence at Princeton University to create the latest version with students. Currently, David along with the Band of Toughs ensemble are opening a new show at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Denver Performing Arts Complex called Gin & Gothic: a Bronte Rocktale, which will be running through August 2024.