It didn’t hurt that wine was involved in at least one of those deciding meetings. The next morning, the trio admitted to each waking up feeling a bit unsettled. It wasn’t the wine, but rather a combination of, “What were we thinking?” and “Wow, we’re actually doing this!”

In May 2023, Stargazer Collaborative Theatre was born and immediately hit the ground running. Four months later, they debuted to the Flagstaff theatre community with the Women of Broadway Fundraiser Cabaret. Featuring dance and musical song performances by local female actors, the show was an instant hit with the audience.

“From where we were standing, it was phenomenal,” Hays says.

Commanda says she can’t stop smiling since the debut. “I don’t know if I can! We’re very honored by how much love we’ve been shown from the community.”

The trio echo those sentiments in Stargazer’s ongoing mission to collaborate with artists and organizations throughout northern Arizona by offering a new creative outlet and performance company in this up-and-coming art hub. The co-founders say welcoming diversity—including sex, ethnicity, race, religion and all human traits—is part of that vision to cultivate an unbiased and equitable atmosphere.

“When I originally met Dani and DeLano and got to know them, we talked about where we see ourselves going in the community, thriving and working as one,” Burd says. “Our visions really aligned.”

And it helps that they like and respect one another. “We’re very much a friends’ team,” they expressed in unison.

In fact, Commanda and Hays became friends while attending Northern Arizona University (NAU). A shared love and involvement in both theatre performance and directing bonded their friendship. Burd, a marketing specialist, also performed in regional theatre prior to moving to the area. She recently played the role of Sister Mary Amnesia in “Nunsense” with Theatrikos Theatre Company in Flagstaff. It’s also where she met Commanda (who was directing the musical comedy) and Hays.

“We bring different strengths to the table,” Hays says. “We’re all three actors. Dani and I also directed. It’s very cohesive. We know our strengths and our weaknesses to bring different areas of our experience.”

They’re also working women with families. “I never wanted to have my son see me sacrifice things I love to make life easier,” Hays continues. “I want him to see that it’s OK to pursue a dream and be happy.”

Commanda agrees wholeheartedly. “I want my kids to know art is important,” she says. “They need to see that and as DeLano said: ‘Pursue it and know that it’s OK to do what you love.’ ”

Based on that sentiment, a future goal is to bring educational opportunities to communities and schools lacking access to theatre. The co-founders encourage this through sponsorship opportunities or volunteering.

“You can help build sets, help with costumes. There are so many areas; just find out what you enjoy doing,” Commanda says. “We want to make sure the community gets to see art.”

Emily Jacoby, a junior at NAU, was one of the local actors who performed in the recent fundraiser cabaret. The theatre major performed songs from several musicals, including “Hadestown” and “Chicago.”

Jacoby, who started acting at the age of seven, says she was “definitely in that groove” when she hit the stage. “I might be dramatic, but I am a theatre kid,” she laughs. “It felt so euphoric. Everything is going your way, and the audience applauds. Your thought after is, ‘I just killed it, and I did amazing.’ ”

But those feelings were temporarily lost during the pandemic. “Theatre wasn’t the same after COVID. I went into a different major and, oh, my goodness, I felt lost. I didn’t feel like myself because when I’m not doing theatre, I don’t have that outlet,” she continues.

The 21-year-old eventually found her way back to theatre, planning to continue pursuing it after graduation. “Even though it’s a hard career path, there’s always going to be a drive. I’m going to do it with love because I want to fill my life with things I love,” Jacoby explains. “That’s why it’s been so inspiring to work with these women because they are literally doing what I want to do as a career.”

Hays says they feel very accomplished with everything they’ve done so far and look forward to what’s to come—including the newly announced 2024 season, which includes performances of “Gypsy” in March, “Heisenberg” in May, “Tick, Tick…Boom!” in August, and “Cabaret” in November.

“These small successes feel huge,” she says. “It really goes to show what the future could look like when so many people have stopped and told us they love what we’re doing. We’re looking forward to the stories we’re going to tell.”