Jonathan Bernstein
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Jonathan Bernstein’s plays and musicals have been produced all over the country. Under the auspices of the Jerome Robbins Foundation, he’s currently developing a new project (with the great Susan Misner) entitled Here In The Bright Colorado Sun, his second collaboration with her; before this, they premiered The Shape She Makes at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA which featured fellow Performing Arts Project faculty members Michael Balderrama, Mary Cavett, Nina Goldman, Deidre Goodwin, Mary Ann Lamb, and Jermaine Maurice Spivey.
He is also currently working with fellow Performing Arts Project faculty member Robbie Roth on the creation of a new podcast (half journalism, half fiction) called “Ballad Of An Outlaw.”
Directing credits include material at the Atlantic Theater Company, Signature Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival, New York Stage & Film, Joe’s Pub, Ensemble Studio Theater and many others. He has worked at New York’s City Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage Theater, Roundabout Theatre, Public Theater, and 52nd Street Project, where he writes, directs, and teaches.
Jonathan recently participated in NYC’s 24 Hour Musicals Benefit, writing an original musical with composer Jeanine Tesori between the hours of 10:30pm and 5:45am. This was his second time writing a musical for the charity; the first time he was paired with composer David Yazbek.
Additionally, Broadway/London supervising director credits include Private Lives starring Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan, The Iceman Cometh starring Kevin Spacey and Paul Giamatti; Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? starring Dame Diana Rigg and Sir David Suchet; and the musical Chicago, in charge of overseeing both the (still running) 1996 Broadway revival, and the many national/international companies it has spawned.
Jonathan is a professor of Playwriting and Script Analysis in the Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at NYU, he also co-founded the National Musical Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and he frequently serves as dramaturg/consultant on various projects for theater and film.
Plus, he will eat tiramisu at the slightest provocation and he is a fan of the New York Mets which — like anything difficult — is fundamentally worthwhile.
Neil Patrick Stewart is proud to be the associate artistic director (and a founder) of The Performing Arts Project. Neil is an assistant professor-of-practice at Texas State University, where he is a core member of the BFA acting program, as well as an actor, writer, and decorated director. He holds an M.F.A. in acting from the world-renowned American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, and a B.A. in theater from Wesleyan University. Recent directing credits include: Volleygirls: the Musical in New York City (winner of the New York Musical Theatre Festival’s ‘Best of Fest’ award and others), and Gainesville, FL, the world-premieres of Shiner in both Los Angeles and NYC, The Elephant Man in LA (nominated for four Ovation Awards, including best production and best direction), and the special project Women and War (devised for and performed by Texas State students) at the San Marcos Public Library. Neil was a founder and creative director of Back House Productions in NYC, which helped push over 40 projects from page to stage, including Broadway’s smash hit In the Heights. Recent acting credits include seven separate tours/engagements of Julius Caesar in Cambridge, MA, Berkeley, Ann Arbor, Bogota, Colombia, and multiple cities in France, and five separate tours/engagements of Jean Genet’s Splendid’s in NYC, Madrid, Seoul, and multiple cities in France. He’s performed in NYC in productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Feiffer’s People, Hello Herman, and E to Jamaica Center at the world-famous Nuyorican Poets’ Cafe. At Texas State, directing credits include the 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 BFA Acting Showcases, the Playwrights’ Lab productions of both From A to Double-D and Flood, and full-scale department productions of Tales of the Lost Formicans and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on the Patti Strickel Harrison mainstage, and he appeared as an actor in the Texas State productions of Imagine That and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, presented on the Harrison mainstage and directed by Dr. Chuck Ney. Neil is an author and a former professional writer, having had two trivia/humor books on the shelves of major bookstores: Fact. Fact. Bullsh*t! and Headlines! Headlines! Headlines?, as well as hundreds of articles published in major magazines.
Faculty at our sessions will include many, but not all, of those listed below — as determined by availability and program needs.
Cameron Adams (she/her) has been living and working in NYC for the past 19 years. Broadway credits include: The 2000 revival of The Music Man playing Zaneeta Shinn, Oklahoma!, Hairspray (u/s Amber), Cry-Baby (u/s Allison), Shrek, Promises, Promises (Miss Della Hoya), How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (u/s Rosemary), Nice Work If You Can Get It (u/s Billie & Jeannie), Gigi (u/s Liane), She Loves Me at Studio 54, Hello Dolly! and My Fair Lady. Off-Broadway: Inventing Mary Martin at The York Theater and numerous NY City Center shows. TV: ABC/Disney’s The Music Man (Zaneeta Shinn), NBC’s The Sound of Music Live starring Carrie Underwood (nun), The Americans on FX and Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris. Cameron Teaches for Broadway Dance Center, Broadway Artists Alliance, Institute of American Musical Theater and many other wonderful theater and dance organizations around the country. Originally from Myrtle Beach, SC.
Stefanie Anarumo is an actor, director, and arts accessibility advocate residing in New York City. As a Fulbright scholar, she resided in Rome, Italy where she created Il Teatro per Bambini Sordi. This children’s theatre for Deaf and hearing students, fused languages signed and spoken: Italian, English, American Sign Language, and Italian Sign Language. While researching international Deaf cultures, her grant culminated with a series of performances and the creation of a fully integrated theatrical curriculum. Recent performance credits include: Kristen Chenoweth’s My Love Letter to Broadway, PublicWorks’ Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theater, Captive Audience with NY Deaf Theatre, Slasher and A Christmas Carol at the Hippodrome State Theatre. She holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance and a Certification in Arts in Healthcare from the University of Florida.
*TPAP alumna
Ian Axness is an American music director and collaborative pianist based in New York City. He has conducted, arranged, and accompanied a wide range of music-theater, including Sweeney Todd at the Barrow Street Theater (Off-Broadway), Beardo by Dave Malloy & Jason Craig (NYC premiere), and productions at New York City Center, NYU Abu Dhabi, and Juilliard. Recently he played Kurt Weill’s Zaubernacht in its original orchestration with Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra, and assisted conductor Rob Fisher on Leonard Bernstein’s Candide at Carnegie Hall. Ian coaches song interpretation and musicianship at The Performing Arts Project, and serves as a contributing editor of the yearly anthology Musical Theater Today. He is a teaching artist with Bridge Arts Ensemble and a proud graduate of Oberlin College.
Jessica Bedford is a Philadelphia based actor, director, dramaturg, playwright, and teacher. She has been seen onstage at McCarter Theatre, Walnut Street Theater, Lantern Theatre Co, Montgomery Theatre, Act II Playhouse, Tiny Dynamite, Theatre Horizon, People’s Light and Theatre Co. and other stages in the Philadelphia area. Recent directing credits include Delaware Shakespeare, the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective, Act II Playhouse and the McCarter. As a writer, her works have been produced with Passage Theatre, 1812 Productions, Recognize Theatre, Act II Playhouse, and Juniper Productions. Jessica has taught at Villanova University, Temple University, DeSales University and University of the Arts. She is thrilled to spend a few weeks each summer with the good people at TPAP.
Hunter Bell earned an Obie Award, a Drama League nomination, and a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical for the Broadway musical [title of show]. Other credits include books for Now. Here. This., Found (Drama Desk Nomination, Outstanding Book of a Musical), Silence! The Musical (Lucille Lortel Nomination, Outstanding Musical), Bellobration! (Ringling Bros. Circus), Villains Tonight! (Disney Cruise Lines), Julie Andrews’ The Great American Mousical, and Other World. He is a co-creator of the web series the [title of show] show and has developed television with ABC Studios. Hunter is a graduate and distinguished alumnus of Webster University’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts, a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild, Actors’ Equity, SAG-AFTRA, and a MacDowell Fellow. Hunter serves on the boards of the Educational Theatre Association and the Educational Theatre Foundation.
NIKKO BENSON is a New York-based writer and performer. A recipient of a 2016 Jonathan Larson grant, his projects include Nikola Tesla Drops The Beat (w/ Benjamin Halstead); Start Again; In Pursuit of Magic; The Pledge (w/ Christopher Staskel); and Oklahoma Smith (Key West Theater). His songs have been featured in concerts and cabarets such as Brian Stokes Mitchell’s Plays With Music, William Finn’s Ridiculously Talented series, and Shakina Nayfack’s One Woman Show.
ASCAP, founding member of the Musical Theater Factory.
SUSAN BLACKWELL is on a mission to free people’s self-expression. As a performer, writer and educator, she champions this cause around the world, on Broadway, off-Broadway, in classrooms and writing, and on TV, film, sound recordings and the Internet. She created and played a character based on herself in the original Broadway musical [title of show], and the off-Broadway musical NOW. HERE. THIS. (original cast recordings available on Sh-K-Boom records). She created and hosts the freewheeling chat show Side by Side by Susan Blackwell on Broadway.com. As an actor, she has appeared off-Broadway in [title of show] at the Vineyard, NYMF and Ars Nova, Volleygirls at NYMF, Speech and Debate at The Roundabout, The Kid at The New Group, Anon at The Atlantic, and Peter Patrone in The Heidi Chronicles. Television appearances include ‘Master of None’, ‘Netflix Presents The Characters’, ‘Younger’, ‘Odd Mom Out’, ‘The Night Of’, ‘Unforgettable’, ‘SMASH’, ‘Person of Interest’, ‘Onion News Network’, ‘The Good Wife’, ‘The Sopranos’, ‘Law & Order’, and the ABC pilot ‘Dangerous Liaisons’. Films: The Comedian, Margin Call, P.S.: I Love You, Birdman, Three Generations, Oppenheimer Strategies, Margot at the Wedding, and A Most Violent Year. In addition to her creative accomplishments, Susan worked in corporate management for 20 years. As the founder of Susan Blackwell & Co, she partners with likeminded, compassionate artists and thought leaders to deliver inspiring entertainment and educational offerings aimed at freeing people’s creative self-expression. As an educator, she has empowered thousands of people to identify and slay the vampires that stop them from being free. www.susanblackwell.com
Nick Blaemire is an actor, writer, and teacher. After receiving his BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan, he performed in the Broadway casts of Cry-Baby and Godspell, and composed the score for the Broadway musical Glory Days. Simultaneously, he has taught acting and writing to students at the The Performing Arts Project, Making it on Broadway, Broadway Classroom, Wingspan Education and the O’Neill Festival’s NTI Program, among others. He continues to work on television (The Good Wife, The Big C) and in theater, as a writer (with new musicals A Little More Alive, Soon, and Fallout) and as an actor (Mendel in the National Tour of Falsettos and Jon in Tick, Tick… Boom! Off-Broadway). He has released two EPs of original songs, available on iTunes and Spotify. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Ana and their dog Leo McGarry. @nickblaemire
Kelly Liz Bolick was most recently seen Off-Broadway in Southern Comfort at the Public Theater (U/S Carly, assistant choreographer). Other favorite credits include the First International Tour of Beauty & The Beast (swing/DC), Mary Poppins at NC Theatre (Fannie/DC/associate choreographer), Volleygirls the Musical (swing, assistant choreographer), White Christmas at Arts Center of Coastal Carolina (ensemble/DC/associate choreographer), West Side Story (ensemble), and Cats (Rumpleteazer). Kelly also teaches jazz and tap at the School at Steps and Steps on Broadway in NYC and loves spending her summers working with the exceptional students at the Performing Arts Project.
Grady McLeod Bowman is a NYC-based choreographer and creative artist who Dance Magazine has called “exceptionally versatile” and “on the rise.” His work has been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, on television, under the big top, and across the country at numerous regional theaters and universities.
Select choreography credits include Big Apple Circus (NYC/Tour), The Cher Show (Broadway – Finale Co-Choreographer), World’s Got Talent (TV-China), The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show (Off- Broadway), Joseph…Dreamcoat (Drury Lane – Chicago), My Fair Lady, Singin’ In The Rain (Olney Theatre – DC), A Night With Janis Joplin (Tour). Grady has also been commissioned to choreograph several original contemporary works on students at NC School of the Arts.
As an Associate Director and Associate Choreographer, Grady has worked alongside Tony award-winners Julie Andrews, Chris Gattelli, and Joe Mantello on productions such as Dogfight (Second Stage – NY), In Your Arms (The Old Globe), and Top Hat (NY Developmental Lab).
As a performer, Grady was in the original Broadway companies of Billy Elliot, South Pacific (2008 Revival), Honeymoon In Vegas, Wonderland, and The Pirate Queen. He toured internationally with Fosse and Pilobolus Dance Theatre and also appeared in the films Forrest Gump and The Last Five Years. www.gradymcleodbowman.com
Iresol has had a long and successful career on and off the stage. As a performer, she performed in: the original cast of The Lion King on Broadway (Dance Captain), The First National tour of the musical Aida in the U.S. (Assistant Dance Captain), The International tour of West Side Story (Anita cover), Mambo Kings, and Carmen the Musical, amongst other productions. Dance Company credits include: Deeply Rooted Dance Co, and Cecilia Marta Dance Co. Choreography credits include: Resident Dance Supervisor for Broadway’s The Lion King and El Rey Leon Mexico (The Lion King Mexico), Choreographer for Vaselina (Grease the musical in Mexico, nominated for an ACPT award), Assistant director/choreographer for the Off-Broadway production of Celia the Musical, Choreographer for No Vale La Pena music video by Jane, and choreography assistant for Enchanted the movie and In The Heights workshop (Sergio Trujillo). She studied at The High School for the Performing Arts NYC (Fame school), Alvin Ailey (scholarship/grant student), and The Joffrey Ballet School. She is grateful for her successes and thankful to her family and friends for their love and support.
Mary Cavett is a New York based actor, dancer, and collaborator. While maintaining a love of traditional and classical theater, Mary most enjoys working on interdisciplinary projects that create new forms of movement-based or physically-inspired theatrical events. She had the extraordinary honor to collaborate on and perform in The Shape She Makes (American Repertory Theatre) conceived and directed by TPAP Artistic Director Jonathan Bernstein and the brilliant Susan Misner. Mary also worked alongside these mad geniuses at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center during a developmental workshop of their recent collaboration Here In the Bright Colorado Sun. Other theater work includes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Macbeth and David Ives’ The Liar (Santa Cruz Shakespeare), Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing (Smith Street Stage), ENDURE: A Run Woman Show (Melanie Jones/ Edinburgh Fringe), Adult Petting Zoo (The Ragdoll Engine Collective/ NOLA Fringe) and Romeo & Juliet (The Cry Havoc Company). TV/ Film: Pan Am, All My Children, Surrogate Valentine. Mary began her artistic journey training in classical ballet and danced professionally for eight seasons with the Radio City Rockettes. Mary has taught movement for actors and served as a choreographer and movement consultant at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and for Smith Street Stage. Training: BFA – NYU; MFA – Juilliard (2020)
Dave began his career as a performer on Broadway with roles in Les Misérables, The Civil War (original company), The Scarlet Pimpernel (original company and Chaeuvelin on original concept recording). He was seen as Jean Valjean in the National tour of Les Misérables (2 years) and the National tours of Jekyll and Hyde as well as the pre-Broadway productions of Whistle Down the Wind (by Andrew Lloyd Weber, directed by Hal Prince at The National Theatre in DC) and Jekyll and Hyde (The Alley Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Seattle’s 5th Ave. Theatre). He was also featured as Corin/Amiens/Hymen in As You Like It at the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas. Other roles have included Che in Evita, Freddie in Chess, The Teen Angel in Grease, Dinadan in Camelot (starring and directed by Terrence Mann) and Richard in The Lion in Winter.
Dave is an in demand teacher/lecturer having taught at the premiere music theater training programs across the country as well as master classes in New York, LA, Chicago, Boston, Houston, and Orlando. He is a visiting professor at the acclaimed Elon University Musical Theatre Program and is a founding faculty member and music supervisor of The Performing Arts Project. He operates the Dave Clemmons College Advisory Program (DCCAP), preparing top high school talent to audition for the competitive field of study that is musical theater at the collegiate level.
Dave currently serves as The Dean of The Humphreys School of Musical Theatre – the educational wing of Theatre Under the Stars in Houston, Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance and commercial music from the renowned Frost School of Music at The University of Miami, Fl.
As a producer, Dave serves as a Producing Partner for StylesFour Productions. StylesFour has been producers/investors for the Broadway productions of Once (Tony Award-Best Musical), Orphans (starring Alec Baldwin), Driving Miss Daisy (starring James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave), Spring Awakening (Tony Award- Best Musical), the critically acclaimed original New York production of Bat Boy, An Intimate Evening with Frank Wildhorn and Friends (starring Frank Wildhorn, Linda Eder and Douglas Sills), Pee-Wee Herman on Broadway, Talk Radio, and 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother (starring Judy Gold).
Dave Clemmons was the founder/owner of Dave Clemmons Casting, whose Broadway projects included: The revival of Driving Miss Daisy, The Boy from Oz (starring Hugh Jackman), Brooklyn (starring Eden Espinoza), Ring of Fire, In My Life, Dracula, The Civil War, Cinderella starring Eartha Kitt and Jamie Lynn Sigler, and Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland.
Off-Broadway shows: Bat Boy, Bare, Altar Boyz, the New York revival of Charles Mee’s, Big Love, Zanna Don’t!, Dear Edwina and the 2000 revival of Godspell at The York Theatre (starring Shoshanna Bean, Leslie Kritzer, and Barrett Foa).
National Tours: Jekyll and Hyde, Fosse (supervised by Ann Reinking), Moving Out (choreographed and directed by Twyla Tharp), West Side Story (directed by David Saint and choreographed by Joey McKneely), Evita (directed by Hal Prince), Fiddler on the Roof (starring Topol/Harvey Firestein), Starlight Express, Jesus Christ Superstar (starring Ted Neely), The Civil War (starring Larry Gatlin and Bebe Winans), Chicago, CATS, Dr. Doolittle (directed by and starring Tommy Tune), Thoroughly Modern Millie (directed by Joey McKneely), Joseph…, Saturday Night Fever, and the new national tour of The Wizard of Oz.
International tours: Fosse (Paris/Germany-starring Ben Vereen and Ruthie Henshall), West Side Story (Germany- directed and choreographed by Joey McKneely), 42nd St. (Moscow-directed and choreographed by Randy Skinner) and The Sound of Music (Asia), The King and I (Asia).
Regional: Little Shop of Horrors at The Alley Theatre, Steel Magnolias, Chicago and The Civil War at Flatrock Playhouse, The Full Monty and Footloose at Marriott Lincolnshire, Driving Miss Daisy at Casa Manana (starring Sandy Duncan), Camelot at North Shore Music Theatre, History of the Word at the Tony Award-winning Crossroads Theatre, Making Tracks at San Jose Rep. and The Great Game (directed by Randal Milam) at The Duke Univ. Theatre Co.
Las Vegas: The American premiere of the international sensation Notre Dame de Paris which opened the Paris Hotel, The Las Vegas company of Saturday Night Fever and the Las Vegas engagement of Fosse.
As a music/vocal director/supervisor Dave has worked on the Broadway production of The Civil War, National Tours of Jekyll and Hyde and The Civil War, Little Shop of Horrors at The Alley Theatre, The Civil War at The Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. and casting director/vocal director/arranger for The Presidential Gala performance of The Civil War at The National Theatre in Washington, D.C. starring Trisha Yearwood, Clay Aiken, Larry Gatlin, Hal Holbrook, Bebe Winans, and Maya Angelou.
Dave Clemmons has conducted the Broadway Gospel Choir and the Dave Clemmons Choir in performances at Carnegie Hall, The Today Show, the Bravo Network, The Palace, and Gershwin Theatres on Broadway as well as the Linda Eder album/DVD “Christmas Stays the Same.”
Dave served as a Minister of Music at First United Church Methodist in Miami.
Gavin Creel received a Tony Award for his performance as Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly starring Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce. Gavin made his Broadway debut originating the role of Jimmy Smith in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which he received his first Tony Award nomination. He has since created such memorable performances on Broadway as Jean-Michel in La Cage Aux Folles, Claude in Hair, which earned him a second Tony Award nomination, and Stephen Kodaly in the Roundabout Theater Company’s production of She Loves Me, which was filmed live and is available on BroadwayHD. No stranger to London audiences, Gavin most notably originated the role of Elder Price in the West End production of The Book of Mormon, for which he received the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He also starred as Bert in Disney’s Mary Poppins and reprised his performance as Claude in Hair. Other stage credits include opposite Sara Bareilles in the Broadway production of Waitress, The Book of Mormon (on Broadway and originating the First National Tour), and the world premieres of Stephen Sondheim’s Bounce at The Goodman Theatre and The Kennedy Center, and Prometheus Bound at A.R.T. On television, Gavin co-starred alongside Julie Andrews in ABC’s Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmastime. He has released three original albums Goodtimenation, Quiet (which landed on “Billboard’s Top Heat Seekers”) and Get Out, and his single “Noise” raised money and awareness for marriage equality. Creel was a co-founder of Broadway Impact, the first and only grassroots organization to mobilize the nationwide theater community in support of marriage equality. A native of Findlay, Ohio, he is a proud graduate of University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.
Allie Donnelly is a New York-based actress. She is originally from Texas and graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA studying musical theater as well as film-and-television production and acting. Allie is a 200-hour certified yoga instructor and a Lotte Berk certified barre instructor. She has been a proud company member at TPAP since Company 1 and has been honored to run The Great Big Give Back, TPAP’s community outreach initiative.
*TPAP alumna
Acting credits include: Broadway: China Doll with Al Pacino. Off-Broadway; credits include The Acting Company, Red Bull Theater, Theater for a New Audience, New York Classical Theater. Regionally, credits include work at the Guthrie Theater, Folger Theater, Playmakers Rep, Asolo Rep, Fulton Theater, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Great River Shakespeare Festival, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Franklin Stage and the Clarence Brown Theater. TV/Film/Commercial/Voice-Over credits include Person of Interest, BlackBox, One Life to Live, Z-Rock, Grand Theft Auto 5 and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New Book Press). Zachary has been creating original work since 2011 when he premiered his solo show Walled In based on Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. Since then, he has gone on to make Manifest Destiny with Lucas Caleb Rooney and Aitor Basauri (Spymonkey co-founder and professional idiot) and the play Bewilderness (Playmakers Rep). Other directing/writing credits include; El Bien Del Pais (Our Country’s Good) by Timberlake Wertenbaker, which premiered at Foro Shakespeare in Mexico City, Thin Air Shakespeare Festival, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Key West Theater, IRT Theater, Walled In IRT Theater. Zachary teaches clown and games at NYU as well as numerous training institutions around the world.
David Furr was recently nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his appearance on Broadway in Noises Off. Previous Broadway appearances include The Importance of Being Earnest, Accent on Youth, Cymbeline, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Rivals, and King Lear. He has appeared in NY Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park productions of Cymbeline and As You Like It, for which he won Actors Equity’s St. Claire Bayfield Award. Other notable off-Broadway credits include Equivocation and The Explorers Club. David has also worked extensively in regional theatre, appearing in well over half of Shakespeare’s canon. On film, David has been seen in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Liv, Anche Se E Amore, Non Si Vede, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Evening. TV: Braindead, The Good Wife, Elementary, Odd Mom Out, The Americans, State of Affairs, Royal Pains, The Mentalist, NCIS: LA, Michael J. Fox Show, Private Practice, Law and Order: SVU and many others.
CONNOR GALLAGHER (Choreographer) Selected Credits: The Robber Bridegroom (Roundabout Theatre Company, 2016 Astaire Award); FOUND (Philadelphia Theatre Company); Camelot (Westport); Tangled (Disney Cruise Line); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Ogunquit Playhouse); The Twelve (Denver Center); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Bucks County Playhouse); The Fabulous Lipitones (Goodspeed); Spidermusical (The Mint); Perez Hilton… (FringeNYC, Barrow Street Theatre, Joe’s Pub); Babes in Toyland (Lincoln Center); and over a dozen shows for Theatreworks USA. Connor has created choreography for Glidden Paint, Luxxotica Eyewear, Hanky Panky underwear, The Writers Guild Awards, and the HIFA Festival in Zimbabwe. Associate: Into the Woods (Public Theatre), Beauty and the Beast National and International Tours, Meet Me In St. Louis (Papermill Playhouse.) Connor is a graduate of The Cincinnati Conservatory and made his Broadway debut as a performer in Beauty and the Beast. He is currently developing a new project as a director for Disney Creative Entertainment for the fall of 2017. www.connorgallagher.com
Currently: Hamilton (King George III), Chicago Company. Broadway: Violet (Father), Chicago (Billy), Les Misérables (Valjean, Drama League nomination), Sweeney Todd (Beadle, Drama Desk nomination), Assassins (Hinckley, Theatre World Award), The People In The Picture (Moishe), Sunday in the Park with George (Boatman/ Dennis). Off-Broadway: Road Show at the Public (Addison Mizner, Drama League nomination), Headstrong at EST (Nick) and Avenue Q at the Vineyard Theatre (Brian). Favorite Regional: The Three Sisters (Andrei) at Cincinnati Playhouse, Oklahoma! at THE MUNY (Jud Fry), The Boys From Syracuse (Sergeant) at The Shakespeare Theatre of D.C. and the title character in the world premiere musical Saint-Ex at The Weston Playhouse. Concerts: 1776 at New York City Center Encores! (Rutledge), The N.Y. Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, The N.Y. Pops at Carnegie Hall, The L.A. Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl and the American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center. He has premiered solo shows at the Kennedy Center (Barbara Cook’s Spotlight Series), The Sheen Center, Birdland and Feinstein’s. TV/Film: Empire (recurring), Homeland (recurring), Chicago Fire, The Good Wife, Empire State (pilot) and the film The Producers. As a composer/lyricist, he is currently developing four new musicals and has composed the incidental music for several plays. As a musical director, he is currently in development for productions with The Public Theatre and Roundabout Theatre Company. He is on the faculty at NMTI at The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and a proud graduate of the University of Michigan.
Em Goldman is a music director, writer, composer, and teaching artist. They’ve been a Lecturer at Ithaca College and Texas State University, and they hold an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Em is a MacDowell Fellow in Literature, a Johnny Mercer Songwriting Fellow, and a resident at the Goodspeed Writers’ Colony. Their short musical Jack + Jill, written with Sarah Hammond, won the Samuel French OOB Playwriting Award and was published in 2018. Their songs for children can be heard on various educational materials and audiobooks.
Nina recently returned from assisting Arthur Pita at the Paris Opera Ballet for the world premiere of Iolanta / Casse Noisette. In the summer of 2015, she originated the role of the Polish Mother in The Garsington Opera’s Death in Venice. She performed in Susan Stroman’s world premiere of The Little Dancer at The Kennedy Center. Her Broadway credits include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Contact, Swan Lake, The Red Shoes and The Phantom of the Opera. Off-Broadway appearances in Belle Epoque (Lincoln Center), Bloomergirl (City Center) and A Dybbuk (Public Theater).
Nina originated the role of Mrs. Samsa in Arthur Pita’s The Metamorphosis at The Royal Opera House in London. National and international performances include The Shape She Makes at American Repertory Theater and Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, The Car Man and Edward Scissorhands. Both The Metamorphosis and Swan Lake were filmed and aired on SKYArts TV. Nina has worked at the Signature Theater, Baryshnikov Arts Center, NY Theater Workshop, Great Lakes Theater Festival and the Manhattan Theater Club. Nina danced with the National Ballet of Canada, Feld Ballets, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal and The Altogether Different Series, and did pre-production work with Susan Stroman for her ballets for NYCB and Pacific Northwest Ballet. She was rehearsal director for Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and assistant rehearsal director for The Cedar Lake Dance Company. Television appearances include the Fame TV series and the Oscar and TONY awards telecasts.
Teaching credits include Sarah Lawrence College, The Metropolitan Opera, The Juilliard School, Barnard College, Dance New Amsterdam, Peridance/Capezio Dance Center, Dancewave and Joffrey Ballet School. Guest teaching for The Cedar Lake Dance Company, Random Dance, Rambert and New Adventures Dance Companies. Bachelor of Arts from Empire State College. Inaugural class of Hunter College’s Arnold Graduate Dance Education Program. Nina is the associate choreographer for The Phantom of The Opera National tour.
Deidre Goodwin has been in eight Broadway shows including A Chorus Line (Shelia Bryant) and Chicago (Velma Kelly) and Nine (Our Lady of the Spa), the films Chicago (SAG 2003 Best Ensemble Award), Across the Universe, It’s Complicated, Magic Mike XXL, Every Little Step, and has made TV appearances on Madam Secretary, Search Party, Broad City, 30 Rock, and Law & Order SVU.
In addition to performing, she is also an educator, choreographer, and director. Connect with Deidre via Instagram and twitter @dababadoo and facebook.com/deidregoodwinclasses.
Tyler Hanes is currently starring as Rum Tum Tugger in the Broadway revival of Cats. His other Broadway credits include Gabey in On The Town, Larry in A Chorus Line, Link Larkin in Hairspray, Charlie in Sweet Charity, The Frogs, The Boy From Oz, Urban Cowboy, Oklahoma! His Off-Broadway credits include Stephen Sondheim’s A Bed and A Chair: A New York Love Affair opposite Bernadette Peters, Johnny Boyle in Juno, and American Dance Machine for the 21st Century. Other theatrical favorites: Mary Poppins (Bert), Spamalot (Sir Galahad), All Shook Up (Chad), Cabaret (Clifford Bradshaw), Kiss Me Kate (Bill Calhoun), Les Miserables (Enjolras), The Studio (Jackie), The Drowsy Chaperone (Robert Martin), 42nd Street (Billy Lawlor), Footloose (Ren McCormack, Jeff Nomination), Fosse (First National Tour). TV/Film: Hail, Caesar!, The Blacklist, Ms. Guidance, In The Blood, 30 Rock, Phoebe in Wonderland, One Life To Live, Rose, The Tony Awards. As a choreographer, Tyler has choreographed for Dancing With The Stars, The American Country Awards, and Kristin Chenoweth’s Some Lessons Learned World Tour. @thetylerhanes
Kaitlin Hopkins currently heads the musical theater program at Texas State University. Hopkins is an award-winning actress, director, and educator. She has worked on and off Broadway, in film, television and radio for over 35 years. Favorite Broadway credits include: Noises Off, Anything Goes (w/ Patti Lupone), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (original cast/ “Mama Who”). Off Broadway she can be heard on the original cast albums for: Bare: a pop opera, The Great American Trailer Park Musical and Bat Boy-The Musical for which she received a Drama Desk and Ovation award nomination. Other notable credits: Disney’s On The Record (1st National Tour/Ovation nomination/cast album), Dirty Dancing (American Premiere, 1st National Tour). She has made over 50 film and television appearances including: Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Nanny Diaries, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, three years as Dr. Kelsey Harrison on Another World, JAG, Spin City, Rescue Me, Star Trek: Voyager and Deep Space Nine, and all three Law and Order shows. Directing credits at Texas State University include The World According to Snoopy (premiere), Anything Goes, Urinetown, All Shook Up, Hair, The Wild Party, A Little Princess, and Oklahoma. Her productions have been recognized multiple times by the Austin Critics’ Table Awards including winning twice for Best Musical Production. Her recently acclaimed TEDx talk “#TeachMentalHealthNow: An Artist’s Approach” focuses on her efforts to advance mental health education as a standard part of higher education, particularly as it relates to the training curriculum for performing artists. In 2016 she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching from Texas State University, and was recognized by the Broadway Dreams Foundation as one of the 6 top innovative women educators in the performing arts. Kaitlin is also the proud creator and President of Fontus Dry Throat Lozenges. www.KaitlinHopkins.com
J. Quinton Johnson was last seen on stage in the Broadway production of Choir Boy from writer Tarell McCraney (Academy Award-winning writer of Moonlight) originating the role of Bobby. Johnson made his Broadway debut as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison in Hamilton, completing 500 performances. He made his professional debut in Richard Linklater’s Annapurna/Paramount feature Everybody Wants Some!! co-starring alongside Blake Jenner and Zoey Deutch. He then went on to star in ABC’s musical reboot of Dirty Dancing as Sarah Hyland’s love interest Marco, and recurred in Pierce Brosnan’s AMC series The Son as Neptune. Quinton was recently seen on the big screen in another Linklater feature, Last Flag Flying for Amazon, opposite Bryan Cranston, Steve Carrell, and Laurence Fishburne, which opened the 2017 New York Film Festival and on stage at the Kennedy Center’s staging of Lin Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights with Vanessa Hudgens and Anthony Ramos. In addition, Q is a composer, arranger, writer, and director working on his own projects that span TV, film, and theater.
*TPAP alumnus
Ryan Kasprzak currently serves as Dance Supervisor for Hamilton (And Peggy Company). Ryan received a Chita Rivera Award nomination for his Broadway debut in Bandstand under the direction of three-time Tony Award-winner Andy Blankenbuehler. National Tours: Billy Elliot (Associate Resident Choreographer / Dance Captain), Fosse (Dance Captain). TV: Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance. Choreography credits include Southern Comfort (Public Theater), NBC’s Smash (Asst. Choreographer), David Blaine’s Real or Magic, Brave New World (NC Stage), Mary Poppins (NCT). NYMF award winners Academia Nuts, Cloned, Volleygirls. Creator with multi-Drama Desk Award-nominated Parallel Exit: Physical Comedy Theater. Marymount Manhattan College professor and alumnus. Pursuing MFA Wilson College. Thanks to LL, Sally, LDC, and fam. www.ryankasprzak.com
In 2018, Lynzy’s home video recording of her original song “A Scary Time (for Boys)” went viral with more than a hundred million views on YouTube and other platforms, landing her several public speaking and performance opportunities, including Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The MAKERS Women Conference, the Orange County Women’s March, the TEDxWomen conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, the International Women’s Day Celebration at SXSW, and most recently, on the podcast #TheSweatLife, a collaboration between MAKERS Women and lululemon. She was featured in InStyle Magazine’s Badass 50 issue, alongside such notable women as Michelle Obama and Viola Davis. Her work has also been featured in many online publications including TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Jezebel, and Oprah Magazine. Lynzy is currently a full time Lecturer at Texas State University where she teaches and choreographs for both the dance and theatre departments.
Lynzy is a Texas-based dancer/choreographer and has been a proud member of the resident faculty at The Performing Arts Project since its inception in 2011. At the early age of 17, Lynzy became the youngest principal dancer to sign with the Houston Metropolitan Dance Company in history, and she performed and taught with the prestigious professional company for seven full seasons. In 2014, Lynzy relocated to San Marcos, Texas and began dancing with Verge Dance Company, a nonprofit Austin-based contemporary company, until the company’s closure in 2017.
Some of her other performance credits include Texas Contemporary Weekend at the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston, The Pink Ribbon Project, Liz Lerman’s Hallelujah Project, The Grier School Gala in Pennsylvania, The Commissioner’s Ball for the 2004 Super Bowl, Pink! The Musical, industrials for Walmart, Levi’s Jeans and Paul Mitchell, Fort Worth Dance Festival, Intercoiffure Hair Show at the Waldorf Astoria, and APAP Conference in New York City. Film credits include her appearance as a featured dancer in Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!!, and the role of “Ballet Mistress” for the feature film Be Not Afraid, for which she was also the choreographer.
Lynzy has left her mark on numerous schools, conventions, intensives, and pre-professional and professional dance companies all over the nation, including Manhattan Dance Project, Heifetz International Music Institute, Exclamation Dance Company, Houston Met Too, Sole Discretion, Lindsmir Productions, West University’s Performing Company, and International Ballet of Houston where she signed on as Resident Choreographer in 2012 and held the position until the company relocated to Dublin, Ireland in 2015. Her choreography has since been performed throughout Europe.
Mary Ann Lamb was the assistant choreographer for Susan Misner and assistant choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler on the hit FX television series Fosse/Verdon. She also coached dance for the stars Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams. She is currently choreographing Mamma Mia directed by Terrence Mann at Connecticut Repertory Theatre. Last season, she choreographed the show Disaster for Connecticut Repertory Theater with Broadway director Jack Plotnick and star Seth Rudetsky. Prior to that, she choreographed the award-winning production Evita at Western Connecticut State University receiving the Distinguished Choreography Award from The Kennedy Center American College Theater Awards. In that same season, she choreographed Violet for WCSU. Mary Ann also choreographed the concert Tales of Love for the not-for profit arts organization Love/Art /Play. She teaches musical theater/modern as an adjunct professor for WCSU and more recently completed teaching a series of Master Classes (Fall 2017) at NYU. Mary Ann choreographed (with Lisa Gadja) Gypsy with Harbor Lights Productions and A Nightingale Sang at Westport Playhouse. She was Associate Choreographer for Susan Misner and Jonathon Bernstein’s, The Shape She Makes at ART Theater in Cambridge, and for JoAnn Hunter on Barry Manilow’s Harmony and Oliver at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. As a performer, Mary Ann has performed in eleven Broadway shows. She’s played Young Claire in John Kander and Fred Ebb’s The Visit, starring Chita Rivera. She danced in the films Rock of Ages and the Academy Award-winning movie Chicago. On Broadway, she played Mona Page in Curtains starring David Hyde Pierce and in the Paper Mill Playhouse production of Curtains, choreographed by JoAnn Hunter. Other Broadway credits include: Contact, Seussical, Fosse, Chicago, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Song and Dance, Goodbye Girl, Starlight Express, and Carrie. In addition to Broadway, Mary Ann has danced in eight productions at New York’s City Center in the prestigious Encore series. She has played the lead role of Anna in the York Theater’s Off-Broadway presentation of New Girl in Town; Lola in Sacramento Music Circus’s production of Damn Yankees; and Cerraine at Boston’s Huntington Theater in Lady From Maxims. She has danced in a variety of television roles, commercials, and films. Among these are the Academy Award-winning film Chicago, also Rock of Ages, The In Crowd, Portrait of a Showgirl, As the World Turns, and this fall she was honored to dance with The Muppets in their latest adventure film Letters to Santa. Mary Ann’s extensive dance career is on display in a PBS documentary titled, Working Dancers II. Her vision of dance is shaped from working with the following choreographers and directors: Jerome Robbins, Graciella Daniel, Gwen Verdon, Ann Reinking, Kathleen Marshall, Susan Stroman, and Rob Marshall. These luminaries of the theater in addition to many others have inspired Mary Ann to pass on her artistic passion to others. She has taught dance all over the world in universities and master classes, and she is on the faculty of Showstopper Conventions. Mary Ann has taught at several of the top universities including NYU, Penn State, and Juilliard. She also teaches and choreographs for FineLine Theater Arts with Scott Wise and Elizabeth Parkinson. In the summer, Mary Ann is part of the dance faculty for four prestigious summer theater camps: The Performing Arts Project, Triple Arts, the Martha’s Vineyard Musical Theater Summer Workshop, and NCSA Summer Intensive. She is working on a new choreographer reel but check out her older reel MaryAnn Lamb / Lisa Gajda vimeo.com/118426309
Traci Elaine Lee is a singer, dancer, actress, choreographer, and fitness enthusiast born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She holds a BFA from Sam Houston State University in Musical Theater with an emphasis in Dance and is based out of New York.
Traci toured with the First National Tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and has appeared in shows at Dallas Theater Center, ZACH Theatre, Cape Playhouse among other regional stages, Off-Broadway stages, and world premieres.
When she’s not performing, Traci is a choreographer for dance teams across the state of Texas, a dance fitness instructor, an amateur DIY crafter, and a forever student.
*TPAP alumna
Ana Maria Lucaciu was born in Bucharest, Romania. After graduating from the National Ballet School of Canada she joined Canada’s National Ballet and went on to dance with the Royal Danish Ballet, Augsburg Ballet (Germany), The Portuguese Contemporary Dance Company (Lisbon) and most recently Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in New York, where she danced for seven years. Lucaciu has performed and created works with contemporary dance’s foremost choreographers including Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Hofesh Shechter, Jiří Kylián, Alexander Ekman, Jo Stromgren, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and many others. Holder of a BFA in dance from Empire State College, she collaborates and performs with a wide range of artists and companies, and freelances as a dancer and choreographer in her own right. Ana Maria teaches ballet, contemporary, and improvisation workshops at professional programs and dance companies across the US, Europe and Asia. Ana Maria assisted Crystal Pite on the Polaris project at New York City Center and currently assists Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman with new creations and stages his work around the world.
Michael Maresca has worked with tens of thousands of singers across the globe changing how they understand the human voice and how to build it. In 2010, Michael noticed a pattern in the human voice that became the catalyst for the vocal movement now known as One Voice. As the creator of the One Voice theories, techniques, and training, he has certified multiple One Voice Coaches and Masters to teach private singing sessions and masterclasses internationally. Currently, Michael teaches in-person exclusively for the Texas State Musical Theatre Program, and he trains commercial singers worldwide online and in masterclasses outside of Texas State. He has served as faculty for The Performing Arts Project, Broadway Theatre Project, and the Tennessee Arts Academy. He has been a guest artist and taught numerous workshops at the International Thespian Festival, the Texas Thespian Educators Conference, Arte’ Studio in Mexico City, as well as the Texas, Tennessee, and Missouri State Thespian Festivals. Michael appeared in the Broadway National Tour of Mamma Mia!, the National Tour of Saturday Night Fever, and was a speaker for the 2018 TEDx Event at Texas State University. To learn more about One Voice go to SingOneVoice.com.
Tracy is an actor, singer, and teaching artist who splits her time between her hometown of Toronto, Canada, and her adopted hometown of New York City. She’s appeared on Broadway in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, in the U.S. National Tour of Fun Home, Off-Broadway in Ethel Sings at the Beckett, and has spent multiple seasons at the Weston Playhouse in Vermont. North of the border, Tracy has been nominated for multiple Dora Awards in Toronto (for Aurora in Eclipse Theatre’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, and for originating the role of Beth in Britta Johnson’s Life After, for which she won). Other favorite roles and experiences include playing Franca in The Light in the Piazza (at Theatre Calgary and with Musical Stage Company), touring the middle East and Europe this year with Charlotte: A Tri-Colored Play, being the founder and artistic director of Musical Works in Concert, which ran for eight years in Toronto, developing and presenting 23 new Canadian pieces of music theater, and being an aunt to a rambunctious 7- and 5-year-old who teach her about play and patience. tracymichailidis.com
SUSAN MISNER (actor, choreographer) was recently seen as Bob Fosse’s second wife Joan McCracken in the FX miniseries Fosse/Verdon; she also served as the choreographer of episodes 4-8.
She has appeared in many films including Chicago (for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award), Hope Springs, The Forgotten, The Hoax, Walking On The Sky (Best Supporting Actress Award, New York International Independent Film Festival), Something’s Gotta Give, Somebody’s Hero, Everybody Says I Love You, Being Charlie, and Assassination Nation.
She has a long list of TV credits including four seasons on The Americans, two seasons on Billions, and two seasons on Shut Eye, as well as multiple appearances on all three series of the Law & Order franchise, as well as both CSI shows, Nashville (recurring), Gotham, The Blacklist, Banshee, The Following, Person of Interest (recurring), The Good Wife (recurring), In Treatment (recurring), Without A Trace (recurring), Rescue Me (recurring), Blue Bloods, Sex and the City, Elementary, NCIS, White Collar, Royal Pains, Fringe, and she portrayed Gretchen Martin in the miniseries The Bronx Is Burning opposite John Turturro.
Susan can currently be seen as U.S. Ambassador Calabrese in the second season of Jack Ryan on Amazon.
A dance play that she co-conceived entitled The Shape She Makes received its world premiere at the American Repertory Theater, and featured collaborations with Performing Arts Project faculty members Deidre Goodwin, Mary Cavett, Mary Ann Lamb, Jermaine Maurice Spivey, Michael Balderrama, Nina Goldman, and Jonathan Bernstein.
Susan is the writer/choreographer/director of a new short film called Bend, which features Performing Arts Project faculty member Troy Ogilvie. Plus, she is the veteran of four Broadway musicals: Guys And Dolls, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and Dream.
Julia Murney last appeared on Broadway as Elphaba in Wicked after playing the role on the national tour for which she received an Acclaim Award. Other New York credits include Lennon, The Wild Party (Drama Desk nomination), The Vagina Monologues, Falling (Drama Desk nomination), A Class Act, The Landing, Saved, Crimes of the Heart, Queen of the Mist, and Time and Again (Lucille Lortel nomination). She’s been seen regionally all over the U.S.- Signature, Muny, Williamstown, Reprise!LA, Sacramento Music Circus, NCT, Lyric, Rubicon and Goodspeed, to name a few-and in concert she has performed solo shows nationally as well as in NYC at Feinstein’s/54 Below, Birdland, Joe’s Pub & Ars Nova. Symphony appearances have ranged from Carnegie Hall to The Kennedy Center, Caramoor to Town Hall, from Malaysia to Maui & a lot of spots in between. Among her TV credits are Madam Secretary, 30 Rock, Sex and the City, Elementary, Brothers and Sisters, Ed, NYPD Blue, all the Law and Orders, First You Dream and about a gazillion voiceovers. A Syracuse University graduate, her recordings include the original cast albums of The Wild Party and A Class Act, the Grammy nominated Actor’s Fund Benefit of Hair and her first solo album I’m Not Waiting, which is available on iTunes & on her website, juliamurney.com. Twitter: @juliamurney Instagram: @pepamama
Charlie is the Co-Owner/Director of MTCA, which stands for Musical Theatre College Auditions (www.mtcollegeauditions.com). The company’s mission, much like TPAP, is to help young performers find their best fit in a collegiate environment for Acting/Musical Theatre training. He has taught at MTCA for more than 14 years, and is their Head Monologue Coach. As an actor, he has performed for the NY Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park (All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure), the Pearl Theatre Company (Richard II), the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (King Lear, The Three Musketeers, Romeo and Juliet, Love’s Labour’s Lost), Middlebury Actor’s Workshop (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina (The Unexpected Guest), The Shakespeare Theatre of DC (Richard II, Henry V, As You Like It, and Mrs. Warren’s Profession), and the Chautauqua Theatre Company (Much Ado About Nothing, Vaidehi, and Ah, Wilderness!). A few years back, Charlie co-founded and is the Managing Director of Esperance Theater Company — a company that produces classical-based work in NYC (www.esperancetheatercompany.org/). Charlie is a proud graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.
Mayte Natalio (she/her) was born and raised in Queens, New York. She studied at the Laguardia High School for the Performing Arts and received her BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase College. Mayte began her career as a concert dancer and was a member of the Parson’s Dance Company and Camille A. Brown and Dancers. She has also performed with Kyle Abraham’s A.I.M and Darrell Moultrie amongst others. As a performer she also worked with pop artists such as Mylene Farmer and Kanye West and had performed in several regional theaters and off-Broadway. She was a member of the original cast of the immersive hit, “Queen of the Night.” Her Favorite TV and film credits include, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Jesus Christ Super Star Live on NBC and Netflix presents Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Winter 2020). Mayte has worked as an Associate Choreographer to Camille A. Brown on several productions. As a choreographer her favorite credits include, Dallas Theater Center’s/ Public Works production of A Winter’s Tale, Barrington Stage Company’s “Into the Woods” and Two River Theater’s Love in Hate Nation. Mayte is a founding member and executive producer of the immersive events production company, MinuteZero.
Navarra Novy-Williams is a New York City-based dance artist. She has danced with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, The Batsheva Ensemble, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and Ballet of Difference. Navarra recently performed in Romeo Castellucci’s Democracy in America and collaborated on original creations: Watch, with The Arias Company; Clear&Sweet and Always Now with zoe|juniper; and Orpheus Unsung by Steven Mackey and directed by Mark DeChiazza. She dances with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and has worked with Manuel Vignoulle, the Francesca Harper Project, and Mary John Frank. She has presented her work at the United Palace, the Danza Highbridge Festival, and STUFFED at Judson Church. She is currently working on a VR/360Video site-specific dance project called “While You Wait…” with video artist and composer Carlos Johns-Dávila. Navarra teaches Gaga, ballet, and contemporary improvisation across the United States, including at the Juilliard School, NYU, SUNY Purchase, Movement Invention Project, MOVE(NYC), New Dialect, The Performing Arts Project, Dance Project of Washington Heights, and Dances For A Variable Population. She graduated from the Juilliard School with a BFA in Dance in 2006 and has a MA in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship from the New School. www.navarranovywilliams.com
Troy Ogilvie has danced for and collaborated with choreographers – Roy Assaf, Sidra Bell, Antonio Brown, Gabriel Forestieri, Itzik Galili, Shannon Gillen, Margie Gillis, Andrea Miller, Patricia Noworol, Zoe Scofield, Idan Sharabi, and Nicole Wolcott; violinist – Liv Heym; theater company – Punchdrunk (as Lady Macbeth in Sleep No More NYC); and directors – Sophie Bortolussi (“McKittrick Masquerade” parties), Susan Misner (Bend, FOSSE/VERDON), and Peter Sellars (The Gospels According to the Other Mary, LA Philharmonic). She has also curated, produced, and performed in solo shows Reset (2011), Prism (2017 – with producer Ron Black), and Bite (2019). Troy teaches improvisation and is on faculty at Springboardx Skills + Process, The Joffrey Jazz & Contemporary Program, Peridance, and The Performing Arts Project. Troy’s choreography has been performed by the Joffrey Jazz & Contemporary trainees, Rivertown Dance Academy, Bare Opera (Maria de Buenos Aires with director Malena Dayen), and as a part of Met Live Arts (The Ninth Hour: A Beowulf Musical with director Kevin Newbury). She has participated in residency programs at The Marble House Project and Turkey Land Cove Foundation and was one of Dance Magazine’s 2011 Top 25 to Watch. Juilliard B.F.A. www.troyogilvie.com @troyanosaurus
Stage and screen star Kelli O’Hara has established herself as one of Broadway’s greatest leading ladies. Her portrayal of Anna Leonowens in The King and I garnered her the 2015 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, along with Grammy, Drama League, Outer Critics, and Oliver nominations. She reprised the role while making her West End debut, and performed a limited engagement at Tokyo’s Orb Theatre.
Kelli also received an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Katie Bonner in the hit web series The Accidental Wolf. Other film and television credits include the second season of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why, All The Bright Places, Peter Pan Live!, Sex & The City 2, Martin Scorsese’s The Key to Reserva, Showtime’s Masters of Sex, CBS All Access’ The Good Fight, Blue Bloods, N3mbers, and the animated series Car Talk.
Other Broadway credits include Kiss Me Kate (Tony, Drama League, OCC nominations), The Bridges of Madison County (Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, OCC nominations), Nice Work If You Can Get It (Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, OCC nominations), South Pacific (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations), The Pajama Game (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations), The Light in the Piazza (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), Sweet Smell of Success, Follies, Dracula, and Jekyll & Hyde. She was awarded the prestigious Drama League’s Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award in 2019.
In 2015, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Lehár’s The Merry Widow and returned as Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Her concerts have gained international acclaim, spanning from Carnegie Hall to Tokyo. She is a frequent performer on PBS’s live telecasts, The Kennedy Center Honors and performs often alongside The New York Philharmonic.
Along with two Grammy nominations, her solo albums, Always and Wonder in the World, are available on Ghostlight Records.
Erin Ortman is a New York City-based theater director and teaching artist. She has directed and developed new plays and musicals in collaboration with The LAByrinth Theatre Company, Ars Nov, the Pittsburgh Foundation, Prospect Theatre Company, NMTI at the O’Neill, New Georges, Pipeline Theatre Company, The Roundabout Underground, New York Stage and Film (Epstein Fellowship), The Ensemble Studio Theatre, Pan Asian Rep, The Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, Dixon Place, The York Theatre, Weston Playhouse, The Theatre Company at CAP21, as well a development and productions at New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, Powerhouse Theatre/Vassar College and Texas State University. She serves at the Curator of Theatrical Works at The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture where she regularly directs new plays, concerts and cultivated residencies for emerging playwrights.
Erin serves on the faculties of The National Musical Theatre Institute at The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center and New York University, where she teaches both acting and directing, in addition to guest artist positions for Broadway Classroom and Point Park University. Previous teaching credits include: five years on the acting faculty at New York University, as well as guest faculty positions at The Performing Arts Project, Powerhouse Theatre/Vassar College, Next Step Preparatory School, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Senior Conservatory at The Paper Mill Playhouse, Director and Acting Instructor for the Grandstreet Theatre School Teen Conservatory, three years serving as the Education Director for The Play Group Theatre, and Co-Founder of The Wide Awake Theatre Project. She is a proud member of The Drama Club, providing theater programming to incarcerated youths as a means of developing empathy, promoting academic growth and empowering the individual through self-expression.
Erin graduated with a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, holds an MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College, is a member of the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, and an associate member of The Stage Director and Choreographer’s Foundation. www.erinortman.com
Lee is an NYC and LA based writer and director. With co-writer Hunter Bell, he received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Book of a Musical for FOUND. He has directed at the Atlantic Theater Company, Williamstown Theater Festival, Center Theater Group, New York Stage & Film, the American Music Theater Project, Goodspeed, the Kennedy Center, the Geffen Playhouse, Berkshire Theater Group, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. Lee is co-founder and Artistic Director of the educational theater and media company Story Pirates, for which he hosts and directs the weekly Sirius/XM show Story Pirates Radio. He has taught at the Atlantic Acting School and currently serves on the faculty of the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neil Center, where he teaches improvisation. Lee is an alumnus of Northwestern University and member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers union.
Andrew Palermo is a director, choreographer and creator of new works for the stage.
Credits include Allegiance (Broadway, Longacre Theatre and The Old Globe), Nickel Mines, (Co-author, The Duke on 42nd St/NYMF), The Other Josh Cohen (Papermill and Soho Playhouse), Kristin Chenoweth/Carnegie Hall, The Frank Loesser Songbook/New York Philharmonic (Lincoln Center), The Mikado (Carnegie Hall), Ace (The Old Globe, Cincinnati Playhouse, Repertory Theater of St. Louis), Miss Julie (Geffen Playhouse), Lyrics and Lyricists (92nd St. Y), Bright Lights, Big City (Prince Music Theater), Vices (Theatre Aspen), The Aluminum Show (international tour), For The Record/Paul Thomas Anderson (Rockwell, LA), 125th Teachers College Gala (The Apollo Theatre), Aida (Music Theater Wichita), Man of La Mancha (Sacramento Music Circus), Two Gentlemen of Verona (University of Cincinnati/CCM), Hair and The Wild Party (Wichita State), She Loves Me (Westminster Choir College), Spring Awakening, Sweet Smell of Success, Parade and Nickel Mines (UCI).
Andrew has choreographed multi-million dollar industrials for Toyota, episodes of Comedy Central’s Stella, promos for Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union and commercials for Showtime Network and G-Shock watches.
Along with childhood friend Taye Diggs, Andrew is the Co-Founding Artistic Director of dre.dance, a contemporary dance company. With performances around New York City and North America, dre.dance has received multiple commissions, residencies, grants and rave reviews for its powerful and compelling works.
One such work, beyond.words, which focuses on the autism spectrum, has led Palermo to be a leader in the field of movement therapy. These unique classes, entitled Creatively Able, have been taught around the country, both for children with special needs and their caregivers. Palermo is an in demand collaborator in the fields of medicine and computer technology regarding the integration of the arts and special needs issues.
Andrew is also the Founding Artistic Director of The SpringSpace: A Broadband Theatre Lab. Co-Founded with Executive Director and Broadway Producer Elliot Masie, The SpringSpace provides artistic teams with a focused and fully supported global opportunity to create and hone new work. Located at MASIE Productions LAB in Saratoga Springs, NY, The SpringSpace leverages cutting edge technology that digitally brings together creators from around the world.
Past life performing highlights include original Broadway companies of Wicked and Annie Get Your Gun (‘Tommy Keeler’, Bernadette Peters revival), as well as How To Succeed…(Matthew Broderick revival), national/international tours of West Side Story, Michael John LaChiusa’s Little Fish (2nd Stage), numerous regional and concert productions.
Steven Pasquale is widely known for starring on the hit FX series RESCUE ME as firefighter “Sean Garrity” and as “Detective Mark Furhman” on FX’s award-winning series AMERICAN CRIME STORY: THE PEOPLE V. OJ SIMPSON. He is also known for HBO’s Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning drama SIX FEET UNDER as well as his recent role on Showtime’s BILLIONS. Additional television credits include NBC’s DO NO HARM and UP ALL NIGHT, CBS’s THE GOOD WIFE, Netflix’s BLOODLINE, A&E’s COMA and Lifetime’s MARRY ME. He has also appeared in Sofia Coppola’s PLATINUM, and he can currently be seen as a series regular on CBS’s legal drama series, DOUBT, opposite Katherine Heigl and Laverne Cox.
A regular on the theater scene, he recently starred in Alex Timbers’ off-Broadway production of THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM at the Roundabout Theatre in which he received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical. Previously, he starred in the Encores! production of THE WILD PARTY and as “Billy Bigelow” in Chicago Lyric Opera’s production of CAROUSEL.
Pasquale starred opposite Kelli O’Hara in the original Broadway production of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY (Drama Desk and Drama League Nominations). Other recent credits include FAR FROM HEAVEN at Playwrights Horizons and Tony Kushner’s THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL’S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES at the Public Theater.
He starred on Broadway in Neil LaBute’s REASONS TO BE PRETTY, as well as A SOLDIER’S PLAY (Second Stage), Neil LaBute’s off-Broadway hit, FAT PIG (MCC), the Ahrens/Flaherty/McNally musical A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (Lincoln Center, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), BEAUTIFUL CHILD (Vineyard Theater), THE SPITFIRE GRILL (Playwrights Horizons), SPINNING INTO BUTTER (Lincoln Center), and Andrew Lippa’s THE WILD PARTY (MTC).
Pasquale also created the role of “Fabrizio” in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas’s Tony Award-winning THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA. He starred in THE SECRET GARDEN (World AIDS Day Concert) and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (Roundabout, opposite Victor Garber, Natasha Richardson, and Vanessa Redgrave). Pasquale co-starred in Ricky Ian Gordon’s THE GRAPES OF WRATH at Carnegie Hall, and starred in the national tour of MISS SAIGON.
Pasquale’s film credits include Twentieth Century Fox’s ALIEN VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM, AURORA BOREALIS and Jonathan’s Segal’s THE LAST RUN. His debut solo jazz album, Somethin’ Like Love, was released in 2009 by the Grammy-nominated record label PS Classics. It was produced by Jessica Molaskey and John Pizzarelli.
Jessica is a seven-time Broadway veteran, teaching artist, and yoga instructor. She is currently on Broadway in Bandstand where she plays Jo and understudies Julia played by Laura Osnes. Jessica understudied and performed the title role of Eva Peron in the Broadway revival of EVITA starring Ricky Martin. She was also the Cassie Alternate in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line where she performed the role every Sunday. Other Broadway credits include The Boy From Oz starring Hugh Jackman and the original companies of The Addams Family, The People In The Picture, and 9 to 5. Jessica has toured nationally w/ Cats & Fosse. She has numerous regional and NYC credits including City Center Encores and the NY Philharmonic, and numerous television credits including four Tony Awards telecasts, Dancing w/ The Stars, The Kennedy Center Honors, The View & Good Morning America. Jessica holds a BFA in Music Theatre from Florida State University and is certified Yin Yoga. Her passion for teaching runs just a deep as her passion for performing. She is dedicated to passing on her love for the arts to the next generation of aspiring artists. www.jessicaleapatty.com
RON PIRETTI received his MFA from the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago (now DePaul University) and a BFA from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. Ron is an actor, fight director, director, and teacher. He appeared as Officer Krupke in the Broadway production of West Side Story and in numerous soaps, commercials and films. Ron has worked as a fight director for many theatres around the country and for the Broadway shows: In the Heights, West Side Story, The Miracle Worker with Abigail Breslin, Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo with Robin Williams, The Performers with Henry Winkler and The Last Ship music and lyrics by Sting. He currently teaches acting at The Barrow Group School and has taught acting, stage combat and directed at such colleges as Actors Studio MFA program at Pace University, Wagner College, Marymount College and many other colleges and universities around the country.
Jim Price has amassed numerous Broadway, Off-Broadway, and national touring credits over his 25 years in show business, including the original Broadway cast of The Civil War and Ring of Fire, national and international tours of Les Miserables, as well as being an original cast member of the off-Broadway hits Bat Boy-the Musical and bare:a pop opera. As a playwright, he was selected to be a Lark Playwright¹s Workshop Fellow for 2007-2008 to take part in a year-long development program run by renowned playwright Arthur Kopit. Jim’s play, Collision Course (semi-finalist, O¹Neill), has had readings/workshops produced at the Actor¹s Studio(P/D workshop), Stanford University, The Shotgun Players in Berkeley, the Lark Theatre in New York City, and most recently a new one act version was premiered at Texas State University. He is the composer/lyricist of Cold Feet, a musical (finalist, O¹Neill NMTC), which is now licensed by Miracle or 2 Productions in New York City He has taught master classes in acting, musical theatre, and playwriting at colleges all around the country and is currently the Head of Playwriting at Texas State University.
With a 20 year career on Broadway, television, film, and concert stages, Mark has helped provide a methodology for students to secure their own Broadway, film and television credits, as well as get accepted into the countries best Undergrad and M.F.A. programs (A.R.T., A.C.T. and more). Pulling from a variety of sources, including Viewpoints, Meisner, and sense memory, Mark helps create process-oriented results in a supportive environment that’s sustainable and empowering. Past college/University guest teaching credits include Ithaca College, Wake Forest, Texas State, Heifetz Institute, and AMDA. He is currently part time faculty member at New York Film Academy. He’s also the co-founder and creator of Base Camp, a coaching intensive for creatives with life coach Di Ana Pisarri. And, as a Vedic Meditation teacher, he’s helped students re-engineer their creativity and life from the inside out. www.aboutmarkprice.com, www.alchemycollective.org
LaQuet Sharnell Pringle (She/Her) LaQuet Sharnell Pringle is originally from Dallas, Tx where she began her training at Booker T. Washington HSPVA. While in training, she was the recipient of numerous awards with Co. Dance, West Coast Dance Explosion, LA Dance Magic, Jacob’s Pillow, and Broadway Theater Project. Her proudest awards received were with NYCDA for Outstanding Dancer and NFAA as a National Honorable Mention in Modern & Jazz. Her thirst for dance and the arts took her to train at University NC School of the Arts as a contemporary dance major. Her ambitions were mighty, and at the end of her freshman year, she found her way to NYC where she immediately began her professional career. Her credits include, Broadway/National Tour: Mrs. Doubtfire The Musical, Beautiful The Carole King Musical, Lysistrata Jones, Memphis, The Lion King, Sweet Charity. Off Broadway: Ave Q, Make Mine Manhattan, Lysistrata Jones. Regional: Flashdance, Bring It On, All Shook Up, Candide, The Wiz, Aint Misbehavin, Princess A New Musical, Chicago, Footloose, AIDA, Nights on Broadway III, Shrek, Jawbreaker, Caty Bridgewater. TV/Film: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, As the World Turns, Step Up 3D, Devoted, Sylvia Plath Project. In addition to her performing credits she is well sought after educator. She has served on the faculty of Tx State Univ, Ballet Austin, Houston Met, Bruce Wood Dance Project, Dance Plant of North Texas, Steps on Broadway, AMDA College and Conservatory, and NY Film Academy. She has taught masterclasses across the country. All while continuing to educate herself on how to teach and be the most well rounded artist. She has received additional training from William Esper Studios, NASM, SUNY Empire College (BA in Theater), and Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision. laquetsharnellpringle.com
MONICA RAYMUND is best known for her roles as Gabriela Dawson on NBC’s Chicago Fire, Ria Torres in the Fox crime drama Lie to Me, starring Tim Roth, and as Dana Lodge in the hit CBS series The Good Wife. She has appeared on television on Blue Bloods, and Law & Order: SVU. On stage, Monica has appeared regionally in productions such as Jose Rivera’s Boleros for the Disenchanted (Huntington Theater), Elizabeth Meriwether’s Oliver Parker! and alongside John Larroquette (Cherry Lane). As a producer, she produces full seasons of theater as a member of the LA-based company The Mechanicals Theatre Group, and with her solo venture Sisu Theatrical Productions, LLC, is currently producing the brand new musical Volleygirls, was an investor in the smash-hit Broadway production of Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino, is co-producing and starring in a 3-D film Subkid, headed by DemandZ Productions, and is an investor in the current Broadway production of Godspell. As a teacher, Monica serves on the faculty of the Communications program at the Heifetz International Music Institute, is a former acting teacher at the Broadway Theatre Project, and volunteers at the non-profit organization Hollywood Arts where she also serves as a member of the Board of Directors.
Alejandro Rodriguez is an actor, writer and organizer. On staff at Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP), he helps emerging and established artists harness their talents to empower youth around the world. His writing has been featured in collaborations with musicians, choreographers and filmmakers all over the globe, including his most recent work, Sorry, which premiered at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center in New York. Performance credits include the world premiere of Ghetto Babylon (National Latino Playwrights Award) at 59E59, the premiere of Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas’ Bird in the Hand at Theater for the New City, King Lear opposite Billy Porter, the title role in Romeo and Juliet for The Acting Company, and many more. Regionally, he’s worked at The Kennedy Center, the Guthrie Theatre, Denver Center Theater, Baltimore CenterStage, the Humana Festival and The Chekhov Project at Lake Lucille, among several others. Film and television credits include Nurse Jackie (Showtime), Dates from Hell (Discovery ID), and the feature film Emoticon ;). Trained at Juilliard.
Krysta Rodriguez was most recently seen Off-Broadway in the New York premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s play What We’re Up Against for The Women’s Project. On Broadway, Rodriguez was last seen in the Tony Award-nominated revival of Spring Awakening under the direction of Michael Arden. Other Broadway credits include starring opposite Zachary Levi in First Date, originated the role of Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family, playing Bebe in the revival of A Chorus Line and was a part of the original companies of In The Heights, Spring Awakening, and Good Vibrations. At the Hollywood Bowl, Rodriguez led the company of A Chorus Line as Diana Morales. On television, Rodriguez co-starred with John Lithgow on the NBC series Trial & Error and is perhaps best known for her scene-stealing turn on the second season of NBC’s Smash as fan-favorite Ana Vargas. Rodriguez’s other memorable TV turns include appearances on Quantico, Younger, Chasing Life, The Mysteries of Laura, Married, and Gossip Girl.
Devere Rogers is an actor, playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director born and raised in Atlanta, GA and a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts. As an actor, he has performed in plays, musicals, and workshops on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally, as well as having roles on such TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Will & Grace. Most recently, he starred in the NBC pilot Friends-In-Law, is recurring on IFC’s Sherman’s Showcase, and co-starring in the action comedy My Spy with Dave Bautista and Ken Jeong. As a writer, he wrote the critically-acclaimed short film Ying & Yang and also had an Off-Broadway workshop production of his play Excuse Me Ladies and Gentlemen. He is currently developing a TV show with Paul Feig’s PowderKeg in addition to writing and developing several film and TV projects.
Francesca was born in London and realized quite early on in life that movement is her source of pleasure and healing. She trained and graduated from the Royal Ballet School and the London Contemporary Dance School and danced for The Richard Alston Dance Company from 2002-2006. After a six-week American tour, she fell in love with the United States and moved to America in 2006 where she co-founded Gallim Dance Company based in New York City. Francesca also served as the Associate Director from 2007-2014. She has toured both nationally and internationally and has set work on major dance companies in Europe and America. Francesca currently resides in Jackson Hole Wyoming, where she a Rehearsal Director of Contemporary Dance Wyoming, and is involved as a teacher, mentor, and student at Dancers Workshop. During her time in New York, Francesca came across the Gyrotonic® method and began her training in 2008, she currently holds certifications in Gyrotonic®, Gyrokinesis® and other specialized equipment. Francesca’s goal is to help with your body’s natural desire to move. She provides group, couples, and individual sessions for beings of any age and ability, her aim is to inspire you to harness consciousness and awareness in the many facets of the body-mind connection to ease restriction, pain, tension, and help in discovering a sensation of harmony from within. Her pursuit with healing extends beyond dance. She is currently on a certification track in doing Visionary Craniosacral work®, studying with Hugh Milne at his Institute.
Robbie Roth’s music has been heard on stage, screen and radio all around the world. His songs have made the Billboard charts in America and been featured on a number of television programs (including ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Last Comic Standing). Robbie has also lent his production ear to a myriad of award-winning artists.
Robbie has written music for feature films and documentaries, and his solo songwriting has been heard on recordings alongside Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits and Johnny Cash.
Robbie co-wrote and produced the debut album of Tony-nominated Broadway actor Gavin Creel, as well as his highly acclaimed sophomore record, Quiet.
Robbie has also written with and/or produced records for Ron Sexsmith, Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode), Marcus Hummon (Dixie Chicks) and numerous others.
Robbie is the composer and co-lyricist of the stage adaptation of the film, Flashdance, scheduled to open in North America in the summer of 2012.
Robbie has been hired as composer/lyricist for the stage adaptation of Drumline, a 2002 Fox feature film, and Barbie Live, a Mattel musical set to tour Asia through 2014.
Robbie is the co-producer and co-host of Making Mondays, a live online variety show in NYC, recently featured in The Wall Street Journal.
Robbie is a client of the Paradigm Talent and Literary Agency.
Broadway: In Transit, Rocky (Drama League Nomination). Off-Broadway: Tamar of the River (Drama Desk Nomination), Undeniable Sound of Right Now (Rattlestick). Select Regional: The Last Five Years (ACT), Ever After (Papermill Playhouse) , Candide (Goodman Theatre). Television: Elementary, Boardwalk Empire. www.margoseibert.com.
Madeline Smith is a music director, pianist, conductor, and vocal arranger based in New York. Broadway: Waitress (Pianist/Music Asst./Copyist), Frozen (Music Asst.); Off-Broadway: 1001 Nights (upcoming – MD), Futurity (Assoc. MD), An Octoroon (Assoc. MD), The Light Princess (MD). TV: The Wiz! Live (Music Asst.). Regional: Witness Uganda (ART; Music Asst./Rehearsal Pianist), Spring Awakening (Gloucester Stage Co.; Asst. MD). Madeline has music directed readings at NYMF, NAMT, and MTF as well as concerts at 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, and the Laurie Beechman. B.A. from Harvard University in Music and Classical Civilizations.
Abigail Spencer’s Recent Film and TV credits include:
2016-2017 Timeless (TV Series)
Lucy Preston
2013-2016 Rectify (TV Series)
Amantha Holden
2016 Comedy Bang! Bang! (TV Series)
Vanna
2016 The Sweet Life
Lolita
2011-2016 Suits (TV Series)
Dana Scott
2015 True Detective (TV Series)
Gena Brune
2015 H8RZ
Laura Sedgewick
2015 A Beautiful Now
Romy
2014 The Forger
Agent Paisley
2014 This Is Where I Leave You
Quinn Altman
2007-2014 How I Met Your Mother (TV Series)
Blahblah
2013 NTSF:SD:SUV (TV Series)
Caroline
2013 I Kilimanjaro
Yvonne
2013 Oz the Great and Powerful
May (as Abigail Leigh Spencer)
2013 The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia
Lisa Wyrick
2012-2013 Burning Love (TV Series)
Annie
2012 Chasing Mavericks
Brenda Hesson
Jermaine Maurice Spivey was born in Baltimore, Maryland USA and is a graduate of Baltimore School for the Arts and The Juilliard School. From 2002-present, Jermaine has lived and worked predominately in Europe but recently returned to make his home base in USA. He has been a company member of Ballet Gulbenkian and Cullberg Ballet, worked as a freelance/guest artist for Hofesh Shechter Company, Robyn Live 2016, The LID, Arias Company and The Forsythe Company from 2013-2015 as well as a cast member of American Repertory Theater’s original production The Shape She Makes conceived by Susan Misner and Jonathan Bernstein. Most consistently since 2008, Jermaine has been a member of Crystal Pite’s company Kidd Pivot. He has also worked as rehearsal assistant and/or staged Crystal Pite’s work for companies such as Cedar Lake Ballet, Carte Blanche, Hessisches StaatsBallett Wiesbaden and Netherlands Dance Theater. Jermaine has instructed dance all across North America and Europe for professional companies, universities, studios and training programs including The Juilliard School, UCLA, NYU Tisch, Baltimore School for the Arts, The Playground NYC, Edge PAC, LA Dance Project, The Performing Arts Project, MOVE NYC, No)one. Art House, Nuova Officina Della Danza, Dance OUT, Salt Contemporary Dance and GöteborgsOperans Danskompani. He is a 2001 Princess Grace Awardee and a 1998 National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts 1st Level Awardee. At this moment in his career, Jermaine is very grateful for the opportunity to explore choreography, having most recently created for Westside Dance Project as well as a full evening work premiered at Disjecta in Portland, Oregon with his partner and co-creator Spenser Theberge titled Rather This Then.
Photo credit: Michael Slobodian
Elizabeth Stanley will return to Broadway this fall in the new musical Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette and Diablo Cody, directed by Diane Paulus. She previously appeared on Broadway in the revival of On the Town (Drama Desk Nomination), Million Dollar Quartet, Cry-Baby, and the Tony Award-Winning revival of Company as well as the First National Tours of The Bridges of Madison County and Xanadu. On television, Elizabeth can be seen in NOS4A2, FBI, The Get Down, The Affair, Black Box, Made in Jersey, Fringe, The Chappelle Show, and PBS Great Performances – Company. In addition to performing, Elizabeth is a painter, card-maker, and pottery-baker! She lives in NYC with her many, many plants.
Bio:
Aimée received her BA in Music/Vocal Performance from Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is also a graduate of the Maggie Flannigan Acting Studio where she studied the Meisner technique. As a private voice teacher and vocal coach Aimée caters to all levels and all ages. She ensures that each student comes away from every lesson with a solid vocal technique and tools they can use with confidence. Singers are enveloped in a nurturing, encouraging and non-judgmental environment that promotes vocal, physical and emotional confidence. Aimée is a member of Actors Equity Association (AEA), the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA), The New York Singing Teachers’ Association (NYSTA), and the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Her students are featured on Broadway (The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, The Addams Family, Bonnie and Clyde, Bye Bye Birdie, Fiddler on the Roof, Motown, Newsies, Book of Mormon, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeny Todd to name a few), Off-Broadway (Bare, Lady from Dubuque, Dirty Dancing),National Tours (American Idiot, West Side Story, Anything Goes, Mamma Mia, Flashdance) and in regional theaters as well as in the recording industry, film, and TV. Aimée is especially known for producing her Master Classes at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater where students give interactive performances and are seen by industry professionals on the iconic stage. She is on the voice faculty of NYU Tisch, The New Studio on Broadway and teaches private voice in Manhattan. www.aimeesteele.com
Dan Walczak is a dancer, performer and teacher based in New York City. He spent the majority of 2008-2014 working intensely as a core member of Andrea Miller’s Gallim Dance where he had the opportunity to participate in the creation of multiple world premieres and perform at prestigious venues such as the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Chutzpah! Festival, Theatre National de Chaillot and many other venues across Europe, Canada and the United States. He has taught at universities and conservatories such as the Juilliard School, Tish School of the Arts, Barnard College, Montclair University, University of Tulsa, Columbia College of Chicago and Connecticut College, among others, and frequently works with Brooklyn based youth dance program, Dancewave. Now a freelance artist, Walczak has worked with MADBOOTS DANCE, LoudHoundMovement, Terndrup/Belchum Productions and Patricia Noworol Dance Theater and continues teaching in New York City.
Stephanie Wells is a musical director and music educator. Starting out in Chicago, she went to Columbia College Chicago to study Musical Theater Performance. After spending several years in Chicago playing in several bands and freelance music directing, the energy of NYC started to beckon. Since moving to NYC 13 years ago, she has played with several bands, and music directed with appearances at the Beacon Theater, NYU Skirball, NYU Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, the stage of the UN, NYMF, La MAMA and more! She is currently adjunct faculty at Kingsborough College where she teaches music, vocal training and is the musical director for the Theater Department, She also gets to connect with the youth of NYC teaching with TADA Youth Theater in NYC public schools. In her spare time, she loves to get down as a Pon de FLO instructor at the new studio in Manhattan. So happy to be a part of TPAP!
Ellen Winter is Brooklyn-based performer, songwriter and theater-maker from the woods of Northern Virginia. In 2017, she co-wrote/directed/composed 36 Questions with Chris Littler, a musical podcast starring Jonathan Groff and Jessie Shelton. Past residencies include Ars Nova Makers Lab, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Barn Arts Collective and SPACE on Ryder Farm. She’s explored new work with NYTW, The Public, Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova, The TEAM, Pipeline Theater Co., PHTS, UArts, and the Tank. She’s had the joy of making music with the Bengsons, Dave Malloy, Heather Christian, César Alvarez, Salty Brine, and Andrew R. Butler. She is a proud Story Pirate and writes songs for their Gimlet podcast. Since 2013, she’s belted and written with Chamber Band, and together they have three concept albums and three national tours under their belts. Currently, she’s in post-production for her debut record, Every Feeling, available for pre-order on her website. @itsellenwinter | ellenwintermakesthings.com
Alexandra Zeto is a New York-based singer, actor, and certified One Voice Coach and Master. She currently teaches for the online One Voice studio, and has taught at Texas State University, Nexus, TPAP, and continues to travel regionally to teach master classes.
A few of Alex’s onstage credits include: Les Misérables (Connecticut Repertory), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Key West Theater), and Flashdance! (The National Tour).
Alex, among other things is an Enneagram enthusiast, quote collector, and forever student. She cherishes the few invigorating weeks she gets to spend with fellow TPAPians.
*TPAP alumna