Bios - Othello
CAST (in Alphabetical Order)
Alanah Allen (Desdemona) is a NY-based actor, born and raised in Australia who holds a MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School. Alanah’s New York theater credits include the US debut of Cocoon (The Gene Frankel theater), Spite (ASDS Repertory Season) and Permanent Fixtures (Australian theater Festival NYC). She is overjoyed to be amongst the wonderful artists sharing the story of Othello with you. Alanah is represented by Stein Entertainment.
Matthew Appleby (Officer, Gentleman, Herald, Film) is an actor and filmmaker. He studied at the Actors Studio Drama School and Boston College. His debut feature film as writer, director, and producer, Adam & the Water, premiered at the DC Independent Film Festival, where it won the “Best of Fest” award. The film went on to screen at various independent film festivals. It will be released on streaming platforms in April. Matthew is enjoying his time as a New Place Player.
Matthew Dudley (Brabantio) a voice teacher, actor, coach and voice- over artist. The head of Voice & Speech at Terry Knickerbocker Studio and an instructor at Actors Studio Drama School. On stage- Baby Dance; The Countess /Greenwich Street Theater. Limb of Snow; A Prisonerʼs Song / Pulse Theater. Ubu for President; Lorenzaccio; Red Noses; / Theater de la Jeune Lune. Frankenstein; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Woods / CTC. Waiting for Godot / The Jungle Theater. The Unseen Hand /Hennepin Center for the Arts.
Conor Andrew Hall (Iago) is a NY-based actor from Michigan. He’s endlessly thankful to the cast, crew, and especially the audience, without whom none of this would be possible.
Helen Herbert (Emilia) Broadway Concerts: Brigadoon, Oliver!, and Camelot, Irish Repertory Theater at The Shubert. National Tour: A Christmas Carol, Theaterworks USA. New York: Wishing You Were Here, Emerging Artists Theater; Release and Queen Elizabeth of Factory Fifteen, Samuel French OOB Festival; Spite and The Green Hill, Actors Studio Drama School. Voice-over: The New York Philharmonic; Glass Eye Pix. Film: First Line of Defense; Kris the Cat; Blissful Acres. MFA Acting, Actors Studio Drama School. AEA / SAG-AFTRA.
Matthew Iannone (Cassio) is an unrepresented NYC-based actor excited to work with the New Place Players on his favorite Shakespearean tragedy, Othello. He’d like to thank the entire cast and crew for their incredible work, and his wife Grisele for always supporting him. Previous theatrical credits include: Yvan in Art, skinheadBOY in Polaroid Stories, E.K. Hornbeck in Inherit the Wind, Judas Iscariot in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.
Eliott Johnson (Othello) is a NY-based artist originally from Chicago, Illinois. Extremely excited to join the New Place Players production of Othello as the man himself. A recent graduate of the Actors Studio Drama School MFA program. Recent credits include New York Theater Festival Dust of Egypt, The Midwest Primer of Lombardi and Citadel Theater production of The Little Foxes. Television and Film credits include Chicago Fire, Empire, The CHI. A Man of His Time directed by Estelle Parsons and Oranges directed by Alaina Huffman. Manager: Stein Entertainment.
Rose Kanj (Bianca, Understudy for Emilia) is a NY-based actress, vocalist, and improviser. MFA, Acting (Actors Studio Drama School); BA, Music (Berklee College of Music). Selected credits: Emilie in The Moors and Brenda in Election Day (ASDS Repertory Season); Valerie in Record by Eduardo Pavez Goye (The Tank & Alchemical Studios); and Wrestling With Freedom by Jacqui Parker (Hibernian Hall). Much MUCH love and gratitude for this incredibly dedicated and generous company of artists.
Topher Kielbasa (Lodovico) is a product of the store-front theater scene in Chicago, where he was an ensemble member with Cor Theater, and an apprentice with American Theater Company. He is also a playwright—MFA, Actors Studio Drama School; BFA, DePaul University.
Nathan Krasner (Roderigo) (he/him) is an actor, teacher, and scriptwriter from Philadelphia. Schooled at Oberlin College (BA), BADA, and the Actors Studio Drama School (MFA), he has a special passion for Shakespeare and for developing new work of social significance. Favorite NYC credits include Our House (Merv) and bobrauschenbergamerica (Becker) at 3LD, and Romeo and Juliet (Benvolio) with Baited Bear Players. He’s very thankful for his family, friends, and for you coming to join us tonight!
Aaron McDaniel (Montano, Fight Director, Understudy for Iago/Cassio) Previous shows with New Place Players: Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest. Other credits include: The Woodsman (New World Stages). Enchanted April, The Bungler, Tartuffe, Charlie’s Aunt, & Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare Theater of NJ). Macbeth, Cyrano De Bergerac, & Taming of the Shrew (Aquila Theater). TV: A Crime to Remember, The Food That Built America. Fight Direction: The Woodsman (New World Stages), Family (Signature). Asst Fight Direction: Newsies! (Paper Mill Playhouse), Aladdin (New Amsterdam).
Ryan Joseph Swartz (Duke of Venice, Understudy for Brabantio/Graziano) (he/him) is a NY-based actor, director, and teaching artist. Select NYC credits include: Meteor Shower (NORM), Election Day (EDMUND) and Much About Nothing (CLOWN). Ryan holds an MFA in Acting from Pace University and is currently a finalist at the Actors Studio in NYC. He is grateful to the director, cast, and crew for this incredible experience and especially to his amazing wife for her continued encouragement and support!
UNDERSTUDIES (in Alphabetical Order)
Megan Gaber (Understudy for Desdemona/Bianca) (Actress, Singer, Organizer) is thrilled to be back on stage. As a proud SAG/AFTRA member, Megan has spent her time in-front of the camera since moving to NYC from Wisconsin. Recent credits include Tesla, Coming Out, The Man Behind the Camera (which coincidentally shot in this very space in 2020), and Girls5Eva. Megan studied Musical Theater Performance at Edgewood College. Special thanks goes to the best mentor a person can have, her mom, and her forever partner, Mark. Thank you to everyone here for supporting the arts.
Mike McNulty (Understudy for Roderigo/Officer/Gentleman/Herald/Lodovico) is a multi-discipline performer specializing in ensemble-based collaboration and devised works. Originally from Lenexa, Kansas, he earned dual degrees from Missouri State University in theatre performance studies and entertainment management. He’s trained extensively in the Suzuki Method of Actor Training and Viewpoints with SITI Company. Favorite credits include: Hamlet in Hamlet, performed in Helsingør, Denmark and Ross in Macbeth, performed in Birnam Woods, Scotland (Oxford Shakespeare Company); Eaten Voices, Thespis Theater Festival 2012 Best Play winner; and original concept musical Painted Woman, Venus Theater Festival 2013 Best Play finalist. Currently serving as managing director for Theatre East.
Jason Nadal (Othello Understudy) is reprising his role as Othello. He’s no stranger to Shakespeare having played Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, over 25 on stage performances, as well as, a principle role in the Award Winning short film Unbridled! Jason has a Certificate of Advanced Studies from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has worked professionally with Matthew Broderick, Tony Roberts, Douglas Carter Beane,(Too Wong Foo, Sister Act), Director Mark Brokaw, and attended Master classes with Frank Langella and Kathleen McNenny (Juilliard). Recently, Nadal had a lead role as Obadiah in Love, Freedom and Other Lies from the South by J. Marshall Evans. He has been voice acting for Rockstar games, as well as, a role in CBS’s FBI.
Jason is a veteran of the US Military, a former paratrooper serving two tours in Afghanistan. A huge fan of cliff diving and swimming, part time musician and bartender. Jason looks forward to his future in television and movies but the theatre will always be his home.
MUSICIANS (in Alphabetical Order)
Anna Bikales (Harp, Percussion) is a harpist, director, actor, choreographer, and composer (B.A. in Dance Choreography & B.M. in Harp from the Conservatory at Bard College, MFA in Directing from The Actors Studio Drama School at PACE University. Recent work includes playing with Ensemble Mise-En, Contemporaneous, Beth Morrison Projects, MUR Experimental Theater Company, and Mabou Mines. Anna is an SDC Associate, and is a member of ASCAP and SAG-AFTRA.
Flavio Gaete (Music Director; Composition & Sound Design; Viola, Piano, Synthesizers, Percussion) has worked as a musician, sound designer, actor, arts administrator and teacher for the last 20+ years. He has collaborated with a wide variety of ensembles in music, theater, film, and dance. Some of his latest collaborations have been with film composer Renaud Barbier for his latest film soundtrack, Petit Pays, filmmaker Rodrigo Monterrey, and the Orquesta de Cámara de Chile. Flavio has taught at the Rudolf Steiner School, the Institute of Audio Research, and has been a guest lecturer at Sciences Po Paris-Reims, NY University and Dubspot in NYC. Flavio has also played with various orchestras and ensembles, including the Orquesta de Cámara de Chile, Distinguished Concerts International NY, The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the Manhattan Camerata, Nikolett Pankovits and various others, having performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, among others.
Daniel Keene (Lute, Guitar, Percussion) is a NY native lutenist, guitarist, arranger, composer, and ensemble player. A multi-instrumentalist, Daniel performs on an array of historic and modern plucked string instruments such as the Renaissance lute, Renaissance bandora, Baroque guitar, nineteenth century guitar, modern guitar, and extended electric guitars. He has concertized extensively as a soloist and ensemble player in New York and throughout the United States; performing with lutenist Matthew Weinman, pianist Dr. Fang-Yi Chu, soprano Dr. Erin Heisel, Long Island Baroque Ensemble, The Golden Williams Duo, The Red Door Chamber Players, The Bacheler Consort, and The Samadi-Keene Duo. Recent performances include concerts at The Custer Observatory, Opera America, Groupmuse, The Vail-Leavitt Music Hall, Scholes Street Studio, Adelphi University Performing Arts Center, The Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, Shapeshifter Lab, Christ Church of Oyster Bay, and The Staller Center for the Arts. A dedicated teacher, Daniel has been on the faculty at SUNY Nassau Community College since 2013. He offers lessons on lute and guitar in New York and online globally. Daniel began studying music at the age of nine. He studied with Jerry Willard, Xavier Díaz-Latorre, Arthur Haas, William Zito, and Stephen Leonard. He attended SUNY Stony Brook University, Adelphi University, and SUNY Nassau Community College.
CREATIVE TEAM
Makenna Masenheimer (Director) is a NY-based director and producer. NYC theater includes Gloria, Fifth Planet, 365 Days/365 Plays, Roger & Vanessa, Our Father, One For the Road and a profoundly affectionate, passionate devotion to someone. Devised work includes come into this, ONSTAGE/OFFSTAGE and STUFF. Makenna is drawn to work that centers diverse, marginalized individuals and communities taking charge of their narratives. She also enjoys film production, arts management and community education. Makenna received an MFA in directing from Pace University and holds BAs in theater and English education from Moravian University.
Shawn Lewis (Set Design) The artist’s hand that you see in this space is Clara Aich, and I’m so blessed that Craig brought Casa Clara and Clara’s remarkable space to NPP. I’m a set designer based in Brooklyn. I design throughout the United States and abroad with a focus on new work and unique spaces. I teach collaboration to actors, directors, and playwrights at the Actors Studio Drama School and was Executive Director and Resident Set Designer for the ASDS Rep since its inception 25 years ago. In addition to scenic design, I design theater complexes and performance venues.
Jennifer Paar (Costume Design) New York credits include Year of Magical Thinking, Ordinary Days, Tick, Tick...Boom (Keen Company), Transatlantica (Operating Theater), Futurity, The Musical (Joe’s Pub), Every Day Above Ground (SaBooge theater), and Thrill Me (York theater). Regional credits include The Fantasticks (Cape Playhouse), On Golden Pond (Bucks County Playhouse), Glengarry Glen Ross (Asolo Rep), The Tempest, Elizabeth Rex, and Much Ado about Nothing (Opera House Arts). She is the Co-Founder of The Costume Studio, a non-profit organization that provides space and supplies for costume designers.
Ethan Steimel (Lighting Design) has designed lights for Masters of Illusion--Live! (US/Canada Tour), La Bohéme (El Paso Opera), The Cher Show (Gateway Playhouse), The Baker’s Wife (Theater Row), Julius Caesar (Trinity Rep), Kinky Boots (Forestburgh Playhouse). As a lighting director he has worked at CNN, Bloomberg, and Broadway HD. He is a co-producer of Broadway’s A Christmas Carol and hosts Artistic Finance, a weekly podcast about finance for artists.
Jeremy Stein (Associate Lighting Designer) is a third-year MFA candidate in the Theater Design & Technical Production program at Brooklyn College. Before moving to NYC, Jeremy worked for Royal Caribbean Cruises where he worked as a Head Light Technician. He holds a BFA in Theater Design/ Technology from Emerson College in Boston, MA.
IG: @jsteinlightingdesign
Kyra Bowie (Production Stage Manager) is a multi-hyphenate artist and the co-founder of Transcend Streaming. Select Credits: The Orchard with Mikhail Baryshnikov (PSM | Arlekin Players Theater), Powerhouse (PSM | ARTNY), happy life (PSM | Walkerspace), Shooting Celebrities (PSM | The Flea), How To Repair A Mechanical Heart (PSM), Camp Morning Wood (PSM | AsylumNYC), OSF O! Staged Reading Series (Streaming Producer), Play On Podcasts (Coordinating Producer). NYU Tisch alum. Proud AEA Member. Grateful. @KyraBowie.
Mary Garrigan (Assistant Stage Manager) is honored to be making her debut with New Place Players with such an incredible company! Recent credits include: Orchard (Arlekin Players), Falling In Love As The World Ends... (Playwrights Horizons); A Good Day To Me Not To You, Ball Change, The Janeiad, The Violet Sisters (Cape Cod Theater Project); Belfast Girls (Irish Repertory Theater); Moment, Gloria, The Tempest, Marie Antoinette, (American Academy of Dramatic Arts).
Chelsea Bryn Lockie (Executive Producer) is a Brooklyn based producer and director. She is a member of Hapa Media, founder of GirlSoup Collective, and member of the Playwrighting and Director’s Unit at the legendary Actors Studio. Selected projects include: Diner NYC, a FLAG Art Film Productions feature film with Harlem Children’s Zone and 92Y with Shaquille O’Neal and Barry Levinson. Unbridaled, a multi-award winning film which premiered at Dances With Films. Radical, a new play by Sergio Castillo, selected in the Sanctuary Series at HERE Arts Center, followed by an invited radio performance at The Parsnip Ship, and an invited presentation at the North Carolina NAACP Conference. She also produced more than 50 one-act plays for ASDS Rep. She sends so much gratitude to all of the artists of Othello.
Craig Bacon (Artistic Director) was trained and designated as a voice teacher by Master Teacher Kristin Linklater and also studied voice with Noah Pikes and Richard Armstrong, both founding members of the Roy Hart Theater Company. He also studied clown and buffoon with Philippe Gaulier and Lecoq movement technique with Norman Taylor. Craig is an Artistic Associate of the Mercury Theatre in Colchester UK, where he staged Macbeth, The Tempest, The Crucible, and served as the voice and text director for four seasons. Craig currently teaches voice and text at the Actors' Studio MFA program at Pace University. He has held faculty appointments at SUNY Purchase, Columbia University, Fordham University, NYU (Atlantic Theater Company), National Theater Institute (US and UK), The Actors Centre (London), The Linklater Center, and Shakespeare & Co. (Lenox, MA).
In addition to his extensive vocal coaching in the UK, he has served as vocal coach for several productions in New York, including Anthem (Baryshnikov Center) and The English Channel by Robert Brustein at (Abingdon Theater). At SUNY Purchase, he directed The Winter’s Tale, By the Bog of Cats, and co-directed LAByrinth Theater Company’s One-Acts with Richard Crawford. Craig has also worked internationally as an actor, both in Europe and the US. Productions include The Tempest (Mercury Theatre, UK; New Place Players), Henry IV, pt. 1, Much Ado About Nothing, Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare & Co.); Cymbeline, The Rover, Twelfth Night (Lincoln Center Inst.; New Place Players); One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Christmas Carol (American Drama Group, Europe); Kenneth Lonergan’s Borderlines, Off-Shore Wind w/William Hickey, Sunday’s Child w/Celeste Holm (HB Playwrights).
Craig trained extensively with Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof, and Tina Packer. Craig has had a lifelong love affair with good food and wine. In Paris in the late 70’s he served as a valet at the Residence of the American Ambassador, serving gourmet dinners to the likes of François Mitterrand and Baron Philippe Rothschild. He also made sure that Miss Lillian Carter had her glass of bourbon in her room each night (she was on her way to work for the Peace Corps in Africa). She preferred it without ice.
Flavio Gaete (Managing Director & Music Director) has worked as a musician, sound designer, actor, arts administrator and teacher for the last 20+ years. He has collaborated with a wide variety of ensembles in music, theater, film, and dance. Some of his latest collaborations have been with film composer Renaud Barbier for his latest film soundtrack, Petit Pays, filmmaker Rodrigo Monterrey, and the Orquesta de Cámara de Chile. Flavio has taught at the Rudolf Steiner School, the Institute of Audio Research, and has been a guest lecturer at Sciences Po Paris-Reims, NY University and Dubspot in NYC. Flavio has also played with various orchestras and ensembles, including the Orquesta de Cámara de Chile, Distinguished Concerts International NY, The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the Manhattan Camerata, Nikolett Pankovits and various others, having performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, among others.
Leah Michalos/Michalos Management (General Manager) is an entertainment management, producing and consulting firm with over 16 years’ experience in both commercial and nonprofit entertainment ventures. Broadway: lead producing team, Chicken & Biscuits (Circle in the Square). Select credits include: The Orchard with Jessica Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov, The Lucky Star, Renee Taylor’s My Life on a Diet (Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle nom.), Terms of Endearment with Molly Ringwald, Butler, A Better Place, The Road to Damascus, Murder in the First, Poetic License, The Best of Everything. Film: Executive Producer: Beau, a new musical. Director: GABBY Awards at Carnegie Hall, El Capitan (LA) and Ellis Island.
Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR (Press) Off-Broadway highlights include: The Lucky Star, 59E59; The Little Match Girl, St. Luke’s; unFRAMED, John Jay College Performing Arts Center; GLAAD Award Nominee, She Like Girls, Ohio Theater; Glimpses of the Moon, Algonquin Hotel; IT Awards recipient, Elizabeth Rex, Center Stage; Mother Load, Sage Theater; Triple Threat: 2007 Drama Desk Nominee (mis)UNDERSTANDING MAMMY: The Hattie McDaniel Story, Theater 5. She most recently served as Director of Communications at the Broadway Podcast Network.
Table 7 Strategy (Marketing & Advertising) offers a wide range of consulting services to serve a variety of clients mainly in live entertainment. Our mission is to help more people experience theater and live events. Client highlights include Sesame Street the Musical, Pixar Putt, Winnie the Pooh, Museum of Broadway, and many more.
PRODUCTION TEAM (in Alphabetical Order)
Erick Alonso (Associate Production Designer) Award-winning multilingual professional in the creative & digital world who is currently pursuing an MFA degree in Drama and Acting at the prestigious Actors Studio Drama School. Possesses 10 years of experience in digital marketing, tech and management, with a passion for entertainment and performing arts.
Cristian Gastelo (Graphic Design) Designer, illustrator, photographer and Co-Founder of CG Artist of ASTRO-Image Creators Studio. He has worked with renown agencies and brands such as Coca-Cola, General Motors, Ford, Nestlé, Teatro Nacional De Chile, Banco Central de Chile, Viña Concha & Toro, among many more. Cannes 2009 Silver Lion Scrabble Campaign. Cannes 2008 Ford Campaign Finalist.
Julian Gastelo (Film) PUBLIC AFFAIRS + SOCIAL RESEARCH + COMMUNICATION. Etnografic produces: research, analysis and content, dealing with social, economic, cultural and political issues, at a local or global level, with the purpose of informing, advocating and creating. Since 2003: Paris > New York > Santiago > Brussels. Founded by Julien Gastelo. juliangastelo@gmail.com +32 471515213 #tags : documentary film, ethnographic film, photography, photovoice, visual anthropology, visual sociology, visual ethnography, digital ethnography, visual research, video installation, photo & video exhibition, participatory video action research, audio-visual public opinion & market research. Clients: Unesco, Ministère de l’Education Nationale, Ministerio de las Culturas y las Artes, Ministère de l'Agriculture, Amnesty International, Public Agenda Foundation, Fundación América Solidaria, Fondation SNCF, Fondation l'Arc, L’Adapt, Agence de la Biomédecine, La Mutualité Française, Lilly, AbbVie, Virbac, Reckitt Nenckiser, Microsoft, Yahoo, Ubisoft, Orange, SFR, Canal+, Fnac, Fiat, Valéo, Keolis, SNCF, Aéroports de Paris, Accor, JCDecaux, L’Oréal, Franck Provost, Richemont Group, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chanel, BIC, Française des Jeux, Leclerc, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Monoprix, Leclerc, Ipsos, Harris Interactive, Sipa Press, Kunsthalle Basel, Corporacion Cultural Las Condes, Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, etc.
Cennidie Hall (Box Office) (She/ Her/ Hers) is an Ohio-based Arts Administrator specializing in Audience Engagement and Marketing who will receive her MA in Arts Administration from The University of Akron later this spring. Cennidie serves as the Audience Engagement and Digital Communication Specialist for Rubber City Theatre, Akron's only Year Round Equity Theatre. Cennidie's previous projects include interning with Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival and leading the Arts Administration Graduate Office in coordinating performances and events for The University of Akron School of Dance, Theatre, and Arts Administration.
Juancho Herrera (Music Consultant) Guitarist-singer-songwriter, Juancho Herrera is part of a wave of extraordinary Latin American musicians who've transformed the New York music scene in recent decades. He’s carved out a singular path with a highly personal synthesis of jazz and South American sounds. Herrera, a Berklee College of Music graduate and a Latin Grammy nominee as a producer, has been an essential collaborator with some of the era’s definitive voices in jazz and world music, such as Claudia Acuña, Marta Gomez, Lila Downs, and Sofia Rei. He’s performed and recorded in 40 countries, in top venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Teatro Juan Pablo Tobón, Centro Cultural BOD, among others; with international heavyweights such as Mercedes Sosa, The Chieftains, Branford Marsalis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alejandro Sanz, Pedrito Martinez, and Idan Raichel.
Adrienne Kapstein (Movement Director) is a theater maker and educator working at the nexus of theater, experiential events, and installation to invent unique experiences that transform space and create community. Her original works have toured the US, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, China, and Romania. She has published in Youth theater Journal, Canadian Theater Review, Vortex Music Journal, Methods: A Journal of Acting Pedagogy, among others. Adrienne is an Associate Professor and Head of the BA Acting and BA Directing programs at Pace University.
Corinna May (Intimacy Director, Voice & Text Coach) ( she/her/hers) is a multifaceted, consent-forward theater artist. She is an award-winning actor, a Linklater Voice/ Feldenkrais/ Shakespeare/ Acting teacher in universities and conservatories, a produced playwright (Dancing With the Czar), and a theatrical intimacy professional. Most recently she was intimacy director for Westfield State University’s The Wild Party. In 2022 she was selected by Theatrical Intimacy Education (TIE) for the inaugural cohort of their Educator Advocate Program. Ms. May has been training in Intimacy for live performance since early 2019, both with Intimacy Directors And Coordinators (IDC, formerly IDI) and with TIE. She is honored to be doing her part in bringing this vital and thrilling work to theater performance, training and education. Proud union member: AEA, SAG-AFTRA, Dramatists Guild, UAFP.
Aaron McDaniel (Fight Director) Previous shows with New Place Players: Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest. Other credits include: The Woodsman (New World Stages). Enchanted April, The Bungler, Tartuffe, Charlie’s Aunt, & Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare Theater of NJ). Macbeth, Cyrano De Bergerac, & Taming of the Shrew (Aquila Theater). TV: A Crime to Remember, The Food That Built America. Fight Direction: The Woodsman (New World Stages), Family (Signature). Asst Fight Direction: Newsies! (Paper Mill Playhouse), Aladdin (New Amsterdam).
Nikolett Pankovits (Music Consultant) NY-based Hungarian jazz vocalist Nikolett Pankovits has forged a singular body of world music with her band, melding the traditional Hungarian songs and standards of her youth with a luscious array of Latin American rhythmic styles into a cohesive and compelling group sound.
With emphasis on communicating the universal themes of her musical roots, she created Sad But True, which has struck a balance between music and spoken word. The performance culminates with the ensemble in harmony with actor Adam Boncz's recitation of a collection of Hungarian poems in English. With her band, she has toured in Europe and performed to sold-out audiences in New York at iconic venues such as the Blue Note, Joe’s Pub and Lincoln Center.
Working closely with longtime collaborator Juancho Herrera, a string wizard and arranger from Colombia, she performed at Carnegie Hall with a barrier-breaking 18-piece ensemble showcasing Hungarian folk music with South American rhythms and jazz arrangements.
Her new record, River, produced by Herrera, infuses the haunting traditional songs of Hungary with the improvisational imperative of jazz and the buoyant grooves of Latin America. The album features a female octet, The River Voices that Pankovits assembled inviting some of the finest East Coast Hungarian singers.
Ianne Fields Stewart (Cultural Competency) (pronouns: she/her/they/them) is a black, queer, lesbian, and nonbinary transfeminine New York-based storyteller working at the intersection of theatre and activism. Their work and she are dedicated to interrupting the exclusivity of luxury by making things like entertainment, nourishment, and self-care accessible to the most marginalized in their community. Ianne is also the founder of The Okra Project which seeks to address the global crisis of violence faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever they can reach them. Ianne’s platform also substantially grew when she co-organized Brooklyn Liberation: A Rally for Black Trans Lives and delivered a speech in front of 15,000 people who gathered to march for Black lives.