Black Light

Daniel Alexander Jones’s critically-acclaimed performance pieces include Black Light (Public Theater, Greenwich House Theater); Duat (Soho Rep); An Integrator’s Manual (La MaMa and Fusebox Festival); and Radiate (Soho Rep and National Tour). Jones has recorded five albums of original songs as his alter-ego Jomama Jones. He is recognized as a key voice in the development of Theatrical Jazz and has made a significant contribution to Black Experimental Theatre and Performance. Jones creates his own distinctive dramaturgy. His roots reach deep into Black American and Queer Performance traditions, and his work explores ideas of the Afromystical (awakening awareness of the numinous in the everyday through ritualized performance). Over more than two decades of professional practice, Jones has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to civic healing through vulnerable presence, truth telling, and collective critical engagement. Jones first appeared as his performance alter ego Jomama Jones in 1995; since her “comeback” in 2010, Jomama has released four albums, Lone Star, Radiate, Six Ways Home, and, in 2017, the double album Flowering. Jomama premiered Radiate to rave reviews and sold-out houses at Soho Rep in 2010 and the piece subsequently toured to cities including Los Angeles, Austin, Minneapolis, and Boston’s The Theater Offensive. Jones received a 2015 Doris Duke Artist Award in recognition of his risk-taking practice and a 2016 USA Artist Fellow. He was also named an inaugural Mellon Foundation Creative Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle for 2017-2019. He is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Fordham University in NYC, where he lives. Jones is currently at work on Waves, a book fusing memoir, philosophy, and performance theory, detailing experiences with his vanguard artistic mentors including Robbie McCauley, Laurie Carlos, Rebecca Rice, Blanche Foreman, and Aishah Rahman.

Jomama Jones is a legendary performer. She made her triumphant comeback to recording and the stage in 2010, after having left the USA in the mid-1980s for personal and political reasons to live abroad. She has been featured in the touring stage show Radiate; the Off-Broadway play Duat; and now Black Light. She lives between Switzerland and the USA (NYC and LA) and raises goats. She and her collaborator Josh Quat have just released the album ANEW, available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and streaming outlets.

Josh Quat is a musician, actor and writer based out of Brooklyn. He’s thrilled to be back with the talented, inspiring cast of Black Light and the amazing Jomama Jones! In addition to his work as a performer and songwriter, Josh fronts the rock trio The Kristys and frequently collaborates with other theatrical and musical artists. Graduate of the Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts and The New School University.

Oana Botez’s New York credits include BAM Next Wave, Lincoln Center, PS122, Soho Rep, Joyce Theater, BRIC Arts Media, Classic Stage Company, Public Theater, and Bard SummerScape. Her regional credits are the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Wilma Theater, Montclair Peak Performance, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Hartford Stage Company, Shakespeare Theatre (DC), Berkeley Rep, ArtsEmerson, Broad Stage, MCA Chicago, ODC (San Francisco), and the Walker Art Center. Her international credits include the Old Vic, Bucharest National Theatre, Arad National Theatre, Bulandra Theatre, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Les Subsistances, Budapest National Theatre, Cluj Hungarian National Theatre, Bucharest Operetta Theatre, International Festival of Contemporary Theater (Adana, Turkey), Le Quartz, La Filature (Mulhousse, France), and Exit Festival/Maison des Arts Creteil (Paris). Ms. Botez is currently an Assistant Professor Adjunct in the Design Department at Yale School of Drama. She resides in Manhattan, New York.

A.R.T.: Alice in Rainbowland, The Conjurors’ Club (Digital Systems Programming), The Triad (Video Projections), Black Light, Greater Good, Clairvoyance, Endlings (Associate Lighting Designer), and Wig Out!.

Jomama Jones is a legendary performer. She made her triumphant comeback to recording and the stage in 2010, after having left the USA in the mid-1980s for personal and political reasons to live abroad. She has been featured in the touring stage show Radiate; the Off-Broadway play Duat; and now Black Light. She lives between Switzerland and the USA (NYC and LA) and raises goats. She and her collaborator Josh Quat have just released the album ANEW, available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and streaming outlets.

Trevor Bachman is a composer, vocalist, and writer of socially-focused musicals. Creator of Shapeshifters: A Queer Comic Book Musical (MTF, Joe’s Pub, The Delacorte Theater, Afterglow) and FARMED: A Live Podcast Album (Joe’s Pub, The Greene Space/WNYC, Kickstarter HQ). Off-Broadway: Black Light (Public Theater, Greenwich House Theater). They are part of the 2019 Joe’s Pub Working Group and New Dramatists 2019 Composer-Librettist Studio. #shapeshiftersmusical #farmedpodcast

Sean Dixon is a composer, producer, drummer, bassist, and educator based in New York City. He has performed, touredm and/or recorded with Gotye’s Ondioline Orchestra, Maxwell, Aloe Blaac, Doyle Bramhall II, Amy Helm, Miyamoto Is Black Enough, Andy Akiho, Helga Davis, and many others. Venues include National Sawdust, The Park Avenue Armory, The Kennedy Center (DC), The Kimmel Center (Philadelphia), MASS MoCA (MA), festivals such as The Sydney Festival (Australia), MONA FOMA (Tasmania), River To River (NYC), and Trans-Musicales (France). 2018 also brought on his first Off-Broadway experience as a collaborator and performer in Jomama Jones’ Black Light presented at The Public Theater and The Greenwich House Theater.

British-born bassist Michelle Marie Osbourne has worked with various recording artists and producers alike. Her resume includes artists Gloria Gaynor, Jessie J, Jocelyn Brown, and Emeli Sandé, to name a few. Michelle studied at the BRIT Performing Arts & Technology School and The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in the UK where she underwent formal training. Michelle, now based in New York, continues to work within NYC’s thriving music scene.

Sterling Weldon Paul Overshown, a native of Houston, Texas, has called New York City home since 2012. The son of professional guitarist Lawrence Overshown, Sterling’s gifts are in the areas of jazz and classical piano. He has had the pleasure of performing and working with Frank Foster, Dr. Billy Taylor, Erykah Badu, Ellis Marsalis, and the Count Basie Orchestra on various projects. Since moving to New York, Sterling has served as organist and choirmaster at various churches throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, and has also been in charge of directing music for several Off-Broadway musicals. He has served as Artistic Director of Lavender Light since 2016 and is also a student at the New School University, pursuing dual majors in Economics and Jazz Piano Performance. Sterling holds any opportunity to perform as a sacred occasion because he believes that artists have deep power to impact audiences and transform society.

Josh Quat is a musician, actor and writer based out of Brooklyn. He’s thrilled to be back with the talented, inspiring cast of Black Light and the amazing Jomama Jones! In addition to his work as a performer and songwriter, Josh fronts the rock trio The Kristys and frequently collaborates with other theatrical and musical artists. Graduate of the Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts and The New School University.

Clarissa Marie Ligon is a self-proclaimed ‘Renaissance Woman’ who makes art because she believes it can change the world. When she’s not singing her heart out, you can find Clarissa behind the scenes stage managing around NYC. Recent production work includes: Before The Meeting at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Jack & at BAM Fisher, Cruel Intentions: The Musical at Le Poisson Rouge, 3/Fifths at 3LD, and Penny Arcade’s Longing Lasts Longer at St. Ann’s Warehouse.