The Lunch Room

A.R.T.: Burn All Night. Broadway: Mean Girls (Gretchen Wieners), American Psycho (Original Broadway Cast, Vanden), Green Day’s American Idiot. National Tours: Evita (Mistress), American Idiot, Spring Awakening. Off-Broadway: David Bowie’s Lazarus, NYTW; Camp Wanatachi (Titi), La MaMa. Regional: Miss You Like Hell, La Jolla Playhouse; Beautiful Room, Long Wharf Theatre; Pregnancy Pact, Weston Playhouse. Workshops: This Ain’t No Disco, Between The Lines, Whisper House, American Psycho, Lazarus, among others. TV/Film: “Tyrant,” FX; First Reformed (2018 release).

Ana Masacote (she/her/hers) is an award-winning Afro-Latin dance specialist and arts leader who passionately believes that through dance, we can facilitate social change within communities. She has spread the salsa bug to more than 30 countries across five continents as founder of Dance to Power, an online Afro-Latin dance academy, and former partner of internationally-renowned Masacote Entertainment. Through her social impact initiatives, Ana advocates for gender and LGBTQ inclusivity and racial equity in the arts and was most recently named a 2020/21 Kennedy Citizens Fellow, the 2019 YWCA Cambridge Woman of the Year, and a 2019 WBUR Artery 25 honoree. Ana holds a Bachelor’s in Management Science from MIT in Cambridge.

Lilly Rose Valore (she/her/hers) is a Dancer/Model/Trans Activist from Boston, MA. She is a Program Assistant at Futures Without Violence, which is a non-profit organization working to end domestic violence for women and children. Her work for Black Trans Lives has led her to become an artist/activist. Lilly has always had an interest in developing the lives of marginalized groups specifically within the city of Boston and often speaks on LGBTQ+ awareness panels, teaches vogue classes and history, and performs at LGBTQ fundraising events. Lilly weaves queer symbolism into her art and has been telling her story through photo, film, and dance in order to use her social media platforms as a way to reach out to a wider demographic. She touches on topics such as racial injustices, uplifting marginalized groups, and representation for Trans Women of Color.

A.R.T.: SIX. Broadway: The Color Purple (revival), Aladdin. Regional: SIX, Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Paper Mill Playhouse; Encores! City Center; Ridgefield Playhouse; Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma; Casa Mañana. National Tour: The Color Purple (revival). International: Sister Act; Dirty Dancing, Germany; Legally Blonde, Austria. Concert: Michael Bublé Call Me Irresistible tour. Education: BFA, Musical Theatre, The University of Oklahoma. Awards: 2017 Emmy Award, 2018 Elliot Norton Award, 2019 Oklahoma City Broadway World Award.

A.R.T.: SIX. Regional: SIX, Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Canada: Heathers the Musical, Avenue Q, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Winnipeg Studio Theatre; Prairie Nurse, Station Arts Centre; Miss Saigon, Victoria Operatic Society. Canadian National Tour: Bubble Guppies Live! Ready to Rock, Koba Entertainment.

A.R.T.: SIX. Off-Broadway: Black Nativity. Tour: Memphis (Ethel/Ensemble), Networks. Regional: SIX, Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Beehive (Tina Turner), Merry-Go-Round Playhouse; Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Charlaine), Avenue Q (Gary Coleman, 2014 ariZoni Theatre Awards), Memphis (Ensemble/Dance Captain), All Night Strut (Myself), Beehive (Tina Turner/Dance Captain), Little Shop of Horrors (Crystal/Dance Captain), Phoenix Theatre; All Shook Up (Lorraine), The Palace Theatre; Hairspray, (Lil Inez), All Shook Up (Lorraine, 2011 ariZoni Theatre Awards) Arizona Broadway Theatre; The Wiz (Ensemble/Evilene u/s), Maine State Music Theatre; In the Heights (Carla), Shrek (Voice of Gingy/Sugar Plum Fairy), Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts; Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Charlaine), Roxy Regional Theatre; RENT (Alexi Darling/Ensemble), All Shook Up (Lorraine), Seacoast Repertory Theatre. International: Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (Production Singer). TV: “Empire” (Feature Dancer), FOX. Education: Certificate from Integrated Program, American Musical and Dramatic Academy.

A.R.T.: SIX. Regional: Heathers: The Musical (Veronica; Jeff Award, Actress in a Principal Role), Kokandy Productions; Million Dollar Quartet, Mamma Mia!, Paramount Theatre; Ghost: The Musical, Cabaret, Theatre at the Center; Urinetown, BoHo Theatre; Side Show, Porchlight Music Theatre; Tonya and Nancy: The Rock Opera, Underscore Theatre. International: Burn the Floor: Bossa Nova, Million Dollar Quartet, Wine Lovers: The Musical, Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Getaway. Education: BFA, Musical Theatre, Columbia College Chicago.

A.R.T.: SIX. Broadway: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Carole King), Kinky Boots. Off-Broadway: A Minister’s Wife, Lincoln Center Theater; School of Rock, Off-Broadway workshop, Gramercy Theatre. First National Tour: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (originated the role of Carole King). Regional: SIX, The Three Musketeers (Constance), Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Milly), Drury Lane Theatre; Brigadoon (Fiona), Into the Woods (Cinderella), The Full Monty (Georgie), Marriott Theatre; 1776 (Abigail Adams), A.C.T./Asolo Rep; Les Misérables (Fantine), Miss Saigon (Ellen), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Narrator), Fulton Theatre; Mary Zimmerman’s Candide, Huntington Theatre Company; Pippin (Catherine), Utah Shakespeare Festival. TV: “America’s Got Talent,” NBC; “The Today Show,” ABC.

A.R.T.: SIX. Regional: SIX, Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Little Shop of Horrors (Crystal), Mercury Theater Chicago; Seussical (Sour Kangaroo), Marriott Theatre; Memphis, In the Heights, Porchlight Music Theatre; Creatives (Jennifer), Chicago Theatre Workshop; Godspell, Saint Sebastian Players; Rent (Mimi), BrightSide Theatre. Education: BA, Music Education, Roosevelt University.

A.R.T.: SIX. Regional: SIX, Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Legally Blonde, The Little Mermaid, Mamma Mia!, Hairspray, Paramount Theatre; Seussical, Marriott Theatre; Memphis, Porchlight Music Theatre; Hair, Mercury Theater Chicago; Cabaret, Theatre at the Center; Beehive the Musical (Janis Joplin), Little Theatre on the Square; 42nd Street, All Shook Up, The Addams Family, Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre; One Hit Wonders, Black Ensemble Theater. Concert: backup vocalist for Kristin Chenoweth at The Chicago Theatre. Mallory is also a voiceover artist. Education: Columbia College Chicago.

A.R.T.: SIX. Broadway: Once On This Island. Regional: SIX, Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Dreamgirls, The Drowsy Chaperone, When You Wish, The Wizard of Oz, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. Education: BFA, Musical Theatre, Texas State University.

Paulo Arrais studied at the Center Cultural Gustav Ritter in Brazil and throughout Europe and has toured internationally as a principal dancer and guest artist. In 2010, Arrais joined Boston Ballet as a Company dancer. He was promoted to soloist in 2011 and to principal dancer in 2012. Principal roles include Puck in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Golden Idol in Florence Clerc’s La Bayadère, The Poet in Clerc’s Les Sylphides, Mercutio in John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, and Onegin in John Cranko’s Onegin. Arrais received the Ninette de Valois Bursary from the Royal Ballet School, and was a finalist in the 9th New York International Competition 2007 and Youth America Grand Prix 2003. Arrais choreographed his first ballet, Work in Progress, for the 2nd Boston International Ballet Competition Gala and Maris Liepa Gala in London with former Boston Ballet Principal Dancer Whitney Jensen. Other original compositions include Castle. In 2019, Arrais choreographed his first work for the main stage, ELA, Rhapsody in Blue.

Evren Odcikin is a theater director, writer, and arts administrator with a deep commitment to bringing underrepresented stories and voices to the American stage. He serves as the Associate Artistic Director at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and is a founding member of the MENA Theater Maker Alliance steering committee, a founder of Maia Directors, and a resident artist at Golden Thread Productions. A celebrated new plays director, he has worked with NYTW, Geva, Berkeley Rep, South Coast Rep, The Lark, Kennedy Center, InterAct (Philadelphia), Cleveland Public Theatre, Magic Theatre, Golden Thread, and Crowded Fire. As a writer, he is under commission with Leila Buck to create 1001 Nights (A Retelling) for Cal Shakes. Recognitions include: a 2016 “Theatre Worker You Should Know” feature in American Theatre Magazine; a 2015 National Director’s Fellowship from the O’Neill, NNPN, the Kennedy Center, and SDCF; and a 2013 TITAN Award from Theatre Bay Area.

Ramsey Faragallah is an actor, a writer, and teacher. Onstage he has appeared at the Kennedy Center, The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Rikers Island and other minimum and maximum security prisons, Yale University, Sundance, The McCarter, The Culture Project, Williamstown, Hartford Stage, Red Bull, New York Stage and Film, The New Vic (London), and theaters throughout Europe and Australia. His many television appearances include recurring and guest star roles in Tommy, Bull, Mozart in the Jungle, Taken, Madame Secretary, The Black List, Homeland, the Law & Order trifecta, and thirteen seasons with David Letterman. He has appeared in the films of Sidney Pollack, Sidney Lumet, and several films of Woody Allen. Voiceover work for Radio Lab, This American Life, Playing on Air, NOVA, Random House, Penguin, and others. Ramsey studied with Ms. Stella Adler, is a member of The Actors Center, and is enthusiastically dedicated to restoring, driving, and racing vintage automobiles.

Yousof Sultani is thrilled to be making his Woolly Mammoth, PlayCo, Guthrie, A.R.T., and OSF debuts! He was most recently seen on stage in A Thousand Splendid Suns at Arena Stage in D.C. Other credits include: And Then There Were None (Drury Lane), Photograph 51 (Court Theatre), Heartland (InterAct Theatre), Miss Bennet: Christmas At Pemberley and Guards At The Taj (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), The Doppelgänger: An International Farce and The Fundamentals (Steppenwolf Theatre), United Flight 232 (House Theatre), Disappearing Number and Inana (TimeLine Theatre), Othello (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), The Hundred Flowers Project (Silk Road Rising). Film credits include Glass House. Television credits include “The Brave” (NBC), “Empire” (Fox), and “Chicago Fire” (NBC). Yousof received his BFA in Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University. He will be dedicating his performance to his father, Wahid Sultani.

A.R.T.: Debut. Idris Goodwin is a multiple award-winning playwright, breakbeat poet, director, educator, and organizer. Idris is Director of The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, the first Black man to hold the position in its 100-year history. Prior to this, Goodwin served two seasons as Producing Artistic Director at StageOne Family Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. Idris is the author of over 50 original plays ranging from his Hip Hop-inspired breakbeat series to historical dramas to works for young audiences. Works like And In This Corner Cassius Clay, How We Got On, Hype Man: a break beat play, and the groundbreaking Free Play: Open Source Scripts for an Antiracist Tomorrow, are widely produced across the country. Several of his plays are published and licensed through Playscripts Inc. Other works like the poetry books Can I Kick It?, Human Highlight: Ode To Dominique Wilkins, and the play This Is Modern Art are available from Haymarket Books. Goodwin has appeared on HBO Def Poetry, Sesame Street, NPR, BBC Radio, and the Discovery Channel. Idris is a 2021 United States Artist Fellow, recognized as a culture bearer who celebrates community values and cultivates histories with care.

A.R.T.: Debut. Film: Knockaround Kids (first narrative feature, available on Tubi, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Apple, and other platforms), Roxbury International Film Festival (Emerging Filmmaker Award), Urbanworld Film Festival (New York); Street Soldiers, Roxbury International Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival (Cannes, France), World Film Festival (Montreal), BronzeLens Film Festival (Atlanta). Theater: Street Walker (Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, Kennedy Center ACTF). Awards: National Tri-Annual Play Competition for Professional Writers, Brother Thomas Fellowship Award. John teaches film production and theater at Boston Arts Academy.

Dayron J. Miles is the Associate Artistic Director at American Repertory Theater, working with Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Paulus as a key thought partner to advance A.R.T.’s mission to expand the boundaries of theater and in creating and sustaining the vision for the A.R.T. His work centers audience and community in all aspects of the theater and upholds A.R.T.’s values in all artistic undertakings. Miles joined A.R.T. in November 2019 as the Senior Advisor for Civic Engagement and Strategic Partnerships to co-vision with Paulus A.R.T.’s future home Harvard’s Allston campus.

Miles was previously the Founding Director of Public Works Dallas at the Dallas Theater Center, a community engagement and participatory theater project designed to deliberately blur the line between professional artists and community members. There, he executive-produced three large-scale productions, each featuring more than 200 cast members. Prior, Miles worked in community engagement at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA, where he launched the “Play After Work” series.

Miles was the recipient of the 2008-2009 Kenny Leon Artistic Fellowship, which initially brought him to the Alliance. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Blake Anderson Public Service Award in 2018, and serves on various boards and committees, including as a community representative on the Boston Public Library Trustees’ Community Engagement Committee. He was a pilot cohort member of A.R.T.’s Arts and Culture Organization Management program and a member of the 2015 class of Engage Dallas. A graduate of Wright State University, Miles is originally from Toledo, OH.

Michael J. Bobbitt has dedicated his professional career to arts leadership. He is a director, choreographer, and playwright. On February 1, 2021 he joined Mass Cultural Council as Executive Director, becoming the highest ranking cultural official in Massachusetts. Since March 2019 he has served as the Artistic Director of the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, MA; immediately prior he held the same position at the Adventure Theatre-MTC in Maryland for twelve years. While in Maryland Bobbitt led the organization to be a respected theatre/training company in the DC region, as well as a nationally influential professional Theatre for Young Audiences. He led a merger with Musical Theater Center, increased the organizational budget and audience, commissioned new works by noted playwrights, transferred two shows to Off-Broadway, built an academy, and earned dozens of Helen Hayes Award Nominations, garnering eight wins. Bobbitt gained extensive experience in non-profit arts management by training at Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management, The National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program, and Cornell University’s Diversity and Inclusion Certification Program. He has served as an Associate Professor of Theatre at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and volunteered on numerous non-profit boards, including Non-Profit Village, Maryland Citizens for the Arts, Leadership Montgomery, Weissberg Foundation, Watertown Public Art Commission, and ArtsBoston. Photo: Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo.

Harold Steward (they/he) is a cultural organizer and arts administrator from Dallas, TX. Harold joined The Theater Offensive in Boston as the Managing Director in June of 2017 and currently serves as Co-Producing Executive Director and oversees fund development, communications, and operations throughout the organization. Harold most recently served as Manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center, a division of the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, which provides instruction and enrichment in the arts with an emphasis on the African contribution to world culture. Harold is a member of the Board of Directors of Theatre Communications Group where he is the Co-Chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and he is Chair of the Partnership Committee for The Board of Directors of the National Performance Network. He is also a Steering Committee member of the Black Theatre Commons. In 2009, Harold founded Fahari Arts Institute in Dallas after recognizing a gap in the landscape for local LGBTQ artists of color in Dallas. Fahari Arts Institute celebrated, displayed, and produced the work of queer artists from the African Diaspora. Harold is a founding member of NextGen National Arts Network and Founding Partner of Steward Cultural Development Group. Harold serves as a Cultural Equity Facilitator with Equity Quotient and an Affiliate Faculty member in the Department of Theatre Studies at Emerson College. Their current research interests include The Queer Trap Aesthetic in American Theatre and Identity Reclamation—the process in which oppressed individuals reclaim agency over their identity through cultural production.

Jayden Jamison is a Casanova from the jungles of Vietnam sent to romance the ladies, gents, and the nonbinary alike. He has been in the drag game for over 15 years. His accolades include a national title as Mister Gay United States 2016 Male Illusionist, a drag documentary Kings, Queens, & In-Betweens, and drag dad to 46 sons who have taken the King for a Day drag king workshop. In his free time, Jayden is a public speaker with the LGBTQ+ organization SpeakOut Boston.

From El Salvador via Cambridge, MA, it’s Just JP! They use any pronouns, please mix them up! He appreciates it. They love makeup, editing videos, fighting oppression, and eating pupusas. Just JP was the winner of the first cycle of Worcester Drag Wars in 2018, and since then she has been a staple in the New England drag scene. She has performed on the stages of Boston Pride, Worcester Pride, NOHO Pride, and Providence Pride, as well as weekly in-person shows (pre-covid), and currently producing tons of digital content through twitch.tv/TheServeNetwork. Their monthly show “First Impression” is every second Friday at 8PM ET. They are the Assistant Producer of “Full Spin”, every second and fourth Tuesdays at twitch.tv/MajentaWithAJ. Follow Just JP in all social media at @dragqueenjp

Kareem Khubchandani is the Mellon Bridge assistant professor in theater, dance, and performance studies, and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Tufts University. He is the author of Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife and co-editor of Queer Nightlife. He also performs as everyone’s favorite South Asian aunty, LaWhore Vagistan.

Vinny DePonto is a theatermaker and mentalist who uses a combination of psychological tricks, illusion, visual art, and immersive storytelling. His work was featured in the most recent production of Angels in America on Broadway, in Lincoln Center’s Ghostlight, and in hit television shows on The Discovery Channel, NBC, and Netflix. He is also a member of the Bessie Award-winning immersive theatre group Third Rail Projects.

Geoff Kanick is a performer-magician-theatermaker. Blending improvisation, physical theater, and illusion, he creates immersive, poetic work that locates the awe-inspiring in the everyday. Selected credits: Drama Desk Award-winning Queen of the Night (Original Cast/Resident Creative Team), Seeing You (Resident Director), and original, one-man shows toured nationally. Kanick is Founding Co-Artistic Director of LubDub Theatre Company and an alumnus of SDCF’s Observership Program, The Orchard Project Greenhouse, and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab.

Sara is also the author of the recent memoir Let’s Never Talk About This Again (Grand Central Publishing, July 2020), which she launched in partnership with the Harvard Bookstore. She’s written for The New York Times, McSweeney’s, and The Boston Globe, as well as the anthologies Modern Loss: Candid Conversations About Grief and Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.

Dr. Joseph G. Allen is an assistant professor of exposure science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and co-author of “Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity,” with John Macomber at Harvard Business School. At Harvard, Dr. Allen directs the Healthy Buildings program where he created The 9 Foundations of a Healthy Building.

A.R.T.: Stage Manager: We Live in Cairo; Barber Shop Chronicles; The Black Clown; HEAR WORD! Naija Woman Talk True; Burn All Night; Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education; 1984; O.P.C.; The Shape She Makes; The Donkey Show. Assistant Stage Manager: Othello; ExtraOrdinary; Jagged Little Pill; Bedlam’s Sense & Sensibility; The Night of the Iguana; Fingersmith; RoosevElvis; Kansas City Choir Boy; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; The Heart of Robin Hood; All the Way; The Glass Menagerie; The Lily’s Revenge; Once. Production Associate: Prometheus Bound; The Blue Flower; Cabaret. Education/​Training: Boston University College of Fine Arts (Summa cum laude).

(he/him) A.R.T.: Evita, 1776, SIX, Endlings, Arrabal. Broadway: Bad Cinderella, 1776, Trouble in Mind, The Play That Goes Wrong. Off-Broadway: On Sugarland, Endlings, An Ordinary Muslim, NYTW; The Winter’s Tale, The Odyssey, Twelfth Night, Public Theater; F*cking A, Fires in the Mirror, Signature Theatre; The Way She Spoke, Audible Theatre; Nice Fish, St. Ann’s Warehouse. Regional: Born For This, ArtsEmerson; Miss You Like Hell, La Jolla Playhouse, Evita (STC).

A.R.T.: Jagged Little Pill. Broadway: eighteen shows including Cats (revival), Dames at Sea, Cinderella, Ghost the Musical, La Bête (revival), A Little Night Music (revival), The Norman Conquests (revival), Young Frankenstein, The Producers (entire run), Smokey Joe’s Café, The Sound of Music (revival, also Australia), Beauty and the Beast, Love! Valour! Compassion! Adjunct professor in the graduate program at Columbia University. Stage Manager Vice President of AEA, 1st Vice President of BC/EFA.

A.R.T.: The White Card, Finding Neverland, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Broadway: Tina – The Turner Musical, The Play That Goes Wrong, The Color Purple (Revival), Finding Neverland, Motown, Pippin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Off-Broadway: The Tempest, Richard III, Well, Take Me Out, A Winter’s Tale, Suburbia.

Lisa Yancey, the President of Yancey Consulting, is an entrepreneurial strategist who has built a practice solving problems for nonprofit organizations and is a co-founder of several growing enterprises. Through Yancey Consulting, she specializes in strategic organizational planning, business planning, program evaluation and assessments, executive project management, revenue modelling, leadership coaching, and organizational structure assessments for nonprofit institutions. She advises a spectrum of practitioners, nonprofit organizations, philanthropists, and philanthropic institutions committed to dismantling inequities, enriching marginalized communities, building leadership, and amplifying diverse perspectives. She has worked with, facilitated, and provided pro bono services to over 100 organizations and grantmaking institutions in the past 18 years. Lisa matriculated from both Boston College Law School and Emory University, is a member of the New York State Bar Association, and lives in Mount Vernon, NY.

Brian Quijada is an actor, playwright, composer, and Artistic Director of The Wild Wind Performance Lab for New Play Development at Texas Tech University. Quijada has spent most of his career acting in Off-Broadway and Regional Theaters across the country including The Public Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company, Playwright’s Realm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Victory Gardens, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. As a playwright/composer, Brian’s plays and musicals have been developed at Pittsburgh CLO’s Spark Festival, Victory Garden’s Ignition Festival, Ars Nova’s Ant Fest, New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Festival, The Kennedy Center’s Page-to-Stage, and The O’Neill’s National Musical Theater Conference. His play Kid Prince and Pablo received its World Premiere at The Kennedy Center in fall of 2019. His critically acclaimed, multi-Jeff Award-winning, multi-Drama Desk-nominated hip-hop solo show Where Did We Sit in the Bus? has toured all over the country. Commissioning institutions include 1st Stage, Seattle Repertory Theater, A.R.T., and The Kennedy Center. Quijada is a proud member of The Ensemble Studio Theatre.

A.R.T.: Pippin (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards). Gypsy Snider has dedicated her life’s research and work toward the melding of movement, theater, and circus. In 2002 she co-founded The 7 Fingers, a contemporary circus and production company where she created a series of shows: En Panne, SisterS, Réversible, Intersection, Amuse, Un Día, Traces, and Loft. She has choreographed televised feature performances for “America’s Got Talent”, Her Majesty’s “Royal Variety Performance”, the illusionist Darcy Oake, the EUFA, and several large-scale fashion shows in Asia. Most recently she created a show for the Virgin Voyages Cruise Line. Born and raised in San Francisco, Gypsy began her circus career at the age of 4 when her parents founded The Pickle Family Circus. She toured with the company for most of her childhood. She went on to graduate from the Dimitri Accademia of Physical Theatre in Switzerland. Gypsy then performed with the Cirque du Soleil for several years before creating Les 7 Doigts de la main in Montreal, Quebec. Gypsy is also a guest teacher and director at the National Circus School of Montreal. In 2015, she received the Evolving Circus Award in New York City, presented by Diane Paulus. She was invited to speak at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC, in 2017 on Circus Arts in the United States.

Norm Lewis can currently be seen starring in the Netflix film Da 5 Bloods, by Spike Lee, and in the Hulu miniseries “Mrs. America”. He was previously seen in the NBC television special “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!” alongside John Legend, Sara Bareilles, and Alice Cooper. He recently appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island and as Sweeney Todd in the Off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, receiving the AUDELCO Award for his performance. In May of 2014, he made history as The Phantom of the Opera’s first African American Phantom on Broadway.

He has been seen on PBS in the Live From Lincoln Center productions of Showboat with Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis: Who Am I?, and New Year’s Eve: A Gershwin Celebration with Diane Reeves, as well as American Voices with Renée Fleming and the PBS Special First You Dream – The Music of Kander & Ebb. He can be seen recurring in the VH1 series “Daytime Divas”. His additional television credits include “Better Things”, “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, “Bull”, “Chicago Med”, “Gotham”, “The Blacklist”, and “Blue Bloods”, as well as in his recurring role as Senator Edison Davis on the hit drama “Scandal”.

He received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Other Broadway credits include Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, and The Who’s Tommy. In London’s West End he has appeared as Javert in Les Misérables and Les Misérables: The 25th Anniversary Concert, which aired on PBS.

Norm’s albums The Norm Lewis Christmas Album and This is The Life can be found on Amazon.com as well as CDBaby.com.

Brenna Nicely (she/they) is an educator, arts administrator, facilitator, and fiber artist who serves as the Education and Engagement Director at the American Repertory Theater, a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University, owner of FreshWeft Handmade fiber arts, and an Alumni Co-Organizer for artEquity. Recent production credits include work at A.R.T., Boston Experimental Theatre, Fort Point Theater Channel, Moscow Art Theatre, and Goethe-Institut Boston.

Julia Riew is a composer-lyricist and writer from STL and NYC. In addition to being a graduate of the Harvard University class of 2022, Julia has been the winner of the Fred Ebb Award, Playbill’s Featured Songwriter of the Month, a Woman to Watch on Broadway, and the recipient of the Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship. Her musical Dive is currently being developed with Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus and GLAAD Award-winning playwright Diana Son for the American Repertory Theater. Past works at A.R.T. include Thumbelina: A Little Musical and Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure.

(she/ella) A.R.T.: Jack and The Beanstalk (Director), Gloria: A Life (Assistant Director), Endlings (Assistant Director). Rebecca Aparicio is a New York-based bilingual director and writer. Recent: Karen Zacarias’ Jardin Salvaje, GALA Hispanic Theatre (world premiere adaptation, Helen Hayes recommended), Beastgirl (based on the chapbook by Elizabeth Acevedo, book by C. Quintana and music by Janelle Lawrence), Kennedy Center (world premiere, Helen Hayes nominated); Caridad Svich’s The House on the Lagoon, GALA Hispanic Theatre (world premiere; Best Direction, DC Broadway World), Maria Irene Fornes’ Sarita, Roundabout Refocus Series. Rebecca is a member of the Latinx Playwrights Circle, Latinx Theatre Commons, Board Member of The Flea Theatre, and a founding member of Magic Forest Theatre, dedicated to creating new musicals for young audiences. RebeccaAparicio.com.

A.R.T.: Jagged Little Pill. Broadway: On the Town (Claire de Loone, Drama Desk nomination), Million Dollar Quartet (Dyanne), Cry-Baby (Allison), Company (April, Tony Award Best Revival). First National Tours: Bridges of Madison County (Francesca), Xanadu (Kira). Off-Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along (Gussie), Encores!; Hello Again (Nurse; Drama League Award, Best Ensemble), Transport Group. Associate Artist at Barrington Stage Company. TV: “The Get Down,” “Black Box,” “Fringe,” “Chappelle’s Show,” “All My Children.” Education: Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

A.R.T.: ExtraOrdinary, Jagged Little Pill. Broadway: Deaf West’s Spring Awakening. Concerts: Duncan Sheik, Café Carlyle; Jason Robert Brown, SubCulture; Robby Krieger and Ray Mazarek of The Doors (opening act); Little Feat. TV/ Film: YOU (premiered on Lifetime Sep. 9, 2018). Albums: I’m Fine; American Spirit.

A.R.T.: Jagged Little Pill. Theater: FAME (Carmen), Urinetown (Pennywise). Education: Hackley School, Berridge Conservatory, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Anastasia (Dmitry); The Bridges of Madison County; Wicked (Fiyero, 10th Anniversary Company). Off-Broadway: Dogfight (Eddie Birdlace, Clive Barnes Award nomination), 2econd Stage; Carrie (Tommy Ross), MCC. Regional: Anastasia, Hartford Stage; Diner, Signature Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company; Unknown Soldier, Williamstown Theatre Festival; Hairspray, Hollywood Bowl. TV: “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” “Quantico,” “Blue Bloods,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Carrie Diaries.”

A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Honeymoon in Vegas, On A Clear Day…, Mamma Mia!. Off-Broadway: Joan of Arc: Into the Fire, The Brother/Sister Plays, Public Theater; Hit The Wall, Barrow Street; A Civil War Christmas, NYTW. National Tours: Thoroughly Modern Millie, Mamma Mia!. Regional: Chess, Kennedy Center; Sense & Sensibility (Colonel Brandon; Jeff Award nomination, Craig Noel Award winner), Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Old Globe; Deathless, Goodspeed; Sideways, La Jolla; Hot L Baltimore, Steppenwolf. TV: “Mr. Robot.” seanallankrill.com

Oompa is a nationally-acclaimed, Boston-born poet, rapper, and educator, who is forever representing the queer, black, orphaned, hood kids, n’ them. She was named one of NPR’s 2020 Slingshot Artists to Watch and her engaging, interactive performing style won her the Boston Music Award for Live Act of the Year in 2019, following her 2018 Unsigned Artist of the Year victory among an unprecedented 12 total nominations. In a 2019 feature, WBUR’s the Artery describes the lyric-focused rapper as having a “natural tenderness with language” and calls her verses “funny…incisive and memorable.” Oompa showed this poetic prowess as the winner of the 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam and a finalist in the 2016 National Poetry Slam. With the release of her newest album, Cleo, Oompa has sold out the Sinclair and a number of other Boston venues. She has been featured by NPR, The Huffington Post, The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, WGBH, digboston, and NBC 10, and is the recipient of the 2019 Brother Thomas Fellowship, enriching Boston and the world beyond with her work.

Recent Projects: Now Becomes Then (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Men on Boats (Baltimore Center Stage), Speechless (Blue Man Group North American Tour World Premiere), The Tempest (Juilliard School), Between Us: The Deck of Cards (Denver Center), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Public Theater Mobile Unit), Burn All Night (American Repertory Theater), Gimme Shelter (Why Not Theatre, 2015 Pan Am Games commission), Theatre for One: I’m Not the Stranger You Think I Am (Arts Brookfield), A Sucker Emcee (National Black Theatre, LAByrinth Theater Company), Queen of the Night (Diamond Horseshoe), The Odyssey Project 2012 (site-specific NYC). Jenny was the 2017 curator of the Encores! Off-Center Lobby Project, co-curator of the 2016 ThisGen Conference, and co-founder of Artists 4 Change NYC (National Black Theatre). She has been an artist in residence at Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and The Invisible Dog Art Center, and has developed new work at Ars Nova, Steppenwolf, Roundabout, and New Black Fest. Jenny has been a facilitator and educator in creating anti-racist spaces and engaging in conversations around race and equity for over a decade, in both non-profit and artistic spaces.

Chrysanthemum Tran is a writer and performer based in Rhode Island. She is a recipient of a 2019 MacColl Johnson Fellowship from the Rhode Island Foundation, a Pink Door Fellow, and a 2020 Artist in Residence at Williams College. Featured on Button Poetry and in The New York Times, she has work published in them., The Nation, The Offing, and the Bettering American Poetry anthology, among others. She is not embarrassed by her taste in pop culture, but maybe she should be.

Brandon Michael Nase is an artist, performer, producer, and activist currently based in New York City. Brandon is celebrated for the versatility of his instrument, his powerful vision as an artist, and his commitment to racial justice.

His recent credits include Cats (First National Tour), Show Boat (Bucks County Playhouse), Ragtime (Tulane Summer Lyric), Evita (Asolo Repertory Theatre), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (3D Theatricals), Little Shop of Horrors (Sharon Playhouse), Les Misérables (Dallas Theatre Center), ExtraOrdinary (American Repertory Theater), The Black Clown (American Repertory Theater; Mostly Mozart Festival), and Frozen Live at the Hyperion.

Brandon united his love of gospel jazz and musical theater as the producer and creator of “The Gospel According to Broadway,” a musical web-series which reimagines musical theater songs in gospel, jazz, and R&B styles in collaboration with pianist Sujin Kim-Ramsey.

A proudly Black artist and performer, in 2020 Brandon founded Broadway for Racial Justice, a non-profit organization which fights for racial justice and equity in the Broadway and theatrical community at large. As Executive Director, Brandon has spearheaded crucial initiatives for artists of color; including an emergency fund for unemployed artists and an anonymous hotline which connects BIPOC artists experiencing racism in the workplace with trained advocates. BFRJ also produces concerts, interviews, and other online content which all seek to amplify the voices and experiences of BIPOC performers and artists. Theatrical institutions and educational programs can connect with BFRJ as a resource to better serve artists and students of color through the program Allied with BFRJ.

Before pursuing a career as a performer, Brandon worked in public schools as a choral music teacher in his native Texas. He holds a BM in choral music education from the renowned University of North Texas College of Music and received his MM in Vocal Performance (Music Theatre) from NYU Steinhardt.

Broadway: Jagged Little Pill; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Indecent; The Gin Game; The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Diane Paulus director); The People in the Picture; Caroline, or Change; Elaine Stritch at Liberty; Topdog/Underdog; Bells Are Ringing; Parade (Hal Prince director); Noise/Funk; The Tempest. Recent: Claudia Rankine’s The White Card; Toni Stone (Roundabout); Admissions (LCT); Mlima’s Tale (Public Theater); La Traviata (Canadian Opera); Don Giovanni (Santa Fe Opera); La Dame aux Camélias (France); La Mouette (Cour D’Honneur, Palais des Papes – Avignon Festival); Splendids’s (La Colline-Theatre National Paris); Abigail’s Party (Oslo National Theater, Norway). Over 250 productions: US and internationally. Riccardo started his career at the American Repertory Theater in 1992 where he has had the fortune to design over twenty productions with Diane Paulus, Robert Woodruff, Arthur Nauzyciel, Janos Szasz, Sergio Trujillo, Ron Daniels, Liz Diamond and many others. Upcoming: Eugene Onegin at Santa Fe Opera, directed by Arin Arbus; Mes Fréres written by Pascal Rambert, directed by Arthur Nauzyciel. Obie Award for sustained excellence. Associate Professor Adjunct of Design at Yale School of Drama. riccardohernandez.com

Lien is a designer of sets/environments for theater, dance, and opera. In 2015, she was named a MacArthur Fellow, and is the first stage designer ever to achieve this distinction. Mimi is a co-founder of JACK, a performance/art space in Brooklyn. Selected projects include: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway, Tony Award); Fairview, An Octoroon (Soho Rep.); Die Zauberflöte (Staatsoper Berlin); True West (Roundabout). She is a recipient of a Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award, LA Drama Critics Circle Award, Bessie Award, and an Obie Award for sustained excellence.

Scott has designed over 50 Broadway productions, and has won Tony Awards for his designs of the hit musical The Book of Mormon, The Coast of Utopia, and The Pillowman; and he has multiple Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, Bessie, and Henry Hewes Awards. Additional recent credits include: The Band’s Visit; The Prom; Mean Girls; Oh, Hello; The Little Foxes; Blackbird; Something Rotten; An Act of God; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2020); and American Buffalo set to open upon theater’s return.

He is also a longtime collaborator with Diane Paulus; their many projects together include: Waitress, Pippin, HAIR, The Donkey Show, Johnny Baseball, Finding Neverland, Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna, and the upcoming production of 1776. Scott also designed OBERON, A.R.T.’s club theater space, which has become a thriving incubator for emerging artists to imagine new projects that could only exist in an exciting club theater environment.

Chanel DaSilva (she/her/hers) is a native of Brooklyn, NY. Chanel and has been immersed in the field of dance for the entirety of her life. A graduate of LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts and The Juilliard School, Chanel has performed the works of acclaimed choreographers such as Aszure Barton, Robert Battle, Eliot Feld, Jessica Lang, Jose Limon, Lar Lubovitch, Ohad Naharin, and Doug Varone. Chanel was a member of the highly celebrated Trey McIntyre Project based in Boise, Idaho. As a founding member of TMP, Chanel was a muse for the creation of many of Mr. McIntyre’s works. As a choreographer, Chanel is inspired to create works that are rooted in the beauty of artistic expression to reflect the complex and multifaceted experience of what it means to be human. She has been commissioned to create works for Ballet Memphis, Parsons Dance Company, Gibney Company, American Repertory Theater, Harvard Dance Project, Ariel Rivka Dance, The Juilliard School, and LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. In 2015, alongside her long-time friend and business partner Nigel Campbell, Chanel co-founded MOVE|NYC|, a multi-pillared arts and social justice organization with the mission of creating greater equity and diversity in the dance profession and beyond. Chanel was most recently featured in the cover story of DanceTeacher magazine, “Changing The Face of Dance”. She is also the recipient of the 2019 Martha Hill Dance Fund Mid-Career Award, a 2011 Princess Grace Award, and the 2008 Martha Hill Prize awarded by The Juilliard School. She is a National YoungArts Winner, was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and was featured on the 2004 PBS Documentary “American Talent”. In 2019 Chanel received an IRNE nomination for Best Choreography for The Black Clown which premiered at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA. Chanel is a widely sought after teacher, educator, and mentor having taught master workshops and seminars across the nation for institutions such as The Juilliard School, Harvard University, NYU, LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, Ballet Hispánico, and New Orleans Ballet Association, among others. Chanel is a notable repetiteur of the works of Trey McIntyre, having set his works on companies such as Parsons Dance Company, Washington Ballet, and Marymount Manhattan College.

Michael J. Bobbitt (he/him/his) joined New Repertory Theatre as an arts leader, director, choreographer, and playwright in 2019. Michael J. Bobbitt served as Artistic Director for Adventure Theatre-MTC in Maryland since 2007, where he led the organization to be a respected theater/training company in the DC region, as well as a nationally influential professional Theatre for Young Audiences. He led a merger with Musical Theater Center, increased the organizational budget and audience, commissioned new works by noted playwrights, transferred two shows to Off-Broadway, built an academy, and earned dozens of Helen Hayes Award Nominations, including eight wins. Bobbitt has directed/choreographed at Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Olney Theatre Center, Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Center Stage, Roundhouse Theatre, The Kennedy Center, and the Washington National Opera. His national and international credits include the NY Musical Theatre Festival, Mel Tillis 2001, La Jolla Playhouse, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Jefferson Performing Arts Center, and the Olympics. As a writer, his work was chosen for the NYC International Fringe Festival and The New York Musical Festival. He has two plays published by Rogers and Hammerstein Theatricals. He trained at Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management, The National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program, and other top leadership programs. He earned the Excel Leadership Award (Center for Nonprofit Advancement) the Emerging Leader Award (County Executive’s Excellence in the Arts and Humanities), and Person of the Year Award (Maryland Theatre Guide), among others.

Harold Steward (they/he) is a cultural organizer and arts administrator from Dallas, TX. Harold joined The Theater Offensive in Boston as the Managing Director in June of 2017 and currently serves as Co-Producing Executive Director and oversees fund development, communications, and operations throughout the organization. Harold most recently served as Manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center, a division of the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, which provides instruction and enrichment in the arts with an emphasis on the African contribution to world culture. Harold is a member of the Board of Directors of Theatre Communications Group where he is the Co-Chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and he is Chair of the Partnership Committee for The Board of Directors of the National Performance Network. He is also a Steering Committee member of the Black Theatre Commons. In 2009, Harold founded Fahari Arts Institute in Dallas after recognizing a gap in the landscape for local LGBTQ artists of color in Dallas. Fahari Arts Institute celebrated, displayed, and produced the work of queer artists from the African Diaspora. Harold is a founding member of NextGen National Arts Network and Founding Partner of Steward Cultural Development Group. Harold serves as a Cultural Equity Facilitator with Equity Quotient and an Affiliate Faculty member in the Department of Theatre Studies at Emerson College. Their current research interests include The Queer Trap Aesthetic in American Theatre and Identity Reclamation—the process in which oppressed individuals reclaim agency over their identity through cultural production.

(she/her) Diane Paulus is the Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. A.R.T.: 1776, WILD: A Musical Becoming, Gloria: A Life, Jagged Little Pill, ExtraOrdinary, The White Card, In the Body of the World, Waitress (film available online, French-language production in Quebec summer 2024), Crossing, Finding Neverland, Witness Uganda, Pippin (Tony Award, Best Revival and Best Director), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Tony Award, Best Revival; NAACP Award, Best Direction), Prometheus Bound, Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera, Best of Both Worlds, The Donkey Show. Other work includes Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna, Invisible Thread at Second Stage, and the Public Theater’s Tony Award-winning revival of HAIR on Broadway and London’s West End. As an opera director, her credits include The Magic Flute, the complete Monteverdi cycle, and the trio of Mozart-Da Ponte operas, as well as the upcoming Carmen (2024 Glydenbourne Festival). Paulus is Professor of the Practice of Theater in Harvard University’s English Department and Department of Theater, Dance & Media. She was selected for Boston magazine’s 2023, 2022, 2020, and 2018 lists of Boston’s most influential people, the 2014 Time 100, Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and as one of Variety’s “Trailblazing Women in Entertainment for 2014.”

A.R.T.: We’re Gonna Die, Company One. Shawn LaCount (he/him/his) is a co-founder of Company One Theatre, where he has served as Co-Executive Director and Artistic Director since 1998. Under Shawn’s co-leadership, Company One Theatre has grown into a nationally recognized theatre at the intersection of art and social change, having served over 15,000 students, 100,000 audience members, and presenting over 80 productions in 21 years. Director: Hype Man (world premiere, Elliot Norton Award, Outstanding Production), Really, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them; The Flick (Elliot Norton Award, Outstanding Production); Splendor (world premiere), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Elliot Norton Award, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Production), The Aliens (Elliot Norton Award, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Production); GRIMM (world premiere); The Overwhelming; After the Quake; Assassins; Mr. Marmalade. Education: MA Ed., Theatre Education, Clark University; MFA, Directing, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Teaching: Emerson College, Boston Arts Academy, Huntington Theatre Company, Tufts University, Stage One, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

About Company One Theatre

Dubbed Boston’s Best Fringe Theatre by Boston Magazine, Company One Theatre is Boston’s theatre for the people. Founded in 1999, Company One’s mission is to change the face of Boston theater by uniting the city’s diverse communities through socially provocative performance and the development of civically engaged artists. The award-winning company has been instrumental in bringing younger and more diverse audiences to see and participate in socially and politically relevant theater.

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