Presenters | EPIC Conference Schedule

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Billy Porter

Superstar, Artist & Activist

Karl Jenkins

Technical Director

Karl Jenkins’s professional credits include working with some of the largest entertainment companies in the world. Karl contributed to the critical success of several Cirque du Soleil shows all over the world over the past ten years as the Head of Lighting, Project Manager and Technical Director. Graduating from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 2007, Karl was quickly introduced to the world of international touring and has taken shows to some of the largest venues in the world including Radio City Music Hall, The Royal Albert Hall and The Kremlin Palace Theatre. Most recently Karl has worked with Franco Dragons House of Dancing Water and La Perle as Technical Director before moving to his current role as the Head of Technical Production at EXPO 2020 in Dubai.

Kat Landry

Stage & Production Manager

Kat is a stage & production manager from the United States with a deep love for all forms of live entertainment. She considers herself a versatile manager, having worked in theatre, circus, theme parks, cruise ships, and, most recently, international mega-events. Kat is currently based in the UAE, working as a Production Manager for Events and Entertainment at Expo 2020 Dubai, the largest event ever hosted in the Middle East. She is grateful to have built a career doing her favorite thing in the world, all over the world.

Proud Carnegie Mellon graduate and certified Project Management Professional.

Ken Davenport

Tony Award winning Broadway Producer

Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), Gettin’ the Band Back Together, The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day (Tony nomination), Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony nomination), It’s Only a Play, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Broadway - Tony Award, National Tour, Toronto, Australia, and West End), and more, including multiple Off-Broadway productions! Ken’s shows have been produced internationally in over 25 countries around the world.

He is the founder of TheaterMakersStudio.com, a one-of-a-kind "masterclass" community that provides training and inspiration from Broadway's best to writers, directors, producers and more.

Ken also serves as the Executive Producer for North America for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. Outside of theatre, he has produced award-winning content for both film and TV. Ken’s unique production and marketing style has garnered him international attention in numerous publications, including Vanity Fair and The New York Times.

Upcoming projects include Broadway Vacation, Joy the Musical, My Life In Pink, a revival of The Great White Hope, Harmony: A New Musical written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, a musical based on the life and songs of Neil Diamond, and a musical based on the life of Harry Belafonte.

Kerem Demirayak

New Media Artist, Producer, Studio Manager AudioFil (Turkey)

Kerem Demirayak is an artist/producer executing multimedia projects utilizing the latest technologies in the creative process. After pursuing an MA in Music Technology at Berklee College of Music, he showcased various audiovisual live performances in international festivals like Festival Les Arts (Valencia, Spain), AV Node Rome and Sonar Istanbul. He has worked closely with teams from global studios and agencies to communicate innovations with audiences through multimedia technologies and immersive experiences.

Lusi Faiva

Dancer & Touch Compass Artistic Direction Panel Member (New Zealand)

Lusi, of Samoan and European descent, is an award-winning dancer and founding member of Touch Compass who has been performing for over 30 years. She performed and toured New Zealand and Australia in the company’s major shows from 1997 to 2008 and starred in the highly acclaimed autobiographical performance Lusi’s Eden in 2001; in 2014, her DanceBox short film 'Mr and Mrs Jones' paid tribute to two key people in her life, her foster parents. Lusi has been a support dancer in Touch Compass’s community classes and represented Touch Compass at the Pacific CNZ Strategic conference at Te Papa, Wellington in 2018.
In 2021 Lusi performed Taupou, a new work Samoan traditional dance performance collaboration with Everybody Cool Lives Here and LeMona at Cuba Dupa Festival, Wellington; she presented Taupou on stage at Kia Mau Festival, Wellington in early 2021. Lusi hopes to make a new work called Aiga partnership with Everybody Cool Lives Here in 2022.
Lusi was awarded the High Commended award for her contribution to the dance community at the 2019 Arts Access Aotearoa Awards; Spirit of Attitude award at 2020 Attitude Awards; the Toa Artistic Achievement award at Pacific Arts CNZ 2020 Awards; and the Artistic Achievement award at the Arts Access Aotearoa 2021 awards

Megan Kingery

Tony-Nominated Producer, Executive Producer of POE Global

Tony-nominated “Producer of Everything”. Creative Producer of Blue Man World, Blue Man Group's first exploration into print (2016 by Blackdog and Leventhal / Hachette). Notable projects include NATASHA, PIERRE, AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 (Tony Nomination). FUN HOME (Tony Award), HAND TO GOD (Tony nomination). Executive Producer of THE SUBJECT, a feature film by Chisa Hutchinson, directed by Lanie Zipoy, starring Jason Biggs and Aunjanue Ellis, and ADAM MANN (NOT HIS REAL NAME) a new play by Marin Gazzaniga based on Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind by Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola, in development with The
Civilians. Creative Producer of PARTICLE FEVER (in development with David Henry Hwang, Zoe Sarnak, and Bear McCreary). Experiential Producer of the “In Her Shoes” campaign for Santander Bank, winner of Best Experiential and Best Tech for Good IDEAS award, Best Experiential for AICP, Finalist for a Cannes Glass Lion. Poeglobal.com

Mehmet Ünal

Award winning New Media Composer, Sound Artist & Software Developer (Turkey)

Mehmet Unal is an Istanbul based Composer, Sound Artist and Software Developer. Coming from a strong music background, Unal is fascinated by the beauty of technical objects, and developing his own instruments and algorithms is an integral part of his creative process.The projects that he created music and sound design for have been presented in Washington, Melbourne, Istanbul, New Mexico, Geneva, Paris, Prag, Barcelona, Linz and have been granted international Awards as Red Dot Design Award, The International Design Awards, Codawards, ADC Awards, German Design, The Aesthetica Art Prize and many more…

Rodney Bell

Dancer & Touch Compass Artistic Direction Panel Member (New Zealand)

Photograph by John McDermott

Rodney has been dancing professionally since 1995, having started out as a Touch Compass founding member. Proud to be a pioneer for inclusive dance, Rodney has performed both nationally and internationally – winning an Isadora Dance Award while dancing in the US with Axis Dance Company. Rodney was also the winner of the Attitude Artistic Achievement Award, in 2016, and the Arts Access Aotearoa Artistic Achievement Award in 2017, 2018 The Grant Tilly Actor of the Year and the Creative New Zealand, Ngā Taonga Toi a Te Waka Toi - Te Tohu Iho Pūmanawa award 2020.
Increasingly, Rodney actively works not only as an artist but also as an advocator and provocateur, calling for stronger integration and providing voice for people with diverse requirements to have more choice and control over their lives especially Hau Tipua (Persons with a Disability and their Whaanau – Family). Rodney feels very strongly about making Performance spaces accessible as possible not only physical access but also supporting access for the hearing and sight impaired. Rodney finds himself working across varied media, including film, documentaries, and in motivational presentations. With his strong focus on Universal Access, Rodney is also extensively involved in organisations that advocate and pursue wide access for people with and without a Disability.
Honoured to be dancing with Touch Compass, Rodney hopes to continue to change the way we all view dance and emulate what Touch Compass has done for him by supporting young artists with a Disability. His motto is: “He waka eke noa” (a canoe we are all in with no exceptions).

Safen Muhammad

Founder & Executive Director at Art + (Kurdistan)

Safen O. Muhammad Manages and directs ART+, a non-governmental art and cultural organisation working towards building awareness and training youth and others on the arts, culture and environment. He has eight years of experience as an artist working with refugee and IDP children throughout the Kurdistan region, particularly in the city of Slemani. He has also worked and collaborated with local and international NGOs, such as the UN, AptART, CDO, Skateistan, Make life Skate Life, Un Ponte Per, Kurdistan Botanical Foundation, Commission Scolaire de montréal and international artists creating murals, canvases and street and refugee camp art projects. Additionally, Safen has ten years of experience working as an environmental activist and volunteer in Slemani assisting Iraqi environmental organisations such as Nature Iraq and Waterkeepers Iraq. Safen has helped the aforementioned groups complete workshops, educational campaigns and awareness murals and art projects. He recently completed a yearlong research project at Zheen Archival and Research Center funded by the Nahrein Network at University College London. Currently he is involved in designing and setting up a climate change awareness exhibition at the University of Sulaimani funded by the German Embassy in Baghdad, to work and train students about the effects of climate change and climate action. He also manages the first ever Skate-park in Iraq, opened in the city of Slemani in 2018. He oversees the training of a new generation of Kurdish and Iraqi youth on the fundamentals of skateboarding and sport therapy with youth with special needs. Previously he worked as a newspaper designer for Hawlati Newspaper published in the city of Slemani.

Samantha Robison

Executive Director of aptART

Samantha Robison is founder and executive director of Awareness and Prevention through Art (aptART), an organization of artists and activists dedicated to sharing artistic experiences with marginalized and conflict- affected youth throughout the world. AptART coordinates workshops for youth that result in large-scale public art. Samantha develops, organizes, and manages projects in partnership with the United Nations and government agencies as well as local and international non-governmental organizations.

Samantha also works as the Director of Media & Development for community skatepark building organization, Make Life Skate Life. She organizes, documents and researches skatepark projects around the world. Her work has brought her to Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon,Tunisia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Turkey, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique and across Europe.

Samantha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Studio Art from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where she was awarded the alumni of the year in 2016. In 2017 Samantha received the Krider Prize for Creativity by the University & College Designers Association. In 2019, Samantha began a Masters of Fine Art program in Social Documentation at the University of California Santa Cruz.

Suzanne Cowan

Choreographer & Touch Compass Artistic Direction Panel Member (New Zealand)

Suzanne is an artist/choreographer/researcher and has been an associate artist with Touch Compass since 1999. Her most recent work was performed at Auckland Arts Festival this year with collaborator, Rodney Bell, in 'He Owha Matarua’: a site specific performance at Piha that explores ecology and colonisation. She recently completed an independent film, ’Slippage’, to be screened later in 2021, building on her solo autobiographical show ‘Manifesto of A Good Cripple’ which she produced and performed at the Basement Theatre in 2019.

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David Henry Hwang 黄哲伦

Playwright, Librettist, Screenwriter

David Henry Hwang’s stage works includes the plays M. Butterfly, Yellow Face, Chinglish, Kung Fu, Golden Child, The Dance and the Railroad, and FOB, as well as the Broadway musicals Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida (co-author), Flower Drum Song (2002 revival) and Disney’s Tarzan. Hwang is a Tony Award winner and three-time nominee, a three-time OBIE Award winner, a Grammy Award winner who has been twice nominated, and a three-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Opera News called him America’s most-produced living opera librettist. He co-wrote the Gold Record “Solo” with the late pop icon Prince and was a Writer/Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning television series The Affair from 2015-2019. Hwang is currently creating Empress, a TV series for Netflix; the live-action musical feature film The Hunchback of Notre Dame for Disney Studios; and a movie to star actress Gemma Chan. Hwang serves as Head of Playwriting at Columbia University School of the Arts and sits on the Board of the American Theatre Wing, where he recently completed his term as Chair. His newest work, Soft Power, a collaboration with composer Jeanine Tesori, premiered at Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre, where it won six Ovation Awards. Its subsequent run at the Public Theatre in NYC received a 2020 Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theatre Album and was a Finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Drama.

Douglas Lyons

Actor, Writer, Director, Composer, Playwright

Douglas Lyons is an actor, writer, director, composer-lyricist and playwright. Douglas served as a writer and composer on Apple TV’s 2022 series Fraggle Rock. He made his Broadway playwriting debut with Chicken and Biscuits, which bowed at The Circle in the Square Theatre starring Michael Urie and Norm Lewis. Douglas’ music and lyrics have been featured on BET Plus, CBS's Sunday Morning Show, Carnegie Hall's Voices of Hope Festival and Lincoln Center’s Broadway Songbook Series.

His acting credits include the Broadway productions of The Book of Mormon and Beautiful (Original Cast), as well as the tours of Rent and Dreamgirls. Other theater writing credits include: Polkadots (Off Broadway Alliance Winner Best Family Show, Atlantic Theater Company). Beau (Adirondack Theatre Festival, plus a film capture with TBD Theatricals) and Five Points currently in development with Hamilton's Andy Blankenbuehler. With musical writing partner Ethan D. Pakchar, Douglas is a 2020 Jonathan Larson Grant finalist. @DouglasSings IG: @Chocolatehipster

Gene Scheer

Composer, Librettist, Songwriter

Mr. Scheer’s work is noted for its scope and versatility. With the composer Jake Heggie, he has collaborated on many projects, including the critically acclaimed 2010 Dallas Opera world premiere, Moby-Dick, starring Ben Heppner as Captain Ahab; Three Decembers (Houston Grand Opera), which starred Frederica von Stade; and the lyric drama To Hell and Back (Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra), which featured Patti LuPone. Other works by Scheer and Heggie include Camille Claudel: Into the fire, a song cycle premiered by Joyce di Donato and the Alexander String Quartet. Mr. Scheer worked as librettist with Tobias Picker on An American Tragedy, which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005 and on Therese Raquin which was produced by the Dallas Opera in 2001. Other collaborations include the lyrics for Wynton Marsalis’s It Never Goes Away, featured in Mr. Marsalis’s work Congo Square. With the composer Steven Stucky, Mr. Scheer wrote the oratorio August 4, 1964, for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The work was nominated for a Grammy in 2012 for best classical composition. In 2015, Mr. Scheer collaborated with Joby Talbot on the opera Everest, based on the doomed 1996 Everest expedition. With Jennifer Higdon, Mr. Scheer wrote an operatic adaptation of Cold Mountain, which premiered in the summer of 2015 at the Santa Fe Opera. This work won the International Opera award, presented in London, for the best World premiere in 2015. Along with Ms. Higdon, Mr. Scheer was nominated for a Grammy for his work on Cold Mountain for best classical composition. In December of 2016 Mr. Scheer and Jake Heggie premiered an operatic adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life for the Houston Grand Opera. Currently, Mr. Scheer has three grand operas in the works. An adaptation of international best seller: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a collaboration with Joby Talbot, will premiere at the Dallas opera in 2023. With Jake Heggie and the director- choreographer Jawole Zoller, he is at work on an opera based on union spy ring that was working in Richmond during the Civil War. This piece will premiere at the Houston Grand opera in 2023. The opera is entitled Intelligence. With Mason Bates, Mr. Scheer is at work on a new commission for the Metropolitan Opera. Also, a composer in his own right, Mr. Scheer has written a number of songs for singers such as Renée Fleming, Sylvia McNair, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Larmore, Denyce Graves, and Nathan Gunn. The distinguished documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns, prominently featured Mr. Scheer’s song “American Anthem” (as sung by Norah Jones) in his Emmy Award-winning World War II documentary for PBS entitled The War. The lyrics to American Anthem were quoted earlier in the year at the climax of President Biden’s inaugural address.

Gilles Ste-Croix

Co-founder of Cirque du Soleil (Canada)

Gilles Ste-Croix is the Co-founder of Cirque du Soleil.
His pivotal involvement included leading the vast majority of creative productions which forged the astounding creative signature that the Cirque du Soleil has carried over the past 37 years.
Yet the global impact went well beyond the success of its productions - it generated new horizons of expression, design processes and development of an entire theatrical and cultural register.

With his origins as a humble farm boy and street theatre artist, Gilles gained his foundation as a self-taught artist and seeker, constantly researching and learning from the creative people with whom he surrounded. From street theatre troupes to roving musicians to elite performing artists, Gilles’ fascination and curiosity towards new approaches and creative frontiers fueled his unparalleled prolific vision.

The vital contribution of Gilles Ste. Croix goes beyond the walls of the sophisticated purpose-built theatres and the famed yellow and blue tents: for over four decades, he has dedicated his professional life as a leading voice and actor developing and honoring circus arts and artists, equestrian arts, convergence of pluridisiplinary performance design and a deep engagement in cultural citizenship across the globe.

Giuliano Peparini

Director & Choreographer (Italy)

Born in Rome, Giuliano Peparini is recognized as one of the most prolific and diverse directors and choreographers internationally.

In his early years, he graduated from the School of American Ballet in New York. Upon returning to Europe, Giuliano was hired by Roland Petit at the Ballet National de Marseille, where he was named Danseur Etoile in 1997.

He portrayed iconic roles and created many, dancing alongside illustrious dancers of the time and later becoming Assistant and Maître de Ballet of the Roland Petit, restaging his ballets for the Opéra de Paris, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the National Opera of Tokyo, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, amongst others.

In 2004, he met Franco Dragone with whom he shares the same culture. Together, they created the show “Le Reve”, one of the largest and most poetic performances ever seen in Las Vegas. Their collaboration led onto the groundbreaking show “The House of Dancing Water”, which served as the cultural reference of its kind for 10 years in Macau.

Giuliano works also in film in collaboration with great directors and in 2013, after 20 years of absence from the Italian scene, he returned as Artistic Director and Choreographer of the talent show “Amici 12”, Mediaset – Canale 5 TV.

On 20 December 2015, at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Giuliano debuts a very personal adaptation of the ballet “Lo Schiaccianoci. (The Nutcracker)”

New international productions await him in Canada, Asia, and Europe.

Gypsy Snider

Co-founder & Artistic Director of The 7 Fingers (Canada)

Gypsy Snider wrote and directed Dear San Francisco, SisterS, Réversible, Intersection, Amuse, Un Dia, Traces, and Loft.

Constantly branching out into new mediums, Gypsy has choreographed televised feature performances for America’s Got Talent, Her Majesty’s Royal Variety Performance, the illusionist Darcy Oake’s Edge of Reality, and large scale fashion shows for Bench/. In 2013, working with director Diane Paulus on a new vision of Pippin, she choreographed and wove circus into the revival of the Broadway musical. Gypsy’s work on Pippin earned her a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

Gypsy began her circus career at the age of 4 when her parents founded The Pickle Family Circus. She grew up touring the West Coast with the company, went on to graduate the Dimitri school of physical theater in Switzerland and performed with the Cirque du Soleil for several years before creating "Les 7 doigts de la main" in Montreal, Quebec.

Gypsy has now come full circle back to her home town of San Francisco : The 7 Fingers have moved in to the iconic North Beach theater, Club Fugazi where Gypsy is co-writer/director of Dear San Francisco.

Adding to her diverse range of projects, Gypsy wrote and directed Ships in the Night, contemporary musical dance revue for Virgin Voyages’ new cruise line. In 2020, she created and choreographed the televised EUFA Draft opening. During the darkest time of the pandemic lockdown, she wrote and co-directed her first film Out of Order.

Gypsy is also a guest teacher and guest director at the National Circus School of Montreal, she received the Evolving Circus Award in New York City and was invited to speak at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington DC.

Photo by Olivier Teětreault

Kenny Leon

Tony and Obie Award Winning, Emmy Nominated, Broadway & Television Director

KENNY LEON is a Tony and Obie Award-winning; Emmy-nominated; Broadway and Television director. Most recently, he directed Lifetime’s Emmy-nominated Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia. Currently on Netflix, he has directed episodes of Colin in Black & White and Amend: The Fight for America. Last year, he directed the Tony Award--winning Broadway premiere of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece, A Soldier's Play, starring Blair Underwood and David Alan Grier at Roundabout Theatre Company for which he also received a nomination for Best Director. He also directed the acclaimed production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte/Shakespeare in the Park. His Broadway credits include the recent production of A Soldier's Play, American Son starring Kerry Washington and Steven Pasquale which was also adapted for Netflix, the revival of Children of a Lesser God, the Tupac musical Holler If Ya Hear Me, A Raisin in the Sun starring Denzel Washington (Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Best Revival of a Play), The Mountaintop starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett, Stick Fly produced by Alicia Keys, August Wilson’s Fences (which garnered ten Tony nominations and won three Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play), Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf, as well as A Raisin in the Sun starring Sean “Diddy” Combs, Phylicia Rashad, and Audra McDonald. He also directed Smart People and The Underlying Chris for Second Stage. Leon’s television work includes “Hairspray Live!”, and “The Wiz Live!” on NBC. He recently released his memoir Take You Wherever You Go. He is the recipient of the 2016 Mr. Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing and the 2010 Award for Excellence in Directing from the Drama League. Mr. Leon serves on the board of New York's Public Theater and is Artistic Director Emeritus of Atlanta's Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company. He is currently serving as Senior Resident Director at Roundabout Theatre Company.

Prior to co-founding True Colors Theatre Company, he served 11 years as Artistic Director of The Alliance Theatre, where he produced the premieres of Disney's Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida, Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky and Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo. Other directorial credits include Alicia Keys World Tour, Toni Morrison's opera Margaret Garner, the world premiere of Flashdance The Musical, and the complete August Wilson Century Cycle at the Kennedy Center. Leon is a sought after motivational speaker that has done acting and theatre workshops at universities and corporate offices around the country, South Africa and Ireland. He has directed in the UK, and extensively throughout the US, including Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Boston's Huntington Theatre, Baltimore's Center Stage, Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group and New York's Public Theatre. Leon is a graduate of Clark Atlanta and is an honorary Ph.D. recipient of Clark Atlanta and Roosevelt Universities and has served as the Denzel Washington Chair at Fordham University.

Kimberley Rampersad

Stage Director, Choreographer, Actor (Canada)

Kimberley Rampersad is a Canadian theatre artist, born and raised in Treaty 1 Territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

As an actor she has appeared across Canada including Mirvish, and the Stratford and Shaw Festivals. She is a recipient of a Maud Whitmore Scholarship (Charlottetown Festival) and a Guthrie Award (Stratford Festival).

She was the associate choreographer of the North American and Asian tours of Hairspray – The Musical (NETworks) for four seasons. Her choreography has received Dora nominations for Passing Strange (Musical Stage/Obsidian) and Seussical - the Musical (YPT) respectively, and an Evie Award for Matilda – The Musical (Royal MTC/ Citadel/ Arts Club).

As a director, Kimberley was featured in the New York Times for directing a full- length production of Man and Superman at the Shaw Festival. Other directing credits include Serving Elizabeth (Stratford Festival), How Black Mothers Say I Love You (GCTC) (Prix Rideau Award) and The Color Purple (Neptune and Citadel/ Royal MTC) (Evie, Sterling, Merritt Awards). She was the recipient of the Gina Wilkinson Prize for an emerging female director in 2017 (Ontario Arts Foundation).

Kimberley completed her dance teacher certification through and was on faculty with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School; she holds a Bachelor of Arts (University of Manitoba) and is currently a graduate student in Theatre Studies (University of Guelph).

Kimberley’s greatest joy is working with young artists, where she harnesses her experiences as a South Asian and Black woman trained in classical western stage traditions, to encourage them to embrace their full selves in their practice.

She is the Associate Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.

Leslie Ishii

Artistic Director, Perseverance Theatre

Leslie Ishii is a leader in the American Theatre in many capacities. (Artistic Director) Perseverance Theatre: Devilfish (World Premiere), We Hold These Truths, This Wonderful Life, Voyager One (pre-Production); Pangea World Theatre: Sueño, and Directors Institute for Ensemble Creation w/Co-Producer, Art2Action; East West Players: Takarazuka!!!, Taking Flight: The Katherine Cheung Story, Crimes Of The Heart; Artists At Play: 99 Histories; plays at UC, Irvine, USC, CSLA; Oregon Shakespeare Festival: API 2x2 Lab New Works Residency, Founder/Producer, Dramaturgy, FAIR Assistant Director Program Recipient; and where she began, Northwest Asian American Theatre. (Actor) Broadway, regional theatre—Pangea World Theatre, El Teatro Campesino, American Conservatory Theatre (Alum), and South Coast Repertory to name a few. She has also appeared in TV and film. (National Scope) Board President/Co-Chair Steering Committee, Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists’ National ConFest; National Cultural Navigation Theatre Project for the sustainability of BIPOC Artists and Theatres of Color, Co-founder/Director; Tsuru For Solidarity: Steering Committee, Co-Chair Direct Action Committee; Co-facilitated the launch of Theatre Communication Group’s Equity/Diversity/Inclusion Institute; Core faculty, artEquity working throughout the US with arts and culture organizations.
SDC (National E/D/I Standout Moments Recognition, (2016, 2017), AEA, SAG-AFTRA

Liam Steel

Choreographer & Director

LIAM STEEL is a multi-award winning choreographer and director who has created work with the Royal National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, Royal Court, Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Salzburg Festival. He has created many award-winning contemporary dance commissions, choreographed musical theatre for the West End and Broadway, and directed multiple operas, including Paul Bunyan for English Touring Opera which won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera. He is a core collaborator at London’s Regents Park Open Air Theatre working on ten productions over ten seasons, including co-directing and choreographing the Olivier Award-winning Into the Woods, which transferred to the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. Liam created the musical staging and choreography for the Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA-winning feature film Les Misérables.

Lisa Porter

Stage Manager, Educator & Author

LISA PORTER is a Professor of Theatre and Dance at the University of California, San Diego, where she has taught since 2005. She is the Head of the MFA in Stage Management, and teaches graduate and undergraduate stage management. She has also developed courses related to creativity, neuroscience, disability, and performance. Lisa has taught in the MFA Stage Management program at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, and has led international classes in Singapore, Taiwan, and China.

Working in diverse venues on six continents, Lisa’s career has included international projects with Laurie Anderson, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Anne Bogart, Hal Hartley, Yo-Yo Ma, Silkroad Ensemble, White Oak Dance Project, and Robert Wilson. She has collaborated extensively on multiple intercultural productions with Singaporean director Ong Keng Sen and TheatreWorks Singapore. Her New York and Regional credits include productions with Christopher Ashley, Charles Busch, Jonathan Demme, Richard Foreman, Doug Hughes, Tina Landau, Kenny Leon, Suzan-Lori Parks, Darko Tresnjak, and Mark Wing-Davey. She has also produced and stage managed non-profit and corporate events since 1996.

In 2020, she published the book 'Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach', co-authored with Narda E. Alcorn. They also wrote the essay 'We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education' on HowlRound Theatre Commons. Their work has been featured in the New York Times, 'A Call to Diversify Those Calling the Cues', and American Theatre, 'Managing the Stage, and Managing Expectations'.

Lulu Helbæk

Stage Director & Creative Director, formerly of Balich Worldwide (Italy)

Lulu Helbæk is an experienced creative director and director with over 15 years of experience in the production of international ceremonies, shows, theatre and videos.

She started in the field of music videos before moving on to special events, ceremonies and shows of many different genres, as well as working, along the way, as a content director and a developer of interactive video concepts with physical performance, to great success.

She is known as a highly imaginative, out-of-the-box thinker, original concept creator and versatile live events director. Her work combines physical theatre, technology and creative strategies, all put to the service of a clear artistic vision.

One of the main focuses of her work is her effort to bring the audience into a different dimension, to discover an angle of the story that hasn’t been told before. She is strongly inspired by spaces and
the story behind them. Even when working on ceremonies and institutional events, generally considered less narrative shows, she seeks to reveal the humanity hidden in every character. And the venue of the show itself is often one of the main characters in her work; infused with beauty and meaning, the space comes to life before the audience's eyes.

The other main focus of her work is music as a fundamental inspiration for the construction of images and worlds. She also develops the spaces and set design herself, as a starting point for the story.

As a result of her studies of contemporary art, the physicality of the story expressed through dance and physical performance merges with the space itself, as if one was the natural expression of the other.

In her work, she drafts the initial study and then guides it to the concept creation. She loves to shape creative teams, mixing people from different fields and backgrounds, and then lead them all the way
through the show, focusing also on the secondary art direction of the communication media.

From Turin Winter Olympic Ceremony in 2006 to the Ceremonies of Sochi 2014, she faced the most complex and challenging shows in the world as Director at Balich Wonder Studio, where she was also the Head of Creative putting together different teams for the various shows.

In March 2017, she directed the first Italian permanent show “Giudizio Universale – Michelangelo and the secrets of the Sistine Chapel”, a multimedia immersive theatre show inspired by Michelangelo’s masterpieces.

Between 2018 and 2019 she was appointed as Artistic Director for two editions of the Italian XFactor, with her partner Simone Ferrari, the most seen ever edition, bringing unconventional contents into Italian TV.

In 2020 when the pandemic hit she was directing the new permanent show in Berlin for Cirque du Soleil, a contemporary tale brought into the new circus language, that is at the moment on hold.
She is now working on an original production of contemporary circus and physical poetry inspired by Alice in Wonderland which will premiere December the 16th.

Lynn Ahrens

Lyricist and Librettist for Broadway, TV, and Film

Lynn Ahrens is a lyricist and librettist with an extensive career in theater, film and television.
With longtime collaborator Stephen Flaherty, she won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for the Broadway musical Ragtime and was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes for Twentieth Century Fox’s animated feature film, Anastasia, which they also adapted for Broadway. Additional Broadway: Once On This Island, (Tony Award, Best Revival); Seussical (one of the most produced shows in America); Madison Square Garden’s A Christmas Carol (composer Alan Menken); My Favorite Year; Rocky; Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life. Off-Broadway: Lucky Stiff; A Man of No Importance; Dessa Rose; The Glorious Ones; Upcoming: Knoxville; Little Dancer. Film: Lyrics for Anastasia, Camp, After the Storm, Lucky Stiff, Nasrin.
Ahrens has been nominated for four Grammys and won the Emmy for her work in network television. She’s a mainstay singer/songwriter for the classic animated series Schoolhouse Rock. Her short stories and essays have been published nationally and her work has been nominated for Best American Essays and the Pushcart Anthology. She serves on Council for the Dramatists Guild of America and co-founded the DGF Fellows Program for Emerging Writers with Stephen Flaherty. In 2014 Ahrens and Flaherty received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement and in 2015 they were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.
www.ahrensandflaherty.com

Matías Jaime

Founding Director, Choreographer, Dancer: Malevo Dance Company (Argentina)

Born in Argentina, in 1989, Matias is a dancer, choreographer and director of Malevo, Argentine Malambo Dance Company.

Malambo is used as the main resource - a traditional Argentine dance of great virility and skill - and based on its essence and roots, it seeks to take it beyond its limits, with a modern, avant-garde and transgressive look, fusing it with other styles of dance. and always maintaining its essence and purity, thus achieving a perfect combination, to provide viewers with a totally innovative visual and sensory experience.

The renowned American television program, “America's Got Talent”, opened the doors spread their art, and launched them to world recognition, appearing in shows, festivals and programs (France, Mexico, Egypt, Monte-carlo, Japan, China, Dubai, Canada, Argentina, Spain, among others).

Matthew Ozawa

Stage Director, Artistic Director, Educator

Matthew Ozawa is a stage director, artistic director and educator whose international career spans all artistic disciplines including opera, theater, musical theater, dance, video, world music and visual art. Ozawa is a master storyteller, whose “strikingly spare productions” (New York Times) are “a vivid demonstration of what opera is all about” (Opera News). His productions consistently “deliver brilliance on all fronts” (Chicago Tribune) and are filled with “breathtaking imagery” (Broadway World). Ozawa is the Founder and Artistic Director of Mozawa, a Chicago-based incubator advancing collaborative art and artists. Also a proponent of arts education, Ozawa served three years as Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

Passionate about collaborative interdisciplinary performance, new work, and reigniting classics, Ozawa’s “stylish” and “intelligent” productions have been seen at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Minnesota Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Wolftrap Opera, Opera Colorado, Des Moines Metro Opera, Arizona Opera, Kentucky Opera, North Carolina Opera, Opera Siam and Asia Society among many others.

In opera, Ozawa divides his time between directing classics, rarely performed works, world premieres and musical theater. Recent productions of classic as well as rarely performed repertory include Madama Butterfly (Santa Fe Opera / Arizona Opera), Don Quichotte (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Romeo and Juliet (Minnesota Opera / Cincinnati Opera / Michigan Opera Theatre), Nabucco (Lyric Opera of Chicago), L'Opera Seria (Wolf Trap Opera), Le Nozze di Figaro (Opera Colorado / North Carolina Opera), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Kentucky Opera), Arizona Lady (Arizona Opera), La Boheme (Opera Colorado / Opera North), and Les Mamelles de Tiresias / Le Pauvre Matelot (Wolf Trap Opera).

Committed to new and modern work, recent new production highlights include Ruo / Hwang’s An American Soldier (Opera Theatre of St. Louis), Perla / Murphy’s An American Dream (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Aucoin’s Second Nature (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Hanlon / Fleischmann’s After The Storm (Houston Grand Opera), Sucharitkul’s Snow Dragon (Skylight Music Theatre / Opera Siam), Larsen’s Frankenstein (West Edge Opera), and Regan / Fries’ The Memory Stone (Houston Grand Opera). In addition, Ozawa’s interest in hybrid storytelling has led him to direct pieces of musical theater including A Little Night Music (Houston Grand Opera / Des Moines Metro Opera) and Sweeney Todd (Skylight Music Theater).

Ozawa’s skill at working across artistic boundaries has led him to collaborate with the Grammy award winning contemporary music ensemble Eighth Blackbird (Hand Eye and Ghostlight), Placido Domingo (Celebrating Placido Domingo), Sondra Radvanovsky (The Three Queens), Houston Ballet & Asia Society Houston (Tsuru), Mariachi Aztlon (Canciones y arias), Alexa Grae / Jon Wes (Vimeo music video – Sur La Nuit), and visual performance designer Candystations (Hand Eye) among others.

In 2013, Ozawa founded MOZAWA because of his commitment to cross-cultural interdisciplinary work. Having incubated numerous new works and fostered over 150 artists from all over the world, Mozawa has been featured in Crain’s Chicago Business Magazine, at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and by High Concept Laboratory. Ozawa led collaborations have included A Dream Play (an interdisciplinary production in collaboration with Bow & Hammer: Sponsored by High Concept Laboratory), Y Portraits: Origins and Y Portraits: Awakening (an art gallery experience featuring over 50 international artists from all mediums; in collaboration with Chicago Harp Quartet & Ho Etsu Taiko Ensemble), and Fallen (a theatrical adaptation of Akutgawa's In A Grove featuring collaborative composition by koto musician Yumi Kurosawa and electronic sound artist Mike Vernusky).

As an educator, Ozawa taught movement, acting and directing to undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students at the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre & Dance from 2017-2020. In addition, he has acted as lecturer for the School of Music at DePaul University, lecturer / stage director for the School of Music at North Park University, instructor for Music Academy of the West, and instructor for Rider University / Westminster Choir College. As an acting and movement coach, Ozawa has worked with young professionals at the Santa Fe Opera, Ryan Opera Center (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera, Arizona Opera and Opera Colorado.

Ozawa’s own education in the industry led him to learn the business from the ground up. Starting at the Santa Fe Opera where he was a technical apprentice, he then proceeded to work as an Assistant Stage Manager, Stage Manager, Assistant Dramaturge, Assistant Director and then Associate Director all over the world. In any one of these capacities Ozawa has worked for Canadian Opera Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St Louis, Opera Colorado, Macau International Festival, Indianapolis Opera, and Off-Broadway. Throughout his formative years he was fortunate to work with and learn from some of the most world-renowned directors and artists including Meredith Monk, Peter Sellars, Isaac Mizrahi, Robert Carsen, Francesca Zambello, Chay Yew, David Alden, Bob Falls, Rob Ashford, Gary Griffin, James Robinson, and Francisco Negrin.

Melanie Lalande

Creative Director

Currently serving as Creative Director for Lab of Misfits, curating performances/talks for TED2019 Vancouver and Oslo Freedom Forum.
Creative Consultant for C:LAB/Nextasy a Cirque du Soleil innovative division. Her mandate was to create immersive experiences and pop-up activations.
Melanie Lalande served for 7 years as the Artistic Director for The Beatles™ LOVE™ by Cirque du Soleil® at The Mirage in Las Vegas. She oversaw 68 artists from 19 different countries as well as a staff of 14 who operate the production daily. She was in charge of all of the casting, performer integrations, and maintaining the artistic quality of the show. In 2016, in celebration of LOVE’s 10th anniversary, Melanie, along with the show’s Director, implemented a number of changes to the show. These changes included new costumes, choreography, new imagery and technology along with new music to make it “Bigger Brighter and Bolder.” As this show was updated Melanie served as producer of a documentary film following the process entitled “All Together Again.”
She also served as the Creation Artistic Director for the Cirque du Soleil touring show, TOTEM™. While with the show she toured North America as well as parts of Europe. Prior to TOTEM™, she was the Artistic Director for KOOZA™ another touring show for Cirque du Soleil which toured North America.
Melanie has been the Associate Director for two performances of One Night for One Drop in Las Vegas. The first performance was held in the “O” Theatre at Bellagio and the second one in the The Beatles™ LOVE™ Theatre performed at The Mirage.
Melanie is the founder of Mayzsoul Inc. a dance company which performs in Washington D.C and New York City. She choreographed “The New Jazz Philosophy” tour with “The Legendary Roots Crew”, and “The National Pepsi Stuff” tour. Melanie ran the dance department at Fairfax Academy for Communications and the Arts. She taught dance in her community and aboard for over 20 years.
She has her BFA in Dance from George Mason University.

Michael Moloi

Choreographer, Art Director, Performing Artist,
and Designer (South Africa)

My name is Tumelo Michael Moloi. I was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, performing cultural dances including gumboots, pantsula and traditional Zulu dance around the village of my home town. I started performing at the age of eleven and eventually went on to join a group Via Katlehong in which I was not only a dancer but also a lead choreographer and artistic director. Via Katlehong performed locally and internationally around Africa as well as across Europe and the USA. Our performances spread the stories of South African cultures, music, dance, and life during and after apartheid.

In 2005 I was invited to perform in the Beatle’s "LOVE" show of Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, Nevada ad featured performer Gumboot dancer and one of a leading character for eleven years. During the summer I often worked to empower and engage under-served youth through circus and arts outreach programs with non-profits such as Prescott Circus Theatre in Oakland, California, and Rise Art Academy of New York. I also performed in the Circus In The Park program with San Francisco's Circus Bella, aimed at making entertainment accessible to everyone with yearly performances in The Yerba Buena Garden Festival.

In 2016 my wife and I moved to Junction City to raise our two daughters on the family farm. I spend a lot of time in the Eugene/Springfield metro area. I have worked with The University of Oregon Foreign Language and International Studies Department, performing and teaching in their annual event. I also work with Lane Arts artStream program as a dance instructor for public schools. I teach privately at Demfinity Dance and Drum Studio. I also perform regularly at public libraries up and down the west coast, telling stories of African culture, music and dance. In addition, I have regularly performed at city sponsored events in Eugene and sometimes sold my visual arts and crafts, I am recently doing my own show called the living art with is a gallery and a show in at the same time.

Mo Zhou

Stage Director
Director of Opera, UMKC Conservatory

Originally from China, Mo Zhou is a stage director, artistic activist, and educator whose international career spans all artistic disciplines including opera, theater, musical theater, dance, and film.

Ms. Zhou has directed at Santa Fe Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, The Juilliard School, WP Theatre Pipeline Festival, and The New School of Drama, to name a few. She has also worked as staff director at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, among others. She has finished training as James Marcus Directing Fellow at The Juilliard School, with two consecutive summers as the Directing Fellow at Wolf Trap Opera, as well as a 2050 Artistic Fellow with New York Theater Workshop, a Time Warner Directing Fellow with WP Theater and as an Apprentice Stage Director at Merola Opera Program in San Francisco.

In 2019, she conceived and directed the opera The Diary of John Rabe, which looks at the Rape of Nanking through a German businessman John Rabe’s point of view. The production had a critically acclaimed run at NCPA in China, followed with a successful European tour at Staatsoper Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Ronacher in Vienna. The production has been turned into for a 4K opera movie that was distributed internationally in 2020.

An avid advocate for new work, Ms. Zhou has developed new works with American Opera Project, NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and Guerilla Opera in Boston.

Ms. Zhou has earned her BA at Bowdoin College, her MFA in Stage Directing at Columbia University and holds a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.

Natasha Jean-Bart

Intergenerational Street Dance/Hip Hop Connector, Choreographer, Director, Writer (Canada)

Born in Montreal, Canada, in 1971, Natasha Jean-Bart's career spans over thirty-five years in the Performing Arts. She's a BIPOC artist, writer, dancer, choreographer, teacher, and intergenerational street dance/Hip Hop connector and consultant. Her credits as a performer and choreographer have taken her to well-respected stages, including Cirque Du Soleil's "The Beatles LOVE" as a lead character and Locking/Hip Hop rehearsal coach. Her expertise has garnered her numerous positions as a juror for elite dance competitions internationally. She is currently performing with the Canadian troupe "Bboyizm Dance Company." She continues to give workshops and lectures internationally. In addition, she uses her voice to assist and inspire artists from all walks of life in finding their purpose. A wife, mother of four beautiful children, and Nana to four lively grandchildren, Tash divides her time between her home: Las Vegas, her hometown, Canada, and the rest of the world.

Ong Keng Sen 王景生

Director, Scholar, Curator (Singapore)

Ong Keng Sen is currently the Artistic Director of TheatreWorks where he has created much of his groundbreaking art. His approach to traditional arts of Asian in contemporary arts is grounded in his studies of intercultural performance with the Performance Studies Department at Tisch School of the Arts, NYU, and his intellectual girth in practice comes from holding a law degree. He has led the company since 1988.

Keng Sen has made his career as a performance director with sensitivity towards weaving traditional Asian arts into contemporary creation since 1997. His talent has been the ability to negotiate diverse traditional arts of Asia bringing the best traditional masters together in one performance with contemporary arts of all kind from film to dance to plastic arts to music. Hence he has actively contributed to the evolution of Asian identities in the theatre as well as the subsequent transglobalisation of the Asian aesthetic in contemporary arts.

He has consistently collaborated with different Chinese operas ranging from Beijing opera in seminal LEAR (premiered in Cocoon Theater, Tokyo in 1997, subsequently travelling to Hong Kong Arts Festival as well as Theater der Welt, Berlin in 1999), to Liyuan Opera in his well-received production about the life of Buddha and Pico Iyer’s book, THE GLOBAL SOUL (premiered in Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin in 2003), to Kun Opera in AWAKING (Singapore Arts Festival 2008) which juxtapositioned Tang Xian Zhu, the chief playwright of Kun Opera and William Shakespeare, who both lived at the same time in different ends of the globe.

His works have been presented throughout the world including Edinburgh International Festival; Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Tanzquartier Wien; Landestheater Linz (European Cultural Capital 2009); Rotterdam Schouwburg; Oslo Dansenshus; Stockholm Dansenshus; Zurich Theater Spektakel; Roma Europa Festival (Rome); Grand Theatre de la Ville Luxemburg; Idans Festival Istanbul; Cairo Experimental Theatre Festival; Panorama Rio de Janeiro; and Melbourne Festival.

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Ace Piva

Addictions Recovery Coach

A certified recovery coach who’s been involved in the music industry since 1996, Ace Piva knows the ins and outs of the road and its associated pressures and struggles. As a musician, tour manager, stage manager, sound engineer, production manager, and addictions recovery coach, he’s been there. Piva is a founding partner of Over The Bridge. His goals are to help break the stigmas associated with substance misuse and mental health through community, education, awareness, as well as provide resources to musicians, crew and entertainment professionals.

Andrée Deissenberg

Chief Creative & Brand Officer (France)

Andrée Deissenberg, Chief Creative & Brand Officer, likes challenges. After having travelled around the world with Cirque du Soleil, she arrived at Crazy Horse Paris in March 2006 to take over the reins of the legendary Parisian cabaret with a clear vision and impetus.
Adopting the aesthetic codes and principles set forth by its founder, Alain Bernardin, which have made the fame of the illustrious cabaret, she put art and creation back to centre stage.
Inspired by the artistic heritage, she strived to revive the legendary shows and soirées that marked Crazy Horse Paris’ history. In order to appeal to an eclectic audience, both male and female, Parisian and international, and to attract new spectators, Andrée changed Crazy Horse Paris.
In 2006 she started inviting Guest Stars to co-create and perform exclusive acts, both solo and alongside the in-house cast of Crazy Girls, for limited runs. The first Guest Star was internationally renowned Queen of the Burlesque Dita Von Teese, followed by, among others, Arielle Dombasle 52007), Pamela Anderson (2008), Conchita Wurst,(2014) and Viktoria Modesta (2019), …
At around the same time Andrée started calling on Guest Creators to create new acts and shows, including Philippe Decouflé and Ali Mahdavi (2009), Christian Louboutin (2011) and Chantal Thomass (2016), while integrating various creators and designers in the process, including Blanca Li, Stephane Jarny, Mirwais, David Lynch, Swizz Beatz, Ellen Von Unwerth, …
In 2010, she launched “Forever Crazy” a touring show that has performed in prestigious theatres around the world.
In addition, Andrée is always looking to hire new and diverse talent of all cultures and backgrounds for the shows.
Over the course of 2021, Andrée worked in close collaboration with architect & designer Benoît Dupuis, to redesign the Parisian cabaret. The sparkling new venue opened its doors to enthusiastic audiences on October 21st. The design pays tribute to the venue’s unique history and highlights its exceptional artistic collaborations and heritage.

Boris Verkhovsky

Acrobatic & Human Performance Designer (Soviet Union / Belarus)

Boris was born, raised and initially educated in the Soviet Union, where he achieved USSR Master of Sport status. He was Tumbling Head Coach of the School of Olympic Reserve in Vitebsk, Belarus, until emigrating to Canada in 1978/79.

While working in Calgary, Alberta, Boris was appointed the Canadian National Trampoline and Tumbling Head Coach. He led the team to numerous major international events, including World Championships and World Games. He was also a National Gymnastics Team coach and taught at the Mount Royal College (now University) and the University of Calgary in Kinesiology and Physical Education faculties.

For many years, Boris was a Master Course Conductor for the Canadian National Coaching Certification Programs and co-authored some of the technical manuals for the courses.

For the last 27 years (1993-2020), Boris worked at Cirque du Soleil. First as a Head Coach, then as the Director of the Performance Design and Development Department and finally as a Director-Expert, Human Performance.

In 2016, Boris was inducted into the Gallery of Legends of the World Acrobatic Society.

Bret Shuford

Actor, Creative and Life Coach

Bret Shuford is an openly - LGBTQ - working actor and the CreativeLife Coach. He has performed, produced, choreographed and directed dozens of Broadway, Regional, National tours, viral videos, television and film productions from Wicked to the Wolf of Wall Street. As a certified life coach he has helped creatives all over the world move from imposter to influencer with the creative marketing map. Having worked with colleges, universities, and corporations such as Disney and Marketing Impact Academy. He is a highly sought after speaker and educator for professional creatives. His insights have been featured in leading outlets like The Huffington Post, Backstage, Today Show, Good Morning America, America’s Got Talent. As a certified life and career coach he can help any creative with inconsistency in their business, experience greater impact and income through his private coaching. He is also one half of the Lifestyle blog Broadway Husbands, with his husband Stephen Hanna. Check out bretshuford.com for more details.

Christina (Cha) Ramos intimacy fight director

Cristina (Cha) Ramos

Intimacy & Fight Director

Cristina (Cha) Ramos (she/ella) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist with too many books, too many swords, and too many altars in her NYC apartment. Cha works primarily as an intimacy and fight director, but can also be found in rehearsal rooms as a dramaturg, playwright, and performer. As both an artist and an instructor, Cha is invested in telling underrepresented stories with a focus on the power of movement, and inviting all artists into deep self-listening, consensual collaboration, and practiced autonomy. Current projects include: associate intimacy direction for Jagged Little Pill and COMPANY on Broadway, dramaturgy for a new queer adaptation of Anna Karenina, performing with the Vixens en Garde, teaching and developing curriculum with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, and ongoing workshops of her own original plays Fire Burn Them and Like to the Gods. More info at www.CallMeCha.com.

Dayna Grant

SGNZ Stunt Coordinator & Stunt Performer (New Zealand)

SGNZ Stunt Coordinator - Stunt Performer - Rigger - Horse Master - Water specialist - High Fall Specialist - Fire Specialist

Dayna is a multi award winner in the stunt industry (SAG & Artemis and Taurus Award nominee). She is known as the ultimate all-round kiwi stunt woman.
From her dancing and horse background starting a career as Xena: Warrior Princess stunt double, to gaining multiple lead stunt double roles over the last 25 years for Charlize Theron, Tilda Swinton, Lynda Carter, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bridget Regan, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Lucy Lawless, plus staring more recently in Wonder Woman 1984 and much more. She has traveled around the world and worked alongside some of the brightest stars in the entertainment industry, also bringing her expertise across genres to include film, opera and theatre. Dayna is a brain injury survivor and a voice of advocacy for safety in the workplace.

Dayna is one of the few female Stunt Coordinators in the industry for the past 10 years. She is passionate about educating and and passes on her stunt knowledge at the New Zealand Stunt School

On Instagram as @daynastunts

De'Lon Grant

Actor and Singer

De’Lon Grant is an actor and singer currently performing on Broadway in the Tony Award nominated hit musical Come From Away. He spent three years touring domestically and internationally as Berry Belson in the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys. In 2017 he was named Best Leading Actor at the IRNE Awards for his portrayal of Haywood Patterson in Kander and Ebb’s The Scottsboro Boys; a role for which he also received an Elliot Norton Award Nomination. De'Lon is also a photographer and an acting coach. Be on the lookout for his new podcast Let Me Fix It debuting in 2022. www.thedelon.com.

Eliot Douglass

Pianist, Arranger, Composer

Eliot Douglass, a pianist, arranger, and composer has both broad and in-depth experience in the musical arena. Eliot was an original cast member in the Cirque du Soleil show Zumanity. He was also musical director for jazz vocalist Steve Tyrell and has performed with jazz legends, Clark Terry, Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon, and Billy Higgins, among others. In collaboration with librettist Philip Littell, Eliot has created critically acclaimed works for the Los Angeles musical theater scene including, The Wondering Whore and A Night Market. As a vocal coach and accompanist, Eliot has worked with celebrities that include Joan Collins, Shirley MacLaine, and Debbie Reynolds, in These Old Broads, and as a singing and French accent coach to Jack Nicholson in Something’s Gotta Give.

Television performances include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Good Morning America and Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. His non-profit work includes the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon and Criss Angel’s HELP (Heal Every Life Possible) where Eliot performed with Dee Snider the rebellious anthem, We’re Not Gonna Take It.

Eliot was a consultant for Holidays at the White House, a concert event for Former President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. And finally, being a world traveler and realizing the sky is not the limit, Eliot’s music has been enjoyed by astronauts orbiting planet earth. He has recorded music including solo piano works for three U.S. space shuttle missions and a “wake up” call that was broadcast from NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Heidi L. Green

Physical Therapist

Heidi L. Green, MSPT brings 20+ years experience as a physical therapist and former professional ballet dancer in NYC and the theater/dance community. She holds a B.S. in Exercise Science and a B.S. in Physical Therapy, both from the University at Buffalo, and an Advanced M.S. in Manual and Orthopedic Physical Therapy from Touro College. She has been the company physical therapist for The Lion King, Spider-Man, The Pirate Queen, The Little Mermaid, The Cherry Orchard and Avenue Q and has provided physical therapy on numerous other on and off Broadway shows and for many concert dance companies.

Isaac Hernández

Principal Dancer of English National Ballet / Actor (México)

Photo: Ana Hop

Isaac Hernández is a dance prodigy whose career has spanned multiple continents, companies, and registers.
From a family for whom dance was already a life’s work into his own path which is studded with awards, galas, and guest appearances on the world’s most renowned stages.
His range of repertory is extremely rich, and his talent has served to honor the greatest classics and to create countless new works.
He is in fact an artist whose career is opening doors beyond the realm of the dance.

Joey Arias

Cabaret Artist & Provocateuse

Has been referred to as an international icon across multiple genres: Cabaret, Musicals, Burlesque, Writing, Direction, Cinema – all with fully unbridled passion and talent.

In fact he is a trailblazing, vibrant performer and creator who has refused to be tamed or categorized for over four decades.

Joey Arias’ incredibly rich repertory and impact is surpassed only by his continual forward drive.

Join us for this raucous romp full of jest and creative effervescence.

Joseph Naim

Actor

Born and raised in Melbourne to Egyptian parents, Joseph has affirmed himself in Australian musical theatre in recent years with credits including Jersey Boys, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Lion King and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Prior to his professional musical theatre debut, Joseph toured with The Ten Tenors across Australia, USA, Canada, Europe and Southeast Asia. Joseph is currently performing in the Australian tour of Come From Away as Kevin J & Others. His screen credits include Australian feature films 10 Terrorists and Saved. He began his formal training in 2003 with The Ciccone Academy of Performing Arts and in 2009 trained at APO Arts Academy’s Musical Theatre Course under an elite scholarship program.

Josh Breckenridge

Actor

Broadway: Come From Away, The Scottsboro Boys, The Ritz. Off- Broadway: The Scottsboro Boys, Saved. Nat’l Tour: The Book of Mormon. Reg’l includes: Dave (Arena Stage), Sunday…George (Huntington), The Whipping Man (KC Rep), Tales of the City (A.C.T.), Memphis (La Jolla/5th Ave). Film: “Finding Me: Truth.” TV: “American Rust,” “Blue Bloods,” “The Blacklist,” “FBI,” “Finding Me: The Series.” BFA: CCM. Recording artist: J. Breckenridge/Debut album: Monotony.
www.j-breckenridge.com

Joshua Morgan

Actor, Founder of "Artist’s Strategy"

Joshua is an actor based in NYC. Before he moved to NY, he founded and ran the first dual city theatre company that was based out of Washington, DC and Winston-Salem, NC. He has performed at theatres all over the country including Arena Stage, TUTS, NC Theatre, Woolly Mammoth and Signature Theatre among many others. He appeared in the most recent Broadway revival of Les Miserables and originated the role of Shelly Berger in Ain’t Too Proud: the Life and Times of the Temptations of which he is currently appearing in. He can be seen in the new NBC series “Lincoln Rhyme: the Hunt for the Bone Collector” and the most recent season of “FBI”. Having combined his passions for producing and acting, he created Artist’s Strategy; a consulting service helping actors build business plans on the path towards sustainable futures.

Lillias White

Tony Award-Winning Singer and Actress

Lillias White is an American singer and actress of stage, television, and film best known for her Tony Award-winning performance in Cy Coleman's The Life, and understudying the role of Effie in the original production of Dreamgirls, which she then played the part in the ‘87 revival, for which she won a Drama League Award. A Brooklyn native, White has appeared on Broadway in Cats, Carrie, Once on This Island, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Chicago. In 1989 she won an Obie Award for her performance Off-Broadway in Romance in Hard Times. She was nominated for a Tony Award again in 2010 for her work as Funmilayo in Fela Kuti's Fela! Off-Broadway credits include: Dinah Was, Crowns, While I Yet Live by Billy Porter and Texas in Paris.
Concerts to benefit the Actors' Fund of America include Dreamgirls, Funny Girl, and Hair. She performed with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, has appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall and has toured and performed her one-woman show From Brooklyn to Broadway at the Kennedy Center's "Barbara Cook's Spotlight.”
Screen appearances include Sesame Street, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and NYPD Blue. White voiced Calliope in Disney’s Hercules, portrayed Evette in the film Pieces of April, and was in the Netflix series The Get Down. She also starred as Bloody Mary in South Pacific on PBS' Great Performances and the PBS documentary In Performance at the White House.

Lisa Hopkins

Director, Choreographer, High-Performance Coach for Creatives

Lisa Hopkins is a master of challenging and inspiring people to become artists in all areas of their lives. A passionate artistic professional herself, Lisa has over 25 years of experience working in the performing arts industry as a director, choreographer, producer, writer and dance educator. She is the co-founder of the internationally recognized theatrical production company New York Stage Originals, and is adjunct dance faculty at Pace University NYC in both the Commercial Dance and Musical Theatre BFA programs. In her practice as an ICF Certified Professional Coach, CORE Performance Dynamics Specialist and Energy Leadership Master Practitioner at Wide Open Stages, she specializes in partnering with highly-successful creatives in the entertainment industry.
Lisa hosts the popular podcast STOPTIME: Live in the Moment, where she engages in meaningful conversations with extraordinary people from the entertainment industry about the deeper meaning of who they are, why they do what they do and what they’ve learned along the way.

Lorenzo Pisoni

Director

Lorenzo Pisoni (Director): Vegas Nocturne (Spiegelworld at House of Yes, The Slipper Room). (As Movement Director) Broadway: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Gary, Beetlejuice, Frozen, Noises Off, Taller Than A Dwarf. Off Broadway: Mac Beth, All the Fine Boys, Harlequin Studies. WestEnd: Frozen, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast. As an actor and performer, Lorenzo has worked in circuses (Pickle Family Circus, Cirque Du Soleil to name a few) and in theatre, his acting on and off Broadway (Equus, Henry IV, Humor Abuse, to name a few) has been recognized with Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Obie, Outer Critics Circle awards. @lorenzopisoni

Mahsa Ahmadi

Stunt Performer & Coordinator

Born and raised in Iran, Mahsa Ahmadi is referred to as the first Iranian stunt woman and the first and only international Iranian stunt coordinator. Ahmadi received her formation as a gymnast where she was part of the National Gymnastics team of Iran and became national champion for 11 years. She started her stunt career in in Iran at 16 years old where 90% of her job was doubling men or acting as ‘the bad guys’ in movies and live shows. Ahmadi is also the first Iranian female skydiver, base jumper and first and only wind tunnel female coach in Iran. As the first Moslem woman in Iran to enter the arena of stunt performance, Ahmadi found herself in the position of needing to self-teach, alone, through youtube. She now advocates for aspiring female stunt performers to receive equal opportunities in training and coaching and shares her experiences in workshops throughout the Middle East and Italy. Mahsa received her break into Hollywood as a stunt performer in the James Bond film “Skyfall” filmed in Turkey where she won a screen actors guild award (SAG). She also received Best Stunt Woman (Crystal Award) in 2015 and the Artemis Stunt Unsung Heroine Award in 2019. She is now based in Los Angeles.

Misty Copeland

Principal Dancer, American Ballet Theatre

Misty Copeland is a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, the first black woman to be promoted to the position in the company's 75-year history in 2015. She has performed some of the most iconic classical ballet roles, including Odette/Odile in Swan Lake; Juliet in Romeo & Juliet; Giselle; Manon; Coppelia; Kitri in Don Quixote; and Firebird, to name a few.

Misty has been featured in several publications, including the cover of Time Magazine for the Time 100 and has appeared on CBS' 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning, ABC's Good Morning America, and NBC's The Today Show.

She performed in 2019 with Taylor Swift at the American Music Awards and at the 2020 Grammy Awards alongside Camila Cabello, Common, Ben Platt, and dancers from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, as well as the televised Prince Grammy Tribute performing with award-winning recording artist H.E.R.. Misty made her Broadway debut in On The Town in 2015 and her major motion picture debut in Disney's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms in 2018.

Misty started her production company, Life In Motion Productions, and is working on her first project, Flower, a silent arts activism film using dance to help raise awareness about homelessness.

Misty is an avid philanthropist and is an ambassador of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, of which is also an alum, and MindLeaps, an arts education program based in Rwanda that helps young people get off the streets and into an academic setting to help enhance their lives. She is the bestselling author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Life In Motion; an award-winning children's picture book titled Firebird; a New York Times bestselling lifestyle book titled Ballerina Body; and the New York Times bestselling children's picture book, Bunheads. This year, her newest book, Black Ballerinas: My Journey To Our Legacy, will publish in November.

Nicky Dewhurst

Actor

Nicky Dewhurst comes from a performance back ground and has been involved in entertainment his entire life. At 12 years old, he performed a juggling act on UK National Television and went on to become an internationally renowned tight rope artist and clown. For the next 30 years he performed all over the world including performing as featured characters in five Cirque du Soleil productions: Cirque Réinventé, Nouvelle Experience, Fascination, Mystère and Zumanity, where he created the role of "Dick" the clown and for which he is credited for the creation and direction of three comedy acts. In 1994 Nicky founded Livewire Productions and has since then staged and directed countless special events, with clients including American Express, Chrysler, Canon, Avon, Abbott Labs, IBM, Victoria Secret to name a few. Nicky was part of the creation of the aerial flight sequences for Madonna's Drowned World Tour and advised and performed on the Stunt team for Sasha Baron Cohens The Dictator. As Writer and Director, Nicky Co-Directed with Laetitia Dewhurst for Cirque Du Soleil's One Night for One Drop 2017 at the Zumanity Theater Las Vegas as well as One Night for One Drop 2018 at the Michael Jackson Theater with Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Jewel. He also directed the show Cosmopolitan for Celebrity Cruises. Most recently Nicky Dewhurst and Laetitia Dewhurst collaborated as creative writers and theatrical advisers on the highly successful Mayfair Supper Club at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

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DESIGN

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ana aguilera

Technical Director

ana has a passion for the arts and water.
Her background in visual arts and her strong interest in engineering and technology are a solid combination when working on the technical aspects of the performing arts and live entertainment. An avid reader and learner, she is always curious, asks questions, and finds creative ways to approach challenges. When leading teams, ana believes in kindness and communication as key leadership skills; and enjoys working with multi-cultural and diverse teams.
As a swimmer and professional scuba diver, ana is excited to see the rise of water features in live entertainment and hopes this will create a bigger awareness of the sustainable use of resources in the industry.

Becca Stoll

Theatrical Audio Engineer

Becca Stoll (she/her/hers) is a theatrical audio engineer. She specializes in mixing musicals, and is especially passionate about mixing new works. Off-Broadway: Rock of Ages (New World Stages), Two’s A Crowd (59E59), A Strange Loop (Playwrights Horizons), We Are The Tigers (Theatre 80).

Tours: Million Dollar Quartet (A2). Selected Regional: A Strange Loop (Woolly Mammoth), A Crossing (Barrington Stage), Row (Williamstown), The Donkey Show (OBERON), 3 seasons as Production Audio Engineer for the Goodspeed Opera House. She currently serves as a mentor for SoundGirls and Sound Thinking NYC. Education: Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, NHSI “Theatre Cherubs”. Member: TSDCA, USITT, SoundGirls.

Carin Ford

Sound Engineer

Carin Ford, sound engineer, received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Theater from St. Olaf College. Immediately after graduating, she moved to New York City and attended The Center for the Media Arts to study audio engineering and the Juilliard School to participate in an internship program for technical theater. After completing the Juilliard program, she took over the FOH mix on the tour of “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe” staring Lily Tomlin, written and directed my Jane Wagner.

Following that tour, Carin worked on over 30 shows including national tours of Mamma Mia, Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables, and “City of Angeles.”

Her Broadway credits include the most recent production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. In addition, Carin mixed Carousel (Revival), Hello Dolly, (Revival), staring Bette Midler, Shuffle Along, An American In Paris, Bullets Over Broadway, Big Fish, Bring It On, La Cage Aux Folles (revival), Finian’s Rainbow, Young Frankenstein, The Color Purple (original company), Caroline or Change, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Sussical The Musical, and Ragtime (the original company).

She has worked with sound designers Scott Lehrer, Jon Weston, Jonathan Deans, Peter Hylinski, Tom Gibbons, Brian Ronan, and Peter Fitzgerald. she has also worked with prominent directors such as George C. Wolfe, Jerry Zaks, and Susan Stroman, to name a few.

She was also the music editor for the recent filmed version of The Last Five Years.

Charles G. LaPointe

Hair and Wig Designer

Charles G. LaPointe (Hair and Wig Design) is an award winning Designer based in New York, who maintains a highly successful career on stages throughout the United States and abroad. Career Highlights: Numerous Broadway; Touring; American Regional Theatre; West End and International productions including: Hamilton (Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylist Guild Award for Los Angeles Company and Netflix Film) ; Ain’t Too Proud; Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Beetlejuice; The Cher Show (Drama Desk Award); The Band’s Visit; Anastasia; The Lifespan of a Fact; SpongeBob SquarePants ( Drama Desk Award); The Donna Summer Musical; Jersey Boys; Motown; Memphis: The Musical; On Your Feet; A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder; The Color Purple; Doctor Zhivago; Of Mice and Men; Violet; Sideshow; The Elephant Man; After Midnight; Clybourne Park; Newsies; The Mountaintop; Superior Donuts; In the Heights. Television: The Wiz Live! (Emmy Award Nomination); Jesus Christ Superstar Live! (Emmy Award Nomination and Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylist Guild Award); Bluebloods; American Crime; Maddoff; Hairspray; In A Man’s World.

Chris Moylan

Multi-Genre Lighting Designer (Germany)

Chris Moylan has been working as a freelance lighting designer since 1999. Originally from Canada, Chris began working in Montreal lighting smaller installations, raves, and clubs. He came to Germany in 2003 and expanded into larger live events, tv shows, and concerts. Now Chris is considered one of the most prolific Lighting Designers working today, with a broad portfolio spanning several different types of events and shows. Chris believes the diversity of his work only helps to strengthen his designs. He is known for his musicality in programming, his precise planning, and his team of professionals.

In the Theater and Acrobatic world, Chris has designed the last two Grand shows, Arise and Vivid, in Friedrichstadtpalast Berlin, the largest stage in the world. He has also designed the last two touring productions for Holiday on Ice, Showtime and Supernova. Previous designs include shows for Roncalli, Apassionata, Palazzo, and others. He also has designed the theaters for all Tui Cruises Cruise ships and over 20 different original shows performed within.

Chris is also very active in industry shows and special events – He has designed and lit world premieres for Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Skoda, Mercedes, and others. Chris was also responsible for lighting of the 2017 Capital of Culture opening show in Aarhus, Denmark, the 300-year anniversary of Karlsruhe, the LifeBall in Vienna, and several cruise ship christenings.

For many years Chris was touring with legendary DJ Paul van Dyk. He also has designed shows for many other artists, including Solomun, Claptone, Steve Aoki, and Christian Löffler.

During the Corona Pandemic, Chris and his team produced Lux Partum - a live, remote controlled lighting installation which allowed anyone to log in remotely and control a real lighting setup synced to a special soundtrack produced by Paul van Dyk. The installation received over 40,000 users from 94 countries.

Craig Leo

Theatre Designer, Puppeteer and Performing Artist (South Africa)

Craig Leo is a South African theatre designer, puppeteer and performing artist. Leaving university to begin working in theatre, he trained in circus arts, performing with The Zip Zap Circus and then a lead role in the Sun City Circus Extravaganza, Baletsatsi. Collaborating with colleagues, he formed the acrobatic theatre company ‘Myth’, touring both Austria and Germany.
As performer and designer, he's has worked with top South African theatre makers as both designer and performer. Magnet Theatre, Jazzart Dance Theatre, Mothertongue Project, Janni Younge Productions and The Handspring Puppet Company.
Productions include Medea, Bolero, Rain in a Dead Man’s Footprints, Cargo, Partly God, The Flower of Shembe, I Turned away and She was Gone, City of Paradise, The Firebird and Womb of Fire, Heart of Redness, The Visit and Antigone (Quiet/not quiet) and Snapped.
His collaboration with The Handspring Puppet Company includes Tall Horse, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse for William Kentridge, Franco Dragone’s House of the Dancing Water, War Horse, Or I'll Kiss You and Olifantland. Craig has continued his relationship with The National Theatre as Associate Director of Puppetry for War Horse.
Most recently Craig designed and directed the puppetry for Elliot Harper's, The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe, directed by Sally Cookson for The Leeds Playhouse and The Bridge Theatre in London. As performer his recent work Includes Gyre and Gimble's, Vivaldi's Four Season Re-Imagined for The Shakespeare's Globe, London. He's currently puppetry director for The Walk, a Good Chance/Handspring collaboration for Europe 2021. Craig Is also currently the lead puppeteer In The Life and Times of Michael K, an adaptation of the J M Coetzee novel in collaboration with Theater der Welt, Handspring Puppet Company and the Baxter Theatre.

Dawn Chiang

Lighting Designer

Dawn Chiang has designed for Broadway, Off Broadway and numerous regional theaters across the US.

She was resident lighting designer for New York City Opera.

She also worked on the concert tours of Paul Anka, The Carpenters, Diana Ross, and Loggins and Messina.

Dawn has earned two Drama-Logue Critics' Awards, two Lighting Designer of the Year Awards (Syracuse Area Live Theatre), and nominations for the San Francisco Drama Critics’ Award, Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Award and the Maharam Design Award from American Theatre Wing.

She is a board member for Behind The Scenes charity that provides support to entertainment technology professionals, and a mentor for the Theater Development Fund’s “Wendy Wasserstein Project” outreach program for New York City high school students.

Dawn has been a senior consultant with Theatre Projects, where she helped to plan, design and supervise construction for some of the world’s largest water based, acrobatic spectaculars, including “The House of Dancing Water” in Macau.

Denise J Grillo

Production Properties Supervisor

Denise J Grillo has been a Production Properties Supervisor for almost thirty years. While her focus has primarily been on mounting new Broadway Shows and Musicals, she’s also worked on several films, television shows and live events. Scene Designers and Directors alike, always appreciate Denise’s single-minded focus and determination in bringing their visions to life.

A few of the show’s she’s worked on over the years which have garnered Best Scene Design nominations or wins include: Once on This Island, Dinner At Eight, Nine, Aida, The Musical (Tony Winner), She Loves Me (Tony Winner) and the current smash hit Hamilton, An American Musical. To date, Denise has built all seven productions of Hamilton, which are currently running across the USA and worldwide.

As a bonafide work-a-holic, Denise couldn’t ideally sit by as the COVID pandemic shut down the entire theatre industry. In an effort to use all of her unplanned time-off productively she, along with her partner Ian Grunes decided to launch Everything Props, LLC. A Prop Rental house that will offer discount rental rates to not-for-profit and student productions in theatre, film, television, and media arts as a way of helping to nurture fledgling artists and return a little something to the industry that has given so much to her.

Gabriel Chan

Lighting Designer (Singapore)

Gabriel Chan
www.gabrielchan.me
Recipient of the NAC Overseas Bursary, Gabriel graduated from Hong Kong Academy for
Performing Arts with First Class Honours in Lighting Design. He was also awarded the Strand
Lighting Scholarship, funding his training at the Metropolitan Opera, New York (’09 Winter
Opera Season). He was conferred the Young Artist Award in 2019 for his artistic excellence
and contribution to Singapore's performing arts scene. A chameleon of a designer, Gabriel is
well versed in lighting for the theatre, dance, music concerts and live events.
Signature theatre designs include Lifespan of a Fact, Constellations, Rising Son, Shakespeare
in the Park: Julius Caesar, Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest (Singapore Repertory Theatre), The
LKY Musical (Metropolitan Productions), First Fleet (Nine Years Theatre), A Dream Under the
Southern Bough: Existence (SIFA 2021), Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, Sometime
Moon, (Toy Factory Productions) and Fluid (The Theatre Practice).
In the dance scene, Gabriel has designed for Frontier Danceland’s main seasons since 2012,
featuring an array of international choreographers. Other notable dance productions: Festival
Lighting Designer for M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival 2016 (T.H.E. Dance
Company) and Swan Lake 2015 (Singapore Dance Theatre). Gabriel also opened two
European dance commissions in summer 2019 - Ballroom for Festspielhaus in St Pölten,
Austria, and Dancing Mahler in the 21st Century, a double bill for Opéra National du Rhin,
France.
Lighting design credits for music include Pipa virtuoso, Wu Man, in Borderlands (SIFA 2016),
SCO 25th Anniversary Virtuoso Series I, II, III (Singapore Chinese Orchestra), Nine Songs,
Soul Journey Ten Years, (Siong Leng Musical Association), Eight, Heirlooms, (The Teng
Ensemble) and Sound of Wisdom - Heal (IMMPAC).
Other design ventures include Symphony of Life, the Gardens By The Bay opening festival
anchor, Marina Bay Countdown 2015: Drum Gaia, Halloween Horror Nights 2018 and 2019
theatre performances and last but not least, Singapore’s National Day Parade 2017, 2018,
2020 and 2021.
Gabriel also goes by the moniker Linesmith (www.linesmith.net) authorised directly by
Vectorworks Headquarters based in Washington for conducting training of the Vectorworks
software, the leading drafting solution for Entertainment and Performing Arts technical design.

Gemma Hodgson

VP of Business Development at TAIT

Gemma is a theatre entertainment industry veteran with over 22 years’ experience. Prior to coming to TAIT, she trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the UK. Gemma held the position of Sales Manager at Stage Technologies in their London Headquarters which TAIT later acquired in 2013, thus bringing Gemma onto the TAIT team, and her move to the United States.
Over the years, Gemma’s knowledge of the cruise ship industry has allowed TAIT to grow into that market, highlighting her extensive technical knowledge. While holding the title of VP of Business Development Gemma is responsible for all Markets with a specialty in Permanent Installations.

Jeremy Chernick

Special Effects Designer

Jeremy has worked on over 50 Broadway productions; recent highlights include Clyde’s, West Side Story, Beetlejuice, Hadestown and Oklahoma. Jeremy has worked with Disney Theatrical Group creating effects for Frozen, Aladdin, Hunchback of Notre Dame, & Tarzan. In London’s West End, Jeremy designed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child & Let the Right One In.

Jeremy’s work has been featured in prominent performing and visual arts institutions across the United States and the globe. In 2018, Jeremy was an Emmy Award honoree for his work on NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live.

Jeremy serves as Head designer for J&M Special Effects in Brooklyn www.jmfx.net

Jessica Dermody

Wardrobe Supervisor for Hamilton on Broadway

Jessica Dermody (she/her) is a multi-passionate entertainment industry professional and theatre educator, making a living while being creative in New York City. She's been working professionally since childhood and has both a formal education and decades of practical experience on stage and behind the scenes in theatre, live concerts, industrials, political events, print, commercials, film and television. Jessica has numerous TONY, Drama Desk, and EMMY nominations for her producing and behind the scenes work. Her passion for theatre education inspired her to create Broadway Undressed, a virtual backstage experience which brings the exciting world of backstage magic to you. Garnering partnerships with Air BnB, Google, and numerous Universities, Jessica has presented to thousands of theatre lovers across the globe.
The Producers, American Idiot, Disney’s Frozen and 18 other Broadway shows make up her impressive Broadway career. She is currently the Broadway Wardrobe Supervisor for Hamilton.
JessicaDermody.com

Jessica Paz

Tony Award-winning Sound Designer

Jessica Paz is a Tony Award-winning Sound Designer for theater, film and music. Most recently, she collaborated with Nevin Steinberg on the sound design for Anaïs Mitchell’s acclaimed production of Hadestown, which earned the duo a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle nomination.

On Broadway, Jessica was an Associate Sound Designer on projects including Dear Evan Hansen, Bandstand, Disaster! The Musical; The Assembled Parties (MCC); and Fela!.

Other design credits include Little Shop of Horrors (Westside Theater); Kiss My Aztec (Berkeley Rep); Twelfth Night, Othello, Miss You Like Hell, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Nights Dream, and As You Like It (The Public Theater); Burn All Night (A.R.T Oberon Stage); Ugly Lies the Bone (Roundabout); A Sucker EmCee, and The Muscles in Our Toes (LAByrinth); The Kings Whore (Starcatcher Productions); Becoming Dr. Ruth (Westside Theater); Looking for the Pony (Vital Theater Co.); Women Beware Women (Red Bull Theater); STRETCH – A Fantasia (New Georges); Welcome to Fear City (KC Rep); Scott & Hem in the Garden of Allah, and See How They Run (Barrington Stage); Legally Blonde, and 9 to 5 The Musical (North Shore Music Theater); Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, and Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare on the Sound’s Productions); SCKBSTD (Virginia Stage Co) ; Volcanoes Birthright (Organic Magnetics); TempOdyssey, And Her Hair Went With Her, Bookends, and Minstrel Show (NJ Rep).

Jessica has been a Front of House Engineer for musicians including The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Antibalas, Julia Haltigan, Femi Kuti, Lady Antebellum, Candy Shop Boys, People vs. Larson, Michael Arenetta, Bugaboo, Carte Blanche, King Holiday, The Woes, Stone Cold Fox, The African Children’s Choir and many others. She has also been a Lecturer of Sound Design in addition to student advisor for Princeton Universities production of Next To Normal, and was the Sound Designer of the Actor’s Studio Drama School’s yearly Master’s Thesis productions from 2009 – 2014.

Jessica is fascinated by music studio and live concert techniques. She is constantly learning and researching innovative approaches from the traditional music recording world, and bringing them into her theater work. A proud member of IATSE Local 829; Soundgirls.org; Woman’s Audio Mission; USITT; and Co-Chair of the board of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association. She currently resides in New York. Pizza is her favorite food group.

Jim Love

VP, Global Head of TAIT Navigator

As the VP, Global Head of TAIT Navigator, Jim focuses on the perpetual innovation and convergence of entertainment automation and live experiences on a global scale.

Jim, and a team of skilled software and controls engineers spread around the world, design, code and test TAIT’s entertainment automation software and hardware to maximize creative potential for a diverse range of projects of every scope and scale. The unique opportunity to redefine the boundaries of
technological possibility driven by creative visionaries is what initially attracted Jim to the field, who graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a BS and MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Moving forward, Jim continues to innovate and deliver cutting-edge technology for TAIT Navigator allowing automation users in all entertainment fields to deliver comprehensive, safe, and consumer-enthused experiences.

Jim Woodward

Senior Entertainment Product Specialist at Vectorworks, Inc.

Jim Woodward has over 40 years’ experience in worldwide event production for a wide variety of industries including live performance, film, television, corporate events, trade shows, museums, architectural projects, and retail. He has been incorporating CAD and 3D visualization into the entertainment workflow since 1986.

Joe Dulude II

Makeup Designer

Joe Dulude II has been designing makeup for Broadway, Off-Broadway and the West End since 2003. Some of his iconic designs can be seen in shows such as Wicked, Beetlejuice, Spongebob Squarepants the Musical, Anastasia, Sunday in the Park with George, Torch Song, Beautiful and more. He has also worked on several television and film productions including most recently The Gilded Age, Don’t Look Up, Shrine, Godmothered and Castle Rock Season 2 and the upcoming Annie Live on NBC. He designed and received an Emmy nomination for his work on Jesus Christ Superstar, Live on NBC. He is an educator, fine artist and a drag performer. IG: @dulude2

Jon Weston

Sound Designer

JON WESTON (Sound Design) West End: An American in Paris; Thoroughly Modern Millie; RENT; The Who’s TOMMY. Broadway design credits include: The upcoming production of Paradise Square; Prince of Broadway; She Loves Me; Amazing Grace; An American in Paris; On the 20th Century; You Can’t Take It With You; The Bridges of Madison County; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; 13: The Musical; Les Misérables (2006 revival); The Color Purple; Caroline, or Change; Nine; The Green Bird; Thoroughly Modern Millie; On The Town and Man of La Mancha.

Kevin Taylor

CEO Asia Pacific at TAIT

Kevin is the CEO Asia Pacific at TAIT. Kevin started his career at TAIT by joining Stage Technologies (acquired by TAIT in 2013) in 1994 as the Director of Electrical Engineering. At this time, he focused his efforts on designing, programming and developing a modular control system, Maxis ID. Kevin created the software for the system, built a pathway system used for 3D performer flying and implemented programmable safety systems. As the company grew globally, Kevin saw the opportunity to establish a US office located in Las Vegas, NV where he became the CEO and Company Secretary. In this role, Kevin was responsible for overseeing business development, marketing and administration efforts for the US region, as well as, further development of the next generation of control systems.

After TAIT acquired Stage Technologies in 2013, Kevin became Senior Vice President and Global Head of Automation where he continued to manage and develop the process and vision for all global automation equipment. With Kevin’s many areas of expertise, he continues to be involved in business development and account management but is also very involved in growing and maintaining the R+D department. This includes implementing new safety standards, quality procedures and arranging business and licensing in new states and regions around the world.

In 2016, TAIT’s brand extended into the Asian market with the opening of the Disney’s Shanghai Theme Park. With that, Kevin began to focus on international clients across the globe, notably Disney, Universal Studios and various casino operators. As TAIT’s pipeline in Asia increased, in 2019 Kevin relocated to Hong Kong to align business strategy in the region while still being the main account manager for his international clients. Under Kevin’s guidance, TAIT can offer turn-key installations, Support, Maintenance and supply of equipment to the entertainment industry across the region with staff located locally to provide immediate support.

La Sonya Gunter

Emmy Nominated Makeup Artist

LaSonya Gunter is an Emmy Nominated and Celebrity Makeup Artist based in New York City. She has been a fixture in the business for 20+ years, and her work spans TV, Film, Editorial, Red Carpet, and Broadway.

Her artistry can be seen in tv shows such as The Greatest Showman, Pose, The Godfather of Harlem, The Gilded Age, and Jesus Christ Superstar Live on NBC (Emmy Nomination). She served as the Makeup Designer and Department Head for the first season of Legendary on HBO Max. She also served as the Associate Makeup Designer for the Broadway show, The Rose Tattoo with Marisa Tomei. Other Broadway credits include, Wicked, Hairspray, The Color Purple, Chicago and Kinky Boots.

One of her most iconic Red Carpet makeup designs is Billy Porter’s Egyptian Sun God look at the 2019 Met Gala. She recently collaborated with Mr. Porter as the Makeup Designer and Department Head for an upcoming untitled movie project, which is also his film directorial debut. Other Celebrity clients include, Brendon Urie, Wayne Brady, Bandon Victor Dixon, Andrew Rannells, Cassandra Freeman, Todrick Hall, Joan Jett and Darlene Love.

LaSonya is a member of the I.A.T.S.E. Local 798, Hair and Makeup Union and is a guest professor at Muhlenberg College. She currently works with Renée Elise Goldsberry on the second season of Peacock’s hit TV show, Girls5eva.

Website: lasonyaguntermakeup.com
IG: LaSonyaGunter

Meghann Mason

Wig and Makeup Supervisor

Meghann Mason first started out in the entertainment industry as a performer. Earning her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Houston, she began to learn the trade of Theatre and Film. While in school, Meghann made extra money dressing wigs, running shows as a wig attendant, and by managing the costume rentals department for the University. Finding that she had a natural talent for Makeup and Wigs, once graduated from UH, her next move was to Los Angeles to attend The Westmore Academy of Cosmetic Arts and also to pursue acting. The Academy, with its historical reputation, allowed Meghann to learn trade secrets while networking with some of the up-and-coming artists in Hollywood. It also allowed her to see how important a background as a performer was to a career as a Makeup Artist. They are forever intertwined, and her understanding of both only made her more well-rounded as an artist.

After a busy freelance career in Los Angeles, Meghann returned to the University of Houston to continue her education in Graduate studies- this time focusing on costume history and design. In the middle of her Graduate career, she was offered a position as a wig technician for the world-famous Cirque du Soleil. While working at KA for Cirque du Soleil, Meghann finished her Master of Arts degree at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In her spare time, she continued to work in her freelance career, covering Film, Theatre, Special Events, Workshops, and more. Meghann has also started a school for Wigs and Makeup with her colleague and friend! Meghann is currently the Wig and Makeup Supervisor for the Houston Ballet.

Check out www.academymwd.com

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PRODUCE

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Ben Holtzman

Producer & Content Creator

Ben Holtzman is a producer and content creator passionate about lifting up new artists and telling thoughtful stories that make us think. Currently, he is producing GUN & POWDER, which had its world premiere at the Signature Theatre in 2020. With Sammy Lopez, he co-produced BE MORE CHILL on and off Broadway. Current projects in development include HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO and BRADICAL. Ben worked closely with Hal Prince from 2016 until his passing. With Hal, he worked on the CANDIDE at New York City Opera as well as PRINCE OF BROADWAY at Manhattan Theatre Club. After his passing, Ben produced the memorial celebration for Hal Prince at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway directed by Susan Stroman. Ben is the founder and executive producer of RANGE music: a New York City music collective. With RANGE, Ben has arranged and produced music videos and content with Nickelodeon, Sesame Street, Billboard, the E! Network, and more. Ben is the recipient of the 2019-2020 Prince Fellowship for Creative Producing in association with Columbia University School of the Arts. He is a proud graduate of both Professional Performing Arts School and the Syracuse University School of Drama. For more, visit www.hlp.nyc.

Charles Béraud

Human Rights Advocate, Formerly Public Affairs Coordinator, Cirque du Soleil

Prior to joining the Canadian Public Service in Ottawa, Canada in 2014, Charles worked for nearly 9 years with Cirque du Soleil as its Public Affairs Coordinator, first at the International Headquarters in Montreal and then for the Resident Shows Division in Las Vegas. He subsequently worked as the Technical Documentalist on the creation of Cirque’s Michael Jackson One. During his time in Las Vegas, he was also a founding Board member of Win-Win Entertainment, a non-profit dedicated to bringing smiles to children in hospitals by arranging visits from entertainers, athletes, and celebrities. Charles also served on the board of the LGBTQIA+ Community Center of Southern Nevada, as well as on the Las Vegas Steering Committee and the National Board of Governors for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Charles also served as a founding board member of the Grand Orchestre Grande-Rivière, composed of alumni musicians from the school of the same name, where his lifelong love for music and performing was ignited, a love further nurtured through a variety of stage performances over the years including playing the role of Benny in RagTag Entertainment’s production of RENT.

Chris Boneau

President of Boneau/Bryan-Brown Press Agency

Chris Boneau is the President of Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Inc., the most experienced press agency on Broadway. With his business partner Adrian Bryan-Brown, Chris has represented over 400 plays and musicals which have won 242 Tony Awards and 11 Pulitzer Prizes (a list of the Broadway shows can be found at www.ibdb.com). For 16 years Chris served as Disney Theatrical Productions publicist and public relations strategist launching Disney on Broadway. For seven years, Chris represented The Book of Mormon. Chris serves on the Steering Committee for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, is an adjunct professor at Columbia University's Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies, and is on the board of the Atlantic Theater Company. Chris leads the media training team at BBB working with entertainment, corporate and private clients.

Christian Gade Bjerrum

Actor, Co-Dir., Bæredygtig Scenekunst NU (Denmark)

Christian Gade Bjerrum co-founded Bæredygtig Scenekunst NU with Jacob Teglgaard in January 2020. Being an actor by profession and climate activist by passion, Christian and partner Jacob are leading the process of transforming the performing arts industry in Denmark into a more sustainable industry.

"It's not enough anymore to just produce stories for the stage about climate change - we need to be the change too".

With this approach, Christian and Jacob have engaged almost the whole performing arts industry in Denmark to rethink themselves as role models and make them take a greater responsible part in meeting the most threatening crisis we face at this time: the climate crisis.

Daryl Roth

Tony Award Winning Producer

DARYL ROTH holds the singular distinction of producing 7 Pulitzer Prize-winning plays: "Anna in the Tropics"; "August: Osage County" (2008 Tony); "Clybourne Park" (2012 Tony); "How I Learned to Drive" (the original Off-Broadway production and the upcoming Broadway debut); "Proof" (2001 Tony); Edward Albee’s "Three Tall Women"; and "Wit." The proud recipient of 12 Tony Awards and London’s Olivier Award, her over 120 award winning productions include: The 2013 Tony winner for Best Musical, "Kinky Boots," 6 years on Broadway and around the globe; Paula Vogel's "Indecent," and "The Normal Heart" (2011 Tony). Upcoming: the new musical "Between the Lines" based on Jodi Picoult's bestselling book; "How I Learned to Drive” starring the original cast, Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse; and Paul Grellong's "The Power of Sail," which will premiere this winter at the Geffen Playhouse in LA starring Bryan Cranston. She is a Trustee of Lincoln Center Theater and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Honored to have been inducted into the 2017 Theatre Hall of Fame.

David "Dstew" Stewart

Production Manager - Disney Live Entertainment

Produced works at Disney include: Magic Kingdom’s 50th Anniversary spectacular Disney Enchantment, Beacons of Magic (Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom), Remount of Happily Ever After (Magic Kingdom), NBA and MLS sports ‘bubbles’ (ESPN), DJ’s Ready, Set, Party Time! (Hollywood Studios), Wonderful World of Animation (Hollywood Studios) Joyful! (Epcot), National Association of Black Journalists (Miami). Guthrie Theater, Director of Production. University of Texas at Austin, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Production Manager. Stage Manager for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. AEA stage manager for Madison Repertory Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre, St. Louis MUNY, Kansas City Starlight Outdoor Musicals, The Little Theatre on the Square and Vienna Austria’s English Theatre. USITT, Chair EDI committee, board of directors, co-founder Gateway Program. Dstew is the founder of Production on Deck, a production search and consulting firm.

Gareth Hulance

Show Caller & PSM of Large Scale Events, UK

Gareth has over 20 years’ experience working as an international show caller, production stage manager and show director.

Originally working in stage management in London West End Theatre, Gareth moved into event stage management and then into show calling, production stage management & show direction. Client requests to provide full stage management and show calling teams, led to Gareth forming cue2cue which supplies some of the most experienced teams across the world, working on over 60 different shows in 17 countries in 2019 alone.

Credits include: Abba Voyage Arena Show (2022), PONXX Papua National Games (2021) Euro 2020 Opening Ceremony (2021), 30th SEA Games Philippines (2019), Special Olympics World Games (2019), MSC Bellissima Naming Ceremony (2019) Galway City of Culture Opening Ceremony (2019), Special Olympics Regional Games (2018), 1st European Games Baku (2015), The Grand Openings of Studio City (2015), The Parisian (2016) & MGM (2018) Casino’s in Macao, Dubai Expo 1 Year to Go (2019), Opening Ceremony of Baku F1 City Circuit (2016), Dubai World Cup Ceremonies (2017 & 2018), Turkmenbashi Sea Port Opening (2018), Saudi Arabia National Day (2017-2019), Fang Fu Forever Beijing (2018) and Dubai National Days 43 & 44.

Jerry Nadal

CEO, COO, Producer, Formerly Senior Vice-President of Resident Shows Division at Cirque du Soleil

Jerry Nadal is a renowned and prominent show business professional specializing in live performance, having worn many hats over his 30-year career in the entertainment industry. He recently held the positions of Senior Vice President, Business Development, Resident Shows Division and well as Senior Vice President of Resident Shows Division Worldwide, both for Cirque du Soleil. Under his leadership he oversaw all aspects of the nine live production shows in Las Vegas; Mystère, “O”, Zumanity, KÀ, The Beatles LOVE, Criss Angel Believe, Viva Elvis, Zarkana and Michael Jackson ONE as well as La Nouba at Downtown Disney in Orlando and IRIS at The Dolby theatre in Los Angeles. In New York he was responsible for Wintuk, Banana Shpeel and Zarkana at Radio City Music Hall and Paramour on Broadway as well as Paramour in Hamburg, Germany. Part of his overall operational responsibilities included managing a large sales and marketing team that oversaw annual revenues of $600+ million dollars.

A large part of Mr. Nadal’s responsibilities also included the management of Cirque du Soleil’s operating partners which included MGM Resorts International, Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, Disney, Apple Records, The Elvis Presley Estate; the Michael Jackson Estate; Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Stage Entertainment and CIM Real Estate. He was also responsible for the company’s initial advance into Asia opening shows in Tokyo, Japan at Downtown Disney and Macau, China at The Venetian Resort and Casino.

Having concluded a 21-year career with Cirque du Soleil, Jerry stepped in as interim President and CEO of Nevada Public Radio in September of 2019 to help them through a fiscal crisis leading into their 40th anniversary year. He has most recently been appointed COO for Enchant Christmas, The World's Largest Christmas Light Maze and Market with experiences in Dallas, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; St. Petersburg, Florida; and Washington, DC. Having a profound understanding of entertainment market needs and its evolution, Jerry also continues to consult with leading creators and producers on new concept ideation, relevance, and production in Las Vegas, throughout the United States, and internationally.

Before joining Cirque, Mr. Nadal gained considerable experience managing stage and business operations for various Broadway touring shows including A Chorus Line, Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma!, Fiorello!, Grease! and Little Shop of Horrors. Mr. Nadal’s first venture into the Las Vegas market was in the role of production manager for Starlight Express at the Las Vegas Hilton and he continued work as a production manager on national tours of Smokey Joe’s Cafe, 42nd Street and The Will Rogers Follies.

Mr. Nadal holds Associate in Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees from St. John’s University in New York; an MBA in Global Management from the University of Phoenix and an honorary doctorate in performing arts from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. His not–for-profit and philanthropic work includes sitting on the board of directors for The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Nevada Public Radio (Director Emeritus), Co-chair of Nevada Ballet Theatre, Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas, and One Drop USA; a foundation of Cirque du Soleil where Mr. Nadal is the Executive Producer of One Night for One Drop, an annual benefit performance in Las Vegas that includes performers from all of the Las Vegas productions as well as guest artists to highlight the worldwide water crisis. Mr. Nadal and his husband Gene Lubas are the proud fathers of 14-year-old twin boys, Harrison and Wilson and make their home in Las Vegas.

Jorge Tapia Briggs

Show Caller & PSM of Large Scale Events (México)

Jorge has 20 years of experience in Stage Management, starting in musical theatre in Mexico City as both a PSM and a Show Caller.

Jorge has been working in ceremonies for 10 years taking senior stage management roles in London 2012, Sochi 2014 & Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Additional ceremonies include the Pan American Games in Guadalajara in 2011, Islamic Games 2017 and the Special Olympics World Games 2019.

As a Production Stage Manager, credits include Pan American Games Toronto 2015 (Closing & ParaPans), Inviticus Games 2016, Saudi Arabia National Day 2019 and the South East Asian Games 2019.

Event work across Mexico includes fashion shows and corporate events and the annual Day of the Dead Festival and with Cirque du Soleil in their first Mexican resident show Joya in 2014. Additional Cirque credits include the 2018 Saudi Arabia National Day and their summer production in Andorra for the last four years.

Jorge is based in Mexico City.

Joyce Arbucias

Founding Partner of The Imagination House

Founding partner of The Imagination House, Joyce has been a leader in the entertainment industry for over 25 years. Raised in the Orlando area, entertainment has been Joyce’s passion for her entire life. Her experience and training range from live theatre to television, and includes a well-balanced mix of directing, producing, creative design and performance. Joyce’s role at The Imagination House is all-encompassing: from leading creative teams, development of new shows and creative projects, art and video direction, corporate identity projects and creative workshops. Acting as a brand consultant, Joyce has led creative, entertainment, and merchandise endeavors for several national corporations and international entertainment companies, including brand packages, logo design, original IP and character development, and branded merchandise. In addition to stewarding the business success of The Imagination House and its clients for the past 25 years, Joyce has created a customized and unique process for corporate identity and future business planning, harnessing the collective power of creative entertainment specialists. Combine leadership, authenticity, vision, creativity, relatability, resourcefulness with a business-minded approach plus a profound sixth sense and you just begin to realize the potential and value Joyce brings to any project. She is sought after by global brands as an executive producer, entertainment business strategist, and project leader. Joyce sits on the board of directors for the Orlando International Fringe Festival, where she served as president for 4 consecutive years. She is currently acting as chair of the Diversity and Accessibility initiative.

Kim Shaw

Broadway and Touring Company Manager

Kimberly Shaw is a Broadway and Touring Company Manager. Theater credits include - Broadway: Diana, the Musical, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Bronx Tale, Amelié, Fiddler on the Roof. Tours/International: The Lion King,The Hip-Hop Nutcracker, Central Avenue Breakdown (N. Korea), I Got Fired (N. Korea), Franco Dragon’s India (Germany), Little Shop of Horrors. Off-Broadway: Avenue Q, Midnight’s Children (The Apollo), The Other Josh Cohen, Triassic Parq, Blind Date. Theme Parks: Fantasmic, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Finding Nemo the Musical, Festival of the Lion King.

Kimberly holds a B.A. in Theatre from Spelman College and an M.F.A. in Theatre Management and Producing from Columbia University.

Lisa Porter

Marahscalh Stanton

Entertainment Director, Princess Cruises

What began as a six month gig “to pay the rent ‘til AMDA starts” turned into a career he didn’t know he wanted. Marahscalh’s decades long life at sea began on a cold, wet morning in New York City at an open call audition for Carnival Cruise Lines. Over the next fifteen years he would progress through the ranks from principle singer to Cast Manager to Featured Solo Act into administration and ultimately Cruise Director. In 2007, after a restless retirement Marahscalh joined Princess Cruises and has sailed to over 300 destinations aboard ‘the Love Boat’. As onboard Entertainment Director he heads the Entertainment Department and has the first and final say on every facet of the production of some of the most incredible performances afloat. As the destination leader, Princess prides itself on the variety of programming options to capture the hearts, minds and imaginations of our guests who want and expect more than just a cruise. Marahscalh oversees a team of industry professionals at the tops of their games. From multimillion dollar production shows to cultural presentations from natives of the ports of call we visit to celebrations and festivals famous and infamous there is more to do when guests want to do it. His role requires daily collaboration with the other onboard executives lead by the Captain, constant communication with the California based corporate office but most closely with his core team of Cruise Director, Cast Manager, Senior Production Manager , Youth & Teen Activities Managers and Music Manager. Under his guidance and leadership they provide guests of all ages with the best in live, recorded , immersive and interactive entertainment-from music to movies, lectures to line dancing, ballroom to basketball , game shows to book clubs, Broadway, West End caliber talent, comedy club and variety artist from around the world and partnerships with some of the most successful players in the industry entertainment industry cruise ships are the place to be!

Mark Pawsey

Producer, Project Manager & Stage Manager

Mark is British and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where he won the Liverpool Playhouse Award and an honors diploma in Stage Management. He spent 15 years in London’s West End working as a Stage & Company Manager on over 40 productions, including the original productions of “The Phantom of the Opera” “Hey Mr. Producer” “Buddy” and “Taboo”, the Boy George Musical. The next 16 years were as Tour Manager, General Stage Manager and Artistic Director, with the acclaimed “Cirque du Soleil” troupe, both on their resident shows in Las Vegas & Japan and touring throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas.
While at Cirque, Mark presented a TEDx Talk in Edmonton, Canada, on “The Future of Inspiration”. He has been a keynote speaker at Drama Schools and Entertainment Conferences in the United Kingdom and has performed as MC & Host on several showcases for Lamondance, a training and Performing Contemporary Dance Company for aspiring professional dancers in Vancouver, Canada. He currently sits on the board of the LGBT Center in Orlando.
As a Producer and Project Manager at The Imagination House, Mark shares his unique working knowledge of Theatre, Circus, Cruise Ships, Theme Parks and Live Entertainment in helping support the Managing Partners to execute and realize their creative visions and aspirations while overseeing the delivery of a variety of creative services, to our diverse portfolio of clients.

Matt DiCarlo

Director

Matt is currently the Resident Director for Moulin Rouge! on Broadway and the Associate Director for the show’s upcoming North American Tour. He staged the Off-Broadway production and North American Tour of The Play That Goes Wrong and recently returned from South Korea, where he restaged the Broadway production of Beetlejuice for its run in Seoul at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. Matt was the Associate Director for the first national tour of The Color Purple revival and the second national tour of Rock of Ages.

As a Production Stage Manager, Matt helmed the Broadway productions of Beetlejuice, The Play That Goes Wrong, the Tony-winning revival of The Color Purple, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Rock of Ages. He also worked as the PSM for the world premieres of A Walk on the Moon (A.C.T.), Up Here (La Jolla Playhouse), and Piece of My Heart: The Bert Berns Story (Off-Broadway). Other stage management credits include Broadway Bares 2017, Broadway Backwards 6, 7 & 8, and over 12 productions at Paper Mill Playhouse, including The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, Steel Magnolias, Little Shop of Horrors, and The Full Monty.

Matt’s corporate event experience includes projects with Empire Entertainment, David Stark Design, and Civic Entertainment. Favorites include events with Target, McDonald’s, and the AMC Upfronts. Matt currently is on the faculty at Columbia University and has guest lectured at several universities including Yale and Carnegie Mellon. He graduated with a BFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Matt currently lives in South Orange, NJ with his financé, Joey, and their sweet little Morkie, Max.

Molly Braverman

Stage Manager & Broadway Green Alliance Director

Molly Braverman is the Director of the Broadway Green Alliance. She previously served as the Managing Director of Theatre Horizon, a non-profit professional theatre company in Norristown, PA. She has worked as a Stage Manager on Broadway, Touring Broadway, and regionally, having spent three years on the road with the National Tour of Wicked and continuing to serve as a substitute Stage Manager on Wicked and Hamilton. She founded the Philadelphia Green Theatre Alliance, a regional chapter of the Broadway Green Alliance, and is a trained Climate Reality Leader.

Narda E. Alcorn

Stage Manager, Educator & Author

NARDA E. ALCORN (she/her/hers) is a Professor and Stage Manager who has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally, and internationally. In 2019, Narda was appointed Chair of the Stage Management Program at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. She has been Head of Stage Management for New York University, DePaul University, and State University of New York at Purchase. She received DePaul’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2015 and The Robert Christen Award for Excellence in Technical Collaboration in 2017. With co-author Lisa Porter, Narda has written, Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach, and the HowlRound article, "We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education."

Narda has had Broadway collaborations with the Tony-winning directors Kenny Leon, Bartlett Sher, and George C. Wolfe. She premiered four of Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright August Wilson’s Century Cycle plays, and stage-managed two Broadway revivals of his work. Her New York and Regional credits include productions with Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Billy Crystal, Kevin Kline, Annette Bening, Phylicia Rashad, and David Schwimmer. Narda was a long-time stage manager on the Broadway production of The Lion King. She has collaborated with the celebrated MacArthur Fellows, composer George E. Lewis and playwrights Richard Foreman, Tarell Alvin McCraney, and Sarah Ruhl.

Peter Maccoy

Stage Manager, Company Manager & Educator (UK)

BSc, PGDip, FHEA

Peter is a Senior Lecturer in Stage Management at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, a specialist college within the University of London. He is a Trustee Director of the Association of British Theatre Technicians and former chair of the ABTT’s Training and Education Committee. He is also a UK delegate on the OISTAT (International Organisation of Scenographers Theatre Architects and Technicians) Education Commission.

Following a BSc in General Science at Durham University, Peter trained in Stage Management at RADA. He began his professional theatre career as a freelance scenic carpenter and as a stage technician at the Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End.

Peter started his Stage Management career in fringe theatre in London before joining the Mercury Theatre, Colchester as Assistant Stage Manager moving on to Deputy Stage Manager in his second season. This was followed by five years at the National Theatre, working in all three theatres and on tours within the UK, Europe and North America.

Peter subsequently became Company and Stage Manager at the Chichester Festival Theatre and then for the Sir Peter Hall Company for a season at the Playhouse Theatre, Charing Cross and with the Almeida Theatre’s first national tour.

He has also worked in the corporate sector as a Production Assistant and Show Caller and as a Pyrotechnician.

Peter’s book, ‘The Essentials of Stage Management’ (Methuen Drama, London) was published in 2004 and he is currently co-writing a book on producing performances in non-theatre spaces.

Richard Hester

Production Supervisor, Jersey Boys on Broadway & Cruise Ship Adaptation

Currently in development with THE KARATE KID, the musical. Served as Production Supervisor for all productions of JERSEY BOYS across the globe (Broadway, US Tours, Las Vegas, Toronto, Chicago, London, Australia, South Africa, Asia, Netherlands, Norwegian Cruise Lines) since its inception in 2004. Other Supervising credits: SUMMER, The Donna Summer Musical, on Broadway and WEST SIDE STORY in 360 Stage Around in Tokyo, Japan. Other Broadway stage managing credits: GYPSY, starring Bernadette Peters, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, CABARET, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, A DELICATE BALANCE, THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD, TITANIC, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, THE RED SHOES, THE SECRET GARDEN. National Tours: WICKED, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, WEST SIDE STORY. Have toured the US with both Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin stage managing their concerts. Co-founder/producer of Broadway Barks! An annual NYC Animal Adoption event with Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore now in its 23rd year.

Ryan Kirk

Co-Founder of Propared

Ryan Kirk is a co-founder of Propared. He has held management positions in theater, TV, fashion, corporate events, and venue operations for 20 years. Ryan is also the co-founder of Tinc Productions, a Broadway production management company based in New York City. He served as president for 10 years taking it from a small group of freelance managers who wanted to do shows the right way to one of the major production companies in NYC. Ryan holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Virginia Tech and a MBA from NYU. He cherishes the time he spends working with arts organizations to improve their workflows; enabling them to continue their missions. Ryan also loves to cook, rock-climb, play piano, and travel.

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