New Generations Program
Objective#1: Future Leaders
Future Leaders: Round 8 Project Description
Arena Stage's (Washington, DC) associate artistic director David Dower will mentor Vijay Mathew in new play development and artistic producing. Mr. Mathew’s responsibilities will include line producing the development paths of several new works slated for production at Arena, overseeing the selection process of the NEA New Play Development Program and following the selected projects through their development paths at host organizations.
The Cleveland Play House’s (Cleveland, OH) managing director Kevin Moore will mentor Alison La Rosa as an associate managing director, preparing her for a career in regional theatre management. Ms. La Rosa’s duties will include rights agreements, Equity contracts, monthly monitoring of profit and loss projections, acting as the point person for the annual operating budget and participating on several board committees. Ms. La Rosa will also produce FusionFest, Cleveland Play House’s annual multi-arts festival.
Goodman Theater's (Chicago, IL) artistic director Robert Falls will mentor emerging artistic director Julieanne Ehre in producing and artistic programming. Ms Ehre will assist in the artistic coordination of the Goodman’s new international initiatives, serving as the liaison between the artistic, producing, development and marketing departments and the general manager’s office. She will also be the primary contact for international artists and companies, assisting in the preparation of budgets, calendars and schedules, marketing and other fundraising materials for international projects.
Lark Play Development Center’s (New York, NY) producing director John Clinton Eisner will mentor May Adrales in artistic programming and strategic planning. Ms Adrales will work with executive leadership to develop a plan for sustained artistic support of core playwrights and to identify best practices for deepening Lark’s investment in unheard and marginalized voices and strengthening cross-pollination among these communities. She will play a leadership role fostering community dialogue, facilitating dramaturgical discussions, and directing new work.
Miracle Theatre Group’s (Portland, OR) executive director José E. González will mentor Antonio Sonera in the areas of management and administration. Mr. Sonera’s responsibilities will include working with the board of directors on the 25th anniversary planning committee, managing program budgets, identifying capital needs and potential resources, and representing the organization at community engagement events.
New Georges’ (New York, NY) artistic director Susan Bernfield will mentor Rehana Mirza in artistic direction and all aspects of running a small production and play development company. Ms. Mirza will line produce mainstage projects, act as a board liaison, assist the literary manager with play submissions and identifying potential New Georges’ artists, and will work with the artistic director on fundraising and audience development initiatives.
Pillsbury House Theatre (Minneapolis, MN) co-artistic director Faye M. Price will mentor James A. Williams in all areas of artistic administration. Mr. Williams will gain hands on experience with the primary areas involved in leading a small arts organization. Specific duties will include assisting with season planning and budgeting, production and program development, fundraising, marketing and external relations.
The Play Company’s (New York, NY) founding producer Kate Loewald will mentor Linda Bartholomai in the areas of producing and organizational development. Ms Bartholomai will help to cultivate and maintain relationships with American and international artists and producing venues. She will also curate and produce events in The Play Company’s New Work/New World Series, develop a new project in the Universal Voices translation program, participate in season planning and help to develop the company’s 10-Year Anniversary strategic plan.
Teatro Vision de San Jose’s (San Jose, CA) artistic director Elisa Marina Alvarado will mentor Rodrigo Garcia in the area of artistic management. Mr. Garcia’s duties will include translation oversight, international relationship building, co-production development support, season production selection, management training and marketing/outreach assistance.
Future Leaders: Round 7 Project Description
Center Theatre Group's (Los Angeles, CA) associate producer and director of new play production Diane Rodriguez will mentor Jesus Reyes. Mr. Reyes’ mentorship will concentrate primarily on the New Play Production Program, including overseeing the creation of a bi-annual newsletter that will inform readers of the program. He will also work with Ms Rodriguez to cultivate relationships with smaller ensembles and theatre companies, oversee the management of artist residencies and will co-produce performances of Suzan Lori-Parks’ 365 Days/365 Plays.
Childsplay’s (Tempe, AZ) artistic director David Saar will mentor Andy Alcala in artistic directing. Mr. Alcala’s responsibilities in new play development will include dramaturgy, script evaluation and planning playwright workshops that better serve the theatre’s growing Latino audience. He will also teach classes at the Childsplay Academy co-direct with Mr. Saar and will direct a touring or mainstage production during the second year of the mentorship.
Clubbed Thumb’s (New York, NY) co-directors Maria Striar and Meg MacCary will mentor Diana Konopka in artistic leadership. Ms Konopka will learn the management, administrative and artistic duties of the leader of a small theatre company, including literary management, development, programming, bookkeeping, marketing and publicity.
Cornerstone Theater Company’s (Los Angeles, CA) managing director Shay Wafer will mentor T Keaton-Woods in theatre management. Ms. Keaton-Woods will serve as the associate managing director. Her responsibilities will include serving as staff liaison to the executive committee, participating in the budgeting process and acting as assistant producer for community performances of Literature to Life education shows. She will also be in charge of front-of-house logistics for Cornerstone’s Justice Cycle productions.
Long Wharf Theatre’s (New Haven, CT) managing director Joan Channick will mentor Deeksha Gaur. Ms Gaur will serve as assistant managing director, focusing on issues of institutional planning and strategy. She will also work on audience development, a capital and endowment campaign, and planning for the theatre’s new facilities.
The Playwrights’ Center’s (Minneapolis, MN) producing artistic director Polly Carl will mentor director Hayley Finn. Ms. Finn will primarily work on the Playwrights’ Center’s development Lab and their annual PlayLabs Festival. In addition, Ms Finn will learn the duties of a producer, fundraiser and marketer.
Pregones Theater's (Bronx, NY) associate artistic director Alvan Colón Lespier will mentor Jessica Moya in the area of technical production. The mentorship offers a guided career advancement project with shared responsibilities for season planning; drafting of production calendars, budgets, and material inventories; selection and coordination of production personnel; management of production runs and theater equipment; and related evaluations. Ms Moya will also play a leadership role in the design of subsequent technical theater training workshops, and in creating a new technical manual for Pregones’ 9,000 sq. ft. theater facility.
The Public Theater’s (New York, NY) artistic director Oskar Eustis will mentor Niegel Smith. As artistic leadership associate Mr. Smith will direct in New Work Now! and other workshops, direct in the Shakespeare Lab, assistant direct on mainstage productions, produce in the theatre’s developmental production program and work with Mr. Eustis on specific development and board activities.
Roadside Theater’s (Norton, VA) artistic director Dudley Cocke will mentor Nick Szuberla in playwriting, directing, producing and advocacy. Mr. Szuberla’s mentorship will be framed by the theatre’s Thousand Kites project which employs theatre and media to examine the impact of prisons on inmates, guards and their families and communities.
Round 7 Mentorship Mentee Bios
Andres Alcala holds a BFA in Theatre from Southern Oregon State College and has performed with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) for two seasons. As an actor he became involved with the theatre’s education outreach program, teaching and acting with OSF, and facilitating the summer seminar for youth. Following his time with OSF, Mr. Alcala began teaching, directing and acting for the Oregon Children's Theatre and is now the artistic director of a children's touring theater company called CITE Creative Education, inspiring social change with environmental education through out the Oregon school systems. He is an award winning director and actor in both Oregon and Arizona.
Hayley Finn has developed and directed new plays at The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis, and in New York at The Cherry Lane Theatre, New Dramatists, New Georges, The Kitchen, Playwrights Horizons, The Vineyard Theatre, and The Flea Theater where she was awarded a residency. Ms Finn has also served as an assistant director on numerous Broadway productions. She is the director and co-creator of Jigsaw Nation, currently touring across the country. She wrote and directed Hysteria: Silence In Stills, which recently had a workshop at The Guthrie Theater. Ms Finn is an alumna of The Drama League Directors Projects and a recipient of the Ruth Easton Directing Fellowship. She holds a BA and MA from Brown University.
Deeksha Gaur began producing theatre as an undergraduate student at Cambridge University, where she read History. There, she produced over eight university productions and was executive producer of the second largest theatre society in the university. A highlight of her theatre career was producing Bedtime Story by Kiran Nagarkar at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2003: a play that had been banned in India for 17 years. She graduated in May 2007 with an MFA in Theater Management from Yale School of Drama.
Diana Konopka is currently the development and administrative assistant for Clubbed Thumb and was the assistant festival manager for their annual new play festival, Summerworks ’07. Ms. Konopka is an associated artist with Target Margin Theater and has collaborated with them as a “sound demon” and performer on productions of Faust: Parts I&II, As Yet Thou Art Young and Rash and Dinner Party. She served as the dramaturg for Mile of String’s original piece Right After and Williamstown Theatre Festival’s 2005 season. She holds degrees from the University of Chicago (B.A. English Literature) and New York University (M.A. Performance Studies).
Jessica Moya graduated from the CUNY City College Department of Theater and is devoted to professional work in the technical theater field. Her numerous professional and collegiate credits in New York include Testiculations, Positive Women, A Raisin in the Sun, The Fantasticks, Hamlet, and Angels in America. Prior stage manager credits include Pregones Theater in the Bronx, NY; The Red Rose at the Daryl Roth Theater, opener for the 2007 TeatroStageFest Latino International Theater Festival of NY; Betsy, a musical theater collaboration with Roadside Theater; the world premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays at The Public Theater and visiting artist presentations in multiple disciplines.
Jesus A. Reyes is the founder and artistic director of East Los Angeles Repertory Theatre Company. Mr. Reyes has worked as an actor and director for Teatro Vision, San Jose Repertory, Red Latter Theatre, Playground, The Western Stage, and the Latino Theatre Initiative. Most recently he assisted Lisa Peterson on the world premiere of Water and Power by Richard Montoya for Culture Clash and Electricidad by Luis Alfaro, both at the Mark Taper Forum/Center Theatre Group. For East LA Rep, he has directed numerous plays and co-wrote ¡Quinceañera! The Musical which received a workshop production in 2006.
Media artist Nick Szuberla has broadcast his performance and media projects throughout America at venues that include the Policy Research Institute's Rural Network Conference in Abingdon, Virginia; Southeast Community College in Harlan, Kentucky; and The National Performance Network's annual meeting in Chicago. In 1999, Mr. Szuberla co-founded the media arts project Holler to the Hood to explore the social impact of moving hundreds of thousands of inner-city minority offenders to distant rural prisons. Using a variety of mediums (live performance, radio, video, and digital) and forms (including a multimedia installation and database-driven web site), his projects focus on creating public space where people can tell their stories in their own voices.
Niegel Smith’s directing credits include Maud – The Madness (The Phoenix Theatre); Rainy Days & Mondays (New York International Fringe Festival); Fallout (Bowling Green Park); Limbs: A Pageant (Here Arts Center); Funny House of a Negro (Non-Stop-Flight); And/or (The Public Theater's New Work Now). Associate/Assistant Directing: Fela Kuti (Current), Bill T. Jones, Soldier’s Play; Jo Bonney, Second Stage; 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, James Lapine, Second Stage; Disposable Men, Kristin Marting, Here Arts; Caroline, or Change, George C. Wolfe, Public Theater/Broadway. Mr. Smith, a graduate of Dartmouth College, co-curated the American Living Room Festival, 2006, has held artistic staff positions at Trinity Repertory Company and The Public Theater and has been awarded the Van Lier Fellowship, Warner Bentley Award, Rodney Alexander Fellowship, Tucker Fellowship, Arkowitz Prize, and Shoenhut Award.
T Keaton-Woods has been a part of the Los Angeles theatre scene for the last two and a half years. While in LA she hasserved as a producer for Padua Playwrights, Red DogSquadron, We Did It Productions, andCutlab. Ms Keaton-Woods has also served as a stage manager with Padua, Ziggurat Theatre Ensemble and the Pyramid Players. As a producerher goalis always tocollaborate with writers on new work to further explore the contemporary voice of American Theatre.