Artistically, my passion is developing, producing and performing in original, independent theater and multimedia projects using improvisational and non-traditional composition techniques.
Professionally, I have managed artistic projects
and organizations with annual budgets ranging from less
than $25K to more than $4M. Over the years, I
have produced original, multi-media and traditional theatrical
productions and tours, performance festivals, outdoor public
art events, gala benefits and fundraising parties.
Philosophically, I value process as much as product and
like to experiment with improvisational structures when developing
new work. I seek opportunities that allow me to learn by
doing and gain expertise through experience. Over the years,
I have gained particular proficiency in fundraising/finance,
management & policy for arts organizations and making
original theater work.
I am currently available to work with organizations
or individuals in the arts. My fees are available
on a sliding scale. If you would like to discuss working
together, please contact me.
I love working backstage as much as onstage. I’ve done
theatrical production and stage management, event production,
corporate meeting production, festival production and recently
started dipping my toes in the water of film production.
Below is a sample of gigs I’ve had and/or stuff I’ve made.
Associate Producer - As an alumni, I was pleased to help produce Tisch School of the Arts‘ 2010 hotINK International Play Reading Festival. A completely FREE festival of plays from around the globe, the 2010 festival featured playwrights hailing from Uganda, Ireland, Canada, Russia, France, Romania, Finland, Austria and Japan. Presented annually by the Department of Drama, hotINK brings together playwrights from around the world with distinguished actors and directors from the New York theatre, as well as students, alumni and faculty from the Tisch School of the Arts.
Associate Producer - Prelude 09: Ecologies, Economies, and Engagement Presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The Graduate Center, CUNY, the sixth-annual Prelude Festival celebrates the explorers and visionaries of NYC’s theatre and performance scene. This free, annual festival previews work-in-progress by some of NYC’s most exciting contemporary/experimental/downtown performing artists and features symposium and artist talk-back sessions daily. I also moderated a panel discussion about citizenship as it relates to being an artist.
Production Manager - With this project, I finally got a chance to wade in the waters of film production. Fascinating process – especially being a hardcore theater geek. We shot on 35mm for three days, had a cast & crew of 40+ and used two locations in Rutherford NJ. It was a short film called “Portraits” about a photographer in a small town who is down on his luck (directed by my good friend John Des Roches). The film was one of ten finalists in a non-profit online film festival and competition called The Doorpost Film Project.
Production Manager – I helped produce the group’s only
tour to the 2007 Orlando International Fringe Festival.
It was an original show that was first developed and
produced to critical acclaim in NYC.
Director and Choreographer - Synchronicity presented
an opportunity to give back to the public school system
that nourished me as a kid when the teacher slotted for
directing the big spring musical dropped out and caused
a near-riot scenario for the parents & kids. I was
available so I stepped in to take over. I selected a
show built to feature a large ensemble of participants
rather than traditional musicals that have only a few
choice parts. I worked with a music director, producer
and a cast & crew of almost 40 kids over five months.
It was a fantastic success and I have a prop foot-cast
used in the show signed by the kids to prove it. They
never worked harder in their little lives up to that
point, but the payoff at performance time was worth it
in end (or so they told me). I had a blast, the kids
looked like rock stars and we all learned a lot.
More info about The Bard is Back
Producer, Performer - This was an original show that
served as the anchor production at my theater. It was
an episodic, improvised play environmentally staged in
what was supposed to be (and pretty authentically replicated)
an East Village NYC dive bar complete with regulars and
a live rock & roll band. It received a lot of media
attention and developed a loyal fan base quickly - there
were six episodes that I developed and produced. Press
clippings and photos here.
Producer, Performer - This was a show Temenos co-produced
with Chad Lewis's Invisible Arts Project. It was an interactive
theatrical experience featuring original visual art,
poetry, music and dance wherein the audience engaged,
discussed and critiqued the work. Press clippings and
photos here.
Co-Presenter - I was proud to provide a venue for the
only Central Florida performance of this beautiful show
(originally done at The Flea Theater) to commemorate
the first anniversary of 9/11. Press clippings and photos
here.
Various samples can be found below, including public testimony
and an online course. Recent commentary
on all things arts related can be found on my
blog.
I began fundraising at the tender age of 7 by selling
Girl Scout cookies. I coordinated a preliminary round of
the MA High School Drama festival and served as business
editor of the yearbook. Work study jobs during college
included one year as a gallery assistant and two as a theater
studio assistant. You can find my full CV here.
Organizations I've worked for include:
- Temenos
Ensemble Theater (Executive Director, Founder)
- This was my first company, a non-profit theater
that I founded after acquiring an abandon building.
Simultaneously, I formed the company and renovated
the building to create an alternative arts/performance
venue and in early 2001, began to produce original
theater shows. I always fantasized about one day
having my own venue and the experience of creating
one taught me more than anything else ever had
- it was challenging, exhausting, overwhelming
and inspiring. I made some outrageous mistakes,
somehow managed to survive and came out the other
side a whole lot smarter than when I started. It
was here that I first encountered the role the
artist plays in cycles of urban gentrification
as the company was a business participant in the
attempts to form a “downtown arts district” through
a large scale public/private partnership. I received
support from the City of Orlando, Hughes Supply
(the only Fortune 500 corp. based in Orlando),
Bank of America, United Arts of Central Florida
and many local businesses. The theater hosted and
presented the Kids Fringe Festival for two years
in partnership with the Orlando International Fringe
Festival. After four years the lease expired and
the theater was dissolved and ceased operation.
The venue was then used as a commercial photography studio until recently when it purchased by the
City. (Press Clippings Here)
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