John Henry Davis (Director) is a director of theatre, film, and television in New York and across the country, and has directed at Playwrights Horizons, The Mark Taper Forum, the Kennedy Center, and the Dallas Theatre Center, working with writers and composers such as Beth Henley, Tom Babe, Neal Bell, Ossie Davis, and Jason Robert Brown. In television and film, Mr. Davis has directed Oz for HBO, The Sarah Jones Show for Bravo, and was director of the award winning feature film Ordinary Sinner. Recently, he directed the new opera The Golden Gate for the Rose Studio in Lincoln Center, as well as Babes in Toyland at Avery Fisher Hall and Hamlet for the Hudson Guild. Mr. Davis also directed the premiere productions of the plays Papa and Mountain, both starring Len Cariou for tour and Off-Broadway and Daughters at the Westside Arts. For many years he has directed and developed new musicals for Theatreworks USA, including the long running Lion Witch and the Wardrobe. As a playwright, he has recently written two new plays, With the Sound Off and Enemy of the Good. A professor at LaGuardia Community College, he is the husband of Oxygen television executive Amy Introcaso Davis, and is the proud father of Sean, Bonnie, and Christopher.
Lewis R. Baratz (Music Director) holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Case Western Reserve University. He researched the sacred music tradition in 18th-century Brussels as a Fulbright Scholar and a Fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation. Lewis has published articles in the New Grove Dictionary of Music, Historical Performance, Journal of the Southeast Historical Keyboard Society, Fontes artis musicae, American Recorder, and Oude Muziek, and written a detailed history of the choirboys of the Brussels Collegiate Church. He currently performs on harpsichord, fortepiano, and recorder. Visit his website at www.lafiocco.org.
Andreea Mincic (Scenic Designer) is a visual artist working in theatre as a set and costume designer. Recent work in New York City includes The Ring Cycle (set) with PL115 at Bushwick Starr, Murder in the Cathedral (set) with Hoi Polloi – Saint Joseph’s Church in Brooklyn, Jet Lag (costumes) with Builders Association – remount at Montclair State University, Red Over Red (set) with 31Down at the Incubator, Nurses in New England (set) with Half Straddle under the Ice Factory Festival, Hedda Gabler (set and costumes) with John Gould Rubin - site specific. She is currently working on Three Pianos (set) which opens at New York Theatre Workshop on December7. Other collaborators include Hudson Stage Company, Labyrinth Theatre Company, Light Box Theatre Company, The New School of Drama, Soho Rep, Buro fur Off Theatre-Leipzig, The Place-London, The National Theatre- Bucharest, etc. She is a member of TENT, Children’s Theatre Company, Theatre Without Borders, and Multi Art Dance Foundation. Andreea holds a MFA in Theatrical Design from Ohio University.
Brenda Abbandandolo (Costume Designer). Select theater credits include: Mission Drift (The TEAM), Come Back to Me & Manikato (Shakespeare In Paradise-Bahamas), Strindberg Strindberg (NYU Graduate Acting), Wonder (NYU Graduate Acting), Unrequited (The Public Theater Shakespeare Lab), I See London I See France (NYMTF), Global Cooling: The Women Chill (Women’s Project), The Dime Show, Keep the Change, Remembrance (Women’s Project). Recent film credits include: A Younger Man (Choice Films), Newsworthy, Outmode , and Positive . Amongst others, Brenda has collaborated with Mark Wing-Davey, Jim Calder, Keith Reddin, John Gould Rubin, Rachel Chavkin, Steve Yockey, Tony Glazer, and May Adrales. She holds an MFA in costume design from NYU Tisch School of the Arts where she was awarded the Deans Fellowship in design.
Mark T. Simpson (Lighting Designer). Mark has previously worked with John Henry Davis on Angels in America at the La Guardia Performing Arts Center (Set and Lights). Other credits include - Broadway: Associate Lighting Designer for Lombardi, Memphis, Guys and Dolls, In the Heights, The Farnsworth Invention, Les Miserables, The Color Purple, Good Vibrations, Dracula, Sinatra (Radio City), The Look of Love, The Full Monty. Off-Broadway: Forbidden Broadway (Lights), Lypsinka , As I Lay Lip-Synching at Minetta Lane (Set and Lights), David Drake’s Son of Drakula at DTW (Set and Lights), Lee Negrin’s The Valley of Iao (Lights). Regional: Broke-ology at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Washington DC: Kennedy Center, Studio Theatre. Austin: Zach Scott Theatre Center. Los Angeles: Tiffany Theatre. San Francisco: Alcazar Theatre. MFA: NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Member United Scenic Artists Local 829. www.mtspaceinc.com .
Scott Kersey (Sound Designer) has been an audio engineer for over thirty years, with a resume that includes teaching audio technology at the college level, Howard Stern's Negligee and Underpants Party on Pay Per View, The Premium Dollar Today, The Bankers' Roundtable on USA Television Network and Inside The Law on PBS. For the past twenty years, Scott has worked for Merrill Lynch as a recording engineer, post production audio sweetener for video and live event and television broadcast producer, staging people including former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, HRH Prince Charles, Colin Powell, Madeline Albright, Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, Robert Redford, Barbara Walters, Steve Jobs, John Stewart, David Spade, Katie Couric, Tom Brokaw, John Cardinal O’Connor, former NYC Mayors Koch, Dinkins, and Giuliani and Elmo from Sesame Street. He is a graduate of the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, and currently resides in New Jersey with his family.
Dan Renkin (Fight Director) has worked from regional theatre to Broadway, from independent films to As The World Turns, as well as at opera companies ranging from the Connecticut Opera to Vertical Player Repertory to the Metropolitan Opera. His work has been award-winning in the Chester Horn Festival and award-nominated in the Midtown International Theatre Festival. He trained with the renowned B.H. Barry, and serves on the faculty of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the New York Film Academy and Circle in the Square, and has also worked on conservatory productions for Marymount, John Jay, and the Strasberg Institute. He directed fights for OBIE-recipient Alec Duffy's recent site-specific Murder in the Cathedral, and previously collaborated with the esteemed John Henry Davis on Hamlet at the Hudson Guild.
Heather Benton (Period Movement Consultant). Most recent credits as a movement coach/ choreographer include various productions at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in both the 3rd year Company and 2nd Year Productions (Emma, Ring Round the Moon, Trojan Women, The Water Children, Cloud Nine, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Great Magoo, Stage Door, etc…), Montclair State University (Arcadia, 1001), and Kenyon College (Blood: Brother and Sisters). She is also the resident movement coach/ instructor for Brooklyn based East River Commedia. Heather is currently on core faculty at AADA teaching movement and acting styles as well as directing. MFA in acting from MXAT/ART at Harvard.
Michael Alifanz (Stage Manager). Recent credits: The world premiere of Eduardo Machado’s Havana Journal, 2004 (Theater for the New City), Lotus Feet (TNC), The 24-Hour Musicals (Blender Theater), Broadway Backwards 5 (Vivian Beaumont Theater ), The 24-Hour Plays on Broadway ( American Airlines), All Fall Down (NYMF), The Last Starfighter (NYMF), Artfuckers (DR2), and Daughter of a Cuban Revolutionary (DR2). Other credits include Kissing Fidel (by Eduardo Machado), points of departure, and Tight Embrace all with INTAR Theatre. Michael was the PA for The American Plan (MTC, Friedman Theater). He earned his MFA in Stage Management from Columbia University.
Dustin Cross (Assistant Stage Manager/Wardrobe Supervisor) has learned that you need to be a jack of all trades to survive in this wonderful city. Some hats he can be seen wearing are actor, director, choreographer, costume designer, props master, and stage manager. Off Broadway: Dietrich and Chevalier (ASM/ Prop Design), Phantom of the Opera (Persian/Assistant Costumer), A Christmas Carol (Ebeneezer/Costumer), Cinderella (Director) Regional Credits include: Titanic (Barret), Crazy for You (Bobby Childs), Joseph...Dreamcoat (Joseph) and Jane Eyre (St. John Rivers). Enjoy!
Josh Iacovelli (Production Manager) has been designing and stage managing Off-Broadway productions for the past ten years. He is the in-house T.D. for the Players Theatre, St. Luke’s Theatre, and the Actors Temple Theatre in NYC. Recent production management credits include the acclaimed Sleep Walk with Me starring Mike Birbiglia and The Man in Room 306 . Recent design credits include The Deep Throat Sex Scandal, Zero Hour, Danny and Sylvia, Dietrich And Chevalier, Lansky, At War!, Don’t Leave It All to the Children, Black Angels over Tuskeegee , The Rise of Dorothy Hale, At War, Give ‘Em Hell, Harry! and Annulla. Josh has a B.A. from Stockton College and an MFA from The Actors Studio Drama School at The New School University.
Kevin P. McAnarney/ KPM Associates (General Press Representative) has a background in public relations, casting and management; handling shows on Broadway, international dance/special events at the Metropolitan Opera House, State Theater, Carnegie Hall and others including two Katharine Hepburn tributes and first NYC Academy Awards benefit. National press: Cirque du Soleil (4 years), helped open Mystere (Las Vegas); tours of the Bolshoi Ballet, Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble. Represented: DRAMA DESK (6 years); Theater Hall of Fame; Julio Bocca and Ballet Argentino; National Dance Week; Children's Defense League; Ballet Nacional de Cuba (Alicia Alonso); Madrid's Ballet Ullate; Moiseyev Dance Company; American Ballet Theatre; 10 seasons representing Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College; Gateway Playhouse; Les Ballets Grandiva; Martha Graham Dance Company and numerous others. He represents Career Transition For Dancers, CTFD Galas, Paul Szilard Productions and other theatre companies. Broadway: Love! Valour! Compassion! (first show winning the 5 top NY Theatre Awards in a season: Tony, Outer Critics, NY Drama Critics, Drama Desk and Obies); Dame Edna: The Royal Tour; Some other shows: the musical John and Jen; Gurney’s Sylvia; Moises Kaufman’s award-winning Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde; The Laramie Project and Jon Marans’s The Temperamentals. He managed the Cape Cod Melody Tent; Beacon Theatre, and a 13-city tour of the musical Camelot starring Rock Hudson. He was also a former union treasurer/box office manager, and was a member of the organizing of Broadway Cares, helping to write the mission statement; as well as an organizing member of B'WAY (Better Wellness And You), the Wellness Committee for the theatre industry. Kevin is serving his eleventh term on the Board of Governors of ATPAM (Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers), and this is his seventh season as a TONY voter. He is honored to be a part of this play.
Robin Carus (Casting Director) is the proud resident casting director for the New York Theatre Barn, as well as for Can I Really Date A Guy Who Wears A Yarmulke? For eight years, Robin was Head of Casting for Theatreworks/USA. She has cast over 200 national tours, major theatre festivals including work at the 2009 Marathon Festival at EST, Eugene O'Neill Theatre Conference; Lincoln Center's American Living Room Festival; NAMT; NYMF; Fringe; Midtown International Theatre Festival, and the Emmy Award winning Family Life Theatre. Off-Broadway credits include: The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks; Seussical; Max & Ruby; Henry and Mudge; Cam Jansen; Walk Two Moons; Summer of the Swans; Junie B. Jones; Sarah, Plain and Tall ; Romeo and Juliet . Other favorite theatre credits include: Speargrove Presents (Julia Miles Theatre); Dani Girl (Cherry Lane Theatre); Like You Like It (Gallery Players); Lincoln and Son ( Luna Stage); City of Dreams starring Alison Fraser; Queen Esther (Forum Theatre) Films include: A Breath Away, Breaking the Chain by Stuart Weinstock, Underwear by Tomer Gendler which was the Grand Jury winner for Best Short at the 2009 Savannah International Film Festival, Dances With Film Festival and Tiger directed by award-winning director Wing Yee-Wu. Commercials and Industrials include: romancingdiamonds.com; Fuse Network; Boston Pizza; Realize. In addition to her casting experience, Robin was the Founding Producing Director for BIMA-NY, a groundbreaking Jewish theatre company that cultivated Jewish playwrights and exposed audiences to modern Jewish themes.She has taught master classes in audition technique, acting and musical theatre at Actor's Connection, IMTA, Marymount Manhattan College, the Network, NYU/Cap 21, Eastern Connecticut University, University of Arizona at Tucson, University of Wisconsin at Steven's Point, and her own popular series of classes in New York City.
Tamar MacKay (Assistant Director) is a recent graduate of Ithaca College, and is excited to be working on The Last Castrato. Recent credits at Ithaca College include Playwright/Director of the one act Quit and Assistant Director of The Fantasticks. Tamar was also the Artistic Assistant at the Hangar Theatre for two years, and is currently writing a screenplay about a woman’s quest to find Phil Collins to help her write a break-up song. “Thanks to mom, dad and my friends for making every day worthwhile!”
Winston Shaw (Sound Operator) grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he worked as a sound technician for the non-profit, teen art center Warehouse 21. He attended college at Sarah Lawrence in Bronxville, NY where he studied theater and writing and appeared in productions of Tartuffe as Tartuffe, The Tempest as Prospero, Urinetown as Caldwell B. Cladwell, Tallgrass Gothic as Filene, and A Midsummer Night's Dream as Helena (all-male company,) in addition to originating several roles in new works written by Ross Wade, Eric Myer, and Angela Santillo. Winston has worked as an on-site producer for the City Parks Foundation and as a teacher's assistant in connection with the International Institute of Paris since moving to New York State. Since graduating in May, 2010, Winston Shaw has taken up residence in Brooklyn where he continues to pursue work in theater, writing, and film.