Futaba Shioda (he/they) studied drama and musical theatre at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is passionate about making art more intersectional and accessible. In addition to his work as an actor, he is the social media consultant at the Ackerman Institute’s Gender and Family Project, raising awareness for transgender and gender expansive youth through media outreach. @futabashioda / futabashioda.com...
Rachel Brudner is an actress and theatre educator who recently graduated from Muhlenberg College with degrees in Theatre and Communications and a minor in Spanish. Rachel currently also works as a teaching artist at Treasure Trunk Theatre and has taught in the past at Tada! Youth Theatre, Natan Gesang International School in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and led a community outreach theatre program at Jefferson Elementary School in Allentown, PA. Her professional acting credits include theatre for young audience shows including Sally in Cat in the Hat and Fern in Charlotte’s Web, and she can also be seen in videos for “Mother Goose Club” and heard in “Little Fox” audiobooks. She is excited about encouraging self-expression, imagination, and growth in kids to show them they can achieve anything they set out to do! rachelbrudner.com...
Kyle David was born and raised in Brooklyn and has been running around the city performing, writing, and producing for a while. He studied at the Atlantic Acting School and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. He recently appeared on stage in Moral Dilemmas of the Modern Day Vampire and Danny Rocco's Convention. He is the co-creator and co-star of Beethoven: The Web Series which is soon to be a short film. He is the Company Manager of the Rebel Playhouse and is producing their upcoming production of Old Turtle and the Broken Truth. He works with the 52 Street Project as a playmaking assistant and dramaturge/director and regularly performs with the improv and sketch group KRISTEN....
Djassi DaCosta Johnson is a native New Yorker, dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, photographer, writer, anthropologist and activist. A product of dance scholarship programs, growing up in New York City, Djassi studied at Harlem School of the Arts, Ballet Hispanico, Clark Center and as a fellowship student at Alvin Ailey American Dance Center while obtaining her BA in Anthropology and English from Barnard College, Columbia University. She has apprenticed, performed and toured with, Dance Brazil, Earl Mosley, Hernando Cortez, Bill T. Jones, Nia Love, Urban Bush Women, among others, and was a featured soloist with MOMIX for 8 years. Her choreography has been showcased internationally in films, music videos and performance piece collaborations with jazz musicians and visual artists such as Eddie Peake, Brendan Fernandes and Lia Chavez. Djassi’s love of fashion has infected her dance, and in 2002, she founded her line of women’s clothing, dja. She continues to design and currently has a line of bags and accessories as part owner of the store and artist collaborative Radical Women, based in Brooklyn, NY....
Chantelle Broomes began her training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance School. She graduated and went on to train at the Dance Theater of Harlem. Simultaneously training at Uptown Dance Academy where she was granted the opportunity to perform the Nutcracker at the Apollo, performing alongside Misty Copeland. She then migrated to Los Angeles where she extended her dance training at the California Institute of the Arts. It is at this school she was awarded the opportunity to train in Barcelona. Afterwards, she moved to Paris for a different perspective on classical ballet. Here she attended the Paris Marais Dance School, and the LAAC ran by former stars of the Paris Opera Clairemarie Osta and Nicolas Le Riche. She trained privately with Marie-Agnes Gillot, former star of the Paris Opera and at Stanlowa with Lorena Lopez of the Ballet de Marseilles....
Ellie Bell is a Brooklynite via Appleton, Wisconsin. She earned her BFA in Drama with minors in Linguistics and Applied Theater from NYU, where she studied in the Experimental Theater Wing and Berlin Actor Program. She has studied and performed improv and sketch at The Upright Citizens Brigade and The Second City in Chicago. When not performing, Ellie is proudly working in arts education, creating a web series or taking pictures of her pets....
Megan is a children’s theater performer and teaching artist based in Greenpoint, BK. She began performing professionally in her hometown of Louisville, KY while attending a performing arts high school as a musical theatre major. She later went on to receive her B.F.A. in Acting from Emerson College. In Boston, she worked for multiple children’s educational organizations, including the Boston Children’s Museum, Pocket Full of Tales, City Stage Company, and Shakespeare Now!. She pursued film and television in Los Angeles before moving to NYC for graduate school at the City College of New York. In May 2019, she will receive her M.S.Ed in Educational Theatre with NYS teaching certification....
Leah Rae Hulgin is from Cincinnati Ohio. She has a BFA from The University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music (CCM) and an MFA from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television. At UCLA, she received The Hollywood Foreign Press Association Award and the Edie and Lew Wasserman Award for her original work. She is also a graduate of the Second City Conservatory and The Groundlings. Leah is the co-creator of an original comedy web series, Cursed, and performs stand up comedy all around the city. She is also an adjunct professor at New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts....
Jamie Askey is a professional dancer in NYC. Jamie recently finished performing in Mamma Mia at North Shore Music Theatre. In NYC she has danced for Tracie Stanfield in Carnival and Jim Cooney at NYC’s Symphony Space. Jamie has danced for RWS Entertainment Group on Holland America Line and workshops with Brooke Wendle, and Marc Kimelman. While dancing on Holland America Line, she had the privilege of working with the stars from ABC’s Dancing with the Stars for a special “At Sea” addition. She danced on the Hershey Park stage for Matt Davenport and aided Illusionist, John Bundy, in Slash at Six Flags. While living in Orlando, Jamie danced with ME Dance Company and Dawn Branch Works. Along with dancing, Jamie teaches and choreographs in the NYC area at various studios. She also judges for several dance competitions throughout the year. You can visit her at jamieaskey.com and follow her on Instagram @jamieaskey....
Jess Honovich is a playwright, artist and educator. Her work has been produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville, Dezart Performs, Longwood University, New York University, the New York Transit Museum, City Circle Acting Company of Coralville, Festival51, Project Y Theatre Company and Pittsburgh Opera. She is a 2017 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference finalist, a 2017 Alfred P. Sloan Script Competition winner, a 2017–2018 LABA Fellow, a 2017 Heideman Award finalist, a recipient of the Mary Marlin Fisher Playwriting Award, a finalist for the Jeffry Melnick Award, and a 2016 Theater Masters National M.F.A. Playwrights Festival winner for her short play No More Monsters, which was published by Samuel French. She holds a B.S. from New York University and an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University. For more information, visit jesshonovich.com....