Category: Podcasts

Tavia Rivée Jefferson

Tavia Rivée Jefferson is a performer, director and communication specialist. After earning her Communications degree from Chapman University, Tavia returned to the arts, performing in shows including, All Shook Up, Trav’lin, Hairspray, Beehive, HAIR, Little Shop of Horrors, Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson ONE, the National Tour of Motown the Musical and Disney Theatricals workshop cast of Aida.  During the pandemic, Tavia focused her skills in interpersonal and organizational communication and cultural relations to build the specialized role of Cultural Coordinating, designed to improve cultural competency in artistic spaces.  Tavia is currently Cultural Coordinator for multiple regional, touring, West End, and Broadway productions, including To Kill a Mockingbird, Company, Hairspray and Other World at Delaware Theatre Company. Tavia Rivée Jefferson

Ashley J. Hicks

Ashley J. Hicks (a.k.a. Ash, she/her) works currently as a Programs Coordinator for A.R.T./New York.  Ash is an actor, writer, solo performer & teaching artist. She received her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) in 2021 and was a participant in the 2022 Disney Television Discovers: Talent Showcase. To learn more about Ashley and her past/recent projects, please visit www.ashley-j-hicks.com

Amber Gray

Amber Gray has originated roles in numerous productions over the years including: Persephone in Hadestown at New York Theatre Workshop, Edmonton’s Citadel, London’s National, and Broadway (Tony nomination, Grammy); Hélène in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 at Ars Nova, Kazino, and Broadway (Theatre World Award); Laurey in Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! at Bard SummerScape; and Zoe in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon at PS 122, Soho Rep, and TFANA (Obie).  Other theatre gems include Sam Gold’s Macbeth on Broadway and Taylor Mac’s A 24 Decade History of Popular Music at New York Live Arts/Under the Radar and BRIC’s Celebrate Brooklyn!  Gray is a company member of The TEAM and has co-developed and performed in their Mission Drift, Primer for a Failed Superpower, and the upcoming Reconstruction.  Check ’em out at theteamplays.org. Gray can always be found with radical performance community Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping.  Check ’em out at revbilly.com.  Recent and Upcoming TV/Film: Ben Stiller’s “Escape at Dannemora,” Barry Jenkins’ “Underground Railroad,” Broadway cult favorites “Submissions Only” and “The Gilded Age,” Gabe Braden’s Where There’s Smoke, Mariama Diallo’s Master, and The Arens’ Heartworm. MFA: NYU.

Roberta Pereira

Roberta Pereira is a Tony-nominated, Olivier Award-winning producer who has developed and produced plays, musicals, and event theatre on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally, in the West End, and on tour. She is currently the Executive Director of The Playwrights Realm, an Off-Broadway theater company devoted to supporting early-career playwrights. Roberta is a guest lecturer at Yale School of Drama and as a Latinx producer, has been a speaker on the topics of producing and inclusion in the arts in multiple forums, including BroadwayCon, NYU/Tisch, Syracuse University, Juilliard, and Commercial Theatre Institute. She was featured in Backstage’s “Broadway Future Power List”, American Theatre’s “Role Call – People to Watch”, and on Playbill for her work as co-founder of the Artists’ Anti-Racism Coalition. Roberta is a graduate of Yale School of Drama’s Theater Management program and Wesleyan University. She is originally from Brazil and lives in New York City with her daughter.

Lindsey Sag

Lindsey Sag (she/her) is Deputy General Manager at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, a cultural and civic cornerstone of New York City. She supervises a staff of General Managers who collectively support LCPA’s programs and licensed activity at the venues across campus, as well as liaise with the 11 resident arts organizations including The Metropolitan Opera, Film at Lincoln Center, and The Juilliard School. Lindsey is also responsible for management of the newly reopened David Geffen Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic. Prior to LCPA, Lindsey worked at Manhattan Theatre Club, a not-for-profit theatre company, for over 22 years, having served as General Manager, Associate General Manager, and Company Manager for Stage I and Stage II. During her time at MTC, she worked on such award-winning productions as DOUBT, CHOIR BOY, SKELETON CREW, and PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. Lindsey graduated with a B.F.A. in Performance from the University of Miami’s Conservatory for Drama.  She lives in Montclair, NJ with her husband Michael Sag and their three children.

Michael Sag

Michael Sag (he/him/his), in his 6th season at WP, was most recently the general manager for Williamstown Theatre Festival’s 62nd season (2016) which included four world premieres (one of which, Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living, won the Pulitzer prize for Drama), one American premiere and two revivals.  Prior to that, Michael worked in commercial general management on and off Broadway since 2001 including production of: Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, All The Way, Bullets Over Broadway, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Driving Miss Daisy, August: Osage County, The Producers, Hairspray, Little Shop of Horrors, Sweeney Todd, and Stomp.  In addition, from 2006 to 2009, Michael headed a representative office in Shanghai out of which several Asian touring projects were launched.  Michael is currently an adjunct professor at Montclair State University and serves as both the President of the Association for Non-Profit Theater Companies and of Congregation Shomrei Emunah in Montclair, NJ.

Risa Shoup

Risa Shoup (they/them/theirs) is a Co-Executive Director of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, a non-profit cultural services organization representing non-profit theaters throughout New York City and State. Risa has worked as an administrator, curator, and leader in the arts in New York City since 2005 focusing on the development of affordable artist workspace. They have extensive experience executing high-level public-private partnerships for project-based work focusing on the intrinsic and instrumental impact of the arts on community development. Risa is proud to have worked with some of New York City’s most beloved cultural institutions including chashama, BRIC, The Invisible Dog, FABnyc, and Spaceworks. Risa was a consultant on CreateNYC, New York City’s first-ever cultural plan, developed in concert between a team of consultants led by Hester Street Collaborative and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. They studied City and Regional Planning at Pratt Institute and are also on the boards of the Invisible Dog Art Center, Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts—NY, The New Majority, and the American LGBTQ+ Museum. They live in Brooklyn with their wife, daughter and cat.

Lynnette Taylor

Lynnette Taylor, BFA, CSC, brings her experience as a native signer and love of the arts to interpreted theatre to her teaching. She has interpreted over 100 Broadway and off Broadway shows that run the gamut from drama to comedy to musicals as well as interpreting behind the scenes for Deaf talent in Film,Television and Theatre. She was one of the curriculum developers and taught for over a decade at the national “Interpreting for the Theatre Seminar” held at the Juilliard School in New York City. She has published articles on interpretation and taught ethics and translation at LaGuardia Interpreter Education Program.She organized and co-moderated the Community Forums at the RID National Biennial Conference for 10 years. These past several years, she has been working with A.R.T./New York and Hands On, presenting workshops on interpreted theatre and is currently at work on a book about Interpreting Theatre with co-authors Stephanie Feyne and Candace Broecker- Penn, soon to be published. 

As a filmmaker, her work has focused on Deaf artists in Ella Mae Lentz’s, The Treasure, and showcasing artists in, Language Landscape. She is an award winning stop motion animation filmmaker.

Ashley J. Hicks

Ashley J. Hicks (a.k.a. Ash, she/her) works currently as a Programs Coordinator for A.R.T./New York.  Ash is an actor, writer, solo performer & teaching artist. She received her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) in 2021 and was a participant in the 2022 Disney Television Discovers: Talent Showcase. To learn more about Ashley and her past/recent projects, please visit www.ashley-j-hicks.com

Brad Carlin

Brad Carlin:Brad brings 15 years of arts organization management experience to his new role with SITI. He is also a Senior Consultant with TRG Arts where he supports organizations of all disciplines and sizes in the US, Canada, and the UK. Prior to his work at TRG Arts, Brad was the Managing Director for the Fusebox Festival in Austin, Texas. Brad’s history with SITI company reaches back to 2001 as a theater student at St Edward’s University in Austin. His work with SITI evolved years later after earning his Masters of Arts Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University when he joined SITI Company as its Associate Managing Director. Brad left SITI to return to Texas in 2008 and now lives in rural England with his wife and daughter.

Megan Carter

Megan Carter: Megan E. Carter is a creative producer, strategy consultant, and dramaturg with a track record of sustained success in theatre, interdisciplinary performing arts and live events. Most recently, she led SITI Company, an award-winning theater ensemble, through a comprehensive legacy plan, archive process, and finale season. She is currently a creative consultant with A TODO DAR Productions on rasgos asiaticos, a performance installation by Virginia Grise and Tanya Orellana exploring migration, borders, and family. Megan has developed and produced new and classic works Off-Broadway, as well as internationally at theatres, venues, and festivals like The Fisher Center at Bard, BAM, City Theatre in Pittsburgh, Singapore International Festival of the Arts (SIFA), REDCAT (LA), Teatr Studio (Warsaw), Wuzhen Theatre Festival (Wuzhen, China), Under the Radar Festival, the Huntington Gardens (LA, site-specific), International Divine Comedy Theatre Festival at Małopolska Garden of Arts in (Krakow), the Walt Disney Modular Theater (LA), Classic Stage Company, Cherry Lane Theatre, WP Theater, the World Financial Center (site-specific). At WP Theater, she led the Lab for Directors, Playwrights, and Producers and managed new play development and commissions. Megan served as dramaturg on the American Premiere of Jackie by Elfriede Jelinek and has edited the English translations of a number of Jelinek’s plays, including Rechnitz and The Charges (The Supplicants). She has also edited the SITI Company anthology – SITI COMPANY: THIS IS NOT A HANDBOOK, coming out in 2023. Megan has been on faculty at the Brooklyn College, SITI Company Conservatory and California Institute of the Arts. She is currently on faculty at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School for the Performing Arts (ESPA). Education: MFA in Dramaturgy, Brooklyn College/CUNY; BA in Theatre, Centenary College of Louisiana.

Michelle Preston

Michelle Preston: Michelle Preston began her career in arts administration at the Columbus Symphony Orchestra before coming to New York City where she has worked with Urban Bush Women, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the School of American Ballet. She began at SITI Company in 2012 as the Deputy Director and served as Executive Director from 2014-2022.  While at SITI, Michelle produced 9 world premieres, 17 domestic and international tours, and 5 New York City seasons. She also led the multi-year strategic planning process that resulted in the SITI Legacy Plan, a comprehensive set of activities meant to celebrate the accomplishments and preserve the legacy of the ensemble before the organized and intentional sunset at the end of 2022.  She joined the José Limón Dance Foundation as Executive Director in November 2022.

David E. Shane

David E. Shane is a director and arts administrator who is currently the Director of Program Services for A.R.T./New York where he sets the strategic vision and goals for a robust suite of programs serving nearly 500 of New York’s nonprofit theatre organizations and a growing number of individual members. Since joining the organization in early 2019, David has overseen the development of new adaptive programming such as a theatre-specific Sexual Harassment Prevention Training. As a director he specializes in the development and production of new work for the American stage and his credits include the Off-Broadway productions of Gidion’s Knot (Theatre Row,) Mare In The Men’s Room (Am. Theatre of Actors,) as well as the World Premiere productions of Who Is Theo?, Cookie Fight, and Elijah at the Bristol Valley Theater. Prior to joining A.R.T./New York, David held positions as the Program Director for StageSource in Boston, MA and Associate Artistic Director of the Bristol Valley Theater in Upstate, NY where he oversaw the funding and launch of the BVT New Works Initiative.

Stephen Facey

Stephen Facey’s work in the arts began as a teenage apprentice and later company member of the Provincetown Repertory at the Provincetown Playhouse on MacDougal Street. After a year at South Coast Repertory in California, Stephen returned to New York to serve as the Parish Administrator of St. Mark’s Church In-the-Bowery, where he managed the nascent Arts Projects (comprising Theatre Genesis, The Poetry Project, The Film Project and later Danspace). He also organized and directed the Preservation Youth Project, a pioneering work and training program for young residents of the City’s neighborhoods focused on the preservation and, ultimately, the post-fire restorations of both St. Mark’s Church and its historic Rectory. Stephen is the retired Executive Vice President of The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine where he had responsibility for the Cathedral’s array of cultural, educational, social outreach, and preservation programs. Stephen is a trustee of Movement Research, The Chocolate Factory Theater, and the New York Preservation Archive Project.

Barnet Kellman

Barnet Kellman made his film directing debut with the 20th Century Fox screen adaptation of Key Exchange starring Brooke Adams. He went on to direct Dolly Parton and James Woods in Straight Talk for Disney, and Stinkers for Sony. He is perhaps best known as one of the preeminent directors of television pilots. He won two Emmy Awards and a Directors Guild Award for his work on Murphy Brown. In addition to the pilot, he directed the first seventy-five episodes of Murphy, as well as the series’ final episode at the end of its initial ten-year run, and the New Years’ finale of its 2018 reboot.

Kellman’s other pilots include the acclaimed Mad About You, starring Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser, the long-running series Suddenly Susan starring Brooke Shields, The George Lopez Show, and he created the Gene Wilder series, Something Wilder. In all he is responsible for over thirty pilots, more than half of which have gone to series. For over twenty years there was always at least one – and as many as six – of his shows on the air, along with innumerable episodes in reruns. Barnet directed the movie Mary and Rhoda, which reunited Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper, and has directed episodes of E.R., Alias, Ally McBeal,Monk, and The Middle. In all, he has  received seven Emmy and three DGA nominations for his work on the small screen. Before moving to Los Angeles, Kellman was a prominent director of American play premieres including on Broadway: Breakfast with Les and Bess.  Off-Broadway: Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Key Exchange, The Loman Family Picnic, Friends, Domino Courts, The Good Parts, Heat. Regional: Defiled, Domestic Issues, Benefit of a Doubt, and In The Boom Boom Room. He spent eight seasons as a director at the Eugene O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference and was an associate director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Most recently he directed the premiere of Out of the Mouths of Babes, starring Estelle Parsons and Judith Ivey, at New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre. Kellman was educated at Colgate University and the Yale School of Drama. He received his Ph.D. from Union Institute. He is a professor of directing at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, is the founder of the school’s comedy program, producer of six editions of the biennial USC Comedy Festival, and holds the Robin Williams Endowed Chair in Comedy.

Robert “Bob” Moss

Robert “Bob” Moss is an American director and founder of Playwrights Horizons. From 1971 to 1981 he founded and ran Playwrights Horizons, The Queens Theater in the Park, and helped develop Theater Row on West 42nd Street.  In 1982, he became the Artistic Director of the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca and ran it until he took over Syracuse Stage from 1996 to 2008.  He served on the board of OOBA (now ART/NY) for five years and during the same time period sat on the Equity Showcase Code Committee.  He has been a Board Member of the SDC Foundation, TCG, the Drama League Directors Project, and a panelist for both the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.  His extensive directing contracts include LORT, SPT and University.  His teaching credits include initiating the undergraduate directing program at Playwrights Horizons Theatre School (affiliated with NYU) and The Lab Company at the Hangar.  Prior to all this, he culminated an active stage manager career as PSM with the touring APA Repertory Company in residence for four years in L.A., Toronto, Ann Arbor, and at the Lyceum on Broadway.

Audrey Rush

Audrey Rush (she/her)- A.R.T./New York’s Senior Manager of Individual Giving is dedicated to creating innovative and compassionate spaces where theatre makers and supporters can come together.  Her work ranges from event coordination and community outreach to the development of A.R.T./New York’s individual donor programming and messaging. Outside of the virtual office, Audrey is a comedy writer, director, performer, and the cohost of If These Walls… A Storytelling Podcast. She divides her time between New York and Columbus, Ohio, where she proudly dons her “Fun Aunt” hat.