WILLIAM PETER BLATTY
(Book)
Although best known as the author of "The Exorcist", the best-selling
1971 novel about a teenage girl's demonic possession which opened the door for
a new generation of horrormeisters like Stephen King and Peter Straub, William
Peter Blatty actually focused on writing comedy early in his career. All of his
work prior to "The Exorcist" was in that genre, beginning with his 1960
novel, Which Way to Mecca,
Jack?". His first screenplay credit came for "The Man From the
Diner's Club" (1963) starring Danny Kaye, and he was working on a script
("What Did You Do in the War, Daddy" 1966) for director Blake Edwards
when Edwards replaced the original director of "A Shot in the Dark"
(1964), in production as a drama based on the successful play by Harry Kurnitz.
Together Edwards and Blatty turned it into a gaspingly hilarious farce,
reviving Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) from "The Pink Panther"
(1964) as the film's lead. The funniest of the Clouseau comedies, it was one of
four collaborations between Blatty and Edwards, ending with "Darling
Lili" (1970). Blatty became interested in exorcism while a junior at GeorgetownUniversity,
following 1949 newspaper coverage of a reportedly possessed 14-year-old boy.
After a 20-year gestation period, this seed became "The Exorcist",
and the writer successfully adapted (and produced) the sensational 1973 screen
version directed by William Friedkin, winning both the Golden Globe and the
Oscar for his screenplay. Blatty returned to comedy for his directorial debut,
adapting material from two novels for "Twinkle, Twinkle, 'Killer' Kane/The
Ninth Configuration" (1980), an uproarious, yet thought-provoking tale set
in a US government asylum where the new head shrink (Stacy Keach) is nuttier
than the patients. Its endlessly quotable dialogue helped earn Blatty his
second Golden Globe Award (Best Screenplay). Though he had nothing to do with
"Exorcist II: The Heretic" (1977), he wrote and directed
"William Peter Blatty's 'The Exorcist III'" (1990), based on his 1983
novel "Legion".
MICHAEL GARIN (Co-Composer/Lyricist) is one of New York City’s
most popular singing pianists. He has delighted audiences at The Rainbow Room,
The Ballroom and The Monkey Bar. His repertoire ranges from Cole Porter and
Duke Ellington to Hank Williams and Argentinean Tangos. Singing in a dozen
languages, he can segue from Jerry Lee Lewis to Arabic without missing a beat.
“…a virtuoso musical wit.” - The New York Times “…presides over the best party
in town.” - The Village Voice Also an acclaimed theatre composer and lyricist,
he won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for co-creating and
starring in the Off-Broadway hit SONG OF SINGAPORE. “One of the year’s ten
best.”-Time Magazine At the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Michael was Director
of The Cabaret, where he performed and contributed special material. He also
composed incidental music for A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, whose stellar cast
included Christopher Walken, Blythe Danner, Sigourney Weaver and James
Naughton. Michael, with Robert Hipkens and Erik Frandsen, is currently adapting
the ’60s cult film comedy JOHN GOLDFARB, PLEASE COME HOME! for the musical
stage. Academy Award winner William Peter Blatty has written the book based on
his novel and screenplay. A gifted actor and a nifty song and dance man,
Michael hosted the notorious and trendsetting underground burlesque shows
produced by Dutch Weissman. He was featured in the Anita Baker video NO ONE IN
THE WORLD, directed by Spike Lee. Most recently, he appeared with Michael
Imperioli in a commercial for The National Beer Council, also directed by Spike
Lee. McGraw-Hill published his math poems for children. His CDs, THE SONG OF
THE ALPHA MALE (with photos by Ellen von Unwerth) and the recently released
TULSA IS JUST A SLUT SPELLED BACKWARDS, can be purchased on www.cdbaby.com
ROBERT HIPKENS (Co-Composer/Lyricist/Whitepaper) DRG and Flying Fish
recording artist Robert Hipkens won Outer Circle Critics and Drama Desk awards
for Best Musical of the 1991-92 season, as co-writer and composer/lyricist for
Song of Singapore. He originated the role of Hans van der Last in Song of Singapore
playing trumpet, accordion, guitar, dobro and Hawaiian guitar. Robert was
co-founder and leader of the country swing band The Central Park Sheiks. He has
opened for Freddy Fender, Emmy Lou Harris, Loretta Lynn, Doc Watson, Jimmy
Martin, Ernest Tubb, The Incredible String Band, Hank Thompson, been side man
for Bonnie Raitt, Leon Redbone and David Bromberg and collaborated with Erik
Frandsen, The Roches, Matt Glaser’s Wayfaring Strangers and Heather Masse of
the Waylin’ Jennys. He toured in Summer Stock companies of Song of Singapore
with Loretta Swit as leading lady. In 1994 Robert played as a featured artist
with Skitch Henderson’s N.Y. Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
ERIK FRANDSEN (Co-Composer/Lyricist/Guz) has
accompanied, on various instruments, Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, The Muppets,
Dave Van Ronk and a host of others; after thirty-some years in the music
business he thanks God every day that he had something steady like acting to
fall back on. He received the Outer Critics' Circle and Drama Desk Awards
(with Michael Garin and Robert Hipkens) for writing Song of Singapore, in which
he played Spike Spauldeen. New
York audiences remember his controversial portrayal
of Stanley Kowakski in Othello. Also in New York: Foldal in Ibsen's
John Gabriel Borkman at the Century Center (OOBR Award), Richard III and A
Midsummer Night's Dream with the Moonwork Theatre Company, Law & Order, Law
& Order: Criminal Intent, Pokemon, over a dozen national commercials,
countless voice-overs, and a few little films you probably never saw. He was
once employed as a wheelman for the notorious Danny "Extreme Unction"
Shea.
JEFFREY A. LEWONCZYK (Director) is a writer, actor and director living in Brooklyn, New York.
As Artistic Director of Piper McKenzie Productions, his notable productions
include Macbeth Without Words (the latest installment in the Bizarre Science
Fantasy physical-theater series), the multimedia comic-book musical Adventures
of Caveman Robot, the U.S. stage premiere of Vaclav Havel’s Guardian Angel, and
the acclaimed production of Polish polymath S. I. Witkiewicz’s The Pragmatists.
As Associate Director of Williamsburg’s Brick Theater, he has created such
projects as The Brick Radio Crash Box, The Hell Festival, The Moral Values
Festival, The Baby Jesus One-Act Jubilee, The $ellout Festival and The
Pretentious Festival. He also writes reviews for Time Out New York
and generally makes a nuisance of himself. www.bricktheater.com, www.pipermckenzie.com
YARON GERSHOVSKY (Musical Director and Vocal Arrangements) is widely
recognized as an accomplished musician, whose long list of credits demonstrates
versatility and excellence as a Pianist/Keyboardist, Arranger, Composer and
Producer. A Summa Cum Laude graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston,
Yaron has been, and still is the Musical Director and Pianist/Keyboardist for
the world renowned vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. He has toured with them
world wide, and has recorded and arranged for them both vocally and
instrumentally. Among his arrangements for The Manhattan Transfer is the Grammy
award winning song “Why Not”. On their last CD “Vibrate” he is featured both as
a pianist and as an arranger. Yaron wrote two vocal arrangements for the
group’s latest Christmas A Capella CD, (one of them in collaboration with Janis
Siegel). The latest release of The Manhattan Transfer, “The Symphony Sessions”,
features Yaron’s Piano playing, as well as his big band arrangement for “All
Heart”, dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald. Yaron has recorded with such great
artists as The Manhattan Transfer, Wayne Shorter, Lonnie Smith, Steve Gadd,
Abraham Laboriel, Lew Soloff, Lou Marini, Janis Siegel, Ray Brown, Grady Tate,
Don Sebesky, and the Count Basie Orchestra. He performed with such artists as
Richie Havens, Pharaoh Sanders, Stan Getz, Louie Belson, the Count Basie Orchestra
and The Manhattan Transfer among others. He arranged and played for
commercials, such as AT&T, Sarah Lee, Haagen Dazs, Israel
Film Festival, “48 Hours” on CBS, and the Discovery Cable Channel. Yaron’s work
also included the Broadway stage. He was the Vocal Arranger for the hit
Musicals “City of Angels”, “Song of Singapore”, and “Swing” as well as numerous
other workshops and productions such as “39” (The Music of Harold Arlen),
“Tales of Manhattan”, (Music of Lieber & Stoller), and “Romeo and Juliet”. He
was the original Musical Director of “Smoky Joe’s Cafe”, and Musical
Director/Orchestrator/Vocal Arranger /Pianist Conductor, of “In Harmony” and
“Volodya” workshops. In April 2005, Yaron performed in Carnegie Hall in NYC
under the direction of the famed conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, (Musical
Director/Conductor of the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra). Yaron has
previously released “Lullabies and Love Songs for Children”, which he co-wrote,
and co-produced with Peter Davis. Yaron’s new CD, “Personal Notes”, was just
released to much public acclaim. It can be previewed on: www.yaronmusic.com . Currently, he
continues touring with The Manhattan Transfer.
HOPE CARTELLI (Svetlana) just played a very persuasive and forceful Lady M without saying a
damn word in Piper McKenzie’s Macbeth Without Words, an utterly glorious hit at
The Pretentious Festival this past June at The Brick. She was recently
the beleaguered wife of a casually racist husband (it was a comedy!) in Alexis
Sottile’s Small Dinner, a B-grade horror movie star in BSF’s SexadelicCemetery
and a young scientist in love with a futuristic Neanderthal in Adventures of
Caveman Robot, the Musical. Previous exploits include one facet of Daniel
Paul Schreber in Michael Gardner’s adaptation of Memoirs of My Nervous Illness;
the 50s-era nerd-with-a-heart-of-nerd Laura in Bizarre Science Fantasy’s The
Perfect Girl; loser-with-a-heart-of-kick-ass Cath in John DeVore’s Tupperware Orgy;
a ‘60s Space Vixen and a vengeful Depression-era lover in The Bizarre Science
Fantasy Omnibus; Mammalia in The Pragmatists; Cora in In a Strange Room (based
on William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying); and Min in Habitat – all at The Brick.
She is currently an Associate Director of The Brick Theater and a
Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Piper McKenzie Productions, the theatrical
outfit she runs with her husband, Jeffrey Lewonczyk. How’s my belly
dancing? Call 555-555-5555!
TOM D’ANGELO (Maginot) – An accomplished performer in many aspects of the entertainment industry,
Tom has appeared throughout North America as
a master of ceremonies and concert performer in such noteworthy venues as The
Rainbow Room, The Concord Resort, The Nevele Resort, The Vanderbilt Supper
Club, The Carnegie Club, The Supper Club and The New York Friars Club.
As a stage performer,
audiences have seen Tom in Neil Simon’s The Prisoner Of Second Avenue,
Barefoot In The Park, the musicals Little Shop Of Horrors, The Apple
Tree, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and Damn Yankees.
He has also been seen on television on Law And Order: Special Victims Unit and
The Sopranos. In addition to his many Theatrical and
Concert appearances, Tom has performed in many of New York’s
finest cabarets including Don’t Tell Mama’s, E’Toile, The Monkey Bar and
Caroline’s On Broadway. He is currently a host for the New York Friars Club
Café Thursday Night and is a regular at The Cutting Room.
You can find out where Tom is
performing at www.aslongasimsinging.com
GEORGE DICENZO* (King Fawz) has spent
the past 40 years as a working actor, director, teacher and coach after
graduating with a M.F.A. Degree in Drama from YaleUniversity.
He has appeared in over 50 major motion pictures (including Helter/Skelter,
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Back to the Future). He is a frequent guest
star on network television Law & Order, Judging Amy, NYPD Blue and Murder,
She Wrote, among many others) as well as having starred in his own network
series (Equal Justice and Joe's Life). He has appeared frequently on stage (on
Broadway in On Borrowed Time with Nathan
Lane, directed by George C. Scott). For the past
10 years, George has taught acting and directing in New
York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Burt
Reynolds referred to George as "the best acting teacher in America"
when he appeared on BRAVO's Inside the Actors Studio. George has coached some
of Broadway’s and Hollywood’s
best actors and entertainers (and a few CEO’s) including Nathan Lane, Colin Farrell, Burt Reynolds,
Phish's lead singer Trey Anastasio, Brad Garret, and many others who choose to
remain anonymous.
DAVID GOLDMAN (Hummos) "Summer With Juliet is truly wonderful, full of
that all-too-rare quality of vision meeting craft and giftedness head on…. The
world will always need…music written with depth of soul, character and heart.
David Goldman's voice is beautiful, his lyrics surprising, his range
impressive, and the record stays with you…" Rob Mathes, songwriter,
performer, arranger. (Elvis Costello, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, etc.) Combine
heartfelt singing and songwriting with worldly influences from Blues, Folk,
Country, Celtic, Latin and WorldBeat roots, and you have David Goldman’s Summer
With Juliet. Co-produced with veteran bass player and engineer Mark Dann, there
are over 100 guest artists on the album—including singer/songwriter Dayna
Kurtz, New York Voices’ Lauren Kinhan, Lava Recording Artist Maryanne Marino,
Billy Joel Sax player Richie Cannata, Celtic singer Susan McKeown, African
percussion group "Heritage" and Suzanne Vega guitarists Billy Masters
and Marc Shulman. Summer With Juliet on WORLDWAVE RECORDS celebrates musical
colors across many cultural divides; it has received airplay on nearly 140
radio stations worldwide. Two songs are co-written with top pop songwriter and
jazz pianist Jeff Franzel, one of which, “Te Extraño Tanto”--also co-written
with noted Latin songwriter Mimi Ibarra--won third place in the Latin/World
category in the 2002 Billboard Songwriting Contest. An instrumental version was
recently used by NBC in a special feature. (Six other songs from the CD won
honorable mentions.) The WorldBeat song “É Nossa Canção” (It’s Our Song) is an
opus with spoken parts in over thirty-five languages and a total ‘cast’ of 66
people combining African, Latin, Middle Eastern and Indian rhythms and chants.
From former Wings’ drummer Steve Holley to Mujibur & Sirajul of David
Letterman Show fame, “It’s Our Song” is a true international anthem. Of Jewish,
Sicilian and Albanian background, David Goldman grew up in a house rich with
classical, opera, popular, blues and international folk music. David’s musical
influences and tastes run from Stevie Wonder, Howlin’ Wolf, the Rolling Stones,
Joni Mitchell, Richie Havens, Tim Buckley and Frank Sinatra to Ravi Shankar,
Bob Dylan, Arabic singer Om Khalsoum, Portuguese singer Amalia Rodriguez and
Italian tenor Carlo Buti. As a student in FriendsWorldCollege
(now part of LIU), David studied music, language and photography for three and
a half years in India
(Sitar and Vocal), Japan
(Lute, Koto, and Vocal) and Korea
and Mexico.
On his own he also traveled in Italy,
Portugal,
England
and France
as well as in America,
particularly the Southwest. Living in New York
he studied Blues, Classical, Folk and Jazz guitar as well as Classical Voice.
He has also attended numerous songwriting workshops at the Songwriters Guild
and Songwriters Hall of Fame and studied privately with hit songwriters Jeff
Franzel and Alex Forbes. David was a semi-finalist in the 2004 and 2006
Mountain Stage New Song Festivals and was also a winner in the 2003 Great
American Song Contest. That same year “Summer With Juliet” received an
Honorable Mention in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. In 2004 his Gospel
song “God Came God Saw God Cried” won an Honor Award in the Great American Song
Contest and he was selected by MEANY Fest to perform at CBGB’s Gallery. He has
recently signed a licensing agreement with a publishing company in California
to promote his music for film and television. David has performed at the
Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill, Rockwood Music Hall, Pleasantville
Music Festival, Kavehaz, Caffé Vivaldi, New Song Festival Morgan Grove Park,
the Bitter End’s NY Songwriters Circle, Rutgers University, Acoustic Live
Showcase at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, NERFA and Huntington Folk Festival,
Connecticut’s Acoustic Café, Worcester’s “Café Fantastique,” University of
Maryland and numerous other venues in the Northeast. He has been interviewed
and has performed live on a number of New York, Boston, Connecticut and Maine
area radio stations, including WOR’s nationally syndicated Joey Reynolds Show.
He has also been a regular at Birdland’s Jim Caruso Cast Party for the past two
years. www.davidgoldman.com
WILLIAM DANIEL GREY* (Cronkite) is a
graduate of the AmericanAcademy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Mr. Grey has also been Music
Director for the Westinghouse television series It's All in Your Head, and
arranger, conductor and featured singer for the Johnny Hallyday Story at the
Palais des Sports in Paris,
France and the Fifth
Dimension Show at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway. His musical theatre credits
include the national touring company of the rock opera Tommy and the original
Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar, in which he played Pontius
Pilate and the Jesus understudy. In the First National touring company of
Superstar he starred alternately as Jesus and Judas and subsequently directed
the Broadway revival at the Longacre Theatre. Billy has performed as a trumpet
player and singer in numerous jazz festivals throughout the world including the
Montreal Jazz Festival; the Montreau Blues Festival in Geneva,
Switzerland; the North Sea
Jazz Festival in Holland; the Kool Jazz Festival
in New York City
and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He recently spent a year in Berlin, Germany
where he was featured in the jazz extravaganza, Jazzleggs, at the world famous
Freidrickstadt Palast. Mr. Grey was in the original production of Song of
Singapore at Irving Plaza were he was standing by for Hans van der Last and
Inspector Marvin Kurland and toured as Hans opposite Loretta Swit. Billy Grey
lives in New York City
and is currently working with his band, The Swingin' Hot Shots.
BEN GRUDER (Editor, O'Shaunessy, Abraham
Lincoln): Ben relishes his first opportunity to perform
in NYC as part of a musical, especially with such an accomplished, talented,
crazy bunch. By day he composes, arranges,
does musical transcriptions, and tutors.
By night he conducts several choral groups in the Metropolitan area and
plays in a rock band. His latest project performed was rock/jazz oratorio based
on the book of Jonah, in Hoboken
this past February.
ADAM HARGUS (The President) Adam is totally psyched to be making his Fringe
Festival debut with the insanely talented cast and crew of "Goldfarb".
Off off credits include "Bent" at the Producers Club and Tony
Kushner's adaptation of "The Illusion" at Manhattan Theater Source.
Numerous commercial credits including this season's entire ESPN Arena Football
campaign. Many thanks to the cast and crew, Erik for believing in me, my folks
for the countless nights of sleep I've cost them and my eternal, unwavering
support group: Rachel, Nick, Godfrey and ALL you guys to whom I owe everything.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL!!!!
KAMRAN KHAN (Prince Ammud) INFO COMING SOON!
JAY KLAITZ *(John “Wrong Way”
Goldfarb) received his M.F.A. from A.R.T./Harvard. Recent credits include:
High Fidelity (B’way debut, Walter Bobbie); Expats (The New Group, Ari
Edleson); Super Powers (Tribeca best short ’07, Walker/Mitchell), FrozenRiver
(Courtney Hunt), Law & Order: CI; extensive commercial credits; AEA.
Thanks, Coach.
PERI LYONS (Sonia the Enforcer, Peggy Benson) Peri Lyons is an accomplished
cabaret singer and songwriter, who has had successful runs of her
"one-woman musical comedies" (like "Girl, Interrupting" and
"Demon Lover: Love and Other Terrors") at every cabaret venue in town
and several abroad. She has also sung her own work at Town Hall. Her songs have
brightened up several film soundtracks, including "Sunday", a Grand
Prize winner at Sundance. but her most permanent appearance in New York is as the
"Goddess of Wine", in a painted mural above the snack bar in the Loew's
42nd Street
Walk Movie theatre. She's won a lot of awards and stuff, but mostly is
thrilled to be working with such an enormously talented bunch o' folks. Peri
also teaches Kundalini Yoga, just like every other ex-model in NYC. Peri is
also a widely renowned intuitive consultant (that's "psychic", in
regular language), who counts among her clients luminaries of the film and art
worlds, as well as European royalty. (no, she can't believe it either.) Peri
would like to thank her long mom and dad, as well as the fantastic Anahid
Sofian, and dedicates her performance to the memory of her late uncle Charles
Knox Robinson IV, a wonderful stage and screen actor and a lovely man.
MARDIE MILLIT*(Jenny ‘Iceberg’ Ericson) is a native New Yorker; unfortunately,
she was born in Shadyside,
Ohio.
Since her escape, she has been seen in the New York area in
everything from My Fair Lady (Eliza Doolittle) to La Bohème (Musetta)
to Downtown Dysfunctionals II (Trisch, the lesbian ex-housewife from Minnesota)
to Billy Stritch and Mark Waldrop’s musical farce Lily and Lily (Gerda,
the scheming coloratura spy). Her last Fringe NYC appearance was in
Maureen Fay’s Moonchild (the one with L. Ron Hubbard and the
Satanists). Regionally Mardie has performed the roles of Christine in
Yeston's Phantom, Sophie in Terrence McNally's Master Class,
Sarah in Guys & Dolls, and Maria in The Sound of Music, among
others. She has been a regular performer at several night clubs around Manhattan,
including Birdland, Danny’s Skylight Room, and the Monkey Bar. Her solo
show, It’s Love! (or a damn
fine facsimile), played to critical acclaim in New York
and around the country. Mardie is a proud member of Actors’ Equity
Association.
LUIS MORENO
(Samir, Notre Dame football player) is very happy to make his FringeNYC debut with Jeff and the
Goldfarbites! Recent credits include: The Wikipedia Plays (Ars Nova), Uncle
Vanya (13th St. Theater), 365 Days/Plays (Lightbox/Public), Chuck Mee’s Fetes
de la Nuit (Columbia Stages), Barbara in Food For Fish (Kraine), David Gordon’s
Uncivil Wars (37 Arts/Schwartz Center), Three Sisters (Nature Theater of
Oklahoma), Tartuffe, The Misanthrope (CSC), Cascando (WKCR), Learregardless
(Vortex), Noh Fusion (NYTW), and Caliban in CSC's Monday Night Tempest series.
He can also be seen breaking up with his old car in a VW spot. MFA, ColumbiaUniversity. BA, BardCollege.
Como siempre,
para Lola y Pucho.
ROBERT PINNOCK (Overreach)has performed in innumerable
TravS.D.
productions including House of Trash,
Cold Fire and Sea
of Love, Bryan Enk's
stage version of The Crow, and most recently Macbeth Without Words. If you would like Mr. Pinnock to perform at
your next street
gang initiation, Un-American Activities Committee meeting or prison release
party, please contact his Evil Twin, Jeff Lewonczyk, c/o Piper McKenzie
Productions.
SHOSHANA (featured belly dancer) ".....Known for her shimmies and
vibrations, [Shoshana] can stroll up and down the restaurant, fibrillating as
she goes, without any noticeable effort." (Wall Street Journal)
"Shoshana is strongest and most inspirational when she reveals her
personal and passionate side within the liberty of improvisation."
(Arabesque Magazine) Shoshana, is recognized as one of New York's
finest and most prolific Middle Eastern dancers, a creative and accomplished
dance instructor. Ballet-trained from the age of eight (Christine Newbert,
Carnegie Hall,) and having explored many other dance forms, by the age of 19,
Shoshana extended her dance horizons into the exciting realm of Middle Eastern
dance. Studying with such oriental dance luminaries as Serena Wilson, Yousry
Sharif, lbrahim Farrah, Elena and Valerie Camille, she catapulted into her
specialty, the art of oriental dance. With a unique flair, innate sensuality,
and undeviating discipline to movement and music-- an undisputed natural--
Shoshana was swiftly invited to teach at Serena Dance Studios and to commence
her solo performing career at the famed club Ibis-- a rapid fire initiation
into a fruitful career in Middle Eastern dance. As a performer, Shoshana has
done what only the exceptional artist can-- developed a distinctive style.
While many can achieve technical expertise and theatrical professionalism, few
can harness their creativity and sensitivity into a singular, unprecedented
expression. Once you see Shoshana, her passionate mastery is unforgettable, an
earmark of distinction: earthy, genuine, and elegant with an exceptional
musicality. She has performed in the top Middle Eastern night clubs throughout
the American Northeast, among them Club Ibis, Darvish (NYC), The Middle East
Hall, LincolnCenter
(Serena Dance Theater); and has been invited to work with some of the finest
Arabic musicians as guest artist in numerous productions. Her international
repertoire consists of solo engagements in Israel
and Panama.
She performed at the American Jewish Theater in the production of "HOT
KLEISMER". Additionally, she has had experience at both ends of the
spectrum of troupe theatrical productions--as a principal dancer (Serena Dance
Theater) and as a director of her own group. Shoshana has conducted workshops,
classes, and coached professionals over the past 27 years. Most recently, she
has established teaching private classes where she imparts her skillful, high
personal techniques with individual attention, sensitivity, warmth, selfless,
generosity and vitality. Inevitably, for this talented artist, choreography was
a natural evolution. Her company debuted in "Shoshana's Night of Music and
Dance" (November 1996,) and "Shoshana's-Beyond the Silk
Veil,"(March 1998) at the famed Town Hall. Shoshana was a dance major at QueensCollege,
and is currently a LMT working in NYC. Creatively speaking Shoshana states
"I incorporate jazz, Flamenco, tap and whatever my mood is, and put a
Middle Eastern veil around it."
SIRA (featured belly dancer) Sira is one of the most popular,
sought after belly dancers around today. In 1990, her Armenian heritage
inspired her to explore middle and near eastern culture and dance. She
has since been a member of various dance companies, and is now a member of
Anahid Sofian's dance company from 2005. Sira has performed at many well
known establishments such as Southpaw, the Rainbow Room, Knitting Factory, the
Russian Tea Room, the legendary Ibis Supper Club and Cedar's of Lebanon, as well as many theater spaces around New York City. She
recently performed in Egypt,
was a regular performer in London, England for 6 months, and has appeared around
the U.S. such as New Orleans, Florida,
and other states. Television appearances include Conan O'Brien, MTV, Good
Morning America, as well as international programming. Sira has performed for
numerous celebrities, Saudi Arabian royalty, and the Ambassadors to over 20
countries to the U.N. at an exclusive celebration of Egyptian culture in
2001. She will be performing at the Socrates Film Festival at the
end of August and is currently being filmed for a documentary on the Chelsea hotel. She
is excited to be a part of this show and welcomes the chance to explore the
comedic side of belly dance! For more information, visit her website at www.siradancer.com
ELIZABETH HOPE WILLIAMS (Natasha) is thrilled to be performing in FringeNYC's
production of 'John Goldfarb, Please Come Home' and working with such a
wonderful group of people! Elizabeth graduated
magna cum laude in 2006 with a BFA in Music Theatre from IllinoisWesleyanUniversity.
While at IWU she performed in many mainstage productions including: Chicago,
Urinetown, The Rocky Horror Show, Quartet, The Three Sisters, and The Skin of
Our Teeth. She was a 2006 performer at The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire,
where she first learned to fight (and love) as Chastity Lovemonger and played
Queen Elizabeth in Richard III. She recently performed in Young Jean Lee's
production of Church at PS 122 and she is a member of TheatreLab's JazzActing
Ensemble.
ZOHAR (featured belly dancer) Zohar has
been performing, teaching and choreographing Middle Eastern Dance for
over twenty-five years. A longtime member of the Anahid Sofian Dance Company, in
which she has danced some of her own choreography, Zohar has also
performed with Ramzi El-Edlibi, Ahmed Hussein, and Charivari, appearing in such
venues as Town Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center
Out-of-Doors, and on NBC¹s Saturday Night Live. Zohar was Assistant Choreographer
to Patricia Birch in "Roza", a musical drama directed by Harold
Prince in 1986, and has appeared in several music videos, including Cyndi Lauper¹s
"She-Bop", in which she assisted choreographing and teaching. She has
performed as a soloist at the United Nations, the NY Renaissance Faire, Club
Ibis, Club Darvish, with the brilliant Michael Garin at The Ballroom, and at
numerous cultural events in and around the NY area. Her teaching experience
ranges from the Anahid Sofian Studio, to Hunter College, City College,
the United Nations, the NY Open Center, and a variety of corporate settings. As
a performing member of the Yes Show, Zohar studies Improv (most belovedly
Musical Improv), with Ralph Buckley, Debbie Rabbai, and Matthew Loren Cohen.
She is thrilled and grateful for the chance to dance and sing (simultaneously!)
in this fabulous show!!!
JENNIFER SCHMERMUND
(Choreographer) holds a BA from BucknellUniversity and an MFA
from the University
of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign where she received the Wanda M. Nettl Prize for
distinguished choreography. As director of FRESH BLOOD, she has presented
dancework at venues such as the Cunningham Studio, The Brick Theater, BucknellUniversity,
the Dicapo Opera Theater, and Spoke the Hub Dancing. Favorite theater
choreography includes “Greed: A Musical Love $tory” written and directed by
Robert Honeywell for The Brick. Ms. Schmermund previously taught dance at
Marymount School of New York and was an adjunct professor at Bucknell. She
returns to Marymount often to choreograph student musicals and will be back at
Bucknell this Fall to set a new work. She has danced in the works of Sara Hook,
Kelly Knox, Er-Dong Hu, Allyson Green, Danna Frangione, Luc Vanier, Elizabeth
Johnson, and KC Chun-Manning. Currently, she dances with Valerie Green/Dance
Entropy and is a certified yoga teacher through Om Yoga.
ANAHID SOFIAN (Choreographer and
Middle Eastern Dance Consultant) studied ballet with Mary Clare Sale, formerly of the
NYC Ballet, and modern dance with Bella Lewitsky and Erich Hawkins. She
performed with the Richard Oliver Modern Dance Company in Los
Angeles, and in New York
participated in Tina Croll and James Cunningham’s The Horses Mouth Greets the
New Millennium at the Danspace Project of St. Mark’s Church. Additional
studies included jazz with Eugene Loring and Luigi and Afro-Cuban dance with
Sevilla Forte.
In the
Sixties, Ms. Sofian’s interests turned to dances of the Middle East and she is
internationally recognized as one of the most versatile and innovative artists
in the field. Self-trained by observing and working with the Middle
Eastern dancers, musicians and communities in New York and abroad, Ms. Sofian was one of
the pioneers in taking Oriental Dance out of the nightclub and onto the concert
stage. She has performed in such mainstream venues as The Museum of
Modern Art Sculpture Garden, the United Nations and Carnegie Hall, and was the
first oriental dancer to be accepted into the New York Dance Festival at the
Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. She
has also been hired to curate numerous productions including the Near Eastern
Festivals held at Town Hall in New
York.
The Anahid
Sofian Dance Company was formed in 1979 and made its professional debut at
Carnegie Hall as part of the New York Ethnic Dance Festival. Since then, the
company has performed at a variety of venues including Avery Fisher Hall, the
Theatre of Riverside Church, the TribecaPerformingArtsCenter,
Lincoln-Center-Out-of-Doors and the Cleveland Museum of Art. For three
years they were featured in festivals at Town Hall and frequently perform at
the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at LincolnCenter.
Recently, the company premiered Marrakech: Inside the Magic Circle at the
Baruch Performing Arts Center. For this full-scale off-Broadway
production, Anahid integrated her company with Moroccan dancers, singers and musicians,
American street
dancers, modern dancers, acrobats and a storyteller.
Ms. Sofian
has been the recipient of grants from NYSCA and the NY State CAPS program and a
residency at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, where she participated in a
choreography lab directed by master teacher Bessie Schonberg. Working
with the DTH Workshop Ensemble, Anahid created fusion dances that were included
at a DTH Open House performance at Aaron Davis Hall, CUNY.
Ms. Sofian
established her studio in New York
in 1972. She also teaches master classes and workshops for the Middle
Eastern dance community throughout the U.S.
and Brazil.
At the college level she has taught at Hunter, Sarah Lawrence, NYU and The New
School University in New York.
She is
thrilled to be part of Goldfarb and would like to thank the producers for
bringing her to this exciting creation.www.anahidsofianstudio.com
JAMES BEDELL (Lighting) INFO COMING SOON!
STEVEN CAPONE (Scenery): Broadway:
A Wonderful Life, Off-Broadway: Duet! A Romantic Fable,
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare – Abridged, Blood on the Dining-Room
Floor, Auto Trains Fire Ants and Lesbians. Opera and Musical
Theatre: The Crucible, and Lucrezia Borgia (Opera Boston),
The Crucible, The Gondoliers and Once Upon A Mattress (Chautauqua
Opera), The Tudor (York Theatre - NYC), Idomeneo (USCThorntonSchool
of Music), HONK! (Hope Summer Rep - Michigan), Eugene
OneginNorway),
Monsieur Choufleurri, Gianni Schicchi, In The Realm of Chelm, and Transformations
(The Juilliard School), Terezin (Village Theater - Seattle), The Girl in
the Frame (Goodspeed at Chester)
to name a few. Comedy: Graham Norton’s Red Handed and
Know All (NYC and national tour), Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure
(NYC), Wigfield – The Can Do Town That May Not with Stephen Colbert,
Amy Sedaris, and Paul Dinello (NYC and national tour), Dylan Moran’s Monster
(NYC and BBC America broadcast), as well as designs for such comedy legends as,
Mort Saul, Tommy Tiernan, Dmitri Martin, The Hollowmen, and Eddie Izzard.
Regionally– (selected productions): Sleuth, and All the
Great Books - Abridged (Hangar Theatre - Ithaca), Election Day (Second
Stage uptown) Over the Tavern, A Christmas Carole, and Picasso at the
Lapin Agile (Cap Rep – Albany), The Adventures of Curious George (TheatreWorks
USA – 10 year national tour), A Company of Angels (New Rep – Boston), Romeo
and Juliet (tour - Shakespeare Rep – Chicago), Ghost (New Jersey
Shakespeare Festival), Alice in Wonderland (Southwestern University -
Austin). Up next: Steven has designed the set for Margaret Cho’s Sensuous
Woman opening late September at the Zipper. He is also a member of
NYC’s acclaimed adobe theatre company, for which he has designed some 12 productions.
AMANDA WOODWARD (Props): Just finishing the MITF show Take
Me America (PSM/LD), and working with Wingspan Arts as LD for Once Upon
This Island, Twelfth Night, & Blood Brothers, she's also Fringing Another
Day on Willow St.(SM/LD), and will then be freelancing as an electrician/LD for
the Tribeca and Skirball Theaters until she resumes her roles as Widow
Piper in AFT's Babes In Toyland in November. Other credits include Props
Asst: Shakespeare TheaterNJ, Props Master: SART, Props Run Crew:
Santa Fe Opera. www.amandawoodward.net
MEGANNE GEORGE (Costume Design) http://www.geocities.com/megannegeorgedesigns/
STUART J. ALLYN (Sound Design) has designed sound for well over 100 productions and received numerous awards for albums, films, theatre etc. including: 2001, 1999, 1994, 1988 Grammy Nominations; Emmy Award for design/mixing CBS’ 1994 Winter Olympics, Lillehammer; 1991’s award winning, Song Of Singapore; RUDY & The Beast with Debra Gibson and Mayor Guiliani. Recent: His work has been heard around the world including: Carnegie Hall, Various Broadway Theatres, The Public Theatre, Concerts & Fundraisers with: Cindy Lauper, B- 52’S, Rufus Wainwright, Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Lewis, Sam Harris, Sarah Bernhardt, Carole Demas and Roberta Flack; The National Tour of COMPANY, and Mr. Allyn has been called upon by The White House on various occasions to provide sound & video for the President of the United States. Mr. Allyn owns and operates ADR Sound & Vision, Ltd. in Westchester, NY, offering acoustical, theatrical, audio/video and film systems consulting, design and engineering for a wide range of clientele including residential, commercial, theatrical and industrial systems. Those include: St. John’s University Moot Court, Plainview Performing Arts Center, The Church Of Jesus, The Elmont Public Library, Time Warner Cable, Hoffstra University, Sheraton Hotels, Temple Israel Center, The Plaza Hotel, numerous distinguished private residences, etc.
TAYLOR MANKOWSKI (Production Stage
Manager) This is Taylor’s first time
working on a Festival show and she is so happy to be working with this
wonderful group. Most recently, she worked as the PSM with Woodshed Collective
on Never The Sinner , with Askew Theatre on I Google Myself and as an ASM/Rehearsal
SM for Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Marathon. Other credits include: The Crack
Free Handyman (PSM/ Cornerstone Productions),BFF (Women’s Expressive Theater), The
Tempest (Long Wharf Theatre), Southern Comforts (Primary Stages), and A
Marriage Minuet and The Drawer Boy (Westport Country Playhouse).
DOMINICK BALLETTA (Executive Producer) has three decades of experience in live
performance, initially as a stage manager and lighting designer, and since 1987
as a Managing Director for organizations such as Senta Driver’s HARRY, Ensemble
Studio Theatre, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, and Performance Space 122. In 1996,
he opened PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATES with Andrea E. Smith to provide management
support and expertise to wide array of companies and artists. Through
PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATES, Dominick has-long standing producing relationships with
Moises Kaufman’s Tectonic Theater
Project (currently a co-producer for 33 VARIATIONS, Kaufman’s newest play,
opening August 30 2007 as a co-production with Washington’s Arena Stage), and adobe
theatre company. Dominick is Producer in Residence for Andhow! Theatre
Company, and is developing Marnie Baumer’s ANIMATO IN G for Off Broadway. Since
2001, Dominick has been General Manager of Film Forum, New York’s
premiere center for independent and classic cinema. www.performanceassociates.com
, www.filmforum.org
