FEBRUARY 26 - MARCH 21, 2020
By Jillian Walker
Directed by Mei Ann Teo
Presented by The Bushwick Starr & National Black Theatre
in association with Musical Theatre Factory
Featuring: Tsebiyah Mishael Derry*, Lori Sinclair Minor* and Jillian Walker*
Musicians: Kasaun Henry, Bryce Collins, and Jason Smith
Music Direction/Co-composition, Arrangements and Orchestrations by Kasaun Henry Co-composition and Lyrics by Jillian Walker
Movement by nicHi douglas
Structural Dramaturgy by Mei Ann Teo and Jillian Walker
Scenic Designer: You-Shin Chen
Costume Designer/Visual Dramaturg: Irina Kruzhilina
Lighting Designer: Tuçe Yasak
Projection Designer: Kameron Neal
Associate Lighting Designer: Itohan Edoloyi
Assistant Scenic Designer/Props Master: Patricia Marjorie
Assistant Costume Designer: Anne Marie Gabalis
Props Assistant: Juliana Castro
Props Intern: Ana Moioli
Production Stage Manager: Katie Kennedy*
Assistant Stage Manager: Caren Celine Morris
Production Assistant: Lia Jones
Lead Scenic Charge: Erin Kiernan
Production Audio/A1: Samy Ravs
Master Electrician: Antígona González
Sound Consultant: James Williamson
Carpenters: Michael DeCaul, Rob Hille, Brian Jackson, Dylan Joyce, Jonathan Joyce, Joe Pietropaolo, Jeffrey Rowell, Adam Wyron
Electricians: Kourtney Charles, Samuel Grady, Kenneth Olguin, Ryan Seelig, Christina Tang
Sound Crew: Samy Ravs, Tyler Walkes
Drivers: Rob Hille, Rodrigo Fisher
Production Manager: Emma Johnson
Assistant Production Manager: Jack Scaletta
Technical Director/Sound Consultant: Jay Maury
Producer: John Del Gaudio
Assistant Producer: Amara Brady
Photo by Maria Baranova
*Equity Member appearing with permission of Actors’ Equity Association without benefit of an Equity contract in this Off-Off Broadway production
This project received development at the Catwalk Institute, the inaugural Pittsburgh CLO's SPARK Festival, Musical Theatre Factory, ARS NOVA,
and Cambridge, NY's Hubbard Hall as part of a new partnership with The Bushwick Starr
BIOS:
Jillian Walker* (Me/Writer/Co-Composer/Structural Dramaturg) is a multi-faceted theater artist. Her work aims to make space for healing and liberation; embodying remembrance for our ancestors and legacies. She makes plays, musicals, sacred lecture-sermon-concert gatherings, and self-reflective space that pushes what we think of as genre and blurs the perceived boundaries between performer, audience and self. She has performed her work at Joe’s Pub, Judson Memorial Church, Park Avenue Armory and in Times Square. Jillian is currently developing work with The TEAM, Musical Theater Factory, Ars Nova, and Soho Rep, where she is the 2020-21 Tow Playwright-in-Residence. Learn more about her work at www.thisisjillianwalker.com.
Mei Ann Teo (Director/Structural Dramaturg) is a queer immigrant from Singapore making theatre and film at the intersection of artistic/civic/contemplative practice. As a director/devisor/dramaturg, she creates across genres, including music theatre, intermedial participatory work, and documentary theatre. She has worked internationally at theatres and festivals (e.g.China, Singapore, Belgium) and nationally at Berkeley Rep, Goodman, History Theatre, OSF, JACK, Playwrights Realm, National Black Theatre, Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova, the Shed. Mei Ann is the Producing Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Factory, a resident company of Playwrights Horizons. www.meiannteo.com
Kasaun Henry (Piano/Co-Composer/Music Director) is an award-winning composer and filmmaker, international music producer and pianist from Harlem, NY. He creates music in an array of genres including Jazz, Hip Hop, and Classical. His chamber music piece, “Hidden,” composed for the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, was featured in the New York Times. Kasaun holds a Master of Arts in music theory from the University of Michigan, a Master of Letters in philosophy from Faulkner University, and a Master of Arts in history from Drew University, where he is currently a doctoral candidate in the History and Culture program.
Amara Brady (Assistant Producer) is a theatre maker from Chicago. At the crux of her artistry is uplifting Black women and connecting underserved communities. As an actor she’s been on stage at The Lark, Joe’s Pub, NYU Skirball, Barrington Stage Co., NYTW, 54 Below, & others. As a writer her work has been staged at The Drama League, The Dramatists Guild, Joe’s Pub, and The Wow Cafe Theatre. She wants to remind you to resist, check your privilege, & then give some space to Women of Color & Trans Folx. Ashé to the ancestors. All Power to all people. Website: www.amarajanaebrady.com Instagram: @bradynotthebunch
You-Shin Chen (Scenic Designer) is a New York based scenic designer for performing arts from Taiwan. As a theater practitioner, she is committed to diversity and humanity. Recent theater credits include: UGLY (the feath3r theory & Bushwick Starr); Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie (ArsNova); Monsoon Season (AFO Theatre); Man of God (InterAct Theatre Company); Eclipsed (Berlind Theatre, PQ ‘19 USA); Messiah (LaMama, Stonewall 50); Rock-A-Bye (BalletX); The Hollower (New Light Theater Project). Associate scenic designer for Moby Dick (A.R.T., Des. Mimi Lien.) You-Shin is the recipient of the 2019 Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award at The Lilly Awards. youshinchen.com
Bryce Collins (Drums) is a professional drummer and drum instructor in New York City. His musical experience covers a wide range of styles and genres, such as Afro Cuban, Brazilian, Fusion, Reggae, Hip Hop, Funk, Jazz, Gospel, Soul, R&B, Blues, Rock and Pop. Bryce has performed on several albums and singles for various artists, played for several off broadway musicals, and completed over 30 city tours with the indie alternative band From Indian Lakes.
Tsebiyah Mishael Derry* (Avery) is an actor, singer and poet native to New York. She made her Broadway debut in the choir of Rocktopia, and recently her regional debut as Sweet Thing in Nina Simone: Four Women at People’s Light. Other favorite roles include Tybalt/Friar Laurence/Lady Cap in Hypokrit Theatre Co’s Romeo & Juliet; Tamika in the off-broadway Sistas The Musical; and the title role in Aida. Find Tsebiyah’s debut single, “Regrow” on all music platforms. Follow and find more info at Tsebiyah.com.
nicHi douglas (Movement) is a Brooklyn-based performer, choreographer, director, playwright, and activist. She chooses to spell her name "nicHi douglas" and requests that you honor that. She is the Head of Movement at NYU/Tisch – Playwrights Horizons Theater School studio. She has developed original work at Denver Center, Berkeley Rep/The Ground Floor, and Ars Nova. She is a resident artist at The New Victory Theater in their LabWorks program 2019/20. Her sacred offering for Black womxn (pray), which is being co-composed by Starr Busby & Jerome Ellis, has been commissioned by Ars Nova. Recent stage credits: A Time Like This: Music for Change (Carnegie Hall, Stage Director), Girl From the North Country (The Public Theater, Associate Choreographer), Last Stop on Market Street (Atlantic Theater Company, Choreographer), where love lies fallow (INCOMING! at Under the Radar/Public Theater, Playwright/Choreographer/Director). upcoming: The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents the 8th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel (The Movement Theatre Company/New Georges, Choreographer). BFA, Tisch/NYU; MFA, The New School | www.mynameisnichi.com | @mynameisnichi
Itohan Edoloyi (Associate Lighting Designer) is a Brooklyn based designer who has worked and toured around Europe and North America. She has worked as a lighting designer and assistant/associate designer on multiple shows varying from experimental theater to events as well as Off-Broadway and Broadway shows and tours. Itohan believes light is an art style revealing itself to us in its purest forms and as light crafters, showing this purity outside of the mundane is essential. Upcoming works include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (NYU), The Singularity Play (Columbia University) & Open Call Group 4 (The Shed).
Lia Jones (Production Assistant) is delighted to be making her debut with SKiNFoLK at The Bushwick Starr. Recent/Favorite credits include Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom. She is a recent grad from The Institute for American Musical Theatre as a performer and so grateful to be working on the beautiful, magical show!
Katie Kennedy* (Production Stage Manager) is a proud West Virginia native. Her recent work includes for colored girls... and The Tempest at The Public Theater, Camelot and Throw Me on the Burnpile and Light Me Up at Lincoln Center, Wickedest Woman at WP Theater, the Play On! Festival, and Pedro Pan. Katie is so grateful for the opportunity to work on this show, and would like to thank the entire company for creating this magic.
Irina Kruzhilina (Costume Designer/Visual Dramaturg) is a New York-based scenographer, visual dramaturg, and teaching artist. She designed costumes and sets for dozens of theatre, dance, opera, puppetry and installation performances, with artists including Dmitry Krymov, Doug Fitch, Lars Jan, Carole Armitage and Mabou Mines. Her work has been shown from Times Square to Tokyo Disney, from BAM to the Barbican Center. Irina developed a teaching method which embraces collaborative artistic exchange among theatre makers, which she shares at academic institutions and conferences throughout the world. Irina is part-time faculty at the New School, and a current fellow of the Target Margin Theater Institute.
Patricia Marjorie (Assistant Scenic Designer/Props Master) is a Brazilian multi-craft artist - actress, director and craft master, based in NYC. Patrícia's theatrical craft credits have included props design for Black Exhibition, Much Ado About Nothing, Heiner Muller's Hamlet- Machine; TV Shows such as Rainha da Cocada by Dulce Delight and interactive Performances such as The Other’s Shadow by Rodrigo Fisher. Patricia's NYC works include Props producer for DOOMOCRACY by Pedro Reyes and directed by Meghan Finn, Los Pied Pipers of Woodside recent production of Teatro Latea. Patricia Marjorie was also responsible for property master for Mac Wellman’s Sincerity Forever, Sandalwood Box and The Fez at the Flea Theatre (2019). Patricia is also Creative Associate Producer at The Tank.
Lori Sinclair Minor* (Smiling Tuxedo Man) is a performing and visual artist and playwright based in NY, from SC. She has performed all over the NY area in plays/musicals, concerts and with the Braata Folk Singers. She was most recently seen in Feinstein’s “54Below celebrates Whitney Houston” concert. She feels blessed to be here among you, with you. Many thanks to God, her family, friends. IG: @losimi7
Caren Celine Morris (Assistant Stage Manager) is a stage manager, musician & theatre artist from The Bronx. She aims to promote inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in all of her projects. Caren has worked on projects at The Tank, and with Right Angle Entertainment, Quill Entertainment Company, The Cradle Theatre Company, the New York Musical Festival, and The Bushwick Starr.
Kameron Neal (Projection Designer) is a video artist, designer, and performance-maker. Forbes describes his work as “an absurd escape that simultaneously provokes and entertains.” He is currently a resident artist at CultureHub, The Public Theater’s Devised Theater Working Group and Bemis Center. He was recently in residence at Ars Nova's Makers Lab with Shayok Misha Chowdhury. Kameron’s work has also been seen or developed at BAM, New York Theatre Workshop, Soho Rep, Signature Theatre, LaMama, Detroit Art Week, Vox Populi, New Orleans Film Festival, Digital Graffiti Festival, Blue Balls Festival, Yale's CCAM, Williams College Museum of Art and RISD Museum. Kameronneal.com
Samuel Ravelo Jr aka, Samy Ravs (Production Audio/A1) is a sound engineer and video technician based in the Bronx, NY. Although theatre brings him around the city, the Bronx is his home for life. 6 line represent!
Jumping from one musical pond to the next has always been a hallmark of New York City-based electric/acoustic bassist Jason Smith (Bass). Formerly he performed with the interdisciplinary art punk band What Would Tilda Swinton Do, and in the past wrote music for the video art work of the band’s leader, Austrian visual artist and vocalist Suzie Léger. Before this he performed with the hip hop/jazz fusion band QNA, as well as a slew of improvisatory noise and jazz groups. Jason trained in classical music theory and composition, jazz and world music performance, and business at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Tuçe Yasak (Lighting Designer) has been following light in NYC since 2008, creating over 100 site-specific light installations for performance in the US and abroad. Yasak received the 2018 and 2019 BESSIE award for Outstanding Visual Design for her designs and has ongoing collaborations with Raja Feather Kelly / the Feath3r Theory including the recent off-broadway opening of We Are Going To Die, Contra Tiempo, Miguel Guitierrez, Ayesha Jordan & Charlotte Brathwaite, Daria Fain, Ni’Ja Whitson and Nia Witherspoon, among many others. Light, movement and architecture intertwine in her work to support space-making and story-telling.
SPECIAL THANKS:
Juliet Moser, Thijs Beuming, Carl Edward Currie, Marie Janne Dusseck, HERE Arts Center, Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble (Tei Blow), Materials for the Arts, The Public Theater, Allie Lalonde and The TEAM, MaryBeth DelGaudio, Rafe Terrizzi, Kate Freer, The Children’s Hour, Miguel Angel Valderrama, Maria Hernandez Park, Rodrigo Fisher, Josh Morales, Slick Willy, Cheyenne Sykes, Rashidah Amatullah, Shan Mae Teo, Troy Anthony, Robin Sokoloff
MADE POSSIBLE BY:
Producing Circle: Juliet Moser/The Darnell-Moser Charitable Fund, Deborah Smart & Dennis Walker, ShanMae Teo
Anderson Family Dentistry; Jess Applebaum; Ana Balzar; Judith A. Banks-Johnson; Brandon & Lauren Barton; Steve & Janice Baskerville; Brenda Baskin Pearson; Betty Baxter; Marsha & James Belcher; Edna J. Bennett; Rhonda L. Brown; Sheila & Gerald Bruce; Starlett Burrell; Bradley Byrd; Joyce & Fred Carter; Suzanne Chapman; Linda H. Coleman; Robert Collier; Danny Davis; Gail & Ava Doby; DRKLS Inc.; Shirley W. Emanuel; Megan Foucher; Jana Fredricks; Dr. & Mrs. Dennis Garrett; Don & Marchelle Goens; Jennie Hahn; Cynthia Hardin; Roberta Hill; Thomas & Sharon Faye Holmes; Shermell J. Hooper; Patsy & Alonzo Hughes; Adrenis Hurd; Ciara Jackson; James Jackson; Harnetha W. Jarrett; Mr & Mrs Ron Johnson; Chathia Johnson; Jacqueline & Arthur Jones; Karen Jones; KLS Marketing Incorporated; Diane Latta; Sandi Lynn; Eleanor Manning Miller; Lazondra S. Martin; Leslie C. McClellan; Rita & Everett McKissic; Sgt. LeVan Meeks; Fred & Chyrel Moore; Jan Neal Roberts; Bertine Nixon; Doris B. Noble; Eric & Kim O'Connor; Kamilah A. Parker; Tanya B. Patton; Kim Pendleton; Ginny & Marvin Perkins; Sandra Phelps; Robert & Charlene Phillips; Helen & Michael Redding; Rhea of Hope Foundation; Lawrence O. Rhodes; Marlene & James Rickmond; Shirley A Robinson; Margo & Morris Robinson; Johnetta & Dennis Ross; Sylvia A. Ruffin; Dolores J. Shepherd; Chris Simmons; Juanita & Richard Smart; Miriam Blanks-Smart & Richard Smart; Jennifer & Gregory Smith; Gail A. Smith; Cynthia Snowden; Elbert Sorrell; Pamela & Ronald Statum; Sharon Stewart; Corinne Tamler; Fiona Tan; Juanita S. Temple; ShanMae Teo; Stephen Thomas; Charles Thurman; Belinda & John Turner; Jasmine M. Walker; Game Changers Fund / Toi Smith; Jennifer & Gordon Walton; Darlene Ward; Natasha Watterson; Ruth Waugh; Sheila G. Allison-Wells & Gregory E. Wells; Chandra Williams / Lambda Nu Omega Alpha Kappa Alpha; Reba Williams; William Woods
SKiNFoLK: An American Show was supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant.
Actors' Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org
About National Black Theatre:
Founded by visionary Dr. Barbara Ann Teer in 1968, National Black Theatre (NBT) is a nationally recognized cultural and educational institution. Dr. Teer pioneered “the healing art of Black theater as an instrument for wholeness in urban communities where entrepreneurial artists of African descent live and work.” In 1983, Dr. Teer expanded the vision of NBT by purchasing a 64,000-square-foot building on 125th Street and Fifth Avenue (renamed “National Black Theatre Way” by local law in 1994). This was the first revenue-generating Black arts complex in the country, an innovative arrangement through which for-profit businesses who shared NBT’s spiritual and aesthetic values rented retail space to subsidize the arts. Out of her vision, NBT houses the largest collection of Nigerian New Sacred Art in the Western hemisphere and is considered the authentic representation of a model whose time has come. NBT is supported by grants from the Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, Time Warner Corporation. Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, City Council of New York, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, Columbia Service Society and private donations. Visit www.nationalblacktheatre.org or follow NBT on Facebook (@NationalBlackTheatre) and Twitter/Instagram (@NatBlackTheatre).
About Musical Theatre Factory:
Musical Theatre Factory is a nonprofit arts service organization dedicated to developing musical theatre artists and presenting new work in a collaborative atmosphere free from the pressures of critical or commercial success. We serve and gather an artistic community from diverse backgrounds for collective support, feedback, growth, collaboration, and community that centers art-making for change-making. Visit us at www.mtf.nyc.
The Bushwick Starr's Mission
The Bushwick Starr is an Obie Award winning not-for-profit theater that presents an annual season of new performance works. We are an organization defined by both our artists and our community, and since 2007, we have grown into a thriving theatrical venue, a vital neighborhood arts center, and a destination for exciting and engaging performance. We provide a springboard for emerging professional artists to make career-defining leaps, and we are a sanctuary where established artists come to experiment and innovate. We are also a neighborhood playhouse, serving our Bushwick, Brooklyn community's diverse artistic needs and impulses.
Our Team
Noel Allain - Co-Founder / Artistic Director
Sue Kessler - Co-Founder / Creative Director
John Del Gaudio - Producing Director
Lauren Miller - Development Director
Jehan O. Young - General Management Associate
Emma Johnson - Production Manager
Jay Maury - Technical Director
Vanessa Felix - Youth + Community Programmer
Modesto Flako Jimenez - Youth + Community Programmer
Alice Gorelick - Development Associate
Eddy Jose Perez - Box Office Manager
Jennifer Williams - House Manager
William Burke - Artistic Development Associate/Reading Series Curator
Jillian Walker - Reading Series Curator
Our Board
Michael Contini
Gita Deo
Jeff Griffin
Robin Griffiths - Chair
David Herskovits
Oliver Kramer
Sheldon McLeod
Keanu Reeves
David Ringer
Elizabeth Sorrell
Rachel Viola
Our Supporters
Institutional Funders:
Axe-Houghton Foundation; Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation & P/Arts Program; Emma A. Sheafer Charitable Trust; Faro Foundation; Howard Gilman Foundation; Lily Auchincloss Foundation; Lotos Foundation; Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Mental Insight Foundation; Revada Foundation of the Logan Family; Anthony A. Sirna Foundation; Shubert Foundation
Government Funders:
The National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature); New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council and Council Members Antonio Reynoso, Rafael L. Espinal, Jr., and Stephen T. Levin; The Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment
Corporate Donors:
American Fidelity Foundation; Bank of America; Broadway Stages; ConEdison; Frank Brunckhorst Co. LLC; Goldman Sachs; ICM Partners; Kickstarter PBC; Mercury Paint Corp.; Sixpoint Brewery; Workman Publishing
INDIVIDUAL DONORS:
All Starrs
Susan & John Allain; Rachel Chavkin; Steven Coats, in honor of Alma Becker; Michael J. Contini; Matthew Cowherd; Max Dana; Gita Deo; Jody Falco & Jeffrey Steinman; Ruben Flores; Jeff Griffin; Alice & Robin Griffiths; Matthew Harrison; David Herskovits; Douglas Kennedy; Dana Kirchman & Mark Wiedman; Maxandra & Oliver Kramer; Tamar Lusztig & Aaron Foster; Greta & Tony Mansour; Jaslynne Medina & Sheldon McLeod; Carole Miller; David J. Ringer; Lee Seymour; Jeremy T. Smith; Elizabeth Sorrell & Jamie Buckner; Susan Strickler & Richard Kaye; Lisa Van Curen; Rachel Viola
Sustainers
Anonymous; Renee Bauer; Kathleen Begala; Susan Bernfield & Claude Millman; Marilyn & Jerome Blaine; Jeremy Blocker; Susan Bolotin & John Rothman; Jane & John Comfort; Noel Cyr; Michael Dalto; Jason Eagan; Daniel Emerman; Naomi Gardner; Frank Holozubiec; Mary & Casey Kemper; Amelia Kennedy; Joyce & Martin Kessler; Shirley Klein; Elizabeth Logan; Carin & Chris Moeder; Mira Ohm; Janet Pines; Dahlia & Gordon Radley-Kingsley; Rashad Rahman & Tina Ting; Mary Salter; Michael Seelbach; Tracy Weller & Michael Ranson; Ashley & Shawn Woolf
Supporters
Anonymous; Cory Benjamin; Steve Bodow; Mary Bruch; Epstein Family Charitable Trust; Bunny Dell; Judy Ferber; Christin Friley; Nicole Galpern & Ross Perlon; Laura Turner Garrison; Michael Greif; Dan Halsted; Sofie Jacobs; Sara Juli & Chris Ajemian; Noel Kirnon; David Lieberman; Jill Hunter Matichak; Barbara Matos; Renee McGarry; Shira Milikowsky; Hillary Miller & Tracy Hazas; Greg Nobile; Cate Owren & Zac Hall; Eliza & Jim Rossman; Heather Rush; Meredith Lynsey Schade; Ellen Schleifer; Sam Scheider; Ethan Schwartz; George Sheanshang; Isadora Tang; Casey York
Members
Anonymous (3); Faris Al-Shathir; Mary Allain; Morgan Baker; Francis Blacklock; Marc Bovino; Heather Christian; Brenda Davis; MaryBeth DelGaudio & Barry Walsh; Jon Dembrow; Jacque Donaldson; Freddy Edelhart; Alyce Erdekian; Sandra Garner; Caleb Hammons; Martin Hoffman; P.H.; Maria Portman Kelly; Annie & Charles Kessler; Susan Lunden; Matthew Lynch; Matthew Markowski; Katherine Matheson; Monica Mohapatra; Padraig Murphy; Ariana Perez-Castells; Teresa Petersen; Aaron Rooney; Tara Sarath; Kendra C. Srebro; Diane Davis Steiker; Elizabeth Pickett Steinke & Frederick Steinke; Richard Thieriot; Kristjan Thor; Jaynie & Chad Saunders Tiller
*As of February 25, 2020