company bios
Jake-ann Jones (playwright/composer)'
work has been presented at New York Theatre Workshop, The Joseph Papp Public
Theatre, New Georges, Nuyorican Poets Café, Cleveland Public Theatre,
Arena Stage, Crossroads Theatre, Penumbra Theatre, RACCA, BACADowntown,
HERE, Playwright�s Horizons, and Time Café. "MAGIC KINGDOM"
is a musicalized version of "DEATH OF A HO", which was first presented
at Trinity Rep as part of the Brown/University-Steinberg New Plays Festival,
and received later workshops at The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Cleveland
Public New Works Festival, and New York Theatre Workshop. Jake would
like to thank all the actors, directors, videographers, and especially
her co-composers, Bruce Purse and Prince Charles, for helping make this
piece happen; and Elyse Singer and Susan Bernfield for their continued
support of the piece�in all its stages.
Bruce Clayton Purse (composer) has performed,
written, arranged and produced music for artists including Johnny Kemp,
Noel Pointer, Melba Moore, Lester Bowie, Youssou N�Dour, Sean "P-Diddy"
Combs, Heavy D., Mary J. Blige, Erica Badu, and Zap Mama. He is the Leader
and Trumpeter of the Pocketbook Orchestra, and has performed at NY venues
including Carnegie Hall, Visiones, Sweet Basil, the Whitney Museum, Mikel�s,
and SOB�s. He received his BA in Music Education at Southen Illinois
University, and has been a music educator, guest lecturer, and artist-in-residence
with the New York City Board of Education, Lincoln Center Jazz with Wynton
Marsalis, LaGuardia Performing Arts High School, New School for Social
Research, and Harlem School of the Arts. He is a recipient of a Lila
Wallace Grant, and is a member of ASCAP.
Prince Charles Alexander (composer)�s musical
career includes songwriting, producing, sound engineer/mixing, and performing
as saxophonist for and with artists including Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans,
Boyz II Men, Puff Daddy, Sting, Aretha Franklin, Maxi Priest, Brian McKnight,
Usher, Jodeci, Luther Vandross, Stephanie Mills, Alicia Keys, Destiny�s
Child, Jennifer Lopez, Angie Stone, David Sanborn, and Patti Labelle, and
as leader of Prince Charles and the City Beat Band. He began performing
while attending Boston Latin High Schoo,l and played saxophone with various
R&B and jazz groups throughout New England and New York before
graduating from Brandeis University with a BA in Political Science (he
credits Niccolo Machiavelli�s writings with inspiring his name change).
He is a member of the Grammy Committee Board of Governors, and manages
up and coming talent out of his Ark Angel Music Studio.
Elyse Singer (director) Off-Broadway directing
credits include the first NYC revival of Mae West's play SEX, Deborah
Swisher's Hundreds of Sisters & One BIG Brother and Ruth Margraff's
Red Frogs at P.S. 122. Most recently, she directed a concert
reading of Mae West's The Pleasure Man starring Charles Busch and
a cast of 40 at the 45 Bleecker Street Theater. As writer/director: Love
in the Void (New Georges/HERE); Private Property (Edinburgh)
and Care-less: Eva Tanguay (Dixon Place). Her newest play, Frequency
Hopping, was commissioned by the EST/Sloan Project, and developed through
the Drama League and Yaddo. A Yale graduate, Singer is a Usual Suspect
at NYTW and an alum of the LCT Directors Lab. She is Artistic Director
of the Hourglass Group.
Jeanine T. Abraham (The Girl) grew up in
Springfield, VA, is a graduate of The National Conservatory of Dramatic
Arts in Washington, D.C. Her recent credits include: Faith True in
Wrestling Ladies by Tory Vasquez @ PS 122, Mary Mary- Ann in Rust:
an Illustrative Libmo by Kirsten Greenidge @ The Cherry Lane Theater, Ciel
in The Moon Please by Diana Son @ New Georges. Assistant DA Amanda
Bernstein on All My Children, she has also worked on Film and in Commercials.
She enjoys African Dance, Yoga, Vegetarianism, Kick Boxing and Wrestling.
So...watch out!
Jerry Dixon (Daddy/Lowlife 3/Slam/Allen)
is known for his Broadway and Off-Broadway performances in Once On This
Island, Five Guys Named Moe, Bright Lights, Big City, The Bubbly
Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, newyorkers, Taking A Chance On Love
and tick, tick� BOOM! His performance in tick, tick� BOOM! garnered him
a 2002 Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.
He remounted this award winning show in Seoul, Korea. He is now developing
director for two new stage works. A Random Sunday In April, by actor/playwright
Eric Morace, and Barnstormer, a new musical, based on the life of Bessie
Coleman: Aviator/Daredevil. Other direction credits include concerts and
special events at Belgian National Symphony, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center.
His original musical, Guess Who's Coming For Chitlins? premiered at the
Thalia Theatre - Hamburg, Germany. Other writing credits: CBS, VH1 and
Comedy Central and the upcoming Broadway event Laugh Whore, directed by
Joe Mantello, and starring Mario Cantone.
Jacqueline Gregg (Mama/Model 2/Lowlife 1/VidiHo/Mary
of Egypt/Gloria) Jacqueline has worked with theatre companies including
The Queen�s Company, Target Margin Theatre, White Bird Productions, and
Westside Repertory Theatre. Most recently, she was blessed to play the
role of Mattie in No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs by the late great John Henry
Redwood. Other roles include Ferdinand in The Duchess of Malfi, Mariana
in Measure for Measure, Natasha in The Three Sisters, Maria in Twelfth
Night, and a hip-hopping, soul-singing Gerti-D in the Trage-D of The Fresh
Prince Hammy T. A graduate of Rutgers University, Jacqueline also works
extensively with various educational theatre organizations, bringing classical
as well as contemporary theatre to schools in and around New York City.
Dan Illian (Curt/Lowlife 4/Father Dick/Ronald)
New York favorites: Drums, et. al. in Self Defense (New Georges), Lopakhin
in The Cherry Orchard (Salt Theater), Selden & Rosedale in The House
of Mirth (The Charm School), Benedict Arnold in The American Revolution
(Inverse Theater) and Leo in Summer Play (Clubbed Thumb). Dan was
a member of the Guthrie Theater Acting Company for four seasons, favorites:
Gerald in A Woman of No Importance, (dir. Garland Wright), Launcelot Gobbo
in The Merchant of Venice (dir. Risa Brainin) and Florizel in The Winter�s
Tale (dir. Douglas Hughes). Other Regional credits: Claude
in An Empty Plate at the Café du Grande Bouef, Schon &
Jack the Ripper in The LuLu Plays and Sgt. Cuff in The Moonstone.
Laura Grace Brown (sound design) Recent
credits: Debbie Does Dallas, Jane Street Theatre; Shanghai Moon, Mondo
Drama, Rude Entertainment, Book Of Liz, Lez Mizrahi, The Country Club all
at the Drama Dept.; Light Years, Playwrights Horizons; More Lies About
Jerzy, Vineyard Theater; Aunt Vanya, Checkhov festival; Be Aggressive,
La Jolla Playhouse; Not Suitable For Children, McCarter Theatre; If Memory
Serves, Promenade Theatre; How I Learned To Drive, Dallas Theater Center:
Dinah Was, Gramercy Theatre and WPA; Stupid Kids, WPA and Century. Ms Brown
is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and alumnus of the apprentice
program here at Vassar/New York Stage and Film.
New Georges
(Susan Bernfield, Artistic Director; Sarah Cameron Sunde, Managing Director)
is an Obie-winning nonprofit theater company
which produces feisty, imaginative, highly theatrical new plays by women
in downtown venues; and is a play and artist development organization,
providing essential resources and opportunities to a community of venturesome
artists. Since 1992, we have produced 25 new full-length plays
by women and presented countless festivals and development opportunities.
Our primary resource for supporting artists is The Room, a workspace for
women theater artists, which we use for our own programs and rehearsals
and provide to affiliated artists for their own projects at subsidized
rates, a critical service in Manhattan, where affordable space is scarce.
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