SUMMER SHEBANG 2026
september 25, 26, 27
Please consider making a contribution (one-time or monthly) to support the work of Creative Stage Collective—like a suggested donation of $10 for today’s performance!
ONLINE PROGRAM
Paws-itively Purrr-fect
Opening Shebang
Goldfish Wedding
Missed Connections
Meditation
Hart to Hart
America’s Next Top Drivers License Photo
Pick-a-Nick
Cher-assic Park
The Investor
Final Shebang
Thanks for the melodies!
Otis Redding & Aretha Franklin, Respect
J. S. Bach, Invention No. 8 in F Major
Gustav Holst, The Planets: Jupiter
Mark Snow, Hart to Hart
Diane Warren, If I Could Turn Back Time
Dolly Parton, 9 to 5
CAST AND CREW
Madeline Bender, Director, Contributing Writer
Madeline has had a rich career as an international opera singer, writer, director and producer. She has created numerous devised performances including: Instrumental Storytellers at Symphony Space in collaboration with Concert Artists Guild; the annual Creative Stage Spectacular performances, also at Symphony Space (2018-2026); Summer Shebang! (2018, 2021, 2022, 2024); Musical Madlibs! with the NZ Trio in Auckland, New Zealand (2021); and Dancing Storytellers for Carnegie Hall Fall Family Day (2018). She is the Founder and Director of the Creative Stage education company and Creative Stage Collective, and a recent the winner of the CitizensNYC New Yorker for New York Award, and has been invited to present as a panelist at the Lincoln Center Day of Learning at Juilliard in October. Madeline specializes in devising original work with multi-generational, multidisciplinary groups.
Originally an operatic soprano, Madeline has worked with notable opera directors such Sir Peter Hall, Robert Wilson, David McVicar, Paul Curran, and Sir Jonathan Miller. She has appeared as Euridice in Orphée at Le Theatre du Chatelet, with Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting; Helene in A Midsummer Night's Dream (La Monnaie, Brussels, Glyndebourne Festival Opera); Konstanza in Mozart's Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Baden Baden, Aix en Provence); Violetta in La Traviata (Santa Fe Opera); Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (New York Philharmonic); and Handel's Messiah (Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with Sir Andrew Davis conducting). Madeline received her Masters degree in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music. She lives in NYC with her husband, operatic bass Paul Whelan—their son, 17-year-old son Zachary, is a freshman at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
LENA HALEEM
Lena Haleem is a Brooklyn-based mezzo-soprano hailing from Columbus, Ohio. She is a proud member of the New York Philharmonic Chorus, where she most recently performed in Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe. Other recent performances include Prinz Orlofsky in Johan Strauss's Die Fledermaus, Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, and Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte. In addition to singing, Lena runs her own piano and voice studio, and is the director of music at St. Thomas More Playgroup.
Lena has performed Hänsel in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel with Opera Not-So-Seria and Düsseldorf Lyric Opera, as well as as a soloist in José Maurício Nunes Garcia's Requiem. She debuted with Creative Stage Collective in February as Dorabella in The Chicken Hotel, performing the Act 2 finale with newly devised comic lyrics. She returns to CSC this season as a soloist in Summer Shebang!
ANTERIOR LEVERETTE
Anterior Leverette is a playwright and performer based in New York, and a second-year MFA candidate in Playwriting at Columbia University. She received her B.A. in Theatre and Performance Studies from Kennesaw State University and her M.A. in Africana Studies from Georgia State University. During her studies, Anterior was fortunate to hone her craft as a performer, director, dramaturg, and writer. After receiving her degree, she began working as a performer and writer for the Atlanta History Center. She served as a playwriting apprentice in the 2018/2019 Horizon Theatre AppCo. She is a Working Title Playwright Rosalind Ayers-Williams Scholarship Recipient, a member of the 2023/2024 Alliance Theatre Lead Reiser Artist, National Black Theatre SOUL Reading series playwright, a 2024 SheATL Finalist, and the recent recipient of the Dramatist Guild Foundation Hansberry-Lilly Fellowship.
Jesse Cohen-Greenberg
Jesse Cohen-Greenberg is a singer-songwriter and pianist based in Brooklyn, NY. He is deeply in love with Fiona Apple, Joni Mitchell, and Nina Simone. He writes the lyrics first. You can learn more on his website.
PAYTON GEORGIANA
Payton Georgiana is an actor and writer, located in Brooklyn, NY. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. She was nominated for an Irene Ryan award for her role of #7 in The Wolves, and was announced the winner of best classical performance in KCACTF (Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival). As an actress, Payton Georgiana recently appeared on Law and Order: SVU. Furthermore, she made her Off Broadway debut in the leading role of Barbra Payton in Ode to The Wasp Woman, performed at The Actors Temple. She was the lead in an episode entitled “Mrs. Todd's Long Cut,'' part of the Dark Echoes Horror Series for Valencias Motion Pictures. Payton made her CSC debut in 2024 in Summer Shebang. She is signed with FORWARD Talent in Atlanta, Georgia and managed by Dream Maker Talent in NYC. Instagram: @Paytongeorgiana66
ty norris
Ty Norris is originally from Yorktown, Virginia and is a graduate of Christopher Newport University with a BA in Musical Theater. He moved to New York to pursue Acting and is happy to say he just closed his first Off-Broadway show, All Because of Infidelity, with Hanging Cow Productions. His favorite roles include Man in Chair from The Drowsy Chaperone and Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. Before moving to the city, he directed and taught acting classes to kids 10-15 for two years.
DANIEL OAKES
Daniel Oakes is a professional actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer originally from and based in New York City. He has been in many dramatic and comedic theatrical roles, including playing Robert in Betrayal by Harold Pinter; Roy Cohn in Angels in America by Tony Kushner; Orpheus in Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; and Mr. Antrobus in The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder. He is also experienced in film work, having participated in multiple short films including Transference and Call Time, both directed by Elpiniki Tsapatsaris, and Float On, directed by Molly O'Sullivan. He loves to make comedy and has been featured at the PIT NYC in their People’s Sketch Revue. He hopes you enjoy the show and he is very very excited to be working with the Creative Stage Collective for his third Summer Shebang! danieloakes.org
CSC Youth Performers
Ariella Natalya Plaks Bonilla, Isaac V. Andrews, Kyrie Winters, Lia Abric-Sun, Lila Graubert-Dolan, Lillian Tardie, Luna Rodriguez, Lyla Pompili, Michael Mumia Bell, Natalie Lazich
Writers: Madeline Bender, Anterior Leverette
Stage Manager: Cassidy Byron
Costumes and Props: Jessica Zindren
Sound Designer: David Ferdinand
Sound Technician: Roze Kow Xiu Yi
