MEET THE Collective
Madeline Bender, FOUNDER, Director
Madeline has had a rich career as international opera singer, writer, director and producer. She specializes in devising original work with multi-generational, multidisciplinary groups, and has been producer and director of multiple Creative Stage Collective productions such as: Instrumental Storytellers, in collaboration with Concert Artists Guild; Creative Stage Spectacular (2018-2024), Summer Shebang! (2018-2023); and Musical Madlibs for Carnegie Hall Fall Family Day (2018) and with the NZ Trio in Auckland New Zealand (2021).
As a performer, Madeline has worked with notable opera directors such Sir Peter Hall, Robert Wilson, David McVicar, Paul Curran, and Sir Jonathan Miller. Career highlights include performances as Euridice in Orphée et Euridice ( Le Theatre du Chatelet, Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting); Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream (La Monnaie, Brussells, 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).
Also a passionate performing arts educator, Madeline founded Creative Stage in 2012. Her innovative arts curricula in the fields of music, theater, dance, and filmmaking are taught across Manhattan in esteemed private and public schools, alike.
Madeline, along with partner Timothy Long, is the Founder and Director of Voices of Hope, an annual opera gala event that has raised over $250,000 to provide life-changing education to severely underprivileged children around the globe. This gala has hosted esteemed international artists such as: Anna Christy, Erin Morley, Meagan Miller, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Gordon Geitz, John Belemer, Bryan Register, Jonathan Boyd, Christopher Herbert, and Paul Whelan, to name just a few.
Madeline received her Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She lives in NYC with her husband, operatic bass Paul Whelan, and their 14-year-old son. In addition to directing and producing numerous CSC productions, she also contributes to the writing team and is the company’s chief lyricist.
TANYA BANNISTER, PIANIST
The director of the Concert Artists Guild, an award-winning solo pianist with a distinguished international career, and Founder and Director of the Alpen Kammer Musik Festival in the Austria Alps, Ms. Bannister’s career includes recitals at: the Salle Cortot in Paris; Teatro Communale in Bologna; Tokyo’s Nikkei Hall; London’s Wigmore Hall; The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Her extensive recordings include chamber versions of Chopin Concerto No. 2, Mozart Concerto K. 449 and Schubert Adagio and Rondo, as well as recordings with both Naxos, and Albany Records.
Tanya partnered with the collective for Musical Madlibs! at Symphony Space (2026), and at Carnegie Hall Fall Family Day (2018), was a co-producer of Instrumental Storytellers (2020), and serves on the CSC Advisory Board.
heather buck
Internationally acclaimed soprano Heather Buck has performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages, including Teatro Real Madrid, the Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Marinsky Theatre. Her adventurous operatic career includes creating leading roles in works by Robert Zuidam, Charles Wuorinen, Du Yun, and Missy Mazzoli, alongside performances of iconic roles such as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute and Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has appeared in major productions across the United States and Europe, including Boston, Aspen, Brooklyn, Metz, Bilbao, and London. Her recording of Dello Joio’s The Trial at Rouen, in which she performed Joan of Arc, received a GRAMMY nomination.
Heather is a member of the CSC Advisory Board member, and performed in Creative Stage Spectacular at Symphony Space in 2022.
Julien Green
Julian Green has performed on stages from San Francisco to New York with credits spanning Shakespeare, classical theatre, and ensemble improvisation. Originally from California, he has appeared in productions with the California Shakespeare Company and trained with the American Conservatory Theater — two respected institutions in American stage performance.
Since 2022, Julian has trained and performed with The People’s Improv Theater (PIT) in New York City, a well‑known hub for improvisational comedy and performance where alumni include nationally recognized comedians and performers.
JIM CONROY
Jim Conroy (SAG-AFTRA) is an Actor/Writer/Producer. His 20+ years in the industry runs the gamut from Voice Overs featured in commercials, cartoons, animated film and video games, to OnCamera work in film, television, commercials and interactive gaming. His work for “Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman” on PBS has garnered Jim five Emmy Nominations over the 100-episode series. Currently, Jim can be seen as the spokesperson for TD Ameritrade’s Green Room campaign, heard as the Animated Spokescreature for Xiidra, and is featured in the new HBO MAX Animated Series, JELLYSTONE, where he plays the roles of Huckleberry Hound and Captain Caveman. Other recent credits include The Casagrandes (Nickelodeon), The Cuphead Show (Netflix) and the Marvel audio epic, Wastelanders: Hawkeye. He’s currently working on two animated series for a major network and awaiting the release of two others this year.
Jim has participated in Creative Stage Spectacular performances (2019-2024).
byron Singleton, SINGER
Byron Singleton is becoming widely known for his "powerful and compelling interpretations" of the romantic tenor repertoire. He has performed in opera and concerts throughout the United States in leading roles in La Boheme, Gianni Schicchi, and Madama Butterfly, among many others. Performance venues include Carnegie Hall, The Rose Theater, David Geffen Hall, and The Metropolitan Opera, and Byron was awarded a Grammy certificate for his work in the chorus of the Metropolitan Opera's Grammy award-winning recording of Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelung.
Byron is the President of the CSC Executive Board and has performed with the collective in Creative Stage Spectacular (2020-2024).
sierra nelson, actor / singer
Sierra Nelson is an innovative singer, dancer and actress with an extensive range and repertoire. She enjoys singing all genres, telling as many stories as possible, and she is thrilled to be joining this season's Summer Shebang! Sierra also has a growing following on YouTube. She has released 150+ music videos since 2014. Learn more about her body of work at this link.
Sierra has appeared in Creative Stage Spectacular at Symphony Space (2024), participated in Summer Shebang! (2023), and will be appearing in upcoming performances of Summer Shebang! (2024).
ty norris, actor
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.
Ty made his debute with CSC for Summer Shebang! (2023). He appeared in Creative Stage Spectacular (2024), and will be will be joining the troupe again this year this September for Summer Shebang! (2024).
Anterior Leverette, Actor, Writer
Isabella Oliva is a writer, performer, and story-lover based in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Barnard College, where she not only developed a taste for political theory, but also creative writing and the performing arts. She has appeared in theatre productions at Columbia and The Tank; her most notable credits include Connie | La Tierra in Luis Valdez’s Bernabé, and the E train in Emma Gometz’s The Delay, which premiered at the Tank's Darkfest in 2019. Additionally, Isabella was a frequent writer, director and performer in Latenite Theatre’s biannual anthologies.
Anterior Everette joins us for her CSC debut in Summer Shebang! (2026)
joel oramas, ACTOR
Joel Oramas is an actor/singer/dancer based in New York City with credits including the tour of the critically acclaimed show The Prisoner's Dilemma (London), Oliver Twist and The Princess and the Pea (Northeast and Canada). His NYC credit include: Twelfth Night (Duende Productions), The Rape of Lucrece (New York Shakespeare Exchange). Selected Regional Credits: Ashe in Johannesburg and Romeo and Juliet (Burning Coal Theatre), Pippin and Man of La Mancha (Jean's Playhouse), Taming of the Shrew (Orlando Shakespeare Theatre), Avenue Q (Hippodrome Theatre), and Striking 12 (Company of Fools). Joel has an MFA from the University of Florida.
Joel has performed in numerous Creative Stage Collective performance—including Musical Madlibs at Carnegie Hall Fall Family Day, Instrumental Storytellers at Symphony Space with Concert Artists Guild, Summer Shebang! (2018, 2021, 2022) and Creative Stage Spectacular (2019-2024).
INNA DUKATCH, OPERATIC SOPRANO
Inna Dukach (operatic lyric soprano) performs both regionally and internationally to critical acclaim. In 2018, Inna made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, traveled to Taiwan to sing Mimì in La Bohème with the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra, and created the role of Ina in the world premiere of Steal a Pencil for Me with Opera Colorado.
Inna is a frequent collaborator with CSC, performing in Creative Stage Spectacular performances at Symphony Space from 2019-2022.
Fred Redd, operatic baritone
Fred Redd (operatic baritone) has an operatic career that has seen him grace the stages of both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He’s toured internationally as a vocal performer, as well as having been featured nationally on both radio and television commercials.
Fred is a CSC Advisory Board member, and has contributed in many CSC performances, including Creatives Stage Spectacular. (2020, 2022, 2023).
MARISa Ryan, Actor, writer, Producer
Marisa Ryan is a veteran performer of both stage and screen. Ryan made her screen debut in the 1983 film Without a Trace. From 1989 to 1993, she starred as Elizabeth Cooper-MacGillis in the NBC sitcom Major Dad opposite Gerald McRaney. She later went to star in the Independent films Love Always, Slaves to the Underground, Taylor's Return, and With or Without You. In 1998, Ryan joined the cast of Fox police drama series, New York Undercover as Det. Nell Delaney, during the show's fourth and final season. He guest-star credits include appearances on The Practice, Sex and the City, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law & Order. Ryan co-starred as Abby Bernstein in the ensemble cast satirical comedy film Wet Hot American Summer. She reprised her role in the Netflix prequel series, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp in 2015. She has also appeared in films Don's Plum (2001), Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), and Brooklyn Lobster (2005). Ryan made her directorial debut with the independent short film Three Women of Pain, which she also co-wrote.
Marisa has performed in Creative Stage Spectacular performances from 2019-2024. She is also a regular at CSC Troupe Meetups and contributes as a writer.
todd faulkner, Actor
Todd Faulkner has impressive credits ranging from film and television to the New York Film Festival! You may have seen his work on shows such as The Americans, Nurse Jackie, Blue Bloods and Law & Order. His theater credits range from Quince in Midsummer Night’s Dream with Vital Theater to Nudists in Love with the New York Fringe Festival!
Todd has performed in multiple Creative Stage Spectacular performances (2019-2022).
Maria D’amato
Soprano Maria D’Amato is a celebrated opera singer and eight-season member of the Metropolitan Opera’s full-time chorus, where she has also performed solo roles including the world premiere of Two Boys. Her performances have earned praise from Opera News, which described her voice as “beautifully floated” and “a gem,” and her leading roles include Desdemona in Otello, Mimì in La Bohème, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, and Nannetta in Falstaff. She has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, Sarasota Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera North, Seattle Symphony, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, among many others. Her honors include grants from Opera Index, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and the Giulio Gari Foundation, as well as the Jensen Foundation’s Lendon Todd Munday Encouragement Award.
Caroline performed with CSC in Creative Stage Spectacular. (2025 2026).
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' 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 performed with CSC in Creative Stage Spectacular in 2026
Nicole Johnson, cellist
Nicole Johnson has performed with both the Cassatt String Quartet and the Avanti Ensemble, has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. and Germany. She has appeared in performances with the Vermeer Quartet on their series in Chicago, on the Composers’ Guild concerts in New York City and at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.
Nicole has contributed to the creation and performance of multiple CSC performances including Musical Madlibs at Carnegie Hall, and Instrumental Storytellers at Symphony Space.
payton Georgiana
Sierra Nelson is an innovative singer, dancer and actress with an extensive range and repertoire. In addition to her work with longtime collaborator CSC, Sierra’s performance credits include Adebola (Underground), Justice (Liberty & Justice) and Gwen Webb (The Movement).
Apart from her stage work, Sierra has built a significant independent artistic presence online, having released well over 150 music videos on YouTube since 2014, earning a dedicated and growing following for her original and interpretive music performances. Learn more about her body of work at this link. Instagram/Tiktok: TajFaerie
Payton performed with CSC in Summer Shebang (2024).
Octavio Warnock-graham, Filmmaker
Octavio Warnock-Graham is an award-winning producer, director, and cinematographer. He works with a variety of clients including CUNY TV, Twelve Publishing, Simon and Schuster, and Grand Central Press. Most recently, he produced and directed a 2021 Emmy-nominated story about 13-year-old banjo virtuoso Nora Brown as she prepares for the release of her debut album, Cinnamon Tree.
His film, Silences, won Best Documentary in national film festivals, including the San Francisco Black Film Festival. The film has aired on Black Entertainment Television and Al Jazeera English, and is currently distributed by New Day Films. He served as lead cinematographer on Jezebel Productions’ (Before Stonewall) feature documentaries U.N. Fever and No Dinosaurs in Heaven.
Previous to producing and directing, he worked for over 10 years as a lighting technician and gaffer. His experience includes Yo! MTV Raps, The Howard Stern Show, The Apprentice, the 2004 Olympics, and The RuPaul Show, as well as many other major network and cable programs. In 2006, he received his MFA from the City College of New York's documentary film program.
Octavio collaborates with CSC as videographer for our performances. He also filmed the CSC short film, Dino Wars.
CATE SMIT, ACTOR, WRITER
Cate Smit has an impressive resume that marks star turns in Regional Theaters and Off-Broadway. Along with extensive improv experience, and directing over 500 short films, Cate has numerous acting credits to her name, ranging from a recent role in the hit feature film Hustlers with Jennifer Lopez, as well as television appearances in Bull, Law and Order, and The Detour. She has also appeared on the David Letterman show five times…once as his wife! Cate has performed in numerous Creative Stage Collective performances.
Cate is a member of the CSC Advisory Board. She has contributed to countless CSC Troupe Meetups, workshops, and performances, including Instrumental Storytellers, Summer Shebang! (2021), and Creative Stage Spectacular (2019-2023).
TONNA MILLER, Soprano
Hailed by the New York Times as “fresh” and “sweet-toned,” and described in Opera News as having a “sugar-tipped soprano,” Tonna Miller is equally at home in the major opera houses of America and on Broadway, Ms. Miller has been heard at the Metropolitan Opera as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro and as the fiery Carlotta Giudicelli in Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera for her Broadway debut. With New York City Opera, she has been heard as Johanna in Sweeney Todd, as Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Frasquita in Carmen, and Helen Niles in Mourning Becomes Electra.
Ms. Miller has been heard as Marilyn Monroe in Do Not Go Gentle with Phoenicia Festival of the Voice; Fortuna in L’incoronazione di Poppea with Los Angeles Opera; Jano in Jenufa and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte with Houston Grand Opera; Nannetta in Falstaff with Glimmerglass Opera; Naïade in Ariadne auf Naxos with Santa Fe Opera; and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier with Michigan Opera Theatre. She made her debut at 54 Below, singing Music of the Marx Brothers. Ms. Miller was a finalist at the Birgit Nilsson Competition; winner of the Fred Mathias Award and finalist at the MacAllister Awards for Opera Singers; grant winner at the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation competition; and regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Tonna performed in Creative Stage Spectacular (2023 and 2024), and also participates in CSC Troupe Meetups and events.
MARYUM OPA, ACTOR
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. As the oldest of 9 children with many relatives, life was full of drama and vivid characters. Performing arts and creative writing are a few ways she loved to express her opinion and voice. She is an advocate for creative outlets for youth. Currently, she lives in Harlem where she and her husband encourage their two children, Miles and Marlie, to be courageous, faithful, and pursue their hearts' desires.
Maryum Opa is a member of the CSC Advisory Board, she appeared in Creative Stage Spectacular (2023), and frequently contributes to CSC as a lyricist.
Gerry Vega, Actor, Singer, Writer
Gerry is a NYC-based Singer, Actor, Writer who has most recently self-produced two of his own solo-cabarets: Growing Up? and Pennies From Heaven -- performed at The Duplex Cabaret Theater and Feintstein’s/54 Below. He has also participated in several exciting workshops and readings: Steadfast Tin Soldier (dir: J. Quinton Johnson), ‘Twas The Night (dir: Ted O’Gorman), and, most recently, Actor Therapy sings Spring Awakening at Feintstein’s/54 Below (Moritz/Ensemble) -- to name a few. An Actors’ Equity Association members since 2014, Gerry is an active participant of Lindsay Mendez and Ryan Scott Oliver’s Actor Therapy community, where he has coached with Lindsay, Ryan, and other industry professionals like Kirsten Wyatt, Stephen Sposito, and Peter Duchan, and he proudly writes for the Actor Therapy community blog, we less #basic.
Gerry performed in the 2019 performances of Creative Stage Spectacular, and the 2023 performance of Summer Shebang!
ELLA SMITH, Actor
Ella is a New York-based actor, writer, and producer trained at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, the Stella Adler Studio, and London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Equally at home in classical theatre and comedy, she trained with Upright Citizens Brigade and is a member of the sketch comedy group Stupid Hot. She wrote, starred in, and produced the short film Period and created the eight-part mockumentary series This is B.S., inspired by the gloriously chaotic world of low-budget regional summer-stock theatre.
Ella is a frequent contributor at CSC Troupe Meetups, she is a member of our writing team, and she has performed in Creative Stage Spectacular (2022, 2023).
Tim Long, Conductor, Pianist, Emcee
Timothy Long is a pianist and conductor of Muscogee Creek and Choctaw descent who is Music Director of Opera at Eastman School of Music. Tim has performed as a pianist and harpsichordist at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall in London, and the Mostly Modern Festival, to name just a few.
Tim conducted the world premiere of Missing, an important new opera by Marie Clements and Brian Current about the 3,000 missing Indigenous women in Canada, at City Opera Vancouver and Pacific Opera Victoria in 2017. Other recent performances include the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra with the great dramatic soprano Christine Goerke; Tulsa Opera’s 70th Anniversary Gala starring famed mezzo-soprano Susan Graham; Die Zauberflöte and Le Nozze di Figaro at the Prague Summer Nights Festival; Don Giovanni and Ricky Ian Gordon’s Tibetan Book of the Dead at the Eastman Opera Theatre; a rock concert with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic; and an experimental theatre piece, Dream Seminar, with the Trondheim Sinfonietta in Norway.
Tim lives in Brooklyn and Rochester with his husband, baritone Christopher Dylan Herbert, and their sweet basset hound mix, Pumpkin.
Tim is a member of the CSC Advisory Board, and served as the emcee for Instrumental Storytellers at Symphony Space in 2020.
Andrew Dolan, Actor
Andrew Dolan is an acclaimed actor, playwright, and director whose credits span Broadway, London’s National Theatre, Off-Broadway, film, and television. His stage work includes American Daughter on Broadway, Edmond at the National Theatre, and productions with the Vineyard Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, NY Stage & Film, Spoleto Festival, and American Conservatory Theater. On screen, he has appeared in Chicago Med, Your Honor, The Americans, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, Elementary, House of Cards, and Law & Order, among many others. An award-winning playwright, his work includes The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King, winner of the Ovation Award for Best Play, and That Good Night, winner of the David Calicchio Award.
Andrew has appeared in Creative Stage Spectacular performances (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026) and is a frequent contributor to CSC Troupe Meetups.
Kathryn Olander, Pianist
Kathryn Olander’s collaborations include New York City Opera, Juilliard Opera Center, Metropolitan Opera Educational Outreach, Dicapo Theater Opera for Kids, Reaching for the Arts, and Creative Stage. In addition, she is a vocal coach and has her own studio of enthusiastic and creative piano students.Kathryn performed with CSC in Summer Shebang! (2021), Creative Stage Spectacular (2020, 2022), and is a familiar face at CSC Troupe Meetups.
Tiffany Iris, actor, singer
Tiffany Iris received training from Alan Langdon at Circle in the Square Theatre School, with theatrical projects ranging from straight plays to short films. Also a singer, Tiffany played the role of Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, for which she was nominated for an Irene Ryan acting scholarship. She recently performed in Riddles of the Trilobites at the New Victory Theater, as well as the Halloween The Wildlife Witches Super Scary Halloween Show at the Bronx Zoo.
As a proud Latina, proving to the world that you can create beautiful, meaningful and fun content without having to be stereotyped drives Tiffany to continue in this unpredictable, yet rewarding, career path. Read more about Tiffany HERE.
Tiffany has participated in countless CSC Troup Meetups, she is a member of the writing team, and has contributed as a performer in Creative Stage Spectacular (2022-2024), and Summer Shebang! (2021-2023). She is scheduled to be part of the upcoming Summer Shebang! performances in September.
Robert Manning, Jr., Actor
Robert Manning Jr. has performed frequently on television, in film, both on and off Broadway, and at numerous Regional theaters across the country. He is the winner of numerous NAACP Theatre Award Nominations. You can see Robert in upcoming performances in The Enemy Within on NBC and the web series, Mars and Venus.
Rob is a frequent advisor and collaborator with CSC, has contributed to Meetup devising sessions, and has performed in multiple productions of Creative Stage Spectacular (2020, 2022, 2023).
Katelyn Candiello, Singer, Actor
Katelyn Candiello is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. She recently finished touring the with the international company of the Wizard of Oz as the dance captain and the understudy for Glinda and the Wicked Witch. She is now the associate choreographer for the production as it travels to China, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.
Katelyn has performed in the Creative Stage Spectacular (2020-2024), and Summer Shebang! (2021, 2022).
Cate Smit
Cate Smit is a New York‑based actor, writer, director, and improviser with extensive stage, film, and television credits. She has performed regionally and Off‑Broadway in a wide range of work from Shakespeare to contemporary plays.
Cate’s screen credits include Hustlers (feature film), Bull, Law & Order, The Detour, and Uncanny County, and she has appeared multiple times on Late Night with David Letterman, including in a memorable comedic role as his on‑air wife.
An experienced improviser and stand‑up performer, she has worked with Theatersports, Chicago City Limits, and other notable improv ensembles, and has directed more than 500 short films. Cate was a founding board member of the Creative Stage Collective and has performed in numerous CSC
Cate is a frequent collaborator, an active participant in meetups, a former board member, and performed with CSC in Instrumental Storytellers (2020), Creative Stage Spectacular (2020, 2022, 2023, 2026) and Musical Madlibs! (2026)
Stephanie Peña, Dancer, Choreographer
An Afro-Latina dance artist who earned an MFA in Choreography at University of Roehampton in London, Stephanie has performed at Jacob’s Pillow, Hibernian Hall, New York Live Arts and MIT. Her choreography was showcased in NY, Baltimore, Switzerland, and the U.K. She is currently teaching Contemporary and Latin Social Dances in K-12 public schools and senior centers.
Stephanie is a member of the CSC Advisory Board, and was a guest Choreographer for the 2020 Creative Stage Spectacular, and the 2021 Summer Shebang!
Daniel Oakes
With numerous theater credits to his name, Daniel has portrayed Roy Cohn in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Robert in Betrayal, and Mr. Antrobus in The Skin of Our Teeth. Passionate about expanding his craft, he is eager to explore film, with credits in several student films at his alma mater, Swarthmore College, and at the New York Film Academy. In his downtime, he’s venturing into songwriting and music creation, and also teaches young performers with the Creative Stage Education Company. He is also developing comedy material with friends in the People's Sketch Revue at the People's Improv Theater in Midtown. In addition to his acting credits, Daniel will also be directing an absurdist sketch show: A.R.M. at the PIT NYC, opening March 6. You can read more about Daniel on his website: https://danieloakes.org.
Daniel has performed with CSC in Summer Shebang (2024, 2025, 2026) and Creative Stage Spectacular (2025, 2026)
seth weinstein, pianist & music director
Seth Weinstein graduated from Harvard College with honors in music and has been a classical and theatre pianist in New York for more than 20 years. He was the musical director and composer of the Off-Broadway musical How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes (New World Stages, 2006). He has toured internationally with Fosse and Ivan Jacobs’s The Phantom of the Opera and in the USA with Almost Heaven: Songs of John Denver. He has been the musical director of Black House (Zagreb, Croatia), Do I Hear a Waltz? (Arvada Center), and Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), among other shows, and he has played for Holland America Line and Hapag-Lloyd cruises. Seth wrote and recorded “The Chagall Suite” (eight piano movements inspired by Marc Chagall’s artworks) and “Conversations” (a musical meeting between Chagall and Elvis Presley) and has performed them in France, Germany, and the USA. He plays regularly in a burlesque opera show and is the pianist for the MAC and Bistro Award–winning Screen Gems: Songs of Old Hollywood (featuring Sarah Rice) and Operation Opera (baritone Adelmo Guidarelli’s amusing tribute to opera and a participant in the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe). For more information, visit sethweinstein.com.
Seth has served as Music Director and arranger for both the Creative Stage Spectacular (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026) and the Summer Shebang! (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). He also regularly contributes to CSC Troupe Meetups and other workshops.
Paul Whelan, Operatic Bass
Lyric Bass Paul Whelan has performed all over the world in numerous bass roles ranging from Wotan in Das Rheingold (Aukland Philharmonic) to Collatinus The Rape of Lucretia for Opera Norway to Seneca L’Incoronazione di Poppea in Lille and Dijon. He has performed leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera House, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Ópera Nacional De Chile, and Grand Theatre Geneve, to name just a few. Paul is a winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World Lieder Prize. Conductors with whom he has collaborated include Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Richard Hickox, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Gary Bertini, and Vassily Sinaisky. Recordings include A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis (Philips), Kurt Weill’s Silber See under Markus Stenz (BMG), recordings with the BBC Philharmonic for Chandos and with the BBC Scottish Symphony for Hyperion.
More recently, Paul spent time in his native New Zealand, where he performed in Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem in his hometown of Christchurch with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra; as Rocco Fidelio with Wellington Opera; the roles of Commendatore in Don Giovanni and Captain James Cook in Ihitai ‘Avei’a —Star Navigator; and the roles of Cadmus and Somnus Semele for Opera New Zealand.
Paul has lent his voice to Creative Stage Spectacular performances in 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
MADELEINE WITMER, singer / actor
Madeleine Witmer is a singer, actor, dancer and songwriter from Broadway, Virginia. She graduated with a degree in Musical Theatre and Dance from Christopher Newport University, and then went on to tour multiple productions, including children’s theatre, with Virginia Repertory Theatre. She spent the last two summers at The Ferguson Center for the Arts as part of the company of the “New Musicals Lab,” workshopping multiple productions, as well as the world premiere of Drew Gasparini’s We Aren’t Kids Anymore. Since moving to the city, you may have caught her singing at The Green Room 42, Feinstein’s/54 Below, or as a featured songwriter in Gasparini’s “New Voices” series—which you can find on YouTube along with more of Mads’s original music.
Madeleine has performed in Creative Stage Spectacular (2023, 2024) as well as Summer Shebang! performances (2022, 2023).
Dimitrie Lazich
The work of Dimitrie Lazich in opera and music theatre is consistently met with critical and popular acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. His Carmen Escamillo for Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw was televised throughout the Netherlands, while his Pops concerts sent Dutch audiences home singing the melodies of Rodgers & Hammerstein. Most recently, he was featured in Pittsburgh Opera’s Summer Festival in both Richard Strauss’s Die Schweigsame Frau and Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate. Other appearances include La Bohème’s Schaunard, The Merry Widow’s Danilo, The Pearl Fishers’s Zurga, La Cenerentola’s Dandini, as well as principal roles in Candide, Madama Butterfly, and A View from the Bridge, with the opera companies of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Sarasota, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Dorset. A busy oratorio singer, he recently appeared with the Masterwork Chorus in his Carnegie Hall debut as soloist in The Messiah. His season is regularly highlighted by performances of Carmina Burana, Messiah, Elijah, St. Matthew Passion, Haydn’s Creation, and the requiems of both Fauré and Duruflé. An alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University, Curtis Institute of Music, and Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West, he was a Young Artist at Santa Fe Opera. He is represented by Kathy Olsen at Encompass Arts as both a singer and an actor.
Dimitri has performed with Creative Stage Collective in Creative Stage Spectacular (2025, 2026)
SHERI GRAUBERT
Sheri Graubert is an acclaimed Anglo-American actress and playwright whose career spans New York, London, and stages around the world. Her performance as Isabella in Measure for Measure was called “immaculate” by The New York Times, and her acting credits include Cheek by Jowl, London’s National Theatre, the Public Theater, Clubbed Thumb, and Theatre Royal Stratford East. An award-winning, internationally produced playwright, Sheri’s plays have been presented in New York, London, Tokyo, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Australia, and the Philippines. She is also the author of the acclaimed middle-grade novel Molly Shipton, Secret Actress, winner of a LitPick 5-Star Award.
Sheri joined the Creative Stage Spectacular cast in 2024, 2025, and 2026 She is also a vital contributor to the CSC writing team, and frequently helps in devising sessions with the youth troupe.
SAMANTHA GREENLUND - CHOREOGRAPHER
Samantha Greenlund is a graduate of Oklahoma City University, specializing in Dance. Her performance career ranges from large scale residency shows in Las Vegas and Paris, to dancing for names such as Jennifer Lopez and Olivia Newton-John in Los Angeles and New York and everything in-between. Dance has given her the opportunity to both travel and live all over the world! Her Passion is choreographing and has done so for musicals, as well as individual projects and showcases. Along with performing here in NYC, she teaches youth throughout the boroughs. She loves sharing the joy of dance!
Samantha joined the Creative Stage Collective as Choreographer for Creative Stage Spectacular 2024, and is a regular contributor at CSC Troupe Meetups.
NICOLE GREEVY
Nicole Greevy (actor) has a resume that spans from regional theater to appearances on network television. Boasting a degree from NYU Tisch, you may have seen her work anywhere from the New York Fringe Festival to Bravo TV’s ‘Pregnant in Heels’. She is author of numerous plays, songs and puppet shows about conservation and natural history, along with co-creating the pilot Living in Captivity, the webseries Exorcists Local 667, and her narrative writings “Smart” and “Nerd: The Next Generation” can be heard at NoYouTellIt.com.
Nicole has appeared in Creative Stage Spectacular (2019-2024), and is a frequent participant in CSC Troupe Meetups and devising sessions. She is also a major contributor to the writing team.
BRITT HEWITT
Britt Hewitt is a New York City based soprano. Her work as a performer has been described as “poignant,” “brilliant,” (OperaWire), “vocal alchemy” (Parterre Box), and “charismatic” (New York Classical Review). A devoted experimentalist, she is often working with composers on new pieces, or writing herself. She holds a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School, and is a staff chamber choir singer at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Hewitt is fortunate to have performed numerous roles, including Pamina in The Magic Flute, the Spirit in Dido and Aeneas, Miles in The Turn of the Screw, the Mother in Hansel and Gretel, Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Chrissy in the musical Hair, Blanche de la Force in a devised work entitled There's Blood Between Us, based on Dialogues of the Carmelites. She has created many roles as well, such as Dawn in Everything for Dawn, written for television, and Fatuus/Paulus in Gracchus. Hewitt has performed with many organizations across the world, including National Sawdust, Le Château de Versailles, Opera Holland Park, The American Opera Project, Opera Harmony, Artpark, The Stone, BeComEnsemble, and Experiments in Opera. She was the first vocalist to be a young artist at the historic Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, which she attended in 2020 and 2021.
Hewitt is also an accomplished singer/songwriter, composer, and music producer. For more information, and for inquiries, please visit www.britthewitt.com.
Britt made her CSC debut this year in the Creative Stage Spectacular (2024).
DAVID LUTKEN - Actor, Musician
David is a versatile actor and musician. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Public Theater, The 92nd St Y, at Cooper Union, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, with the North Carolina Symphony and the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, on NPR, the BBC, Pol- skie Radio Troika, ORF Austria, Voice Of America, and The Louisiana Hayride.
With Woody Sez, he and his company have toured Europe, the British Isles, China, the Middle East and The United States. David won the Helen Hayes and the Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Actor for his portrayal of Woody Guthrie.
Broadway performances include: Inherit the Wind; Ring of Fire; and The Civil War; The Will Rogers Follies. He has also performed with New York City Opera as Paul Bunyan.
Other performances include: Our Town; Man of La Mancha; Big River; Elmer Gantry; Finian’s Rainbow; The Will Rogers Follies; Fire On The Mountain; Lost Highway; Buddy; Pump Boys and Dinettes; The Love List; The Man Who Came to Dinner; On Golden Pond; Mark Twain’s River of Song; Almost Heaven, and most recently, a ‘play-with-music’ from an original story by his wife, Director/Choreographer Sherry Lutken: The Porch on Windy Hill (nominated for four 2021 Connecticut Critics’ Circle Awards).
David performed with CSC as both an actor, musician, and bandleader as part of the Creative Stage Spectacular, 2024.
Rohin Khemani
Rohin Khemani is a drummer, percussionist, composer, and educator based in New York City. Known as an extremely versatile and eclectic musician, Rohin’s sound can be heard on a wide variety of projects weaving through jazz, world music, rock, folk, electronica and beyond. His principal instruments include the drum set, tabla, and an extensive collection of percussion and found objects from around the world. Rohin was a founding member of Red Baraat and co-leads the band Surface to Air Trio with guitarist Jonathan Goldberger and bassist Jonti Siman. He has performed for audiences at some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, clubs, and festivals including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Sauti Za Busara in Zanzibar, Tanzania, The Monterey Jazz Festival, The London 2012 Olympic Games, and Peter Gabriel's WOMAD Festivals in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Rohin holds a bachelor’s from Berklee College of Music and a master’s from the Manhattan School of Music.
Rohin joined CSC Troupe in 2026, performing in Creative Stage Spectacular.
ISAIAH RICHARDSON, JR.
Isaiah Richardson Jr plays clarinet, saxophone, and harmonica. Isaiah’s group Brown Rice Family was awarded #1 NYC band by NPR/WNYC's “Battle of the Boroughs" competition defeating 524 NYC bands. Isaiah studied classical clarinet at Juilliard School of Music, attended LaGuardia High School for Music and Art, and performed before 6 current and former US Presidents, including President Bill Clinton for a second time in 2018, as well as the Prime Minister of Japan and the President of South Korea as a member of the United States Marine Corps Band. At age 18 Isaiah won the NAACP'S ACT-SO Competition for jazz.
As a musician often performs at Lincoln Center, Blue Note, BAM, Carnegie Hall, has performed at venues such as Mets Citifield Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Kings Theatre, Kennedy Center, NPR Tiny Desk at NPR Headquarters with Grammy Award winning band Monsieur Perine, and performs at festivals such as Summerstage and Celebrate Brooklyn. Isaiah was also a long time member of the band Maku Soundsystem previously signed with Glitterbeat Records whose 2016 album "Mezcla' was voted #1 in World Music Charts Europe for 3 months in a row.
Isaiah has performed extensively internationally, including performances with Billboard Live Tokyo. He often performs with multi-grammy award winning and Billboard 100 artists such as Fred Hammond, Yolanda Adams, Hezekiah Walker, Donald Lawrence, Myron Butler, Kim Burrell, Kelly Price, Tye Tribbett, and Meli’sa Morgan to name a few. Isaiah has also been featured in Season 4 of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, HBO’s Vinyl, and Hulu’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. He currently plays in the pit with the Metropolitan Opera House Orchestra at Lincoln Center as an extra musician on saxophone.
Isaiah performed in the Creative Stage Spectacular (2023, 2024).
SATISH ROBERTSON
Trumpeter/composer Satish Robertson is a fixture on the NY music scene, blowing his horn in a multitude of genres: jazz, gospel, Latin, funk, blues, R&B, and hip-hop. He has performed in prestigious venues such as Blue Note, Rockwood Music Hall, Brooklyn Bowl, and Sony Hall. In addition to leading his own jazz groups, Satish has performed and/or recorded with such names as jazz saxophonist James Carter, jazz pianist Marc Cary, R&B icon Meli’sa Morgan, and hip-hop artist Skyzoo to name a few.
Satish performed in the Creative Stage Spectacular (2023, 2024).
SARAH SALZBERG
Sarah Saltzberg’s career highlights include: a creator and original cast member of the Tony Award winning Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (now in development with Rideback Ranch/Disney Plus for a live-action film), a creator/actor of off-Broadway's Don't Quit Your Night Job; co-author of off-Broadway's Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating and Marriage, and additional material author on the Broadway musical Gettin’ The Band Back Together. With Sandy Rustin, she adapted I Married an Angel for New York City Center’s Encores series. Sarah has invested in seven commercial shows, five of which went on to Broadway runs with multiple Tony wins including three for Best Musical. In her other life, Sarah co-founded and runs a boutique residential real estate firm, Bohemia Realty Group, focused on sales and rentals in NYC with an emphasis on employing actors and artists.
Sarah join the collective in 2024 as part of the cast of Creative Stage Spectacular at Symphony Space.
Kirk Hill, Jr.
Kirk Hill Jr. is a Harlem native who has always loved performing, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Professional Theatre from North Carolina A&T. He has performed in multiple dinner theatres and currently sings with The Manhattans of Sonny Bivins. However, he is excited to be performing in the Spectacular this evening with his son, Michael Bell who is a member of the CSC Youth Troupe.
Kirk joined the troupe for Creative Stage Spectacular in 2025 and 2026.
Matthew Curran
Matthew Curran is a versatile bass known for performances ranging from dramatic authority figures to sharp comedic roles. His repertoire includes Filippo (Don Carlo), Oroveso (Norma), Ramfis (Aida), Sarastro (The Magic Flute), Bartolo (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte).
Additional notable appearances include Polonio in Franco Faccio’s Amleto (Opera Southwest), Colline (La Bohème) (Atlanta Opera), Timur (Turandot) (St. Petersburg Opera), Ferrando (Il Trovatore) and Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) (Baltimore Concert Opera), and Pistola (Falstaff) (Opera Delaware).
Mr. Curran is also active in contemporary opera, including roles in Breaking the Waves (Prototype Festival/Beth Morrison Projects), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Odyssey Opera), and works with American Opera Projects and New York City Opera.
Matthew performed in Creative Stage Spectacular 2022 and 2026
CATALINA WALSH
Catalina R. Walsh is a classically trained dancer, musical theatre performer, designer, and triple-threat artist whose work spans New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. She trained with the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and performed with Pennsylvania Ballet’s The Nutcracker from 2004–2011, later earning a BFA in Dance from Temple University and graduating from the Institute for American Musical Theatre. Her performance credits include the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, the Willington Ballet, the International Ballet Exchange, and works by acclaimed choreographer Christina Castro-Tauser, alongside intensive training with the Joffrey Ballet School. A dynamic multidisciplinary artist, Catalina also works as a costume, headpiece, and prop designer and constructor, bringing her creative vision to every aspect of her work.
Catalina joined the Creative Stage Collective in 2024 as a member of the dance troupe performing in Creative Stage Spectacular.
