How about $100 of free joe? Joe Coffee, that is! Through Valentine’s Day, every new monthly CSC donor sign-up will be entered into a raffle to win a $100 Joe Coffee gift card. A huge thanks to Joe Coffee Company for their generous donation, and to all of our new monthly donors. We couldn’t do it without you!

Program Order

All Musical Numbers are parody songs with newly created lyrics

Toddler Fine Dining

“Sir Duke” — Stevie Wonder

Budget PBS #1

Law & Order

Nothing Commercial

Badinerie from Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 — Johann Sebastian Bach

Grumpy Birthday Clown

“Kids!” from Bye Bye Birdie — Charles Strouse (music) & Lee Adams (lyrics)

Mom-o-flage

Budget PBS #2

Chicken Motel

Act I Finale from Così fan tutte — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Favorite Smells

“My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music — Music by Richard Rodgers, Arr. Roger Emerson

Budget PBS #3

Over the Hill

“O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana — Carl Orff

Budget PBS #4

Coffee Mate Game Show

“All the Single Ladies” — Beyoncé, Terius “The-Dream” Nash, Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, Thaddis “Kuk” Harrell

Embarrassing Moms

Cheese Shoes

“Gee, Officer Krupke” from West Side Story — Leonard Bernstein (music) & Stephen Sondheim (lyrics)

Eddy the Iguana

Theme from Swan Lake — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Budget PBS #5

Singing Detective

“80s Pop Medley” — Jule Styne, Irving Berlin, Robbie Grey, Gary McDowell, Richard Brown, Michael Conroy, Stephen Walker, Pål Waaktaar, Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket, Leonard Bernstein, John DeNicola, Donald Markowitz, Franke Previte, Dolly Parton, Jim Steinman

Budget PBS #6

Finale

“Ode to Joy” from Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 — Ludwig van Beethoven

CSC youth troupe

Lia Abric-Sun, Michael Mumia Bell, Ariella Plaks Bonilla, Logan Cabrera, Bradley Cabrera, Brandon Cabrera, Justine Colan, Millie Davis, Dylan Duddleston, Charlie Elicier, Griffin Robert Faulkner, Sofia Gluck, Lila Graubert-Dolan, Sasha Graubert-Dolan, Ruby Sofia Jennino, Laylah Johnson, Natalie Lazich, Zoe D. Moldovan, Q Nimetz, Plum Nugent, Mia Pedemonte, Lyla Pompili, Noa Ramadge, Dashiell Seuling-Walter, Wesley Singer, Jessy Stevens, Alyssa Stevens, Abigail Stevens, Jakub Suski, Lillian Tardie, Itai Tirosh, Scarlett Tsiropinas, Simone Tsiropinas, Zachary Whelan, Liv Williams, Kyrie Winters, and Hanna Wolraich

CSC TECHNICAL TEAM

Props and Costumes Designer: Jess Zindren

Assistant Props Designers: Christina Burke, Romy Swish

Lighting Designer: Chris Hanian

Sound Technician: Joey Neill

Stage Manager: Alex Church-Gonzales

Assistant Stage Managers: Cassidy Byron Natalie Olander, and Diana Janna Reyes Núñez

Junior Assistant Stage Manager: Greta Davis

Adult artistS

Madeline Bender - Director

Madeline is the Founder and Director of Creative Stage Collective. She has had a rich career as an international opera singer, writer, director and producer and educator. She specializes in devising original work with multi-generational, multidisciplinary groups.

Madeline has created numerous devised performances for CSC including Instrumental Storytellers at Symphony Space, in collaboration with Concert Artists Guild, the annual Creative Stage Spectacular performances at Symphony Space (2018-2025, including via Zoom in 2021), Creative Stage Uptown at the Alvin Ailey Room at the Harry Belafonte Branch of the NYPL; and Musical Madlibs, performed for Carnegie Hall Fall Family Day (2018), and again in Auckland New Zealand with the renown NZTrio (2021).

Originally an operatic soprano, Madeline has worked with notable opera directors such as 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).

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, CSC Advisory Board member, Timothy Long, is the Founder and Director of Voices of Hope, an annual opera gala event which 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: Samantha Hanky, Anna Christy, Erin Morley, Meagan Miller, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Gordon Geitz, John Belemer, Bryan Register, Jonathan Boyd, Christopher Herbert, to name just a few.

Madeline received her Masters degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She lives in NYC with her husband, operatic bass Paul Whelan, and their seventeen-year-old son, Zachary.

Madeline is the producer and director of the Creative Stage Spectacular. She also contributes as chief lyricist, and leads the script writing team.

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.

Maryum Opa

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. As the oldest of nine children with many relatives, life was full of drama and vivid characters. Performing arts and creative writing are a few ways she loves 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 also contributes to the Creative Stage Spectacular as a lyricist.

MARIA D’AMATO

Soprano Maria D’Amato’s voice was described by Opera News as “beautifully floated” and “a gem” as Desdemona in Otello with the Sarasota Opera. The Shirley, NY native performed the role of Mimì in La Bohéme with Ash Lawn Opera and Sarasota Opera after her successful debut in the role with Dicapo Opera Theatre in New York City. She made her solo role debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 2013 in the world premiere of Two Boys as “American Suburban Mom” and in subsequent seasons sang the “First Noble Orphan” in Der Rosenkavalier, “Madrigal Singer #1” in Manon Lescaut, “Ancelle #1” in Turandot and performed the spoken role of “Natalie” in Die Fledermaus. Other roles with Sarasota Opera include Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Thibault in Don Carlos and Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Maria performed Despina in Così fan tutte,and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program; Nannetta in Falstaff, and Poppea and Drusilla in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, all with Opera North, NH. Ms. D’Amato holds a B.M. from Boston University and an M.M. from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music.

Equally at home on the concert stage, she debuted with the Seattle Symphony under Maestro Gerard Schwarz as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem. She was a soloist in Bach’s B-minor mass and Mozart’s C-Minor mass in Cincinnati, and was a soloist in Carmina Burana with both the North Arkansas Symphony and the Eugene Ballet. She was the soprano soloist with the Artist Series of Sarasota in their Golden Age of Operetta concerts and sang the soprano I solos in Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Awards include Opera Index, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation grants and appearances in concert at Alice Tully and Rose Halls, Giulio Gari Foundation grants, and the Lendon Todd Munday Encouragement Award from the Jensen Foundation.

Maria has been a member of the full-time chorus of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera for eight seasons

Jim Conroy

Jim Conroy 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.

andrew Dolan

Andrew Dolan’s acting credits include American Daughter (Broadway), Strictly Dishonorable (Vineyard), Pink, Ted Kaczynski (SPF), What Then (Clubbed Thumb), Tree House (NY Stage & Film), Measure for Measure (Target Margin) UK: Edmond (National Theatre). The Woods (National Studio), Boy from the Book (English Touring Theatre). Regional: Mamba’s Daughters (Spoleto Festival), Burn This, Marco Millions, Cyrano, 12th Night, Hapgood (ACT), Substance of Fire. Savage/Love (Magic Theatre), Loot, Amadeus (Arizona Theatre Co.), Road to Nirvana, Down the Road, Boy’s Life, Coming Attractions (Encore Theatre). TV/Film: “Chicago Med”, “Your Honor”, “Search Party”, “The Good Cop”, “The Americans”, “The Good Cop”, “Elementary”, “Blue Bloods”, “The Tick”, “Bull”, “Good Wife”, “Black List”, “House of Cards”, “Person of Interest”, “Conviction”, all “Law & Orders”, “Madoff”, “Jezebel James”, Handsome Harry (Tribeca ’09) Unstoppable, Partners in Crime, 28 Days, Ash Tuesday. Deal Breakers (Sundance ’07), Training: Bowdoin College, American Conservatory Theatre. Andrew is a former SAG Board Member and former Artistic Director of Encore Theatre Company. As a writer he has written and produced several award winning short films and optioned several film scripts. His play The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King won the Ovation Award for Best Play in Los Angeles. His play That Good Night won the David Calicchio Award at Marin Theatre Company. His work has been developed with Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb, EST West, NY Stage & Film, Berkshire Playwrights’ Lab, Intar, Road Theatre, Mile Square Theatre, and Barrington Stage Company. In addition to the Stella Adler Studio, Andrew Dolan has taught at ACT, AMDA and the American Academy of Dramatic Art.

IsAIAH RICHARDSON, Jr.

Isaiah Richardson Jr. plays clarinet, saxophone, and harmonica. His group, Brown Rice Family, was named #1 NYC band by NPR/WNYC’s Battle of the Boroughs, defeating 524 bands. Isaiah studied classical clarinet at Juilliard, holds degrees in B.A. East Asian Studies, B.F.A. Jazz Performance, and B.A. Theatre, and attended LaGuardia High School for Music and Art.

He has performed for six U.S. Presidents, including Bill Clinton, as well as the Prime Minister of Japan and President of South Korea as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Band. At 18, he won the NAACP ACT-SO Competition for jazz.

Isaiah frequently performs at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Blue Note, BAM, and major venues such as Yankee Stadium and Mets CitiField. He has toured internationally across five continents, including Japan, South Korea, Germany, Australia, and Côte d’Ivoire, and collaborates with multi-Grammy and Billboard 100 artists such as Fred Hammond, Yolanda Adams, and Kelly Price.

Previously a member of Maku Soundsystem, whose 2016 album Mezcla topped World Music Charts Europe for three months, Isaiah has appeared on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl and Hulu’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, and performed with jazz legends like Curtis Lundy, Norman Simmons, and William Parker. He speaks English, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese.

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 which 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!

Nicole Greevy

Nicole Greevy began with Creative Stage Collective as a volunteer adult performer in the Spectacular! and now contributes as a writer to the sketch concepts developed by the CSC troupe.

A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Nicole is an award-winning writer and actor with over 25 years’ experience in educational theatre as a writer, performer and director. She is a writer/producer for the fictional podcast Uncanny County (co-created by her husband, Todd Faulkner, who is also a contributing writer to this year’s Summer Shebang!). Her episode, “Our Better Angels,” propelled Uncanny County to its fourth consecutive Parsec Award for excellence in long-form fictional storytelling. She is a 2025 New York State Council on the Arts grant recipient for artistic support in playwrighting as she develops a new full-length work, and currently is writing the book for a new musical about rhinos for the Zoological Society of Milwaukee, to debut onsite in summer 2026.

sheri graubert

Theatre in UK/US includes: Cheek by Jowl; Royal National Theatre; English Shakespeare Company; Joseph Papp Public Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and New York Stage and Film. Film and TV includes: Casanova; Gravity, R.P.M. Coronation Street; The Bill; London’s Burning. Sheri is a prize-winning playwright with work produced on five continents. Sheri’s debut novel in 2022 won 15 awards. www.sherigraubert.com.

Sheri is also a vital contributor to the CSC writing team, and frequently helps in devising sessions with the youth troupe.

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.

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.

Tiffany Iris

Tiffany Iris is a versatile artist with credits ranging from puppetry (Riddles of the Trilobites at the New Victory Theater and The Wildlife Witches Super Scary Halloween Show at the Bronx Zoo) to Shakespeare (Island Shakespeare Festival).

Tiffany 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. 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.

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 productions.

Todd Faulkner

Todd Faulkner is the co-creator and a primary writer on the award-winning supernatural anthology podcast Uncanny County (described as Twilight Zone as it might have been imagined by the Coen Brothers). As an actor, he is best known for his appearances as Agent Loeb throughout all six seasons of the critically acclaimed FX series The Americans (FX). He has also appeared on The Blacklist (NBC), as well as Mindhunter (Netflix), Fleishman is in Trouble (Hulu), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), and many other New York-based television shows. Onstage, Todd appeared as Sarge/Scarlett in the York Theatre’s critically acclaimed off-Broadway production of Yank! A New Musical.

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.

JUAN HErnÁNDEZ

In the 2024–2025 season, Puerto Rican tenor Juan Hernández joined Sarasota Opera as part of the Studio Artists Program, performing as Federico in Stiffelio and covering Conte Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia. His recent stage credits included Ferrando in Così fan tutte and Don José in La Carmencita (The Opera Next Door), Tebaldo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Teatro Nuovo Cover), Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore (Cape Town Opera), Jerome in Great Moments in Human History (The Opera Next Door), and Danieli in I Vespri Siciliani (NAO). On the concert stage, Hernández appeared as a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Oratorio Singers of Westfield and Musica Viva NY, as well as in Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore and Bach’s St. John Passion with The Opera Next Door. He was a 2025 Sarasota Opera Studio Artist, 2024 Teatro Nuovo Resident Artist, and alumnus of the Palm Beach Opera Bailey Apprentice Program. His honors included the MOLC Puerto Rico District Encouragement Award (2019, 2022); Revelación Masculina (2021); and First Place at the NATS NYC District Competition (2019).

Sierra nelson

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

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.

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.

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.

John panninar - drummer

Jon Panninar: musician/singer/songwriter. Jon is originally from Arkansas and graduated from the City College of New York with a degree in jazz percussion. He has performed nationally and internationally in all styles of music. He currently co-leads and performs with the Shrine Big Band (jazz) and Johnny Arkansas and Blackout Diamond (country/bluegrass). He also performs regularly with Erick Plaks, Ayumi Ishito, and Daniel Carter.

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.

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.

MARISA RYAN

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. Her 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.

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. When she’s not on stage, Sarah runs a boutique residential real estate firm which she has co-founded, Bohemia Realty Group, focused on sales and rentals in NYC with an emphasis on employing actors and artists.

Byron Singleton

Byron has sung leading and supporting roles in opera and concert in major venues around the United States, including the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, The Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, and David Geffen Hall. Most recently, Byron was a featured soloist in Tituss Burgess’s “Take Me to the World,” a tribute to Sondheim at Carnegie Hall.

Career highlights include Cavaradossi in Tosca, conducted by Maestro Anton Coppola; the title role in The Tales of Hoffmann; and Der Steuermann in Der Fliegende Hollander with the United Nations Orchestra. Other roles include Rodolfo in La Boheme and Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera at Symphony Space.

An oratorio and concert enthusiast, Byron performed in and co-produced Dichterliebe at the Mile Square Theater in Hoboken in a fresh exploration of music and poetry through the added mediums of dance and visual art. He has been heard as the tenor soloist in numerous oratorios, including Judas Maccabaeus, Mozart Requiem, The Verdi Requiem, The Messiah, and Beethoven Symphony #9, among others.

Byron made his off-Broadway acting debut as The First Guard/Private Jonas in Jean Anouilh’s Antigone on Theater Row with Fusion Theater, and was guest performer with the NY City Slickers’ Bluegrass to Broadway concert at Feinstein’s/54 Below. Byron is proud to be on the Executive Board of Directors for Creative Stage Collective.

Seth Weinstein - Pianist

Seth Weinstein wrote the music for the Off-Broadway musical How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes. He composed The Chagall Suite (eight Chagall-inspired piano movements) and Conversations (a Chagall–Elvis musical meeting), performing them across the USA and Europe.

Seth has toured with Fosse and Ivan Jacobs’s The Phantom of the Opera and has musically directed regional productions including Black House (Zagreb), Do I Hear a Waltz?, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and Ben, Virginia, and Me (The Liberace Musical). He performs regularly with the Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus and accompanies services at Central Synagogue and Or Olam.

His recent album with singer Melanie Long, An American Voice, was released last week, with a concert planned at Green Room 42 on May 15. He is engaged to Liz Gromosaik.

More information: sethweinstein.com

catalina walsh

Catalina R. Walsh is a triple threat, MELT Method Instructor, and New Jersey native who works creatively across New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. A classically trained Ballet dancer, Catalina began her training at age three and performed with the Pennsylvania Ballet’s The Nutcracker from 2004-2011. She graduated in 2020 from The Institute for American Musical Theatre and earned a BFA in Dance from Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance in 2018. Catalina has performed in numerous works by Christina Castro-Tauser and has danced with the Willington Ballet and the Philly Fringe Festival.

In 2021, she joined The International Ballet Exchange as a dancer, designer, and board member. Throughout her career, she has interned with BalletX and participated in the Disney College Program. Catalina is a Lifetime and Gold Award Girl Scout, and currently serves as the Girl Champion Coordinator for the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey, fostering relationships between women professionals and future leaders. Outside of her creative work, she enjoys running Disney World half marathons in custom Disney-inspired outfits.

Paul Whelan

Lyric Bass Paul Whelan has performed all over the world in numerous bass roles ranging from Wotan in Das Rheingold (Auckland 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.

madeleine witmer

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’ original music.