ADAPTOR, PERFORMER, PRODUCER: Shelley is a Los Angeles based creator. She moves fluidly between the worlds of high-tech executive coaching, spiritual exploration, performance coaching, and deeply personal storytelling. She encourages her clients to build performances and presentations with a holistic “inside out” approach.

She has collaborated with acclaimed artists such as Tom Waits (Seven Psychopaths), Sam Corlett (Vikings: Valhalla), Aluna, Aly & AJ, and Ezekiel Pacheco, the only DACA recipient to star in a feature film (At the Gates), as well as C-Suite executives, industrial designers, and engineers at The North Face, Union Bank, Standard Bots, and VitalBio. In 2018, Shia LaBeouf invited Shelley to partner with him on a year-long social experiment, bringing devised theater classes to South Central Los Angeles. Shelley is best known for her critically acclaimed solo performance, Talking with Angels: Budapest, 1943. Filmmaker Carroll Ballard called the work “a tour de force,” while Irish Theatre Magazine praised it as “a thoughtful combination of human bravery and the divine.” A cornerstone of her life’s work, Shelley has performed Talking with Angels over 400 times at festivals and salons across the United States and internationally. Other stage credits include Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo’s Orgasmo Adulto Escapes from the Zoo and A Woman Alone, earning her a Best Actress nomination from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. On screen, Shelley appears in the award-winning films Sorry to Bother You and Green is Gold, both written and directed by her students Boots Riley and Ryon Baxter.

Shelley trained with legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg, and at Circle-in-the-Square with Irene Papas, and Oscar winner Estelle Parsons. She taught acting to over 2000 people at her private studios in San Francisco and LA from 1994 to 2022.

She is a proud single mother and grandmother.

Photography by Maria Baranova

ShelleyMitchell.org

DIRECTOR: Molly Shayna Cohen (she/they) is an NYC-based director and producer whose work centers on moments of transformation and the ephemerality in all things. Since moving from Baltimore in 2022, she has worked at The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Mabou Mines, Theaterlab, En Garde Arts, and more. She is the Associate Artistic Director of Theatre of the Electric Mouth, founding member of film collective Lux Daze Media, and company member of the award-winning experimental theatre group The Acme Corporation. Molly is currently an MFA Directing Candidate ('25) at Brooklyn College where they are the Joel Zwick Scholarship in Directing recipient and Graduate Teaching Fellow.

MollyShaynaCohen.com

DRAMATURG: Amy Marie Seidel (she/her,hers) is a NYC-based theater maker who has worked on Broadway, off-Broadway, and regionally. She is a company member at Tectonic Theater Project, where she has developed numerous plays, including Here There Are Blueberries, a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist recently produced at New York Theatre Workshop, and Seven Deadly Sins, which won the 2022 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. She has been an assistant director on two major Broadway productions Paradise Square (10 TONY nominations) and The Great Gatsby (1 TONY Win), and she is currently developing a new biographical play centered on Billie Jean King. As director, Amy is developing multiple new plays, including a production of Machinal, premiering off-Broadway in 2025, All The Frozen Ones by Stella Ferra (starring Robert Sean Leonard), and Falling Forward, a new musical by Karl Amundson and Emily Fink.

www.amymarieseidel.com

ORIGINAL MUSIC: Litha Ashforth, coloratura soprano and composer, is “bursting with the goods” (Craig Rutenberg, Metropolitan Opera). Ashforth’s vocal agility and artistic versatility have garnered her many accolades, including the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation at the Music Academy of the West, the Maestro Award from the WorldStrides Heritage Festival, and the New England Conservatory of Music’s Entrepreneurial Musicianship Grant. Recent appearances include the role of Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Olympia in Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffman, and Adele in Strauss’s Fledermaus. A strong advocate of new music, Ashforth was engaged in more than a dozen premieres over the past year. This spring, she will sing the title role in Vespa by Don DiNicola in a set of world premiere performances across New York City, and debut the title role of Lucia di Lamermoor in Copenhagen, Denmark. A composer and sound designer exploring new intersections of technology and the human voice, Ashforth has created a series of novel wearable electronic garments for stage performance. As part of her ongoing collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and quantum physicist Jasmine Sinanan-Singh, Ashforth built “The Vest,” a shirt that receives haptic feedback for live sonic engagement, and “The Talking Stick,” a tree that requires the touch of multiple musicians for sounds to be produced electronically. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, Ashforth had her official debut at Santa Barbara’s Granada Theatre at the age of 8. She received her Bachelor of Music under the tutelage of Carole Haber from Boston’s New England Conservatory in 2023. Ashforth is currently based between Berlin and NYC.

litha.me

MOVEMENT DESIGNER: Alessandra is a versatile creative that fosters authenticity and harmony through her work. Her career traverses a number of landscapes: independent and commercial film, Broadway, educational programs, community engagement and concert dance. Her driving motivation is to cultivate environments where one is able to integrate their mind and body together through visual, physical and/or experiential ways. She believes that when people can connect with their inner worlds, they’ll then be able to reflect and build deeper relationships with the world around them. This ethos is reflected within her art as well as her business, INNER COMPASS, a personal development practice that guides people to align who they are with what they do by integrating mind, body and spiritual aspects of the self.

Her range of experience encompasses Resident Choreographer of Broadway’s Hamilton and Harry Potter Cursed Child. Stage Director of Do the Hustle produced by Works and Process at the Guggenheim, NYC. Movement Director for the alternative pop-rock band, The Nicotine Dolls. Choreographer of NYU’s 2022 “The Reality Show”. Performer in Polaris by Kidd Pivot, iLuminate: Artist of Light (int’l), Phish at Madison Square Garden, In The Heights (Warner Brothers), HALSTON (Netflix). 2024 Premier of UNTITLED ARGUMENTS at David Rubenstein Atrium, Lincoln Center (writer, performer, co-choreographer).

As a community organizer, in 2016 Ali created The Hustle Social. A mobile dance event for New York's original partnered dance "the hustle", est. 1970s. She was the Hustle instructor for Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing (now Summer for the City) from 2018-2020. Social dancing continues to be a practice that brings joy to every aspect of her life.

alessandramarconi.com

@ali_marco @inner___co

SOUND: Kodi Lynn Milburn, renowned as the "Swiss Army Knife of Theater," embodies a fusion of creativity and activism. As a mixed indigenous neurodivergent queer, Kodi’s artistry resonates with a commitment to justice, harmony with nature, amplifying lost voices, and reflecting contemporary issues, echoing the ethos of the Jester's Privilege. Kodi’s work has been described as “inspired” (Alix Cohen, Women Around Town), “amazing” (Travelanche), “lush compositions and evocative soundscapes…a fantastic collaborator: creative, proactive, generous, organized, versatile, and indispensable” (Nathan Davis, Drama Desk Nominated Sound Designer)

Cross discipline credits include: Sylvia Milo’s The Other Mozart (Hong Kong, Players Theatre NYC, U.S. Tour), Funny Guy (59e59, London, Edinburgh Fringe), AMP (HERE), Tussaud/Antoinette (IRT), Big Wave (TaDa!) My Onliness (The New Ohio), Chess (American Theater for Actors), Uta Hagen Centennial Salon (Lincoln Center), Heart Strings (Atlantic Theater Co) I am the Utterance of my name (Baryshnikov Arts Center, TheaterLab, HERE), Sparkle Spa (BMI), Ewalt & Walker (54 Below), Mary & Max (Bobby Cronin & Crystal Skillman), Voyage en Chanson (National Sawdust), L’autre Mozart (Fringe North, Halifax Fringe), Rhinoceros (Atlantic Acting School) and more. Kodi is a New York Foundation for the Arts Music Fellow.

KodiLynnMilburn.com

CO-LIGHTING DESIGN: Molly Tiede is a lighting designer, specializing in theater, opera, immersive design, and corporate events. Designing in NYC theaters such as HERE, The Sheen Center, Abrons Arts Center, and many more. Associate and Assistant credits include Broadway (Walter Kerr), The Vineyard Theater, Roundabout Theater, Signature Theater, Labyrinth Theater Company, and Gotham Chamber Opera; she also worked in London’s West End (Vaudeville Theater). She is currently the Lighting Director and Associate Lighting Designer for the Tectonic Theater Project’s production of Here There Are Blueberries. Proud United Scenic Artist 829 Union member.

Mollytiededesign.com

CO-LIGHTING DESIGNER: Bentley Heydt (hīt) (He/Him/His) is a NYC based Korean American, lighting designer that designs for musical theater, theater, dance, opera, and live events whose work has been seen across the United States and abroad at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Bentley's work has been described as, "...a kaleidoscopic feast for the eyes, always in service of the storytelling."

Recent work includes: Tectonic Theater Project Gala 2024 (NYC); Kafkaesque (Staro Industries, NYC); The Color Purple(Theatre Latte Da/Geva Theatre); (no) man (IMGE Dance); Romeo and Juliet (Nebraska Wesleyan University); How To Dance In Ohio (Assist LD/Broadway); Life of Pi (Tony Award)(DMC/Broadway); you don't have to do anything (HERE Arts Center); A Christmas Carol (Assoc LD/Indiana Repertory Theatre). MFA, Ohio University. 

BentleyHeydt.com

VISUAL PROJECTION DESIGNER: A New York and Chicago based projection designer, Paul’s work has been seen at The Goodman, The Muny, Asolo Rep, The Second City, En Garde Arts, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Paramount Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Court Theatre, American Blues Theater, The Neo-Futurists, Jackalope Theatre Company, Mosaic Theatre Company, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and many others. He is the recipient of 2 Joseph Jefferson Awards, the 1999 Sportsman of the Year Award on his tee-ball team. Paul holds a B.A. in Theatre from Columbia College Chicago and an M.F.A. in Projection & Multimedia from the University of Maryland. He is a proud artistic affiliate with American Blues Theater and a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. Outside of theatre, Paul enjoys board games and cooking new recipes.

PaulDeziel.com

SET DESGN: Elena Vannoni is an accomplished theatre director and set and costume designer with a rich background in the arts. She began her career by studying costume design at the Art Institute of Florence and later earned degrees in History of Music and Theatre from the University of Florence and Theatre Direction from the National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome. Her award-winning direction, including the 2005 National Prize of the Arts, highlights her talent. Notable works include Miss Julie by Strindberg and The Divine Mimesis by Pasolini. Elena draws from methodologies like Grotowski, Commedia dell'Arte, and Orazio Costa's Mimesic Method, emphasizing physical performance. Her career has taken her globally, from Berlin to New York, where she earned a Master's in Theatre Directing at Columbia University. Currently based in New York, Elena continues to work on various theatre projects, contributing her versatile artistic vision to the stage.

www.elenavannoni.com

STAGE MANAGER/ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: My Le is a talented theater artist from Vietnam with international experience in design, directing, and stage management. In 2020, My Le worked with the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet as an Assistant Director and Stage Manager for their production of Les Miserables. In 2022, she made her directing debut in Vietnam with Alice in Wonderland the Musical at The Hanoi Opera House, becoming one of the youngest directors to do so. In 2023, My Le worked as an Assistant Director at Theater for The New City and participated in the Summer Street Theatre. She was also a Production Assistant for Krymov Lab’s Big Trip at La MaMa. In 2024, My Le built her technical skills further, working as a technical intern and lighting/projection designer at Theaterlab on productions like Kinetic Mirrors Portraits and Beyond, Heisenberg, Haptic Drift, and Mad Mystic. She also served as a panelist for the New Perspectives Theatre Company’s play selection for their 2024 Women’s Short Play Lab. My Le graduated from Hunter College with a major in Theater and an Arts Management and Leadership Certificate. She was a Fellow at Little Island in the summer of 2024. That same year, she directed The Collapse of The Hubbard Glacier at Frigid New York, earning a nomination for Best Direction (Off-Off-Broadway play) at the 2024 Broadway World Off-Broadway Awards. 

LINE PRODUCER: Sage Kirwan is a New York based actor and producer with a particular interest in stories that center on history, strong female characters and the exploration of spirituality. 

Talking With Angels: Budapest, 1943 is her theatrical debut as a producer. Recent theater development projects include several new plays developed with AMT Theater and 29th Street Playwrights.

An alumna of NYU Tisch, Sage has spent the past decade in film and television. Recent film credits include film-festival shorts Gen Sex (2024) and Lingering (2020), as well as the HBO-film Paterno (2018). She has co-starred in television favorites Blue Bloods (CBS), Shades of Blue (NBC), Dietland (AMC) and Nurse Jackie (Showtime). She continues to study acting with the Bob Krawkower Gang. 

SageKirwan.com

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Sam Grobmeier (she/her) is a Chicagoland-born, NYC-based producer & actor with a passion for bringing important, untold stories to the stage and screen. She most recently was the lead producer of the industry reading of All the Frozen Ones, a new play starring TONY Award-winner Robert Sean Leonard. She was previously a producing assistant with bd productions, where she worked on Broadway shows and national tours (SIX, The Outsiders, Jagged Little Pill, and more). She is also the co-founder of The Maddog Strong Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on organ donation education. Through this, she was the Associate Producer on the documentaries Teach Life and GIFTED: The Docuseries, both of which earned International Telly Awards. She holds a BFA in Drama with a minor in Producing from NYU Tisch and is expected to graduate with her MBA in May. Sam dedicates everything she does to her younger sister, Maddie, who has the best seat in the house up there. 

SamGrobmeier.com

PUBLICITY AND MARKETING: is a publicity and marketing specialist with over two decades of experience working with visual and performing artists on two continents. In NYC, she worked with venues such as JACK, HERE, New York Live Arts, and The New Ohio Theater and represented works by such artists as Gabri Christa, Shamel Pitts and TRIBE, Dan Safer and Witness Relocation, Raja Feather Kelly's the feath3r theory, Pavel Zustiak's Palissimo, Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup, and many others. When not managing someone’s marketing/PR matters, she translates American literature into her native Polish, specializing in nonfiction dealing with women’s and social issues. Her 2010 nonfiction debut, Nowy Jork: Przewodnik niepraktyczny, went through four editions and six printings.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Theaterlab: Orietta Crispino is an accomplished theatre artist, born in Italy. She is a graduate of the prestigious Piccolo Teatro School in Milan, where she worked with the major Italian directors Giorgio Strehler and Massimo Castri. She later taught acting and directing there. Among her many theatre projects are: Passport No. 23.922, a piece she wrote and directed on the life of Tina Modotti; and a three year-project in Trieste directing the plays of Pirandello’s Italian contemporaries. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and the League of Professional Theatre Women. In addition to her theatre work, Ms. Crispino has done art projects on the body in its performative aspect. Her body research culminated in a performance piece with the photographer Vibeke Jensen, Camera Obscura, shown at PS1 in New York, Bogota and Trieste. Her most recent productions at Theaterlab are Three Sisters Come and Go and Snow in the Living Room, a retelling of the Brothers Grimms’ Snow White.

Ms. Crispino’s acting credits include The Library (Crossing the Line Festival, FIAF); In the House of My Beloved (Women’s Project); The Living Room Series (HERE); Dancing, not Dead (The Internationalists); Dante (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), and Snow in the Living Room (Theaterlab).

Orietta Crispino

HUNGARIAN SOLDIER: David Noles

LITTLE GIRL: Janet Parker

GERMAN SOLDIER: Axel Huesemann