Jeromy Barber
Jeromy Barber made his way to New York from Houston, Texas. During the day
he works in a church, and by night he is acting in shows like Zoo. He also
does film from time to time as he aspires to do it for money. Film. Like
all Texans, he loves his mother who will probably come to every performance
if she can afford it. If funds are low, he will sneak her backstage and hide
her in some curtain, prop, or maybe even on stage. Jeromy also writes
music and sings. Like most songwriters, he often finds himself in front of
an audience making up songs about riding a tricycle to the dentist, falling
down and scraping his knee because he prefers peanut butter sandwiches to
washing dishes. While being in New York, Jeromy has fallen in love with
improvisation. He takes classes at 2nd City, which has made him a constant
frustration to directors and writers on sets and stages all over the city.
"Is that in the script?" is a question the constantly comes up around Jeromy.
The most important thing about Jeromy is that he is happy. He is close to
his Mom, has great friends, a good day-job accompanied by an understanding
boss, and gets to pursue all of his dreams with the support of everyone he
loves. Although moody, he often smiles.
Renee Benson (email: [email protected])
"It was a stormy night. The kinda night when lightning strikes. And I was hanging with some of my artsy friends..." Erykah Badu
I was born, on a hill not so far away. "I had holes in my shoes and I was crying the blues, and I didn't have no place to stay." (the beginning to the scarecrow's solo from The Wiz.) I guess that is how we all started out. As a native of Jersey (and what), what in reality is an hour and a half drive proved to be 21plus years to get to NYC.
As a child, I graced the runway for Buster Brown (beasty, but true), mooned passers by my house, and stayed on the phone after school everyday for 2 hours talking to Miss Piggy on the Muppet Hotline. None of it did my parents approve of. Especially Miss Piggy. But I always had a feeling that these talents would someday come in handy...
As Ali Benson and the 40 student loans to attend NYU's undergraduate acting program, I had this vision of becoming one of the greatest performers of the world. To perform Shakespeare, Alice Childress, Pearl Cleage and Bertolt Brecht were my desires. I dreamed of singing songs with Whitney (now no one wants to do that), Billie Holiday, and my mother's favorite, Patti LaBelle. So I studied 3 1/2 years: 2 1/2 years at Strasberg, one semester at RADA in London, and a summer semester in Amsterdam with ETW. I was attempting to grab on to all of the resources at NYU. And through my years at school, my dreams became more demanding. I wanted to meet Shakespeare, be pen pals with Alice, share folklore with Pearl, and discuss theater as a medium for political change with my man, Bertolt.
"The kinda night when lightening strikes..." When one is an actor, or dancer, or singer, -- he or she is a performer. Unless one says I want to strive to have a performer perform my work. Unless one says maybe I am the 21 year old Alice Childress, they are still a performer.
"An artist is one who creates, imitates and describes life and all its many forms..." (from my journal entry Jan 15th, 1999.)
"...some of my artsy friends..."
I have done shows. We have all done shows. You know that. I will do more. If you want a list, see my resume. But how many of our own? That is why I am involved with MW Theatre Company, because our goal is to create and to assist others in their personal creative projects. I want our experiences, our ideas to breathe. And breathe they will. There will always be stormy nights in the forecast.
* I thank you for being an artist and allowing me to be unconventional.
Jimmy Bopp
The "late bloomer." Hailing from the birthplace of suburbia, Levittown, Long
Island. Jimmy was the shy, "quiet kid," and bowling ace through out his
school days. It wasn't until after college, when he discovered an Adult
Education Acting Class, that he tossed his bowling shoes aside and fell in
love with acting. After gracing the background of many films Jimmy made
another important discovery, the Atlantic Theater Company's Acting School.
After completing the 2 year Professional program at the Atlantic in May 2000,
Jimmy has worked on an independent film and with the 24-Hour Play Group. Now
he's discovered the crazy girls of the MW and is excited to be a part of
their first production. What's next?...... Only time will tell.
Andy Brown
Andy Brown is an actor, writer, and filmmaker. Since moving to NYC from Colorado 8 years ago he has performed in many shows in and around the city. He is a co-founder of 5 of a Kind (NYC based children's theater company), and co-founder/V.P. of AuditionsInteractive.com.
Andy Cohen
First of all, let me give a BIG thank you to Jessica, Renee, and
Margarita for the opportunity to participate and contribute to Zoo!
How did I come to hear about this project? Through the internet, the same way you are hearing about me.
And how did I come to doing sound design? It came to me as a natural extension of the work I do as a composer. My current ambition is to write music for Broadway shows; until the "big break" comes along, I need some opportunities to use the computer and recording studio equipment I've accumulated over the years to express myself in creative ways. And I can think of nothing more enjoyable than doing sound design
and writing music for theater pieces...O.K., sure, I'd love to drop in some drum loops and mix out a killer hip-hop track for
the-artist-formerly-known-as Puff Daddy, but I'll have to wait until I finish the symphony I'm writing for the New York Philharmonic first.
And how did I come to composing music? Despite that no one in my family
is a professional (or even competent) musician, I developed a love of
music from an early age. And after playing numerous instruments in
numerous orchestras, jazz combos, and rock pop and folk bands, I
realized that I had more fun writing the music than just playing it. And
after 6 years of music studies and two degrees, here I am putting my
skills and experience to good use.
And how did I come to be? Mix a sperm and an egg, and I kinda think you
know the rest.
Jay Curtis
Jay is from Houston, TX, where he last appeared as Fred in the Alley
Theatre's, "A Christmas Carol." Young Aulden in the film, "The Pirate
Island of Jean Laffite," playing daily in Galveston.
www.jasoncurtis.net. Thank you, Donelle.
Shaun Fillion
(Lighting Designer) Internships: New York Theater Workshop,
Ontological Theater, Performing Garage; Lights: HERE, Mambu Mines, The Henry
St. Settlement Theater, The Red Room, The Access Theater, Playwrights Horizons
Theater School, The Piano Store,
The Experimental Theater Wing, National Dance Institute. See him in the lead
of Abe Lebewohl Triangle, the first week of May, ETW!
Alva French
Alva French was born in Paris, France and raised in NYC and Albany, NY. After working for Elektra Records for 4 years,
she decided to pursue greener pastures in film & theatre production and performance. She currently consults for the
Brooklyn Academy of Music as registrar of their 3rd annual Kids Film Festival and as production coordinator of the Royal
National Theatre's NYC school tour of A Midsummer Night's Dream. She is a graduate of NYU where she studied
French and Cinema Studies.
Ladan Jafari
Ladan Jafari, a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico(yes, it-really is a state) and a recent graduate of Syracuse University is happy to be a part of the MW theatre company.- She has enjoyed playing such roles as Maureen(Beauty Queen of Leenane ), Marguerite(Red Noses), Adriana(Comedy of Errors) and many other-snazzy women. She dedicates this performance to her parents because they're really really fantastic.
Haskell King
Haskell is now a website - www.haskellking.com Theatre credits include
Woody in Fill 'er Up, Eben in Desire Under the Elms, and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Film: Jamie Yerkes' "Pagans" and Elise Graven's "Jimmy Crane". He will also be appearing as Jeremiah in Pat Shields' "The New Guard" on Radicalzoo.com in May. Thanks to the fans.
Mia Lotringer
Mia Lotringer has divided her time and education between Paris and New York.
She attended Columbia University and simultaneously completed a two year
program with Maggie Flanigan at the William Esper Studio. She has appeared in
a number of plays including This Property is Condemned, Agnes of God and,
most recently, an off-off Broadway production of Anonymously Written. She has
been in numerous short films and won the Tisch award for her lead role in the
film The Wounding. In addition, she will be in the independent feature,
Malevolence, to be released in fall 2001.
Margarita Manwelyan
(email: [email protected])
Official State Dossier. Born: Leningrad (modern day -- St. Petersburg), USSR. Date: December 3rd, 1978. Early Childhood Profile: Attended Special School #199 (grades 1 through 4 -- top marks), member of the Young Communist Party, expert singer, potter, marksman, avid reader, master of disguise and subversion, superSpy, dancer, actress.
Adolescence. January 15, 1989: Margarita's life changes dramatically when, at the joint request of the KGB and the CIA, she boards a plane with her parents, and little brother and sister, and leaves Russia. Her mission: to observe, infiltrate, gather information and affect change on a global scale.
September 1996. Margarita journeys to New York City to study at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, -- to pursue her burning passion for the stage, and to continue studying the strange taboos and traditions of her adopted homeland. Her assignments have lead Margarita to travel to the far reaches of the earth, and to be continuously surprised by the amazing similarities among humans all over the world.
Present Day. While living a life full of drama, danger and passion in Russia, Italy, France, England, and various locations in the US, Margarita yearns to communicate her top-secret findings to the public at large. Her realizations about love, hate, desire, the universe, and everything are too important to be kept locked away in the safe of her imagination. Since graduating from NYU in December 1999, she continues to discover and be fascinated by the treasures of beauty, and the garbage of ugliness in the vast and varied land of America.
"She's a Ninja in disguise -- no surprise."
Alyson Riffey (email: [email protected])
After serving time in South Georgia for the majority of her youth, Alyson transferred to the loving clutches of NYU, from which she made her escape in May '99. She was rehabilitated at Playwrights Horizons Theater School, and finished her sentence at the Stonestreet Film and TV Studio. Once a free woman, she plans on surviving using the dry wit and various tricks she picked up during her many years in the system.
Jessica Rotondi (email: [email protected])
Long, long ago in a far away place, Jessica was born, in Long Island in 1978. It was a spooky Friday the 13th morning and all through the hospital nothing was stirring, except for Jessica. As a child she would dance around in front of the modern invention of her father¦s General Electric Video Camera, and would write and perform plays for her family. Little Jessica would write, direct, act, and sometimes even draw set backgrounds with her Crayola crayons on cardboard cut-outs.
Then one day, her fairy godmother sent her to the big High School. It was in her High School¦s Players that Jessica would continue her tradition of writing and directing. She realized that she liked having say in not just what shows were produced, but how. When auditioning for the big, scary institution of NYU it seemed clear to Jessica that there was only one studio that was right for her. This was Playwrights Horizons Theater School, where students are encouraged to push themselves to their limit and learn not just an Acting curriculum, but all aspects of theater. Jessica would eventually decide to focus on Directing, and in her Junior year she would have the opportunity to put up her productions in Tisch School f the Arts. Instead of continuing for two semesters in that program, Jessica would decide to take another path through the woods as she got accepted in the Screenwriting program with the Writers Guild of Great Britain in London.
Jessica eventually had the idea to start the theater group that would later become known as the MW Theatre Company, after she realized how talented and well rounded her and her friends were. She is determined to produce work that they are proud of and to fight the evil kingdom of bad theater.
Jillian Wojciechowski
Jillian Wojciechowski thanks the whole damn Zoo. Credits: Off-Broadway: "The
Mikado" (Symphony Space); NY Favorites: writing for/ peforming with the
Estro-Tribe's award-winning "Herstory" (NYC Fringe), "The Rimers of Eldritch"
(Meisner Ext of NYU); "Medea" (Playwrights Horizons TS); Regional: "A Ballad
for Americans" (American Music Theatre Festival), "Crazy for You" (Walnut St
Theatre), Ngugi wa Thiongo's "Detained" (Frederick Loewe Theatre, NYU).
Jillian is a '00 graduate of Tisch School of the Arts.
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Emely Burns (Secretary)
