"The subjects for our people's theatre will have to be new. Its
audience has changed, and now we must talk to this audience about itself.
As far as I am concerned, I now have nothing more to say to the
bourgeois."
-Jean-Paul Sartre
1955
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About the Crew of . . .
HARVEST
Scroll down to meet the fearless gang of behind-the-scenes-ians
who made everything possible!
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Kurt Schneiderman*
(Director/Web Designer/Photographer)
Subversive Theatre's Founder & Artistic Director,
Kurt is thrilled to bring to life this woefully under-produced play and help
rebuild awareness of the radical works of Langston Hughes..
A playwright, director, Award-winning lighting
designer, college professor, and life-long activist, Kurt has directed the lion's share of
Subversive Theatre's productions including our Artie-Award winning WAITING FOR
LEFTY (2008).
Kurt's plays have been seen in NYC, Montreal,
Chicago, and Toronto as well as enjoying multiple productions here in Buffalo. He
proudly dedicates all his artistic works to the coming Peoples' Revolution.
Time for the weak to get strong!
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Rachel Zeller
(Stage Manager/Props Mistress)
Subversive Theatre's recently enshrined Production
Manager, Rachel is pleased to be stage managing her fourth Subversive production . . . the first
three were THE HAIRY APE
for the 2009 Buffalo "infringement" Festival, TWILIGHT,
and WIDOWS.
Rachel has been involved in
theatre since the tender age of eight years old, and has worked on many, many
shows both on stage and behind the scenes. She holds an A.S. in Theatre from Finger Lakes
Community College and recently earned her B.A. in Theatre from UB.
A mother of two beautiful
daughters, and married to the perfect man, Rachel is very humble. |
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Dyan O'Connell*
(Set Design)
Dyan is excited to be working on yet another production with Subversive Theatre. Our
Troupe's co-Resident Set Designer, she's crafted sets for many of our productions
including WAITING
FOR LEFTY (2008), NICKEL
AND DIMED (2008), ...AND
THEY PUT HANDCUFFS ON THE FLOWERS. (2008), PALACE
OF THE END (2008), DROP HAMMER
(2008), OUROBOROS
(2009), WATERBOARDING
BLUES (2009), TWILIGHT
(2009), and -- most recently -- 84
(2010).
Dyan has an MFA in Stage Design from
Southern Methodist University in Dallas and a BA in Theatre
Design and Technology from the University at Buffalo . . . and she also looks
great with chains! Designs in Dallas include HAMLET and SPRING
AWAKENING.
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Jacob Vogelman
(Lighting Design)
This is Jacob's first time working with Subversive
Theatre. He is a Senior in the Theater Department at the University at
Buffalo where he does extensive work on Departmental projects in the realm of
both lighting and props.
Please check back for his more detailed bio. |
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John Shotwell*
(Sound Designer)
Subversive Theatre's Resident Sound Designer, John is a
certifiably insane freelance audio engineer and stagehand.
His extensive list of sound design credits include: New Phoenix Theatre, Road
Less Traveled Productions, Shakespeare in Delaware Park, and the Lazlo/Rozler Noise Project.
As a sound tech, John has toured the World with Rock
Groups The
John and Mary Band, Moxy Fruvous, The 10,000
Maniacs, The Horse Flies, and Enter the Haggis.
With Subversive Theatre, John has conjured soundscapes
for a long list of our productions from A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON MY WAY TO SHOOT THE CZAR
way back in 2004 to our most recent production 84.
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Paul Stephenson*
(Costume Design)
After years as a Fashion Design Major at Chicago's
Columbia College of the Arts and as a pattern maker for Chicago's Mir
Couture,
Paul has recently returned to his native soil of Buffalo where he works on
several different aspects of fashion design.
Paul has served as the costumier for Subversive Theatre's
productions of DROP
HAMMER (2008), WATERBOARDING BLUES (2009),
and -- most recently -- THE
HAIRY APE (for the 2009 Buffalo "infringement"
Festival). For some reason, he just keeps putting up with us! We're thrilled to have him on board yet
again. |
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Megan Callahan
(Dialect Coach)
A "Jill" of
all trades, Megan is a musician, director, actor, teacher, yoga instructor,
writer, and holistic care practitioner.
Holding an MFA from Wayne State University, Megan has
served as Dialect Coach for several recent theatre productions including BLOOD
BROTHERS & CHARLEY'S AUNT for Irish Classical and THE
IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST & SHIRLEY VALENTINE for the Vermont
troupe Lost Nation Theater.
This is Megan's third time working with Subversive
Theatre, earlier this season she served as Dialect Coach for our production of
Ariel Dorfman's WIDOWS.
Most recently, she directed our staged reading of GUANTANAMO.
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Monica Karwan*
(Movement Choreography)
A
graduate of UB's Department of Theatre and Dance, Monica boasts an M.A. in Expressive Arts Therapy
from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Experienced in Dance Therapy and a number
of movement-oriented techniques, Monica's been involved with experimental
movement projects from London, England to Kingstown, Jamaica.
Subversive Theatre shows she's been involved with,
either as a choreographer or as a performer or as both, include THE
ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST (2002), BURY
THE DEAD (2003), THE
EXCEPTION AND THE RULE (2007), ...AND
THEY PUT HANDCUFFS ON THE FLOWERS. (2008), OUROBOROS
(2009), THE HAIRY APE
(2009), and -- most recently -- 84
(2010). |
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Melissa Grosse
(Poster Illustrator)
This is Melissa's fourth time crafting images for Subversive
Theatre. She started off by sketching backdrops for our production of THE
HAIRY APE as part of the 2009 Buffalo "infringement"
Festival, then she designed and illustrated the poster for WIDOWS
(2009), and then illustrated both the poster and the playbill for WE WON'T
PAY! WE WON'T PAY! -- a production that never saw the light of day (but,
hey, the posters still looked great!).
We're glad to have Melissa in on the fun again this
time around.
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Michael Fanelli*
(Theatre Set-Up)
As Subversive Theatre's Executive Director, Board
Member, and Treasurer, Mike
routinely plays a variety of crucial roles in bringing our productions to
life.
As always, we're delighted to have him on board.
Thanks, Mike, we couldn't do it with out ya! |
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Tom Izard*
(Construction & Theatre Set-Up)
With Subversive Theatre, Tom is as both an actor and
as the Financial Secretary for our Troupe. In civilian life, Tom is a
free-lance computer programmer and engineer. Many's the time we have
called upon Tom to lend his engineering and just plain grunt labor abilities
to our endeavors.
For this project, Tom went all out designing and
constructing audience platforms and sweating his guts out arranging the
non-performance areas of the theatre. Thank you Tom for all your amazing
work!
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Tom Scahill*
(House Management)
A member of Subversive Theatre's Board of Directors
and the Organizer of our Troupe, Tom has long played an important role
tackling the unglamorous logistical tasks that make a theatre run . . . and,
as if this wasn't enough, he's also acted in a number of our productions!
On this project, Tom is once again playing a crucial
role overseeing the challenges of House Management and assembling a great team
of ushers, helpers, and do-ers, as well as doing the lion's share of the
postering. Way to go, Tom! |
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* = indicates members of the Subversive Theatre
Collective
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