Hometown: Sleepy Hollow, NY
Education: Point Park University Conservatory of Performing Arts.
Favorite Credits: Shining City (Off the Wall Theatre), Clue!: The Staged Reading
Why theater?: I have always loved telling stories, and engaging with people through that shared experience.
Tell us about Row After Row: Row After Row is a wonderful play about what do you fight for when the sides aren’t clearly drawn. Friendship, family, your livelihood, what is truly worth charging at all costs for? And is it ok to run away? Is it ok to not fight?
What inspired you to direct Row After Row?: This piece really spoke to the sort of conflict I was having in my own personal life of, do I keep fighting for this career in theatre I have always dreamed of, or do I run away. Stand and fight or give up? And this play gave me a reason to stand and fight!
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I am a huge Shakespeare fan, I love the classics, and any contemporary twist on the classics. I can say that the beginning of me getting into directing was when I saw David Cromer’s production of Our Town at Barrow Street. That sort of stripped down storytelling, that conversation with the audience was so wonderful that I wanted to know how he did that.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Well, David Cromer of course, but also Fiasco Theatre. I am in love with their work and want to learn how they do it. How do they create these just wonderfully charming, and moving plays, with such an intimate and warm atmosphere. Every time I see one of their shows I just want to jump up and join them.
What show have you been recommending to your friends?: Even though I haven’t seen it yet, I would probably be recommending the Deaf West’s Spring Awakening. I am so anxious to see it!
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Martin Starr would play Teen/College James, and then Adrien Brody would take on Adult James in a movie titled “I’m Just Saying…"
If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: I would probably want to go back and see Joe Papp’s first Shakespeare in the Park which was a production of Julius Caesar.
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Probably TV and snacking. There is nothing I like better than a good veg session on the couch.
If you weren’t working in theater, what would you be doing?: I’d like to think I would have ended up a historian of some sort.
What’s up next?: Up next after Row After Row at the end of October is Cave Theatre’s monthly show at UNDER St. Marks, Torchlight Series, and then right on into our second full length production Touch by Toni Press-Coffman