Below are the recipients of the SDCF Professional Development Program 2022-2023 Season: Cycle 1 opportunities. To read the full press release click here.
Shadows:
Niani Feelings – Bad Cinderella with JoAnn M Hunter
Born into a family of storytellers, Niani Feelings found her way into storytelling through theater and dance. A Columbia, South Carolina native, she made her way to The Boston Conservatory where she received her BFA in Musical Theatre with an emphasis in devised work. It was at the conservatory that she also began to put emphasis on her love for choreography. Niani has been seen in productions at The Muny, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and multiple Broadway Cares Concerts as well as being part of choreography teams at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and SpeakEasy Stage. Most recently, she toured the country serving as a swing and the dance captain of the 1st National Tour of Mean Girls the musical. Now back in New York City, she looks forward to all the opportunities and collaborations to come.
Eric Gelb – Hamilton: The American Musical with Hannah Ryan
Eric Gelb (He/Him) is a Queer & Asian Commercial Musical Theatre Creative!
Fusing together his past experiences in education, management and producing, Eric is now concentrating in maintaining the artistic integrity and direction of hit commercial musicals equitably and safely.
Broadway/Off-Broadway: HAMILTON (SDCF Resident Director Shadow), Head Over Heels & Little Shop of Horrors (co-producer), WICKED Intern, 53% Of and Patience (Company Manager, 2nd Stage Theatre). Other Directing: James & the Giant Peach (Virginia Children’s Theatre), Footloose (Fordham University), Xanadu (The Rose Theater, Omaha). At NYU: Legally Blonde, Beauty and the Beast, Spelling Bee, Mary Poppins.
Eric has managed Broadway-caliber entertainment on the high seas with SIX on Norwegian Cruise Line, and brought to life world-famous characters at Walt Disney World & and Sesame Street Land at SeaWorld Orlando.
After graduating from New York University ‘20, where he received his Bachelor’s in Educational Theatre, Eric was selected to be part of the Inaugural Cohorts (‘21) of both Broadway For Racial Justice’s Casting Initiative & Baseline Theatrical’s Beyond the Stagedoor Management Program. Eric is a TEDxBroadway Young Professional (‘17) and an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. www.ericgelbnyc.com
Maria Huey – Bad Cinderella with JoAnn M Hunter
Maria Huey is a choreographer currently based in Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated from Kenyon College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics and Dance. Since graduating, she has been teaching dance at various studios around Cincinnati as well as choreographing musical theater productions for multiple theatrical groups in the city. Some of the most recent projects she has worked on include Anastasia, Descendants, Seussical, and 42nd Street. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to venture outside of the Midwest to be a part of the SDCF Professional Development Program!
Makenna Masenheimer – Hamilton: The American Musical with Hannah Ryan
Makenna Masenheimer is a Brooklyn based director and producer. NYC theatre includes Othello, Gloria, Fifth Planet, 365 Days/365 Plays, Roger & Vanessa, Our Father and One For the Road. Devised work includes come into this, ONSTAGE/OFFSTAGE and STUFF. Makenna is drawn to work that centers diverse, marginalized individuals and communities taking charge of their narratives. She also enjoys film production, arts management and community education. Makenna received an MFA in directing from Pace University and holds BAs in theatre and English education from Moravian University.
Observers:
Jean Carlo Yunén Aróstegui – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street with Thomas Kail
Jean Carlo Yunén Aróstegui is an LA-based Dominican artist with Spanish and Lebanese roots. He started his artistic journey at fifteen with a dual photo exhibit in Santo Domingo’s Casa de Teatro. He holds an MFA in theater directing from UCLA and a BA in Film, Television and Theater from the University of Notre Dame. He’s worked with REMAP @ UCLA exploring new technologies in storytelling such as AR and VR, with whom he’s co-directed a total of 4 productions, most notably, A Most Favored Nation in collaboration with Epic Games and Amazon Studios. He co-directed La Victima at the LATC, directed The Displaced for Amigos del Rep @ San Diego Rep, and has assistant directed in regional theaters such as OSF, Cincinnati Playhouse, Denver Center for the Performing Arts & Williamstown Theater Festival. He’s a Drama League Directing Assistantship recipient, a Williamstown Boris Sagal Fellow, and inaugural artist in residence for the XR2C2 in Cannes, France. He was a commissioned playwright for the NewAmerican Theater Festival for his play IS SEX. He’s the recipient of multiple photography awards in the Dominican Republic, most recently, he presented his first solo exhibit titled “Conversaciones Íntimas” in the Centro de la Imagen in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo in 2022. He served as Associate Producer for the Latino Theater Company at the LATC from 2020-2022, and is a Producing Artistic Associate for the In The Margin, a QTBIPOC multi-disciplinary artist coalition focused on diverse storytelling and activism.
Mayah Lourdes Burke – The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window with Anne Kauffman
Mayah “My” Lourdes Burke (she/her) is a director, playwright, actor, vocalist, poet, and photographer from NYC. She graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree in Dramatic Arts in 2021 from the CUNY College of Staten Island. Her directing credits include Good Grief: A Best Friend Play (2022, Ghostlight Players Productions) by Ngozi Anyanwu, We are Proud to Present… (2021, Staten Island Shakespeare Co) by Jackie Sibblies Drury, and Funnyhouse of a Negro (2021, College of Staten Island) by Adrienne Kennedy. Her original play, 4SZNS, had its first fully staged production at 2022 Frenzy Fest at El Barrio’s Artspace in East Harlem, NYC. Mayah was a Directing Observer in NAMT’s 34th Annual Festival of New Musicals, where she observed Get Out Alive by Nikki Lynnette, and a Directing Observer for SDCF under Anne Kauffman for the revival of The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window at BAM. In May 2022 Mayah received a Staten Island Youth Award for community contribution to Arts & Culture. She is also a Touring Company Member and Teaching Artist with IlluminArt Productions and an Artistic Coach with MTEAF. She has a passion for encouraging and molding young minds through the power of Artivism. Mayah is exceptionally grateful for the opportunity to be here and would love to give thanks to God and all the people who have supported her along the way.
Claudia Mulet – New York, New York with Susan Stroman
Claudia Mulet is a New York City based multidisciplinary artist, born and raised in Havana, Cuba. Graduated from the Higher Institute of Arts (ISA) in Cuba, with a Bachelor in Performing Arts and a fellowship in dramaturgy. Some of her work includes Teatro El Publico(The Public Theater) in Cuba, Associate director of In The Heights, Oklahoma City University; (guest director), the Palace TheaterErnie DiMattia Emerging young writers award; Agamemnon, (Associate Director) Columbia University, most recently (Associate Director) 2nd National Tourof On Your Feetas part of the Salgado Productions team. Claudia is also an active performer. She has been part of shows like OnYour Feet (First National Tour and Miami), In the Heights among others. Claudia was also part of RENT in Havana, directed by Andy Sr Jr in collaboration with Michael Greif, now a documentary, “Revolution Rent”, on HBO MAX. She believes in the future of a more inclusive and varied theater community.
Sarah Shin – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street with Thomas Kail
Sarah Shin (she/her/hers) is a Schwenksville-raised Boston-trained, Brooklyn-based Queer Korean American director theatre artist that believes theatre to be a celebration of life and its infinite and abundant possibilities. Recent Directing Credits: The Cradle Will Rock (Concord Academy), Manuka (Youngbloods @ Ensemble Studio Theatre). Upcoming: The Chinese Lady (Central Square Theater, Boston Premiere). Associate/Assistant Credits: Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare & Company), The (Diana) Oh Family Concert (Zanni Productions/PBS All Arts), Endlings (NYTW), Moby Dick (ART), Twelfth Night (Catskill Mountain Shakespeare) and MY H8 Letter 2 The Gr8 American Theatre (Ma-Yi/The Public Theater). Select performing credits include The Gift Project Documentary Series & Concert (All For One Theater/Zanni Productions/PBS All Arts), Specially Processed American Me (BRICLab, Ping Chong & Co./Dixon Place/Free Rein Projects). Co-Founding Producing Director of Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston, A4 Virtual Resident Artist (2020-2021), National Queer Theatre Artistic Collective Member (2021-2022), Roundabout Directors Group Cohort 4 Member, and Sanguine Theatre Company Associate Artist! BFA Theatre Arts Boston University www.sarah-shin.com IG: @shinnysarah
Fellows:
Ashley Malafronte – SDCF Noël Coward Fellow on Private Lives with KJ Sanchez
Ashley Malafronte is a director, dramaturg, and educator based in Booklyn. Ashley focuses on radical new adaptations or revivals that challenge canonicity, ensemble-driven devising processes, and work that rejoices in community through both its development and its performance. Ashley has created work at WOW Café Theatre, the Plaxall Gallery, the Center at West Park, and others including site-specific work at the Pier House (Inis Mór, Ireland), Whiting Mills (Winsted, CT), her actual kitchen/cyberspace (Austin, TX/elsewhere), and in various locations with A Broken Umbrella Theatre (New Haven, CT). Directing assistantships/oberverships include work with the Rude Mechs and a SDCF Observership on Erica Schmidt’s Mac Beth at Red Bull Theater. Ashley has served as Artistic Associate at The Dare Tactic, Education Coordinator at Shakespeare on the Sound, and Dramaturgy Co-Chair for the Cohen New Works Festival. She received a master’s degree in Performance as Public Practice, as well as a certificate in Arts & Cultural Management & Entrepreneurship, from the University of Texas-Austin. In addition to her generative work, Ashley is currently Content Editor for HowlRound Theatre Commons and the Head of Theatre Studies for the Waterwell Drama Program at the Professional Performing Arts School, where she teaches conservatory-style courses informed by civic-minded pedagogy. As a teacher, she urges students to be thoughtful, active consumers of theatrical events and intentional, collaborative theatre practitioners. As a theatremaker, of course, she aims to be both of these things herself.
This fellowship is supported in part by the Noël Coward Foundation.
Melory Mirashrafi – Young Americans with Desdemona Chiang
Melory Mirashrafi is a first-generation Iranian-American theatre artist based in Portland, Oregon. Melory’s work spans from new plays and translations to musicals and operas, focusing on art that is rigorous, relevant, and theatrical. They have spent time at notable institutions including the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, where they currently work as Artistic & Producing Associate. Selected credits: English (Speakeasy Stage Company); American Fast (Artists Repertory Theatre); The God Cluster (Fuse Theatre Ensemble); The Music Man (Third Rail Repertory Theatre); Layalina & <<when we write with ashes>> (National Queer Theatre); Shahmaran (Shaking the Tree Theatre); The Little Prince (Opera Theater Oregon). Melory’s writing can be found in the Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays and Routledge’s Troubling Traditions: Canonicity, Theatre, and Performance in the US. @meloryjasmin