We are extremely grateful to all who have participated in the creation of this event. In particular, the event would not be happening if it weren't for the incredible team below. This collection of passionate people have volunteered their time, talent and knowledge to the benefit of this cause and the impact that it will have for the next generation of actors.
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PRODUCTION
Felicia Mariah D'Ascanio | Founder
Felicia Mariah D'Ascanio is an actress and singer at the heart of all she does. With a strong passion for performance, she pursued Theatre at Indian River Community College in FL and followed with Marketing at the University of Central Florida. Throughout her college and adult life, she picked up a love for photography, especially for the art of actor headshots. After school, she joined the Coastal Source team in the Florida Keys as their Event Coordinator and Customer Relations Manager. After a year of island-life, she decided it was time for the big city and moved up to NY, bringing along her camera and a little bit of that Florida warmth. Three years later, she continues to work remotely for Coastal Source while pursuing her multiple passions. Felicia has had the pleasure to participate in many shows during the span of her career. Some favorite roles include Lucinda in Hunting Aliens, Gertie Cummings in Oklahoma: The Musical, Brooke in Noises Off, and Oliver in Oliver: The Musical.
Logan Crane | Director of Operations
Born & raised in upstate NY, Logan Crane has always been heavily involved in the music scene which led him to his first education at Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) for Music Recording. During his years at FLCC, he toured the Northeast with his band, the Looking Glass Self, as a guitarist and back-up vocalist. As his skills and interests grew, he took up a double major in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). While working through his education, he managed retail stores, including Radio Shack, and eventually was led into a position as Master Engineer and Service Trainer at Samsung. Wanting to advance his career and explore other fields, he sought work with A.B.E. Networks where he works currently in Technology Integration and Project Management.
Adar Beck-Levran | Media Coordinator
Born and raised in Israel, Adar moved to NYC five years ago after graduating Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel with a B.A. in Communication focusing on Video Editing & Production. She currently works as a Video Editor at Refinery29 and has worked on many freelance projects including music videos, TV commercials, event & fundraising videos, among others. She's happily married to Ido, which whom she shares a passion for theatre and the arts.
Dave Stishan | Participant Outreach
Originally from Baltimore, Dave graduated from Shenandoah Conservatory with a BFA in Acting and a Minor in Vocal Performance. Most recently he was seen in a featured role in NBC’s The Blacklist. Theatre Credits; Billy ’Torch’ Murphy, Riff Raff; Sergei, Lured (World Premiere, Theatre for the New City); Chad, All Shook Up; Riff Raff, The Rocky Horror Show; Gerry, Dancing at Lughnasa; Willie Conklin, Ragtime; Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac. As a playwright, two of Dave’s one-act’s have been produced in New York. His full length, September 11th Was a Tuesday, was the runner-up in the inaugural New Voices of Virginia Playwrighting Contest. His screenplay, Seahorse, co-written with James Rees (Orange is the New Black, Mr. Robot, Gotham) was a Top-10 finalist in the 2016 Hollywood Screen Writing Contest and took second prize in the 2016 World Series of Screenwriting. He’s also a musician, beach bum, and a loving dog dad.
davestishan.com | @dstish
TEACHERS
Aaron Galligan-Stierle
Aaron Galligan-Stierle is an accomplished actor, director and producer with critically acclaimed work that ranges from Broadway musicals to Shakespeare. He is also a highly sought-after audition coach providing exclusive workshops and one-on-one training for professionals in the Broadway community and at top universities across the country.
Galligan-Stierle debuted on Broadway as Papa Who in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas followed by a wide range of performances including Henry Ford in the Tony-nominated revival of Ragtime and Mike Nulty in the National Tour of White Christmas. Galligan-Stierle was selected by Hal Prince to replace the longest-running actor in a Broadway show, taking over the role of Monsieur Andre in The Phantom of the Opera.
Galligan-Stierle is well-known across the country in premiere regional theaters that develop new works and top Shakespeare companies including 7 seasons for the Tony award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival. He was Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Late Night Cabaret at the Utah Shakespearean Festival and his commitment to new works development includes serving on the selection committee for the New American Playwright’s Project and the York Theater Developmental Reading Series. He also works regularly as a director for the NYU Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program thesis projects.
Some of Galligan-Stierle’s highlights as an actor include Dromio in The Comedy of Errors, Feste in Twelfth Night, Smee in the regional Premiere of Peter and the Starcatcher, Clown #1 in The 39 Steps, Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice, Leo Davis in Room Service, Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew, Mordred in Camelot, Evelyn Oakleigh in Anything Goes, Lt. Billis in South Pacific, Frankie in Forever Plaid, Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Utah Shakespeare Festival), Motel in Fiddler on the Roof (Maine State Music Theater), Daryl Grady in Curtains (Papermill Playhouse and TUTS), Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival), and Ted in the World Premiere of Island Song (Adirondack Theater Company).
Aaron was an Executive Producer and Casting Director for the upcoming feature film Ruin Me and served as Associate Director for Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas at The Grand Old Opry and Madison Square Garden, as well as Twelve Angry Men and Charlie’s Aunt at The Utah Shakespeare Festival. Aaron directed The Tempest at Sacramento Theater Company and The world premiere of a new musical Under the Bodhi Tree at The Royal Family Theater in a block from Times Square in NYC.
Galligan-Stierle is the East Coast Director for MaxTheatrix, NYC’s premiere audition coaching company. He holds a BFA in Musical Theater from Shenandoah University and an MFA in Acting from Penn State University. He currently lives in New York City with his wife and two children.
Learn more at aarongs.com and maxtheatrix.com
Unions & Affiliations: SDC, AEA, SAG-AFTRA
Dr. John Tantillo
Dr. John Tantillo is abranding and marketing expert widely known as “The Marketing Doctor. His over 90 published opinion columns in major news publications and international/national media appearances on radio/television (MSNBC, BBC, French TV, ABC, Fox Business and Fox News) utilize what he calls his marketing lens, to analyze the personalities of the day whether they be entertainers, politicians, or media types. His latest project is to teach others, especially entertainers, how best to “Go Brand Yourself!”
He is credited with coining the term The O'Reilly Factor, which later became the title of Bill O'Reilly’s television show. He was the host of BrandTalk, the only show on radio where branding gets personal (www.brandtalkradio.com), which was heard on WVOX Radio and is the author of the book, “People Buy Brands Not Companies.” http://www.amazon.com/People-Buy-Brands-Not-Companies/dp/0984436707. His online personal branding course: “Go Brand Yourself with Dr. John Tantillo. The secrets of branding for personal and professional success ” is the helpful primer for the young professional looking for career advice. He is currently writing, his second book, “Go Brand Yourself!” and already working on his next book: “My mother said no to piano lessons.”
A graduate of St. Francis College, Queens College of the City University of New York and Hofstra University, Tantillo holds a Masters in Experimental Psychology and a doctorate in Applied Research Psychology.
Angel Luis - Movement, Health & Stress Strategist
Angel offers nonstop, hard charging, high performance, over-achievers a new way of thinking about health, stress, productivity and performance.
Angel’s decidedly unconventional approach to less stress, better health and more success, is centered around education; simplifying the science of stress, offering a deeper understanding of how the body works, and purposeful solutions to improve energy, vitality, and resiliency.
His aim is in helping forward-thinking CEO’S, entrepreneurs, actors and athletes, maintain a more sustainable level of health and success, through the uses of stress reducing, metabolism boosting nutritional therapies, experimental health-style interventions, and a more mindful mindset.
Mark Doherty
Mark attended Trinity College in Hartford, CT, where he lettered in football and graduated with a B.S. in Biology in 1994. It was in college where Mark was first exposed to the theater, performing in three theatrical productions. Immediately following his graduation from college, Mark worked for an organization called Shake-A-Leg, a summer camp for paraplegics and quadriplegics, in Newport, RI. During his summer employment, Mark performed in his 4th theatrical production. In the fall of 1994, he relocated to New Haven, CT where he worked as a paralegal for a prominent asbestos litigator. In 1997, Mark embarked on a 10yr. career in corporate medical sales, involving pharmaceuticals, biotech and medical equipment. His medical sales career relocated him to Long Island, NY, in 2003 and ultimately to Manhattan in 2004. It was in 2006 that Mark started working with the 4th Wall Actors Workshop in NYC, performing in numerous black-box theater productions. In 2007, he left medical sales to pursue a career in acting.
Abbe Gail Gross
Abbe Gail Gross is a member of Actors Equity and SAG/AFTRA. She studied at Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, The American Academy Of Dramatic Arts, SUNY Brockport, and has her Masters Degree in Performance Studies from Hofstra University. Abbe is the coordinator of the Theatre Department at the Long Island High School for The Arts where she teaches Acting, Musical Theatre Audition Technique and Stage Management. She is an adjunct professor in the Theatre Department at Queensborough Community College where she teaches Acting. Abbe taught at SUNY Old Westbury, where she received an award "For Excellence in Theatre Arts" from the Alumni Association, has been listed in Who’s Who In American Teachers six times and was nominated for The Disney Teacher’s Award five times. Channel 11 Morning News did a segment on her guest appearance on Broadway in The Rocky Horror Show. Acting credits include EdWARd 2 at The New York Fringe Festival, I Ought To Be In Pictures, and performances of her original suffrage play I Want My Vote. For Broadway Club House she directed Penguins Are Mad Scary, Why Vampire Musicals Suck and Most Likely To…The Senior Superlative Musical. Most Likely To... was chosen to perform at The Midtown International Theatre Festival on Theatre Row where it was nominated for eleven awards including Best Director and won Best Ensemble. Other directing credits include PROSPECT HIGH: BROOKLYN, shows for Modern Theatre Of Myth, Locust Valley Jesters and Town of Hempstead Parks Department.
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Jenna Pinchbeck
Jenna Pinchbeck, Actor, Photographer, and Teaching Artist currently resides in Philadelphia, PA where she has made a living as an artist. As an actor, she has been seen regionally in roles such as Hope in Urinetown, Anna in The King and I, and Kate Monster/Lucy The Slut in Avenue Q. As a Photographer, she excels in Headshots for her fellow actors and knows what casting directors are looking for. She teaches classes such as Acting Through Song and Improv at The Walnut St Theatre and The Arden Theatre in Philadelphia. Passionate about storytelling and art of all mediums, she is so thrilled to be a part of this amazing workshop that will help inform young artists on how to make a living in this industry.
Stefanie Flamm
Stefanie is an actor, writer, and photographer based in NYC. She earned her BFA in Acting from Marymount Manhattan College, and now works full time developing marketing content for the music distribution service TuneCore. She has 6 years of experience in both theatre production and headshot photography, and has worked as a studio assistant/content marketer for NYC headshot photographer Taylor Hooper. She performs regularly as an improviser and actor at UCB and Reckless Theatre, and has written and produced the web series Kombucha Catch-Up.
Mike Petzinger
Mike Petzinger is an accomplished photographer specializing in portrait and event photography. Based in Hoboken, he works out on assignments or out to capture life's more memorable moments. He most often supports performers or live bands and is a staple of the tri-state area music community.
Press: Bullett Magazine, The Aquarian, Tri-City News, Courier News, The Taipei Times, NJ.com, CoolDad Music, and Speak Into My Good Eye.
Brands: Merge Records, Third Man Records, Asbury Park Denim, AcdWsh, Terlato Wines, Little Dickman Records, Round Hill Records"
Awards: 2015 Asbury Music Award Nominee - Photography 2016 Asbury Music Award Nominee - Photography
Anna Yatskevich
Anna Yatskevich is NYC based photographer / videographer who is passionate about photographing the jazz scene in New York City. Her works strives to show the magical moments of jazz, on and off stage. Anna works regularly with record labels, musicians, clubs, universities and nonprofits dedicated to the world of music and jazz. Her work has appeared in Downbeat, NY Times, Jazz Times, and numerous CD covers.