ALTERED MINDS

The Playwrights JUNE 3rd Staged Reading

JAMES BOSLEY (The Walk Away) is Artistic Director of Up Theater Company in Northern Manhattan where his plays All The Best Ingredients; Broad Channel; andEpic Poetry were premiered. His play Fun, first developed at the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, was given its first production at MCC Theater in NYC, and has had many subsequent productions in the U.S. and abroad, including a Flemish translation at NTGent, Belgium. Fun is published by Dramatic Publishing Company.  He’s also seen work produced by Emerging Artists, Qwirk, and more.  James was a 2018 member of Theater at Lincoln Center Directors Lab.

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PHIL DARG (Hero) is the author/composer of many plays and musicals including: Sasquatched! The Musical (NYMF 2013 Next Link); The Pound: A Musical for the Dogs (2017 Theatre Now New York Sound Bites); ‘Til Death (Artists Exchange); The Interrogation(Chagrin Valley Little Theatre), Critical (Carrollwood Players), We Need To Talk (Manhattan Repertory Theatre), The Quick Start Guide to Booting Your Man-Bot (Old Library Theatre); Facility (2017 William Inge selection; Twin Cities Arts Reader “Best in Fringe”), Habeas Non Corpus (North Hennepin Community College); Dido: Queen of Carthage (staged reading, Playwrights’ Center), Hyard Ed, and Evolution (winner, 2018 William Faulkner Literary Competition). www.PhilDarg.com

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LOGANN GRAYCE (It Gets Better) is so excited to be making their debut with the Alternative Theater Company and to have their play featured in the Altered Minds Project.  They are an NYC based Actor/ Writer/ Model and advocate for Trans Rights. They have a BFA in Acting from Montclair State University. Logann is no stranger to screen and stage and you may have seen them on several of the shows that shoot here in New York City.   Their goals as a writer are to tell the stories that talk about those who are often underrepresented and crush the stigma that surrounds mental illness once and for all. Special thanks to my kitties Tina and Lousie for all the TLC and to my friends and family who never doubted me, not for a moment.

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EMILY HAGEMAN (Dragged) is a music and theater educator currently residing in Sioux City, Iowa.  Her plays have seen production with Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, Heartland Theatre Company, A Light in Dark Places, the Red Eye 10s International Play Festival, Eden Prairie Players, Midwest Dramatists Convention, the Growing Stage Theatre, Theatre Evolve, Spokane Stage Left, Iowa State University, and Gi60s.  Emily is also published with YouthPLAYS. Her plays are being constantly workshopped by the magnificent high school and middle school actors at Siouxland Christian School.

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BRETT HURSEY (Riding Lessons) Brett’s comedies have appeared in over a hundred theaters across the country including venues in Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hollywood, as well as internationally in England, Belgium, Luxembourg, Romania, Australia and Canada.  He’s also had over fifty off/off-off Broadway productions in Manhattan

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JONATHAN JOSEPHSON (Phone Friend) Forty of Jonathan's plays have been produced around the world including Actors Theatre of Louisville (Humana Festival), Milwaukee Rep (RepLab), and the Samuel French OOB (Festival Winner). He is also the founding Executive Director of Unbound Productions, and one of the creators of the theatre events Wicked Lit, History Lit and Mystery Lit. He is a five-time Finalist for the Heideman Award, and also a Finalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and the City Theatre National Short Play Award. Fifteen of his plays are published by Sam French, Stage Rights, Playscripts, and other publishers. B.A. Playwriting, UCSD. DG, ALAP. [jonathanjosephson.com]

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RUSSELL NICHOLS  (Warhaholics Anonymous) is a speculative fiction writer and endangered journalist. Raised in Richmond, California, he gave up all his stuff and now lives out of a backpack with his wife, vagabonding around the world since 2011. His plays have been produced by the MOJOAA Performing Arts Company, the Funhouse Anthology, Navigators Theater, Nylon Fusion, and the Fade to Black Festival. Look for him at www.russellnichols.com.

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The Directors

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JUDY DODD (Phone Friend) is an actor, writer and director. Recent projects include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The #Metoo Plays. Most recently, she directed Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. at the Ramaz School. Her play, He Said, He Said was produced as part of The #Metoo Play Festival.

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CELINE HAVARD (Riding Lessons/Dragged) has directed, acted and produced Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway and Regionally for over three decades. Havard was a founding member of Abingdon Theatre Company, Stagedotorg and The Alternative Theatre Company. She's worked with many NYC theater organizations including Pulse Ensemble Theatre Co., The Greenhouse Ensemble,  Intar, the Women’s Project and The Drama League. Havard edits books, plays for stage and screenplays as a Script Doctor and ghost writer. Havard's goal is to serve, share knowledge, and nurture and support her collaborators with work that betters the world in some way!

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ANITA HOLLANDER (Hero) has written, directed & performed work throughout Europe, Asia and America, in film, TV, and live theatre. Theatre Week awarded her Best Director of a Musical for The Goodbye Girl. Her award-winning original solo musical Still Standing has played Off-Broadway, Kennedy Center, White House and nationally. As SAG-AFTRA National Chair of Performers with Disabilities, she works with AEA, Broadway League, Dramatists Guild, ASCAP, WGA, CSA, PGA, AMPTP and ReelAbilities Film Festival promoting greater diversity in all media.

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WILLIAM ROUDEBUSH (The Walk Away) Bill is currently a member of the Playwright/Director Unit at New York’s ACTORS STUDIO. Regionally, he has directed over 250 productions at such theatres as Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Play House, The Hanna Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Syracuse Stage Company, Theatre Virginia, The Fulton Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, GeVa Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Mint Theatre Company, Miami Opera Guild, Palm Beach Opera and many others. His book “ Acting By Mistake” is available at bookstores or online at  HYPERLINK "http://www.xlibris.com" www.xlibris.com as is his website at williamroudebush.com. Additional Note: Bill is currently running a class based on his book. For complete information contact: dentay1@juno.com.

 

JEAN TAIT (It Gets Better) has directed Hello Dolly (starring Pamela Myers and Harvey Evans), Saving Grace, the award-winning Over the River and Through the Woods, Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know, the critically acclaimed Over the Tavern, Pack of Lies, Tsunami Tales, and Steel Magnolias (starring Donna McKechnie, Pamela Myers, Sally Mayes and Emily Swallow) in addition to numerous musical reviews with Donna McKechnie, Amanda McBroom, and Linda Purl.  For the Alternative Theater Company, Jean has directed The Audition, The Proceedings, and Can You Hear Me Now in the MeToo Plays.

BILL WALTERS (Warpaholics Anonymous) came to show biz through a back door. His attempt to become a cartoonist was thwarted by a sheaf of rejection slips from The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal and Playboy, so he decided another field of endeavor would be more welcoming. He had been introduced to the theater by a high school friend and acted and designed plays and musicals for school productions. In 1963, he arrived in New York where he became a jack-of-all-trades with NBC, The New York Shakespeare Festival, The Playhouse of the Ridiculous, and a lot of dinky off-Broadway groups. He did real work for over 50 years touring the world as the irascible stage manager for Peter Schickele's presentations of the music of PDQ Bach. He has dabbled in extra work in movies and TV and once worked  for Gray Line New York Sightseeing as a tour guide riding around on the top of a double-decker bus telling lies about New York City to gullible people from out of town.

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