THE TEAM
FRANK J. AVELLA
Playwright
Frank J. Avella received a 2015 Fellowship Award from the NJ State Council on the Arts for his play CONSENT which was a semi-finalist for the 2012 O’Neill and will be published by Adirondack Plays as part of an LGBTQ anthology this winter. He is the recipient of a 2016 Helene Wurlitzer Residency Grant & Bumbalo/Chesley Foundation Playwright Award, also for CONSENT, which confronts bullying and homophobia. Frank has written 19 full-length plays; 10 have been produced. VATICAN FALLS, set against the backdrop of the Catholic sex abuse scandal, will have its World Premiere in February of 2018 in Malta. His other work includes: LURED, FOR MAMMA, MICHAEL’S #1FAN (2000 OOB run) and ORVILLE STATION, which has been published in the UK by Lazy Bee Scripts. Upon reviewing Frank’s farce IRIS, in 2005, the Cincinnati Post wrote: “Avella’s plays tend to send earthquakes through his audience's comfort zones.” He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.
CHRISTINE COX
Associate Producer
ROD KAATS
Director
Rod directed Marvin’s Room (with T.R. Knight) and Company (with Norm Lewis and Donna McKechnie) at the Helen Hayes Theatre Company in Nyack, NY (where he was also the Artistic Director). He directed Neil’s Garden at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre and wrote and directed The Ballad of Little Jo in The Harold Prince Musical Theatre Program, a new musical that was subsequently awarded
The Richard Rodgers Award and produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. Rod produced the West Coast production of Silence! The Musical and What You Will starring Roger Rees at American Conservatory Theatre. TCG New Artistic Directors Program, Charles H. Revson Directing Fellowship, Lincoln Center Lab Director, Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop.
JOHN DAVID WEST
Photography / Social Media
John David West is the managing editor for MoviefiedNYC.com an online film and TV journal. He also writes for Un-titled project. He received an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School and BS in Business Administration/Theater from Indiana State University. David spent two years in Frankfurt, Germany, performing in Tony ‘n' Tina's Wedding and teaching theater at the Frankfurt International School. David later moved to New York City where he became owner and director of Center Stage, Some of his NYC theater creadits include: Classically Trained, Practically Broke (director),Cannibal the Musical (actor). On the social media front David manages Instagram for @Parsonsschoolofdesign, @moviefiedNYC, and @johndavidwest.
CAPPY
Fight Choreographer
JOEL FROOMKIN
Dialect Coach
DAVID SHOCKET
Lighting Designer
MARIO MERONE
Stage Manager
Mario Merone (Italian actor, director, playwright and drama teacher). Graduated of Silvio d’Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome and Bachelor of Arts in Drama at University of Bologna. He has performed and directed many plays across the Europe (Romeo and Juliet, Schindler’s list, The Wizard of Oz, Miles Gloriosus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) Castillo Theatre credits in New York include "The proverbial Loons ", "The Donut Play" and "Still on the Corner". As a member of KIT (Kairos Italy Theatre) he performed "Six characters in search of a country" for the PEN world voices festival.