ROMELDA TERON BENJAMIN. Broadway: Brooklyn The Musical (Paradise). Off-Broadway: Bare A Pop Opera (Sister Chantell). NY/ National Tours: Chicago (Matron Mama Morton), Catch Me If You Can, Smokey Joe’s Cafe (BJ), The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Big River, IDAHO!, Hair. IG: @romeldateron.

JOE CASSIDY. On Broadway, Joe most recently played Cal in Waitress.  Other Broadway/NYC credits: If/Then; Catch Me If You Can; Next to Normal; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; 1776; Show Boat; Les Miserables; Working (Drama Desk Award); Joe Cassidy: Rockstar at 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, and Ars Nova; and A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden.  TV/Film: A Very Nutty Christmas; Madam Secretary; The Good Fight; Blue Bloods; Elementary; Law & Order; and Submissions Only. Regionally, Joe’s worked coast to coast.  He’s also been a concert soloist with dozens of symphonies around the US & Canada. Love and thanks always, to Ashley. www.joecassidy.net

VITA E. CLEVELAND. Originally from Cleveland, OH., Vita E. has been surrounded by the power of art since childhood. From then on, they made a pledge that they would use the art that inspired them to influence thought, change, and freedom to exist without apology. This pledge would lead to her life as a percussionist, educator, poet, vocalist, and activist. Vita’s passion as a Black Trans Femme artist has led to many milestones. She’s recently finished a summer-long role as percussionist, mentor, and vocalist for the Creede Repertory Theatre, and drummer for the full-stage debut of the hip-hop musical, Once Upon a Rhyme.

EISA DAVIS. New York theater includes: Kings (Drama League nomination), Julius Caesar (Shakespeare in the Park 2017), Preludes, This, The Call, Luck of the Irish, her own play Angela’s M Mixtape, and Passing Strange. Select television: “God Friended Me,”“Rise,” “The Looming Tower,” “Succession,” “House of Cards,” “Smash,” “Hart of Dixie,” “The Wire.” She has written for Netflix’s “She’s Gotta Have It” and Cirque du Soleil’s “Crystal.” Albums: Something Else, Tinctures. Current music works: Flowers Are Sleeping and Devil In A Blue Dress with Walter Mosley. Awards include Obie for Sustained Excellence in Performance, Herb Alpert Award in Theatre, Pulitzer Prize finalist for her play Bulrusher.

MATT DEANGELIS. Broadway: Waitress (Earl), Hair (Woof); West End: Hair (Woof); 1st Nat’l Tours: Hair (Woof), American Idiot (Rep. from Jingletown), Once (Svec), Waitress (Earl). TV: “Person of Interest,” “Madam Secretary,” “Daredevil.”  The role he is most looking forward to is husband to his fiancée Christine Dwyer!! Be Kind To One Another. GO RED SOX!! @MattDeAngelis22www.MattDeAngelis.com

MANOEL FELCIANO was most recently seen as Don John in Kathleen Marshall’s Much Ado About Nothing and Caliban in Joe Dowling’s The Tempest both at The Old Globe, where he previously played Feste in Rebecca Taichman’s Twelfth Night. His Broadway credits include Sweeney Todd (Tony Award nomination), Amélie, Disaster!, Brooklyn, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Cabaret. He has appeared Off Broadway in The Changeling (Red Bull Theater), Trumpery (Atlantic Theater Company), Shockheaded Peter and Much Ado About Nothing (NYSF). Regional credits include the world premiere of Terrence McNally’s Mothers and Sons with Tyne Daly, The Outsider (Paper Mill Playhouse), The Exorcist with Brooke Shields (Geffen Playhouse), Andrei in Michael Greif’s Three Sisters (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and George in Sunday in the Park with George directed by Jason Alexander.

BRETT GRAY is an actor and musician who stars as ‘Jamal Turner’ in “On My Block,” a half-hour comedy series co-created by “Awkward” creator Lauren Iungerich, currently streaming on Netflix. The show won the Teen Choice Award for TV Breakout Show in 2018. Brett released his debut EP, Easy Daze after premiering his hit single, Old Thing Back, on Sway’s Universe. His music has been described as “a sunshine-drenched slice of laid-back R&B.” The Philadelphia-native currently splits his time between New York and Los Angeles. After participating in the reading and the workshop, Brett looks forward to continuing his journey with The Secret Life of Bees.

JAI’LEN JOSEY is an Atlanta, GA native who just made her Broadway debut as Pearl Krabs in SpongeBob SquarePants at the Palace Theatre. For 8 shows a week, Jai’Len blew the roof off the theatre with her amazing voice – receiving standing ovations nightly. Jai’Len is a proud winner of the 2014 Jimmy Awards. Her television credits include Tyler Perry’s “Love Thy Neighbor.” She is currently in the studio recording her first album of original music.

LACHANZE currently stars as Diva Donna in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. She landed nominations for the 2018 Tony Award nomination for Leading Actress in a Musical, 2018 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical and 2018 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance Award. In film, she stars in writer/director Marishka Phillips’ upcoming suspense filled film Melinda. She appeared in the award-winning film The Help landing a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.  Other films Side Effects, Heartbreak Hotel, For Love Or Money, Leap Of Faith and My New Guns.  She will be seen in a recurring role in the CBS All Access hit show The Good Fight and appeared in the award-winning HBO special The Night Of, Person Of Interest, “Law & Order: SVU,” “One Life To Live,” “Lucy,” “Sex And The City,” “Hercules,” “The Cosby Show,” “The Cosby Mysteries,” and “New York Undercover”.  Theatre credits include The Color Purple (2006 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Lady in Musical), Once On This Island(nominations, Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle), If/Then, Ragtime, Company, and Uptown It’s Hot.  Some of her Off-Broadway credits include The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (Drama Desk nomination), Dessa Rose (Obie Award), Inked Baby, Spunk and From The Mississippi Delta.

ANASTACIA MCCLESKEY. Broadway: Waitress (Nurse Norma), Violet (Mabel), The Book of Mormon, PQD (Diva), HAIR (Abraham Lincoln), Tarzan. Off-Broadway/NYC: Mighty Real, a Fabulous Sylvester Musical (Izora Rhodes/Off B’way Alliance Award nom, Audelco Award Nom. for her choreography), Radio City (Tracy), York Theater: Last Dance (Gaynor). Tours: Waitress (Becky), Hairspray (1st national), Menier Chocolate Factory: What’s It All About (London), West End: Close To You. Regional: Baltimore Center Stage: STAX (Deanie Parker) & Marcus Gardley’s “A Wonder in My Soul” (Cherry Hill/ Young Swann) Studio Theater: Murder Ballad (Narrator/Helen Hayes nom. Best Supporting Actress), & much more. Film/TV: “fka”, TURNING POINT,” “Madam Secretary,” Marvel’s “Daredevil,” “Public Morals,” “I Take Thee Zoe,” “SNL,” Sex and the City 2. She’s Sung with Burt Bacharach and Patti LaBelle; back-up for Phil Collins, Martha Wash, Bette Midler & Mariah Carey. 

SAYCON SENGBLOH. Tony-nominated actress currently seen on “In The Dark” (CW) as homicide detective Jules Becker.  She recurred on ABC/Shonda Rhimes’ drama “Scandal” as FBI Director Angela Webster. Theater:  Eclipsed (Drama Desk Award, Tony nomination), FELA!, The Color Purple, Marley, HAIR, Motown, Holler If Ya Hear Me, Wicked. TV/Film: Ernest Dickerson’s Double Play, “The Passage,” “The Night Of,” “Ten Days In The Valley,” American Gangster. Agnes Scott College & Freddie Henricks YEA. Visit SayconTalks.com for her blog and podcast. For Sandra Bland

CHRIS STACK. NYC: Blue Ridge (Atlantic), Fool for Love (Actors Studio), Ugly Lies the Bone (Roundabout), AZAK (Rattlestick/Rising Phoenix Rep), The Wayside Motor Inn (Signature Theater), Your Mother’s Copy of the Kama Sutra (Playwrights Horizons), Marie Antoinette (Soho Rep.), Killers & Other Family (Rattlestick). Regional: What Happened When (Echo Theater L.A.), The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (Goodman Theater), Love in the Wars (Bard Summerscape), Love & Communication (Passage Theater). Film and TV: “Law & Order: SVU,” “Blue Bloods,” “White Collar,” “One Life to Live,” “As the World Turns,” “Damages,” “Third Watch,” “Conviction,” “The Education of Max Bickford,” Evening, The Mini, School of Rock, Roger Dodger, Small Collection and Juke.

NATHANIEL STAMPLEY. Atlantic Theater Company debut. Broadway: CATS, The Color Purple (original and revival), The Lion King, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Off-Broadway: Superhero (Second Stage Theater); Big Love (Signature Theatre); Fiorello!, Lost in the Stars, (NY City Center’s Encores!); The First Noel (Classical Theatre of Harlem). Regional: LEMPICKA (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Man of La Mancha (Jeff Award), The Bridges of Madison County (Jeff nomination), Ragtime (Marriott Theatre), Dreamgirls (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), Hatuey: Memory of Fire (Music-Theatre Group). Concerts: Candide (Carnegie Hall); West Side Story, Bernstein’s MASS (Philadelphia Orchestra). Ten Chimneys Fellow, UW-Madison alum. nathanielstampley.com

ELIZABETH TEETER joins this exciting ATC production after being seen on Broadway as “Betty” in the 2016 Tony nominated revival of The Crucible, “Young Elizabeth” in The Audience, starring Helen Mirren, and “Jane Banks” in Mary Poppins. Other NYC credits include workshops of Merman’s Apprentice (recording on iTunes), The Hard Problem (Lincoln Center), Lord Tom (with Phillip Boykin), Ever After (director Kathleen Marshall), and more.  Regional credits include performances with The Muny, The Rep, Opera Theatre St. Louis, The Tennessee Williams Festival, and Variety Theatre.

LYNN NOTTAGE is a playwright and a screenwriter, and the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her play Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Obie Award) moved to Broadway after a sold out run at The Public Theater. Other plays include By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination), Ruined (Pulitzer Prize, Obie Award), Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play), Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Obie Award), Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Las Meninas, Mud, River, Stone, Por’knockers and POOF!. In addition, she is working with composer Ricky Ian Gordon on adapting her play Intimate Apparel into an opera. She has also developed This is Reading, a performance installation at the Franklin Street, Reading Railroad Station in Reading, PA. She was writer/producer on the Netflix series “She’s Gotta Have It” directed by Spike Lee. Nottage is a member of the Dramatists Guild, an Associate Professor at Columbia University School of the Arts, and the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship, Steinberg “Mimi” Distinguished Playwright Award, and PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award among others.

DUNCAN SHEIK (Music). Performer/Composer. Theatre credits include: Spring Awakening (2006) Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, 2008 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album; Because of Winn-Dixie (Alabama Shakespeare Festival 2017, Delaware Theatre Company 2015); Whisper House (London 2017, Old Globe Theater 2011), American Psycho (2016), Alice by Heart (upcoming 2018), Nero (Another Golden Rome) (currently in development), The Nightingale (currently in development) Noir(currently in development). Recordings include; American Psycho (Original London Cast Recording) (2016), Legerdemain (2015), Covers 80s (Sneaky Records 2011), Whisper House (Sony 2009), Spring Awakening (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (2006), White Limousine (Rounder 2006), Daylight (Atlantic Records 2002), Phantom Moon (Nonesuch 2001), Humming (Atlantic Records 1998), Duncan Sheik (Grammy Nomination “Best Male Vocal”, RIAA Certified Gold) (Atlantic Records 1996).

SUSAN BIRKENHEAD received a Tony Nomination and a Drama Desk Award for her lyrics for Jelly’s Last Jam. She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Triumph of Love, was nominated for a Tony Award for Working, and won an Outer Critics Circle Award for What About Luv? She won an L.A. Drama Critics Award for Minsky’s. In addition to The Secret Life of Bees, she is currently working on Betty Boop, with David Foster and Sally Robinson, and Jerry Mitchell.

SUE MONK KIDD. Her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees spent more than 2½ years on The New York Times bestseller list, was adapted into an award winning movie, and has been translated into 40 languages. It received numerous awards, including Book Sense Book of the Year and a nomination for the Orange Prize. Her second novel, The Mermaid Chair was a #1 New York Times bestseller and adapted into a TV movie. Described as “a textured masterpiece” by NPR, her latest novel, The Invention of Wings, debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list, where it spent 9 months. It was an Oprah Book Club selection and won the SIBA Book Award. Kidd is the author of several memoirs, including the bestseller Traveling with Pomegranates, co-authored with Ann Kidd Taylor, and her ground breaking book The Dance of the Dissident Daughter. Kidd’s books have sold over 10 million copies.

SAM GOLD is a Tony Award-winning director based in Brooklyn, NY. His Broadway credits include: A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Tony Award nomination); The Glass Menagerie; Fun Home (Tony Award); The Real Thing; The Realistic Joneses; Picnic; Seminar. Recent productions include: Hamlet (The Public Theater); Othello (New York Theatre Workshop); The Flick (Barrow Street Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, National Theatre; Lortel Award nomination); The Glass Menagerie (Toneelgroep Amsterdam); John(Signature Theatre; Obie Award, Lortel and Drama Desk Award nominations); The Village Bike (MCC); Uncle Vanya (Soho Repertory Theatre; Drama Desk nomination); The Realistic Joneses (Yale Repertory Theatre); The Cradle Will Rock (Encores! Off-Center); Kin(Playwrights Horizons); The Big Meal (Playwrights Horizons; Lortel); Look Back in Anger(Roundabout Theatre Company; Lortel nomination); Circle Mirror Transformation(Playwrights Horizons; Obie, Drama Desk nomination); The Aliens (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre; Obie Award). Training: The Juilliard School.

Photo by Atisha Paulson.

CHRIS WALKER is a professor of Dance (African/Diasporic Dance and Contemporary Performance) at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Director for #BARS workshop and movement director for Lynn Nottage’s Mlima’s Tale (2018) at The Public. Senior choreographer with the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (Rough Drafts, Mountain Climbing, Urban Fissure). Walker has received commissions for concert dance, experimental theater and performance art works in the Americas, Europe and Asia. He creates collaborative performance with visual artists for museum and alternate spaces. Awards: Vilas Associate, Romnes Fellowship.

MIMI LIEN is a designer of sets/environments for theater, dance and opera. She is a company member of Pig Iron Theatre Company, and co-founder of JACK, a performance/art space in Brooklyn. Recent work includes True West (Roundabout), The Lifespan of a Fact (Broadway), Fairview (Soho Rep), Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway), A 24 Decade History of American Music (St. Ann’s Warehouse). She is a recipient of a Tony Award, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Bessie, and an OBIE Award for sustained excellence.  Mimi was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2015, and is the first set designer ever to achieve this distinction.

DEDE AYITE. Broadway: American Son, Children of a Lesser God. Select Off-Broadway: Fireflies, Marie and Rosetta, Tell Hector I Miss Him (Atlantic); By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, JHAT (Signature); BLKS, Collective Rage…, School Girls… (MCC); Slave Play (NYTW);  Sugar in Our Wounds (MTC); If Pretty Hurts…, Mankind, Bella: An American Tall Tale (Playwrights Horizons); The Royale (Lincoln Center); Ugly Lies the Bone (Roundabout); brownsville song [b-side for tray] (LCT3). Regionally: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Steppenwolf, American Repertory Theater, Denver Center, California Shakespeare, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory, Baltimore Center Stage, Arena Stage, Cleveland Playhouse, Signature Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Hartford Stage. Television: Comedy Central, FOX Shortcoms. Awards: Recipient of a Lucille Lortel, Helen Hayes, Theatre Bay Area, and Jeff Awards; two Drama Desk Nominations. Education: MFA Yale School of Drama.

JANE COX. Designs for Sam Gold include Annie Baker’s The Flick and the current Broadway production of King Lear. Other recent designs include the Broadway productions of Sam Shepard’s True West, August Wilson’s Jitney, and the musicals Amélie and The Color Purple, as well as a theatrical adaptation of Between the World and Me and John Doyle’s Arturo Ui. Jane is a twenty year member of the Monica Bill Barnes Dance Company and is the director of the program in theater at Princeton University. She is thrilled to be designing at Atlantic Theater for the first time!

DAN MOSES SCHREIER. Broadway: Gary-A Sequel, The Iceman Cometh, Falsettos, American Psycho, The Visit, Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Sondheim on Sondheim, A Little Night Music, Gypsy (Patti Lupone), Radio Golf, John Doyle’s production of Sweeney Todd, Gem Of the Ocean, Pacific Overtures, Assassins, Into The Woods, Topdog/Underdog, Dirty Blonde, Noise/Funk. Composed scores for Broadway: Merchant of Venice (Al Pacino), Julius Caesar (Denzel Washington), The Tempest (Patrick Stewart). Recent Off-Broadway designs include the Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof, Alice By Heart, Carmen Jones at CSC. Awards: 5 TONY Awards nominations, 4 DRAMA DESK Awards. Dan is a Fellow of the MacDowell Colony.

ACHESONWALSH STUDIOS is a kinetic creation studio providing design, fabrication, direction and performance services. Our clients include Amazon Studios, Broadway, Cirque Du Soleil, Disney, Lincoln Center Theater, Radio City Music Hall and TheatreWorks USA. AchesonWalsh Studios was founded by Matt Acheson and Fergus J Walsh in 2014. Recent work includes The Lightning Thief (National Tour), Candide at the Alliance Theater, The Wizard of Oz at the Kansas City Ballet, and William Johnson Hippopotamus in development as part of LabWorks at The New Victory Theatre.

JASON HART was the music director of the Broadway production of American Psycho. Additional collaborations with Duncan Sheik include: Alice by Heart; Whisper House; Noir; Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice; and Lover, Beloved (written with and starring Suzanne Vega). Upcoming: Because of Winn Dixie (Goodspeed). Jason has toured extensively as keyboard player for Rufus Wainwright, Antony and the Johnsons, Duncan Sheik, Suzanne Vega, Renaissance and Camel, and leads his own progressive rock project, I and Thou.

ANTOINE SILVERMAN has contracted Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Fun Home, Tuck Everlasting amongst other Broadway shows. He is happy to be back at the Atlantic for the second time after This Ain’t No Disco. He has worked extensively in the recording field serving as concertmaster and/or contractor for such artists as David Bowie, Audra McDonald, Foo Fighters, Beck, Michel Legrand, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Fall Out Boy, and many others.

JOHN CLANCY. Broadway: Mean Girls (Tony nom.), Fun Home (Tony/Drama Desk noms.), The Prom, Tuck Everlasting, Shrek the Musical (Tony/Drama Desk noms.), Cats 2016 (Dance Arr./Orch.), 2018 TONY Awards Opening by Sara Bareilles. Off B’way/Reg: Seattle 5th Ave Theater: Jasper in Deadland, Public Theater: Fortress of Solitude, Ahmanson L.A. Soft Power (Dance arr.) Rhianna: NBA All-Star Game (String arr.) New Irish Tenors: Full Orchestra Arr., Goodspeed: Just So. As drummer/or music director: Randy Newman, Carly Simon, Corey Glover, Solange Knowles, Blood Orange, Darlene Love, Chrissy Amphlett, Kasim Sulton, Danielia Cotton, Alexa Joel, Constantine Maroulis of Amer. Idol, Kidz Bop Live! nat. tours; and worked with Bono and Edge of U2 on Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark.

COOKIE JORDAN. Broadway: Once on This Island, Sunday in the Park with George, In Transit, Eclipsed, Side Show, After Midnight, Fela!, A View From the Bridge. Off-Broadway: In the Blood, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (The Public); A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare in the Park). Tours: Fela! (national and European tours); Dirty Dancing. Television: Emmy-nominated for makeup design, “The Wiz Live!” (NBC).

UNKLEDAVE’S FIGHT HOUSE is a Drama Desk nominated company of fight directors. Core members are Gerry Rodriguez, Jesse Geguzis, Sean Griffin, Rocio Mendez, and Aldo Uribe. Atlantic Theater: Blue Ridge, The Homecoming Queen, Tell Hector I Miss Him. Broadway: Escape to Margaritaville (Marquis), Tuck Everlasting (Broadhurst), An American in Paris (Palace), Disgraced (Lyceum). Off-Broadway: The Girl From the North Country, Oedipus El Rey (Public Theater); Boesman & Lena (Signature); Nantucket Sleighride (Lincoln Center). National tour: An American in Paris. London: Buried Child.

DAWN-ELIN FRASER. Broadway: What the Constitution Means to Me, Once on this Island, Waitress, Finding Neverland. National Tour: The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Waitress, Finding Neverland. Off-Broadway: Slave Play, Nat Turner in Jerusalem, Sojourners, Her Portmanteau, An Ordinary Muslim, The House that Will Not Stand (NYTW); By the Way Meet Vera Stark, Our Lady of Kibeho (Signature Theater); Invisible Thread (Second Stage); Eve’s Song, Barbeque, Passing Strange (The Public Theater). Regional: Finding Neverland, Crossing: An American Opera, Waitress (A.R.T); Comedy of Errors (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Head of Spoken Voice and Speech, New Studio on Broadway NYU/Tisch. Certified Teacher, Knight-Thompson Speechwork. Education: MFA, American Conservatory Theater.

SAMANTHA WATSON. Atlantic: The Mother, This Ain’t No Disco, Posterity, Our New Girl, The Jammer, Harper Regan. Broadway: Significant Other, The Real Thing. Off-Broadway: Days of Rage (2ST); Bobbie Clearly, The Last Match, Significant Other (Roundabout); A Funny Thing Happened… (MCC); Lazarus (NYTW); Taking Care of Baby (MTC); Rimbaud In New York, The Master Builder (BAM); A Man’s A Man (CSC); Stay (Rattlestick). Regional: La Jolla Playhouse, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, New York Stage & Film. International: The Bridge Project’s Richard III (BAM, Old Vic Theatre, international tour). MFA from UC San Diego.

CHRISTOPHER KEE ANAYA-GORMAN. Atlantic debut! Broadway: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Pt 1 & 2, Mean Girls, The Father, The Gin Game with James Earl Jones. Off-Broadway: Skintight with Idina Menzel National Tours: Anastasia, Aladdin. Regional favorites: Jagged Little Pill at A.R.T, Evita at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, The Importance of Being Earnest and Man of La Mancha at Shakespeare Theatre Company, La Cage aux Folles and Mame at Goodspeed Musicals. BFA from the University of Arizona. Thanks to Samantha, Xavier, Thomas, and Emily!