Playwrights 

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RUSS CUSICK (Into the Arms)  is an actor, singer and playwright holding a BFA from Theatre SMU.  Russ wrote Everyone Does a Little Time, which received a staged reading at the Creede Repertory Theatre in Creede, Colorado, and also at the Mint Theater here in NYC.  He also wrote the one-act play, Helen, which was part of the Sexual Wastelands Festival 

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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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DOUGLAS E. DAVIS (My Three O’Clock) Originally from Newport Beach California, Douglas moved to New York City in 1999 with his eyes set on becoming a writer. He wrote and performed stand up comedy, then fell into acting. He has performed as an actor in various TV shows and films and also in The #metoo Play festival with The  Alternative Theater Company. He only recently began writing again. He is currently working on a one man show, and a novel that he’s had in his top drawer for the past six years. This is the first time his work has been performed live by somebody other than himself.

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JUDY DODD’S (Lunatic) last play, He Said, He Said, was performed as part of The #Metoo Play Festival. An Actor, Director and Playwright, Judy teaches theatre at the Ramaz School. Judy is proud to be part of the Alternative Theatre Company’s current season. 

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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 (Hang-ups) Brett’s comedies have appeared in over two hundred and fifty theaters across the country including venues in Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hollywood, as well as internationally in Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hollywood, as well as internationally in England, Belgium, Luxembourg, Romania, Australia, South Korea 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]

 

MARK OKLADEK(Crossroads of the World) is excited to have one of his pieces included in the Altered Minds stage readings and is truly grateful for the efforts put forth by Producer Celine Havard, Director Brian Henry, and the performers Jason Yudoff and Jake Lesh in presenting this work. He was born in Europe, raised in Canada and the Midwest and has made Hell's Kitchen his home since the late 70s. After a hiatus of some 20 years, he returned to playwriting four years ago and has started creating a new body of work.  

 

DIRECTORS

 

JOEL BERNSTEIN ( Lunatic) co-directed Andrei Platonov’s Fourteen Little Red Huts in Voronezh, Russia. Other directing: Pericles and School for Wives (Pearl); A Million Dollar Glass of Water (EST Marathon); The Lover (Brunswick [Maine] Summer Theatre); readings at the Alternative; EST; Pearl; Medicine Show. Acting: Broadway: Born Yesterday. National Tour: Fiddler on the Roof. Off Broadway: The Fantasticks (Sullivan Street); Jewtopia (Westside). Film: The Meyerowitz Stories. TV: all four seasons of Amazon’s Golden Globe–winning Mozart in the Jungle; Chappelle’s Show; Law & Order.

 

DANIEL CAPALBO JR. (My Three O’Clock) has been working in the theatre world as an actor/director/writer and teacher for the past four decades. He is proud of this project because he is also a retired licensed therapist, both clinical and academic fields. Dan feels addressing mental health issues openly is vital to the growth of any society as a whole. Sharing experiences through the arts is a great way to begin that dialogue.

 

JUDY DODD’s (Phone Friend)  play He Said, He Said, was produced as part of the Alternative Theater’s  #Metoo play series. As an actor, Judy has appeared on Broadway (Fiddler on the Roof), Off-Broadway (MCC and others), as well as in Regional Theatres and in films and TV. Directing credits include Crush and Elevator Repair in The #Metoo plays, and musicals at schools and camps around New York. Judy thanks Joel Bernstein for his guidance, Celine Havard for her inspiration and DSA for his support.

 

CELINE HAVARD (Dragged, Hang-ups) as Artistic Director of the Alternative Theater she’s very grateful to everyone who’s contributed toward making the vision of Altered Minds a reality. Last season she directed several pieces in The #metoo Plays. She has directed regionally, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. She was a founding member of Abingdon Theater Company and Stagedotorg. Favorites: the world premiere of When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream & Shout by Sharman MacDonald, Captive, by Jan Buttram published by Samuel French. Other NY companies where she has worked: MTC, the Women’s Project, Pulse Ensemble, the Drama League and the Greenhouse Ensemble. www.CelineHavard.com

 

BRIAN HENRY, (Crossroads of the World)The Henry Family Show, Performing Arts School (Phila.), NYU, Lee Strasberg Institute, American Dance Machine. Arab,Rolf, Fyedka, Tommy Djilas, Junior Mister, Apostle, Jesus, Rooster, Big Jule, Smirnoff,Daimyo, Boomershine, Jessie Mae Burst, Rusty, Melville, Uli, The Man,Drosselmeyer, Dr. Coppelius.  Broadway revival, Fiddler on the Roof, Topol, Jerome Robbins, Sasha, Motel the Tailor.  Authored musicals, The Gajo Rom, The Disappearing Act, one-act cycle All the Clown’s Men.  Produces, writes, directs, choreographs, Francisco Breen Productions. Lead Producer, Chelsea Rep LAB.  

 

ANITA HOLLANDER (Hero) won Theatre Week Magazine’s “Best Direction of a Musical” for The Goodbye Girl (Summerfun/NJ), and has directed Pump Boys & Dinettes, Beau Jest, Ebenezer(Triangle Theatre/NYC), Oklahoma! (Surflight Theatre/NJ), Baby (Dreamcatchers Rep/NJ), Starting Here Starting Now, Jacques Brel…(New Ehrlich Theatre/Boston), Five Guys Named Moe(Bristol Valley Theatre/NY), New Plays at Manhattan Theatre Source, Miss Communication(Manhattan Rep), and the film, The Look List. She’s National Chair of SAG-AFTRA Performers With Disabilities. (www.anitahollander.com) 

 

DRUCIE MCDANIEL (Into the Arms) has directed independent and documentary film, Public TV and radio and theatre. She was commissioned to write and direct for The Smithsonian, The Rosenbach Museum, National Constitution Center, and Annenberg. In Dublin, Ireland, she directed for The Abbey and Project Arts Center. Regionally, for Walnut Street Theatre, Steel River Playhouse, Foundation Theatre, and InterAct, among others. Off- Broadway: Power Playhouse, Nu-Ance Theatre. As an actor, Drucie can be seen in feature film, network TV and theatre. She taught for 25 years at the University of the Arts, and now holds classes and private coaching at her own studio. She is thrilled to be reunited with Celine Havard as she makes her debut at the Alternative Theatre Co. Love MMCGE.

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.  She directed The Proceedings and Can You Hear Me Now? as part of The #metoo Plays with the Alternative Theater Company last season.