Theatre Producers of Color presents...
This spring, 25 new students begin Producing 101, our 11-week, tuition-free course designed to introduce BIPOC to the fundamentals of commercial producing
Theatre Producers of Color (TPOC) is a multifaceted collective of theatremakers joined together in support of the next generation of BIPOC producers by providing access to education, training, and mentorship.
Our flagship educational initiative, Producing 101, introduces students to the fundamentals of commercial producing, connecting a network of BIPOC and White ally producers to a cohort of aspiring BIPOC producers.
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Broadway: for colored girls… (Booth) Deaf West’s Spring Awakening (Lena Horne Theater), Big River (Roundabout); Off Broadway: I Was Most Alive with You (Playwrights Horizons), A Kind Of Alaska (New York Live Arts); Regional: Oedipus (The Getty Villa), Our Town (Pasadena Playhouse), Gruesome Playground Injuries (Mixed Blood); TV: ‘Law & Order: Criminal Intent’, ‘High Maintenance’, ‘Little America’, ‘Nurse Jackie’, 'The Flash'. Associate choreographer on Deaf West’s Spring Awakening. Director of Artistic Sign Language: Broadway’s Children of a Lesser God and King Lear; Television: This Close seasons 1 & 2; Quantico season 3; Film: A Quiet Place 1 & 2, Wonderstruck, and CODA (2022 multiple Academy Award winner). Awards: 2022 Chita Rivera winner, 2020 Obie winner, 2020 Lucille Lortel nominee, 2022 Disability Futures Fellowship.
Angelica Vicens is a Florida born Puerto Rican, musician, comedy enthusiasts, and superhero geek building a career to run the entertainment world. Whether it is through her performance work, directing, writing, or producing; she is always creating. A strong believer that entertainment has the power to educate and inspire an audience. Storytelling is the most powerful weapon we have in fighting "The Empire." Development Associate, LCT Angels and Special Events at Lincoln Center Theater; Associate Producer, THE LAST MATCH: A Pro-Wrestling Rock Musical; Associate Producer, IT HAPPENED IN KEY WEST; Founder/Artistic Director, Makes Sense Theatrics.
Averi Israel is a writer/director from the eight cities that raised her. She moved to New York to pursue a Film Studies degree from Columbia University, where she graduated as the class recipient of the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts. Shortly after, she moved to South Korea where she set designed a production for Seoul Shakespeare Company. Back in NYC, she trained as an actor at Circle in the Square, UCB, as well as with the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, and performed at The Tank, The New Ohio, and Columbia University. As a writer, her pieces for stage and film consist primarily of historical fiction works highlighting obscured corners of the Black experience and those that incorporate elements of Afrofuturism, seeking to root our contemporary moment in both its foundational past and visionary future. Averi is a 2022 recipient of the New York Foundation of the Arts and Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment NYC Women’s Fund for Media Music and Theatre and a 2023 Athena Film Festival Writers Lab participant.
Bibiana is a Puerto Rican director and administrator who claims both the island and Chicago as home. She is currently the Executive Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop. Bibiana is most interested in developing and supporting new work that plays with form, uplifts Latine stories, and disrupts the historically inequitable practices of theatre-making. She is a graduate of Yale University, where she was a Mainstage Producer and President of the Yale Dramatic Association, the manager of the college cabaret, and a Peer Mentor for directors, producers and stage managers. She has directed for the Yale Playwrights Festival, the Spark Theatre Festival at the Emerging Artists’ Theatre and is currently Assistant Directing for the Keen Company’s Keen Teens Festival. Bibiana has an extensive background in consent-forward work in and outside theatre and has completed the first two levels of Intimacy Directors & Coordinators’ Pathway to Certification.
CJ Ochoco is a Guam-raised theatre creative who currently travels between Nashville, Guam, and everywhere in-between. She earned her BA in Fine Arts: Theatre from the University of Guam (2016) and her Masters of Arts Leadership and Cultural Management through Colorado State University (2019). CJ enjoys wearing many hats. While her first passion was stage management, she has found joy in producing, arts administration, playwriting, and even bass playing for Guam band “Friends with Instruments.” From the University of Guam Theatre to the Guam International Film Festival to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, CJ has been involved with various arts organizations. In 2018, she helped found a nonprofit on Guam, Breaking Wave Theatre Company, where she serves as the President and primary Producer for the company. CJ believes in the healing power of the arts, and she believes that healing can begin when everyone has the space and opportunity to share their stories. She aims to use her skills to create and elevate diverse storytelling, on stage and behind it.
I'm Cindy! Born in New Orleans and raised in Los Angeles, I'm a Taiwanese and Chinese-American performer and producer. I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley – raised in the 626 – with a passion for art in all its forms. BFA Musical Theatre, Minor in Critical Race and Ethnicities. I was Ars Nova's Development Fellow in Spring 2022, on the producing team of the NYCLU's Sing Out For Freedom 2022, and currently serve as the Producing Intern for Octopus Theatricals and Producer Hub. Recent performing work: THE CHINESE LADY at Central Square Theater (u/s Afong Moy), WE WON'T SLEEP aka JEANNETTE workshop at Signature Theatre, NYCLU's Sing Out for Freedom at NYC Town Hall. Recent producing work: Broadway for Racial Justice Sings: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill at the Amph on Little Island, 4/4 by Heesun Hwang, THIS IS THE HOUR: Under Our Own Pen with ZAPI Artists. IG: @cindyctsai | cindy-tsai.com
Esmé Maria Ng (they/she/he) is an early-career, NYC-based playwright, dramaturg, and occasional actor of Cantonese and Scottish descent, whose work focuses on the complexities of Asian American history, queerness and the family unit. Through writing plays, Esmé seeks to embody the phenomenon of laughing at/through the pain, finding joy in inappropriate moments, with often-understated-sometimes-surrealist aesthetics and complicated characters. As a script reader, Esmé has advocated for new plays by underrepresented artists at Manhattan Theatre Club, Breaking the Binary Theatre, and Playwrights Realm. Their plays have been presented by the Snug Harbor Porch Plays Festival, the Women’s Playwrights Collective, Staten Island Shakespeare Theater Company, and Wesleyan University Writers Circle. Plays include: Pearl Dust from a Gun (Eugene O’Neill Semi-Finalist, Wesleyan University Honors in American Studies), In Loving Memory (Wesleyan Writers Circle), F*cking Harold (WPC Not Forgotten Play Festival, Wesleyan Writers Circle), and First Day (Snug Harbor Porch Plays Festival). Esmé is currently the Paul A. Kaplan Literary Trainee at Manhattan Theatre Club.
Gustavo Blaauw (he/they) is a Brazilian producer, director, and multimedia artist. His work has been seen in commercial, educational and non-profit theaters in New York and around the globe (Brazil, London, Mexico, Japan). He currently produces performances for the directing graduate program at Columbia University.
Joshua Lee is a graduate of Harvard University where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and Mandarin Chinese. After working in Venture Capital post-grad, he made his Broadway debut as Timmy X on KPOP and is embarking on a new chapter that combines his love for the arts, business, and finance.
José Hugo Hurtado (he/him) is a Chicano multidisciplinary artist based in New York City, originally from San Diego, CA. Jose is the Special Artistic Programs Coordinator at the Public Theater and works directly with the Mobile Unit and Public Shakespeare Initiative (PSI) to provide accessible theater for all. He is a 2023 member of Theater Producers of Color’s inaugural cohort. His directing experience includes The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (NYU’s Latinx Artist Collective), Ubu Rock (NYU’s New Studio on Broadway), Bad Hombres, Good Wives (NYU Theatre 104), A Winter's Tale (San Diego's The Old Globe Theater), and various projects in Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. Notable acting credits: The Old Globe; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Demetrius), Twelfth Night (Orsino). Workshops: Playwrights Horizons; Tell Me If I'm Hurting You by Jeremy O. Harris. José aims to make the performing arts more accessible to lower income communities as he believes the arts truly do make a difference. He holds a BFA in the Dramatic Arts, with a producing minor, from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Para mi familia, siempre.
Kahari Blue is a performer, writer and producer from New Haven, Connecticut. As a performer, he has been seen off-Broadway in Howard Barker’s "Pity in History" at Atlantic Stage 2 with PTP/NYC and has performed as the lead vocalist for various bands on stages across the Northeast. He has worked on Peter Brooks’s "Why," Maria Irene Fornes’s "Fefu and her Friends," and Shakespeare’s "Timon of Athens" at Theater for a New Audience as part of their “New Deal” marketing team, selling tickets to individuals under the age of 30 to help cultivate a new generation of theater patrons. He graduated summa cum laude from Middlebury College with a BA in Theatre and minors in Education and African American Studies. During his time at Middlebury, he developed a new course offering on contemporary African American playwrights to help diversify and decolonize the department’s curriculum. Outside of his work in the theater, he is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DE&I”) professional who has worked for Fortune 500 companies as well as technology startups. He is honored to be in TPOC’s third cohort and thrilled to continue his mission of sharing original stories with new and diverse audiences.
Lainie Sakakura, a NYC based Japanese American, multi hyphenate theater maker, award winning choreographer (2002 Joseph Jefferson Award & 2015 Joe A. Callaway Award), eldest daughter of a Japanese American Internment Camp survivor (father) and immigrant mother. Broadway: Dance Reconstruction & Onstage Dance Captain FOSSE (1999 Tony Award Best Musical), original cast 6 Broadway shows. Long time advocate for diversity and inclusion in the performing arts. Conceived & Directed, MY BROADWAY AAPI STORY: BREAKING BARRIERS, Lincoln Center Public Library for the Performing Arts (TOFT); Book, CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET (musical adaptation of NY Times Bestseller, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, music & lyrics by Paul Fujimoto). Ms. Sakakura has produced 42 productions highlighting multicultural stories. Directed works in NYC at Cherry Lane Theatre, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, Bruno Walter Auditorium, Neighborhood Playhouse, SummerStage Central Park, The Duplex, Don't Tell Mama, Theatre 71. Serves on non-profits: Rockettes of Color Alumnae, Co-Founder/Co-Chair; NY Theater Barn, Advisory Board; Asian American Arts Alliance’s 2023 Jadin Wong Fellowship review panel; Abingdon Theatre Company’s Alvin Ing Scholarship Award, Founder/Chair; Sakachez® (fiscally sponsored by New York Live Arts), Co-Founder/Co-Director with Alex Sanchez. Mother of two strong Japarican daughters, Avelina and Isabela.
Marla Louissaint (She/They) Born in Haiti and raised in Washington Heights NYC, Marla is a first-generation Computer Science graduate (Fordham University ‘20), internationally published model (Vogue Italia, Oprah Magazine, SavagexFenty), award-winning theater performer (2015 Jimmy Award and Roger Rees Award for Best Actress), TV/Film actor (Netflix’s Seven Seconds, Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors), and the Founder & CEO of abolitionist 501c3 organization Claim Our Space Now. She now enters her professional producing and writing journey with her work "A Goddess Reborn” which debuted to a sold out house at The Green Room 42 in January of 2023.
In navigating through her own healing and liberation from the spiritual tradition she grew up in, Marla has claimed her purpose to make the revolution irresistible boldly through her art, advocacy work, and sharing her own testimony. Her creative storytelling and active community building embrace the collective beauty, brilliance, and power of the Black diaspora. She seeks to joyfully invite the global Black community to fully realize and claim their self-determination to shape the future Black history. And she’s just getting started!
Michael Thanh Tran (he/him) is a multi-disciplinary theatre artist currently based in St. Louis, Missouri. Born to Vietnamese refugees, he is a proud advocate for Asian American representation onstage and onscreen. Through his work he hopes to cultivate greater intersectional diversity in the performing arts sector, nurture growth within communities, find new ways to foster audience engagement, affect new change through innovative theatrical exploration and connect diverse, multi-generational audiences. As an actor, he has had the opportunity to perform at the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Muny and many more. Learn more about Michael and his work at michaelthanhtran.com
Michela Rodriguez is a creative administrator who hails from San Diego, California. Currently, she is an Associate Producer and Coordinator for the New York office of Mark Gordon Pictures, which develops and produces television, film, and theater in the US and the UK. Previously, she was the Manager of Artistic Development at MCC Theater. She has also held administrative fellowships and internships at New York Theatre Workshop, SITI Company, WP Theater, and New Georges.
Miho Ueno (she/her) is a Japanese stage manager currently based in London, United Kingdom. She has previously worked as a stage manager at Tokyo Disney Resort and Royal Caribbean Cruises, where she managed shows, ceremonies, and various types of events. After working as an event organizing specialist for G20 Summit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan, she pursued her passion for musicals and worked on productions such as Dreamgirls, West Side Story, and Bring It On. She is currently in stage management for Hamilton in the West End and holds a BA in Production and Technical Arts from London Academy of Music and Drama (LAMDA).
Natalie Graves Tucker is a communications professionals actor, writer, voiceover artist, and Founder of Blackstage DC. In addition to numerous commercials and voiceovers, she has appeared on DC-area stages such as Studio Theatre, Theater Alliance, African Continuum Theatre, Folger Theatre, and 1st Stage. Natalie walked away from a 20-year marketing career at AARP to pursue acting full time. Then a pandemic happened. She is currently the Executive Director of Artomatic, the Director of Communications at Riverside Church of New York and was most recently the Director of Marketing at the Vineyard Theatre. She has a B.A. degree in Speech Communications from University of Maryland at College Park and a Master’s degree in Social Work/Social Service Administration from Howard University.She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta and divides her time between New York and Maryland. She has no regrets.
Nicole Kwan (she/her) is an editor, writer, and digital content strategist. She’s been involved with Opening Act, a nonprofit focused on arts education through free after-school improv-based theater programming, since 2013. She served as co-chair for the Junior Board before joining the Board of Directors in 2021. In 2018, Nicole produced Kit Yan and Melissa Li’s new musical, Interstate, for the New York Musical Festival. Currently, she's the Editorial Director at Verywell Health, a Dotdash Meredith brand. At Dotdash Meredith, she is on the steering committee for the AAPI Collective employee resource group for AAPI employees. Nicole is a graduate of Northwestern University and is based in Manhattan.
Regina De Vera (she/her) completed her MFA in Acting at The Juilliard School (2019), where she was a recipient of the Raul Julia Memorial Scholarship in Drama and the Juilliard Career Advancement Fellowship. Prior to Juilliard, she was a resident actor of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ resident theatre company for five years. She won the 2013 Gawad Buhay! PHILSTAGE Award as “Outstanding Female Lead” for her work as Portia in a Filipino adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. She made her U.S. theatrical debut at The Old Globe, a Tony award-winning regional theatre in San Diego, CA, by playing the lead in The Underpants (2019) by Steve Martin. In 2022, Regina made her Philippine directorial debut at the 17th Virgin Labfest Festival, a festival of new one-act plays by Filipino playwrights. She is currently working on her first job as Acting Coach and Intimacy Coordinator for a full length feature entry at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival (2023). Apart from acting, directing, and intimacy work, Regina hopes to branch into producing to facilitate her advocacy in empowering South East Asian narratives and artists. www.reginadevera.com
Seonjae Kim is an NYC-based writer, director, and translator from Seoul, South Korea. She most recently served as Associate Director on the Broadway musical "KPOP." Her work has been seen at SpeakEasy Stage Company, Atlantic Theater Company, Princeton University, Atlantic Theatre Company, Joe's Pub, Playwrights’ Realm, The Bushwick Starr, Dixon Place, Williamstown, PEN/World Voices Festival, Rattlestick Theatre Company, Theatre Mu, The New Ohio, The New Group, Bryn Mawr College and University of the Arts among other places. She has received the 2050 Fellowship (New York Theatre Workshop) New York Fellowship (The Drama League), Van Lier Fellowship (Asian American Arts Alliance), Mike Ockrent Fellowship (SCDF), and the Robert Moss Directing Fellowship (Playwrights Horizons.) Seonjae's first film "Good Taste" had its World Premiere at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and is on the festival circuit around the country. Her original musical Riot Antigone has been published in the Routledge anthology "Greek Adaptations for Diverse Audiences." Alumna of Northwestern University.
Sierra Lancaster (she/her) is an Indian-American producer, performer, director, and arts advocate based in NYC. Originally from Omaha, NE, and a graduate of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee (BFA Musical Theatre, '22), Sierra currently serves as the Artistic Programming Coordinator at the Tony Award winning Broadway Advocacy Coalition. Sierra is the founder of and executive producer at Samuel-Lancaster Productions, a company she created to uplift the voices and stories of members of the Global Majority, and use storytelling to dismantle systemic racism and oppression within the American Theatre. In the fall of 2021, Sierra made her Broadway debut as a co-producer on Antoinette Nwandu's Pass Over. www.sierralancaster.com
Simone Tetrault is a writer, director, and creative producer who tells stories about power, responsibility, and resilience. Drawing equally from postmodern dance-theatre influences and her classical ballet roots, movement is often at the center of her experimental performances and films. Through the interplay of metaphysics, poetic expression, and scientific fascinations, Simone’s work seeks to build bridges and ultimately explores what lies at the core of human existence in performances filled with gravity, humor, stage magic, and love. Her work has been presentednat at NYC’s Abrons Arts Center, Access Theatre, and THEATERLAB, in Los Angeles at Griffith Observatory, Japanese American National Museum, Zephyr Theatre, and DURDENANDRAY. Simone’s 2020 dance short Letters to the Universe was presented at Lacuna Festivals in Spain, and her 2021 project New Encounters was supported by the European Commission’s i-Portunus mobility fund, the Volta Festival, and Goethe Institute of London. Simone is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Centrifuge Arts, a founding member of the international directors collective El Encuentro, and a proud member of SciArt Initiative and Contemporary Performance Network. She currently serves on the board of the National Women’s Theatre Festival.
Sukhjit is a creative producer with a background in performing & writing. Her work as a multi-form artist for the last ten years has been recognised at the Performing Arts WA Awards (2020), Mona Brand Writing Awards (2022), Young Australian of the Year (2022), and WA Multicultural Awards (2022). Her passion for storytelling began as a finalist in the Australian Poetry Slam (2014), semi-finalist on Australia’s Got Talent (2016) and winner of The Moth GrandSLAM (2019). Sukhjit spoke at TedxUWA (2017), TedxNewtown (2019) and has supported Missy Higgins and L-FRESH the Lion on their national tours. Her poetry and community arts projects have led her to tour globally and across her nation. Sukhjit premiered her sell-out theatre show FULLY SIKH with Barking Gecko Theatre Company and Black Swan Theatre Company (2019). Sukhjit is currently a story-telling trainer at the Centre for Stories and has produced storytelling and theatre projects for adults and school students. COLLECTABLES, her debut hip-hop single will be released in March 2023 and she is also launching her production company later this year.
Tẹmídayọ Amay (they/he) is a Black Trans Non-Binary director, producer, writer, actor, and queer activist born and raised in Washington, DC. They have been featured in American Theatre Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Theaterly, among other publications. PRODUCER: She Speaks to the Trees, co-produced with Longacre Lea; The Annual Late Nite Arts Explosion. Tẹmídayọ Amay is the founder and executive producer of PILOT, a producer’s collective dedicated to championing queer Black Liberation through TV and film. They are a founding board member of BAC and TEMPO: where they act as producing chair. Temidayo Amay is a member of Ring of Keys, MAESTRA, and MUSE. They are a Helen Hayes Award winning performer, and have worked alongside Classic Stage Company, MCC Theater, Roundhouse Theatre, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Instagram: temidayoma
Zoë Kim is a Korean-American Storyteller who is passionate about creating art that encourages humanity, compassion, and kindness. She is the Founder of Seoulful Productions (seoulfulproductions.org), a Korean-American women-led, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose primary mission is to tell the stories of the Korean-American diaspora through our own lived experiences for theatre, tv & film. Additionally, she is the New Work Development Manager at The Public Theater and a Anti-Racist Theatre Facilitator.
As an Actor, her recent credits include Eureka Day, Motherf**ker with the Hat, The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe in London), 4000 Miles, The King’s Language (world premiere), and No Returns (AFI Film).
As a Writer, her play DID YOU EAT? will have its world premiere at The 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. She also wrote screenplays for PHONE CALL, MEET ME AT A FUNERAL (MMF), DO YOU WANNA BE WHITE?, and multiple episodes of Blue Match Comedy.
As a Filmmaker, MMF and PHONE CALL became official selections at various film festivals and have won her multiple awards including EMERGING FILMMAKER, BEST COMEDY, and BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE.
www.thezoekim.com
IG: @thezoekim
After receiving the most applications in our program's history, we are thrilled to welcome our third cohort to Producing 101. This year, we had a team of twenty selection panelists reviewing and evaluating applications including Salman Al-Rashid, Victor Cervantes, Jr., Leah Harris, Celia Kaleialoha Kenney, and Irene Lazaridis as final round selection panelists.
2022 alums Anant Das, Cynthia Dorsey, Arysbells Figueredo, Yesenia Garcia Herrington, Vanessa Immink, Sergio Mexia, Afsheen Misaghi, Phoebe Moore, Sujotta Pace, Carmen Quinones, Alexander Robertson, Jacob Santos, Ariana Sarfarazi, Malkia Stampley, and Riza Takahashi also participated as first round selection panelists.
Being apart of the 2022 TPOC cohort gave me an introduction to commercial producing and provided me with a safe space to confront any fears I had attempting to navigate through this section of the entertainment industry. From the guest lectures provided by industry veterans, open and candid conversations about producing for Broadway and the kindredness in mentorship from Sammy Lopez and Miranda Gohh, I completed the Producing 101 course craving more opportunities to learn and to put into practice what I’d learned. As I reflected on what I wanted my next steps to be to meet my career goals, I applied for and was awarded the prestigious Prince/TTLP Fellowship and had an opportunity to co-produce a production of Kinky Boots with fellow TPOC alumni. The best part of this journey has been the continued support of the TPOC community post taking Producing 101. Being apart of this network of likeminded individuals has been an invaluable experience. I am honored to be apart of the next generation of Broadway producers that TPOC has nurtured.
Cynthia Dorsey (2022)
TPOC not only solidified my interest in commercial producing, but truly helped me realize there is a place on the Great White Way for producers who look and think like me. The class equipped me with resources, knowledge, and access to mentors to help me learn the ins and outs of commercial theatre, and I'm grateful for the confidence and reassurance TPOC has given me, the friends, colleagues, and community I've gained, and the opportunities to create the change that I hope to precipitate on Broadway and beyond.
Anant Das (2022)
I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities that TPOC presented me with this past year. From the moment I (virtually) stepped into class in the beginning of 2022, I knew this experience would be special - but the education and the opportunities TPOC provides exceeded my expectations. Every class is taught by the highest profile professionals in the industry and filled with the information that is traditionally hard to access. On top of the Producing 101 course, cohorts were also given a chance to put the skills we learned to use in the real world by becoming co-producers on multiple shows, both on and off Broadway. I feel truly lucky to be a part of TPOC and I’m looking forward to witnessing what TPOC and its future cohorts are able to accomplish for the future!
Riza Takahashi (2022)