CASTRONAUTS (2008)

Ngozi Anyanwu (Kiki) is super thankful to be working with such a talented group of actors. She was most recently seen in the rattlesticks theater's production of "War," and in her spare time she works as a personal trainer and fitness instructor for bootcamprepublic.com. She wants to thank her cast and crew and director for giving her such a great opportunity. I hope you enjoy the show.

Guto Bittencourt (Ricky) has appeared in some of Brazil's most popular TV series such as "Malhacao," "Salsa and Merengue," "Forca de um Desejo" and "Esmeralda," also performing the theme song. Bittencourt starred in Brazilian productions of "Les Miserables" (Marius), "Chicago" (Mary Sunshine), "Elis, Estrela do Brasil" and "Comunita." He played Marlon Brando in the USA film entitled "Icons," being released in 2009, and performed at the Ballroom Theatre in New York City the Brazilian Opera "Tamandua."

Terry Lavell (Amazona) is native of New Orleans. Broadway tours: "Hairspray," LasVegas (Seaweed), "Smokey Joes Cafe" (Adrian). Regional: "Boys from Syracuse," Baltimore Center Stage (Serress, DC), "Aida," FCLO (ensemble), "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," Denver Arts (Protean). "Pippin" (leading player), "West Side Story" (Toro), "Little Shop of Horrors" (Ronnette), "Crazy For You" (Saloon Trio). Workshops: "Dillenger"(The Musical), "Invisible Life" (Kyle). TV/Film: "Happy Life," "Sex in the City," Dave Chapelle's Show," "Law & Order," "Sheena." NYMF 2007: "Look What a Wonder Jesus Has Done." Former member of "In The Company of Dancers," modern dance Company, Star Light Jazz (Tokyo, Japan), Royal Caribbean Int., Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World. To God be the Glory. AEA member.

Candace Reyes Newton (Mercedes) is a native of South Florida. Although, after surviving a winter in New York, going to a few Yankees games, riding the subway everyday and learning how to stealthily navigate around the tourists in Time Square -- she now considers herself a "New Yorker." She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from the University of Miami. She is very excited to be a Castronaut and to have shared this experience with such a talented cast! She is also pleased that she got to play El Jefe himself, Fidel Castro -- I am sure he would be thrilled knowing that a Puerto Rican woman is imitating him in a show! Candace's previous New York credits include: ensemble/understudy for "Growing Up 70s"-- an Off-Broadway musical starring Barry Williams. I would like to thank my family (especially my dad) for their constant support of me while I am trying to survive in the city -- it is good to know I have you guys backing me up. And thanks to my friends, for keeping me sane (or insane) and for always coming out to see my crazy shows! I love you guys! And Brian -- for listening and pushing me to stay in the city when I wanted to give up... I love you. But I want to especially dedicate this performance to my mom, my aunt and my grandma -- thank you for being such a strong and inspiring group of women who have always been there for me with an encouraging word, kick in the butt and a reminder to always embrace who I am and follow my dreams. This is always for you! Usted es mi vida. Te amo mucho!!!!!

A native New Yorker now residing in Hells Kitchen is excited to be a part of the NYMF this year. When he received the call he was headlining on a cruise ship in Alaska with "The Unexpected Boys." Most recently Skie toured the United States and Canada on the National Tour of "Bombay Dreams" where he understudied and performed numerous times the lead role of Akaash, other tours include "Jekyll & Hyde," "South Pacific" starring Robert Goulet and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular in Chicago, Los Angeles and Mexico City. Regionally he has worked at the Goodspeed Opera House in "Redhead," North Shore Music Theatre in "Miss Saigon" as Thuy, and at Paper Mill Playhouse where he understudied and went on for Paolo Montalban. Skie has also been involved in numerous workshops here in NYC, including Nona Hendryx's "Skindiver, The Fountain of Youth" and "An American Love Story." Skie studied musical theatre at Walnut Hill School for the Arts as well as Syracuse University, and recently went back to The New School in pursuit of a BA in Arts Administration. Skie also is working on his debut solo album, which he hopes to release soon.

APRIL ORTIZ (Mama): Recently originated the role of Inez in the east coast premiere of Matthew Lopez' "Tio Pepe" at The Public Theater. National Tours: "Cats," "La Cage Au Folles." Regional: "Medea," "Macbeth," "Cinderella" at Yale Rep, "Barrio Babies" at Denver Center, "Bright Ideas" at The Laguna Playhouse. Off-off Broadway: "Transformations" at Homespace NYC, "A Woman's Work" at The Flatiron Playhouse. Notable Film and TV roles: "Father Of The Bride I & II," "The Majestic," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Golden Girls," "ER," "8 Simple Rules," "Law and Order Criminal Intent," "Down and Out In Beverly Hills."

Nancy Ticotin (Sofia) Broadway: "King & I," "West Side Story," "Jerome Robbins' Broadway" (Anita & Tuptim), "Damn Yankees" (Lola). Off-Broadway: "A... My Name Is Still Alice," "In The Heights" (Camila), "Bernarda Alba." Guest-star with NYC Ballet: "West Side Story Suite" (Anita). Regional: "Man of La Mancha" (Aldonza - Gerald Guttierrez, dir.). Film: "Ransom," "Hackers," "The Wiz," "Everyone Says I Love You." Television: "Fringe," "Law & Order" (recurring),"L & O: SVU," "L & O:Trial by Jury," "L & O:Criminal Intent," "Conviction," "One Life to Live," "The Guiding Light," "All My Children." Original/lead dancer of Ballet Hispanico of NY.

Hechter Ubarry (Lolita) is a stage, film and cabaret performer. His Broadway credits: "Man of La Mancha," with Richard Kiley, Raul Julia, Chu Chem, "The Royal Hunt of the Sun." Other stage credits include Kooloo in Playwrights Horizon's "Romance Language," "The King and I." Film credits: "16 Blocks" with Bruce Willis, "McBain" with Christopher Walken, "Major Payne" with Damon Wayans. European film credits: "The Ardent Heart," "Operation Poker." He is best known as Rico, Paul Hogan's nemesis in the blockbuster "Crocodile Dundee II" www.hechterubarry.com

Writer/Director Bobby Houston is an Oscar-winning filmmaker and newcomer to New York theater. His most recent documentary, "Mighty Times: The Children's March" won the Academy Award in March 2005. His previous film, "Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks" was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 and won an Emmy. Both films were produced by HBO and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

He has also written and directed narrative features and network television. His work on "Castronauts" marks his debut as book writer and lyricist.

Patricio Bisso was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but moved to Brazil at age 17, where he started working, first as an illustrator, then as an actor/performer, costume and set designer, finally as a director of large-scale one-man shows. He did the costumes for the screen version of "Kiss Of The Spider Woman", among more than twenty films. His alter-ego, Olga del Volga, a Russian orgasmologist, was a regular on a national soap and a phenomenon in Brazil. He is currently living in Argentina, with his mother, of course.

RANDY COURTS (Composer) collaborated with playwright/lyricist Mark St. Germain on the musicals The Gifts of the Magi (10 consecutive seasons at the Lambs Theater, two national tours, over 200 productions around the world); Johnny Pye and the Foolkiller (Lambs Theater, AT&T New Plays of the Nineties Award); Joseph and Mary (Los Angeles, Dallas, Indianapolis and in concert in New York, starring Kris Kristofferson); Jack's Holiday (Playwrights Horizons, three Outer Critics Circle Award nominations including best musical); The Book of the Dun Cow and The Gingerbread House. Courts and St. Germain also contributed songs to the review. My Name Is Still Alice and to Cass Morgan's True Home. In 2008, Randy's new musical, The Magic Tree House will go on national tour, and Castronauts, Or: How I Killed Fidel will be premiering at The NYMF Festival in September.

WILL POMERANTZ (Director & Choreographer) has developed many new plays and musicals in New York and regionally. He has directed presentations for NAMT and NMTN, and has been associated with such organizations as The Signature Theatre, The Studio Theatre, The Pittsburgh Public, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Denver Center, The Mark Taper Forum, New Dramatists, Soho Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The American Music Theatre Festival, and New York Theatre Workshop.
He is currently Director-in-Residence for The Culture Project/45 Bleecker, where he has recently overseen the production of Guantanomo by Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo, directed by Nicolas Kent and Sacha Wares, and directed Julia Jordan's Tatiana in Color: The Trial of Egon Schiele. He received an OOBR Award for Outstanding Production (A Tale of Two Cities), his production of The Shape of Things was voted Outstanding Production of 2002 by Metro Weekly in Washington, D.C. He received a Critic's Pick in TimeOut NY for his production of The Wild Duck, and his work has been cited in the Boston Area Theatre Critic's Top Ten List (Cruel and Barbarous Treatment). He was the Boris Sagal Fellow in Directing for the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Staff Repertory Director for The Acting Company, and an alumnus of The Directors Lab at Lincoln Center. He has directed plays by Wedekind, Shaw, Ibsen, Chekhov, Shakespeare and Strindberg,. Literary adaptations include The 5:48 (based on the story by John Cheever), Social Note: An Evening with Dorothy Parker (performed in the Oak Room at The Algonquin Hotel), Prater Violet (based on the novella by Christopher Isherwood), and Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities.
Summer of 2008, Will will be at Bard College directing a full-scale revival of Gershwin's political satire "Of Thee I Sing," before returning to New York to The NYMF Festival where he is drecting the new cabaret musical "Castronauts: Or, How I Killed Fidel."
Will has been a guest artist for The Juilliard School (three seasons), The National Theatre Conservatory at The Denver Center, Purchase College Conservatory Acting Program, The Atlantic Theatre Company School, and Louisiana College.
He received his MFA from Carnegie Mellon University where he was awarded the Stephen Bochco Scholarship Award for Directing, as well as the Jacob Javitz Fellowship for Advanced Studies.

A Juilliard educated musician, orchestrated "Once Upon A Time in NJ," "Iron Curtain," "The Confessions of Julian Po" and "The Alchemists." Dimitri has worked on numerous productions, including MTC's "newyorkers," has written, played and/or arranged for Six Flags and Disney Parks, and showcases for such singers as Darlene Love, Melba Moore, Connie Francis, and Lesley Gore. Dimitri orchestrated the upcoming "A Girl Called Dusty" based on the life of Dusty Springfield, opening in London in 2009.

Brian Prather (Scenic Designer) Brian's recent NYC work includes: "Fugitve Songs" (premiere, Dreamlight Theatre Co.); "Fair Game" (Genesius Theatre Group); "Badge" (premiere, Beacon Productions), the Drama League Directing Festival for Vital Theatre, and various festivals for the First Look Theatre Company at the NYU Department of Dramatic Writing. Regional credits include: "I Am My Own Wife," "A Picasso," "Fully Committed," "The Collyer Brothers at Home" and "Thief River" (Barrington Stage Co.); "No Child" and "The Exonerated" (TheaterWorks Hartford); "Old Times" (set and lighting, Kitchen Theatre); "Urinetown" (Yale Dramatic Association); "On the Town" (The Hartt School); "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" (Actors Co-op). Brian is also currently the resident designer for the New Musical Lab at Barrington Stage Co., curated by William Finn, where he has designed premiere productions of "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick," "The Burnt Part Boys," "My Scary Girl," "See Rock City," "Calvin Berger," "Funked Up Fairytales," and "Travels With My Discontent" among others. Brian is currently the Assistant Professor of Scenic Design for Ithaca College, where he just recently designed the opera "La Finta Giardiniera." He is an M.F.A. graduate of Brandeis University.

Lisa Renee Jordan (Costume Design) Costume Design credits include: "Boy in the Bathroom" (NYMF), and "Suicide, Anyone?" (Off-Broadway); "The Witching Hour," and "Triangle" (Williamstown Theatre Festival); "Neglect," and "Thicker than Water" (Ensemble Studio Theatre); "Twelfth Night," "Atomic Farmgirl," "Hero, Justice," (Drilling CompaNY,); "Safe Home," "Dr. Faustus: Occult Remix," "Collected Works of Billy the Kid," "Uncle Vanya," "A Dream Play," "Eccentricities of a Nightingale," "The Seagull," "Etymology of a Person," "Girls Just Wanna Have Fund$: A Peddler’s Tale" (Off-Off Broadway); "The Underpants," "Beauty & The Beast," (Regional Theatre), "Nights at the Circus" (NYC Fringe Festival); "Our Town," "Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet," "Urinetown," "Fiddler on the Roof" (Richard Perry Theatre). Assistant Design credits include "Chita Rivera: the Dancer’s Life" (Broadway); "Bernarda Alba" (Lincoln Center Theatre). She received her MFA in Costume Design from the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.

Cory Pattak (Lighting Designer) NYC: "The Blue Flower" (Prospect Theatre), "Mercy Thieves" (Outhouse Theatre), "International Women's Day" (St. Barts Cathedral), "Do Not Disturb" (59E59), "The Bubble," "A Puppet Music Thing" (NYMF). Regional: "Footloose," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Cats," "Annie," "Fiddler on the Roof" (Pittsburgh Musical Theatre), "Fully Committed" (Syracuse Stage), "Rounding Third," "Our Lady of 121st Street" (The Redhouse), "Great Expectations" (Prime Stage),Young Playwrights Festival (Pittsburgh City Theatre), "Private Lives" (South Park Theatre), "Kiss Me, Kate," "The Front Page," "Twelfth Night," "Floyd Collins" and "The Shape of Things" (Syracuse University) and many concert/cabaret designs at Ars Nova. Assistant lighting design for "Chicago" (2008 US Tour), "Les Miserables" (TOTS Tour), "Shamu's XmasMiracle" (Seaworld),"Gem of the Ocean," "I Am My On Wife" (Pittsburgh Public), "Girl's Room" (Queen's Theatre in the Park), "Essential Self-Defense" (Playwrights Horizons), "The Internationalist" (Vineyard), "Altar Boyz," "Love Song" (Adirondack Theatre Fest), BC/EFA Easter Bonnet, Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Westport Country Playhouse and New World Stages. Upcoming: "Ride" (Outhouse Theatre @ 59E59), "The Sparks Fly Upward" (Hoyt Sherman Place) BFA: Syracuse University.www.corypattak.com.

Chris Rummel (Sound Design) Recent designs include "Wood" (NYMF), "Ten Percent of Molly Snyder" (Penguin Rep.) "Raised By Lesbians" (Fringe2008), "The Night of the Iguana" (T. Schreiber Studio), "The Jack of Tarts" (La Mama ETC), "The Listener of Junk City" (New Dramatists), "Pied A Terre" (Stageplays Theater Co.), "The Girl Detective" (Ateh Theater Group), "Two Rooms" (Harold Clurman Festival), "How I Learned To Drive" (TSS, NYIT nominee), "Angels In America" (Stella Adler), "tempOdyssey" (SPF), "Air Guitar" (FringeNYC), "Mark Twain's Blues" (Altered Stages), "Don Juan In Chicago" (Personal Space Theatrics), "The Girl In The Flammable Skirt" (Ateh), and the short film "Pirates Vs. Ninjas" (piratesversusninjas.com). Chris is a Teaching Artist at Roundabout Theatre Company, the resident sound designer for Personal Space Theatrics, and a member of the drilling compaNY. He holds a BFA in Theater from Syracuse University. Thanks to Will, and the entire cast and crew!

David Marantz (General Manager) returns with "Castronauts" for a second trip to NYMF as GM after serving as GM for last year's Next Link entry, "The Family Fiorelli," which has gone on to be a NAMT finalist this year. Previously, David was GM/Associate Producer for the new play, "Prime Time," by Alex De Witt, at the Lion Theatre in the Theatre Row Complex. David is also Assistant Artistic Director of The Drilling Company, who present evenings of new short plays written around a theme along with new full-length plays. Past shows have included "Justice", "Security", "Revenge", "Honor" and most recently, "Hero." David, along with The Drilling Company, also presents Shakespeare in the Parking Lot in July and August on the Lower East Side. This summer's season featured "Twelfth Night" and "Henry V." David has been primarily an actor, however. This summer he played Sir Toby Belch in "Twelfth Night" for Shakespeare in the Parking Lot. Favorite roles include Kippy in "Take Me Out" for The Human Race Theatre in Dayton, OH and Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet" in the Parking Lot along with roles at The Mint Theatre, TheatreWorks USA, Summer Theatre at Mt. Holyoke and a long list of NYC indie theatres. Film and TV: all the NY daytime dramas, "Law and Order," and the independent feature, "Nail Polish." David earned his MFA in acting at Rutgers under William Esper.

Kelly Marie Furlough (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be back in NYC after recently completing Cameron Mackintosh's National Tour of "My Fair Lady." Recent credits include, the 30th Anniversary National Tour of "Annie" and the National Tour of "Oliver!" Proud Equity Member.

William J Pate (Technical Director) "Willy J" is excited to be back in New York CIty after recently completing the national tour of Cameron Mackintosh's "My Fair Lady" as the head carpenter. Previously, Willy J served as the head carpenter on the 30th anniversary tour of "Annie!" Other national tours include: "Oliver!," "The Music Man" and "Titanic." Willy J hails from Jacksonville, FL, and is a proud member of IATSE Local #115.

Rosen & Wojcik Casting combines over 50 years of industry experience to align the perfect talent to any project. The company was founded in 1988 by Charles Rosen. Scott Wojcik joined the company in 1997 and became a partner in 2005. Gayle Seay joined the office in 2007 after casting on both coasts since 2001.

Theatre clients include American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Stages St. Louis, Florida Stage, The Arvada Center in Colorado and Riverside Theatre and the in Florida. R&W has also cast for Crossroads Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, NY State Theatre Institute, Gable Stage and Bard College. NY clients include the Astoria Performing Arts Center, Emerging Artists and Gallery Players as well as numerous new works, readings and showcases of productions in development. Most recently R&W cast two developmental readings of the Broadway bound production of Invisible Life.

Other projects include consulting on the off Broadway production of "Revolution," the theatrical spectacle: "Falco-A Cyber Show" for Austria, "Saint Heaven" and "Delilah" for the York Theatre, the international dance industrial "Rhythm Rox," the West Coast premiere of "One Way Ticket To Hell," the PBS televised special and subsequent national tour of "The Presidents starring Rich Little" and "A Holiday for Hope," an original family holiday musical.

Past clients include the inaugural NYMF Festival, Pittsburg Civic Light Opera, Cherry County Playhouse, North Shore Music Theatre, City Theatre on the South Side and Meadowbrook Theatre as well as the Off Broadway production of the Drama Desk nominee "Newsical" and the Obie award winning "The Last Session."

Film credits include the indie features Kosmos, Seriously Twisted, The Doghouse and the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival entry The Lucky Ones.

Shelley is a recent transplant from Texas to New York City. In Texas, Shelley was the Resident Stage Manager for The Magik Theatre. Other projects have included stage management with the SAOpera for "Tosca" directed by John Gillas, "Elixir of Love" directed by Garry Marshall and production management for the NCAA Final Four Big Dance this past April in San Antonio,Texas. She is excited to be working with the cast and crew of "Castronauts" on such a prestigious project.