Rose Petals

Sarah Rebell recently graduated from NYU Tisch’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program. Her work has been performed in cabarets at 54 Below (where she produced 22@54, a benefit for Artists Striving To End Poverty), the Duplex (where she produced Obamarama: Songs for Justice! a cabaret fundraiser for the Obama 2012 campaign), The Berkshire Musical Theater Writers Lab, the Laurie Beechman Theater,  NYU and the TriArts Sharon Playhouse. Her songs have been recorded by Melissa Errico, Alexander Gemignani, Rebecca Luker and Laura Osnes, among others. Her musicals Rose Petals and Off the Wall are currently in development.   Sarah is a graduate of Vassar College (BA Drama/Victorian Studies) and a proud member of the Dramatist’s Guild.

Elizabeth Hagstedt is an actor/singer/composer from Sayville, NY. She is a new member of the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop. Besides Rose Petals, she contributed music to Oneida which will be seen in the Vox Festival in Hanover on July 6th and is currently working on adapting the young adult novel Camo Girl. Her musical, Hit Girls, was seen at the Manhattan Theatre Source in 2011. As a performer, she has been seen around town in the new musical Southern Comfort. www.lizziehagstedt.com

Rachel Bahler is delighted to join the cast of Rose Petals. You can also see her every weekend in Accomplice: The Village. Since moving to NYC, Rachel was in two episodes of Pan Am (ABC) and has been in several readings, her favorite being Off the Wall! with music by Danny Abosch and book/lyrics by Sarah Anne Rebell. She is a member of the Advanced Study program at the Upright Citizens Brigade. Check her out as Rachel Renne Scotch in the comedic webseries: Non-Equity Dinner Theatre Spotted. Graduate of the University of Michigan’s BFA Musical Theatre Department. Proud member of SAG-AFTRA. www.rachelbahler.com

Charissa Bertels loves new works and is happy to make her NYMF debut in this show! Broadway: A Christmas Story, Off-Broadway: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at Encores! (cast album). Other credits include Saving Aimee and Joseph (5th Avenue), Chicago (Mason Street Warehouse), Stunt Girl (Manhattan Theatre Club & Village Theatre) and 9 to 5 (Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre). She thanks God, her family, friends, and her amazing husband, James. Visit her at charissabertels.com.

Lisa Brescia has appeared on Broadway as Donna in Mamma Mia!, Elphaba in Wicked, Amneris in Aida, Cleo in Twyla Tharp’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ and Marion Halcombe in The Woman in White.  Also in NY, Lisa appeared as Helena in All’s Well That Ends Well at the Public Theater’s Shakespeare Lab, and she originated the role of Claire in Roundabout’s Ordinary Days (original cast recording). Regional credits include Cabaret (Sally), August: Osage County (Ivy), Hamlet (Gertrude), the Kennedy Center’s Side Show (Violet), Chicago’s Wicked (Elphaba), The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown (Mom), Evita (Eva), The Last Five Years (Cathy), A Little Night Music (Petra) and Brigadoon (Meg).  For five years, Lisa toured internationally with The Mamas and The Papas with original members John Phillips and Denny Doherty.  She is married to Broadway songwriter Craig Carnelia. www.lisabrescia.com

Ken Clark is way thrilled to be doing this show with fellow Miami Hurricane Lizzie Hagstedt! National Tour: La Cage aux Folles (Etienne); Off-B'way: February House (Reeves McCullers); Regional: Sweeney Todd (Anthony), Rent (Roger), Guys and Dolls (Sky), Urinetown (Bobby Strong). Other: Diner the Musical. Thanks to Station 3, Stone Manners, LoRo, Mom, Dad, Gramps and Granny!

Haley Greenstein is thrilled to be part of such a fantastic production. Favorite credits include: Woyzeck Musical Deathmetal (Marie/Gorilla Rep), Quest for the West!: Adventures on the Oregon Trail (Hope/NY Fringe, Frigid NY, Kentucky Repertory Theater), A Christmas Carol (Belle, Charwoman/No.11 Productions), Wit (Student/Saratoga Performing Arts Center), Hitgirls (M/Manhattan Theatre Source), Laura Ingalls Wilder (Mary, Nellie/Artspower Naional Touring Company). Haley sings and plays alto saxophone and glockenspiel in the band Fauno (faunoband.bandcamp.com). Many thanks to Lizzie, Celine, Sarah, the entire cast and crew, and my wonderful friends and family! 

Cooper Grodin was recently seen in Shakespeare In The Park's Into The Woods, the Drama Desk-nominated The Golden Land, and the 25th Anniversary National Tour of Les Misérables. His new original album "It's The Little Things" is now available on iTunes. www.coopergrodin.com

Julie Hanson has been seen on Broadway and across the country as Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera. Regional theatre credits include: Carousel (Julie Jordan) at the Walnut Street Theatre, Jane Austen's Emma (Jane Fairfax, u/s Emma) at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Meet Me in St. Louis (Esther Smith) and State Fair (Margy Frake) at Stages St. Louis, and West Side Story (Maria) at West Virginia Public. Julie studied voice at Oklahoma City University, and has appeared as a guest soloist with the Signature Symphony in Tulsa. Most recently, Julie was a featured vocalist in Arthur Yorinks' American Song project at The Flea Theater in NYC.

Jeff Manno is super excited to be involved in this project. Some of his favorite acting credits include Duff Armstrong in Lincoln in Love (Goodspeed Festival of New Artists), Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show, and The Music Man 50th Anniversary Performance with Shirley Jones (The Bushnell). Thanks so much to the writers for involving him in this project!

Elyssa Samsel is an actress/composer. She is currently writing an original musical comedy entitled Camp Wish-No-More with writing partner Kate Anderson. Elyssa is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop and her work with Anderson has been featured at NYTB Monthly Series at the D-Lounge, UC-Irvine, and most recently NYU Steinhardt. For more info visit ElyssaSamsel.com or SamselAnderson.com.

Amanda Savan is so excited to be back at the NYMF! Recent credits include Songs by Ridiculously Talented... (Barrington Stage), Cruel Shoes (NYMF '12), and Broadway By The Year: 1975, '87, '61, '72, '88 (Town Hall). Amanda can be heard on the Original Cast Recording of Fancy Nancy: The Musical on Ghostlight Records. Graduate of NYU Tisch. Thanks to the Rose Petals team! www.AmandaSavan.com

Emily Stokes is excited to be a part of Rose Petals! She originated the roles of Kelly in the NYC Fringe Festival's Names of the Dead and Honey "Bunny Magnum" Johnson in the West Village MT Festival's Visiting Day. She is a proud graduate of Indiana University with a Masters in Voice and a secondary focus in theatre and dance. Favorite credits include The Music Man (Marian), Too Many Sopranos (Just Jeanette), The Sound of Music (Maria), and Grease (Sandy). http://www.emilystokes.net.

David Alan Thornton is proud to be a part of Rose Petals.  In 2010, David moved to New York City for the BMI Lehman Engel Music Theatre Workshop.  Since then, he has produced, written for, and performed in venues all over the city - from house shows in Brooklyn to Alice Tully Hall.  Thanks to Lizzie and Sarah for letting him be a part of this one! 

www.davidalanthornton.com

www.YouTube.com/davidalanthornton

Remy Zaken is beyond thrilled to be back in the theater world after graduating with a BA in psychology from Columbia University (Dean's List four times!). Broadway: Spring Awakening (OBC Thea). Off-Broadway: Freckleface Strawberry (Title role), Spring Awakening, Captain Louie, Radiant Baby. National Tour: Ragtime (The Little Girl). Regional: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Francie), A Little Princess (Becky), Annie Warbucks (Annie). Workshops: First Love (with Eve Plumb), My Mother, My Sister, & Me (with Valerie Harper), An Incident, Pookie Goes Grenading (Title Role), Pregnancy Pact, Me and Miss Monroe, Bye Bye Birdie.  Recordings: Spring Awakening (Grammy for Best Show Album), A Little Princess. Award for Best Debut, Connecticut Critics Circle for A Tree... Film: “Sing Along” (short). Television: “Gossip Girl” and “Law and Order”. Dream team: Jen Waldman (acting) and Matt Farnsworth (voice). Thank you to Nancy Carson, Sara, Michael. Endless gratitude to mom and dad, my lifelines. www.remyzaken.com

NYU Tisch Alum & Founder of the Neela Theatre Project in Mumbai. MFA Directing Candidate at the New School for Drama. Selected Credits: Director: The Post Office (Bank St), Hitgirls: The Musical (Manhattan Theater Source), The Weird (Manhattan Theater Source), Hapless Romance (Wings Theater). Producer with Melissa Pinsly: Seminar (John Golden), Leap of Faith* (St. James),The Spitfire Grill (The Sage), Turn Of The Screw (Bank St).

*Tony-nominated

Karl Michael Johnson is a composer, lyricist, music director, and pianist living in Brooklyn, New York. As a music director, he has worked with Joel Derfner on Swish, Alex Wyse on Nighttime Traffic, Doug Brandt on A Great Infidelity, one-acts and thesis musicals at NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, as well as a number of other pieces in development. This summer, he will be worskshopping his song cycle, La Hora Perdida: Songs for Renno at Glow Lyric Theatre in Greenville, South Carolina as its 2013 composer in residence. He has been featured in William Finn's Songs by Ridiculously Talented Composers and Lyricists You Probably Don't Know But Should and recently performed a number of his songs with Nick Cearley, Victoria Bennett and band at 54 Below in Life Is Not A Musical. He is a Cycle 21 graduate of the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.

Laura Lindsay hails from Kansas and is a graduate of Kansas State University. She works on many different productions in the city, including award shows and events. NYC credits include Off Broadway: My Children! My Africa! (Signature Theatre). Off-Off Broadway: Tea for Three (Amas Musical Theatre), God Steeling (Wave Productions), Bill Bowers' Beyond Words (Urban Stages), Welcome to America (New Worlds Theatre Project), The Hills Are Alive!, A Letter to Harvey Milk, Tess: A New Rock Opera, (NYMF). Other NYC: From Broadway With Love: A Sandy Hook Benefit, And Then There Were None (Water Well/PPAS), Blown Away By Poetry (Urban Stages), Don't Shoot the Piano Player, disOriented (Theatre C), Relational Medicine Project (Emotion Theatre), Forever Dusty. Regional: Two River Theatre Company, Maine State Music Theatre, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Film: Equity (1st AD). SM for the Concert Office at The Juilliard School. Proud member of Actors' Equity Association.