Our Artists

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Theodora Loukas (Astoria)

Neighborhood: Astoria

NY THEATER
“In Vino” by Leonardo Foti / Maria – House Governess (Supporting) / IN SCENA Italian Theater Festival at The Brick
“In Chorus” by Dimitris Dimitriadis / 11th of Chorus (Lead) / NYU – KJCC Auditorium
“Blind Spot” by Yannis Mavritsakis / Nicki (Lead) / NYU – KJCC Auditorium
“Goats” by Liwaa Yazji / Imm Al-Tayyib (Lead) / Martin E. Segal Theatre
“Lordes” by Katherine Wilkinson / Lordes (Devised) / Schapiro Theatre – Columbia Stages
“The Seagull” by Anton Chekhov / Arkadina (Lead) / Schapiro Theatre – Columbia Stages
“The Anniversary” by Anton Chekhov / Fyodorovna Merchutkina (Lead) / Hellenic Cultural Center
“Marriage Proposal” by Anton Chekhov / Natalia Stepanovna (Lead) / Hellenic Cultural Center
“I’m Dreaming, But Am I?” by L. Pirandello / Young Lady (Lead) / IN SCENA Italian Theater Festival at Cherry Lane Theater Studio
“Agamemnon” by Aeschylus / Clytemnestra (Lead) / La MaMa ETC – Main Stage
“Could you please look into the Camera” by Mohammad Al Attar / Noura (Lead) / Between the Seas Productions TheaterLab
“Redshift” by Yannis Mavritsakis / Minute-Taker (Lead) / Between the Seas Festival -The Wild Project
“Raus!” by Mich. Reppas & Th. Papathanasiou / Teta (Lead) / Stathakio Cultural Center
“In-Laws from Tirana” by Mich. Reppas & Th. Papathanasiou / Penny (Lead) / Greek Cultural Center
“Babies are Brought by the Stork” by Mich. Reppas & Th. Papathanasiou / Christina (Lead) / Greek Cultural Center
“Locusts” by Biljana Srbljanović / Zana (Lead)/ Martin E. Segal Theatre
“If the Glove Fits” by Al. Sakellarios & Ch. Yannakopoulos / Rena (Lead) / Hellenic Cultural Center
“This One and That One” by C. Mourselas / Helen (Lead) / Hellenic Cultural Center
“Three Penny Youth” by K. Pretenderis – A. Gialamas / Sophi & Rika (Supporting) / Hellenic Cultural Center
“Tejas Verdes” by Fermin Cabal / Gravedigger (Lead) / The Actors Company Theatre
“Psyche” by Maria Litvan / Saturn (Lead) / Context Studios
“Women With Wings” by Ed Valentine / Ivy (Lead) / The Frederick Loewe Theatre
“Women Behind The Bush” by Ed Valentine / Bookie (Lead) / Producer’s Club
“Arabian Night” by R. Schimmelpfennig / Fatima (Lead) / Martin E. Segal Theatre
“Come and Go” by Samuel Beckett / Stranger (Devised) / Walkerspace (Soho Rep. Theatre)

INTERNATIONAL THEATER
“The Mariner” by Fernando Pessoa / First Sister (Lead) / Theatre Odou Kykladon / Nea Skini
“Angela” by Giorgos Sevastikoglou / Madam & Music Ensemble (Supporting) / Embros Theatre Company

FILM
To Love or Not to Love / Pierrot (Principal) / Dir. Maria Litvan
Eli / Maria (Supporting) / Dir. Yianna Dellatolla
Women and Wallace / Psychiatrist (Principal) / Dir. Kate Nexon
Home / Wife (Principal) / Dir. Alex Lubliner
Exhibit 42 / Gallerist (Supporting) / Dir. Glenn Komsky (Tribeca 2005)
About That One Who … Never Left / The Woman (Principal) / Dir. Maria Litvan

VOICE OVER
Stranger (Audio Theatre) / Old Woman / Columbia University Butler Library
The Comprehensive Examination in Modern Greek (ongoing) / Primary Voice / The Archdiocesan District Office of Education
Richmond Essential English Course / Primary Voice / Paul Ruben Productions
Mango Languages Software / Primary Voice / Paul Ruben Productions

ACTING TRAINING
Acting & Audition Technique / Tom Todoroff / Acting Studio
Advanced Script Analysis / Scott Zigler / Atlantic Acting School
Suzuki & Viewpoints / Donnie Mather / Atlantic Acting School
Acting Technique / A. Saffir, S. Hawley, K. Kohlhaas / Atlantic Acting School
Acting Conservatory / D. Katalifos, A. Moutousi / Embros Theatre Company Acting Conservatory
Jacques Lecoq Training / Richard Crawford / Movement Theatre Studio NYC
Intro to Balinese & Indonesian Theatre through Mask & the Martial Arts / Tapa Sudana (Peter Brook Co.) Various Workshops and Venues

SINGING – VOICE & SPEECH
Standard American Speech / Susan Cameron / Private Classes
Standard American Speech / Katie Honaker / Private Classes

SINGING – VOICE & SPEECH (continued)
Edith Skinner’s Method / Suzan Finch / Private Classes
Chuck Jones Technique (voice) / Katie Bull / ATC Acting School
Kristin Linklater Method (voice) / Kostis Sfirikidis / Embros Theatre Company Acting Conservatory
Singing Jonathan / Hart Makwaia / Group & Private Classes
Classical Singing / Tasis Christogiannopoulos / Private Classes
Song of the Goat Coordination Tech. / Grzegorz Bral / Workshop

DANCE & MOVEMENT
Modern Dance / Mary Tsouti / Embros Theatre Company Acting Conservatory
Alexander Technique / Tom Vasiliades / Alexander Technique Center
The Feldenkrais Method / Eleni Kasimati / Embros Theatre Company Acting Conservatory

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The plays written by our Propulsion Lab playwrights have found success on the national and international stage.  Enjoy these success stories:

JONATHAN ALEXANDRATOS

DUCK
Written in the 2014-2015 Propulsion Lab
Reading – 2015 Mission to (dit)Mars Launchpad
Workshop Production – June 2016 by PEACE Productions in Strasbourg, France
Play was submitted to the Ingram New Works Lab at Nashville Rep and resulted
in my admittance into the Lab
WE SEE WHAT HAPPEN
Written in the 2015-2016 Propulsion Lab
Reading – 2016 Ingram New Works Lab

KARI BENTLEY-QUINN

THE OCEAN THOUGHT NOTHING
Written in the 2012-2013 Propulsion Lab
Reading – April 2017 with Team Awesome Robot
THE WORST MOTHER IN THE WORLD
Written in the 2015-2016 Propulsion Lab
Finalist – Leah Ryan FEWW Annual Prize
Semi Finalist – 2016 Princess Grace Award

LISA HUBERMAN

SEX AND CHARITABLE GIVING

Debuted in the Brick Theatre’s F*ck Fest in June 2015.  It was also recorded a part of the Elephant Run District’s hERD podcast series in May of 2016.

THE WORST ZIONIST IN THE ROOM
Performed at Dixon Place as part of the Lounge Series in November 2016.
PERSEPHONE IN RETROGRADE

MRINALINI KAMATH

THE NEW DEAL

Reading as part of Ma-Yi LabFest, October 2015

Recipient of Downstage Left residency and included in LeapFest, 2016, Stage Left Theatre, Chicago, IL
Honorable mention, Kilroys List, 2016
STUFF:  A RADIO PLAY
Reading as part of Ma-Yi LabFest, November 2016
To be read/recorded by Mission to (dit)Mars, May 2017

KRISTINE M. REYES

LILY IN LOVE
Written in the 2013-14 Propulsion Lab
Public reading – 2015 Queens Theatre in the Park New American Voices Reading Series
EGGS ON ICE
Written in the 2014-15 Propulsion Lab
Public reading – December 2016 The Bechdel Project Reading Series
Excerpt performed by The Bechdel Project

DON X. NGUYEN

THE SUPREME LEADER
Written in the Propulsion Lab
Excerpt performed in All Systems Go!
Roundabout Underground Reading Series – Roundabout Theatre Company
Up Next Reading Series – Labyrinth Theatre Company
Ma-Yi LabFest
HELLO, FROM THE CHILDREN OF PLANET EARTH
Written in the Propulsion Lab
Excerpt performed in All Systems Go! Mission 2
Workshop –Ma-Yi Theater Company
hERD Podcast Series, Elephant Run District
Ma-Yi Winter LabFest

AMY E. WITTING

THE HOUSE ON THE HILL
Written in the 2014/2015 LAB
Selected for 2015 SPACE on Ryder Farm Residency
Selected for 2016 Alumni MFAPW Kennedy Center Workshop
Selected for 2016 NNPN’s National Showcase
Nominated for 2017 Theatre Visions Award
Nominated for 2017 Stavis Playwright Award
WORKSHOP READINGS
2016

RAY YAMANOUCHI

THE AMERICAN TRADITION
Written in the 2016-17 Propulsion Lab

Selected for Rising Circle Theatre Collective’s INKtank program

 

Made possible (in part) by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

QCA-Logo

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C. A. Johnson (Astoria)
C. A. Johnson (Astoria)

Neighborhood: Astoria

C. A. JOHNSON (playwright) is a Louisiana native currently living in Queens, New York. Her plays include GOSSAMER, MOTHER TONGUE, THE CLIMB, WAITIN’ ON THE MOON, ELROY LEARN HIS NAME and THIRST. C.A. is The Lark’s 2016 Van Lier Playwriting Fellow, a member of 2016-2017 R & D Group at The Civilians, and a 2016-2017 Dramatists Guild Fellow. Her work has been developed at NYU Tisch, The Lark, Open Bar Theatricals, UC San Diego, and The Fire This Time Festival. In addition to her playwriting, C.A. was a Mellon Mays undergraduate fellow, a winner of a Legacy Prize from The Creativity Foundation, and a creative writing instructor at her alma mater, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC. BA: Smith College MFA: NYU

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Yvonne Hartung in Astoria Park

This is a series of posts featuring our artists who are making things happen in and around our great borough of Queens.  Please check back weekly for new posts.

Yvonne Hartung in Astoria Park
Yvonne Hartung in Astoria Park

TitleOccupation
Managing Director for Team Awesome Robot. Stage Manager, Director, Producer, Helpful Theater Hands

Where were you born?
I was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, and grew up in the woods of Ormond Beach.

Which Queens neighborhood do you live in and for how long?
I’ve lived in Astoria off of the Ditmars stop for four years (with a brief intermission in Harlem for one year).

How did you get involved with Team Awesome Robot?
Christopher Diercksen (Artistic Director) and I have been working together for the past three years in various working relationships (director-stage manager, director-assistant director, producer-director) and realized we wanted to have more agency in the projects we were working on and wanted to build on our collaborative natures within our own theater company. Thus, Team Awesome Robot was born.

 

What do you love most about Queens?
Queens feels like an escape from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, but you’re still able to find anything and everything you could possibly need or want.

Do you have an “only in Queens” moment you’d like to share?
One day I was at a grocery store off of Ditmars, across from an Orthodox church, minding my own business when a nun mutters something to me and does the sign of the cross towards my face. I must have looked startled so she leans in and asks with a deep voice, “Are you Greek?” I say, “No, I’m not.” She replies, “Ah, must be Russian then. The Lord’s Blessings to you,” and then left the store without another word.

Your top Queens picks (food, entertainment, sights, etc)?
Food:
Queens has the best food and there’s always something new! Alright, so if you’re in my neck of the woods, you have to try SingleCut Beersmiths for beer and barbeque. Then head to QED on 23rd Avenue to see a storytelling show or stand-up (or anything really, check their website for whatever you might be into). And if you have a sweet tooth like me, get some gelato or pie to seal your evening from Martha’s Country Bakery. Perfect night without even leaving the stop.

Current/Upcoming projects?
Team Awesome Robot is holding a fundraiser tonight called Drinking and Dragons.

Drinking and Dragons is when we get playwrights together to play dungeons and dragons live on-stage for you. There is also drinking, and opportunities for the audience to affect gameplay, Hunger Games style. It’s going to be supremely silly and a great great time.
Our playwright adventurers are:
Berlings Beard wrote an original dungeon module for us,
Ross Wade will be acting as our Rules Wizard
And our Dungeon Master is none other than Daniel John Kelley, playwright to our next production in the Spring.
Tickets are $20 and all drinks are suggest donation.
7pm, tonight, at the Gene Frankel Theatre
24 Bond Street, Manhattan.
If you can’t come, but would still like to support us, you can always donate through Fractured Atlas.

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Lori McNally (Woodside)
Lori McNally (Woodside)
Lori McNally (Woodside)

Neighborhood: Woodside

Lori currently resides in Woodside with her actor/playwright husband Seth McNeill. By day she’s an executive assistant to a bunch of (you guessed it) executives. By night she’s feeding her actor habit by working on some play/artistic project or another. Lori and Seth are big fans of Thai Kitchen in Woodside so if you are looking for a great Thai restaurant she highly recommends you go. Her favorite dinner is fried chicken and a martini. If you’ve never tried that combo, go ahead give it a whirl. Your life will change forever. www.lorimcnally.com

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Nat Cassidy (Astoria)

This is a series of posts featuring our artists who are making things happen in and around our great borough of Queens.  Please check back weekly for new posts.

Nat Cassidy (Astoria)
Nat Cassidy (Astoria)

Title/Occupation
Actor, writer, director, musician, job security eschewer.

Where were you born?
I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, but we moved to Phoenix, Arizona a few years later, which is where I was raised, FORGED BY THE HEAT OF THE DESERT SUN.

Which Queens neighborhood do you live in and for how long?
I live in Astoria. I am a trailblazer.

Actually, my girlfriend and I just moved to the neighborhood (and the borough) about six months ago. Before that, I was all over Brooklyn for about 12 years – Williamsburg, Bushwick, Bay Ridge, Lefferts Gardens, Midwood, Ditmas, you name it (provided you just name those neighborhoods).

How did you get involved in theater?
I started acting around 5 years old, first in some school stuff and then community/regional type stuff. I became obsessed with Shakespeare in first grade (no kidding: he was introduced to me by my teacher in an effort to try to stem my class-interrupting, curse-shouting, fire-starting tendencies) and made the decision to dedicate my life to theatre around that time. Once I started producing my own work and realizing how little money was to be made in the medium, however, the curse-shouting and fire-starting tendencies started to come back.

What do you love most about Queens?
Ugh. It’s just so goddamned nice. Across the board. It’s so friggin nice it actually makes me mad. I spent so much time fighting the idea of ever moving to Queens. I mean, most of my family is from Queens (my mom was born in Astoria and raised around Deepdale), so it never felt exciting to me. And I always felt a much more visceral connection to Brooklyn–I think because I was young and thought that being angry and miserable all the time somehow validated one’s city living experience.

No one wants to visit you when you live in Brooklyn, it takes 45 extra minutes to get anywhere from Brooklyn (including other neighborhoods in Brooklyn), the landlords are all faceless monsters, you’re essentially stranded wherever you are on the weekends, rents explode so exponentially that the only way to find a place you can afford is to move farther and farther out and keep displacing others who are worse off than you, everything you love is taken away from you, and your joy turns to ashes in your mouth (served to you out of a mason jar in your paleo coffee shop that just kicked out a family restaurant that had been there for 9 generations).

Now I’m in Astoria, where the buildings are nowhere near as tall so I actually get to see the sky, there are trees everywhere, there are restaurants and museums and parks, everyone doesn’t act like they’re auditioning to be on GIRLS all the time, I’ve actually had conversations with my landlord, and my commute went from sometimes 90 minutes to usually 30 or under. I mean, no neighborhood is perfect (living in NYC is still an insane thing to do), but so far I’ve just been able to relax more in Queens.

It’s almost … it’s almost like when I switched from an Android phone to an iPhone. I realized that almost the only things I really liked about the former where the things that were trying to mimic the latter. Queens is the Apple Products of New York City boroughs. There are just fewer bugs. (Unless you live off the 7 train, which I hear is like still having an iPhone 3G or something.)

Do you have an “only in Queens” moment you’d like to share?
Not gonna lie, in the six months I’ve lived in Astoria, I have run into SO MANY people I know that I’m actually starting to think that maybe I died and my life is just slowly flashing before me. Over a decade in Brooklyn, I think I unexpectedly ran into maybe three people TOPS. I run into that many people in Astoria DAILY. It’s like the freaky flash-sideways final season of LOST. I run into best friends. I run into people I did shows with a thousand years ago. I run into people I just met the week before at a reading. It’s insane. Seriously. Did I die? Is Astoria actually some sort of purgatory? Is it like Down Town in Monkeybone?

(Do you know where I got that reference? WHEN I RAN INTO A FRIEND OF MINE ON THE STREETS OF ASTORIA THE OTHER DAY AND HE REMINDED ME ABOUT THAT MOVIE. HE DOESN’T EVEN LIVE IN QUEENS AND YET I RAN INTO HIM IN QUEENS. R.I.P., ME HE DIED DOING WHAT HE LOVED: NOT COMMUTING FROM BROOKLYN)

Your top Queens picks (food, entertainment, sights, etc)?
Food:
There are so many restaurants and places I want to try that I actually get a little bit of a panic attack thinking that I’ll never get to try them all. The Sparrow Tavern (http://thesparrowtavern.com/) and The Bohemian Beer Garden (http://bohemianhall.com/) are essentially our downstairs bars, so we go there a lot. Mosaic is also great (http://www.mosaicastoria.com/). I’m in love with Astoria Park. We also walk over the Kaufman Astoria movie theater when it’s nice, as well as the MoMI (http://www.movingimage.us/). Off the Hook (http://www.offthehookastoria.com/) is a fantastic raw bar we like to go to. Bubba’s Bistro is my preferred Southern joint (http://www.bubbasbistroastoria.com/). QED is also fantastic (http://qedastoria.com/) and I want to start spending more and more time there, ’cause they have a ton of storytelling/open mic things. And speaking of open mics, I’m in the process of producing/writing/directing a webseries all about people who play at open mics and the amazing folks at Albatross Bar (http://www.albatrossastoria.com/) has been invaluable making that a possibility–everyone should go there and buy many, many drinks so they stay in business forever.

Oh, and the Guitar Center (http://www.guitarcenter.com/) on Northern Boulevard is really nice.

Current/Upcoming projects?
At the moment, nothing too specific. I’ve been working a lot more on film/TV projects lately as an actor–I just went through my first pilot experience, which was wonderful and super fascinating. Besides the webseries I just mentioned, I’m also working on a serialized radiodrama project that I’m really excited about, as well as starting my first novel in like 15 years (so, hopefully, my first one that isn’t terrible). I just finished my newest playscript, too, which I’m very happy with. For those that don’t know, I mainly write horror and, based on the reaction this script has gotten so far, I think I might have topped myself a little bit. Appropriately enough, the script is based VERY loosely on our experience moving to Astoria. See? Moving here has paid off already.  Nat Cassidy can be seen in our upcoming Launch Pad Reading All Systems Go: Mission 4

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Christine Zagrobelny

This is a series of posts featuring our artists who are making things happen in and around our great borough of Queens.  Please check back weekly for new posts.

Christine Zagrobelny
Christine Zagrobelny

TitleOccupation
Director, freelance

Where were you born?
Austin, TX

Which Queens neighborhood do you live in and for how long?
Astoria, 3.5 years

How did you get involved in theater?
In high school I was cast in a community theater production of selected scenes by Shakespeare.  I played Lady Anne in Richard III (the scene where she’s following the coffin of her dead husband and Richard III stops the procession to try to woo her).  The tears were real, which made me feel like a ‘real’ actor, but when I walked offstage on opening night, I realized that the mascara I had put on was dripping down my face 🙂

What do you love most about Queens?
The community, being a regular at coffeeshops and bars, and the food.  Astoria Ditmars has a ton of street fairs during the summer, and seeing all of the Astoria families out having fun makes me smile.

Do you have an “only in Queens” moment you’d like to share?
Near where I live, there is a Greek Orthodox church next door to a mosque.  For a weekend during Ramadan, they will rent tents and string lights and block off the street.  During the afternoon, the Greek Orthodox community holds a street festival, and, at night, the Muslim community celebrates Ramadan.

Your top Queens picks (food, entertainment, sights, etc)?
Food:

Current/Upcoming projects?

Public presentation for Everyday Inferno Theatre Company’s Developmental Lab on May 28th.  Details: http://www.everydayinferno.com/Lab2016/

I am assistant directing Rizing (Flux Theatre Ensemble), which runs May 20-June 4.  Details: www.fluxtheatre.org/rizing

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Eliza Simpson (Astoria)

This is a series of posts featuring our artists who are making things happen in and around our great borough of Queens.  Please check back weekly for new posts.

Eliza Simpson (Astoria)
Eliza Simpson (Astoria)

TitleOccupation
Actor, Creator and Co-Producer of The Mother Line Story Project

Where were you born?
Nyack, NY

Which Queens neighborhood do you live in and for how long?
Astoria, 2.5 years

How did you get involved in theater?
My parents were both performers. Theater was just part of growing up in my house.

What do you love most about Queens?
The people. Queens holds amazing communities of grounded, look you in the eyes kind of people.

Do you have an “only in Queens” moment you’d like to share?
There’s a woman on my block who walks a tortoise on a leash.

Your top Queens picks (food, entertainment, sights, etc)?
Food:

My whole life orbits around Vitality Market https://m.facebook.com/Vitality-Health-195941731782/
Queens Kickshaw http://thequeenskickshaw.com
Queens Comfort

 

Current/Upcoming projects?
Come see “The Woodsman” at New World Stages. Must close May 29th! And visit www.motherlinestoryproject.com for video, podcasts, and more. Then look for us at The People’s Improv Theater this August!

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Alisha Spielmann

This is a series of posts featuring our artists who are making things happen in and around our great borough of Queens.  Please check back weekly for new posts.

Alisha Spielmann
Alisha Spielmann

TitleOccupation
Actor; Creative Partner with Flux Theatre Ensemble, Company Member for Retro Productions

Where were you born?
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Which Queens neighborhood do you live in and for how long?
I’ve been in NYC for over 10 years but only moved to Astoria this past September, so…. 9ish months new!

How did you get involved in theater?
My mom always said that I knew how to sing before I knew how to talk, lol – apparently my cousin has a vivid memory of me singing along to the radio before I could talk too. I was definitely into plays at any early age, and my aunt and uncle use to take me to shows at The Children’s Theater and the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. My first play I was a part of was in 2nd grade where I played a magic broom that saved the day (sidenote: so my mom made me a really great broom costume that apparently made a lot of noise, and I had the young acting smarts to know that when I wasn’t talking I should be doing something else (LOL), so I’d be dusting and “brooming” the room whenever I didn’t have a line, and my teacher made me stop because apparently my broom outfit was too loud and the audience couldn’t hear the other students…!!!) It wasn’t until 7th grade, though, when my middle school principal Dr. Young took my mom aside and told her that he thought I had that “something” worth giving to the world artistically that I started to really think that maybe this could be something that I could actually do for the rest of my life.

What do you love most about Queens?
I love that Queens is not Manhattan – it’s like the tiniest breath away from it though! Such a friendly and approachable neighborhood. The people, though, and the incredibly delicious food (as you’ll note down below) have a lot to do with why I love Queens – as well as Astoria Park!

Do you have an “only in Queens” moment you’d like to share?
Here’s one for the books: I had been working in Long Island City babysitting for a family every Monday from 8-5 for probably 3 years a bit ago.  I’d get on the train at around 5:10pm or so and the MTA guy who was working the booth would always wave to me, and being from Minnesota, I naturally waved back.  Cut to about 2 years after that and I’m hopping into the subway at 42nd Street after a show and my metro card has expired. I look at the ticket booth and there’s the same guy! We both recognized each other for the same reason: he would always wave and I would always wave back…. That for me is most definitely a NYC moment and a Queens moment all in one. 🙂

Your top Queens picks (food, entertainment, sights, etc)?
Food:

Best bagels: Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Company http://www.brooklynbagelandcoffeecompany.com
Best fried pickles: Sweet Afton http://www.sweetaftonbar.com
Best burgers: Bareburger http://www.bareburger.com
Best sliders: Snowdonia http://snowdoniapub.com
Best Greek: Taverna Kyclades http://www.tavernakyclades.com
Best BBQ: The Strand Smokehouse http://www.thestrandsmokehouse.com
Best cheese shop: Astoria Bier and Cheese http://astoriabierandcheese.com
Best panini’s: Il Bambino http://ilbambinonyc.com
Best coffee: The Queens Kickshaw http://thequeenskickshaw.com
Best bakery: Martha’s Country Bakery http://marthascountrybakery.com
Best cocktails: The Astor Room http://www.astorroom.com
Best wine: DiWine http://www.diwineonline.com
Best BINGO night: Blackbirds http://blackbirdsbar.com
Best outdoor hang: Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden!  http://bohemianhall.com
Best museum: The Museum of Moving Image http://www.movingimage.us

Current/Upcoming projects?
I’ll be performing in Flux Theatre Ensemble’s upcoming play RIZING by Jason Tseng from May 20th – June 4th at the Access Theater, and you can find all sorts of information about that at fluxtheatre.org/rizing and alishaspielmann.com ! 🙂

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Nat Cassidy (Astoria)
Nat Cassidy (Astoria)
Nat Cassidy (Astoria)

Neighborhood: Astoria

Nat Cassidy in an award-winning playwright, director, and actor, and a sandwich-winning musician. Born in North Carolina and raised in the deserts of Phoenix, Arizona, he received his BFA in Acting/Directing from the University of Arizona in 2004. As an actor, Nat has appeared in television shows like “The Following” (Fox), “The Affair” (Showtime), “Red Oaks” (Amazon) “High Maintenance,” as well as in over 50 theatrical productions at venues such as Lincoln Center, Cherry Lane, The Public, SoHo Playhouse, Classic Stage Company’s East 13th Street Theatre, The Arclight, 59E59, Theatre Row, P.S. 122, Manhattan Theatre Source, The Gallery Players, 45th Street Theatre, The Players Theatre, The Players Club, and many others. Nat’s scripts have been produced and/or developed at The Kennedy Center, Washington National Opera, Primary Stages, The Flea, One Minute Play Festival (The New Ohio), The Players Club, The Players Theatre, LaMaMa ETC, Flux Theatre Ensemble, Nosedive Productions, Piper McKenzie, Adaptive Arts, CAPS LOCK Theatre, Retro Productions, Blood Brothers Present, Manhattan Theatre Source, The Gallery Players, The Brick, The Den Theatre (Chicago), American Theatre Company (Oklahoma), World’s Stage (Wisconsin), Finborough Theatre (UK), and others. His work has been published by New York Theatre Experience, Smith & Kraus, Applause, and Indie Theatre Now. His plays have been nominated for a combined total of 17 New York Innovative Theatre Awards, including three times for Outstanding Full-Length Script (which he won for his play THE RECKONING OF KIT & LITTLE BOOTS in 2009). Other scripts include I AM PROVIDENCE (winner, New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, 2011); ANY DAY NOW (Primary Stages’ ESPA Drills workshop at The Duke Theatre, August 2014, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel); OLD FAMILIAR FACES; THE ETERNAL HUSBAND; SONGS OF LOVE: A THEATRICAL MIXTAPE; THE TEMPLE, or, LEBENSRAUM; THE DEMON HUNTER; TENANTS; PIERCE; GOLDSBORO; and many others. In 2012, Nat was commissioned by The Kennedy Center to write the libretto for a new opera with composer Scott Perkins as part of the inaugural American Opera Initiative. The Washington Times called their piece, CHARON, “terrific,” “remarkable,” and wrote that “both the composer and librettist have an uncanny ability to [do] what a great composer like Verdi once did and what so many modern classical composers fail to do—make a visceral connection to their own times.”

He’s currently at work on a boatload of new scripts, screenplays, teleplays, and a couple musicals. He also never thought he’d leave Brooklyn, where he lived for over 10 years, but after moving to Astoria, it took him about 45 minutes to realize he wanted to stay in Queens forever.

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