Katherine Ambrosio (Edgar Wilson) is pleased to be working with Elizabeth Ryan Troxell and RTB again, having previously collaborated with Sydnie Grosberg Ronga on The Tin Man. Katherine has authored numerous full-length, one-act and ten-minute plays which have been produced off-off Broadway as well as in upstate New York, notably by The New York State Theater Institute, Hubbard Hall, StageWorks, the Glimmer Globe Theater and ACT. She is the recipient of an Individual Artist’s Grant, funded by the NYS Council of the Arts, which supported the creation of the Docu-Drama, Cracked Pieces, which was produced in New York City as well as in venues around the Capital Region. She wrote the screenplay for the short film, The Train to Moscow, which won First Place, Best in Festival at The Lake Placid Film Festival. Katherine is a graduate of Webster University’s Theatre Arts Conservatory. She is grateful to RTB for the opportunity to develop Edgar Wilson with its adult issues of domestic violence, PTSD and mental illness, as seen through the eyes of a gifted child.
Lewis Arlt (I for an I) A veteran actor for 35 years, Lewis performed in multiple stints on Broadway, regional theatre, and on television, as well as directing episodes for soaps, and penning numerous scripts for daytime dramas, for which he won an Emmy and multiple WGA Awards.
Lewis resides with his wonderful wife Juli in Woodstock, at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. He’s a Trustee on the Board of the Historical Society of Woodstock, delivers for Meals on Wheels, and supports the rebirth of the Hudson Valley small farm movement, and local farm to table ventures. He is supported by his amazing three daughters, their spouses and their five extraordinary grandchildren. He and Syd shared quality theatre time in St. Louis at Webster College’s Loretto Hilton Repertory Theatre. And more recently at two table reads with RTB. It’s good to be back.
Jessica Bashline (Garden of Memories) is an Assistant Professor of Theater at the University of Miami, where she teaches acting and theater creation. She was the Artistic Director and co-founder of Strange Sun Theater, a theater company in New York City dedicated to creating magical new theater that ignites in audiences and artists, the power of possibility. In addition, she was the Consulting Artistic Director of the Sheen Center, when it opened in downtown Manhattan, curating a full season for 2 theaters. Jessica’s plays include: Ann and Me, a solo piece about abortion has been developed in collaboration with American Theater Northwest and Syracuse Stage. Wickedest Woman; The story of Ann Lohman, midwife and abortionist in the 1800’s in NYC. Finalist, Scrap Mettle Arts Playwrights Festival, Production January 2019 NYC, published with Next Stage Press. Garden of Memories the story of siblings dealing with the loss of their mother and the acceptance of their past. Runner Up W. Keith Hedrick Award at HRC Showcase Theater and Semi-Finalist, Trustus New Playwrights Festival 2016. Jessica works as a freelance theater director specializing in new play and musical development, her favorite credits include; Loving Repeating (NYC Premiere), Life of the Party (NYU-Premiere Production of Larry O’Keefe & Nell Benjamin’s new musical), at NYU Steinhardt Gypsy, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, with Strange Sun Closer Than You Think (World Premiere), The Drowning Girls (NYC Premiere).
Catherine Berg (The Hardest Cut) Cate is thrilled to be working with RTB again after last year’s readings of River of Possession(s). In 2023, her play Landis and the Bear was a Top 30 (out of 850) selection for the 48th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival and performed at the Vineyard’s Dimson Theatre in NYC. Cate’s work has also been produced by Omaha Magic Theatre, Wisconsin Public Radio, and Seattle’s Stone Soup Theatre. Cate holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and lives in Kingston, NY, with her partner Pat and their spoiled pets. For more info: www.cateberg.com
Lora Lee Ecobelli (Adelaide & the Devil) is an award winning Actress, Filmmaker, Writer, Director and Teacher. As an actress, Lora Lee has performed both On and Off-Broadway and in regional theatre’s throughout the country in leading roles from the contemporary to the classics. She can also be seen in many independent films and television Lora Lee is the recipient of the Harold Clurman award for best leading actress in an Off-Broadway Play for her performance in The Vice by Luigi Pirandello.
As a filmmaker and director, she is committed to telling personal women’s stories. Her experimental film La Transazione, which she wrote and directed has stacked up numerous best picture awards at film festivals around the globe including the prestigious Cannes Short Film Festival. Her Latest film Laurina is currently on the festival circuit. As a writer, Lora Lee has several plays and monologues published by Smith and Krause and Art Age Publications. Her plays have been produced numerous times at the Samuel French Festival as well as at regional theaters throughout the county. She is also the co-author along with her brother Tom Ecobelli of a popular Italian cookbook published by Square Circle Press. She has just completed her first graphic novel called Wanda-Allen. Lora Lee is the Artistic director of The Blue Horse Repertory Company, a Hudson Valley Theatre Collective. She has taught a popular adult acting program at The Theatre Institute at Sage College for the past twelve years. Lora Lee is a proud member of Actors Equity Association and SAG/AFTRA.
Rich Orloff (Let’s Misbehave) is an internationally acclaimed, not-yet-famous playwright. The New York Times called his play Big Boys “rip-roaringly funny” and named Funny As A Crutch a Critic’s Pick. His comedy Romantic Fools has had over 120 productions in the USA, Africa, Asia and Europe, including two productions in Madrid, where apparently they’re no better at romance than we are. His short plays have had over 2000 productions on six continents – and a staged reading in Antarctica. His musical Esther In The Spotlight has been performed in New York, Miami, Toronto and Tel Aviv, and his educational children’s play Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Fight Tuberculosis Togetherwas a big hit in Kosovo. This season his plays are being produced in Finland, Sweden, Greece and Utica NY.
Mike Power (Renewal) is the author of poems and short fiction that have appeared in numerous journals and magazines. His novel The Zoo was published by Cacoethes Publishing and his poetry chapbook The New Normal was published by Analog Submission Press. His first full-length play Digging Up John Barrymore was performed by Dreamcatcher Entertainment in Manhattan. His latest play Renewal was published in Open: Journal of Arts and Letters. In addition to writing, Mike is a singer-songwriter with music featured on WFUV radio and in the upcoming film, Love & Karma. His social media handles are all @mikepowernyc. More information is available at www.mikepowernyc.com
David Simpatico (Nana) Career highlights include: the book/stage adaptation of Disney’s High School Musical; The Screams of Kitty Genovese (Jonathan Larson Award; music by Will Todd);Garden of Light, libretto for choral symphony, with composer Aaron Jay Kernis. His musical adaptation of Twelve Angry Men, music and lyrics by Michael Holland, received its world premiere production in June, 2022 at Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis, directed by Peter Rothstein. His grand opera, The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing, with music by Justine F. Chen,received its world premiere at Chicago Opera Theater in March, 2023, also directed by Peter Rothstein. He is currently adapting Wally Lamb’s She’s Come Undone, with co-bookwriter Darrah Cloud, and composer/lyricist, Michael Holland. He is also working on That Hellbound Train, a new jazz opera with composer Lisa DeSpain, based on the short story by Robert Bloch. His oratorio adaptation of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, with score by Will Todd, received its first production with Opera Holland Park in London, Dec, 2024.
Joe Thristino (What We Will Be) is a writer based in Brooklyn. In the realm of playwriting, he’s a Dramatist Guild member, having been a shortlisted finalist for The Ambassador Theater Group’s Playwrights Prize (Bringer of Doom) and Best One Act at The Tennessee Williams Play Festival (Release Note). His stage work has been performed at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Players Theatre, Dixon Place, Theater for the New City, and the Times Square Arts Center, among others.
Louisa Valardi (Date My Mom) is a writer and photographer originally from northern New Jersey where she taught high school English and creative writing for over a decade before moving to the Hudson Valley. Her writing has been featured by The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, and Her View From Home and her plays have been produced throughout the country. She is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild of America. www.LouisaVilardi.com
Mark Wolf’s (Lawn King ) solo performance pieces have been presented nationally and internationally. He won an Obie Award and was nominated for the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for the Off-Broadway production of his Another American: Asking and Telling at The New Group, directed by Joe Mantello. Another American was revived at the DR2 Theatre in New York and was filmed under the title Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, starring Marc, directed by John Walsh and Mary Harron, and produced by Michael Eisner and Daryl Roth. Marc was commissioned by McCarter Theatre to write and perform The Road Home: Re-Membering America, which was produced at McCarter Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop’s Summer Residency directed by Emily Mann, and at Huntington Theatre and Geva Theatre directed by David Schweizer. He performed his play This Blessed Plot, co-written with Robert Westfield, at Weston Playhouse and New York Theatre Workshop’s Summer Residency, directed by Joanna Settle.Recently he has appeared with the Maude Adams Theatre Hub in Casa Valentina and God of Carnage. On television, he has appeared on The Sopranos, Law & Order and as Brent Lawrence/Marian Crane on Guiding Light. In addition to the Obie Award, Marc is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts awards and has won the Helen Hayes, GLADD, IRNE, Garland and Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards. Another American is published in the anthology Political Stages: Plays that Shaped a Century. Marc is a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in Political Science and Theatre. He is currently Director of Horticulture and Environmental Stewardship at Mountain Top Arboretum in Tannersville, NY.
Bay Zisman (Fail Better) Baila Eve ‘Bay’ Zisman was born and raised in the Hudson Valley and has known she wanted to be a writer since before she was capable of the act. A graduate of NYU Tisch’s dramatic writing program, her absurdist work often explores life’s subtleties, magnifying their importance day-to-day. In the summer of 2023, she assisted Sydnie Grosberg Ronga in staging The Lifespan of a Fact, at Rosendale Theatre and is delighted to now work with Round The Bend Theatre.