Emily Dzioba (Playwright) is a playwright and dramaturg based in Jersey City. This reading marks her professional playwriting debut. Emily was named as a finalist for the 2026 Art House INKubator Program for a full-length play she is developing about Ellis Island and Hudson County. Her writing on chronic illness was workshopped and performed at the 2025 NJ Theatre Alliance's "Healing Voices" showcase at Premiere Stages. Emily is interested in creating work that feels like a potluck dinner: something to gather around, with a little bit of everything at the table to take and give.

Dramaturgical collaborations have included work with The New Jersey Play Lab, Premiere Stages, Art House Productions, Theater Masters, The Strides Collective, and Blinking Light Productions in Sydney, Australia. She has studied Tectonic Theatre Project's Moment Work method, and remains interested in the world of devised theatre. She is a script reader for the National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill, The Playwrights Foundation, She NYC Arts, and 1319 Press. 

Dev Bondarin (Director) is a freelance director and Associate Artistic Director of Prospect Musicals. Recent directing credits include: The Garden Bridge (SheNYC Festival – winner Best Production), Thistles (White Horse Theater at 59E59), and Prospect's annual musical theater lab which has produced the work of over 250 writers. She has also directed readings and developed new work at the York, Queens Theater, Gingold Theatrical, and The Fire This Time Festival among many others. devbondarin.com / @devbondarin

Alexandra de Suze (Stage Directions)  is a singer, actor, and writer who has hosted and performed cabaret, most recently her tribute show, Nina & Sarah & Aretha & Alex at Chelsea Table & Stage, directed for festivals, written for storytelling events, can be seen in the short films, What Do I Owe You? and Blindsight, heard on the podcasts Parenting Is A Joke, Expired, and What Happened in Skinner. She also has a satire series “Reince Preibus Tried…And other tales from the White House” on Facebook. In the meantime, she is a regular actor with The Playground Experiment, the alto at Madison Avenue Baptist Church, and sits behind the kit as part of No Name variety show house band The Summer Replacements. Lastly, don’t forget to find her on YouTube with collaborator Richard Binder as #BinderSuze. She is so grateful to Jeff and Ben, and the rest of her family and friends for their love and support. www.alexandradesuze.com

Annie Beller (Stage Manager) based in NYC. Off-Broadway: Diversion (The Barrow Group) Life and Trust (Emursive Productions), Lost and Found, The Paparazzi (AMT Theater), Chasing Happy (Pulse Ensemble Theatre). Regional: Waitress, Jersey Boys, My Fair Lady, Chicago, Sunkicks Holiday Spectacular, Menopause The Musical (Suncoast Broadway), White Christmas (Surflight Theatre), Beauty and the Beast (Bay View Music Festival). IG: @anne.beller

Anna O’Donoghue (Dramaturg) is an actor, writer, and dramaturg from New York City. She is currently the Associate Director & Artistic Producer of the American Playwriting Foundation, founded in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s relentless pursuit of truth in playwriting. As a dramaturg, she has worked on plays, television, audio, and film projects that have gone onto production at major New York and regional theaters, television, and film studios. As an actor, she has appeared on, off, and off-off Broadway and on stages all over the country. readmyplay.me

*Debbie Bernstein (Donna) Favorite NY/NJ stage productions include Tell Them I’m Still Young (u/s) featuring AndreBraugher, Fern Hill (u/s) featuring Jill Eikenberry, Marisol, Macbeth,The Cherry Orchard, Wild Horses, Swimming in the Shallows, Steel Magnolias, Good People,The Grapes of Wrath. TV/Film work includes Law & Order, award-winning web series Queering, national commercials, audio dramas and indie films. Actor and evaluator with the Jewish Plays Project and a member of the acting company of NJ PlayLab. AEA/SAG-AFTRA. Represented by Resolute Artists Agency. debbiebernsteinactor.com

*Thani Brant (Taylor) is a writer and actor based in Queens, NY.  Hailing from Fresno, CA, they began their artistic journey in ballet and piano classes, eventually finding their creative spark in community theatre.  They graduated from the University of Michigan in 2021 with a BFA in Musical Theatre.  While at UofM, Thani also minored in musical theatre composition under the tutelage and mentorship of Professor Lynne Shankel.  As an actor, they have worked Off-Broadway with Prospect Musicals (NOTES FROM NOW) and at regional theatres including Alabama Shakespeare Festival (THE TEMPEST), Northern Stage (SPRING AWAKENING), and Studio Theatre (FUN HOME).  Thani’s writing has been developed with Prospect Musicals and Untitled Writers Group, and their music has been shared in concert at Pink Frog Cafe, Brooklyn Music Kitchen, and Pete’s Candy Store.  In February 2026, their original musical THE LAUGH OF THE MEDUSA had its first public presentation as part of the All the Flowers Festival in Ann Arbor, MI.  Learn more at thani-brant.com and @thani_brant on Instagram.  Follow THE LAUGH OF THE MEDUSA’s journey @laughofthemedusamusical on Instagram!

Sarah Dacey Charles (Gail) Sarah’s 30-year career spans Broadway, TV & Film. Selected credits: TV/FILM: recurring role in Hit TV series Godfather of Harlem also guest player in Players, The Blacklist, Prodigal Son, and Jessica Jones and many others. BROADWAY: Les Miserables, NATIONAL TOURS: 9 to 5- The Musical, Sunset Boulevard. REGIONAL--Vivian Bearing-Wit, Fosca-Passion. Best actor award from LIFF. MFA: UC, Irvine.*Upcoming: Originating a role in a new musical. Details TBA. *Currently In Development:  Sarah’s full-length play entitled, The Family of Things.

*Susan O’Dea (Stephanie) is an actor, singer, songwriter and musician based out of New York City. She is a member of the Grammy-nominated and Tony Award winning Broadway Inspirational Voices as well as an alumni of The Boston Conservatory. Some of her career highlights include singing for Stephen Schwartz at Lincoln Center, the Obamas at the White House and the NY Pops at Carnegie Hall. In 2020, O’Dea formed an original duo with fellow artist Nick Spear called Big Sky City Lights. Their music landed them a feature on Good Morning America as well as coveted spots at various major music festivals. Most recently, their work was showcased on the critically acclaimed Montana PBS program, 11th & Grant for which they earned the show and themselves a 2026 Emmy award. Outside of her work in NYC, you may see Susan touring regularly with Big Sky City Lights or with the touring companies of Neil Berg’s “50 Years of Rock and Roll” and “100 Years of Broadway”.

*Tony Perry (Roger) is an actor, singer-songwriter and voiceover artist. He’s been seen on the New York stage in the US premiere of Murray Schisgal’s 74 Georgia Ave., which was performed in English and Yiddish; the premiere of Leslie Lee and Charles Strouse’s Martin: A New American Musical; the world premiere of the rock musical Bastard Jones; and the New York stage premiere of Repo: The Genetic Opera. He has appeared in several films, most recently the indie short Discipline. His VoiceOver work has accompanied animation on HBO.  As a singer-songwriter he has performed all across the northeast, playing and recording with the acoustic rock group Tony Perry 3, and more recently as a solo artist. He is a proud member of Actors Equity.

Desi Waters (Sandy) is a stage and screen actor whose credits include Mary Poppins, Fame, Romeo and Juliet, Uncle Vanya, and Marilla of Green Gables with Royal Family Productions, as well as television appearances on Harlem, CityKids: The TV Series, New Amsterdam, Blue Bloods, and Power. She dedicates this work to her daughter, Alaya. “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” — Frederick Douglass.