OUR MISSION
THE POWER OF THEATER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
NewYorkRep develops and produces new plays and musicals that inspire and compel social change by telling stories that expose our humanity. By illuminating social and ethical questions through art, we strive to create provocative theater that promotes empathy, compassion, and inclusion.
WHY IT MATTERS
Theater has the power to ignite dialogue and shift perspectives.
We amplify voices that need to be heard, bringing critical issues to the stage.
Our productions spark action beyond the theater, inspiring real-world change.
WHAT NewYorkRep DOES DIFFERENTLY
We began committed to a social justice mission not moving into it. For more than a decade, we have brought real-life stories to the stage to propel social change.
We are committed to social advocacy and partner with many different advocacy organizations that mirror the subject matter of our productions. Visit our Partners page for a full list.
Committed to education. We include talk-backs and community engagement with all productions.
NewYorkRep not only presents full productions, but reacts to timely world events with special theatrical presentations that address those issues.
We amplify voices that need to be heard, bringing critical issues to the stage.
Our productions spark action beyond the theater, inspiring change.
OUR IMPACT
BY THE NUMBERS
50+ presentations staged in New York, across the U.S., and internationally (London, Sydney).
Critical Acclaim: The New York Times Critic’s Pick, praised by the LA Times, featured in The Huffington Post, winner of multiple Off West End Theatre Awards
Award-Winning Work: Recognized for excellence in storytelling and production quality.
MAY DAY
2020
2021 Kleban Prize Winner
Given to the most promising librettist in American musical theatre.
CHURCH & STATE
2017
Off-Broadway Alliance Award Nominee
Best New Play
Los Angeles Ovation Awards
Best Production of a Play (Intimate Theatre)
Playwriting for an Original Play
Lead Actor in a Play (Rob Nagle)
STALKING THE BOGEYMAN
2016
The Off West End Theatre Awards Winner
Best Production
Best Male Actor (Gerard McCarthy)
Best Director (Markus Potter)
A WALL APART
2017
New York Musical Festival
Official Selection
INFLUENCE
2015, 2016
Worldfest - Houston (2015)
Best Feature Film (Docudrama)
International Film Festival of World Cinema NICE (2016)
Best Cinematography
Awareness Film Festival - Los Angeles (2016)
Merit Award
NOTABLE PRODUCTIONS
War Words
Authentic stories of U.S. soldiers told in their own words.
H*tler’s Tasters
Award-winning play examining fanaticism through the lens of young women.
Voices From The Silenced
Voices from the Silenced offers a deeply human portrayal of women who faced the dangers of illegal abortions and societal stigma in the era before 1973.
A Wall Apart
With scars from one war, three brothers in East Berlin face another as the Berlin Wall divides their city – East from West.
Church & State
A gripping drama about faith, politics, and gun control.
Civilwrights
This short play festival features a range of subjects, perspectives and content within BIPOC realities.
Influence
First dates are always delicate, but for two teenagers with Autism, who communicate mainly by spelling with the help of their parents, it’s particularly tricky.
Stalking the Bogeyman
A harrowing true story adapted for the stage and recognized globally.
Imagine: Yemen
Nine short plays focusing on the crisis of war and hunger in Yemen, and the significant role of the United States in this calamity.
OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE
WITH YOUR SUPPORT, WE CAN…
Expand our artist development programs and commission new works.
Expand our productions by number and audience population.
Support new artists and their provocative stories
Increase community engagement initiatives, making theater accessible to underserved communities.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
JOIN US IN MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Become a Donor: Help fund groundbreaking theater that drives change.
Join the Board: Lend your expertise to shape the future of NewYorkRep.
Corporate Sponsorships: Align your brand with a mission-driven arts organization.
FUNDING PRIORITIES
$50K+ to help support a full production
$25K to help support artist development initiatives
$10K to help support our educational outreach programs
$5K to help support our community outreach programs
Any amount makes an impact!
UPCOMING INITIATIVES
OR
Theatre Row, NYC
October/November 2026
OR follows a mother who has lost everything on the horrific day of October 7, as she tries to protect her young son Zohar in their fortified room in south Israel while chaos, gunfire, and screams rage outside. The other children, with their father, are taken to an external shelter, while her eldest son, Or, is murdered on the beach while fishing. The narrative shifts between the harrowing moments of confinement—the palpable fear, the unbearable tension—and the mother struggling to share her story with audiences throughout the world trying to give voice to her family and the memory of her son. The play reveals not only the critical moments of survival but also the depth of grief, the tension between privacy and publicity, and the power of human truth.
CLUB NVRLND
Vault Theatres, London
November 2026
Following a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year, we're bringing CLUB NVRLND to London at The Vaults, directly beneath Waterloo Station, this November. With a book by Olivier Award-winning Jack Holden, it's an immersive reimagining of Peter Pan set to the defining pop anthems of the 2000s, featuring music by artists including Britney Spears, Rihanna, P!nk, Coldplay, Jennifer Lopez, Outkast, Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne, amongst many others
Rather than a conventional musical, the audience steps inside Peter's underground nightclub and becomes part of the story itself, creating something that feels much closer to a live entertainment experience than traditional theatre. It's a celebration of acceptance, nostalgia, escapism and youthful abandon, celebrating diversity and the human spirit.
BILLIE JEAN: A NEW PLAY
2027
BILLIE JEAN is a new play that tells the story of sports icon and social justice pioneer Billie Jean King bringing equality to women in competitive tennis, and so much more – with humor and heart.
BILLIE JEAN premiered at the Chicago Shaekspare Theater to rave reviews and won "The Best New Play or Musical" for the 2025 BroadwayWorld Chicago awards.
"Today, women’s sports continue to struggle with providing equitable pay and ensuring gender equality in ways not dissimilar to fifty years ago. The message of the play is one of hope, that in the march toward progress beacons of reason emerge to light the way. Intense, inspirational and joyful, “Bille Jean” is the feel-good hit."
NewCityStage, Chicago
THE JEWISH DOG
2027
THE JEWISH DOG is a powerful, dramatic, emotional, and at times humorous one-man, 20-character show in which the Holocaust is seen through the eyes of a perceptive and trusting dog name Cyrus. A beloved family dog, Cyrus is is abandoned after his owners are arrested in Nazi Germany, he embarks upon a harrowing, emotional and often times humorous journey back to them.
Called a "magnificent tour-de-force performance; mesmerizing and beautiful"...the show "allows us to leave the theater with hope for all of us.” This will be its New York premier.
THE JEWISH DOG was originally a 2007 bestselling book by Asher Kravitz. It was adapted for the stage by Israeli playwright and director, Yonatan Esterkin.
OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
GAYLE DAMIANO WAXENBERG
FOUNDING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | BOARD CHAIR
Former Wall Street marketing executive turned social impact theater producer.
Gayle’s career began on Wall Street where she managed the marketing and corporate communications for a premiere investment bank. During her 11 years there, she won a multitude of awards for the creative and strategic campaigns she directed. She later started her own marketing consulting firm, Waxenberg & Associates, working with advertising, public relations and direct marketing firms servicing the financial industry. A born advocate, she left the for-profit sector and committed her self to raising awareness for those less fortunate. Combining her extensive business experience and philanthropic work, she began giving “voice” to the different communities she served, and continues to serve; domestic abuse victims, hospice patients, substance abuse victims, immigrants, at-risk children and mental health patients. Gayle has been repeatedly honored for her service by the organizations she serves.
Recognizing the power of the stories she captured, she launched the Telling Company in 2012 as a forum for telling real-life stories influencing social change through art. She has now brought The Telling Company to NewYorkRep.
Her first play, A Bitter Pill, premiered in 2016 at the Hudson Guild Theater, as part of the Venus/Adonis Theater Festival. Gayle also produced the mulit-award winning film Influence, and the London production of Stalking the Bogeyman, which received an Off-West End (Offie nomination) for best production and direction. Produced readings included Ben Elton’s Olivier award winning play, Popcorn, starring Sharon Stone and Stacey Keach. She is proud to have launched and produced a community based program of readings, Thought Bubbles, to bring new theatrical work free to people who may not otherwise have access.
Gayle is also a Founder/Past President and currently a Board Member of The Graham School Education Foundation, which serves New York City’s most at-risk, underserved children, a Board Member of Danza Espanza, The American Spanish Dance Theater, and was an elected official. She is also a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, the Off Broadway Alliance, Theater Resources Unlimited and a member of the League of Professional Theater Women.
JANINE LEE PAPIO
MARKETING DIRECTOR | BOARD EXECUTIVE VP
JLP founded Think Big Picture 10 years ago, building the agency from the ground up with a hands-on approach & a focus on collaboration. She works closely with small creative businesses in theater, music, non-profits, and more. Whether it's acting as a fractional CMO or driving ticket sales with digital ads & guerilla marketing, Janine & her team deliver results that help their clients grow & succeed.
JEFF GURNER
PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR | BOARD VP
Jeff Gurner has made a career in the arts for more than three decades, working as an actor, director, producer, musician, writer, and educator. He has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, on national and international tours, in regional theaters nationwide, and in numerous television series. As a voice actor, Jeff has recorded hundreds of commercials, scores of video game and animated characters, and is an award-winning audiobook narrator of more than two hundred titles, including multiple New York Times Best Sellers. He is also the co-owner of Apesauce Productions, one of the premier demo production and voiceover training companies in the United States.
Jeff’s theater production company, Tequila Talking Theatrical, has developed several new plays and musicals including The Yellow Stocking Play (DW Gregory, Steven M. Alper & Sarah Knapp), Trans Am (Lisa Stephen Friday) An Un-hero’s Journey (Brett Macias), SEMITES: The Musical (Marc Brenner), The American Soldier (Douglas Taurel) and more. Now, he is enthusiastically bringing the work of Tequila Talking Theatrical to NewYorkRep.
Jeff proudly serves on the Westport Country Playhouse Theater Council and volunteers for several Fairfield County arts organizations. He is a graduate of NYU, and currently resides in CT with his wife, Michelle, his sons, Ethan and Jonah, and their dogs, Tanner and Mabel.
KAYLIN KELLIN
GENERAL MANAGER | BOARD SECRETARY
Also known as Kaylin AK, is an NYC-based muti-hyphenate specializing in producing, management, and social media marketing. Her recent credits include The Cottage (Broadway), Golden (Worksession), ROOM (Broadway), Harry Potter, and The Cursed Child (Broadway) Embrace the Season Gala (Drama League) A co-founding member of BlackLight Community, a non-profit helping POC in the arts. Sending joy. @kaylin_ak kaylinak.com
MEDIA & PARTNERS
PRESS & RECOGNITION
Featured in The New York Times, The LA Times, The Huffington Post.
Acclaimed productions with Off-West End and Edinburgh Fringe honors.
KEY SUPPORTERS
New York State Council on the Arts
Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York)
Fiduciary Trust, Sony, Northern Trust
NYC Cultural Affairs
New York Foundation of the Arts
NewYorkRep programs are made possible with generous support from the New York State Council on the Arts; the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York); New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; New York City Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre; Fiduciary Trust, The Johnson Company; Mitzi & Warren Eisenberg Family Foundation, Shelly and Neil Mitchell Family Foundation, Northern Trust; Proskauer Rose, LLP, Sony, and Wells Fargo.
NEXT STEPS
Let’s continue the conversation. Reach out to us to discuss how you can support NewYorkRep and be part of transformative theater.
CONTACT
GayleWaxenberg@newyorkrep.org
WEBSITE
NewYorkRep.org