2021 Cohort
Cherine E. Anderson
Cherine E. Anderson, a native from Jamaica, West Indies has been involved with the television, film, theater and entertainment industry for several years with a background in consumer and promotions marketing, media relations, partnership development and production management. Having held key positions with such companies as MTV Networks/Nickelodeon, DC Comics, Apel Inc. /Spero Media and Push Creative, Ms. Anderson has extensive experience in building brand awareness, creating and implementing consumer promotions to drive revenue and strong partnership cultivation skills.
In 2021 Ms. Anderson was in the inaugural class of Theatre Producers of Color (TPOC) where she was one of 25 participants and a co-producer on A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical, through TPOC and is a Co-Producer with Score 3 Partners on the Tony Nominated Alicia Keys Broadway Musical Hell’s Kitchen, as well as Gypsy, Our Town and Othello. She is also a Co-Producer on the revival of The Wiz as well as the Broadway play Days of Wines and Roses. Anderson is a Broadway League Fellow in the Broadway League and in March 2022 was recognized by Schneps Media and received the Power Woman of Manhattan award for her work in marketing and theater.
She has worked on the marketing team for over 50 Broadway and Off-Broadway productions and is an Audelco Board Member and Nominating Committee Member and received the Audelco Board of Directors Award for her work leading marketing and public relations for theater.
A passion for the arts and a believer in exposing the youth and young adults to theater and culture, Cherine’s goal is to make theater accessible to diverse audiences and to bring unique and diverse productions to theater.
Sophie Aung
Sophie Aung (she/they) is an arts enabler currently based in DC, with a background in general management and creative placemaking. She was most recently an Artistic Producer at Target Margin Theater in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. As part of the leadership team at TMT, she helped mount an immersive 9-hour theatrical event, and designed and produced the HERE AND NOW: Sunset Park Community Storytelling Project. Prior to TMT, Sophie was the Senior Manager of Programming for the Times Square Alliance, where she combined her love for theatre, music, and New York City to produce public programming for local workers, residents, and the theatre community. She launched the Alliance’s slate of small-scale programming in 2017, developing events that allow New Yorkers to enjoy the public spaces just outside their offices and theatres, and highlight the many cultural assets that exist in New York City. She created and produced Broadway Buskers, a concert series that gives Broadway actors and composers a platform to share their original music in the center of Times Square, and two years of the Songs for Our City songwriting competition, which invited past Broadway Buskers performers to write new songs inspired by the pandemic years and the present moment, alongside other series and events with partner institutions including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Strand Bookstore, Van Alen Institute, Make Music NY, and MTA Music Under New York. Sophie began her career on Broadway, supporting productions including Rock of Ages and Hedwig and the Angry Inch before pivoting into working for the neighborhood’s Business Improvement District.
Rashad Bailey
Adam Coy
Adam Coy (he/him) is a Ukrainian-Tejano director, curator of vibes, and actor based in New York City, originally from San Antonio. Directing: Holes in the Shape of My Father (Public Theater UTR, Powerhouse), What Else is True, Crave, and Zabelle (Egg & Spoon). He has developed work with Roundabout,The Civilians, Powerhouse Theater, Primary Stages, Playwrights Horizons, Intar and others. Associate/Assisting: Broadway Doubt (Roundabout) Off-Broadway Spain (Second Stage), This Land was Made (Vineyard), The Coast Starlight (LCT), Tambo & Bones, Wish You Were Here, Selling Kabul (Playwrights Horizons). Adam is the Associate Artistic Director and co-founder of The Egg & Spoon Theatre Collective, alumni of Roundabout Directors Group, the Playwrights Horizons Directing Fellowship, TCG Rising Leaders of Color, Theater Producers of Color: Producing 101 inaugural cohort, and the 2018-19 SDC Foundation Observership Class. As an actor Adam has developed work with Sol Project, Intar, San Diego Rep, JACK, Working Theater, Northern Stages, Pipeline, Latinx Playwrights Circle, Chautauqua Theatre Company and others. BFA in Acting, Syracuse University.
Lady del Castillo
Lady del Castillo is a Latina theatre professional based in NYC. Raised in Miami, Lady moved to NYC in 2016 to receive her BA in Stage Management. During her time at Pace University, she worked on nine educational productions and twelve professional projects. Outside the rehearsal room, Lady enriched her programming education as an intern at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) and Feinstein’s/54 Below. After graduation, she joined Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) as the Company Management Intern. Afterward, she returned to NAMT full-time as Program Assistant and served as the Assistant Producer for the Annual Festival of New Musicals in 2020 and 2021. Being labeled a minority herself, Lady prides herself on creating safe spaces for individuals and is very passionate about making theatre accessible to everyone. She is also passionate about mac and cheese, although her digestive system disagrees. She was in the inaugural cohort for Theatre Producers of Color’s Producing 101 program and, in 2022, was selected as a Young Professional for TEDxBroadway. Lady is delighted to be back at MTC as the Company Manager for their Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.
Victoria Detres
Victoria is a Puerto Rican and Albanian producer born and raised in New York City. She is passionate about building a platform for contemporary theatre’s innovative voices, particularly those of the global majority. Victoria, while highlighting these voices, also aims to dismantle the structures that do not allow for access, and restructure for equity and accessibility. Formerly, Victoria has worked as the Producing Assistant at Octopus Theatricals and Associate Producer at Broadway & Beyond Theatricals. Victoria is one of the co-founders of the RISE Theatre Directory in partnership with Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Miranda Family Fund and Maestra Music. Currently, Victoria leads RISE Theatre as the Program Manager. Additional credits include THE KITE RUNNER (The Hayes Theatre, Associate Producer), SOCIETY Theatre Collective’s productions of Mona Mansour’s BEGINNING DAYS OF TRUE JUBILATION and Emily Zemba’s THE STRANGERS CAME TODAY (The New Ohio, Line Producer). Learn more atwww.victoriadetres.com.
Ryan Duncan-Ayala
Ryan Duncan-Ayala is a Latine Producer and theatre maker born and raised in South Texas and currently working on both coasts. He’s the founder and Lead Producer of The Frontera Series, a new play reading series hosted at The Tank that aims to highlight the next frontier of great American playwrights, as well as a Co-Founder of Triboro Producers Club. Currently: Interim Company Manager at Berkeley Rep. Previously: NAMT, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, The 24 Hour Plays, Syracuse Stage, the RENT 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour, the New York Theatre Workshop production of ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ (CM), Million Dollar Quartet Christmas National Tour (CM), and Chautauqua Theater Company (CM). Ryan made his off-broadway producing debut with ¡Americano! (HOLA Award Winner) and made broadway debut with How To Dance In Ohio (GLAAD Nominated). @ryanduncanayala
Eric Emauni
Eric is a Tony nominated producer, world builder, and Founder of Iconic Vizion Productions; creating transformative spaces for artists and fueling truth. Originally from Milwaukee, WI, he has been fortunate to work with esteemed cultural institutions such as Harlem Stage, The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, LAByrinth Theater Company, The TEAM, National Black Theatre, And PAC NYC. He has also worked with several commerical producing offices including Maximum Entertainment Productions. Eric is an alum of TedxBroadway Young Professionals, Theater Producers of Color, and Beth Morrison Producers Academy. He is also the recipient of the AKA 500 Hour Producers of Color Initiative, the I AM SOUL Producer in Residence at National Black Theatre, Petri Project Artist with The TEAM, Prince/TTLP Fellow, and Member of the Broadway League. Eric graduated from Morehouse College with a BA in Psychology and Theater and earned an MFA in Acting from LIU Post. Credits: Off-Broadway: Kinky Boots. Broadway: Is This A Room, Dana H (2 Tony Awards®️), A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, FAT HAM (Pulitzer-Prize Winner, 5 Tony Nominations). For more please visit www.iconicvizion.com; IG: @iconicvizion
Jacqueline Flores
Jacqueline Flores (she/her/ella) is a producer, theatremaker, and arts advocate. She is currently the Producer for the Latinx Theatre Commons and serves on the Steering Committee for the National Latinx Theater Initiative. Broadway producing credits include: Is This A Room and Dana H. Jacqueline previously spent time at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, where she produced the theatre’s special events and led the Company Pool Fund, an internal initiative that provides grants to its company of artists. She has also worked at The Public Theater, in their Mobile Unit and Public Forum programs, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Ballet Austin, and Americans for the Arts. Jacqueline was selected as a member of Theatre Producers of Color’s inaugural cohort and is a two-time recipient of the National New Play Network’s Producer in Residence grant. She is passionate about theatre and the ways in which performance can be used as a means for social change. Jacqueline is a proud Texan and first-generation American, born to parents who emigrated from Honduras and Mexico. She holds a BA in Theater Arts from St. Edward’s University.
Isha Gulati
Isha Gulati partners with arts organizations to implement diversity, equity, and impact (DEI) strategies. She has experience across the corporate, higher education, and performing arts fields and has held a variety of positions within them, ranging from tech program management to account management to DEI and social impact. In addition to holding an undergraduate degree in Hotel and Tourism Management from New York University, she also holds an Advanced Certificate in Project Management from University of California Berkeley and is an MBA Candidate at the NYU Stern School of Business. She is also a Tony nominated co-producer of SUFFS.
Naomi Horibe
Naomi Horibe is a producer from Japan. She was an Associate Producer for IS THIS A ROOM and DANA H. on Broadway and has worked for various theatrical organizations in NY, including Ars Nova, Manhattan Theatre Club, and New York Musical Festival. She is currently a Producing Associate at the Asian-American theatre organization in Los Angeles, Artists at Play. Previously, she was a participant in the inaugural group for Theatre Producers of Color. Before she moved to the United States from Tokyo, she sold musicals and plays, such as some with a Japanese cast: MISS SAIGON, LES MISERABLES, WICKED, THE LION KING, SISTER ACT, etc., and shows while they were on international tours in Japan: DREAMGIRLS, WAR HORSE, AMERICAN IDIOT, ONCE, etc. She earned her MBA from Monroe University, King Graduate School of Business in New York and certificates in Copyright Law, Trademark Law, Operations Management, and Marketing from the University of Pennsylvania.
Marisa Kennedy
Marisa is a writer, a researcher, and consultant working in the television industry. She holds a Master of Arts in Social Justice & Community Organizing from Prescott College and is pursuing a second MA in Cinema & Media Studies at USC where they currently act as a teaching assistant within the department. Their research has explored the mechanisms behind media’s delegitimization of Black women and femme activists, and she is currently focused on the changing portrayals of surveillance in narrative television and its impact on social justice organizers.
A member of both SAG and Actor’s Equity, Marisa has performed on Broadway (MATILDA at the Shubert Theatre) and in dozens of plays around the country (including the national tour of BILLY ELLIOT). She has been seen on television with appearances in MR. ROBOT (USA) and GOD FRIENDED ME (CBS), and she is the voice of Olivia the Kahuna of Akala Island on the popular animated series POKÉMON.
In May 2019, Marisa was featured in Forbes for her work with Final Draft on their new diversity and inclusion software, and she continues to apply an anti-oppression lens to her work with two pilots currently in development.
Olivia Lilley
Olivia Lilley is a screenwriter, director, conceptual artist, and arts entrepreneur who came up in Chicago’s DIY and Storefront Theatre scenes. She was also a child prodigy in music composition. Olivia was the Artistic Director of Prop Thtr (2018 – 2023), and the founding Artistic Director of The Runaways Lab Theatre (2013- 2015; Voted Best New Theatre Company in the Chicago Reader’s Best of 2014). She has been at the helm as a writer/director and director on 13 full length productions of new plays and musicals in 6 week+ runs. She has produced six world premieres by other creators and numerous developmental workshops and readings. Olivia is in financing for her first two features. She is the host of the podcast and live show, “The Future of Art in America”, and a Social Media Creator with her Dear Writer/Director project on Substack and Instagram. She is co-owner of XRay Social Media Strategy. Olivia attended Carnegie Mellon School of Drama for Directing and Interlochen Arts Academy for Music Composition. She has an MFA in Screenwriting from The University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Freddy Mancilla
Freddy Mancilla is a DC-based Producer, Director, Dramaturg & Historian (of showbiz & politics.) Working through his production company #BINGE, he has produced everything from digital theatre to podcasts to ads for the largest billboards in the world. His work for clients such as Cartier, Gap, Marriott & Team USA have been viewed millions of times — to view his portfolio visit: hashtagBINGE.net and follow him on social media @FreddyInDC.
Vaibu Mohan
Vaibu Mohan is a writer, performer, producer, educator, and arts administrator based in New York City. Vaibu earned her BM in Musical Theater Performance from Arizona State University and her MFA in Musical Theater Writing from the Tisch School for the Arts at New York University. As a writer her work has been seen at Lincoln Center, Atlanta Opera, Rattlestick Theater, Brooklyn Children’s Theater, Greenroom 42, Midnight Theater, and 54 Below among others. Projects in development: Sati: Goddess Incarnate (musical), Jala Smriti (opera), Adi-Antham (play). Vaibu is a core member of the comedy group Drunk Bollywood which has sold out multiple venues in New York City and has been featured on NPR and in Time Out. As a producer and production manager, Vaibu has worked with Heartbeat Opera, 54 Below, National Queer Theater, SheNYC, and the NYCLU and focuses on highlighting stories from the South Asian diaspora. Vaibu is also a professional Bharatanatyam dancer and Carnatic vocalist specializing in vocals for dance. For more information, visitwww.vaibumohan.com
Marina Montesanti
Marina Montesanti is a theatre director and a Tony Award-nominated co-producer for Iconic Vizion Productions. Broadway (co-pro): Fat Ham, A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. As Director (selected): In The Bronx Brown Girls can See Stars Too, Columbia University; Lizzie, Madison Theatre; Dear Mr. C, University of the Arts; EXIST, Columbia University; Savana Glacial, Irondale Theatre; Derecho, La Tea. Assistant Director; 1776, A.R.T. As Associate Director: Sergio Trujillo, Luis Salgado. Montesanti has worked with Gibney Dance, BAM, Signature Theatre, and others. SDC member, SDCF Charles Abbott Fellow, TPOC Bway, Statera Mentorship Member – MAESTRA Music, Inc. Marina also taught at CAP21 for the Musical Theatre BFA Program. BFA, Dramatic Arts, The New School for Drama. MFA in Directing, Columbia School of the Arts ‘25. (Candidate)
Sammie Paul
Cat Peoples
Cat Peoples is an Actor, Producer and Businesswoman from Detroit, MI. She is a graduate of Howard University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre who has worked in music, fashion, television and theatre as a talent and producer. In 2007, Cat Peoples founded CP Live, an entertainment and management consultancy firm that has provided production and management services to a range of clients, including the NAACP ACTSO Awards, legendary Apollo Theatre, WMK Productions (Willette Klausner), NFL and NBA veterans such as Eli Manning and Antoine Bethea, ,and lifestyle, administrative and logistics management to Michael Cohl (former chairman of Live Nation, current chairman of S2BN) who is responsible for projects like Spiderman on Broadway, Yo Gabba Gabba Live, An Evening with Oprah International Tour, Barbra Streisand tour, An Evening with Al Pacino Speaker series, and more. Her voice has served as “the voice of mega brands” including the famous “bada bah bah bah” McDonalds brand, Apple, Google, Target, Jet Blue, A&E Networks, BET, Gerber, Pilsbury, Ebay and more. Cat currently owns ARTXo, New Jersey’s hottest Creative Art Studio in Roselle Park, NJ and she is the Co- Founder and Chief Branding Officer of BLKBRN Dispensary in Highland Park, NJ.
Daniel Pérez
Daniel Pérez (he/him) is a Cuban-American live entertainment producer born and raised in Miami, FL. He is the Senior Director of Creative Strategy for Universal Creative, where he leads the strategic development of Universal Destinations and Experiences’ new entertainment experiences globally. Previously, he was the VP of Entertainment Creative at Universal Studios Japan, where he led a team of directors, designers, choreographers, and writers in the development of new live entertainment shows and attractions. He has been featured as a speaker for IAAPA Expo Asia and TransWorld Halloween Attraction conferences. Before working for Universal, Daniel was a project manager, technical designer, and entertainment engineer for Hudson Scenic Studio, McLaren Engineering Group, and other scenic fabrication companies. As a writer, his short play “[App]arition” was produced by Microtheater Miami and Navigators Theater (Long Island City, NY). He is the recipient of the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts and the USITT Golden Hammer Scenic Technology Award. Daniel earned a B.S. from MIT and a M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama. He currently resides in Orlando, FL.
Brayden Simpson
Brayden Simpson is a screenwriter/producer who works to bridge theatre, film, and TV with a passion for unique stories told through an atypical lens. He’s produced main stage productions and artistic developments with The Public Theater, Mosaic Theatre Co. of D.C., Arterial Projects, and live events with Outfest, Netflix Is a Joke Festival, and The BET Experience; amongst others. Currently, Brayden supports film and TV development at Royal Ties Productions led by Regina and Reina King; and is co-producing on the upcoming Broadway revival of Gypsy starring Tony-award winner Audra McDonald. He received his MFA in Producing for Film, TV & New Media from The Peter Stark Producing Program at USC; and a BFA in Drama with a Minor in Business of Entertainment, Media & Technology from NYU.
Camille Simone Thomas
Camille Simone Thomas is a African-American/ Jamaican playwright and indie producer. Her plays have been workshopped and performed at The Connelly Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Sanguine Theatre Company, Blackboard Playwriting series, Lime Arts Theatre company, American Slavery Project, The Obie Award-winning Harlem9 and Detroit Public Theatre Company, Dixon Place, Workshop Theatre, Barter Theatre Company, The National Women’s Theatre Festival, The Brick, and more! She was a 2023 Broadway Advocacy Coalition Artivism fellow where her play “What We Deserve” premiered as a staged reading at MCC theatre and has had additional fellowships with The Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute’s DEAR fellowship,Theatre Producers of Color, and Reel Sisters film fellowship.
Traci Tolmaire
Multidisciplinary artist and south side Chicago native Traci Tolmaire has a career spanning over 15 years collaborating with groundbreaking theater makers including Hana Sharif, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Michael John Garcés, and Campo Santo. She received a BA in Theatre from Spelman College with studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and trained in dance at various institutions including Sammy Dyer School of the Theatre, Lou Conte, Mark Morris, ODC, and Atlanta Ballet. Performance credits include Jelly’s Last Jam (Le Petit Theatre); Cherchez La Femme (La MaMa ETC); Dancing On Eggshells (The Billie Holiday Theatre); Plenty of Time (New Federal Theatre); Mirrors In Every Corner (Intersection for the Arts/Campo Santo); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Fulton Opera House); and Trouble in Mind (Actor’s Express). Choreography credits include Jelly’s Last Jam; Gee’s Bend (Hartford Stage); and Dancing On Eggshells. Driven and inspired by new, collaborative work, she performed in the national tours of red, black, & GREEN: a blues and /peh-LO-tah/, both conceived and written by spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, with sold out runs at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, The Kennedy Center, MCA Chicago, and BAM in New York. In 2021, Traci had the privilege of being selected for TPOC’s inaugural “Producing 101” class, and in June 2023, Traci reached another new milestone with her debut as playwright. Her critically acclaimed piece In the Evening By the Moonlight, premiered at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in San Francisco with Traci starring as award-winning playwright and activist Lorraine Hansberry. Her second full length play CHI-BOY is currently in development.
Leah Vincencio
Dedra D. Woods
Dedra D. Woods is a multi-disciplinary artist and creative force of nature, passionate about bringing Black stories to life on stage. She is a proud Detroit native and grateful to have been a part of the inaugural TPOC cohort. Dedra has worked as a casting director, theater administrator and producer, but her first love is the stage. Her work has been seen regionally at The 5th Avenue Theater, Seattle Rep, The Feast, ACT, Seattle Public Theater, Intiman, and Pittsburgh Public Theater. She holds a BFA in Acting from SUNY Purchase.
Danielle Zarbin
Danielle Zarbin is a Director at EY-Parthenon, a global management consulting firm, in New York’s Corporate & Growth Strategy practice. She previously worked in marketing at Playwrights Horizons and in fundraising at Manhattan Theatre Club (both in NYC). She has her MBA from Cornell University, and her BA from Wellesley College. Danielle is an accredited investor, and is interested in producing/investing opportunities for both Off-Broadway and Broadway shows.