oratorio for living things

LEE SUNDAY EVANS (Director) is a two-time Obie Award-winning director + choreographer, and the Artistic Director of Waterwell. Recent credits include Dance Nation by Clare Barron, HOME by Geoff Sobelle, In the Green by Grace McLean, Detroit Red by Will Power and The Courtroom, a reenactment of one woman’s deportation hearings with transcripts arranged by Arian Moayed. Her work has been seen at BAM, The Public Theater, Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons, Steppenwolf, The Atlantic, WP Theater, The Play Company, The Bushwick Starr, ArtsEmerson, Edinburgh International Festival, among others.

BEN MOSS (Music Director/ Performer) is a performer, songwriter, orchestrator, and music director. Broadway: Head Over Heels, Amélie, Deaf West’s Spring Awakening. Other credits include Heather Christian’s PRIME (Playwright’s Horizons “Soundstage”), The Hello Girls (Prospect Theater), Arlington (Vineyard Theatre), After Anatevka (with Alexandra Silber, Audible), Striking 12 (Prospect), Chasing The Song (La Jolla Playhouse), America is Hard to See (Life Jacket), Spring Awakening (1st National Tour), Ben Moss & Friends (The Duplex) and The Bongo Hour with Peter Smith & Sandy Honig (The Slipper Room). On all platforms @benkmoss and benkmoss.com.

KRISTEN ROBINSON (Scenic Design) is an award winning designer, artist and educator. Her work ranges from digital performance scenography, to site specific installations, to outdoor Shakespeare. You can view her work at www.kristenrobinsondesing.com. She is the Assistant Professor of Scenic Design at Purchase College. A Princess Grace Fellow, she holds her MFA in Theatre Design from Yale University and is a member of USA829

MÁRION TALÁN DE LA ROSA (Costume Design)  Born in Mexico City, Mexico, and based out of Brooklyn, Márion has collaborated with artists and innovators throughout her career. She is the Wardrobe Supervisor and a designer at the Juilliard School and the resident designer for NYU Steinhardt School’s Verbatim Performance Lab under the direction of Joe Salvatore. Some collaborations of note include Fire in My Mouth (2019) with composer Julia Wolfe and the NY Philharmonic; Unveiling (2021) with choreographer Sonya Tayeh and artist Moses Somney at Guggenheim Works in Process; Swing Out (2021) with Choreographers Caleb Teicher, Evita Arce, Latasha Barnes, and Nathan Bugh for the Joyce Theater; There is a Time(2020), a re-imagining for Limon Dance Company with Dante Puleio, and On the Other Side (2021) with Chanelle DaSilva and composer Cristina Spinei for Parsons Dance for the Joyce Theater among many others. Márion is a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829

JEANETTE OI-SUK YEW (Lighting Design) designs for theater, dance, opera, musicals, music performances and installation. NY Times described them as “clever” and “inventive.”  Recent: KPOP (Hewes Design Award, LIT Design Award; Lortel and Drama Desk Nominations); James & Jerome’s The Conversationalists; Object Collection’s You Are Under Our Space Control; Oneohtrix Point Never’s MYRIAD; Haruna Lee’s Suicide Forest; Aya Ogawa’s Ludic Proxy (Bel Geddes Design Enhancement); and Matthew Paul Olmos’ So Go the Ghosts of Mexico Part One (Best Lighting Design nomination). NEA/TCG Career Development Program recipient. jeanetteyew.com. 

NICK KOURTIDES (Sound Design) designs for musical theater and creates sound environments for devised ensemble works. Select Off-Broadway: Blacklight, Greenwich House. The Lucky Ones, Ars Nova. Object Lesson, NYTN, BAM. Elephant Room, St. Ann’s. Carson McCullers Talks About Love, Rattlestick. Jomama Jones: Radiate, Soho Rep. Select Commercial: Magic Mike Live Las Vegas, London, Berlin, Australia. Regional: McCarter, Actors Theatre, CTG, Folger, Studio, Milwaukee Rep, La Jolla, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse, etc.. With Pig Iron Theatre Company: A Period of Animate Existence, Cankerblossom, Isabella, Chekhov Lizardbrain, Mission to Mercury. With BalletX: Sunset, o639 Hours at the Wilma, the Joyce, Jacob’s Pillow and Vail Festivals. Site-specific works with PearlDamour, Lynn Nottage & Kate Whoriskey and the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. 2006 Barrymore; 2015 Bessie. nickkourtides.com.

GREG TAUBMAN (Latin Translation & Latin Consultant) helps stories find their form and storytellers hone their craft—primarily as Co-Founder + Partner at FORGE (www.forgenyc.org). His Greek and Latin translations have appeared in The Public’s Bacchae (2009), Antigone/Progeny (Extant Arts, 2012) and Bad News! (Poet’s House, 2015). BA: Princeton (Classics, summa cum laude); MFA: Columbia (Directing). Projects in development include the non-fiction book Such Stuff: The Essential Value of Art & Dreams, the Arcsong story-cycle, and a theatrically-inspired tarot deck.

JO FERNANDEZ (Production Stage Manager) (formerly known as Joseph Fernandez, Jr.) Broadway: The Ferryman, Head Over Heels. Other New York: Only An Octave Apart (St. Ann’s Warehouse); The Underlying Chris (Second Stage), Public Works’ Hercules, Julius Caesar, The Gabriels Trilogy (The Public); If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be…, Men On Boats, The Christians, Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons); Continuity, India Pale Ale (MTC); Charm (MCC). Many thanks to Ars Nova, the whole Oratorio company, and especially Kelsey.

KELSEY VIVIAN  (Assistant Stage Manager) Some credits include: Off-Broadway: The Mother (Atlantic Theater Company); Twelfth Night (The Public Theater). NYC: The Mile-Long Opera (The High Line); Lear: That Old Man I Used to Know (Smith Street Stage). Regional: Pride and Prejudice (Long Wharf Theatre), Godspell, Outside Mullingar, Spamalot, Fox on the Fairway, Young Frankenstein (Saint Michael’s Playhouse); Fun Home, The Call, Blackberry Winter, Native Gardens, American Hero (Vermont Stage Company); Julius Caesar (Vermont Shakespeare Festival). For Gram and Grandpa.

LIZA COUSER  (Assistant Director) (she/her) is a director and producer of new plays and musicals based in New York City. She is interested in the complex, comedic, absurd, heart-wrenching, ensemble-driven, and formally adventurous. Select recent credits: PRIMETIME THEATER FESTIVAL (Co-Founder & Producer), MEAT (Director, Vox Fest), POLYLOGUES (Producer, HERE Arts Center), WITH WORDS THAT DON’T EXIST (Director & Composer, Vox Lab). Liza has collaborated and presented work with Ars Nova, Northern Stage, The Tank, New London Barn Playhouse, 59E59 Theaters, Theater for the New City, BRIC Arts, and Dartmouth College. She is an alum of the Roundabout Directors Group, SDCF Observership, Ars Nova Artistic Fellowship, and 24 Hour Plays Nationals. Lizacouser.com

JACKLYN RIHA (Associate Music Director) is a New York based music director, orchestrator, vocalist and music arranger. Recent highlights include: Associate MD for ORATORIO FOR LIVING THINGS (Ars Nova, Off-Broadway), Associate MD for LOCH NESS (Merry Go-Round Playhouse, Regional), Associate MD on a workshop production of TRUMP L’OEIL and a reading of SHANGHAI SONATAS (Showtown Theatricals). Jacklyn is also the current Music Assistant for THE BOOK THIEF and BETWEEN THE LINES.

HENRY RUSSELL BERGSTEIN

JOHNNY BUTLER (Performer) is a Grammy-award winning saxophonist, composer, audio engineer, dancer, and filmmaker. Over the years, he has worked with many of his idols, including Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule), Wynton Marsalis, The Levon Helm Band, Tune-Yards, Theo Croker, Kassa Overall, Joe Lally (Fugazi), and Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds.

KIRSTYN CAE BALLARD (Performer) is a Philadelphia based performer and composer. She is thrilled and honored to be BACK with Oratorio! Some previous credits include Animal Wisdom (Bushwick Star) Folk Wandering, and Annie Salem: An American Tale (Polyphone Festival). Her compositions forIMMERSION have been recognized by the 2019 SheNYC Arts festival. Some of her original music can be found on all streaming platforms. Huge thanks to Heather, and to the Ballard family for the tremendous support!

JANE CARDONA (Performer) (they/she) Broadway: To Kill A Mockingbird (Pump Organ), Head Over Heels (MD (Replacement), Associate MD),  Moulin Rouge (Sub Conductor, Transcriptionist), Jagged Little Pill (Sub Conductor, Music Assistant), SpongeBob (Understudy Rehearsal Pianist), Misery (Music Assistant). Off-Broadway: The Public. Regional: Williamstown Theater Festival, New York Stage and Film. 

SEAN DONOVAN (Performer) is an actor, singer, dancer, and writer. He’s collaborated with Heather Christian in multiple capacities for the past 15 years. His recent plays include Cabin (Bushwick Starr), and The Reception (HERE Arts). He’s been nominated twice for BESSIE awards for Outstanding Performer. Recent credits include Elements of Oz (Skirball), Play (BAM), House/Divided (BAM). He’s a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He’s trained, performed, and taught throughout the U.S. and abroad.

CLERIDA ELTIMÉ has made her mark in classical, pop, and hip hop music, performing with artists including Frank Ocean, J.Cole, Nas, Solange and the legendary Stevie Wonder. She has performed at prestigious venues such as Madison Square Garden, NPR Tiny Desk Office, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, Central Park’s SummerStage and The Museum of Modern Art. Clerida’s love of music and affinity to growth has also propelled her to the big screen, where she performed a blind audition for NBC’s The Voice in early 2020. She just wrapped up an off-broadway musical where she doubled playing cello and electric bass, an instrument which was self-taught during the pandemic. Clérida’s primary studies were with Julia Lichten, of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and is a graduate of Purchase College (BM’ – Cello Performance). She is an active freelancer in the Tri-State area also teaches private lessons across Long Island.

CLÉRIDA ELTIMÉ has made her mark in classical, pop, and hip hop music, performing with artists including Frank Ocean, J.Cole, Nas, Solange and the legendary Stevie Wonder. She has performed at prestigious venues such as Madison Square Garden, NPR Tiny Desk Office, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, Central Park’s SummerStage and The Museum of Modern Art. Clerida’s love of music and affinity to growth has also propelled her to the big screen, where she performed a blind audition for NBC’s The Voice in early 2020. She just wrapped up an off-broadway musical where she doubled playing cello and electric bass, an instrument which was self-taught during the pandemic. Clérida’s primary studies were with Julia Lichten, of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and is a graduate of Purchase College (BM’ – Cello Performance). She is an active freelancer in the Tri-State area also teaches private lessons across Long Island.

ASHLEY PÉREZ FLANAGAN (Performer) Broadway: Freestyle Love Supreme; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. Off-Broadway: Freestyle Love Supreme, The Lucky Ones, Orpheus and Eurydice Are…In Love, Ars Nova; In The Green, LCT3; Hadestown, NYTW; In Love With Jobim, York Theatre. Recent: Moby-Dick, ART. Concerts: Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, 54 Below. Film: The Kitchen. Ashley is a member of the indie-folk hop trio @moondrunkband.

BRIAN FLORES (Performer) Broadway: Head Over Heels (OBC, dir. Michael Mayer). Pippin in the 1st National Tour of Pippin (dir. Diane Paulus). Off-Broadway: NYTW: Othello (dir. Sam Gold), & Hadestown (dir. Rachel Chavkin), City Center. Regional: Two River Theatre, Buck’s County Playhouse, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. TV/Film: The Deuce (HBO), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon). Education: BFA Musical Theatre, University of Michigan, RADA. @_brian_flores.

ODETTA HARTMAN (Performer) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and educator, born & based in downtown NYC. She is also a co-founder of Ladybug Land, a healing homestead & artist retreat center in the Catskills, NY.

QUENTIN OLIVER LEE is glad to make his Ars Nova debut with The Oratorio of Living Things! Select credits: B’way; Caroline or Change, Prince of Broadway. Tour; Phantom in Phantom of the Opera. Grammy award winner from Porgy & Bess at the Met Opera. Thanks to God, Fam, CTG, and everyone here today. Say hello at quentinoliverlee.com 

LIZ LEIMKUHLER (Performer) is an actress, singer, comedian, and writer based in New York City. She is thrilled to be back with this piece after nearly three years (!!). Cherished past collaborators include Stevie Walker-Webb, Doug Hughes, Mark Wing-Davey, Dave Malloy, Jake Beckhard, Sofya Weitz, Lily Houghton, and Tom Costello. Liz performs monthly with Entirely From Memory at littlefield in Brooklyn. This is her Off-Broadway debut, and she graduates this month with her MFA from NYU. LizLeimkuhler.com

ANGEL LOZADA is a Queer Latine Artist who craves a deeper understanding of self and the world he lives in. Former credits include Jesus Christ Superstar Live on NBC, Hair (The Old Globe), Unmasked (Papermill Playhouse), Evita (Riverside Theatre), West Side Story (Maltz Jupiter), Jesus Christ Superstar (Chicago Lyric). He is super pumped to be making his Off Broadway Debut and would like to extend his gratitude to HCKR, Coach C, his parents and his partner in crime. @imangellozada

JOHN MURCHISON (Performer) is a bassist and multi-instrumentalist.  Some past theater works include bass in Great Comet (Ars Nova->Broadway), qanun in “In The Green” (Lincoln Center), and bass/qanun/oud in “The Conversationalists” (Bushwick Starr).  He is one of the most in-demand bassists for traditional Arabic music in the United States, and cofounder of Brooklyn Maqam, an organization dedicated to presenting and promoting Arabic music around NYC.  

ONYIE NWACHUKWU (Performer) is truly excited to be a part of what has essentially been her church for the past several years! Previous work includes the Cirque Dream and Rent national tours, most recently the Off-Broadway World premiere of Daddy at the Signature Theatre and Sistas Off Bway. Many thanks to; Michael R. Jackson for being my conduit to Heather Christian and to Ars Nova for your continued support of the creative artist! And special thanks to God…. for leading me to Heather Christian.

PETER WISE (Performer) is a drummer, percussionist, sound designer and web developer with a voracious appetite for music and sounds of all kinds. Peter grew up playing music in the Berkshires (MA) and studied percussion at Stony Brook and Eastman. He has toured with many different groups and productions including Newspeak, Forever House, JG Thirlwell’s Maxorexia, Bobby Previte’s VooDoo Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage and David T. Little’s opera Dog Days. peterwise.net, foreverhouse.net.

SAM WEBER (Performer) is a multi-disciplined bassist, composer, arranger, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. A native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Sam is an alumnus of Western Michigan University, earning both a BA in Jazz Studies (2010) and an MA in Music (2011). Since relocating to New York City in 2012, Sam has been performing non-stop with an eclectic community of musicians, playing everything from jazz, hip hop, and rock to bluegrass and contemporary classical music.

DITO VAN REIGERSBERG  is a co-founder of Pig Iron Theatre Company.  He has performed in almost all of Pig Iron’s productions since its founding, including the OBIE-winning original pieces Hell Meets Henry Halfway and Chekhov Lizardbrain.  His alter-ego Martha Graham Cracker performs regularly at Joe’s Pub and is famously “the tallest, hairiest drag queen in the world” – check out her album of songs about show biz, heartbreak, and libraries called Lashed But Not Leashed.