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Stephen C Byrd (Producer) is the President and Founder of Front Row Productions, Inc., whose primary purpose is to shine the spotlight on diversity, inclusion, and non-traditional casting on Broadway and London’s West End. Multi Tony Award Nominated, and Olivier Award winning Producers Byrd, and his producing partner Alia Jones Harvey Jones are the only full time African American Producers, both on Broadway and London’s West End, and they have been Partners for the past 14 years. Their producing credits to date, include, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (both on Broadway and London’s West End where they won the Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play), A Streetcar Named Desire, The Trip to Bountiful, Romeo and Juliet, Eclipsed, Paramour (with Cirque de Soleil), The Iceman Cometh, Smokey Joes Café, American Son and the current Broadway smash hit, Ain’t Too Proud the Life and Times of The Temptations. They are also developing the iconic Oscar and Palm D’Or winning Brazilian film Black Orpheus into a Broadway musical. Additionally, they are part of the Lead Producing team for GET UP, STAND UP, The Bob Marley musical, Opening on London's West End in February, 2021, as well as MJ, The Musical (based on Michael Jackson). Byrd, serves on the Board of Governors of the Broadway League, and is a member of SOLT (Society of London Theatre), and on the Board of Directors of New York City Colleges Performing Arts Department, Stephen is the recipient of numerous Awards and Honors, including the recent, Global Producer of the Year Award.
Alia Jones-Harvey is an Olivier Award Winning and 4-time Tony Nominated Producer, who has spent the past 15 years with producing partner Stephen C. Byrd mounting productions on Broadway and London’s West End with a focus on people of color on the stage, on the creative team, in management and as co-producers. As the only African American woman lead-producing on Broadway, she is extremely proud of the Front Row Productions track record of Broadway & West End directorial debuts for Debbie Allen and Liesl Tommy; debuts for Danai Gurira as playwright and Dominique Morisseau as book writer of a musical; and numerous creative team and cast member debuts. Past productions include Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof directed by Debbie Allen and starring James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Terrence Howard and Anika Noni Rose; A Streetcar Named Desire starring Blair Underwood, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Nicole Ari Parker and Wood Harris; Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful starring Cicely Tyson; Romeo & Juliet starring Condola Rashad and Orlando Bloom; Danai Gurira’s Eclipsed, directed by Liesl Tommy and starring Lupita Nyong’o; Paramour, the first Cirque du Soleil musical on Broadway; Iceman Cometh directed by George C. Wolfe and starring Denzel Washington; American Son directed by Kenny Leon and starring Kerry Washington; and, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations. Upcoming Fall 2021 productions for Front Row Productions include Get Up, Stand Up: The Bob Marley Musical set for London’s West End and MJ: The Michael Jackson Musical set for Broadway. Jones-Harvey serves on the Board of the Arthur Miller Foundation, the Advisory Board of The American Theater Wing, and is a Tony voter. Jones-Harvey and Byrd have been honored with numerous awards, including the recent, 2019 Global Producer of the Year and AUDELCO Pioneer Award.
Steven is a Professor in the Columbia University School of the Arts, where he runs the MFA Theatre Management & Producing Program. He is also on the faculty at Columbia Law School and in the Theatre Department at Barnard College. The first graduate of Columbia’s dual degree JD/MFA program and a member of the New York State Bar, Steven is a co-Author of Theatre Law: Cases and Materials, the first ever law school textbook specifically devoted to theatre law, and has contributed to the theatre volume of Entertainment Industry Contracts, published by LexisNexis.
Through his company, Snug Harbor Productions, Steven general manages and/or produces on and off Broadway, around the United States and internationally, and consults for not-for-profit arts institutions. Selected credits include Broadway: The Band’s Visit (Tony Award), Ring of Fire, Elaine Stritch at Liberty (Tony Award), George Gershwin Alone, A Moon for the Misbegotten (starring Cherry Jones and Gabriel Byrne), Death of a Salesman (Tony Award, starring Brian Dennehy), Fool Moon (Tony Award) and John Leguizamo’s Freak (Drama Desk Award); Off-Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (Drama Desk Award), Piece of My Heart, Murder for Two, Martin Moran’s All the Rage (Lortel Award), Evil Dead The Musical, Almost, Maine, and The Tricky Part (Obie Award); London: Death of a Salesman, The American Clock, and Murder for Two. Steven also currently serves as Treasurer of the Off-Broadway League.
Willette Murphy Klausner, theatrical producer, film producer and former film studio marketing executive, is the founder and president of WMK PRODUCTIONS, INC.
WMK is the sole producer of World Tenors Unleashed! – Music Makes Us One, a theatrically staged concert featuring an international cast of ten of the world’s most distinguished tenor voices, and Three Mo’ Tenors, off Broadway, domestic and international tours including the Henley Music Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, New Year’s Eve in Moscow, Edmonton and Toronto, Canada, and the US State Department in Armenia, Paraguay and The Dominican Republic.
Film and television projects in various stages of development include a television mini-series entitled A World of Her Own based on the Harriet Jacobs autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, originally produced by Klausner as the play To Take Arms, at the Tamarind Theatre in Los Angeles; Bruno Bonelli, a pop-opera film; Mama Africa the life story of Miriam Makeba for Netflix; Radium Girls, the story of women factory workers poisoned by toxic material in the 1920’s; Cosette, a musical follow up to the Broadway hit, and Wakefield, starring Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Garner.
On Broadway, Klausner’s productions and participations include musicals Hadestown, winner of eight Tony Awards; The Band’s Visit, winner of ten Tonys; and Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations. Broadway dramas include American Son starring Kerry Washington; playwright Harold Pinter’s The Betrayal; John Leguizamo’s hit Latin History for Morons; The Encounter, starring Simon Mc Burney; Tony nominated Eclipsed, starring Lupita Nyong’o; Hughie, starring Forest Whitaker; Romeo and Juliet, starring Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad; The Trip to Bountiful, with Tony Award-winning Cicely Tyson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Williams and Condola Rashad; The Mountain Top, starring Angela Bassett and Samuel Jackson, and Kat and the Kings. Off Broadway productions include Outer Critics Circle Award winner Desperate Measures and Me & Ella, Andrea Frierson’s valentine to jazz wonder Ella Fitzgerald. In addition, Klausner co-presented the 75th Anniversary tour of the opera Porgy and Bess, in association with presenter Michael Capasso.
Klausner’s regional theatrical productions include Shout Sister Shout!, a musical based on the life of Sister Rosetta Tharpe at the Pasadena Playhouse; To Take Arms, starring Hattie Winston and Sanaa Lathan; Hurlyburly, starring Sean Penn and Danny Aiello, and Fully Committed, all in Los Angeles. Klausner has also produced Broadway-bound Twist – An American Musical, a contemporary American version of Dicken’s Oliver Twist, at the Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia; George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ; Alliance Theatre, Atlanta; and California’s Pasadena Playhouse.
In the UK, Klausner has co-produced the 50th anniversary tour of Hair; George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead; musical Adam & Eve...and Steve at London’s King’s Head Theatre and the Edinburg Fringe Festival.
Prior to becoming a film and theatrical producer, Klausner was Vice President, Marketing and Marketing Research for MCA Universal Studios. During her tenure, Klausner was involved with the successful marketing campaigns of Jaws, Animal House, The Wiz, The Deer Hunter, The Jerk and The Blues Brothers among others. Klausner also had a key role in designing the research on which the decision to build Universal Studios Florida was based.
Previously, Klausner worked for ten years as Project Director and then Vice President West Coast Operations at Audience Studies Inc. working with such major national advertisers as General Motors, Miles Laboratories, Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, to name a few. She was the first black woman to appear in the American major fashion magazine, Mademoiselle; first black woman in fashion merchandising at Bloomingdale's New York; first black fashion model in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the first female corporate vice president at a major Hollywood studio, Universal Pictures. Despite her record of ground-breaking firsts, Klausner says “I have never been interested in being the 'first,' I only wanted to be the best. I never felt there was a boundary.”
Klausner serves on the Board of Directors of the Coalition for African Americans in The Performing Arts (CAAPA), the American Cinema Foundation, the Advisory Board of Women in Film, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Music Center, and the Women in Film Foundation. She is a member of the League of Professional Theatre Women and the International Women’s Forum.
Klausner is married to attorney Manuel S. Klausner. They share a passion for food and wine and are co-founding members of the American Institute of Wine and Food along with Julia Child and Robert Mondavi.
Eva Price an ACLU honoree for her commitment to works spearheaded by female creatives and people of color, and a Crain’s 2020 Notable LGBTQ Leader and Executive. She is a three-time Tony Award-winning producer of over 18 Broadway plays, musicals, and concerts, a member of The Broadway League’s Executive Committee, and on the producing team of Level Forward- a new studio venture founded by Abigail Disney and Killer Content. Current and notable productions include: Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill (15 Tony Award nominations); Oklahoma! (2 Tony Awards, Best Musical Revival); What the Constitution Means to Me (2 Tony Noms., National Tour 2020); Angels in America (Tony-winning Broadway Revival starring Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield); Dear Evan Hansen (6 Tony Awards); On Your Feet! (The Story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan); Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on Broadway!; Peter and the Starcatcher (5 Tony Awards); Colin Quinn Long Story Short (directed by Jerry Seinfeld); Annie (Tony-Nominated Musical Revival); The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino (Tony-Nominated Play Revival); Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking; The Addams Family (starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth); as well as several solo shows and critically acclaimed concerts starring The Temptations & The Four Tops; Kathy Griffin; Lewis Black; and Hershey Felder. Recent off-Broadway projects include Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical (le Poisson Rouge, National Tour); the Drama Desk-nominated Found (Atlantic Theater Company & Philadelphia Theatre Company); Benjamin Scheuer’s award-winning The Lion (Drama Desk winner, Off-West End winner for Best Musical); and Bess Wohl’s critically acclaimed Small Mouth Sounds. International and Touring Credits include: The Hip Hop Nutcracker, featuring Rap Icon Kurtis Blow; The Magic School Bus, Live!: The Climate Challenge; and Ella, a bio musical about the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald. Eva is the host and creator of the new podcast My First Show. For five years Eva worked as an assignment editor and coordinating producer for special projects at ABC News, spending her last year producing and reporting on stories relating to Broadway for ABCNEWS.COM.
Jordan Roth is a five-time Tony Award-winning producer. As president of Jujamcyn Theaters, he oversees five Broadway theatres, which have presented some of the most influential and successful musicals and plays on Broadway including Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Hadestown, Kinky Boots, Springsteen on Broadway and The Book of Mormon. He also produced the 2018 Tony Award-winning revival of Angels in America and the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning Best Play Clybourne Park.
Jordan serves on the Board of Trustees of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, The Broadway League, Times Square Alliance and the Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation. He received the HRC Legacy Award in 2019, and along with husband, writer/producer Richie Jackson, he received The Trevor Project Hero Award in 2016. He has been included on Fast Company's "Most Creative People in Business", Crains's "Forty Under 40," Out Magazine's "Out 100," and he was honored by the New York Landmarks Conservancy as a "Living Landmark." JordanRoth.com @Jordan_Roth
Jackie Alexander the Artistic Director of The North Carolina Black Repertory Company, producers of The National Black Theatre Festival. Jackie's debut novel, Our Daily Bread was published by Turner Publishing in the fall of 2012. His debut feature film Joy, on which he served as actor, writer, producer, and director, was awarded Best Feature Film by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, and also earned Best Actor and Best Screenplay honors for Jackie on the festival circuit. As a playwright, Jackie is the author of six plays and his work has been produced Off-Broadway and regionally throughout the country. Stage directing credits include Cheryl Davis' Maid's Door, which was awarded seven AUDELCO awards including Best Play, and regional productions of George Wolfe's Jelly's Last Jam at Let Petit Theatre, which was named Best Musical at the 2017 New Orleans' Big Easy Awards, and at the 2019 National Black Theatre Festival, where it became the highest grossing production in the event's history. As a producer, Jackie has brought fifteen world premieres to the stage. The OBIE and AUDELCO award-winning Billie Holiday Theatre in New York devoted its entire 2010-2011 season to Jackie’s work; commissioning him to write three new plays and making him the only playwright in the storied history of the theatre to receive that honor. The Black Theatre Network honored Jackie with its 2018 Presidential Pathfinder Award, which is presented to an artist or an institution that illuminates a path to innovations and new concepts in Black Theatre. In February 2019, Jackie was honored by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper for his theatrical contributions to the state. For more information, please visit www.jackiealexanderproductions.com.
Saheem Ali is a proud immigrant from Kenya, and currently serves as the Associate Artistic Director/ Resident Director of The Public Theater. His recent productions include ROMEO Y JULIETA and RICHARD II (The Public/WNYC), SHIPWRECK (Woolly Mammoth), FIRES IN THE MIRROR (Signature Theatre), THE NEW ENGLANDERS (MTC), THE ROLLING STONE (Lincoln Center Theater), PASSAGE (Soho Rep), FIREFLIES (Atlantic Theater Company), DANGEROUS HOUSE (Williamstown Theater Festival), SUGAR IN OUR WOUNDS (MTC), TARTUFFE (Playmakers Rep), TWELFTH NIGHT (The Public), KILL MOVE PARADISE (National Black Theater), NOLLYWOOD DREAMS (Cherry Lane) and THE BOOTY CALL (Inner Voices). Upcoming productions include MERRY WIVES at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and the world premiere of the musical GODDESS, which Saheem conceived and will direct for Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He is a Usual Suspect at New York Theater Workshop, a Sir John Gielgud SDCF Fellow and a Shubert Fellow.
Thomas Distler is a partner in Brooks & Distler, one of the leading entertainment law firms in New York City for over 30 years. The firm’s international practice includes clients in the theatre, motion picture, television, new media, radio, and music industries, including producers, authors, directors, performers, documentary filmmakers, radio and television personalities, playwrights, composers, and designers. The firm also represent numerous media companies, theater companies, iconic underlying rights properties, production companies, entertainment financiers, and performing/professional arts organizations.
Maria Manuela Goyanes (she/her/hers) is the Artistic Director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Prior to joining Woolly, she served as the Director of Producing and Artistic Planning at The Public Theater, where she oversaw the day-to-day execution of a full slate of plays and musicals at the Public’s five-theater venue at Astor Place and the Delacorte Theater for Shakespeare in the Park. Earlier in her career at The Public, she managed some of the theater’s most celebrated productions, including Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josephine & I by Cush Jumbo, Straight White Men by Young Jean Lee, Barbecue by Robert O’Hara, and Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim.
While at The Public, Maria also held a position on the adjunct faculty of Juilliard and curated the junior year curriculum of the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at NYU. She has guest lectured at Bard College, Barnard College, Brown University, Columbia University, Juilliard, the National Theater Institute at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, UCSD, the University of Texas-Austin, and Yale University, among others. Since 2015, Maria has also served as a member of the board of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. From 2006 to 2008, she co-chaired the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab with Jason Grote, and from 2004 to 2012, Maria was the Executive Producer of 13P, one of her proudest achievements.
Maria is a first-generation Latinx-American, born to parents who emigrated from the Dominican Republic and Spain. She was raised in Jamaica, Queens, and has a collection of hoop earrings to prove it. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in 2001 from Brown University.
Amy Jacobs (Partner, Bespoke Theatricals/General Manager). Current general management projects at Bespoke include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Trevor- The Musical. Selected previous credits: The Ferryman, Tootsie, The Color Purple (OBC, Tour, and Revival), The Play That Goes Wrong, Farinelli and the King starring Mark Rylance, Mamma Mia!, Present Laughter starring Kevin Kline, Cirque du Soleil's Paramour, Twelfth Night/Richard III starring Mark Rylance, Clybourne Park, EVITA starring Ricky Martin, The River starring Hugh Jackman, Soul Doctor, Legally Blonde and 9 to 5 – The Musical. As an active member of The Broadway League, Amy is a member of The Board of Governors, The Executive Committee, Membership Committee, The Professional Development Committee and is a co-Chair of the Rising Stars Program. She also serves as an Employer Trustee on the Actor's Equity Association Pension and Health Fund Boards. Amy lives in West Nyack, NY with her husband and three adorable dogs.
Jonathan McCrory is a two Obie Award-winning, Harlem-based artist who has served as Artistic Director at National Black Theatre since 2012 under the leadership of CEO, Sade Lythcott. He has directed numerous professional productions and concerts. He has been acknowledged as an exceptional leader additionally through Craine’s New York Business 2020 Notable LGBTQ Leaders and Executives. In 2013, he was awarded the Emerging Producer Award by the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and the Torch Bearer Award by theatrical legend Woodie King Jr. He is a founding member of the collaborative producing organizations Harlem9, Black Theatre Commons, The Jubilee, Next Generation National Network and The Movement Theatre Company. McCrory sits on the National Advisory Committee for Howlround.com and was a member of the original cohort for ArtEquity. A Washington, DC native, McCrory attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and New York University’s TISCH School of the Arts. To learn more, please visit www.jonathanmccrory.com.
Anthony McDonald is currently the Executive Director of the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, CT. Having worked on several Broadway productions, Anthony has extensive theatre management experience in general, company, and house management. Prior to his current position, he worked with the Nederlander Producing Co. of America at both the Minskoff Theatre, home to DISNEY'S THE LION KING, and prior to that, at the Gershwin Theatre, home to WICKED. As a general manager, Anthony has been an associate on Broadway’s FIRST DATE, associate general manager for Off Broadway’s FUERZA BRUTA: WAYRA, assistant to the general manager, Peter Boygo on TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, and general manager of The Miranda Theatre Company’s THEY PROMISED HER THE MOON, and Broadview Phoenix/Magis Theatre Company’s MIRACLE IN RWANDA. He also served as the general management consultant with Show Shepherd. In addition, he was the company manager of the workshop of BEHIND THE PAINTING, and assistant company manager on Broadway’s HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME. Anthony received his BFA from Howard University in Theatre Arts Administration and his MFA from Columbia University in Theatre Management and Producing. He is a proud member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers.
Ira has been Producing Broadway and Off- Broadway Shows for over 20 years. In 2019, he was the lead producer, with Tom Hulce, of the Tony Award-winning Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, following a record-breaking premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, rave reviews at The Kennedy Center, and all-time box office records at both the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and The Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. Ira first joined with Tom Hulce in 2005 to produce Spring Awakening, winner of 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Spring Awakening went on to have 2 national touring companies and gave birth to 15 international productions, won 4 Olivier Awards including Best New Musical, and won the Grammy for Best Broadway Cast Album. Next was the 2009 smash hit production of Green Day's American Idiot, winner of 2 Tony Awards and the Grammy for Best Broadway Cast Album. In 2012, Ira and Tom joined Liz Lerner and Broadway Across America to produce the Broadway revival of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever starring Harry Connick, Jr. and Jessie Mueller. He won his first Tony Award in 2002, for Private Lives starring Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan and in that same year co-produced Topdog/Underdog, which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His other Broadway credits include the acclaimed revival of The Iceman Cometh starring Kevin Spacey, Baz Luhrman’s production of La Boh ème, Stones in His Pockets, Neil Simon's The Dinner Party starring Henry Winkler and John Ritter, the hit revival of The Odd Couple starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, Significant Other starring Gideon Glick, and The Gin Game starring James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson. Also, during his 20 year career in the music industry he’s worked with artists as diverse as Placido Domingo, John Denver, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Mathis, Smokey Robinson and Ringo Starr.
Eight-time Tony Award winner Jeffrey Richards is one of the leading producers of plays and musicals on Broadway, in London's West End, and around the country.
Jeffrey is proud to have presented plays and musicals by the following authors: David Mamet, Tracy Letts, Harold Pinter, Gore Vidal, August Wilson, Eric Bogosian, George Abbott, Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, Herman Wouk, Betsy Kelso and David Nehls, Matthew Barber, Herb Gardner, Peter Ackerman, John Logan, David Ives, Jess Winfield, Adam Long, Daniel Singer, Will Ferrell, Noël Coward, Neil LaBute, Eugene O'Neill, Barry Humphries, Michael Feinstein, Christopher Durang, Lucy Prebble, Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman, David Henry Hwang, Frank Wildhorn, Don Black, Ivan Menchell, George and Ira Gershwin, Dorothy and Du Bose Heyward, Suzan Lori Parks, Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Marsha Norman, Jason Robert Brown, Robert Schenkkan, Lanie Robertson, Will Eno, George S. Kaufman, John Hart, Wendy Wasserstein, Hilary Mantel, Michael Poulton, A.R. Gurney, Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. He is equally thrilled to have worked with the following directors: Joe Mantello, Daniel Sullivan, Anna D. Shapiro, Jerry Zaks, Kenny Leon, Michael Mayer, Kathleen Marshall, Michael Wilson, John Rando, Jeremy Dobrish, Ethan McSweeny, Warner Shook, James MacDonald, Adam McKay, Neil Pepe, Terry Kinney, Diane Paulus, Robert Falls, Tina Landau, David Mamet, Rupert Goold, Michael Blakemore, Alex Timbers, Pam MacKinnon, Bartlett Sher, Bill Rauch, Sam Gold, Lonny Price, and Scott Ellis. He would like to acknowledge Primary Stages, the Signature Theatre (Washington, D.C), the Hartford Stage Company, the Roundabout Theatre Company, the Atlantic Theatre Company, the Public Theatre, the Huntington Theatre, the Manhattan Class Company, The Goodman Theatre, The La Jolla Playhouse, the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University, The Yale Repertory Theatre, the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, all of whom have originated many of the productions which he has been proud to bring to both off-Broadway and Broadway stages.
LaTanya Richardson Jackson is a critically acclaimed actress of the stage and screen. In 2014, Richardson Jackson received a Tony Award Best Actress nomination for her performance as “Lena Younger” in the Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” She also received the Distinguished Performance Drama League Award nomination.
Most recently, Richardson Jackson and her husband, Samuel L. Jackson produced EPIX award nominated docu-series ENSLAVED via their production company UppiTV.
In 2019, Richardson-Jackson starred on Broadway as “Calpurnia” in Aaron Sorkin’s critically acclaimed adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” alongside Jeff Daniels, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Dakin Matthews, and directed by Bartlett Sher.
In 2018, Richardson Jackson narrated the feature length documentary “Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” on playwright Lorraine Hansberry, who penned the iconic “A Raisin in the Sun.” The world premiere took place at the Toronto International Film Festival and the documentary premiered on PBS’ “American Masters.” She also appeared in a recurring arc as Diane Pierce in Shondaland’s “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC, as well as Mama Mabel in the Netflix Original Series “Luke Cage.”
In 2016, Richardson Jackson starred in the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park’s production of “Taming of the Shrew” as “Baptista” under Phyllida Lloyd’s direction, in honor of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. She also starred in “Show Me a Hero,” HBO’s six-hour miniseries from “The Wire” co-creator David Simon and directed by Oscar winner Paul Haggis. For her performance, she received the NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special.
Richardson Jackson’s extensive theatre credits include “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” (Broadway), “For Colored Girls…,” “Spell #7,” “Casanova,” “Unfinished Women” (Public Theater), “Stop Reset” (Signature Theatre), and August Wilson’s “Century Cycle” (Kennedy Center), among others. In 2016, she was honored with the NAACP Theater Awards Trailblazer Award in recognition of her pioneering theatrical contributions.
Richardson Jackson’s additional film and television credits include "Juanita," “The Fighting Temptations,” “U.S. Marshals,” “Freedomland,” “Losing Isaiah,” “Mother and Child,” “Damages” and Sidney Lumet’s critically acclaimed “100 Centre Street.”
Richardson Jackson has received numerous awards for her philanthropic work including The United Negro College Fund and the N.Y. Keeper of the Dream Award. This year she was honored by the Ladylike Foundation, which is a faith based non-profit organization whose purpose is to educate, empower and inspire young women living in underprivileged communities. In 2016, she and her husband Samuel L. Jackson were honored by the Children’s Defense Fund for their longstanding commitment to the organization and their “Leave No Child Behind” mission.
Richardson and her husband Samuel L. Jackson established the Samuel L. & LaTanya R. Jackson Foundation to carry out their commitment to a range of philanthropic issues in the United States and Africa. A graduate of Spelman College, she has served on their Board of Trustees and presently serves on the Advisory Board of their Women’s Center. She serves on the advisory council of Atlanta’s True Colors Theatre, the Ebony Repertory Theatre of Los Angeles, and is currently a board member of the American Theatre Wing and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
LaTanya Richardson Jackson and her husband Sam have one incredible, Emmy Nominated daughter, the beautiful Zoe Dove.
Nick Scandalios is the Executive Vice President of the Nederlander Organization, one of the largest owners of legitimate theatres in the world, as well as one of the largest theatrical producing organizations in North America. He is the recipient of the 2018 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award. He is also a past Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Broadway League, and past chair of the Board of Family Equality. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Nederlander owns or operates theatres in New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL; San Diego, CA; San Jose, CA; Tucson, AZ; North Charleston, SC; Durham, NC; Oklahoma City, OK; Greensboro, NC and London, England.
Stephen Sosnowski is Senior Vice President at SpotCo. His leadership role at the agency focuses on cultivating client relationships and promoting steadfast client service. He also develops and executes strategies for acquiring new business while leading and managing the Client Services division of the agency. For the past 15 years he has overseen the strategy, planning, budgeting and execution of multi-million dollar advertising campaigns for a variety of clients including Lincoln Center Theatre, Hadestown, Pass Over, Jagged Little Pill and Park Avenue Armory. Stephen is also honored to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Theatre Management at Fordham University for the past 12 years. He is a frequent guest speaker/lecturer at Columbia University, Fordham University and The Commercial Theatre Institute. Before joining SpotCo, he served as the Director of Events for Tony Award Productions. He holds a BA in Theatre from Fordham University and an MFA in Theatre Management and Producing from Columbia University.
For 22 seasons, Tamara Tunie has starred as Medical Examiner, Dr. Melinda Warner, in the top-rated series "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Tunie, also, starred as Marie Van Der Veen, the matriarch and the “moral fiber” of a Native American tribe, in THE RED ROAD. The role is a marked departure from the sophisticated and powerful women she is known for portraying. Ms. Tunie, also, starred in AMC’s new series DIETLAND and the BBC/Netflix political drama Black Earth Rising to NetFlix. She has joined the casts of TWO new streaming series, AppleTV’s SEE (season 2) and Netflix’s COWBOY BEBOP (September 2021). Ms. Tunie stars opposite Michael B. Jordan, in the December 2021 feature film release A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN, directed by Denzel Washington.
Ms. Tunie’s first “role” as Broadway Producer, was on the team responsible for the the original, Tony Award-winning musical "Spring Awakening." She also produced August Wilson's Tony Award nominated "Radio Golf", and “Magic vs Bird”. Off-Broadway, Ms Tunie produced The Dutchman at The Cherry Lane theater, and the world premiere of FROG KISS at Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk Virginia.
She produced and directed the feature film "See You In September, directed and co-wrote the world premiere of JAZZLAND at The Harlem School of the Arts, and is directing the new musical DOROTHY DANDRIDGE, about the life of the legendary Hollywood movie star. Also, under Ms. Tunie’s direction LOVE AND SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT, a new musical set in the sultry south, is currently in development, destined for Broadway.
Ms. Tunie starred as Dorothy Brock in the re-imagined 42ND STREET at the Ordway Theater. She starred as Prospero in the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s production of “The Tempest”, immediately followed by City Theater’s production of “The Roommate”. She also starred in Robert Shenkkan’s riveting drama, “Building the Wall” Off-Broadway. She was honored with an OBIE AWARD for her performance in Danai Gurira’s “Familiar”, at Playwright’s Horizons, and the BERKSHIRE THEATRE AWARD for originating the role of “Brenda” in the critically acclaimed drama, “American Son”.
She starred on Broadway with Denzel Washington in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," with the legendary Lena Horne in"Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music” and with Audra McDonald and Lillias White in the 20th anniversary benefit concert of “Dreamgirls. Other theatre credits include David Merrick’s Broadway revival of "Oh Kay!”, the European tour of"Bubblin' Brown Sugar," Helen of Troy in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "Troilus and Cressida" in Central Park, “Maggie” in the first all African American production of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Rose in "Fences" in "August Wilson's 20th Century Cycle" at the Kennedy Center, and “We Are Here” at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival. She received rave reviews for her turn as Madame de Merteuil in "Les Liaisons Dangereuse", Cleopatra in “Antony and Cleopatra” and "All's Well That Ends Well" at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
Ms. Tunie has had other memorable roles on television, most notably as Jessica Griffin on the CBS Daytime Drama "As The World Turns," (for which she received two NAACP Image Award nominations and two Soap Opera Digest award nominations), as Alberta Green in Season One of the hit series "24", as well as guest appearances on “Better Call Saul”, “Blue Bloods”, “Billions”, “Alpha House”, “Elementary” “Survivor’s Remorse”, “Zoo”, “The Good Wife”, "Law and Order," "Sex and the City," and "NYPD Blue”, to name a handful.
In film, Ms. Tunie has worked with some of the most respected directors of the screen, including Taylor Hackford, Brian De Palma, Mimi Leder, Harold Becker and Oliver Stone. She had the unique opportunity to work with the legendary Al Pacino twice; she portrayed the possessed wife of a partner in his law firm in the hit film "The Devil's Advocate," and his press secretary in "City Hall." She also worked with famed director Kasi Lemmons and Samuel L. Jackson on both "Eve's Bayou" and "The Caveman's Valentine.” and with legendary director Robert Zemekis, opposite Denzel Washington, in “Flight”. Ms. Tunie was also featured in some wonderful “Indies”, like “Irreplaceable You”, “Fall to Rise” and “Bad Vegan”.
She is Chair Emerita of the Board of Directors of Figure Skating in Harlem, serves on the Board of Directors at Harlem Stage/The Gatehouse, and City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh. She, also, serves on the Advisory Board of Hearts of Gold. And is a founding member of BLACK THEATRE UNITED.
Ms. Tunie is an acclaimed vocalist, and her debut album “Dreamsville” launched at the 2019 Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival.
In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg awarded her the "Made in New York Award" from the City of New York, for her support and commitment to Film, Television and Theater in Manhattan.
Ms. Tunie has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Carnegie-Mellon University, and now serves on its Board of Trustees. She is a Pittsburgh native (GO STEELERS!), but has resided in Harlem, NYC, her entire adult life. www.tamaratunie.com