EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Taryn Drongowski became the Executive Director of the Astoria Performing Arts Center in August 2005. To APAC, she brings both theater and non-profit experience. Taryn graduated from Kenyon College (Gambier, OH) and, in 2003, she completed a training program at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School. Currently, Taryn also serves as Special Projects Manager for the Program on Culture, Creativity & Information Technology at the Social Science Research Council. She moved to Astoria three years ago, after tasting the pizza at Sac's Place on Broadway. As a proud resident, Taryn is especially excited to have the opportunity to contribute to the arts in one of New York's most vibrant neighborhoods--this is a place for story-telling.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Tom Wojtunik has been in New York City since 1997, and in Astoria for the last five years. He had the pleasure of directing Proof for APAC in 2007 prior to being named Artistic Director. New York directing credits include: Man of La Mancha, Six Degrees of Separation, Urinetown (NY IT Award Best Musical), Take Me Out (The Gallery Players); The Play About the Naked Guy and Edenville (NY IT Nominee – Best Director, Emerging Artists Theatre); The Miss Education of Jenna Bush (FringeNYC, Best Solo Show & Audience Favorite); Rum and Vodka and The Good Thief (Prospect St. Productions); I'm in Love with Your Wife (Midtown International Theatre Festival); and workshops of David's Play and Bella Via (Ensemble Studio Theatre). Tom served as a 2007/2008 Resident Director at Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he was an Associate Producer on the 2008 Marathon of One-Act Plays. He was an Associate Casting Director at Charles Rosen Casting, produced the 2002 Festival of New Musicals for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and served as Artistic Director of NeoPack, a theatre company focused on new work, from 2001-2004. BFA: Marymount Manhattan College. Member: SSDC, Lincoln Center Directors' Lab, Emerging Artists Theatre.
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY PROGRAMS Christina Sussman is originally from Virginia Beach, VA, though she has been an Astoria resident for several years. She holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Virginia Tech, a MA in Educational Theatre from New York University, and an MS in Special Education from Pace University. She has worked for several professional theatre companies before becoming the resident drama teacher at I.S. 10, where she has taught and directed for the last four years. She is delighted to join the Astoria Performing Arts Center!
PRESS AGENT Katie Rosin / Kampfire PR APAC: Triumph of Love. Off-Broadway: Glimpses of the Moon, Algonquin Hotel; Elizabeth Rex, Center Stage; The Play About the Naked Guy, Claymont, and Sisters’ Dance, Baruch Performing Arts Center; Mother Load, Sage Theater; Wasps in Bed, Beckett Theater; Anaïs Nin: One Of Her Lives, Beckett Theater; Triple Threat: 2007 Drama Desk Nominee (mis)UNDERSTANDING MAMMY: The Hattie McDaniel Story, Real Danger and Elephant Girls, Theatre 5; The Monument, Clurman Theater; Don Juan in Chicago, Kirk Theater. Rosin was instrumental in the launch of the Broadway musical Brooklyn and the National Tour of Mother Load. Rosin's clients include: Astoria Performing Arts Center, The New York Innovative Theatre Awards, Nicu's Spoon, and the upcoming festival The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Rosin worked in the publicity office at Miramax Films, and teaches Arts Marketing at NYU. For more information visit www.kampfirefilmspr.com. Please direct all press inquiries to [email protected].
CASTING DIRECTOR wojcik|seay casting APAC: Proof, Triumph of Love. wojcik|seay casting is the combined partnership of Scott Wojcik and Gayle Seay. Using their collective and extensive industry experience, they cast both legit and commercial projects for union and non-union talent, and extend their talent search from newborns to seniors, and from "real people" to celebrities. www.wscastingonline.com
SEASON PRODUCTION MANAGER Jen Soloway is currently the Business Manager at José Limón Dance Foundation. She has worked as the Associate General Manager at Classic Stage Company and was an Assistant Arts Management Consultant with Webb Management Services. NY productions include Man of La Mancha at the Gallery Players (Production Manager) and Stock Home in the 2007 NYC Fringe Festival (Co-Producer). Before moving to NY, Jen served as Production Manager of the Vittum Theater in Chicago, and was Associate Production Manager of "Nickel and Dimed" at the Steppenwolf Studio Theatre. Jen recently received her MFA in Performing Arts Management at Brooklyn College.
RESIDENT SCENIC DESIGNER Michael P. Kramer APAC productions: Triumph of Love, Proof, and A New Brain (all nominated for a NY Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Set Design), Nunsense and Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Other selected NYC productions: The Play About the Naked Guy (Emerging Artists Theatre), A Good Farmer and Flyer (3Graces Theatre Company). The Wake of Jamey Foster (Cherry Lane Theatre), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Gallery Players), and Spike Heels (Sanford Meisner Theater). Regional credits include Gianni Schicchi and Cavalleria Rusticana (Pine Mountain Music Festival), The Miracle Worker (Foothills Theatre Company). Art Director - "Tyra Banks Show", NYC. TV designs - "Broadway on Broadway" 2008 & 2007, Comedy Central series - "Stand up Nation", NASCAR's "mobile pit studio", Bassmaster's 2007 and ESPN's Heisman Trophy presentation.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BOARD PRESIDENT Regina Cialone is an Astorian resident whose career
in arts administration includes working at Carnegie Hall in Corporate
Sponsorships, Patron Giving, and Membership; and facilitating national
auditions for professional theatres and college programs at the
Southeastern Theatre Conference. Regina holds a BS in Arts Management and a Masters in Nonprofit Management and
is currently the Director of Patron Programs at Thirteen/WNET. With her
passion for business and the arts, Regina looks forward to working with APAC during this exciting time.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Taryn Drongowski (See bio above)
BOARD MEMBER Jill Parshley was born and raised in Astoria, Queens and was always hoping for the day
where a prominant theatre community such as APAC would arise in
Astoria! She was introduced to APAC several years ago by one of its
greatest supporters, Peter Vallone Jr. She started volunteering for
APAC by stuffing envelopes for Sue Scannell, the founder of APAC, and
decorating the bathrooms on opening nights. Soon she moved up to
assisting with PR for the Children's Summer Stars, building relations
with the neighborhood's supporters for donations, and acting in two of
the 7th graders Playmaking Programs! Jill graduated with a BA in Drama,
Theatre, and Dance from the City University of New York's Queens
College, earning two scholarships for acting and theatrical spirit.
There she starred in many productions including Six Characters In Search of an Author, Everyman, Steel Magnolias, Lend Me a Tenor, Going Up, Club Soda, and her directorial debut was Still Life by Emily Mann. Soon after, she continued her acting, voice and movement
studies with Michael Howard and his faculty at his acclaimed studio in
Manhattan. Jill also worked managing Shetler Studios, and volunteering
for the Lark Theatre Company in NYC. She started acting in voice-over
with the Hospital Educational and Entertainment readings on the old
Adelphi University's WBAU 90.3 FM station. Now she is the voice of two
channels on Sirius Satellite Radio. She starred as the honorable Miep
Gies in the National Theatre of the Performing Arts' nationwide tour of
Anne Frank Remembered soon after college. She was later featured
in "All Our Yesterdays" a film short for the School of Visual Arts, and
a Brooklyn College's Thesis Feature Film Set List, shown on
Queens Cable and CUNY television stations. Her latest acting role was
in the feature film written/directed by Lucas Stone Miles Fuller, which was screened at Tribeca Film Center. Jill's website is www.jillparshley.com.
BOARD TREASURER Adam Sherwin is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Happy Media Incorporated. His has written about technology, the arts, and sports for the NY Daily News, The Berkshire Record, and other publications. Happy Media's Juggernaut works with a wide variety of Community Positive organizations, including The Greater Astoria Historical Society, The New York League of Conservation Voters, the NYPIRG Fuel Buyers Group, City-As-School, the Queens Council on the Arts and African Solutions to African Problems.
APAC FOUNDING DIRECTORS
APAC FOUNDER & PAST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Susan Scannell is an accomplished actress/singer/lyricist with television, theater and cabaret appearances to her credit. Television credits include starring roles on: "Dynasty", "Ryan's Hope", "Search For Tomorrow", "Remington Steele", "The A-Team" and others. As a singer/songwriter she has performed on "The Merv Griffin Show" and in various cabaret rooms in New York and Los Angeles. She also sang the national anthem at Shea Stadium. Her original one woman show Love Jokes can be seen on Queens Public Television. As an entrepreneur, APAC is one of Ms. Scannell's many successful endeavors. She has also been successful in the business world having opened and run two franchises of the national video dating service Great Expectations and currently writes original songs and poems for people in a bi-coastal company she started named The Rhyme of Your Life.
FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR (2001-2008) Brian J. Swasey is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Musical Theatre and Dance. Theatrical Performing credits include Harry Houdini in Ragtime at Maine State Music Theatre, the Off-Broadway production of Naked Boys Singing (yes, I was really naked), Into the Woods, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Crazy for You, Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby, A Chorus Line, She Loves Me, 42nd Street, Tommy, The Wizard of Oz, and an international tour of West Side Story. Directing and Choreography credits include Forever Plaid, Lucky Stiff, The Man in The Iron Mask, Godspell, Seussical, Starmites, Nunsense, Is There Life After High School?, How to Succeed..., Once on this Island, A New Brain, Miracle on 34th Street, A Chorus Line, Once Upon a Mattress, Kiss Me, Kate and Peter Pan. For more information, visit www.brianswasey.com
